Author Archives: xstryker

About xstryker

X Stryker is also the proprietor of the currently-dormant poll analysis blog Election Inspection.

Final Thought – Most conservative

What president was the most conservative? Now that Dubya is so unpopular, many conservatives are quick to claim that Bush wasn’t really a conservative anyway. But honestly, who can they compare him to? Bush Sr., Reagan, and Ford all passed big tax hikes, as did Hoover. Ford surrendered Vietnam, both Reagan and traveled to Moscow and Beijing to shake hands with communist leaders, and Bush Sr. chickened out of taking down Saddam. Nixon created the EPA, the alternative minimum tax, and expanded welfare. Eisenhower raised taxes on gas, thought social conservatives were “stupid”, and supported the Equal Rights Amendment. Herbert Hoover, Teddy Rooseveldt, and Taft all supported regulation to crack down on monopolies. So my answer here is the famously taciturn Calvin Coolidge, whose laissez-faire policies set up the largest economic collapse in American history.

Final Thought

Sometimes I wonder if maybe Tom Carper is encouraging Castle to run for Senate, so they can go on riding Amtrak together for 6 more years. Castle would support Carper’s watered-down no-brainer environmental agenda, Carper would support Castle’s money picture schemes, and together they’d protect big corporations from consumers. I’m not saying Carper would actively campaign for Castle, but in a Castle-Beau race, I wouldn’t count on seeing Carper show his face a whole lot on the campaign trail. Would Carper encourage Beau to run for re-election rather than the Senate? Would you put it past him? And who would run instead?

I know, I’m just indulging in worthless idle speculation – the kind that made Celia Cohen the Delaware celebrity (delebrity?) she is today. Well, that and butt-kissing.

motivator2643423

Late Night Music Video: Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks – Gardenia

Indie Pop god Stephen Malkmus (formerly of Pavement) with his new band, the Jicks (feat. drummer Janet Weiss, formerly of the grrrl band godesses Sleater-Kinney). They are too indie for a real video, so these are just some pictures thrown together by a fan.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ilMJaekiXaA[/youtube]

it’s like we’re at a ponzi scaminar.
there’s no escaping without a door prize;
they’re operating at significant loss

From My Junk Mail File

Just got an auto insurance solicitation from Allstate. Immediately threw it out – know why?

Why would I want to get my insurance from the worst insurance company in America? How could I do business with a company that instructs its adjusters to lie to their customers?

Allstate’s confrontational attitude towards its own policyholders
was the brain child of consulting giant McKinsey
& Co. in the mid-1990s.McKinsey was tasked with developing
a way to boost Allstate’s bottom line.11 McKinsey
recommended Allstate focus on reducing the amount of
money it paid in claims, whether or not they were valid.
When it adopted these recommendations, Allstate made a
deliberate decision to start putting profits over policyholders.
The company essentially uses a combination of lowball
offers and hardball litigation.When policyholders file a
claim, they are often offered an unjustifiably low payment
for their injuries, generated by Allstate using secretive
claim-evaluation software called Colossus. Those that
accept the lowballed settlements are treated with “good
hands” but may be left with less money than they need to
cover medical bills and lost wages. Those that do not settle
frequently get the “boxing gloves”: an aggressive litigation
strategy that aims to deny the claim at any cost.
Former Allstate employees call it the “three Ds”: deny,
delay, and defend. One particular powerpoint slide
McKinsey prepared for Allstate featured an alligator and
the caption “sit and wait”—emphasizing that delaying
claims will increase the likelihood that the claimant gives
up.12 According to former Allstate agent Shannon Kmatz,
this would make claims “so expensive and so timeconsuming
that lawyers would start refusing to help
clients.”13
Former Allstate adjusters say they were rewarded for
keeping claims payments low, even if they had to deceive
their customers. Adjusters who tried to deny fire claims by
blaming arson were rewarded with portable fridges,
according to former Allstate adjuster Jo Ann Katzman.
“We were told to lie by our supervisors. It’s tough to look
at people and know you’re lying.”14

So I’ll answer Allstate via this blog post. No, I am not interested – not now, not ever.

Late Night Music Video: Air Traffic – Never Even Told Me Her Name

Great song, not really intended for release as a video – it’s just the band playing the song in the studio during the recording of their debut album.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5uEH36H_do&feature=related[/youtube]

i heard you on the radio, you were screaming out;
you grabbed me by my heart and soul, through the speaker cone