Lee Iacocca's Zombie speaks - before he's even dead.

This article seemed pretty interesting.

As some of you might know, Lee Iacocca was a former CEO of Chrysler.  Back in 1979.

In that year, Chrysler was doing very badly, and came to the US government for loan guarantees.

The Republican Party fought against it.  But, in 1979, the Democrats held the majority in the House and Senate.  And President Carter was in office.  So, it passed over Republican objections.

Popular opinion holds that he's been a life-long Democrat since.  Which isn't entirely true - but members of the Democrat party have attempted to draft him to run for president.  As a Democrat. 

Which is why this email surprised me.

Friends, would you believe that Lee Iacocca is 82 years old and is still kickin’ butt?  Check out his latest rant.
Just as true today as it was when his book  first came  out.
He was, and still is, a  brilliant businessman!
Often we need to be  reminded of Iacocca's  words.
  Remember Lee  Iacocca, the man who rescued Chrysler Corporation from its death  throes?  He's now 82 years old and has a new book, 'Where  Have All The Leaders  Gone?'. 

Lee Iacocca  Says:'Am I the only  guy in this country who's fed up with what's happening? Where  the hell is our outrage with this so called president? We should  be screaming bloody murder! We've got a gang of tax cheating  clueless leftists trying to steer our ship of state right over a  cliff, we've got corporate gangsters stealing us blind, and we  can't even run a ridiculous cash-for-clunkers program without  losing $26 billion of the taxpayers' money, much less build a hybrid car. But instead of getting mad, everyone sits around and  nods their heads when the politicians say, 'trust me, the economy  is getting  better..' Better? You've  got to be kidding. This is America , not the damned 'Titanic'.  I'll give you a sound bite: 'Throw all the Democrats out, along  with Obama!' 

You might think  I'm getting senile, that I've gone off my rocker, and maybe I  have. But someone has to speak up. I hardly recognize this  country  anymore..

The most famous  business leaders are not the innovators but the guys in handcuffs.. While we're fiddling in Afghanistan , Iran is  completing their nuclear bombs and missiles and nobody seems to  know what to do. And the liberal press is waving 'pom-poms'  instead of asking hard questions. That's not the promise of the  ' America ' my parents and yours traveled across the ocean for.  I've had enough. How about  you? 

I'll go a step  further. You can't call yourself a patriot if you're not  outraged. This is a fight I'm ready and willing to have. The  Biggest 'C' is Crisis! (Iacocca elaborates on nine C's of leadership, with crisis being the  first.)

Leaders are  made, not born. Leadership is forged in times of crisis. It's  easy to sit there with thumb up your butt and talk theory. Or  send someone else's kids off to war when you've never seen a  battlefield yourself. It's another thing to lead when your world  comes tumbling  down.

On September 11,  2001, we needed a strong leader more than any other time in our  history. We needed a steady hand to guide us out of the ashes. A  hell of a mess, so here's where we stand. 

We're immersed  in a bloody war now with no plan for winning and no plan for  leaving..  But our soldiers are dying  daily.

We're running  the biggest deficit in the history of the world, and it's  getting worse every day!

We've lost the  manufacturing edge to Asia , while our once-great companies are  getting slaughtered by health care  costs.

Gas prices are  going to skyrock again, and nobody in power has a lucid plan to  open drilling to solve the problem.  This country has the  largest oil reserves in the WORLD, and we cannot drill for it  because the politicians have been bought by the flea-hugging  environmentalists.

Our schools  are in a complete disaster because of the teachers'  union. 

Our borders are  like sieves and they want to give all illegal's amnesty and free  healthcare. 

The middle class  is being squeezed to death every  day. 

These are times  that cry out for  leadership.

But when you  look around, you've got to ask: 'Where have all the leaders  gone?' 

Where are the curious, creative communicators? Where are  the people of character, courage, conviction, omnipotence, and  common sense? I may be a sucker for alliteration, but I think  you get the  point..

Name me a leader  who has a better idea for homeland security than making us take  off our shoes in airports and throw away our  shampoo? 

We've spent  billions of dollars building a huge new bureaucracy, and all we  know how to do is react to things that have already  happened.

Everyone's  hunkering down, fingers crossed, hoping the government will make  it better for them.  Now, that's just crazy.. Deal with  life.

Name me an  industry leader who is thinking creatively about how we can  restore our competitive edge in manufacturing. Who would have  believed that there could ever be a time when 'The Big Three'  referred to Japanese car companies? How did this happen, and  more important, look what Obama did about  it!

Name me a  government leader who can articulate a plan for paying down the  debt, or solving the energy crisis, or managing the health care  problem. The silence is deafening. But these are the crises that  are eating away at our country and milking the middle class  dry.

I have news for  the Chicago gangsters in Congress. We didn't elect you to turn  this country into a losing European Socialist state. What is  everybody so afraid of? That some bonehead on NBC or CNN news  will call them a name? Give me a break. Why don't you guys show  some spine for a  change?

Had Enough? Hey,  I'm not trying to be the voice of gloom and doom here.  I'm  trying to light a fire. I'm speaking out because I have hope - I  believe in America .. In my lifetime, I've had the privilege of  living through some of     America 's greatest moments.  I've also experienced some of our worst crises: The 'Great  Depression,' 'World War  II,' the 'Korean War,' the  'Kennedy Assassination,' the 'Vietnam War,' the 1970's oil  crisis, and the struggles of recent years since  9/11. 

Make your own  contribution by sending this to everyone you know and care  about. It's our country, folks, and it's our future. Our future  is at  stake!!

Now, it's time to apply some math skills.  Because we know that most right-wing email forwarders are incapable of this.

This email claims that Lee Iacocca is 82 years old.

Lee Iacocca's birthday is October 15, 1924.  So he's 86 years old now.  Which means that the original text of this email (before it got serially edited by right-wing hacks) was written 4 years ago.

This is before President Obama was elected.  Or even taken seriously as a presidential candidate.  And way before anyone would have dreamed of "cash for clunkers", or the financial collapse and/or stimulus programs.

So, what happened here?

Turns out, Snopes has a copy of the original email.

And, as you'd predict, it was quite a stinging rebuke of the George W. Bush administration.

I guess that some right-wing email creators can't wait for a guy to die before rewriting the history of his life and his quotations.  Sad, really.

A Gas Station Serenity Prayer

Not all of my dad's email forwards have to do with politics.

Here's another recent piece of nonsense:

New way to get swindled. I will clear from now on.

Using the "clear" button
Using credit/debit card?
Read this note very carefully.

I did not know about the clear button, but I will be pushing the clear button before I swipe my gas or debit card and after just to be safe.

People are getting really desperate due to the constantly rising gas prices.

A friend just told me about something that happened to one of his coworkers.
She used her credit/debit card to purchase gas at the pump (like most of us do). She received her receipt like normal. 

However, when she checked her statement, there were 2 $50.00 charges added in addition to her purchase. Upon investigation, she found out that because she did not press the 'clear' button on the pump, the employee inside the store was able to use her card to purchase his/her own gas! 

To keep this from happening, after you get your receipt, you must press the 'CLEAR' button or your information will be stored until the next customer inserts their card.
Be sure to tell all your friends/family so that this doesn't happen to them. I had never noticed the clear button but I got gas the other day and sure enough it is there. I shall be using it from now on.

Well, needless pressing of a "clear" button probably isn't going to hurt anyone.  Is it?

Well, keypads do wear out over time.  I'd imagine this would send a few to early retirement.

And, of course, there are your random nutbags who will forget to hit the "clear" button, rush back to the gas station, and accost the staff out of fear that their identities might be stolen.

I suppose, if these things become prevalent, it will cost the gas stations money.  And of course, you know where that money is going to come from - increased prices at the pump.  So, yes.  Hysteria like this can cause harm for the rest of us.

"But", you may ask, "is there any credence to the idea that failing to 'clear' the pump of data might allow a gas station employee to use someone's credit card number?"

Absolutely not.  Once collected and immediately transmitted, credit card numbers are usually not stored at the retail site.  Most companies prefer not to take the risk of being sued for data breaches.  And even the ones that do want to keep credit card data (for some weird reason) are obliged to keep the data encrypted.  And a gas station attendant isn't going to have access to it.

Now some folks might say, "Well, if that's true, how did this original poster get stuck with a couple of $50 charges?"

Well, they could have made it up.  It seems a little bit strange for an identity thief to stop after collecting $100.

But, if they weren't, I'd lay odds on the gas pump being modified with a skimmer.  If a pump were illegally modified, then, yes, it could store or transmit data to a thief.

But the "clear" button won't help you to defeat a skimmer.

Thankfully, they're still rare.  And if they were more common, credit card companies would be devising countermeasures.

But if you're worried - check the benefits on your credit card.  They usually have good protections against identity theft.

And that will help you a lot more than worrying about if you hit a "clear" button.