- Of Unintended Consequences
What, did you think this was going to be about Judge Dredd? Sorry, no, but since we mentioned Old Stony Face I now get to use him as a clickbait in this Intro, if Art can get off his waffle-patterned behind and get cracking -
Not a visage you'd argue with on this point.
ANYWAY what I'd like to go over in this Intro is a sorry sordid saga of entitlement, greed and stupidity, all wrapped up in a bundle we shall christen "Karentitledaft" because portmanteau terms are cool. Fish fingers and custard are not, though, and I don't care what the Doctor says.
This tale requires a little background. Over The Pond in South Canada, the Customer Service Rep relating this tale worked for a major retail organisation that had over 1,000 stores across the continent. They coyly didn't reveal the name, which could have been any of a number such as Target, CVS, Walgreens or Dollar General. Art!
Never heard of this one before
CSR worked as a second-tier rep dealing with customers who threatened legal action, and this must be South Canada because only they would require such a position as a default. He took a call from Karentitledaft, who was threatening legal action because - she'd suffered fraud? A misdirected enormous parcel? Shoddy good that fell apart after purchase?
None of the above. Art!
NO!
Not according to Karentitledaft, who we later learned was an attorney. I'm breaking this news early to reveal her thinking, which was that she wanted $1,000 in cash, because it would cost the company at least that much to defend the case. Art!
The person CSR ran this problem past when Karentitledaft sued for breach of contract and fraud, is whom. They gave CSR the go-ahead to mount a legal challenge via their retained attorney.
Who practically rubbed his hands with glee when he heard who he was going to be dealing with, as the legal community knew well of her and valued her as much as tar on a shoe sole. "Reckless, unpleasant and a pain in the bottom" is how he put it and, further, said he'd do the representing at a reduced rate. O boy, this lady must have not only burned her bridges but blown the charred remnants up and mined the support piers as well.
Legal battle thus commenced. This was already a lose-lose situation for Karentitledaft, because she was counter-sued under the frivolous lawsuit category. Retained Attorney knew this would move the case to the civil court from small claims court, so not only was the plaintiff out all the time she would need to attend, she also had to retain an attorney to represent herself in court (not being the relevant type of attorney herself). Art!
This was a major snowballing from what she fondly imagined would be a quick cash grab, so much so that, after only 2 hearings, she moved to dismiss both cases with no more money exchanged.
CSR would have liked to pursue matters further, just to rub in the humiliation, but their attorney recommended that the offer be accepted or any judge might consider the company as being vindictive. Thus the cases were dropped, Karentitledaft ending up with the original $10 voucher - not even the $25 extra offered as compensation - and the company paid their retained attorney $900. Art!
Notice how the scales are tipped to one side? Yes indeed John Steed, because Karentitledaft had to pay that attorney she'd retained, and he'd charged her $1,700 in legal fees. For only two hearings! Imagine if the company had dragged it out to four or five hearings - potentially over $4,000 in legal fees, all for a $10 return. Even IF she'd gotten the $1,000 cash settlement she'd still be down $690 on the whole deal, which is the entirely unintended consequence of being a litigious and unpleasant bottomhole.
I think Old Stony Face would just have cuffed and jailed her, saving time and money.
"The War Illustrated Edition 203 March 29th 1945"
Into the endgame, you might say. Art!
The first photograph shows British troops loading up a 'Land Mattress' rocket projector, which had come into use by this point in the war, a late response to the Teutons extensive use of similar weapons from a couple of years earlier. These projectors were being loaded up for operations in the Reichswald forest in February. The blurb explains that these 12 projectors are manned by only 200 men but can deluge an area with 384 rockets, totalling a ton-and-a-quarter of high explosive.
In the lower picture, one Captain Norman Macmillan (no relation) is having a chinwag with the crew of a bomber who are preparing to take off and make life for Teuton railways quite horrid.
Jezza's Jokers
Or, another in that list of last year's most execrable films, and we're now either down or up - not sure which orientation is correct - to Number Four. Art!
'Cheese' products without milk benefit those with lactose intolerance. 'Spiderman' films without Spiderman benefit - flies, I guess? Jezza asserts that this film is a classic example of 'How To Not Make A Superhero Film' and I will trust him on this because, having watched 'Robothead's analysis, I don't need to bother watching it at all.
For the bean counters I can inform you that the original budget was $80 million, which ballooned to $120 million after extensive reshoots (ouch!). Art!
So, under the 50% Box Office rule, it made $50 million and was thus a colossal flop. That's not taking into account promotion and advertising, so you're not going to see a sequel to this farrago.
A Valentine's Update Of Sorts
Not very lovey-dovey, I'm afraid. You see, the Ruffian Central Bank has once again deigned not to move the official interest rate in Modern-day Mordor, which still stands at 21%. Art!
I've just listened to his most recent Youtube vlog. That's an old photograph, he has a much larger and stragglier beard now.
ANYWAY he continues to monitor conditions inside Ruffia, and by now his family might regret being so pro-Putin, because their economy is suffering, badly.
First of all there's inflation, which TRD memorably called 'a silent tax', because whilst it affects everyone, it affects the poorest the most, since they cannot avoid it's consequences.
MORTGAGES: 27% (minimum) and there are no subsidies any more
CAR LOANS: 30%
CREDIT CARDS: 50%
I think the highest mortgage rate I've seen is a ruinous 43%. UK mortgage rates seem to be 5% at their highest, for a comparison.
The amount of money in circulation continues to increase, driving up inflation, because any business in the military-industrial complex can get loans at zero per cent interest. In fact, they constitute "An insulated parallel economy that doesn't follow any normal economic principles", which is because Putin is obsessed with his war in Ukraine and will gladly destroy the Ruffian economy to prevail there. Art!
That stands for 'You Only Live Once' since Ruffians are buying stuff madly now before the price goes up in the future, further fuelling the inflation cycle.
Were the war to end today, the Ruffian economy would immediately collapse like a punctured bladder, yet if it continues then inflation will keep on rising and rising, risking another collapse if or when there's a run on the banks. Nervous Ruffians know that the state will steal their savings when it gets desperate, so they have to balance getting high returns with the probability of not having anything at an undetermined point in the future. The near future.
Madness Reigns
The tracking algorithm on Blogger has definitely not merely lost it's marbles, it's actively had Omni-Man throw them randomly to every quarter of the globe. Art!
Teutonland uber alles andere, it seems. How very odd! Last time it was Singapore, which is impossible to find on the world map here.
Finally -
Better get down to that fridge and empty out all the food that might suddenly turn poisonous and explode.
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