The rules of blogging.

My archnemesis recently posted some ideas on the rules of how one ought, or ought not, update one's blog. I wondered just how original his idea was.

Commercials bother me. I have seen some commercials on cable television which disparage phone companies for 1: trying to offer cable television, B: starting these offers only in wealthy neighborhoods, and 4: being big greedy meany-heads. My instinctive response was, "OF COURSE they are going to expand their telecommunications empires! Why on earth didn't they think of this sooner? And OF COURSE they are going to introduce this service in affluent areas- where else are they going to find a test market that can afford their damn product?" And I know, OF COURSE the existing cable companies are going to try to prevent competition, but how stupid do they think the American television-viewing public is? Oh, wait, these are the same people who make money off of showing NASCAR. Crap.

I have also figured out Allstate's little scheme: They have two new offers for drivers, which boil down like this: if you get into an accident, your rates don't go up. If you don't get into an accident, your rates go down. What this means for Allstate customers is, everybody gets charged initially as if they are highly dangerous drivers, and if they prove themselves to the company as good customers who don't actually need the one service Allstate offers, they get charged a little less. It's crap. It's all crap. The world hates you, and at least in Michigan, you're trapped; you cannot drive unless you are insured, and you cannot get insured unless you are either an idiot, or patient enough to swallow your pride and pay out premiums for a service that you hope to God you'll never actually need. Universal healthcare insurance has, as far as I know, failed in most experiments; I wonder if universal auto insurance would yield the same results.

One last thought about the Allstate scheme: Two drivers are stopped at a red light, and other drivers stop behind them. One is a little old woman who, other than driving 10 below the speed limit at all times, is a relatively safe person to be around; she runs over small children from time to time, but they are never injured, because she is moving so slowly. The other driver is a psychotic twenty-something hopped up on the drugs and such, who believes that any car that cannot or will not go from 0-60 in 4 seconds in a school zone is a pussy. What happens is, the psycho takes off well before the light turns green, causing the oncoming traffic to slam into the old lady, destroying her car, credit rating, and spinal column. And, because no one will really check my statistics, I can say confidently this situation happens every 17 seconds, somewhere in Missouri. I don't know why it's only in Missouri, but it is a fun state to spell.