Back in 2002 I had one of the worst retail experiences ever at Best Buy. The experience was so bad I added Best Buy to my list of boycotted businesses.

Last year, I figured a five year ban on all purchases by all of my family members was a enough, and ended my boycott of Best Buy. In fact, until last year I had not even stepped foot in a Best Buy to purchase anything. It must be noted, I did go to their stores to look at items up close, then I would come home and order them online from someone else. Heh.

So, anyway… Last year I ended my boycott, but I still did not feel right shopping at the local store that was so rude to me, so we have done all of our shopping at a Best Buy approximately 45 miles from our house, when we would visit Barnes & Noble at the same time. It worked well that way and I have since made a lot of purchases from that Best Buy. The staff at that location is always polite, and they actually help you. I don't know if it's supposed to be the same with all Best Buy stores, but it is quite refreshing to shop at that particular store.

Fast forward to last night, when my mother-in-law calls me after visiting the Best Buy location in Douglasville.

My mother-in-law called the Best Buy store and spoke to Nathaniel. When he found out the camera had been used he apologized and told my mother-in-law to bring the camera back into the store and he would exchange it and also refund 10% off the total for her inconvenience.

It took her a couple days because of her fatigue but today she asked my father-in-law to take the camera over to the store and exchange it. That’s when the fecal matter hit the proverbial fan.

Make sure you head over to my personal blog, 101 Dead Armadillos, to read the rest of the post. I am getting ready to call them now to see if I can get some resolution to this matter. Depending on the outcome I will be adding them back to the boycott list.

A reporter finally asks a coupel tough questions about Barack Obama.

And the Obama campaign summarily dismissed the news organization completely.

Biden so disliked West’s line of questioning that the Obama campaign canceled a WFTV interview with Jill Biden, the candidate’s wife.

“This cancellation is non-negotiable, and further opportunities for your station to interview with this campaign are unlikely, at best for the duration of the remaining days until the election,” wrote Laura K. McGinnis, Central Florida communications director for the Obama campaign.

McGinnis said the Biden cancellation was “a result of her husband’s experience yesterday during the satellite interview with Barbara West.”

What you're seeing is a glimpse of the New America that Barack Obama will be bringing with him to the White House.

The price of oil is still high and our nation's economy is on shaky ground. Aren't you glad that your members of Congress are there in Washington, D.C. to take care of things before they get out of hand?

On Monday, the following items were on the legislative agenda in the House despite the fact that gas prices are still out of control and our economy could implode at any moment:

H.Res. 1287 – Commending the Honor Flight Network, its volunteers, and donors, for enabling World War II veterans to travel to our Nation's capital to see the World War II Memorial created in their honor

H.R. 6897 – Filipino Veterans Equity Act of 2008

S. 1315 – Veterans' Benefits Enhancement Act of 2007, as amended

H.R. 160 – Revolutionary War and War of 1812 Battlefield Protection Act

H.R. 2933 – Civil War Battlefield Preservation Act of 2008

H.R. 4828 – Palo Alto Battlefield National Historical Park Boundary Expansion and Redesignation Act of 2008

H.R. 5853 – Minute Man National Historical Park Boundary Revision Act

H.R. 6176 – To authorize the expansion of the Fort Davis National Historic Site in Fort Davis, Texas

H.R. 6159 – Deafy Glade Land Exchange Act

H.R. 5335 – To amend the National Trails System Act to provide for the inclusion of new trail segments, land components, and campgrounds associated with the Trail of Tears National Historic Trail

H.R. 3336 – Camp Hale Study Act

H.R. 3849 – Box Elder Utah Land Conveyance Act

H.R. 3299 – To provide for a boundary adjustment and land conveyances involving Roosevelt National Forest, Colorado

H.Res. 1374 – Commemorating the 75th anniversary of the Grand Coulee Dam and recognizing its critical role in the national and economic security of the United States

H.R. 6685 – To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to provide an annual grant to facilitate an iron working training program for Native Americans

H.R. 1907 – Coastal and Estuarine Land Conservation Program Act

S.J.Res. 45 – Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Basin Water Resources Compact

H.R. 5352 – Elder Abuse Victims Act of 2008

H.R. 6853 – Nationwide Mortgage Fraud Task Force Act of 2008

H.Res. 1438 – Commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Azorean Refugee Act of 1958 and celebrating the extensive contributions of Portuguese-American communities to the United States

H.Res. 1464 – Recognizing and honoring the 50th anniversary of the founding of AARP

H.R. 6890 – To extend the waiver authority for the Secretary of Education relating to elementary and secondary education hurricane recovery relief

H.Res. 1463 – Recognizing the benefits of service-learning as a teaching strategy to effectively engage youth in the community and classroom, and supporting the goals of the National Learn and Serve Challenge

H.R. 642 – Honorable Stephanie Tubbs Jones College Fire Prevention Act

H.R. 6370 – The Oregon Surplus Federal Land Act of 2008

H.R. 6524 – To authorize the Administrator of General Services to take certain actions with respect to parcels of real property located in Eastlake, Ohio, and Koochiching County, Minnesota

H.Res. 1466 – Honoring Dr. Guion S. “Guy” Bluford, Jr. and the 25th Anniversary of his Historic Flight as the First African American in Space

S. 2606 – To reauthorize the United States Fire Administration

H.Res. 1390 – Expressing support for the designation of a 4-H National Youth Science Day

H.R. 6323 – To establish a research, development, demonstration, and commercial application program to promote research of appropriate technologies for heavy duty plug-in hybrid vehicles

H.Res. 1471 – Honoring the 50th anniversary of the successful demonstration of the first integrated circuit and its impact on the electronics industry

Note: None of these legislation items had any relevance to our nation's energy situation, nor the economic impact of the events unfolding on Wall Street.

The following items were on the legislative agenda in the House on Tuesday, while gas prices were still hovering around $4 per gallon and firms on Wall Street prepared for the biggest bailout since the Great Depression :

H.R. 5244 – The Credit Cardholders' Bill of Rights Act of 2008

H.R. 6984 – The Federal Aviation Administration Extension Act of 2008, Part II

H.Res. 1473 – Recognizing the 150th anniversary year of the founding of Macy’s, Inc. as an American entrepreneurial success story and the role Macy’s Inc. plays in supporting America’s small businesses and vendors

H.R. 5443 – United States-Republic of Korea Defense Cooperation Improvement Act of 2008

H.R. 6646 – To require the Secretary of State, in consultation with the Secretary of Defense, to provide detailed briefings to Congress on any recent discussions conducted between United States Government and the Government of Taiwan and any potential transfer of defense articles or defense services to the Government of Taiwan

H.Con.Res. 255 – Expressing the sense of Congress regarding the U.S. commitment to preservation of religious and cultural sites and condemning instances where sites are desecrated

H.Res. 1227 – Condemning sexual violence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and calling on the international community to take immediate actions to respond to the violence

H.Res. 1314 – Remembering the 75th anniversary of the Ukrainian Famine of 1932-1933 and extending the deepest sympathies of the House of Representatives to the victims, survivors, and families of this tragedy

H.Res. 1402 – Supporting a transition to democracy through free, fair, credible, peaceful, and transparent elections in Bangladesh

H.Res. 1435 – Recognizing the 70th anniversary of the 1938 occurrence of Kristallnacht, The Night of Broken Glass

H.Res. 1451 – Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission Establishment Resolution

H.Res. 1461 – Recognizing the Tenth Anniversary of the terrorist bombings of the United States embassies in Nairobi, Kenya, and Dares Salaam, Tanzania

H.Con.Res. 371 – Strongly supporting and immediate and just restitution of, or compensation for, property illegally confiscated during the last century by Nazi and Communist regimes

H.Res. 1361 – Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the United States should lead a high-level diplomatic effort to defeat the campaign by some members of the Organization of the Islamic Conference to divert the United Nation's Durban Review Conference from a review of problems in their own and other countries by attacking Israel, promoting anti-Semitism, and undermining the Universal Charter of Human Rights and to ensure that the Durban Review Conference serves as a forum to review commitments to combat all forms of racism

H.Res. 1369 – Recognizing nongovernmental organizations working to bring just and lasting peace between Israelis and Palestinians

H.Con.Res. 374 – Supporting the spirit of peace and desire for unity displayed in the letter from 138 leading Muslim scholars, and in the Pope's response

H.R. 5834 – North Korean Human Rights Reauthorization Act of 2008

H.R. 758 – The Breast Cancer Patient Protection Act of 2007

H.R. 6908 – The Health Insurance Source of Injury Clarification Act of 2008. (When do they take up auto insurance clarification?)

H.R. 6469 – The Stephanie Tubbs Jones Organ Transplant Authorization Act of 2008

S. 1760 – The Healthy Start Reauthorization Act of 2007

H.R. 1532 – Comprehensive Tuberculosis Elimination Act of 2007

H.R. 2994 – National Pain Care Policy Act of 2007

H.R. 5265 – Paul D. Wellstone Muscular Dystrophy Community Assistance, Research and Education Amendments of 2008

H.R. 6901 – Meth Free Families and Communities Act

H.R. 2583 – Physician Workforce and Graduate Medical Education Enhancement Act of 2007

H.Res. 1042 – Supporting the We Don’t Serve Teens Campaign

H.Con.Res. 393 – Supporting the Goals and Ideals of National Sudden Cardiac Arrest Awareness Month

H.Res. 988 – Designating the month of March 2008 as "MRSA Awareness Month"

H.Res. 1381 – Expressing the sense of the House that there should be an increased Federal commitment prioritizing prevention and public health for all people in the United States

H.R. 1014 – Heart Disease Education, Analysis Research, and Treatment for Women Act

H.R. 6353 – Ryan Haight Online Pharmacy Consumer Protection Act of 2008

H.R. 6983- Paul Wellstone and Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008

H.R. 4544 – Code Talkers Recognition Act of 2008

H.R. 6950 – Stephanie Tubbs Jones Gift of Life Medal Act of 2008

H.R. 3018 – Family Self-Sufficiency Act of 2007

H.R. 6894 – Defense Production Act Extension and Reauthorization of 2008

H.R. 6965 – To extend the authorization of the national flood insurance program

H.R. 6897 – Filipino Veterans Equity Act of 2008

H.R. 160 – Revolutionary War and War of 1812 Battlefield Protection Act

H.R. 2933 – Civil War Battlefield Preservation Act of 2008

H.R. 4828 – Palo Alto Battlefield National Historical Park Boundary Expansion and Redesignation Act of 2008

S.J.Res. 45 – Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Basin Water Resources Compact

H.R. 5352 – Elder Abuse Victims Act of 2008

H.R. 642 – Honorable Stephanie Tubbs Jones College Fire Prevention Act

S. 2606 – To reauthorize the United States Fire Administration

H.R. 6323 – To establish a research, development, demonstration, and commercial application program to promote research of appropriate technologies for heavy duty plug-in hybrid vehicles

Note: Like Monday, none of these legislation items had any impact on our nation's energy situation or the pending implosion of Wall Street.

Today, Wednesday, the Democratic controlled House is going to take the first step toward the light at the end of the tunnel. There is word today that they will drop the provision continuing the moratorium on offshore drilling from the Conitnuing Resolution. Word has it they will also begin debating the $700 billion corporate bail out. We'll see. Here's what's on the agenda today:

H.Res. 1489 – Same Day Consideration Rule – Waiving a requirement of clause 6(a) of rule XIII with respect to the consideration of certain resolutions reported from the Committee on Rules

H.R. 2638 – The Consolidated Security, Disaster Assistance, and Continuing Appropriations Act, 2009

H.R. ___ – Energy Production and Conservation Tax Relief Act of 2008

S. 3001 – National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2009 as Amended

H.Res. 1421 – Solemnly commemorating the 25th anniversary of the tragic October 1983 terrorist bombing of the United States Marine Corps Barracks in Beirut, Lebanon and remembering those who lost their lives and those who were injured

H.R. 7005 – The Alternative Minimum Tax Relief Act of 2008

H.R. 7006 – The Disaster Tax Relief Act of 2008

H.R. 6849 – To amend the commodity provisions of the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 to permit producers to aggregate base acres and reconstitute farms to avoid the prohibition on receiving direct payments, counter-cyclical payments, or average crop revenue election payments when the sum of the base acres of a farm is 10 acres or less

S. 2324– Inspector General Reform Act of 2008

H.R. 6406 – To elevate the Inspector General of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to an Inspector General appointed pursuant to section 3 of the Inspector General Act of 1978

H.R. 6847 – To designate the "First Lieutenant Noah Harris Ellijay Post Office Building in Ellijay, Georgia

H. Res. ___ – Providing for agreement by the House of Representatives to the Senate amendment to the bill, H.R. 2095, with an amendment

H.R. 6999 – The Integrated Deepwater Program Reform Act of 2008

S. 3009 – J. James Exon Federal Bureau of Investigation Building

H. Res. 1376 – Commemorating the 80th anniversary of the Okeechobee Hurricane of September 1928 and its associated tragic loss of life

S. 2162 – Veterans' Mental Health and Other Care Improvements Act of 2008

S. 3023 – Veterans' Benefits Improvement Act of 2008

H.R. 6980 – To authorize the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to increase the amount of the Medal of Honor special pension provided under that title by up to $1,000.

H.R. 160 – Revolutionary War and War of 1812 Battlefield Protection Act

H.R. 2933 – Civil War Battlefield Preservation Act of 2008

H.R. 4828 – Palo Alto Battlefield National Historical Park Boundary Expansion and Redesignation Act of 2008

S. 2606 – To reauthorize the United States Fire Administration

H.R. 6323 – To establish a research, development, demonstration, and commercial application program to promote research of appropriate technologies for heavy duty plug-in hybrid vehicles

H.Con.Res. 255 – Expressing the sense of Congress regarding the U.S. commitment to preservation of religious and cultural sites and condemning instances where sites are desecrated

H.Res. 1451 – Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission Establishment Resolution

H.Res. 1461 – Recognizing the Tenth Anniversary of the terrorist bombings of the United States embassies in Nairobi, Kenya, and Dares Salaam, Tanzania

H.R. 758 – The Breast Cancer Patient Protection Act of 2007

H.R. 6469 – The Stephanie Tubbs Jones Organ Transplant Authorization Act of 2008

H.R. 1532 – Comprehensive Tuberculosis Elimination Act of 2007

H.R. 2994 – National Pain Care Policy Act of 2007

H.R. 5265 – Paul D. Wellstone Muscular Dystrophy Community Assistance, Research and Education Amendments of 2008

H.R. 6901 – Meth Free Families and Communities Act

H.Con.Res. 393 – Supporting the Goals and Ideals of National Sudden Cardiac Arrest Awareness Month

H.Res. 988 – Designating the month of March 2008 as "MRSA Awareness Month"

H.R. 1014 – Heart Disease Education, Analysis Research, and Treatment for Women Act

H.R. 4544 – Code Talkers Recognition Act of 2008

H.R. 6950 – Stephanie Tubbs Jones Gift of Life Medal Act of 2008

H.R. 3018 – Family Self-Sufficiency Act of 2007

Note: When does Congress actually do anything? For the past three days all I have heard is 'bah blah blah' and a lot of political grandstanding. When are they actually productive? With the exception of a couple items on the agendas shown above, this entire week has been a complete waste of taxpayer time.

I was watching earlier and saw the stack of papers also known as the Continuing Resolution. Republican Minority Leader John Boehner asked if anyone on the floor had actually read it. I doubt they have. They say that the provision continuing the moratorium on offshore drilling is not included. I will believe it when I see it.

Meanwhile, we're still paying $4 per gallon for gasoline and our 401k's aren't worth the paper they're printed on. Keep up the good work, guys!

How much is $700 billion?

The U.S. Congress is considering a 'bail out' package today to 'save our economy'. I'm not so sure passage of this bill would save our economy. In fact, I think passing this bill will only postpone the inevitable and do more irreparable harm to our country.

$700 billion is a lot of money. I don't think the American people have any idea how much 700 billion is. Let's think about it for a moment.

More than 22,196 years have passed in 700 billion seconds.

The sun is 93 million miles from Earth. If you traveled to the sun (and back) 3,763 times you still wouldn't have gone 700 billion miles.

There are 1,300 kernels of corn in one pound. 700 billion kernels of corn would weigh 538,461,538 pounds. How many people could you feed with all that corn?

The U.S. imported 3.66 billion barrels of oil last year. It would take 191 years like last year to import that much oil.

The GMC Sierra Pickup in my driveway was roughly $35,000. I could buy 20 million of them with $700 billion. In fact, if I had $700 billion I could buy 4,375,000 homes like the one I own now.

More importantly, however, is the fact that $700 billion amounts to an additional tax burden of $2,300 for every man, woman, and child in America. Our national debt is already sitting at nearly $10 trillion. Every man, woman, and child in America already owes $32,760 for that debt. Should we really be adding this much to it?

Why should we have to pay out of our pockets because of mis-management at Wall Street investment firms? Why should we have to pay out of our pockets because lenders relaxed the rule and made loans to people who could never repay the loans? Why should we have to pay out of our pockets to bail out those would could not manage their own money?

The 'bail out' under consideration allows the government to "buy" the bad debt that is currently on the books of these companies that knew what they were doing. This 'bail out' is basically the beginning of the nationalization of our banking industry. It's just a matter of time. These companies brought this on, and we the American people are going to end up paying for it. They gambled with their books and lost. Now they want us, the American people, to foot the bill for them and Congress is helping them.

Should we 'bail out' people when they make a bad business decision? Should we 'bail out' people that get in too deep? Should we 'bail out' people when their investments tank on them?

Why should we 'bail out' some companies and not others? What standards should be used to decide which companies are worthy of a 'bail out' and which ones are not?

Why not 'bail out' everyone struggling with their mortgage right now? Why not 'bail out' everyone having trouble paying for gasoline? Why not 'bail out' everyone that owes anyone anything?

Can we really afford all of that? Of course we can't, and we cannot afford this bail out either.

This 'bail out' is a really bad idea. Bad business decisions cause businesses to fail. Bad businesses are meant to fail. They fail for a reason. I think it would be better to let these businesses fail and let the companies that didn't cook their books or make risky investments rise above it all.

We shouldn't work to 'bail out' companies that never lifted a finger to hold the bucket and bail themselves out first. I want no part of this 'bail out' and you shouldn't either. All you have to do is look at the 700 billion holes in the bucket to understand why.

WARNING: This post contains some language not suitable for all audiences.

It's absolutely disgusting. I'm not one to talk too much on my blog about what happens on Twitter, but something was brought to my attention tonight that is just disgusting.

If you are not familiar with Twitter, it's a microblogging platform designed basically so you can tell people what you are doing. Yeah, it's really that simple. Messages are limited to 140 characters, and people have learned to relay a lot of information in those messages.

When you sign up for Twitter, no one sees what you are saying until they 'follow' you. As a Twitter user, you choose who to follow, so if there is someone you don't like, you don't follow them and you will never see what they have to say. If someone offends you, you simply don't follow them either. You can even block people, if you don't want them to see what you say either. Pretty simple huh?

Well…

Barack Obama has a Twitter account. Remember, as a Twitter user, you choose who you follow.

Barack Obama follows fuxara who lists their real name as 'fuck sarah palin'.

Barack Obama follows SarahPalinNude (no real name on this one, I guess they figured the username was clear enough).

Barack Obama follows more than 85,000. While I doubt he actually reads all of those tweets everyday, he has chosen to follow a lot of people. Another one of those people is palinsvagina.

I'm sure the Obama camp will issue some sort of statement claiming that a young 'misguided' staffer was responsible for this mess, but I'm not so sure I would believe that.

If I was the Democratic candidate for President, I don't think I would have much time for Twitter, but I also wouldn't delegate someone to use my name either. Whether a flunky is behind the account or it's Barry O himself, he is still responsible for everything that happens with that account and he should be ashamed of himself for associating with such crude behavior.

Thanks to Lagomorphic Tendencies for the heads up on this one.