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silly humor - post 'em here! [warning some NSFW and adult content]

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TaoPhoenix:
...Money.  It blinds the eye, and this is just another example of that.
-wraith808 (May 10, 2015, 09:51 AM)
--- End quote ---

Well, it's an inability to see all right, but an inability to see reason, and the cause is arguably attributable to just not thinking things through - a human trait that we may all share until we've learned to do otherwise. A backlash would otherwise have been a pretty predictable likely/potential outcome, and thus it would seem unsurprising that that (amongst other things) is what happened. It was unwittingly self-inflicted harm.
Any CEO who approved taking steps like that without considering the potential marketing consequences (which is apparently what happened) would arguably need to have rocks in his head. I think that's what is cynically referred to as a "career-defining moment", or something.
-IainB (May 10, 2015, 10:34 AM)
--- End quote ---

Something bothers me about this evaluation, so I think I disagree with it. Maybe a little of it is semantics, but here goes. In a different order than the paragraph:

"...without considering the potential marketing consequences..."

I am quite sure the consequences were "considered". I am also quite sure they knew there would be a backlash. I am quite sure no CEO would think "Hey, we can lock it down and our customers will luv us! Yay!"

Instead, a theme I see slowly grinding across lots of otherwise seemingly unrelated news is that there is a profoundly broad and "Jungian-ly Conscious urge" (to struggle to coin a phrase!) to force the entire economy supply-demand curve towards power on the supply side. To the extent they do this, the broad "bullying powers" of barriers to entry and "talk to the first level reps" leave consumers helpless.

So instead of "not considering" the effects, instead I propose they *were* considered, as something like a balancing equation: The long term deep boosts of profits with greater supply side control, vs the localized and short term "tactical risks" of backlashes and local losses of profits.

The CEOs have pretty thick skins - so they're quite used to the fact the media loves the "local tactical backlashes". So meanwhile the C-level team just gauges the risks and they just laugh at things like "backlashes". Even if they get one specific equation wrong, their multi - level parent corps or friends have the money, it's not like a 4 man company that's gonna tank if their only flagship product tanks.

The rise of viral activism is putting a little more power into the hands of consumers, making these calculation much weirder than they used to be fifteen years ago.

The last side of "not considered" is something to the lines of "Come on, the 22 regular members of DC can't be that much smarter than professional managers in these companies". If proposed policy floated around, I'm sure any company would have a random guy who would raise our objections.

Instead, I think there's a bit of a power-lust in the urge to do all this supply-side control, and arrogance, that can over-ride "consideration".



Renegade:
The subtle art of not giving a f*ck:

http://markmanson.net/not-giving-a-fuck

A good laugh/read there. Click or don't. I don't give a f*ck either way. 8)

Arizona Hot:


Dog Haircuts Gone Really Wrong

Giampy:
This episode happens at Hawaii.

A Jewish merchant tries to sell twine. He deals with a guy and starts to convince him to buy the twine. After many minutes the guy gets peeved because of such insistence, so he decides to get rid of the merchant and says ironically: "OK, I will buy your twine. I will buy as much twine as the distance between your nose and the top of your pee-pee".

After some days the guy sees a long line of trucks coming to him. They are full of twine.
The guy, amazed: "What is that stuff???"
Jewish merchant: "It's what you ordered"
The guy screams: "I didn't order that!!! Damn!!! BUT WHO ARE YOU???"
"Who am I?" the merchant answers, "My name is Benjamin Sharon, I live here now,

Spoilerbut I was circumcised at Warsaw..."

IainB:
^^ Similar joke to the "twine" one:

Military redundancy payment.
The US military were notified that their budget was being cut, so the President decided to retire his top three generals and give them a going away bonus for their service.

The first general was called in to the Oval Office, where the President told him he was to receive a pension and an unusual bonus. He was told that he could pick any two parts of his body and they would measure the distance between the two points. For every inch measured he would receive $10,000.  The general picked from the top of his head to his toes and got a bonus of $720,000.

The second general was then called in and told the same news.  He picked from the tip of his outstretched hands to the tip of his toes and was rewarded with a bonus of $1,000,000.  Whilst this was going on the first general was in the outer office, telling the third general waiting there all about the bonus system, so he was well prepared when his turn came.

He was ushered into the Oval Office, and after the President had told him what the bonus was to be based on, he told the President that he wanted to be measured from the tip of his penis to his balls. The President looked at him, decided not to make any comment, and said, "Well, OK, but if that's what you want it will have to be measured by a Medical Officer."

An MO was called, and when he arrived, the President explained what was required of him.  The general dropped his trousers and underpants, and the MO bent down in front of the general with a tape measure, placing the beginning of the tape at the tip of the General's penis.

A moment later the MO exclaimed, "My God!  Where are your balls?"

"In Vietnam", replied the General.

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