Pulp Free

Merry Christmas to you and yours…

(Thanks to slworking2 for the photo…)

In about a week’s time, Charter Communication will no longer be carrying the Saint Louis CBS affiliate KMOV television signal. I stumbled across this tidbit of fairly relevant information just today as EngadgetHD had an article about the new HDTV channels arriving shortly.

So a possible upside to this would be no longer being subjected to the daily Guiding Light obsession that my wife has had for the last 20 years… However, WE are big fans of How I Met Your Mother, The Big Bang Theory, Gary Unmarried, Flashpoint, and Rules of Engagement… Well - you get the idea. (I suppose grabbing downloaded episodes after they air might work in a pinch but very annoying and very specific…)

Having already been annoyed with Charter over not carrying the HD lineup for CBS, not carrying the entire channel is just ridiculous. Our family spends a good deal of money with phone service, HD and digital cable along with 16Mbs broadband… With rumors of Charter running low on cash - what options are there? Being that their HQ is just a few blocks from our house - there’s been little incentive for other options to present themselves… (I’m not going to say monopoly… but maybe I’ll hint at it…)

So KMOV has their side of the story… But I’ve yet to find any information on Charter’s side of the story… A quick search of Google will give you plenty of links to other newsworthy information…

“For more than two years, KMOV has been trying to reach an agreement with Charter Cable to have KMOV’s signal available to Charter cable customers,” KMOV leaders said in a written statement. “We have made offers, Charter has not responded. We want Channel 4 on Charter, but effective Dec. 31st, Charter will no longer carry KMOV.

Feel like letting off a bit of steam about your favorite shows? Give Charter a call…

Charter Communications offices: 314-965-0555
Charter Customer Service: 1-888-GET CHARTER (1-888-438-2427)
Charter E-mail: SteveGM@chartercom.com

Just as I was actually getting to like Charter after years of crappy customer support, technical support and dodgy quality, I have to wonder if other broadcast channels are going to be going static…

While flipping through the “What’s Popular” on YouTube this morning I came across a pretty amazing Fan-made trailer for Thundercats. I chuckled to myself when I watched it thinking “A little corny…” - Then a bit further into the trailer I realized that it was made from other film clips. Hats off to WormyT on some pretty fantastic video skills…

Perhaps Cheetara could get an Angelina Jolie “Tomb Raider” make-over! LOL - At least I recognized Farscape’s Gigi Edgley in there…

A nice article from Matt Apuzzo, AP Writer floated up on Yahoo News this morning that prompted me to share my distrust of our $800 billion nightmare the tax payers have already been swindled by. Heck - I worked at Citi for close to 10 years and didn’t think they should get a dime for their lax efforts… And while not specific to Citi alone - I am wondering why there’s no accountability for this… It was made apparent in the rush to hand over these billions of dollars that fiscal responsibility should be attached to these “loans”. What’s happened in just a few short months?

“We’ve lent some of it. We’ve not lent some of it. We’ve not given any accounting of, ‘Here’s how we’re doing it,’” said Thomas Kelly, a spokesman for JPMorgan Chase, which received $25 billion in emergency bailout money. “We have not disclosed that to the public. We’re declining to.”

The Associated Press contacted 21 banks that received at least $1 billion in government money and asked four questions: How much has been spent? What was it spent on? How much is being held in savings, and what’s the plan for the rest?

None of the banks provided specific answers.

“We’re not providing dollar-in, dollar-out tracking,” said Barry Koling, a spokesman for Atlanta, Ga.-based SunTrust Banks Inc., which got $3.5 billion in taxpayer dollars.

An inspiration for others for sure…

There has been no accounting of how banks spend that money. Lawmakers summoned bank executives to Capitol Hill last month and implored them to lend the money — not to hoard it or spend it on corporate bonuses, junkets or to buy other banks. But there is no process in place to make sure that’s happening and there are no consequences for banks who don’t comply.

So surely some corporate entity could rise above the others and appreciate the gift that my taxpayer dollars provided them?

Nearly every bank AP questioned — including Citibank and Bank of America, two of the largest recipients of bailout money — responded with generic public relations statements explaining that the money was being used to strengthen balance sheets and continue making loans to ease the credit crisis.

Guess not. Hey - sign me up George W. Bush. I wouldn’t mind having a few billions to get mixed into my checking account…

Warren, the congressional watchdog appointed by Democrats, said her oversight panel will try to force the banks to say where they’ve spent the money.

“It would take a lot of nerve not to give answers,” she said.

But Warren said she’s surprised she even has to ask.

“If the appropriate restrictions were put on the money to begin with, if the appropriate transparency was in place, then we wouldn’t be in a position where you’re trying to call every recipient and get the basic information that should already be in public documents,” she said.

Garrett, the New Jersey congressman, said the nation might never get a clear answer on where hundreds of billions of dollars went.

Now I wonder how well the Big 3 auto industry (I mean - Detroit specific car companies) will disclose their spending of the recently approved $17.4 billion bailout… Stay tuned for more clarity and transparency…

Stare at black dot when countdown starts untill it reverts to black and white, and then watch it a couple more times…