Author Archives: Michael Froomkin

Passions and Politics

Posted on September 27, 2012 by Michael Froomkin

As someone who thinks politics is about stuff worth being passionate about, I probably ought to like this over-the-top pro-Obama video starring Samuel L. Jackson more than I do.

Don’t play this in an environment where people are likely to be offended by a common Anglo-Saxon vulgarism.

A part of my discomfort is getting a child actor to swear for the camera. But a bigger part is that I happened to see the video shortly after seeing Conor Friedersdorf’s Why I Refuse to Vote for Barack Obama.

I am voting for Obama, because it’s clear that Romney would be so much worse — even on torture issues (how can we even be having this debate?). But along with some real bits of good (half a loaf on health care, saving the auto industry, lattter-day conversion to gay rights) Obama has done real and long-lasting evil to international law (drone killings of foreigners) and domestic civil rights (drone killings of US citizens, excessive invocation of the so-called state secrets privilege in court cases about vacuum-cleaner wiretapping, arguing for vastly excessive Presidential powers, and refusing to prosecute torturers and other lawbreakers in the former administration 1). So I agree this election matters. Conceivably as much as Gore-Bush did. But it’s harder to summon the passion about it when the lesser of two evils is such a mixed bag on the issues I care about.

I will say one thing for the video, though. I laughed at the end when I saw who paid for it. I wasn’t expecting that.

  1. Guantanamo I am willing to blame in some significant part on Congress, or it would be on the list too. Ending the war in Iraq I largely credit to the Iraqis, as Obama would gladly have left 50,000 troops there if the Iraqis hadn’t kicked us out.[↩]
Posted in 2012 Election | 1 Comment

More Fake Gold Bars

Posted on September 26, 2012 by Michael Froomkin

You may not recall The Great Gold Bar Hoax (Hoax?) from March, but it seems that ten more tungsten-filled supposedly gold bars have been found, this time in Manhattan, at least according to zerohedge’s Gold Counterfeiting Goes Viral: 10 Tungsten-Filled Gold Bars Are Discovered In Manhattan.

So far, the rot is limited to bars with one particular set of markings (Swiss Produits Artistiques Métaux Précieux (PAMP)), but zerohedge, which sees financial crises all the time everywhere, sees one looming for the gold trade. Unless of course, they warn, this is a false-flag op to discredit gold. But then again it might be a Chinese money-making plot.

At least there was something there; things could be even worse.

Posted in Econ & Money | Comments Off on More Fake Gold Bars

Be Afraid

Posted on September 26, 2012 by Michael Froomkin

This is perfect:

spotted via panGloss.

Posted in ID Cards and Identification | Comments Off on Be Afraid

Tuesday Sears Update: Important Information About Your Treadmill

Posted on September 25, 2012 by Michael Froomkin

I really wasn’t going to blog about the treadmill today. Enough already. Maybe too much. But then, this evening, the third thing happened.

The first thing was that the phone rang at 8:04am just like it did yesterday, instructing me that I had to call to reschedule delivery of my treadmill. I didn’t bother. (But I’m betting they call at 8:04 am tomorrow and wake me up on Yom Kippur.)

The second thing was that when I got into the office there was a message from “Stephanie” at the Sears executive offices, who wanted to talk to me about my “treadmill experience”. This although the problem with my treadmill experience is of course that I have not in fact had any opportunity to experience the F80 treadmill. I called right back and identified myself, name, order number, zip code, address, and Steffane found my record. “This shows as complete” she said. I started laughing.

Eventually we got that sorted out — there is no treadmill here. None. Nada. Ziltch. And Stephanie agreed that it “looks like it needs to be reordered”. But it is on backorder, so they can’t do that now. I explained my fear that my model is gone, and they are bringing in a new model, and that as a result I may be on hold forever. Stephanie seemed to grasp that point, and suggested that maybe I should pay the difference for the newer version of the F80. I suggested as how since Sears had taken my money and promised me a brand new, not damaged, F80, that is what they should deliver. We left it that Stephanie would research the matter, which I took to mean calling around trying to find one of the old ones to send me. And if that didn’t work, getting permission to offer me something or other. There were three F80s in Aventura yesterday according to the web site, and they’re still there today, so maybe that isn’t it, I don’t know. Anyway, I was content to leave it in Stephanie’s hands for a few days, and see what she cooked up.

But when I got home and picked up the mail, we got to part three. The outside of the envelope announced the topic clearly:

I really had no idea what to expect, but I sure didn’t expect this:

Let’s deconstruct the key parts of this, shall we?

Continue reading →

Posted in Shopping | 4 Comments

Monday Treadmill Update

Posted on September 24, 2012 by Michael Froomkin

AM: Just after 8:00am this morning the sears robot called. There was a problem with my recent delivery and it was “urgent” that I call 888 567 3452 today to reschedule. Urgent, eh? Maybe they have found a treadmill to deliver to me. (Previous post, for those who came in late, Why I Do Not Have A Treadmill (Sears Can’t Deliver).)

So, I called back right away. After about a minute of hold time, “Molly” at the call center answered. Name. Address. Zip. Address. Having pulled up my file, she seems surprised I am calling — the file says I have already been told it has been backordered and they don’t know when one will be available.

But your robot said it was “urgent” I said. And your website says you have them to deliver on Saturday in my zip code.

Mention the web site, and the jaws of the script snap shut: any questions about that and I have to call sears.com. She’ll connect me. Wait! I say, what do I do if I’m disconnected? Call 800 349 4358. There are clicking noises and a very ominous moment of silence. But, again, having a fallback plan saves me from disconnection, and I am through to “Joyce” who sounds like she might be from somewhere a little south of the Mason-Dixon line. She wants my order confirmation number, and having pulled up my file quizzes me to make sure I know my name, my email address, and my home address. Satisfied that I’m not some whacko who calls Sears with counterfeit confirmation numbers just for kicks, Joyce tells me that my treadmill is backordered, and they don’t know when they will come in.

But, I say, on the website…

You wouldn’t want us to schedule you until we know we have one, would you?

But if I was buying a new one, you’d give me Saturday as a delivery date! That’s what I want.

Joyce clearly has worked in politics, because her spin on the situation is that they are treating me extra well, better than the people on the website, and not taking any risk of misleading me. It would be funny if it was not so frustrating.

What about the phone call this morning, I ask, will I keep getting them?

Yes. We want to keep you up to date about your order.

(Never mind that the robocalls don’t actually tell me anything — they want me to call in whether or not there’s any point to it.)

Joyce says she will request that I get emails instead of phone calls. But she’s too honest, and warns me that “I can’t promise that will happen”.

Meanwhile, I check the Sears.com website. Now they have two entries for the the F80. One is the high performance F80, which I think is what I ordered, and the other is the fitness F80 for $500 more. The “high performance” model is available for pickup at some stores, but not for delivery. The “fitness” model can be delivered as early as Saturday. [PM Update: now the website says it could be delivered as early as 09/28/12. But not to me, it seems.]

Is the problem that Sears wants to send me the old one, but can’t find any? Is Sears hoping it will wear me down and get me to cancel the order? Or are Sears’s computer systems designed in a way that doesn’t let Sears replace the SKU for the old model for the new one? And would I even want Sears to do so?

Looking at the specs I cannot see any significant differences between them, although the tread on the “fitness” model seems 2″ wider. If the “fitness” model is the 2013 version that could be good or bad; new models of popular products sometimes fix bugs, but they also sometimes involve doing some corner-cutting. Without reviews there’s no way I can tell.

PM: Four random afternoon facts:

(1) For some reason I’m having trouble keeping this song out of my head:

(2) I have found an amazing website called I Hate Sears. It sounds as if many other people have had similar experiences to mine. [Update 2015: the site is gone but I’ve linked the archived version.]

(3) From that web site I learn that Sears has a “Sears Social Media Support Team,” which I prefer to think of as the squeaky-wheel brigade, and they can be reached at smsupport@searshc.com. I emailed them. And in no time I got this reply:

We apologize for the difficulties you have encountered. A case manager has been assigned to address your concerns. We will contact you within 24 business hours.

Thank you,

Eric O.

Social Media Support – Senior Case Manager
Email: smsupport@searshc.com
Hours: Monday – Friday 8:00 AM – 7:00 PM (CST)

But what do people without blogs do?

(4) Sears stock (SHLD) is down $1.12(1.93%) today, no doubt entirely due to my efforts.

[Next installment: Tuesday Sears Update: Important Information About Your Treadmill.]

Posted in Shopping | 13 Comments

Why is No One Discussing the Bradley Effect?

Posted on September 24, 2012 by Michael Froomkin

Although the picture is not entirely clear, it does appear that Barack Obama is drawing ahead in national and especially swing state polls. But can we trust the polls?

Before the 2008 election, there were numerous discussions of the Bradley effect — the name given to the propensity of black candidates to get fewer votes than their pre-election poll numbers would predict.

One hypothesis explaining the discrepancy was that some white voters were reluctant to tell pollsters they were going to vote against the black candidate, but did so in the privacy of the voting booth.

On the other hand, there were also suggestions of a “reverse Bradley effect” in which black candidates did better than polls suggested in states with many (over 25%) black voters. Explanations included the reluctance of black voters to tell pollsters who they were voting for, and under-sampling errors in the polls.

According to Wikipedia, the 2008 Presidential election did not provide evidence of a Bradley effect, but did provide some limited evidence of a reverse Bradley effect. This may be why talk of the Bradley effect is off the table.

But 2008 was seen as an historic moment: electing a black President would not end racism but it would be a big marker en route to that goal, and decisive statement about how the US had changed since 1960, not to mention 1860. Now we’ve been there, done that. Does that re-open the door to the Bradley effect? Maybe not. Maybe we’re past all that. But I don’t think that one data point proves it.

Posted in 2012 Election | Comments Off on Why is No One Discussing the Bradley Effect?