Customer Service At Best Buy

Not content with merely badgering you like normal commission salesmen, Best Buy employees will actively try to steal from you.

On a related note, I heard a rumor that Future Shop no longer has commission salesmen - that would explain why it is so hard to actually get one to talk to you lately.

Iran Seeks Nuclear Contractor For Discrete Encounter

The Nuclear Power Production and Development Company of Iran (NPPD) is running a series of ads in US papers and magazines.

The nuclear power production and development company of Iran (NPPD), an affiliate company of the atomic energy corporation of Iran (the owner) invites field bids from contractors, companies for the design, supply of equipment, construction and commissioning, of two large scale units 1000-1600 MWe each with 3rd generation nuclear power pressurized light water reactor in the Bushehr province of Iran. Qualified bidders who have sufficient experiences in the construction and commissioning of such plants are requested to obtain the respective bid inquiry specification (BIS) documents upon payment of a non-refundable fee of 15,000 euros transferred to the following account.

Firstly, the fact these ads are being run in the mainstream media rather than appropriate trade magazines makes their intent pretty clear: to desperately try to stir up some trouble. I honestly can't figure out what Iran is doing anymore. If they want to run the Middle East they should be quiet like mice while funding the various militias in Iraq. What possible benefit could Ahmadinejad see in provoking the US into actually putting an end to this stupidity? Is he truly brain-damaged enough to take pleasure in minor slights that are largely ignored?

Secondly, why does this ad remind me so much of the email spam I get every day? 15,000 euros in a numbered bank account? Maybe this is just the Viagra peddlers taking their game to the next level!

Vancouver Taxi Policies

The big uproar over cabbies refusing fares going out to the suburbs of Vancouver is inane. Now the provincial transportation minister (from the relatively free-market party!) is talking about a "bill of rights" for passengers to solve the problem.

Here's an idea, geniuses: Issue more cab licenses in the jurisdictions having problems with uncooperative cabbies. The only reason the drivers can afford to be that picky is because there aren't enough cabs to satisfy demand. Issue limited weekend-night-only permits if this would cause a problem during the rest of the week. It's not that complicated.

And I can't believe that the cops are wasting their time on sting operations:

[The transportation minister] said police told him they were using young, female police officers requesting late-night rides to suburbs to catch cabbies refusing fares.

Excellent use of tax dollars, right there!