blog.benschumacher.com

After being wary of the sites for a while, I've decided to throw caution to the wind and see if I can pull a free iPod and free 27" Sony WEGA television. Anybody who has used the 'net over the past couple months has, no doubt, stumbled upon these sites from time to time and decided that they must just be scams. Well... they probably are, to some extent, but it does appear that you can get free stuff from them. Even the press seems to be convinced:

Unless you're extremely gullible, the promise of getting a free iPod from FreeiPods.com looks extremely dubious.

But surprisingly, the site appears to be legitimate. The program almost certainly isn't a dodgy pyramid scheme; it's a new form of online marketing supported by companies like eBay, AOL and Columbia House.

from Wired News: Making Free IPods Pay Off

So I'm doing it. But rather than volunteer the email addresses of my friends, I've decided to just post about it here on my blog, in hopes that some of my friends will decide to sign up and get my some free stuff. (Strangers are welcome, too.)

In fact. If I manage to get a free iPod or free flat screen TV, then I'll help out whomever got me their by bumping my links and posting theirs. Just email me at freenonsense {at} benschumacher {dot} com with your referral link and I'll post them in the order they are received. (I can do one of them "conga line" things.)

Click here to help me get a free Sony WEGA television.

Click here to help me get a free iPod.

Oh... and one more thing. I would suggest signing up for something that doesn't require any up front cost, unless it's something you're really interested in. The free trials of Netscape Internet Service or AOL seem to be the popular choices, but inFone also seems to be free and comes with a $10 Amazon gift certificate to boot.

While watching the first football game of the 2004 season (yippie!), I came to the conclusion that Al Michaels is, without a doubt, a Bushie. It went a little back and fourth between New England and Indianapolis throughout the game and in the fourth quarter, the Colts turned over the ball on a fumble by Edgerrin James on one yard line (a drive that was started by Indy intercepting Tom Brady) and then this exchange happened:

Miachels: What a wacky series.

Madden: That was what you call a flip-flop.

(Pause)

Michaels: You're in... you're in... you're in the right state for that. (The game was at the Patriots, who play in Massachusetts.)

Now taken alone, it might not be that bad, but I remember a game earlier in the preseason while Michaels and Madden were in St. Louis, they mentioned that Bush had been campaigning near by and Michaels said something (I can't remember the exact quote right now) that seemed quite suspect (my roommate and I said almost simultaneously, "Did he just say what I think he just said?").

Sigh.

I already find Madden practically unwatchable, but now I'm not sure I want to watch Monday Night games because I don't want to hear Michaels discuss his infatuation with Dubya. How annoying.

Update: After some soul searching (and internet searching), I am reminded what happened on the preseason Monday Night Football game. The game was Kansas City at St. Louis (both Missouri teams) and they showed a couple shots of Dubya tossin' the ball around with some of the players. Then they talked about Missouri's electoral college votes and showed a graphic of a poll with Bush leading Kerry. Now... that's all fine and dandy, but why the hell is that bein' shown on a Monday Night Football game? It's not even remotely related. Weird, right? (On a related note, it seems that Mr. Alan Michaels has given the maximum $2,000 contribution to Dubya... so there's no doubt he's a Bushie.)

A couple months ago the right went after MoveOn.org, because a couple of folks who submitted ads to their Bush in 30 Seconds campaign used images of Hilter. Fast forward to June 2004 for, and with their boy Bush slumping in the polls, the right has decided it's time to start invoking the Nazis in their attacks on liberals.

One week after right-wing radio host Michael Savage compared progressive financier, philanthropist, and political activist George Soros to Hitler's minister of propaganda, Joseph Goebbels, TV and radio host Bill O'Reilly compared both author/documentarian Michael Moore and radio host Al Franken to Goebbels. O'Reilly also likened a group of Hollywood celebrities who attended a recent premier of Moore's new film, Fahrenheit 9/11, to the Nazi faithful. In the process, O'Reilly falsely accused Franken of lying.

From the June 10 broadcast of The Radio Factor with Bill O'Reilly:

O'REILLY: Joseph Goebbels was the Minister of Propaganda for the Nazi regime and whose very famous quote was, "If you tell a lie long enough, it becomes the truth." All right? "If you tell a lie long enough, it becomes the truth."

And that's what Stuart Smalley [O'Reilly regularly refers to Franken as Stuart Smalley, a character Franken created on Saturday Night Live], and Michael Moore and all of these guys do. They just run around.

from O'Reilly compared Moore, Franken to Goebbels; compared
Hollywood celebs to Nazi faithful

Maybe Bill O'Reilly was just confused about what story he was talking about... maybe he really wanted to talk about Vice President Dick Cheney's continued insistance that Saddam had some sort of ties to the al-Qaida.

ORLANDO, Fla. - Vice President Dick Cheney said Saddam Hussein had "long-established ties" with al Qaida, an assertion that has been repeatedly challenged by some policy experts and lawmakers.

The vice president on Monday offered no details backing up his claim of a link between Saddam and al Qaida.

"He was a patron of terrorism," Cheney said of Hussein during a speech before The James Madison Institute, a conservative think-tank based in Florida. "He had long established ties with al Qaida."

from Cheney Claims al-Qaida Linked to Saddam

Considering the fact that there is evidence to the contrary, you have to assume that Cheney is just working off a page in Goebbels handbook. And to that extent, I have to assume that when O'Reilly viciously slandered Franken and Moore, what he really meant to be doing was point out, in a civilized matter, that the Vice President made a mistake when he claimed that connection existed.

This is awesome news:

LOS ANGELES - A consumer watchdog group sued three cell phone companies on Monday for "locking" their phones to make it harder for customers to switch carriers.

The Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights filed suit accusing AT&T Wireless Services Inc., T-Mobile USA Inc. and Cingular Wireless, of using software in their handsets that prevents them from being used on a competitors' network.

from Consumer Group Challenges 'Locking' Phones

I sure hope they win. I've been wishing for years that U.S. mobile carriers sold unlocked phones. I think it would force them to compete more on pricing structures and features, since it wouldn't be as expensive to switch carriers (having to get a new phone sucks). After all, that's the reason GSM was designed to use smart cards.

Somebody complained recently that I don't update this enough. That's probably true. So here I go with an update today.

The latest issue of The Onion contains this gem:

Bush To Iraqi Militants: 'Please Stop Bringing It On'
WASHINGTON, DC -- In an internationally televised statement Monday, President Bush modified a July 2003 challenge to Iraqi militants attacking U.S. forces. "Terrorists, Saddam loyalists, and anti-American insurgents: Please stop bringing it on now," Bush said at a Monday press conference. "Nine months and 500 U.S. casualties ago, I may have invited y'all to bring it on, but as of today, I formally rescind that statement. I would officially like for you to step back." The president added that the "it" Iraqis should stop bringing includes gunfire, bombings, grenade attacks, and suicide missions of all types.

That rag always makes me giggle.

Today's strip of The Boondocks is, also, good for a laugh, but it seems reminiscent of a bit on David Cross' album, Shut Up You Fucking Baby! (who, by the way, is about to release a new album titled It's Not Funny).