Daily PUMA Column - Commentary by Alessandro Machi

Sunday, May 31, 2009

Remembering Sarah Silverman as Barack Obama seems intent on cutting annual social security benefit increases to zero & REDUCING medicare and medicaid.

Sarah Silverman, you stink.

This Sarah Silverman video gets so intellectually devoid of truth that at the 3 minute and on mark it has got to be one of the all time youtube wow moments (and not in a good way) for its cascading condescension and stupidity aimed towards the elderly.
You're just so hip Sarah.

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

WARNING, new Google Base email may be a fraud by those looking to steal your identity or personal information...OR NOT!

(Edit note, it looks like I am in error)

Whenever I am asked to sign in for a "new" or "upgraded" service, If I bother to click on the link at all, I ALWAYS check the URL ADDRESS.

For instance.  I recently received an invite from "Google Base".  But the link URL the email provided looked like this..
http://base.google.com/base/?gsessionid=JMfSM2buUGreiZrqWLbHUw
If the word Google is not immediately after the two forward slashes, I think that means it is a Phishing site looking to steal your information and perhaps do you some kind of identity theft or some other form of harm.

If you want to cut and paste the URL from above you will see that the site looks just like google base, but if you then google "google base", you will find that the word google is indeed directly after the two forward slashes, like this...  
http://www.google.com/base/
I hope you were not "phished" upon by the presumably fake google base email before reading this post.

Monday, May 25, 2009

PROJECT WONDERFUL, a creative way to advertise on other PUMA blogs while keeping the income within the PUMA community.

I THINK THIS IS REALLY A BIG DEAL!


I would just like to add that I stumbled upon Project Wonderful because I do daily research on several topics and just happened to notice this interesting way of advertising. I don't know the creators or owners of Project Wonderful, nor was I solicited in any way. 

...If someone outbids me I lose my ad spot and either rebid or just let it go. I had to register and then add funds to my Project Wonderful account via PAYPAL before I could start bidding. I started my Project Wonderful account with 11 dollars.

I think one can just be a "publisher" and accept ads from other sources without having to be an advertiser.  However, what goes around comes around. If PUMA blogs decide to sign up, then it becomes a way to circulate advertising dollars within the PUMA community. If anybody has any concerns please leave a comment. So far I think Project Wonderful is a great idea based on what I know about it.
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(Below is the original article when I had just learned of Project Wonderful)
I may have stumbled upon a method of internet advertising that may give the blog owner control over ad content while letting the advertiser know exactly where their ad will appear on the blog or website.

An example of what can happen when the blog owner's approval for an advertisement is not necessary would be the placement of an advertisement promoting a politician next to an article voicing displeasure over that same politicians policy.

Even when some blogs offer ad space for sale, the ad does not necessarily end up where the advertiser wants it.  Apparently "targeted ads" still only get randomly placed within the desired website, but not specifically where the advertiser wants the ad to appear, at least that is how it work last summer when I inquired.

In my opinion, the ideal scenario for both blog owner and advertiser alike is to have an open space available on the blog, and anybody can bid on that space. Highest bidder gets the space until they are outbid. The bidder controls the highest they will bid, and the total amount they are willing to pay for the life of the ad. 

If the blog owner disapproves of the ad, I presume there is a mechanism to discontinue the ad, even if it means discontinuing the auction entirely.  In essence, both sides get exactly what they require before consummating the deal.

Enter Project Wonderful. It appears Project Wonderful meets my criteria for the kind of advertising that allows the blog owner control over the content of advertisements on their website, and the advertiser the exact placement of the ad.  The wildcard to this scenario is that the advertiser can be "outbid" for the space and then either lose the spot or have to rebid a higher amount to retain the spot. 

I don't mind the bidding aspect because that should mean the ad eventually reaches its level of "worth", but before reaching that level of worth, the ad space may just prove an excellent value to those who advertise there first.

I just discovered Project Wonderful and have not had a chance to try it out yet, but I LOVE the concept and wanted to share it with any PUMA blog Owner that wants more control over the content of advertisement that appears on their blog.

Part of the way those in power stay in power is to only frequent and publicize each others websites. Project Wonderful might be a way to support other PUMA blogs with advertising dollars while helping your own blog grow as well. The starting auction prices appear to be so low that we can probably all afford to advertise on at least one other PUMA blog.

Sunday, May 24, 2009

Princess Leia (Ear Model as Well) Wants a Tea Party War Against the Credit Card Companies, NOT a Republican vs Democrat waste of energy debate.

DOUBLE CLICK TO SEE REGULAR SIZE.
This YouTube personality gets it, how about you? The Credit Card Companies are destroying the economy while positioning themselves to STEAL your assets.

When Oprah Winfrey, who has attempted to build her legacy by nurturing the public's spirituality, offers four FREE KFC Chicken Grill coupons but does NOTHING to protest what the credit card companies are doing to the american people, you know we are in trouble.

Friday, May 22, 2009

Even Arianna Huffington thinks the Credit Card Companies are out of control.

Click here to read Arianna Huffington's piece about how The Credit Card Industry is doing more harm than good right now.

However, when Arianna Huffington states, 
The Senate overwhelming approved legislation reining in some of the most egregious practices of credit card companies...Huffington couldn't more wrong. 
The Credit Card Bill is a watered down version of what it should have been. In the near future I'll post a link to a guest column I have written for another blog in which I highlight TEN THINGS THE CREDIT CARD REFORM BILL DID NOT address, but should have.

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

CHASE BANK LOSES ROUND IN COURT OVER THEIR CREDIT CARD CONDUCT.

Chase bank lost a round in court yesterday when the judge ruled that they could not hide change in terms up their butt in the finely embroidered toliet paper embossings and then claim it didn't stink. 


I guess when wallowing in "up your buttness business protocol" on an ongoing basis, it gets hard to tell the difference between clean air and gaseous funk.
But this should be no surprise for Chase Bank president Keith Schuck, who recently stood in front of a group of impressionable fourth graders and explained how if they saved their money at 10 percent interest in a savings account, their money would grow real fast.


The fascinated school children allegedly couldn't wait to get home and tell their parents about 10 percent interest savings at Chase Bank.

The fact that at the time Chase President Keith Schuck used 10% interest savings rate as an example to these impressionable and vulnerable school children while the actual interest rate those schoolchildren's parents could get on their savings account was .01 percent, or TEN THOUSAND TIMES LESS INTEREST THAN what Keith Schuck used as an example has not seemed to cause much concern at Chase Bank, or the media.

Should we be surprised?The lesson Mr. Keith Schuch appears to be teaching is, it is ok to lie and deceive young kids if one is rich and "successful", and is president of a bank.

Meanwhile, Chase bank's name seems to be appearing all over the country in lawsuits being filed against them! I have no idea how many, but there was even one scheduled at the court where I had business to attend to.  I wanted to talk to the attorney for the person suing Chase but they were called into the judges chambers after the case was moved to a federal court!

lol, I never did find the attorney after he disappeared into the backroom, I even waited for an hour but then had to leave.

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

BREAKING NEWS, JOHN ZIEGLER'S MEDIA MALPRACTICE PREMIERES IN NEW YORK CITY TONIGHT, MAY 19, 2009. SEE LINK TO A REVIEW OF THIS MUST SEE DOCUMENTARY.


Even though John Ziegler is known for being a conservative, his media malpractice documentary (which I am soon to view myself) focuses on how Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin were both done in by the media.

Please support this important documentary by attending the New York Premiere.

Monday, May 18, 2009

STOCK MARKET'S RECENT RISE MAY HAVE BEEN MANIPULATED BY WISHFUL THINKING OR INVESTORS WHO BOUGHT IN, NEITHER SCENARIO SEEMS CONCERNED ABOUT REALITY.

The link below goes to an article about how the stock market rise may have been wishful thinking by those who desire AND require the stock market to go up.  It appears to me that some people want the stock market to recover even while ignoring all the suffering that is going on specifically caused by unreasonable credit card company actions.

Why is it important for the stock market to somehow rise while credit card companies are charging 30% interest on their credit card lines?  More importantly, HOW can the stock market rise if people's productivity is robbed by these outrageous credit card interest rates that suck out all of the spending money people would otherwise have to buy goods and services in their own community?

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

The Stimulus Package and Higher Taxes are being fueled by The Credit Card Industry!

I have always been good with simple math. In one way this has been a bad thing because it enables me to see the mathematical manipulation of peoples lives while others don't seem to notice, yet I have no standing because I am not a physics major nor do I have a PHD in math.

Imagine being the character who yells out that "soylent green is dead people",  and nobody knows what you are talking about. Imagine being the person who coined the phrase, "if you build it, they will come", and nobody was interested.  

The Credit Card problem is becoming the soylent green of our entire economy. Even economists who state that the credit card industry is causing a huge economic problem will then state that the credit card problem is on equal footing with other economic problems, without seeing that credit cards may be the UNDERLYING problem that is affecting the other economic problems as well.

What is frustrating to me is that people who don't have credit card debt feel it is a problem that is beneath them, that it only affects the reckless and self indulgent, those who ASKED FOR IT.

That sentiment cannot be farther from the truth for most americans.

We are all interconnected mathematically. You could probably count on one hand the number of businesses that DO NOT take credit cards but do take debit cards. Even if you don't have credit card debt, or pay off your debt every month (bravo by the way), the place that employees you, and the vendors that either supply or purchase products or services from your business, in all likelihood RELY ON CREDIT. Without those credit lines, you may not still have your job, and guess what you might end up relying on to get by.

Now is the time to link the credit card industries recent actions to higher taxes. The credit card companies, the FDIC, and the federal reserve continue to suck out the fragile, economic life lubricant known as credit lines and lower interest credit card rates from every small city in the United States and their local economies. The credit card companies are also shafting their most reliable, honorable, never late paying, never miss a payment type of customer.

Credit card companies are ALSO sucking out the very economic life force that helps local, state, and federal governments meet their tax goals. So now there are two equal anti-economic forces working against the working class. 

As local credit dries up, and interest rates rise (even as the federal reserve drops interest rates to the banks) governments receive less in consumption taxes and property taxes as people make less purchases, home values drop and people are foreclosed on.

It is NOT ENOUGH to just be against higher taxes. If you are against higher taxes but not against higher credit card interest rates, you have not figured it out yet.

Now is not the time to be either a democrat or a republican. Now is the time to find alternative ideas to the same old stuff that got us in this economic mess. Incentive based Credit Card Programs are the only way to stop the downward spiral of the world's economy.

Instead, we are being force fed a "This is going to hurt me, more than it is you" chant by the banks as they continue to raise interest rates and lower credit card limits. Creative, incentive based credit card programs have not been tried, and that is the real crime that is going on and on and on.

Monday, May 11, 2009

One of the best articles I have seen about the state of the world's economy, from Asia Times.

Asia Times asks for permission before copying their articles, so I will just put a link to the specific article that I think is very well written and explains the economic pitfalls the world is facing. One of the most important things they say is something that I have been preaching about as well. If money is not flowing back to the banks from private enterprise and blue collar jobs, the economy cannot improve.

In my opinion, the credit card industry is the key force in destroying the current economy by doing the exact opposite of what they should be doing. The credit card companies should be reducing old debt interest rate obligations and offering creative incentives to get people who can afford it to pay down their debts.


--------------------------

Wells Fargo increased their trading assets by 600% over the past year, the exact opposite of what should be going on in these tough economic times.

Sunday, May 10, 2009

Happy Mothers Day Greetings Card, Courtesy of the Credit Card Companies, because we took all of your families spare change.

If your kids are busy sweating the details on how to meet their monthly payment deadlines which may include hefty increases on the interest rates for all of their credit card debt, I'm sure they still send their love, even if they couldn't afford flowers this year.  Happy Mothers Day.

-The Credit Card Companies.

Saturday, May 9, 2009

Did Oprah Winfrey's People ask Barack Obama to hold a Town Hall Meeting about the Credit Card Industry to get DailyPUMA off of Oprah's Back?

My prior article on DailyPUMA challenged Oprah Winfrey to devote an entire television show to how awful the Credit Card Companies are behaving in these tough economic times.


Let me just add that DailyPUMA got hits from the Chicago, Illinois area soon after my prior article was written.

I write an article that exposes Oprah Winfrey for the greedy business person she really is, someone who would promote free chicken dinners to her audience to make herself look good to millions of people even as she IGNORES the economic raping of millions of americans by the credit card companies.  

Not to mention that Oprah recently had a television show devoted to how livestock animals are mistreated in which Oprah stated that she had not previously thought much about how such livestock are treated, but she would from now on.  I guess KFC passed the "grill test" when it came to how they treat their livestock, not.

The credit card companies are using PUNITIVE measures in these tough economic times to collect their debts when INCENTIVE BASED credit card programs should have been used to both reduce consumer debt and also create more consumer cash flow throughout local economies throughout every city in the entire country. 

The best stimulus plan of all would have been incentive based credit card debt payback programs, NOT the punitive based credit card debt payback programs that have been hurled on millions of americans instead.  

I'm probably the first person to have identified punitive vs incentive based credit card debt paydown programs.  That should tell you how screwed we are right now. If the credit card industry wants to hire me to help them create incentive based credit card programs, I would do so, happily.

Barack Obama has performed the "perfect" political move by announcing his hastily called town hall meeting. 

Barack Obama takes the pressure off of Oprah Winfrey so Oprah doesn't have to do a televisions show about the credit card industries punitive methods for destroying the lives of americans just barely hanging on month to month.

Barack Obama waters down and obfuscates the most important credit card issues plaguing americans by conducting a "town hall meeting" while making it look as if he is reaching out to blue collar america at the same time.

Plus, the Barack Obama fan club can then chortle that Barack Obama took on the credit card companies while involving the american people in the that process via a town hall meeting that was so hastily announced that no official date or venue was announced.

And of course, who knows what Oprah Winfrey does to reciprocate for Barack Obama getting her off the hook.  At the end of the day, nothing changes, and that is what matters most to fat cats like Oprah Winfrey.

Thursday, May 7, 2009

Oprah Winfrey's and KFC's "Let them Eat Grilled Chicken" coupon offer is just a diversionary tactic to cover up what really matters.


With apologies to Marie-Antoinette (1755-93), apparently Marie-Antoinette is another woman from history whose reputation was misrepresented and ruined because she allegedly coined the phrase "Let them eat cake". It appears that the phrase "let them eat cake" might have had an entirely different meaning than what we have been led to believe.


However, when it comes to Oprah Winfrey and the KFC grilled chicken free coupon caper, I am offended that Ms. Winfrey has chosen to participate in the KFC free grilled chicken coupon program while much much bigger problems are afflicting millions of americans.

Until Oprah Winfrey actually devotes an entire television show to the credit card industry and their punishing behavior to those in need of help, she will be the biggest hypocrite and fake on the planet in my eyes.  

Until Oprah Winfrey calls out the credit card industry and their use of punishment tactics to gather debts, when incentive based tactics would be far more successful, she will be the biggest fake on the planet in my eyes.

Until Oprah Winfrey exposes how Chase Bank fired their own employee because that employee waived a couple hundred dollars in penalities so a customer could pay their rent, out of over a thousand dollars in fees that were generated by that same customer, Oprah Winfrey will be a fake in my eyes.

Until Oprah Winfrey actually brings together Chase Bank, the credit card industry, and several victims of the credit card industries punishment tactics and devotes an entire television show to this issue, Oprah Winfrey will be a fake in my eyes. 

What about in your eyes?

However, if Oprah Winfrey did devote an episode to how the Credit Card Industry has unfairly victimized good, honest, hard working americans, would Oprah really be able to portray the situation as it truly is?  Or would such a show become a watered down explanation about how the poor poor credit card industry is suffering losses and is just doing what it needs to do to get by.

On second thought, perhaps Oprah is so over that there is no way she could play an effective role in protecting the very people who love her the most, her own viewers.

So instead, Oprah has come up with a different idea, Let them eat chicken, its just so finger lickin good.  

You can help do what Oprah, and ALL OTHER CELEBRITIES REFUSE TO DO, and that is fight for your fellow american, by bookmarking Daily-Protest.com and making your own sign that says daily-protest.com on it and putting it in a storefront window, on a bulletin board, or on a counter top, it is that easy to make a difference.

Tuesday, May 5, 2009

Free Food for the Homeless courtesy of KFC and Oprah Winfrey, only a 24 hour window to print coupons however.

Additional update, please check out the two links below to really understand what ChickenGate is really about.


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Update, my original coupons ended in a 1234, which mens they were no good. I just reprinted them at 8:10 PM pacific standard time on May-06. I was supposed to get 4 coupons, but I only got three. I reclicked on the link, tried again, and it spit out the forth coupon. I guess I"m good to go now. I think KFC needs to add a day to the promotion since the promotion was not ready when the promotion started.

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I stumbled across this kentucky fried chicken, "The Oprah Winfrey Show" Kentucky Grilled Chicken 2 Piece Meal Coupon offer for a free meal from KFC. I assume it is legit, it sounds legit. You can print four coupons in the next 24 hours and then you have about 2 weeks to use them. KFC AND OPRAH WINFREY FREE MEAL OFFER.

I eat very little meat and buy vegan products most of the time so I am not thrilled about promoting this. However, if you want to do something nice for a homeless person that perhaps you see everyday on your way to work, just print out four of these coupons and hand one to them, (please do it only if you know it to be safe to do and you want to do it).

If your goal is the most bang for the homeless buck, probably don't know if you want to give out all four at once. One could keep the other three in the car just in case other opportunities arrive over the next two weeks.

If these four coupons can help you save some food money this month, more power to you as well.KFC AND OPRAH WINFREY FREE MEAL OFFER. If you think these coupons are fake, please let me know and I'll delete this topic, otherwise I am going on the premise that it is a legit offer.

Here is the fine print,
COUPON AVAILABLE FOR PRINTING ROM 9AM CDT (Central Daylight Time, one hour  behind the East Coast, two hours ahead of the West Coast) 5/5/09 TO 9:59PM CDT 5/6/09. COUPON IS REDEEMABLE AT PARTICIPATING KFC LOCATIONS IN THE U.S. FROM 5/5/09 TO 5/19/09, EXCLUDING 5/10/09.

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(quick update).  It appears that one could print as many of these coupons as one wanted until a couple of hours ago.  Now it appears that KFC has added a downloading software requirement
that allows one to print the coupon with the barcode.

I assumed that my prior four coupons were no good so I went to reprint them after I downloaded their coupon software, but I got a message saying I had already downloaded my coupons prior.  The software downloading was easy.  Just make sure you don't stumble upon a fake version of this offer and agree to download malware or spyware instead.  I presume the link I have put on this article is the correct one.  I am concerned that my barcode looks the same for all four coupons.

Saturday, May 2, 2009

Remembering a year ago, and the flip flopping the Barack Obama camp did on the delegate counts.

I stumbled upon a site that has a few different AP stories about the delegate counts listed.Barack Obama Flip Flopping on delegate tallies for Florida and Michigan.

Here is one AP clip from the link above...

AP - Barack Obama's campaign said Thursday that evenly splitting Michigan's delegates with rival Hillary Rodham Clinton would be a fair way to distribute them, now that the chances of a do-over primary are essentially dead.

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Here is the second AP clip from the link above...AP - With the nomination in sight, Barack Obama is willing to give rival Hillary Rodham Clinton the lion's share of the delegates from Florida and Michigan but is stopping short of her demand to fully recognize the two renegade states.


That must have been some toothless lion that got the "lion's share" of delegates from Florida and Michigan.

Friday, May 1, 2009

Barack Obama Rumor about his residency and Occidental College, is it a hoax?

I was sent the following email that included an alleged press release news item from the "AP". There were three more paragraphs but the first one has everything in it that caused numerous conservative blogs to jump on the story.  However, this "AP" story actually does not appear to exist.

 AP- WASHINGTON D.C. - In a move certain to fuel the debate over Obama's qualifications for the presidency, the group "Americans for Freedom of Information" has released copies of President Obama'scollege transcripts from Occidental College. Released today, the transcript indicates that Obama, under the name Barry Soetoro, received financial aid as a foreign student from Indonesia asan undergraduate at the school. The transcript was released by Occidental College in compliance with a court order in a suit broughtby the group in the Superior Court of California. The transcript shows that Obama (Soetoro) applied for financial aid and was awarded a fellowship for foreign students from the Fulbright FoundationScholarship program. To qualify, for the scholarship, a student mustclaim foreign citizenship. This document would seem to provide thesmoking gun that many of Obama's detractors have been seeking.

When I tried to do a google of the phrase "certain to fuel the debate over Obama's qualifications" in the google news section, NOTHING comes up.  

If I do a general google of the web, several dozen or more pages show up with this "AP story". I think it is a hoax since it does not show up as an AP story when I do a google news search.


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