WordHurdle

Olbermann feels betrayed and unloads on MSNBC

Wow!  Have you seen this clip of Keith Olbermann's "special comment" on MSNBC?  Keith takes 7 minutes at the end of his show to utterly unload on the Democratic leadership for their betrayal by acquiesing with the Bush adminstration on the issue of troop withdrawal dates, on President Bush for his keeping us in Iraq, and on the Democratic presidential hopefuls for being cowards on this issue.  I'm not a big Olbermann fan, not as much as I was back in his ESPN SportsCenter days, but this "special comment" is a big deal for a journalist to just lay it out there like this.  Keith is obviously speaking an an angry Democrat here, and it's amazing to see his rage expressed so poignantly.

Forget "The Secret" and Think Negative

I don't pay much attention to Oprah, but I catch bits and pieces, and the commercials on XM for her channel feature sound bites about "The Secret" and the whole positive thinking cult going on.  Slate offers up another viewpoint and implores Oprah to step in and set the record straight to save the world.

Illegal Immigrants Question Senate Deal

"Illegal Immigrants Question Senate Deal" -- yes, this really is the headline of an AP story today regarding the Senate immigration plan. Last time I checked, illegal immigrants don't get a say as to whether or not Congress' ideas make any sense to them.  What an annoying headline and story full of quotes from whining illegal immigrants who don't even want to follow proposed rules!

3 latecomers to the presidential race testing the waters

As of this week, latecomers to the presidential run appear to be Newt Gingrinch and Fred Thompson, who this week has received nods of support from religious conservatives, as Republicans, and now today, Michael Bloomberg as a third party candidate, or as they say, "Ross Perot on steroids."

Wanted: Cordless DECT Skype Ethernet-based dualphone with additional handsets

I'm in the market for a Skype cordless dualphone, meaning a phone that will work with both my landline and my Skype account.  I have done the math and figured out that I can trim down my long distance bill and my local phone bill by using Skype for outgoing calls and long distance calls but keep the local landline for incoming calls.

I have a few requirements that have made my hunt challenging:

• I want a DECT phone, which is the new frequency for cordless phones so they won't interfere or receive interference from other devices, such as your wifi signal from your router.
• I want a phone that plugs into an Ethernet port, not USB.  The USB dualphones require you to plug your phone's base into a computer, so your computer is doing the real Skype heavy lifting.  Instead of being dependent on a computer, I want my phone to run directly through my router.
• I want additional handsets.  I like to have a phone at my fingertips, and some of these Skype dualphones all for up to 3-4 additional handsets.   

These requirements have made my hunt a little more difficult.  I'm posting a few reviews I've found online just so I can track them and for others who are looking for the same kind of equipment.

The most prevalent phone I found when doing a Google search is the Netgear SPH200D Skype dualphone and its additional handset, the Netgear SPH150D.  This is a crisp-looking white phone, and the folks at SkypeGear like it and they price it around $179.  So far, 42 Amazon.com reviewers have given it 4.5 stars out of 5.

I've found references online to the GE 28310 Skype dualphone, but I can't find much about it.  It appears to be available at Wal-Mart.com for $149 and on EBay, and the specs say they allow for up to 6 handsets, but I don't find additional handsets (or even a model number for additional handests) anywhere.  This phone isn't even noted on the GE website at the moment, so I'm not sure about its viability at this point, despite being $30 cheaper.

My most recent find is the Linksys iPhone CIT400 dual-mode Skype phone, which looks very promising.  It received a good review from PC Magazine with a 4 out of 5 "very good" rating.  PC Magazine prices it in the $179 range.  So far, 63 Amazon.com reviewers have given it an average of 4 of 5 stars.  I can't find any actual info on additional handsets for this phone either, despite the phone's promotional claims.  According to this Amazon.com discussion amongst customers, there are great questions as to whether Linksys is actually going to create additional handsets, but apparently the Linksys and Netgear SPH200D are almost identical internally and the Netgear's additional handsets can be paired with the Linksys.  Nice!  But, of course, that brings up why you wouldn't just buy the Netgear in the first place.

If you know of any more options, please comment to this post.

WWJBD?

What would Jack Bauer do?  Here is one man's very funny top 18.  This has taken on Chuck Norris proportions.

Judges sue dry cleaners for $67 million lost pants damages

[UPDATE:  A DC panel, due to all the bad publicity over this matter, is now considering whether this administrative law judge should be reappointed.]

Stories like this make you embarrassed to be a lawyer.  This Washington, D.C. administrative law judge is suing his local dry cleaners for $67 million over a pair of lost pants.  Yes, what makes it worse is that this isn't some random citizen filing a horrific lawsuit, but actually a lawyer who someone decided had enough credibility and integrity to serve as judge.  Insane.  The article explains how he's calculating his damages, which is ridiculous, that he plans to call 63 witnesses at trial, and that he's even attempted (unsuccessfully) to turn this into a class action suit.

The article also notes the multiple settlement offers made by the dry cleaners, which includes offers up to $12,000 for a purported $800 pair of pants.  Also, the ABC reporting team has done some math of their own and calculated that this judge could get 84,115 pairs of similar pants for his $67 million in damages.  IMHO, based on the facts presented in this story, this ALJ should be removed from the bench for this frivolity.