Barry Ritholtz, Panhandler?

If you click on my buddy Barry Ritholtz's profile....you'll find a link to his Amazon Wish List right below his moniker.

Obviously, despite the millions he reaps from his asset management *skim biz* he's still looking for a little *tax-free* compensation from his servile flatterers!

Interestingly, I found the following book titles in the self-styled *non-partisan's* wishlist:

Climate Cover-Up - The Crusade To Deny Global Warming

Why Evolution Is True

Storms of My Grandchildren: The Truth About the Coming Climate Catastrophe and the Last Chance to Save Humanity

Hah! That last one was a doozy. The *Last Chance*???

There are probably a few more funny ones in there - it's just that I haven't time enough to pore through all 34 PAGES!

That's right. Barry took the time to select an ASTOUNDING 849 small-change items for his wishlist!

And y'all probably thought it was bad for my other pal, Perry Eidelbus, to have LEGO Batman on his wish list...

See also - Barry Ritholtz - Self-Unconscious, Dissembling PARTISAN.

Perry Update

So guess what this is:



That is a screen shot of some weird website that total dork Perry Eidelbus has redirected all of my links (to him) to.

In other words, if anytime someone on this blog clicks one of the links I've posted to his blog, he blocks access to his site by rerouting the user to goatse.cx - whatever that is.

Check it out, click on Perry's site - http://eidelblog.blogspot.com/.

See what I mean?

At first I thought something had gone awry. But I followed my suspicions and found this in the coding of his blog:



Click to enlarge that graphic. Apparently it's just my blog and that charicediva.com/chariceonline.com - a rather large web forum - that he's blacklisted.

This tactic for sure is somewhat clever and a tad humorous because it can potentially frustrate readers. But still, a little thought reveals how stupid this redirect is.

First of all, if someone was bashing me unfairly, and I actually cared about the opinions of others, I would very much want the basher to link directly to my site. This way clear-thinking readers could make up their own mind as to who is off-the-mark or the bigger a$$hole. Obviously, the prospects of such balanced dialogue induce:



....impalpable shrinkage for Perry Eidelbus.

He hides like a *frightened turtle*!

Secondly, I can, and usually do, paste a sufficient amount of his text right onto my own posts. I'll bet that only a few of my readers even click on the links to his site.

Thirdly, I'm now just going to post instructions on my *Perry posts* as to how one can easily circumvent his *frightened turtle* prophylactic.

It can be achieved by, instead of left-clicking on a link to his blog, *right click* on it. Then copy the shortcut and paste it in a new browser tab or window.

For those of you unfamiliar with this pal punching bag of mine, check out these posts:

Mail-Order Bride - An End Around

Mail-Order Bride Fulminations

Pissant Newlyweds

Fedex Would Have Been Faster

Marginalizing Perry Eidelbus

Despite supposedly getting married this clown is as immature as ever. He's getting into all sorts of altercations, yet again. Also,look what I discovered on his Amazon Wishlist:



Fancy pens, a tie clip, cuff links,.....AND LEGO video games!

Wow. I didn't know that geeks could be so metrosexual.

Why Not Regulate Drunk Driving?

It's a joke that in many states one is legally drunk from 2.5 drinks. God forbid, a driver has had three beers after work and some kid runs out in front of his car. This is the type of stuff that I - if I slept - would surely have nightmares about.

What they should do is offer a Certified Drunk Driving License.

They can have a test that's obviously taken under *legally drunk* conditions. Nanny Statists can assess a fee tax for the privilege. Insurance companies can charge higher premiums if they wish....whatever.

If lunatics think legalizing and taxing marijuana and cocaine would be a *solution*, then why not drunk driving?

I would certainly go for, and pay up for, the highest license for intoxication. I am - er was - an excellent drunk driver.

Since I've gotten married and had kids....I never will drive around after more than two beers - NOT because I don't thoroughly appreciate the amnesia of alcohol, but because the risk totally eclipses the reward. If I felt like turning the clock back and binging I'd do what every other miserable wretch does up here - sit a home alone, watch the Red Sox on a color TV, and pound cans cases of domestic beer.



Speaking of binging, I am going down to Manhattan this weekend to see a friend and celebrate his engagement. Normally these are near 12 hour romps (4pm to 4am) but this time my Mrs. C-Nut is joining us.

And NO, the engaged friend is not Perry Eidelbus. Perry's out of town at a Star Trek convention this weekend.

Pissant Newlyweds

Old pal Perry Eidelbus just got married and I am desperately trying to find out where he and his Mail-Order Bride are registered so I can send a proper gift.

But get this. Perry is on his blog announcing to the World Wide Web that he wants "cash" - and "cash is best".

Apparently someone wrote him a check and he cashed it so fast that it bounced. Then he proceeded to complain about it on his blog. What an ingrate!

Well, the check...bounced. They probably didn't expect us to deposit it so quickly. The bank didn't return it to me, so I presume it's being returned to my in-laws. They'll realize what happened, then, although we won't bring it up. They really didn't have to give us anything, and they were too nice to take us to dinner this week anyway.

Money is actually a horrible wedding gift. It's hardly thoughtful. When I was younger I'd just buy a card and insert a check. But over the years I've realized that it's much better to give newlyweds something they will use, enjoy, and/or treasure for a lifetime - like candlestick holders!

Perry's episode actually reminded me of one of my own. About seven years ago we attended the wedding of one of my wife's friends in Vineland, New Jersey. We actually did give cash - about $300 if memory serves me right - though in the form of a CHECK, Perry. The next morning, at the wedding brunch, the bride and groom ran up to us and thanked us profusely for our *generous gift*. We were startled to say the least.

We thought, "What the heck? Did they spend their wedding night opening cards and gifts?????"

It was a *lose an hour* daylight savings night as well!

I could be more specific about the ethnicity of this romantic couple - but I'll let you project your own stereotypy on the anecdote.

If you do go with the candlestick holders....make sure they are Waterford or something.

Other gift ideas would be Bose Noise Cancelling Headphones (haha) or a high-end vacuum from Miele (seriously).

Feel free to do a *chip-in* on these suggestions - particularly the latter one.

UPDATE - Perry has blocked my direct links to his posts. So to get to his blog from here, one must right-click on my links, copy the shortcut, and paste into another browser tab or window. For more on this childish tactic of his - click here.

Fedex Would Have Been Faster

I just did a google image search of "perry eidelbus" and look what came up:



I can't believe google subtitled him as a "closet invert". He's getting married (allegedly) (to a female) for crying out loud!

Due to a reader request, I had to check up on old pal Perry Eidelbus. Supposedly his mail-order bride arrived (or maybe she didn't; maybe they are wedding offshore). He announced on his blog that he was finally getting married on this past Friday. I hope he posts his gift registry so I don't have to *use my imagination*. Me and my staff here at Marginalizing Morons wish him all the best.

Shoot, he got "engaged" in October. I thought these old fashioned marriages we done a whole lot faster than 12 months.

A Snail Mail-Order Bride?

UPDATE - Perry has blocked my direct links to his posts. So to get to his blog from here, one must right-click on my links, copy the shortcut, and paste into another browser tab or window. For more on this childish tactic of his - click here.

Mail Order Bride Fulminations

In the course of my continuing self-educational program I happened to peruse old friend Perry Eidelbus' blog recently. On it I saw he had another net altercation and proudly linked to it so we could all behold his....idiocy?

On AlarmingNews.com he was arguing with one "Hashfanatic" about something when the debate escalated to old-fashioned invective. Some of Perry's choice words:

No sh*t...you think?

I should have known you'd resort to this vapid socialist rhetoric.

Complete bullsh*t. Do you even know what the hell you're talking about, or do you have to lie to promote your agenda?

You're just jealous that you saw my blog and realized my fiancee is far more beautiful, far more of a real woman, than you could ever hope to have.

Ah yes, you couldn't resist going back to ad hominem...

Make me, *sshole. You just try, and I swear to God in heaven, you'll have so much 7.62 mm in your *ss that your descendants will think they were born with buckshot.

You say "good night," and I say "go to hell." You just name when, and where, and I will deport your sorry face into the pavement.

Listen, f*cker, you're the one who threatened to "deport me." You want to threaten me, fine, but be prepared to reap the consequences. Go right ahead and try, because it will be the last, I swear to God, the last action you'll take.

c*nt-faces like you

...before I open up another can of whoop-*ss for you.

Name the place and time, punk. Then again, we all know you're just a coward.

Note that the ellipses are mine - I've got to keep my blog moving through those parental content filters.

So how does this involve moi?

Well, there was a part of the exchange that sent me reeling with laughter:

Hashfanatic - Perry? Do you think it's wise to threaten people with firearms over the internet? Particularly with your stellar relationship with the NYPD, and a third-world mail-order bride on the way?

Perry - ...if you insult my fiancee again with the lie that she's a mail-order bride, I will beat you within a millimeter of your sorry life.

Now allow me to explain why this is so doggone funny.



Flashback to January 14th, 2008 - that was the date of my uproarious post The Mail-Order Bride - An End Around.

When I posted it, I figured that if Perry had a brain cell in his dome, that he'd ignore my post to at least limit dissemination. I am right sure he saw my jab, either via an email alert on his name or through his own blog traffic. For all I know, I may have only sent him 3 clicks on his blog. So he likely steamed in private until someone else accused him taking the Mail-Order route. His AlarmingNews spat came two weeks later on January 27th.

Now this is pure conjecture but it looks like Perry was going to ignore my provocation but once another combatant nailed him with his UPS bride, he figured he better address the fact that, for all intents and purposes, he was looking like a mail-order bride purchaser. So, the tool decided to respond to my post.

What a mistake that was.

Here's the link to his retort which posted February 14th. In it he asserts that I can't afford a plane ticket to the Philippines, that I am a "moron", a "typical liberal", that I "beat my wife", among other comically ludicrous accusations. Of course the tough guy threatens my physically, again, over the web. He's certainly mastered the art of the template tantrum - "Liar, liar...FU...I'll beat you up" - Yaaaaawn. Y'all are probably going to have to read the entire post to grasp its inanity.

Now it gets even better.

The next thing I know, my original Mail-Order End Around post is getting slammed with hits. My tracker indicated a ton of clicks from the Philippines and Utah via Perry's artless post. Utah I believe is where Perry's extended family hails from. And the Philippines, well, I am sure it had to be the Mail-Order Bride and her family reading about her, well, Mail-Order characteristics - and not to mention the unbecoming portrait of her purchaser betrothed.

So Perry succeeded in alerting all his readers, fans, friends, family, and future in-laws (pending Homeland Security clearance) to my biting post.

Don't y'all think he should have stuck to his original plan of ignoring it?

But I am the "moron"...

Recently I emailed Hashfanatic,

I was just reading your hilarious "dialogue" with Perry Eidelbus from an AlarmingNews post (1/27) when I busted a gut laughing.

Tell me, did you discern the "mail-order" status of his "fiancee" from my blog post?

http://marginalizingmorons.blogspot.com/2008/01/mail-order-bride-end-around.html

Or did you put 2 and 2 together yourself?

Hash responded that he didn't see my Mail-Order Bride post, that his riposte was of his own creation. Ergo, Perry faked himself out. Remember from above, I conjectured that the only reason Perry published a response was because Hash was belting him with the same stick as yours truly. The whole thing reminded me of Seinfeld's The Red Dot episode:

Elaine - Hey George, did you buy that sweater knowing that red dot was on it because you could get it at a discount?

George - What? Did I what?

Elaine - You did didn't you.

George - Elaine, I'm, I'm shocked. I'm shocked. Here I go out in the spirit of the season (Elaine looking like she's not buying a word of it) and spend all my savings to buy you the most beautiful Christmas sweater I have ever seen to show my appreciation to you at Christmas and this is the thanks that I get at Christmas.

Elaine - Well Jerry told me that you did.

George - You told her? How could you tell her? I told you not to say anything.

Jerry - I didn't tell her you stupid idiot. She tricked you.



See what I mean when I said:

Well, when it comes to Perry Eidelbus, it seems you can put the poop ten miles away from him, send in in the opposite direction, blindfolded, and he'll still end up walking on it.

...the other day???

Now a poster named Contractor left a very well written indictment of Perry on my blog and the Petulant One devoted another entire blog post to addressing it.

Contractor accused Perry of being somewhat "racist" for explicitly wanting to marry a Filipina. Perry insisted he was not; he insisted that he was "traditionalist".

Only later on in the post could readers grasp the full meaning of that defense. Apparently the tradition in his family is to strike out in America and then resort to finding a spouse in the Philippines. He writes:

I've been thinking of moving there, as a matter of fact, as my father did. He went there on business, to invest in mining operations with some friends, and then he happened to meet and fall in love with someone he met at a party. So my father also married a "mail-order bride" too?

Like father, like son. Is there any doubt that the loserhood is genetic?

Is there any doubt that Perry Eidelbus is about as self-oblivious as one can get?

Man, his self-emasculating revelations seemingly have no bottom.

Lastly, some "childhood classmate" of Perry emailed me a pic of little Perry from way back when.





Now I am skeptical as to whether this really is little Perry. Nonetheless, it may as well be.

Same amplitude. Same dorkitude.

Oh boy, now I've done it. I really hope Perry threatens me with his gun this time. I feel that if anyone (Hashfanatic?) merits a virtual gun waving it's me!

I've got to end this here; and I haven't even gotten to how Perry pathetically tried to rat me out to Google for using his "copyrighted" images. What a "libertarian"!!!

UPDATE - Perry has blocked my direct links to his posts. So to get to his blog from here, one must right-click on my links, copy the shortcut, and paste into another browser tab or window. For more on this childish tactic of his - click here.

The Virtuous Paternalist

Look at this new show on HGTV:



In the opinion of many people, I am a meanie. I am always mocking and Marginalizing and thus brushing off flack from weak-stomached wimps. But this blog can't possibly transmit the full gamut of my psychological omnipotence. If getting under people's skin was an Olympic event, every four years the rest of the world would be vying for the silver. I fire virtual BBs at a twit like Perry Eidelbus and my high-minded fans are taken aback. Y'all should see the nukes that I fire in person! Y'all should see me when I have a serious beef with someone. Let's just say, there were more than a few new traders in my pits that I kept from sleeping at night. One of my victims once brought his wife down to the floor (nothing any 3-digit IQ'd person would ever do) and after I was identified to her, I swear it took all her fortitude not to run over and gouge my eyes out. I was sort of the opposite of Joe Popularity. Instead of being the guy whose affection everyone sought, I am a guy whose dis-affection no one relishes. Even guys who hated my guts would choose me for their pick-up basketball team; they just didn't want to play AGAINST me.

Anyway, I can be whatever the situation dictates. I can be the malicious Marginalizer or I can be the benevolent one. Like most psychopaths, I have convinced myself that my methods are truly in everyone else's best interest; my antics behoove the greater good.



For example, look at the "before" and "after" pics of a family member's cluttered basement. Now, I can't claim full responsibility for this particular triumph as there were multiple interventionists, nonetheless, I like to think posting the "before" pic on my blog played some small part in the (partial) de-cluttering - not to mention the months of in-person ribbing included in my service.

Is it cruel to put up a "Hurricane Katrina" pic of a dear relative's basement on the World Wide Web?

Well, what if it impels them reform?



Believe me, I have better things to do than mock Perry Eidelbus. But I am morally compelled to show him this tough love. Look at it this way, if someone else had smacked him down to size years ago, I would be relieved of the task. So who really is the virtuous one? I submit that it ain't any of those weak-stomached wimps who've given Perry a pass all his life. Those anti-interventionist buck-passers unwittingly let him grow into the animal insect that he is today. He's a very bright kid who will one day be thanking me for setting him straight. By the way, I am pretty sure he tattled on my last post to Google (owner of Blogger.com).

So, what about my methods?

As a youth, I used to whip my older brother's ass at ping pong. After a while I couldn't get him to play with me at all which really sucked. He said that he didn't mind losing to me, he just didn't like the "supercilious" or "hectoring" manner in which I beat him.

Now, did my brother learn from my domineering, smash-the-ball-so-it-bounces-off-his-face, ping pong lessons? Did it inspire him to concentrate and become a better player? Of course not. He threw a hammer at me - just missing my precious dome. In fact, he once pushed me down an empty man hole. Another time he pummeled my head with a sizable log. And when my head is shaved you can see at least a third scar on my scalp that memorializes our fraternal rapport. These all weren't post-ping pong incidents but they shed a little light into the upbringing that shaped my Marginalizing methodology

We were four kids raised in 1,200 square foot house. There were only five years from oldest to youngest; we fought a lot and teased even more. No one was immune. My thick skin was surely environmentally wrought. Admittedly, one of my biggest character flaws is that I too often presume others to be equally insensitive to goading, ribbing, and outbursts of brutal honesty.

To all my style critics out there I say, "Hey, you should have seen my immature antics a couple of years ago....I AM MAKING PROGRESS."

Another thing about me is, if y'all didn't figure it out by now, I've always got a rejoinder, or three, ready to fire back at a moment's notice.



Lastly, there's an expression that goes like this, "If you put the poop out in front of them....they'll [Morons] always step in it." Well, when it comes to Perry Eidelbus, it seems you can put the poop ten miles away from him, send in in the opposite direction, blindfolded, and he'll still end up walking on it.

I have a nice little post on him raring to go, but in the spirit of Easter and my "progress"....I won't post it until next week.

The Mail-Order Bride - An End Around

Remember my old friend Perry Eidelbus? For you newbies, he's a pissant little blogger that I had to Marginalize a while back. See this post and then the second half of this post.

Guess what? The knucklehead just got engaged. He's posted this pic on his site:



Good for him! Not a bad looking broad either. All this time, with his petulance, metrosexual tendencies, and his man-crush on Chris Daughtry I thought he may have been a closet invert.

Now compare the recent pic above with an older shot of his mug.



Even though he's hiding his residual corpulence behind the pretty girl, it's obvious that he's shed some pounds. Again I say, good for him! (There may have been some Hillary Clinton-esque airbrushing too; even to the undiscerning eye it's clear the topography of his face has been altered.)



Now here's what's bad for him. In the second round of our tussle, I admonished him for his utter self-obliviousness. Apparently, he hasn't noticeably self-improved in that department.

I hadn't read his blog for, gee, at least 8-10 months - perhaps even longer. So, just seeing his proud engagement announcement I figured he had been dating this girl for a while and was doing what most everyone (guys AND gals) does when they near age 30 - i.e. he settled.

I inferred from his blog that the girl was Filipino and that he had proposed to her over in the Philippines. I guessed that maybe the couple was on vacation, traveling, or whatnot. I assumed that she was an NYC resident like him because dating is usually a function of propinquity. But in the back of my mind I had a hunch there was more to the story. He writes:

I should add...I still cannot fully appreciate how lucky I am to have her. There are some complications to sort out before we can get married, but I know she's the miracle of my life, and if we've waited all our lives to find each other, we can wait a little longer.

Aha! There's a green card issue.

Now, I am not saying it doesn't happen, that couples don't meet and fall in love at first sight and get engaged, but c'mon. What Third World girl wouldn't be eager to marry their way to the richest country on Earth? After all, two years hence they can divorce, collect alimony, stay in the country, and easily find an uptick for a spouse. Only a complete Moron would stay in the slum-ridden Philippines over the chance to come here - even if they have to marry a Trekki.



My question to y'all is this:

Doesn't this count as a "mail-order bride"?

I could be wrong but I couldn't find any other mention of this girl before his "engagement announcement". I mean we are talking about the Philippines here - one of the modern meccas of mail-order brides. The only difference is that he did the ordering "in person". Hence the "end around".

Now I am not insinuating that this marriage won't be lasting or happy - if it does in fact pass Homeland Security vetting. Romance-based marriages or, as many call them "love marriages", have probably proven less secure over time than arranged marriages and unions of mutual convenience.

The issue I take with Perry is his reckless lack of self-awareness. I've already cataloged his profound self-obliviousness in that other post and now I have to add this to it. Who the heck in their right mind uses their real name on a blog and announces to the planet that they essentially went the mail-order bride route?

Perry writes:

But I don't mind, because there's only one girl for me now.

So with all apologies to the single women of the world, Perry is now taken.



Oh really? The women were crawling over him in the Big Apple? Hah! He's more of a fridge-magnet than a babe-magnet!!!

My second choice for this blog's name was:

What To Do When You Can't Find A Date In NYC, A City Of 8.2 Million...

UPDATE - Perry has blocked my direct links to his posts. So to get to his blog from here, one must right-click on my links, copy the shortcut, and paste into another browser tab or window. For more on this childish tactic of his - click here.

Marginalizing Perry Eidelbus

I spend a good deal of time reading other blogs, both for my own edification and entertainment. One of the bloggers I read is a young lad named Perry Eidelbus. He focuses capitalism and on debunking economic fallacy - favorite subjects of mine. Anyway, I had a little altercation with him last week that was actually precipitated, of all things, by a debate about American Idol.

First you have to read his post, click here (It's quite short).

Now below is that post's comment thread.

CaptiousNut said...
Correct me if I am wrong, but isn't the voting audited by an independent firm? Wouldn't that debunk the "we don't want three male finalists" conspiracy theories?

Perry, I love your blog, but you are a pure socialist when it comes to American Idol.
9:56 PM, May 18, 2006

Perry Eidelbus said...
I'm not sure who, if anyone, is auditing the results, but I find it meaningless. After all, Arthur Andersen was auditing Enron.

I don't follow that you think I'm a socialist when it comes to AI. I simply point to the voting results as another failure of democracy. After all, look at how many Americans were stupid or otherwise duped in 1992 and then 1996.

In fact, to expand upon Podhoretz's analysis, Paris' departure was like Ross Perot's 1992 candidacy. Though they're different in that one left the competition and the other entered, both involved a split in the vote. Podhoretz made sense to say that with Paris gone, her supporters probably went more for Katherine and Elliot than for Chris.
3:03 AM, May 19, 2006

CaptiousNut said...
Oh my God, you are so off the deep end on this it is scary.

I call you a socialist and you respond by using a socialist ruse du jour.

They use the outlier Enron (one of 17,000 public companies) to blanketly inveigh against capitalism and Wall Street. You use the same analogy to try to discredit auditing.

How about this, 99.9% of public companies are audited and ARE NOT frauds.

Yeah the show was fixed to avoid "three male finalists", but then was it fixed when Chris got voted off too? You can tell by Seacrest's immediate and repetitive comments ("by your votes America"), that Idol was shocked.

Personally, I liked Chris the best. But just because the result isn't to my liking it doesn't mean that the process is unfair or fraudulent. When you start nit-picking McPhee's high notes and cynically questioning both the integrity and implementation of the voting, you sound like a typical socialist unhappy with the price of oil or the market wages of teachers and journalists.

The winner is not for an elite (you or me) to decide.

American Idol is making hundreds of millions this year, do you really think they'd risk the integrity of the show to fine tune the outcome? As far as I can tell, they don't need to.

The only thing I don't like about the voting contest is that you vote "for" people rather than against them. Obviously they get more votes under the current system, but often times I think it is easier to see who should be voted off than who should continue.

Of course I see the flaws in democracy and often rank stupidity of the masses. That's the entire basis of my blog.

8:12 AM, May 19, 2006

Anonymous said...
THE KAT MUST STAY! SHE IS HOT AND THATS ALL THAT MATTERS IN THE MUSIC INDUSTRY. YOU THINK BRITNEY SPEARS CAN SING? WHO CARES - I SAY MORE TATTAS AND LESS WHINING ABOUT CHRIS WHO SOUNDS LIKE EVERY OTHER PSUEDO ROCKER OUT THERE.

LORD BONER HAS SPOKEN...

12:41 PM, May 19, 2006

Perry Eidelbus said...
CN, you need to take a breath and realize the false assumptions from which you've proceeded. If you're going to insult me by claiming something I'm obviously not, let alone saying I've gone off the deep end, then your comments will no longer be welcome. I don't come over to your blog and start acting like a horse's ass, do I? So really, dawg, chill.

I cannot help but wonder how convoluted your definition of "socialist" is. You accuse me of being one, then compare me to those who want regulation of prices and wages? You of all people should know that's a pile of shit, so knock it off. Or do you resort to cries of "Socialist!" the way others throw around "Nazi"?

You claim to know about the dangers of pure democracy, yet you cannot see that that's my major complaint. Am I a "socialist" because of that? No more than the Founding Fathers were "socialist" for distrusting what they called "mobocracy." Idol voters apparently chose Katherine over Chris, but a plurality of the American people chose Bill Clinton. Twice. These people are presumably the same electorate who continually elect 534 members of Congress who effectively lay waste to our country. (I say 534, but if anyone else is like Ron Paul, let me know and I'll adjust accordingly.)

I never said an elite should select the winners, so you can stop putting words into my mouth, thank you very much. However, the last two weeks showed that someone can turn in a lesser performance and be selected over a better competitor. Even Katherine, and you could see this from her body language and facial expressions, expected to get booted. The process definitely needs some tweaking.

What you call "nit-picking" is factual, substantial criticism from someone who knows what good vocals are. It's not even a matter of Katherine's high notes. There are plenty notes that should be within her range that she nonetheless screeches. There's no polish or real power, not if she has to do that. She sang "Someone to Watch Over Me" well, I suppose, but that's the only decent performance I ever heard from her.

Now, I never even said there's cheating. I simply said that that accuser's point was well taken. You point out that 99.9% of companies are not frauds, but most companies aren't of such prominence. Ever hear of "21" and its scandal? Remember the allegations some years ago, which were quietly swept under the rug, of Jeopardy!'s anti-male favoritism? I used to enjoy the show until Trebek got so obvious.

I've been checking Technorati since last week, and some people, though it's a "friend of a friend" thing, say that they called in to vote for Chris, only to be thanked for voting for someone else. I wouldn't be surprised at a glitch like this, or that a standard audit wouldn't catch it.

Would AI's producers risk distorting the outcome? At first I thought that the show would lose a lot of viewers, but the American people do have a short collective memory. This will be largely forgotten by next season. I don't see that there was much to lose, if there really was something fishy.

Now what if the auditors did catch a huge blunder in the voting system, or fraud? That would finish the show. Have you already forgotten my blog entry where someone pointed out that even Ernst & Young is so desperate for business that it will reverse its findings and suddenly assert its client's lies?

Maybe it's my fault for treating the show like a singing competition, which a reasonable person would think it purports to be. Boner is right. The show is all about overall appeal, and Kat sells better than Chris. Kellie worked for a while, but I guess she didn't want to show much skin.

Boner is completely wrong about Chris' style, though. His "Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman" was great. His "A Little Less Conversation" was also great, true to Elvis' style. He's not just another rocker.5:05 PM, May 19, 2006

New comments have been disabled for this post by a blog administrator.





Devil's Advocate: Wow C-Nut, he called you a "horse's ass" and slapped you good there...

Did he now? I was somewhat taken aback by the vitriol of his response. But mostly, my wife and I had a good laugh at his apoplectic fit. Calling him a "socialist" really struck a nerve right through his paper-thin skin. It wasn't until later on that I realized he closed the comment section.

Could he be any more childish? He was apparently afraid of my response (or anyone else's for that matter). I had to copy and paste the comment thread because he'd probably delete them all if I just linked to it.

Well, not one who's easily muzzled, he got my response anyway via email. Here it is below:

Perry,

First of all, I do use the term "socialist" quite liberally. For instance, I have complained that the illegal defense rule in the NBA is a socialist attempt at regulating play.

I don't think you can equate excessive use of "socialist" with with excessive use of "Nazi" for the simple fact that we don't really have Nazi's ruining our country but we certainly have socialists throughout the power structure of the country. I am sure we agree on that!

Anyway, I started off by calling you a socialist, as a joke. Anyone who looks at your blog for a millisecond knows that you are capitalism incarnate. Furthermore, even from the paucity of comments I have posted, you should have an inkling that I generally don't act like "a horse's ass" and have a pretty good understanding of economics and its terms.

Sarcasm doesn't transmit well over the internet. Yeah, I could have characterized you as a "whiner" or even a "sophist" because at root, I found your reasoning uncompelling. I even could have appended "sarcasm" parenthetically as I have done often times.

Sure it's a stretch to liken anyone who complains about outcomes to a socialist, but it's no more a stretch than using a popularity contest decided by the multiple votes of 9 year old girls as a vehicle to illustrate the failings of democracy.

It's all theoretical. It's all good. And it's all innocuous.

Yeah, I ripped you with that Enron analogy. But that is what I do, remember "captious" - my name is its own disclamer. If you had said 2+2=4, but had shoddy reasoning I would have pointed that out as well.

There were several ways you could have responded to me: ignore my comment, delete my comment, laugh it off, or engage in further argument. And I am quite disappointed in the tack you chose. Your last comment didn't need the invective-ridden first two paragraphs to make its point. I have some pretty thick skin so that doesn't bother me at all. For years I stood in a trading pit all day, fighting with the biggest scumbags around.

As I said in my first comment, I am a fan of yours. But quite frankly, you overreacted. I guess you thought my comments were making you look bad or something. They weren't - at least not nearly in the degree that you discerned.

However, your response, replete with profanity, a toothless threat, and the closing of comments, doesn't behoove you one bit.

If I didn't care what you thought, I would neither read your blog, comment on it, or spend my time with this clarifying email.

If you still think I am crazy, then I would encourage you to have some of your friends/family read your original post and our dialogue (including of course this email) and render their opinions.



Now I consider that email I sent to be just what I said, clarifying and mostly on the conciliatory side. Perry had another chance to show some maturity. Sadly he dropped the ball yet again.

Here was his response:

I deleted your message without reading

I'm really not in the mood for arguing, all right? Especially with someone who improperly uses "socialist." to label those with whom he disagrees.

Thanks.

Now I don't think there is a person with a 3-digit IQ that believes he didn't read my email. And then he padded that transparent lie with his remark about my usage of "socialist". Really Perry, is that supposed to somehow incontrovertibly prove that you didn't read my email that clearly explains my liberal usage of the term?

Further proof is Perry saying that he doesn't want to "argue". How does he know my email response was argumentative if he didn't read it? It could have been an apology or a simple "bleep you".

However, he was partially honest when he said, "I'm not really in the mood for arguing..." I can't really blame him for that. After all, he spent all day Friday writing his last comment and the best he could come up with was "horse's ass" and "pile of sh*t".

Now I have read quite a bit of his blog and I have learned that Perry styles himself quite proudly as a Christian. A simple google of "Christian" on his blog currently yields 3 pages of search results.

I am not quite sure how he can reconcile lying, cursing, and "take my ball and go home" tantrums with his conspicuous moral superiority.

Anyway, I had to Marginalize Perry because as I said earlier, I don't like to be muzzled AND because he needed to be taught a lesson. This is just the type of benevolent service I am adept at providing.

Everyone should be starkly aware that any email they send or comment they post on a blog may likely linger on the web forever. Who knows how long this post of mine will be on web? Or how high in the search results it will be for "Perry Eidelbus"? Perhaps his grandkids will one day find it.



By definition, my wife is a smart cookie. She wanted to offer her more succinct analysis of this episode:

C-Nut's Wife: Perry is just plain nuts and probably has a man-crush on Chris Daughtry.

Perhaps.

Perry's blog is well-worth reading - he is great at monologue but obviously needs some work on dialogue.

UPDATE - Perry has blocked my direct links to his posts. So to get to his blog from here, one must right-click on my links, copy the shortcut, and paste into another browser tab or window. For more on this childish tactic of his - click here.