The Real Issue Behind the Occupy Wall Street Movement

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Us human beings love to feel like we’re right. And we love it more when we feel like we’ve been wronged and can be righteously indignant. And perhaps that is most evident by the “Occupy Wall Street” movement and related franchise protests.

It seems that the protesters desperately want to be proven right and oppressed. And they’ll goad the police repeatedly until they can be oppressed by the Man.  

In this case, it’s the richest 1%.  Buncha jerks. They must be doing something wrong and should be stopped.  Unfortunately, we’re just not sure exactly what they’re doing that’s evil, but somehow Bank of America and Ben Bernanke are involved.

However, there’s a fundamental flaw with the protest.  There always will be a richest 1%. No matter what. That’s just how math works.  So – there’s no apparent end to the protest.  No exit strategy.

It’s vaguely reminiscent of the Civil Rights movement. Or – the protests against dictators in Egypt and Libya. Or even the American Revolution. But the difference is those were real.  Palpable. Undeniable.  Read more »

Seven Billion, Occupy Wall Street, and the Death of Critical Thinking

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The world population crossing seven billion is just a statistic. A giant, seemingly made-up number.  Like a 22 gazillion jillion.  But – according to the media, we should be concerned because seven billion is WAY worse than 6.999 billion.

And here’s why – when I was a kid, there was less than five billion, and people were constantly starving in Africa.  I even have the audio track of “We are the World” to prove it.  So – if we ran out of food somewhere around 4.5 billion, there must be at least 2.5 billion people with nothing to eat.

But – that’s not what we’re seeing. With modern farming methods and improved distribution, we’re able to feed more people than ever before.

And then there’s the Occupy Wall Street (#OWS). Again, when I was a kid, we went to Grateful Dead and Jimmy Buffet concerts. Today, kids still party and tail gate but in city parks.  The Wall Street protesters are upset about the disparity between the really rich and the rest of us. Capitalism is a failure. Read more »

iPhone 4S: Are you Siri-ous?

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Revolutions sometimes begin with a gun shot.  And sometimes, they begin in front of a room full of tech reporters by a leader conspicuously not wearing a turtleneck.

Apple CEO Tim Cook under the watchful eye of Siri

You see, that’s where it changed.  We became outnumbered.  That’s when the largest company in the world, Apple, unveiled its non-iPhone 5 with artificial intelligence built in.

Now, anyone who has seen a science fiction movie knows that artificial intelligence is a pretty bad idea.  It’s like handling plutonium: as long as properly contained, it can power the world.  But once it gets out, it can start a chain reaction and blow us all up.  And today, it got out. Read more »

Simon Cowell of THE X FACTOR in shocking, exclusive, (and fake) interview on the week’s news

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Simon Cowell is back. Flanked by former celebrity Paula Abdul, a spot-on Randy Jackson impersonator, and a random additional judge perhaps from the audience, it’s called THE X FACTOR. As part of another shameless promotion of his show, MullerOver interviewed Cowell about his show and this week’s news headlines.

MullerOver: Simon, thank you for taking the time to meet with us.  Let’s start with what we’re all thinking.  Isn’t THE X FACTOR just a rehashed American Idol, but with more personal financial benefit for yourself?

Cowell: Rehashed American Idol?  Are you serious?  That couldn’t be further from the truth. THE X FACTOR is a fresh, completely new show. For instance, On Idol, Paula sat 2nd from the left but on THE X FACTOR, she sits 2nd from the right. On Idol, we drank Coke products but on THE X FACTOR, we’re sipping Pepsi. It’s a totally different concept.

MullerOver: I stand corrected.  Moving onto world politics this week, what do you think about the Palestinians bid to join the United Nations

Cowell: The Palestinians and Israelis since World War II have been fighting over an area the size of New Jersey. The problem is it’s so crowded and hot. It’s like being on a London subway in Rush hour when everyone is a little testy. I think we give the Palestinians the western half of Canada and the Israelis the eastern half of Canada. That way, they have room to breathe and it’s cooler.  It’s a win-win for everyone. Read more »

Will a satellite fall on your head this week? Hey, you never know.

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Despite the mounting national debt, unstable economy, earthquakes, and hurricanes, you might be inclined to believe the government when they say the sky isn’t falling.  Unfortunately – we now know that the sky is,  in fact,  falling.  Or at least a giant, 6.5 ton, bus-sized satellite is falling through the sky in 26 separate pieces. 

For years, scientists have known the satellite, called the Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite, would fall back to earth, but weren’t exactly sure when.  Well, NASA has a better idea now.  And it’s this late week.  But – not to worry – according to NASA, there’s only a one in 3,200 chance that someone will be killed by it.

Wait wait – what?

Here’s why this is concerning.  For decades, the state government has encouraged the public to not really understand probability. For instance, despite the astronomic odds of the New York State lottery, their catchy advertisements told us, “Hey, you never know.”  The government was pretty sure that one in 45 million was pretty good odds, regardless of what your math teacher told you in high school. Read more »