This is an interesting turn of events, because when I was in Oregon last week, Webb Diego was the Grand Marshall of "Citizens For Fairness In Internet Contests Days" up in Pendelton. I thought his opening night remarks had a stone cold ring of truth to them, so I'll go ahead and post the highlights...

"...I know what you're all thinking, 'Who cares about unannounced internet contests?' All I can say I hope you enjoy swapping your tractor for a hammer and sickle, because Comrades, that's what you'll be farming with if unannounced internet contests continue unabated in this country. Oh sure, an unannounced internet contest here or there doesn't seem to hurt anything, does it? A slick, on-line huckster will ask a few dumb questions, make a few wisecracks, and give away some useless merchandise to a non-existant winner...and no harm's done, right? But that's not the way it plays out in my book, fellas. A few thousand on-line enthusiasts will waste maybe an hour of their time, trying to solve the puzzle that doesn't exist, and that adds up to a few thousand man-hours of work lost. So what happens next? The factories of this great nation cover their losses by raising their wholesale prices to the retailers, who then raises their retail prices to the consumer, who is left with that much less to spend when it comes time to send his kids to college. And we end up with a bunch of lilly-wristed, punk haired lefties going to community college and letting their dreams and ambitions go up in a cloud of reefer, pot, mary jane, 13, bong, joint, or grass...all the while watching re-runs of Brokeback Mountain, and ending every empty headed sentance with the phrase, 'Just Sayin.' No, Ladies and Gentlemen, make my on-line contests announced, the way the Good Lord intended."