A Public Thank You

Hello everyone.

After my rant yesterday about Google (see previous post), I thought I'd check my blog today to see if my ads were back. They are.

Thus, I want to thank Google and the people at Google AdSense for returning my normal ads and for getting rid of the PSA's. Thanks guys (and gals).

Also, if anyone reads this blog, please leave a blurb in the comments that you read it. Just leave something like "I read it" and your initials (or name if you feel brave). After a discussion, I am getting the feeling that this blog is both irrelevent and futile. So, if you read it let me know, otherwise I think that I may take the blog down and discontinue it entirely. I don't want to take it down, but I am not going to waste my time either (if there are no readers).

And thanks, once again, to Google for returning my ads. (How long they will be here depends on the response I get from my readers [if there are any])

I am Chuck, and I've said my piece.

I've Been A Bad Boy (guess I need a spanking).

Hello again.
Right to the point this time because I am very angry.
You may have noticed the Google Ads and Search Bar running on this page. You may also have noticed (if you are a regular visitor) that Google had been running NFL merchandise ads on the adbar. If you look now, you will see that Google has chosen to run Public Service Ads (PSA's) on the adbar. Now to understand my anger fully, note that I get paid for each click on a regular ad, but I don't get paid for a click on a PSA. I checked the FAQ at Google Adsense for an explanation of why I was getting PSA's and not regular ads. This is what I found (cut and pasted directly from the Google FAQ [copyright Google]):
"Your page may contain sensitive content for which relevant paying ads will not be displayed.
Our system has certain filters in place to protect our advertisers from advertising on pages that could be construed as potentially negative, non-family safe or even offensive. Although the nature of your content may not fit into any of these categories, at times the emphasis of some sensitive subject matters on a page can flag our servers to deliver public service ads to a page."

[Note that I added the bold typeface and the quotation marks]
Apparently, my last entry is so offensive, negative, and non-family safe, that I am no longer allowed to have Google serve its regular ads up on my site. I am hoping that this is a result of the computers at Google wrongly flagging this page and not the result of a human reading and flagging this page. The reason for that is that computers can and do make mistakes based on certain objective criteria. Humans, on the other hand, make decisions based upon somewhat more subjective criteria. If the loss of these ads is due to human decision, well that is just censorship and it will NOT fly on this page. Also, if it is the result of human intervention, all I can say is, "Ever heard of satire??" You know, satire. It is an old method of poking fun at people, goes back to the days of ancient Greek theater, you must of heard about it in a Western Civ class or maybe a Lit class in college! (Or did you skip those classes to screw off in the computer lab?)
Or is this a more sinister plot to silence Liberals everywhere??? Hmmm? Maybe this is a deliberate design to silence the critics of the government. Maybe I mentioned some of the shortcomings of the Bush Administration and that pissed off some mindless Republican prole in the employ of Google, is that it? In short, the last entry is political satire. If that offends you, good! It is supposed to offend some people. If that creates a controversy, good! Controversy means more readers and subsequently (listen up Google) more views of the ads on this page! I never claimed that this page would be family safe, so that point is, in my opinion, irrelevent. Plainly and simply, if Google wanted a page that was safe and tame, then this is the wrong page for that. If that is going to cause problems, so be it, but I will not compromise my views, my opinions, or my style for ANYONE, not even the people who may make me money! I have never sold myself out in the past, and I am not about to start now. Shakespeare once wrote "To thine own self be true." That is a good summation of how I view things. If you can't deal with that, oh well.
If Google should feel the need to respond to this entry, I will, in fairness to Google, publish it (without immediate comment) on this page. I will let my readers take it in for a bit before I publish my comment. That's about as fair as it gets.
Now you know how I feel.
I am Chuck, and this has been my rant.

Chuck The Clairvoyant

Hello again everyone!
As promised in an earlier entry, I have returned to post my predictions for the year 2005. I am dividing these predictions in to the 10 best and 10 worst things that can (and probably will) happen. So without further ado I give you...Chuck-tradamus! (AKA Chuck the Clairvoyant, Chuck the All-Seeing, and Chuck the All-Knowing. No distiguishing marks or scars.)
This entry will feature only the 10 worst things. I will post the 10 best things later.

Here are my 10 worst things that will happen in 2005:
10. On January 20th, George W. Bush will be sworn in as president (again). (Gee, how's that for clairvoyance!!!)
9. Between Jan. 20th and July 4th, there will be another major terrorist attack on US soil. (This isn't a prediction. This is a given, considering that they want to embarass the US and Geo. W. Bush. The date is up for grabs as terrorists like busy holidays and other dates of significance. Also, it has been nearly 4 years since the 9/11 attacks, the terrorists need to do something or risk falling out of the headlines [Terrorists are major publicity hounds].)
8. On the day after the terrorist attack, George W. Bush will declare that "It is too dangerous to allow anyone else [besides him] to ever lead this country!" He will then persuade a chickenshit Congress to declare him dictator for life and to suspend the US Constitution. (Oops, forgot, the US Constitution doesn't exist as far as Bush and Congress are concerned already. Sorry.)
7. The economy will continue to perform badly with unemployment reaching new highs. When asked for a comment, Bush will reply, "I can't figure it out. I listen to my advisors, we continue to ship jobs overseas, and still unemployment is increasing. I must be misunderconfused about what my advisors are trying to tell me."
6. George Steinbrenner, owner of the New York Yankees, in an effort to buy another World Series will set a new high in baseball salaries by paying his team more than the Gross National Product of Costa Rica. When asked for a comment, Steinbrenner will reply, "If it brings a World Series back to the Bronx, who cares if you have to pay $47 for a hot dog!" In an effort to sell more than 12 tickets per game, Steinbrenner will later announce a promotion aimed at the common man with hot dogs reduced to a mere $22.50 (beers will still be $51.25 per 3 oz Dixie cup).
5. The automaker KIA, still stinging from its bad crash test results, will announce that its name does NOT stand for "Killed In Accident!" It will further announce that, in an effort to increase vehicle safety, seatbelts, airbags, and brakes will now be standard on all of its models.
4. In a fit of paranoia after the aforementioned terrorist attack, the US Department of Homeland (In)Security will announce a new hiring policy declaring that "...anyone whose ancestors immigrated into this country within the last 500 years is no longer eligible for governmental employment." Bush will endorse this policy stating that it "...keeps security risks and other undesirable people out of the government." Native Americans everywhere will rejoice and flock to government offices.
3. Britney Spears will again make headlines for her non-singing exploits by divorcing her current husband and marrying thirty-three others in rapid succession. When asked about it, she will state, "Well, since I have no other talent, I thought that I'd try to get into the Guinness Book Of World Records as the most married and divorced celebrity in history!"
2. Saddam Hussein will be found innocent of all charges by a jury of his peers. When asked for a comment, UN General Secretary Kofi Annan will say, "It is very hard to find 12 insane dictators willing to report for jury duty. We did the best we could, and this is what happened!"
And the #1 worst thing that will happen in 2005...
1. The Philadelphia Phillies will win the World Series. This is only bad for me as I am a Mets fan and will have to put up with Phillies fans bragging about how they killed the rest of the league (which will probably be contrary to the facts of the case, but that won't stop them.) (I find that most Philadelphia fans operate on the principal of "Facts! We don't need no stinking facts!" [Kinda like politicians])

These are my predictions for the 10 worst things that will happen in 2005. If you don't like them, make up your own list! It is still a free country (at least for another 11 days). In anycase, the 10 best things that will happen in 2005 will be posted in the near future (as I have time). I hope you enjoy these somewhat odd (or insane) predictions.
I am Chuck-tradamus and I predicted this message.

A Few New Items For The New Year.

Hello again. I hope everyone had a good New Years.
I just wanted to let you all know that the Google search bar at the top of the page and the GoogleAds at the side were placed there by me. They were not placed there by Blogger/Blogspot. I put them there for two reasons.
The first reason is for the readers of this blog. The search bar at the top makes it easier to look up some of the stuff I talk about (in case you wish to check my facts). The ads on the side are more for impulse things. One of those "Gee, I wonder how much a Steelers jersey costs these days" type of thing.
The second reason is purely capitalistic. Everytime that you look up something using the search bar or click on one of the ads, I get paid. Since I can always use more money, I figure this is a good way to get it! So, since clicking doesn't cost you anything, and since it makes me some money, please click to your heart's content!
In other things, I was wrong on the Fiesta Bowl. There I said it! Congrats to Utah on a perfect season. Also, goodbye and good luck to Walt Harris. Pitt fans will miss you.
Well, coming up next will be my predictions for 2005. Stay tuned for those nuggets of psychotic thinking!
Oh, and let me know what you think of the Google stuff (whether you like it or not or whether it can be placed better/interferes with the stuff on this page, etc.) Thanks.
This has been a Chuck production.