House prices drop. Interest rates get slashed. And guess what: I still can barely afford anything. I don’t know about you, but my salary certainly hasn’t kept pace with inflation. Not when a gallon of gas is $3.50, a slice of pizza sets me back $2.25, and single-family fixer-uppers are close to half a million dollars.

But many companies want us to be satisfied with 3% ‘cost of living’ raises.

It doesn’t help that the U.S. continues to hemorrhage money in Iraq. It’s like they’ve come down with anemia and there isn’t a clot in sight. Estimates of $60 billion to rid the world of Saddam Hussein were grossly inaccurate. So far, the war has cost $600 billion and the meter is still running. We’ll be in the trillions before it’s all said and done.

But wait! The government says there are good times ahead.

The Economic Stimulus Act of 2008 is cutting checks to over 130 million American households. The money starts to roll in May. Somewhere between $300 – $1200 for most folks, depending on your income. That’s around a $168 billion tab for Uncle Sam.

However, many surveys have indicated that Americans do not plan to “stimulate” the economy by hitting the mall. In fact the majority of folks plan to pay down debt. Because for the first time since records have been kept, homeowners owe more than the equity in their houses.

Look at your local real estate prices and think about that for a second. Home prices skyrocketed to ridiculous proportions several years back. Yet we’ve still managed to dig a hole large enough to crawl inside of and die. OK, maybe not die – but at least go broke.

The poor folks in Iraq are doing both.

I know that many of them signed up by choice. But no one expected this to drag on for thousands and thousands of days.

Jack of All Blogs is certainly too simple to delve into many aspects of the war. In fact, I’m more convinced than ever that the world is spinning way too fast.

I realize this entry is kind of all over the place. What’s my point? I don’t think I really have one. I’m just a little disgusted at where things are right now.

The government will share $168 billion with us. Maybe I should be happy. But I can’t help but wonder where we’d be if they shared the trillions they are spending overseas.

I’ll shut up now and just be grateful that nothing has exploded in my neck of the woods.

As little kids, quantity beats out quality at almost every turn. If faced with the choice between 10 toys or just one, the little ones will always buy in bulk. As adults, most of us understand that quality wins out every time. Would you rather have five minutes of intense pleasure or 15 minutes of generic sex? Exactly.

Then why do smart, educated, intelligent adults play the social networking numbers game? Including you! The reality is that many of us claim we have an abundance of friends or connections on these Websites. Yet, in real life, the older we get, the fewer friends we have.

If my profile on one of the major social networking sites (MySpace, Facebook) featured only 14 friends, I’d be viewed a loser. And 14 is pushing it, rounded out with cousins of acquaintances of friends.

Isn’t it time for some quality control?

Perhaps there should be a company that randomly contacts your “friends” to find out how much they really know about you. Stuff like your biggest fear; your college major; your mother’s middle name. You know, the things only a real friend would know.

The people who actually have the courage to show their face with only six pals are either silently judged (‘what a loser!’) or forced to set their profile to ‘private.’

For every person out there who doesn’t inflate their number of friends, I salute you. You’re choosing quality over quantity. And you’re exactly the type of person I want to be friends with. How about an add?

Baseball purists whined, Yankee haters hated and the talk radio hosts went ballistic. All over a 59-year-old man playing a game.

Yes folks, baseball, love it or hate it, is a game played by grown men. So when the New York Yankees decided to sign comedian/actor Billy Crystal to a one-day, one at-bat minor league contract, why were so many people outraged?

This wasn’t a game of any importance. It was the Yanks and the Pittsburg Pirates going through the motions of nine innings of spring training baseball.

If you want to be mad that Billy Crystal is fortunate enough to “fame” his way to YOUR dream, then so be it. But don’t tell me the first inning strikeout (though Crystal did make contact) tarnished the pride of the pinstripes.

Step 1: Win 26 championships
Step 2: Let actor play in practice
Step 3: Devalue your franchise

Sorry, dear Yankee haters, that is not the case.

Last time I checked, professional sports were designed to entertain. Distract. Make kids smile. If those are the goals, then yesterday, for at least a few minutes, the Yanks exceeded expectations.

Not a bad gift for Crystal’s sixtieth birthday.

Stars crossing over to the diamond is nothing new, both Garth Brooks and Tom Selleck have had their hacks.

Crystal might have whiffed, but the PR move didn’t.

Relax. It’s just a game.

New York Governor Eliot Spitzer won the 2006 gubernatorial election with a record 67% of the vote. That’s 2,882,524 New Yorkers who bought his tough brand of ‘let’s clean up the filth’ politics. Well, 100% of those people have been stabbed in the back.

Do me a favor. Next time MTV wants me to ‘Rock the Vote’ or some celebrity is preaching how ‘every vote counts,’ I’m begging you, save your breath. Don’t tell me this type of behavior is the exception to the rule. As a nation, we’ve been let down on the local and federal level when it comes to honest politics.

Jack of All Blogs is not perfect, but we certainly can say that being good, is not that hard. In fact, it’s NOT hard to NOT sleep with a hooker. Personally, I find it relatively easy to avoid.

As each politico falls, we’re reminded (by other politicos) how politics is not about individuals, rather, it’s about the process. If that’s the case, who give a flying F if it’s Clinton, Obama or McCain?

Spitzer’s crusade against the ‘bad guys’ is over. The next chapter of his life will include many apologies to his three teenage daughters, an inevitable divorce and hopefully lots of therapy.

And for the record, when I see these women ‘standing by their man,’ I’m perplexed. People talk about their ‘strength’ and ‘courage.’ All I see is an opportunist. If I ever committed half of the deviant acts that these politicians commit, I’d expect my wife to give me the finger and bail. That’s strength!

The Tri-State area has been plagued by leaders with a faulty moral compass. The governor of New Jersey resigned after an extramarital homosexual affair; the governor of Connecticut was jailed for conspiracy to commit honest services, mail fraud, and tax fraud; and now Spitzer – aka Client 9 – is left to pick up his ugly pieces.

You can make any argument you like, but I am more sure than ever that voting is overrated. At least until they build in some measure where you can rescind your vote. I sure know 2,882,524 New Yorkers would like to.

According to TechCrunch, Google and Microsoft are front and center, ready to make a bid for Web 2.0 darling Digg. The site, which bloggers across the world aspire to make the homepage of, will likely sell for approximately $210 million.

The thing about it is, I could care less who buys Digg. I’m so over it. Here are the reasons why.

1) Algorithm, Shmalgorithm. I don’t care what anyone says, the voting system is terribly flawed – and has devolved over time. Since 2005 I have had my time wasted by crappier and crappier stories. In many cases they lack humor, facts and overall quality. Someone is gaming the system. Top Digg users still hold too much control, dictating the majority of homepage content.

2) E-mail Forwards. I’m tired of friends, family and co-workers spending a good part of their day scouring Digg for links. If I want to see what’s popular, I’ll visit the Website myself. I don’t need you as a human-edited RSS feed.

3) Downhill Spiral. Traffic and revenue aside, the Digg product has peaked – in a cultural sense. It’s already worked it’s way as America’s favorite cool verb to start the 21st century. All we need now is old school conglomerate money running the thing to help it sink faster.

4) Dad “Diggs.” Once my parents are registered for something, it’s usually time to move on.

Full disclosure: I’m about the same age as Kevin Rose and might just be insanely jealous.

Attention blog commenter: Show some intestinal fortitude and state your name. If you’ve got something to say, good, bad or otherwise, you should NOT be allowed to remain anonymous, For far too long the media (including blogs) have been able to hide behind the cloak of anonymity.

Recently I blogged about Paul Tilley, a high-level ad exec who offed himself by plunging from the roof of the Fairmont Chicago Hotel. Some folks believe that mean-spirited comments portraying the now deceased in a negative light, contributed to his decision to commit suicide.

We’ll never know for sure. And this is obviously an extreme case. However, it brings the importance of accountability front and center. We enjoy freedom of speech, but are we showing that beautiful right enough respect? That’s a question that I encourage all bloggers and blog readers ask themselves before submitting their two cents.

Before you run to a proxy server to cover up your identity, think about the far-reaching impact your words can have. Sometimes it’s tough to have your voice heard on the Web, and sometimes your corner or the earth can shake the universe.

Other good questions to ask yourself:

Am I being truthful?
Am I being insulting?
Am I just angry?

For safety’s sake, you should assume that the comment CAN and WILL be traced back to you. Do you have the facts and information necessary to back up your claims?

Cause nothing really stays anonymous for long.

Xanax for pennies, sexual enhancement beyond comprehension and a free Rolex watch. What if, after all of these years, I finally took advantage of one of these too-good-to-be-true inbox offers? Odds are I’d lose money – maybe even my identity. But the sheer volume of spam messages I delete everyday makes me start to wonder: Can the repetition of these messages have a subliminal effect on our minds?

Often embedded in a primary object, subliminal messages are designed to pass below the normal limits of perception. They can often affect the subconscious or deeper mind, altering your course of action or attitude in later events.

Perhaps spam is the polar opposite of a positive affirmation, drilling our mind with feelings of self-doubt and worthlessness.

Have a good spam filter? Then you’re pretty safe. But even having to dip into a spam folder to delete messages, might be long enough for a subject line to catch your eye.

In 1974, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) determined that subliminal advertising “intended to be deceptive.”

Since one of the main goals of subliminal messaging is to create familiarity with a brand or idea, it makes perfect sense to Jack of All Blogs that all of this spam is clouding our minds.

Many studies put the effectiveness of subliminal messaging at over 80%. Couple that with the fact that there are approximately 90 billion messages sent a day, and there’s a good chance you’ve already been effected.

Next time you question your self-esteem, manhood or need for prescription drugs, ask yourself who’s asking, you or your subconscious.

Your blog often reveals a lot about your personality. From the words you use to the frequency with which you post, a Wordpress account can be a window into your soul.

What if we tried to guess the types of blog would-be American presidents would keep?

Blog Like Hillary. The tone of your blog changes with your underwear. You become what you think your audience wants, thus losing your credibility.

Blog Like Barack. Catchy headlines will lure people from RSS readers to your Website, but the lack of research in each post will be evident.

Blog Like Huckabee. Rife with humor, this well-crafter blog seems like the read deal. That is until you visit the ‘About Us’ page and find out that the blogger believes that God created the Internet

Blog Like McCain. That old Blogger template has gotta go. Haven’t you heard of Wordpress? Pointing to the success of ugly sites like Craiglsist, sometimes age beats beauty.

THE FALLEN

Blog Like Romney. The homepage is Flash and AJAX, but when you try to click on any of the content, you receive 404 errors.

Blog Like Edwards. This is a passionate blog, but each entry is repetitive, often starting with something about you being ‘the son of a mine worker.’

Blog Like Nader. It’s weird. This blog only posts every four years. But somehow, it manages to eat into your traffic.

The latest reality TV sensation to hit the American airwaves is The Moment of Truth, a FOX show that hooks a willing participant to a lie detector device. The individual is peppered with deeply personal questions. The goal is to tell the truth, all the way to $500,000.

Since the show has become a worldwide sensation (airing under different names in 23 countries), the editors here at Jack of All Blogs asked – no demanded – that I be hooked up to a polygraph for this blog entry. Being that they’re offering a prize of $10, I figured ‘why the heck not!’ So, without your permission, I’ll answer their questions, speaking on behalf of bloggers everywhere.

Q: Do you genuinely enjoy writing blogs?
A: Yes
Result: TRUE

Q: If presented with the opportunity, would you blog full-time?
A: Yes
Result: TRUE

Q: Would you stop blogging if your employer doubled your salary?
A: No
Result: LIE

Q: Do you adhere to copyright laws when using images on blogs?
A: Yes
Result: LIE

Q: Do you get angry when you see a similar post to one you’ve written – but crappier – on the front page of Digg?
A: Yes
Result: TRUE

Q: Do you leave comments on your own blogs?
A: No
Result: LIE

Q: Do you ever search porn when you hit a writing roadblock?
A: No
Result: LIE

Q: Do you research or write blogs on company time.
A: No
Result: LIE

Dear blogger, if you answered differently below, let us know in the comments section. Though we know you’re lying.

Media mega-star Howard Stern has always credited his haters for helping him achieve a sick amount of fame and fortune. Many people tune into his radio show to look for reasons to be offended. In the process, rather than unplugging his mic, they are giving the show more juice, hence, adding to his audience.

Don’t make the same mistake when it comes to blogs that piss you off. Even if it’s this one.

“Spying” on your enemy or seeing what your blog competition is up to can be useful. But if you’re hitting refresh every few hours, all you’re really doing is giving that blog a jolt of traffic. Occasional “eavesdropping” has a purpose, but obsessive monitoring doesn’t help you differentiate your product.

If you build it, they will come. Or not. If you look away, they will fade. Or not. At least you did your part.

The best way to punish a blog you don’t like is to look the other way, never visit again. never mention it to anyone – in fact – don’t even think about it.

Often, bloggers will use their Websites as a way to attack the destinations they disagree with. You’ll usually find these posts lacking links. Big deal. Search engines will still pick up the word and Average Joes will still search the site to seek it out.

If a store screws you over, don’t return.
If there’s a fly in your soup, don’t order again.
If a blog makes your blood boil, click the little black “x.”

Ouch. I just saw our subscriber count drop. Good for you!