Monday, September 15, 2008

More of the same...Lying

No man lies so boldly as the man who is indignant.
Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900), philosopher

I find it absolutely amazing how many well-informed Republican pundits now say they don’t know what he Bush Doctrine is – only to help out Sarah Palin.

Slowly, similar to how the truth came out about how the Bush Administration lied about weapons of mass destruction, the truth about Palin is coming out, but let’s hope that it’s not too late, again!

Is there anything the McCain campaign isn't lying about?"



  • Sarah Palin did not visit troops in Iraq, a spokesperson for the Republican vice presidential nominee confirmed Saturday, as new details emerged about the extent of the Alaska governor's foreign travel.

  • Palin visited the Iraqi side of a border crossing -- but never journeyed past the checkpoint. Earlier, campaign aides confirmed reports that Palin's time in Ireland on that trip had actually been a refueling stop.

  • The Obama campaign has accused the McCain campaign of deliberately lying about wildly inflated crowd estimates for Palin. The McCain team has twice pointed to law enforcement as the source for those estimates -- but the same officials denied to Bloomberg News that they had provided the numbers cited by the Republican nominee's campaign.

  • The McCain campaign said Gov. Palin opposed the bridge to nowhere, but now we know she supported it.

  • McCain's campaign released a television ad, titled "Disrespectful," that accuses McCain's Democratic rival of launching desperate attacks and smears against Palin. In the McCain ad, the announcer says the Obama camp had "lashed out at Sarah Palin" and dismissed Palin as "good-looking" as the Democratic nominee's face appears on the screen. The announcer also says the Democrats had said Palin was doing "what she was told" and had "desperately" called her a liar.“How disrespectful," the announcer says. "And how Gov. Sarah Palin proves them wrong, every day."Obama never made any of the statements the McCain camp released to support the ad, and the comment that Palin was "good-looking" was made by the Democratic vice presidential nominee, Sen. Joe Biden, in a self-deprecating joke when he was asked what the obvious differences were between the two vice presidential nominees. Biden repeatedly has said on the campaign trail that he respected Palin and that he thought she was qualified for the vice presidency. FactCheck.org pointed out the quote from an Obama adviser that Palin was doing "what she was told" was taken out of context. The quote is taken from the response of Obama's chief strategist, David Axelrod, in which he said Palin had misrepresented Obama's legislative record. "Maybe that's what she was told" about his voting record, Axelrod said.

  • When there was a vacancy at the top of the State Division of Agriculture, Palin appointed a high school classmate, Franci Havemeister, to the $95,000-a-year directorship. A former real estate agent, Ms. Havemeister cited her childhood love of cows as a qualification for running the roughly $2 million agency.

  • Throughout her political career, Palin has pursued vendettas, fired officials who crossed her and sometimes blurred the line between government and personal grievance, according to a review of public records and interviews with 60 Republican and Democratic legislators and local officials.

  • Interviews show that Ms. Palin runs an administration that puts a premium on loyalty and secrecy. The governor and her top officials sometimes use personal e-mail accounts for state business; dozens of e-mail messages obtained by The New York Times show that her staff members studied whether that could allow them to circumvent subpoenas seeking public records.

  • Rick Steiner, a University of Alaska professor, sought the e-mail messages of state scientists who had examined the effect of global warming on polar bears. (Ms. Palin said the scientists had found no ill effects, and she has sued the federal government to block the listing of the bears as endangered.) An administration official told Mr. Steiner that his request would cost $468,784 to process.When Mr. Steiner finally obtained the e-mail messages — through a federal records request — he discovered that state scientists had in fact agreed that the bears were in danger, records show.“Their secrecy is off the charts,” Mr. Steiner said.

  • The Wasilla High School yearbook archive now doubles as a veritable directory of state government. Ms. Palin appointed Mr. Bitney, her former junior high school band-mate, as her legislative director and chose another classmate, Joe Austerman, to manage the economic development office for $82,908 a year. Mr. Austerman had established an Alaska franchise for Mailboxes Etc.

  • Democrats and Republicans alike describe her as often missing in action. Since taking office in 2007, Ms. Palin has spent 312 nights at her Wasilla home, some 600 miles to the north of the governor’s mansion in Juneau, records show.

  • During the last legislative session, some lawmakers became so frustrated with her absences that they took to wearing “Where’s Sarah?” pins.

Saturday, September 13, 2008

What to expect from a McCain Presidency

He (McCain) will make Dick Cheney look like Gandhi
Pat Buchanan, pundit, former Nixon speech writer



Hat tip to Godless Liberal Homo.

Friday, September 12, 2008

Listen to This: Brad Sucks

If you like experimental pop music, you might like Brad Sucks. You can buy his new album ("Out of It") or just download it for free -- he leaves it up to you.

Thursday, September 11, 2008

Palin On The Hunt

No, wait -- it's not Sarah Palin after all. But if you have any interest in seeing a mom teach her son to hunt squirrels -- AND THEN MAKE HIM A SQUIRREL SANDWICH FOR AN AFTER-SCHOOL SNACK -- watch, this.

Motek, don't watch it. I already wish I hadn't.

Thanks again, BoingBoing.net!

12 Monkeys: Why You Must See It


Just watched "12 Monkeys" (1995 - Bruce Willis, Madeleine Stowe, Brad Pitt) on cable -- been meaning to see it for years. It's a must-see for one reason alone: Brad Pitt plays the most convincing crazy guy I've seen in a long time. First, in a mental hospital, then six years later in a tuxedo at a fancy dinner, and then in guerilla terrorist mode.

Seriously -- you may not care for dystopian scfi-fi, time travel, and viruses, but Pitt's performance is worth your investment of two hours.

911 (TM) A Brand Republicans Trust

“Patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and your government when it deserves it.”
Mark Twain (1835-1910), author

Lie to Me Baby

Every violation of truth is not only a sort of suicide in the liar, but is a stab at the health of human society.
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82), essayist, poet, philosopher

This is apparently the moto of those who vote Republican:

"Lie to me"
Song and video by Tom Waits

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Goats Chewing Up Downtown Los Angeles

Goats in downtown Los Angeles? Yes, 100 of them. L.A.'s Community Redevelopment Agency trucked them in to chew up the brush and weeds on the hill just below my office on Bunker Hill. Here are a few shots -- my building, a composite panorama, and an alternate view showing part of the crowd that gathers to pet the goats. Click the pix to see 'em bigger.





[Want more words? The Los Angeles Times managed to open its eyes up and take note of this phenomenon.]

Empty Suit with Lip Stick

"In the United States today, we have more than our share of the nattering nabobs of negativism."
Spiro Agnew (1918–96), vice president under Richard Nixon


Here are a list of questions from Maureen Dowd column in today's NYTimes, she suggested that ABC's Charlie Gibson should ask the potential vice president who is skating passed the media because they are afraid of being called out by the right wing. Richard Nixon and Spiro Agnew started that ploy with Agnew's famous quote, see above. And it continues to work today, hell even Hillary Clinton used it.

Questions we hope Sarah Palin answers:

What kind of budget-cutter makes a show of getting rid of the state plane, then turns around and bills taxpayers for the travel of her husband and kids between Juneau and Wasilla and sticks the state with a per-diem tab to stay in her own home?

Why was Sarah for the Bridge to Nowhere before she was against the Bridge to Nowhere, and why was she for earmarks before she was against them? And doesn’t all this make her just as big a flip-flopper as John Kerry?

What kind of fiscal conservative raises taxes and increases budgets in both her jobs — as mayor and as governor?

When the phone rings at 3 a.m., will she call the Wasilla Assembly of God congregation and ask them to pray on a response, as she asked them to pray for a natural gas pipeline?

Does she really think Adam, Eve, Satan and the dinosaurs mingled on the earth 5,000 years ago?


Why put out a press release about her teenage daughter’s pregnancy and then spend the next few days attacking the press for covering that press release?

As Troopergate unfolds here — an inquiry into whether Palin inappropriately fired the commissioner of public safety for refusing to fire her ex-brother-in-law — it raises this question: Who else is on her enemies list and what might she do with the F.B.I.?

Does she want a federal ban on trans fat in restaurants and a ban on abortion and Harry Potter? And which books exactly would have landed on the literature bonfire if she had had her way with that Wasilla librarian?

Just how is it that Fannie and Freddie have cost taxpayers money (since they haven’t yet)?

Does she talk in tongues or just eat caribou tongues?

What does she have against polar bears?

Tuesday, September 09, 2008

Family Values

"Just when I thought I was out... they pull me back in."
Michael Corleone, Godfather III

The 17-year-old father of Sarah Palin’s daughter’s baby (already this sounds like a Jeff Foxworthy redneck joke) has a MySpace page that flaunts his readiness to be a father and all the responsibilities that come with raising a child.

I wonder who will pay all the expenses of raising their child since both parents are just high school students? My guess is he’ll get a Republican-crony type job making a couple of hundred thousand with some oil company. Here without further ado is Levi Johnston’s profile from his MySpace page:

“I’m a fuckin’ redneck who likes to snowboard and ride dirt bikes. But I live to play hockey. I like to go camping and hang out with the boys, do some fishing, shoot some shit and just fuckin’ chillin’, I guess. Ya fuck with me I’ll kick ass.”

He is going to be one heck of a good dad.

Regarding the kids privacy, baloney: it's okay for the pregnant daughter to have a right to privacy even if mother Palin believes it's okay to have the government intrude to police the reproductive choices of all other women.

I suspect the Palin and Johnston families are already aware of this:


Monday, September 08, 2008

Oh, Misanthrope, where art thou?

Join me, o loyal readers, in beseeching our beloved Misanthrope to return to these hallowed digital halls. My fingers grow weary from posting political pieces in his stead, and I long to return to the green fields of nothing that you've come to expect from me. But I canst whilst no one is waving the political flag out here. Back to us, return, o Misanthrope.

Palin's Positions

BoingBoing.net again; thanks, guys.

Thursday, September 04, 2008

Wednesday, September 03, 2008

Sarah Palin, would-be banner of books

Time Magazine says that when Sarah Palin took office as mayor, she approached the town librarian and asked how to go about banning books from the town library.

[Source]

Shameless plug

(But if I don't mention it, how would you know? And if not now, when?)

Friday, August 29, 2008

Souvenirs


This guy has traveled all over the place taking pictures of famous things and places with his souvenirs held up to cover the original... the photo expalins it better than words do. And there are lots more.

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Money and buildings.

Cool photos of money and the buildings represented thereon...


From this guy.

Friday, August 22, 2008

Paparazzi vs. Movie Star

My fourth-grader has just been telling me about a game they play at school, organized by the teachers on yard duty: "Paparazzi vs. Movie Star." Whatever happened to vampire tag? I asked her to type out the rules for me, so that I could share them with you, the faithful Toner Mishap readership. Enjoy! (And please note that I first taught her the correct singular for the plural word "paparazzi"; apparently that's not within the vocabulary of the yard duty teachers.)

To begin, make a group of four people. Make one person the paparazzo, one a movie star, and the other two bodyguards. The bodyguards and the movie star form a circle facing the movie star away from the paparazzo.

The object of the game is for the bodyguards to keep the movie star from the paparazzo.

The paparazzo tries to tag the movie star, because in the game tagging the movie star will give him or her a picture. The bodyguards move the movie star in a circle to keep him or her away from being tagged.

Play rounds until everyone has been everything.

Thursday, August 21, 2008

Shave it.

Saw this storefront near the house; wife and I laughed about it for days.

Shave it!

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

I just sent some money to Barack Obama.

Those of you who aren't regular readers may not be aware that I've got Hebrew Barack Obama shirts and stuff I'm selling to support his candidacy for the President of the United States.


I've just sent off a nice check to the campaign, as part of my commitment to send 10% of all profits from sales -- thank you for your support! I'll be continuing to send in contributions, so it's not to late to get your shirt and support your candidate!

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Things Younger Than McCain


Frozen Waffles
McDonald’s
Alaska
Oral Contraceptives
The Discovery of DNA
Israel
Scrabble
The Hindenburg
Margaritas
The Slinky
Superman
The 6-Pack
SPAM
The US Postal Service’s Zip Code System
The Discovery of Plutonium
TV Dinners
Automatic Transmissions
The AARP
The CIA
The Shopping Cart
The Golden Gate Bridge
Duct Tape

[Source]

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Everyone's a critic.

On a recent trip to New York, I was in an art gallery, enjoying Saul Steinberg's "The Collection" -- which I can't share with you here, as no image can be found on the web, and photography was disallowed in the gallery -- when a security guard in the room came up to me, followed my gaze for a moment, and remarked,
"I think if you or me had done that
it would be a lot better."

The best of both worlds.

OK, again I find myself spending quite a bit of time on useless pursuits for the sake of my children having the finest apparel money can buy (or I can create). Enjoy the fruits of my labor: the first-ever Hebrew [totally fair-use] parody t-shirt of Hannah Montana.

Wednesday, August 06, 2008

Tuesday, August 05, 2008

Oh, Canada Australia


Thanks, BoingBoing, for directing me to Axel Peemoeller's parking lot graphics; they are only seen correctly when you're in the right place -- e.g., you only see the word "down" when you're in the right spot to go down. Click here to see more.

Saturday, July 26, 2008

That hurt me, too.

Just this instant watched my middle child get her ears pierced... held her hand, soothed her, gave her a lollipop.

She'd been wanting to do it for a while -- years, really -- and kept freaking out but today, she overcame her fear and got it done.

So now I'm waiting here in Claire's while she picks out more earrings... apparently, jewelry can ease the pain.

Sunday, July 20, 2008

Pretzel Robot


I gave my kids a bunch of pretzel sticks after dinner this evening and challenged them to make something interesting; my five-year old made this awesome pretzel robot (with mini marshmallows as part of some processing unit, I think).

UPDATED

Whoops! This was my seven-year old's creation. My five-year old spelled her name, and my nine-year old spelled out a sycophantic comment about me being cool in order to procure more marshmallows.

Edward Hopper, Nighthawks, and Star Wars


Gotta love the web. This is from Worth1000.com (for the Star Wars gallery, click here). Click the pic to see it full-size.

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Asimov's 30 Laws of Robotics

A must-read for any Asimov fan. Here. Three examples:

8. A robot may not act in such a fashion as would make dogs obsolete, because dogs are less expensive than robots, and robots should be reserved for science things.

10. A robot, when given contradictory orders by two human beings, and assuming those orders do not violate the First Law, must decide which order to follow based on which human being has a deeper voice.

16. A robot may take only one item from each house when trick-or-treating, unless that robot has been tasked with collecting as much candy as possible for me, Isaac Asimov, in which case that robot may ignore the First Law.


[Thanks, BoingBoing, for telling me about this.]

Oil From Canada

Did you know we get most of our oil from Canada? Sure, if you treat OPEC as one exporter its numbers look bigger... but Canada is the single largest exporter of oil to the United States.

Check it out here, courtesy of the U.S. Department of Energy.

Tuesday, July 01, 2008

Trees of Mystery


And here's what the view looks like from the Sky Trail at the world-famous "Trees of Mystery" in Klamath, California.

B2

Getting Gas

I stopped in Brookings, Oregon, today to buy gas... we were nearby.

Gasoline was only $4.37/gallon, a full $0.40 cheaper than back over the border in Crescent City, California (where we are staying on vacation)

AND

in Oregon (the pump jockey told me as he filled 'er up) the public can't operate the pumps -- so that the price for FULL SERVICE

AND

he washed the windows

AND

he recommended some a good place to eat dinner.

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Thursday, June 12, 2008

1983 Star Wars Activity Book

You wanted more, and you've got it -- I've scanned in full-size versions of nine more pages from the 1983 Star Wars Activity Book I posted about the other day; you could print them out and fill them in if you wanted, but I think the real pleasure to be taken is in just
looking at them.

You'll see Yoda's head replaced by a crossword puzzle, a Tusken Raider's face covered by a maze, and more! And don't miss the geometric beauty of "Who's Tailing Luke?", "Take Cover", and "Not Wanted" (color it in to figure out "something that is not wanted in Endor Forest").

Yoda Crossword Clues



Yoda Crossword Puzzle



Who's Tailing Luke?



Take Cover!



A-mazing Tusken Raider



Doodles of Droids



Find The Hidden Objects



What's In The Forest?



Not Wanted

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

DIY Papercraft Darth Vader Dime Bank

Apparently my in-laws' garage is not without hidden treasure -- I just stumbled upon two great Star Wars activity books from 1983, and I had to share.

The publisher partnered with Lucasfilm -- they have a copyright notice and everything! -- but even so, this is the possibly the worst collection of officially-licensed Star Wars-related kids' materials I've ever seen.

For your pleasure: the official Darth Vader Dime Bank!


Friday!

Monday, June 09, 2008

Hebrew School Musical

If you're a parent with children between the ages of 3 and 13, you're no doubt familiar with "High School Musical." If you're Jewish as well, you'll probably get as a big a kick out of this joke as I did. My kids loved it so much they had me make shirts for them to wear to camp.

Friday, June 06, 2008

Pool Shark

“On a cloth untrue / With a twisted cue, / And elliptical billiard balls.”
William S. Gilbert (1836-1911), English lyricist


I was debating whether to show a Keith Olbermann video ranting about Bush or show you a video of what playing pool with me is like. This clip shows how I deftly handled the pool stick, ask On The Mark if you don't believe me.



Tuesday, June 03, 2008

Edward Hopper Parodies
Still Incredibly Popular
(And We Continue To
Ride Hopper's Coattails)

For some reason, a lot of people seem to be looking for parodies of Edward Hopper's famous painting, "Nighthawks." And somehow, we've become the go-to location of choice for such materials.

Once again, the original:




So as part of the great responsibility that comes with such power, I have five more parodies to share with you.

First, a little Lego (for you Legomaniacs out there):



This is from an issue of "Bongo's Futurama Comics," another Matt Groening endeavor:



Nighthawks in space? Why not? This is a piece created by a guy who goes by the handle "epicpics":



What collection of parodies of anything would be complete without the Simpsons? This is yet ANOTHER still from a Simpsons episode which parodied "Nighthawks"; in this case, the episode titled "Homer Versus the 18th Amendment":



Last, a photo showing a shot from Wim Wenders' film "The End of Violence," in which he recreated the famous painting:



Need more? Here's the first batch and the second batch.

Saturday, May 31, 2008

Addendum to Harvey Korman

This is worth checking out. Hat tip to Poliblog.

Tim Conway and Harvey Korman Predicted the TSA in the 1970s!

Harvey Korman


I guess I've been remiss in keeping up with the news; Harvey Korman passed away this Thursday, and I found out this morning. If you're not familiar with his work, you don't know what you're missing -- his work on The Carol Burnett Show (especially with Tim Conway), his role as Count de Monet in "History of the World, Part I," his scene-stealing greatness as Hedley Lamarr in "Blazing Saddles," and so much more... thanks, Harvey.

Wednesday, May 28, 2008

The Singularity is Here:
The Joker and Barney


I know Heath Ledger is all the rage right now, but a friend and I just noticed the similarity in wardrobe between the Cesar Romero "Joker" of the 1960s and everyone's favorite purple dinosaur.

Saturday, May 24, 2008

Hillary does it Again!

A professional politician is a professionally dishonorable man. In order to get anywhere near high office he has to make so many compromises and submit to so many humiliations that he becomes indistinguishable from a streetwalker.
H.L. Mencken, (1880-1956), writer, journalist.


Monday, May 19, 2008

Mamet on Political Correctness

"A laudable disposition to open-mindedness decayed, in the late twentieth century, in America, into an inability to arrive at conclusions."

Yes, David Mamet. Yes, the "Glengarry Glen Ross" guy. The quote is from The Wicked Son, and it's a great read for all members of the tribe (and you know who you are).

Get the book.

Sunday, May 18, 2008

Cooley Confidential

Should I be so bothered by the fact that Steve Cooley's statement in the ballot for this June's Democratic primary includes a testimonial from novelist James Ellroy? To wit, "Cooley focuses attention on cold cases and DNA."

I'm sure Ellroy is a smart guy, but is a cop novelist really the best Cooley can do?

Wish I had a picture to share with you.

This evening at Souplantation I was treated to the site of a late-teen wearing a death metal t-shirt featuring the word "cannibal" in large, dripping letters... while he chowed down on a nice iceberg lettuce salad.

Sunday, May 04, 2008

Family Guy "Bullfrog" Clip


I have nothing to be ashamed of when I saw I like "The Family Guy" -- I'm a guy, after all, and therefore allowed to have such amusing shortcomings. (The fact that my wife watches it with me? Well, that's her big ball of shame.)

Tonight there was a great sequence that I had to share with a friend, and this seemed like the best way; so please enjoy the accidental largesse therefore laid at at your feet.

Fans of the show know it is characterized by drawn-out sequences that usually have nothing to do with the plot; this is a case in point, in which Peter's son is upset about girl problems and so he tries to cheer him up with a gift. (Please forgive the rough quality and the Frankenstein's monster-type splicing -- all I had handy was my point-and-shoot phone, which has a 30-second video capture limit.)

Friday, May 02, 2008

On The Mark -- Performance Anxiety

Exxon Mobil yesterday announced its financial results for the last quarter. Analysts and investors are up in arms about it. They're unhappy. The company's unhappy. Consumer activists are unhappy (for different reasons).

Exxon made ONLY $10.9 billion in PROFIT.

Shame on them.

Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Proof ABC News is the New Fox

I have simplified my politics into an utter detestation of all existing governments; and, as it is the shortest and most agreeable and summary feeling imaginable, the first moment of an universal republic would convert me into an advocate for single and uncontradicted despotism. The fact is, riches are power, and poverty is slavery all over the earth, and one sort of establishment is no better, nor worse, for a people than another.
Lord Byron (1788–1824), English poet

Is Obama getting a fair shake over this nut job of a preacher? Apparently not.




Tip of the hat to Truthdig. This is Robert Sheer's newspage and it's right on the money.

Tuesday, April 29, 2008

On The Mark -- The Ghost of Nabokov

Dmitri Nabokov, the son of the late, great author, Vladimir Nabokov, must be hard up for a buck. The New York Times reported yesterday that Dmitri has decided to go against his father's last wishes before he passed away in 1977.

His father asked Dmitri not to publish the incomplete novel, "The Original of Laura," he was working on at the time of his death. It's currently composed on a collection of 50 index cards and stored in a bank vault in Switzerland.

Thirty-one years later Dmitri has decided that it would be very disturbing that no one would ever read the manuscript. But he didn't decide alone. It seems that Vladimir appeared before him and said, "You're stuck in a right old mess. Just go ahead and publish."

I guess the only question I have is: if Vladimir took the time to "appear" before Dmitri, why didn't he have the decency to finish the novel while he was there?

May he rest in peace after he gets done rolling over in his grave.

Blackmail from the President

“We can't allow the world's worst leaders to blackmail, threaten, hold freedom-loving nations hostage with the world's worst weapons.”
George W. Bush, president, talking about his own administration apparently

Okay people, wake up! Do you realize that our president and his administration are blackmailing the U.S. people? He just played his hand this morning in his speech.

Because you didn’t let us drill in ANWR you are now paying the price. If you want prices to go down here is what you can allow us to do: drill the crap out the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR), which is a National Wildlife Refuge in northeastern corner of Alaska. Hmm, I wonder why they just use the acronym?

What will this do; more short-term solutions? It will allow us to put off the day of reckoning just a bit longer, so we still won’t deal with the problem at hand.

Hello, Hello, anybody awake out there?

June Grooms

For two people in a marriage to live together day after day is unquestionably the one miracle the Vatican has overlooked.
Bill Cosby, comedian

A cautionary tale for all those coming June grooms:

Monday, April 28, 2008

On The Mark -- Crackdown on Undocumented Workers

Businesses in Los Angeles are quietly raising hell out of fear of being put out of business. Why? Because they're employing hundreds or thousands of undocumented workers and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE, a unit of the Department of Homeland Security) has launched an aggressive crackdown on these companies. It's gotten quite a bit of play in the local newspapers and radio, and this week's Los Angeles Business Journal has an excellent article by Howard Fine reporting on the issue.

ICE has sent letters to companies demanding that they produce documentation proving that their employees are legal and, in other cases, they've raided businesses and carted away busloads of undocumented workers (and probably some legal workers who got mixed into the crowd).

Businesses are crying foul because they say they're already suffering due to a downturn in the economy and rising costs, such as energy. Not to mention the effort they'll have to put forth to find documented workers to fill their factories and businesses.

It's probably a safe assumption that ICE has been heavy-handed in its actions, but I have to say that I'm glad it's happening.

Saturday at the Rose Bowl

“What do you call love, hate, charity, revenge, humanity, magnanimity, forgiveness? Different results of the one master impulse: the necessity of securing one's self-approval”
Mark Twain, (1835-1910), writer

Doing my part to improve or help society, I spent my Saturday morning supporting Autism Speaks. Truly a worthy cause and very humbling as you see and hear some of the heartbreaking stories to you and me. However, the truly heartwarming sight is seeing and hearing stories of how the parents of these children and teens continually find small and meaningful victories through the challenges of raising a child on the autistic spectrum.

I am delighted to have done my small part to help raise awareness and dollars to the tune of $1,700 personally and nearly $50,000 from our group.


Saturday, April 26, 2008

Bloggers: This is Note is for You

I'm disgusted with having to deal with the commercial side of our band at the moment and as a reaction, I'm becoming more uptight and complaining more. And it feels like I'm adapting a rock star attitude.”
Kurt Cobain (1967-1994) singer/song writer

To all the bloggers who take advertising this note's for you!

Friday, April 25, 2008

Outrageous Health Care Costs

Of all the anti-social vested interests the worst is the vested interest in ill health.
George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950), playwright

Below is the letter that I opted not to send because even the insurance only pays a percentage of the total bill. I am not sure what I will be stuck paying, but either way it's sickening. Our health care system is a convoluted mess, so it’s not even worth the stamp. Enjoy and I hope you can’t relate.

April 24, 2008

President & CEO
Chairman of the Board
Roseville, CA 00000

RE: My health

Dear Messrs president and CEO:

There must be some mistake on my statement dated 4/02/08, account NO: 000000000-1. Someone has confused my treatment for a painful stomachache with a cup of Pepto-Bismol for a frontal lobotomy or a brain transplant with the woodenheaded Pinocchio.

Your fees of $2,947.70 are absolutely outrageous bordering on illegal, if we had proper oversight for health care costs.

I was given a cup of Pepto Bismol, and an x-ray. After the pink stomach-relief medicine I was ready to leave, but the doctor seemed surprised and said I should have an X-ray while I was there. If I knew what your prices were I would have suffered rather than be held up or have my insurance company pay for another wing of your hospital.

I had no indication of such costs. I believe you need to post prices and costs in the emergency room and/or in the rooms for patients who are not in a life or death situation to make prudent cost/risk assessments rather than leave patients completely in the dark about such scandalously high costs.

This is not community service or caring, it is corporate greed masquerading as health care.

Sincerely,

The Misanthrope

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

On The Mark -- Stephen Hadley: Give the Guy a Break?

Heard on NPR last weekend that President Bush's national security adviser, Stephen Hadley, head of the NSA, spoke on national television on a recent Sunday about whether Bush should boycott the opening ceremonies at the Olympics in China this summer.

It's been well-reported in the blogosphere that in his response defending Bush's planned attendance that Hadley referred several times to China's problems with Nepal instead of saying Tibet. Not once or twice did he say Nepal instead of Tibet, but six times or more. I also believe this occurred at a couple different Sunday morning news shows, so he didn't even correct himself after he had a chance to go off-camera.

But the real story is that AP, Reuters and the New York Times reported on these interviews and they took the liberty to change Nepal to Tibet in Hadley's quotes. The Times concluded their article by noting that Hadley had misspoken, and that the Bush Administration later confirmed that he meant to say Tibet.

If Hadley had misspoken once, then I might be able to understand why these reporters and their editors would take the liberty to make it accurate, but the fact that he did so repeatedly should be grounds for quoting the precise words he spoke.

In what other stories have these media outlets corrected statements based on what they believe a spokesperson meant, but did not actually state?

Hillary -- A Bad Movie

One might say that the true subject of the horror genre is the struggle for recognition of all that our civilization represses and oppresses.
Robin Wood, film critic

Hillary is like a cheap horror movie where the monster will not die. Please Obama drive a stake through her presidential hopes already.

From the NYTimes editorial today:

Voters are getting tired of it; it is demeaning the political process; and it does not work. It is past time for Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton to acknowledge that the negativity, for which she is mostly responsible, does nothing but harm to her, her opponent, her party and the 2008 election.

Hillary's philosophy is that if she can't win, then the people will get a Republican. She has become the Ralph Nader of the Democratic party.

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

An Idea

“If you think there's a solution, you're part of the problem”
George Carlin, comedian

Tell me where I am wrong.

If we were to attempt to bring manufacturing back into the country by offering companies tremendous tax advantages if they gave employees a living wage, capped CEO salaries at three or four hundred thousand dollars a year, and if the companies were successful and went public stock options would have to be shared equally among all employees, and tax benefits would decline proportionally.

Is it possible and does it make any sense?

Monday, April 21, 2008

On The Mark -- What Is A Blogger?

A research brief from The Center for Media Research:


What's A Blogger?

by Jack Loechner, Friday, Apr 18, 2008 8:15 AM ET

Bloggers are younger and higher percentages are Hispanic & African American than the general population. A higher percentage of Democrats than of Republicans are blogging.

Now that Blogging might better be called a market segment rather than a market niche, it's useful with regard to positioning the marketing message to understand what a Blogger looks like, as distinguished from the rest of the population.

According to the BIGresearch Simultaneous Media Survey, 26% of all adults say they regularly or occasionally blog. Of those:

53.7% are male
44.7% are married
28.4% hold a professional or managerial position
10.4% are students.

Bloggers tend to be younger, averaging 37.6 years old, compared to 44.8 for adults 18+ (the "general population"). Ethnically:

69.7% of Bloggers are White/Caucasian (vs. 76.1%)
12.2% are African American/Black (vs. 11.4%)
3.7% are Asian (vs. 2.0%)
20% of Bloggers are Hispanic, compared to 14.8% of adults 18+

In addition, Bloggers report a lower income ($55,819 vs. $56,811) and are better educated (14.3 years of education vs. 14.2).

Political blogs are becoming increasingly common, especially in this election year, where 24.6% of registered voters say they regularly or occasionally blog. Political affiliation of regular/occasional

Bloggers look like this in 2008:
37.6% of Libertarians regularly/occasionally blog
26.9% of Democrats
25.7% of Independents
22.9% Republicans

Analysis of Bloggers shows that they are using most forms of new media significantly more than the average market.
Regular/Occasional New Media Usage (Top 5)

% of Regular/Occasional Bloggers
% of Adults 18+
Cell Phone
93.0%
87.5%
Instant Messaging
75.3%
49.3%
Download/Access Video/TV Content
72.2%
45.0%
Video Gaming
66.9%
47.5%
Text Messaging
65.5%
45.2%

Source: BIGresearch, January 2008, N=15,727

Although Bloggers are more likely to use new media, the analysis finds that more conventional forms of media trigger their Internet searches. Magazines, at 51.6%, rank highest, followed by:
48.8% reading an article
46.1% broadcast TV
44.5% cable TV
42.5% face-to-face communication
39.7% newspaper

Gary Drenik, President of BIGresearch, concludes ?"Bloggers are a diverse group and not who you would expect..."

For more information, please visit BIGresearch here.
Center for Media Research

Friday, April 18, 2008

A Pleasant Pesach

To my Jewish friends and readers: a nice rendition of "Take Me Out to the Ball" Game in yiddish.

Chag Sameach


Hat tip to The Kentucky Democrat

Thursday, April 17, 2008

On The Mark -- Airplane Chatter

The day is fast approaching when a crying baby sitting near you during a flight will be the least of your irritations. The European Commission has issued new rules that will allow cell phone use on airlines flying over Europe.

There's talk of setting up smoke-zone-like areas on the planes where passengers will be restricted to make and receive their calls, but that's all just a bunch of PR to mitigate the backlash from folks who don't want phones allowed on planes. And, apparently, there are a lot of these people. A survey by the International Airline Passengers Assn. found that the overwhelming majority of respondents stated that phone use on planes would be "a source of great irritation."

Pilots also would have the discretion to flip a switch that would limit access only to email, not voice, if the chatter got too loud. Fat chance of that happening -- terrorists storming the cockpit would be the least of their worries if they did that mid-flight.

While I'm one who checks his Blackberry at the last possible chance before long flights, I also enjoy watching travelers turn theirs off. But you watch, airlines will take advantage of this. They'll offer seats reserved in "non-phone sections" at higher prices.

ABC Network is the New Fox News

Information, usually seen as the precondition of debate, is better understood as its by-product.
Christopher Lasch, historian

Tom Shales from the Washington Post has some interesting observations about the debate last night.

For the first 52 minutes of the two-hour, commercial-crammed show, Gibson and Stephanopoulos dwelled entirely on specious and gossipy trivia that already has been hashed and rehashed, in the hope of getting the candidates to claw at one another over disputes that are no longer news. Some were barely news to begin with.

Obama was right on the money when he complained about the campaign being bogged down in media-driven inanities and obsessiveness over any misstatement a candidate might make along the way, whether in a speech or while being eavesdropped upon by the opposition. The tactic has been to "take one statement and beat it to death," he said.

No sooner was that said than Gibson brought up, yet again, the controversial ravings of the pastor at a church attended by Obama. "Charlie, I've discussed this," he said, and indeed he has, ad infinitum. If he tried to avoid repeating himself when clarifying his position, the networks would accuse him of changing his story, or changing his tune, or some other baloney.

I suspect George is attempting to get into the Clinton's good graces, again.

Wednesday, April 16, 2008

On The Mark -- Penis Fear Remedy

You have to hand it to Judd Apatow, who brought us movies such as "The 40-Year-Old Virgin" and "Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy."

According to an article in today's Los Angeles Times, Apatow says, "America fears the penis, and that's something I'm going to help them get over...I'm gonna get a penis in every movie I do from now on" (the L.A. Times sourced World Entertainment News Service for this quote).

Apparently, his new movie, "Forgetting Sarah Marshall," will be doing its best to help America get over this fear.

D-I-V-O-R-C-E

A lot of people have asked me how short I am. Since my last divorce, I think I’m about $100,000 short.
Mickey Rooney, actor

Taking divorce arguments to a new level:

Tuesday, April 15, 2008

On The Mark -- Chinese Military on U.S. Soil

You may not realize it, but San Francisco was recently invaded by foreign soldiers -- in fact, the best of the best -- our version of the special forces or navy seals.

When China's Olympic torch was in San Francisco, trying to keep from getting extinguished, the runners and the torch were guarded by some of China's best-trained soldiers. When I read about this during the event, I was amazed that our country would let military-trained soldiers on our soil, especially from a country such as China.

Last week, the leaders of Japan and Australia both stated (paraphrasing): "There will be no military from China on our land when the torch arrives here; we'll provide the security that's needed." (Why they are even allowing the torch to enter the country is another story.)

Good, decent people trying to enter our country legally get treated like cattle. But for the Chinese military it's an open-door policy.

Beautiful Children and LA Outlaws

The world may be full of fourth-rate writers, but it's also full of fourth-rate readers.
Stan Barstow, novelist

One book is by Charles Bock and the other by T. Jefferson Parker. “Beautiful Children” by Bock is very descriptive with a boring story. "LA Outlaws" is regular writing and with a good story.

I have decided that I will take an interesting story over acrobatic writing anytime. Bock’s book seemed like it took me forever to finish it, mainly because I would put it down and have little desire to pick it up again. "LA Outlaws" was an enjoyable mystery that kept me coming back to the story to see what would happen next.

“The Finder” by Colin Harrison is my next book. This is suppose to be a good combination of writing and story.

Monday, April 14, 2008

On The Mark -- Boy oh Boy oh Boy oh Boy

You've read and heard about it but, still, can you believe that a U.S. House Representative (Geoff Davis - R), from a southern state (Kentucky) no less, would say this about Obama: "That boy's finger does not need to be on the button"?

Even with an apology, it's still such an outrageous statement in more ways than one.

Taking second place is the chairman of Associated Press who, when asking Obama a question at a large gathering about Osama Bin Laden, refererred to him as Obama Bin Laden.

The AP chairman, W. Dean Singleton, can get a pass for a mental slip (I hope), but there's no excuse for Rep. Davis.

On The Mark -- Investing In Our Future

Here are some sobering statistics. One doesn't even need to write a narrative.

In California:

$14.7 billion has been designated for construction in the state's prison system

State makes massive budget cuts due to its astronomical deficit and its $57.3 billion debt, plus another $78.2 billion that has been authorized waiting to be borrowed.

Los Angeles Unified School District follows with $460 million budget cut -- on a budget that was already razor thin. Money spent on arts (music, etc.) per year for each school kid: 3 cents (so I've been told by people in the know).

Cost to incarcerate a juvenile offender in California: $100,000-$200,000.

Sunday, April 13, 2008

Miscellany

“Writer's block is the greatest side effect of boredom”
Jason Zebehazy, someone who comes up with quotes

In most of southern California it’s a beautiful weekend, but where I live it makes Dorothy’s Kansas look calm. The wind has not stopped since Friday. The flags at the fire station have been snapping constantly and I am waiting for the flying monkeys from Oz to screech by momentarily. I have hid in the house kept the shades drawn to avoid the house from getting too hot.
***
I have found this latest attack from Hillary on Obama’s use of the word "bitter" to be even more ridiculous than the Rev. Wright nonsense. Hillary blatantly lies about sniper fire and Bill comes out and lies about it even further and they have the audacity to jump on the word bitter!
***
Daughter and I went to Hollywood last weekend to see the Rolling Stones movie “Shine a Light.” It was a typical stones movie; there were a couple of humorous moments as Martin Scorsese juxtaposed early Stones’ interviews with the concert footage. My favorite moments were when Jack White sang “Loving Cup” with Mick and Buddy Guy sang “Champagne and Reefer” with Mick.
***
On The Mark has been posting some thought provoking posts, B2 posted, and I can’t think of a thing to write about. I guess this would be writer’s block if I believed in such a thing.

Here is a random 10 selection:
1 “Love Minus Zero” by Bob Dylan
2 “Getting Hungry” by The Faces
3 “Cry Me a River” by Joe Cocker
4 “Almost” by Bowling for Soup
5 “Death Don’t have No Mercy" by the Grateful Dead
6 “Academia” by Sia (I didn’t even know I had this. It’s from the Paste Magazine sampler CD)
7 “Stolen Moments” by Ahmad Jamal Trio
8 “In the Darkest Place” by Burt Bacharach/Elvis Costello
9 “You Don’t Have a Heart” by Shelby Lynn
10 “Sweet to Mend" by Heirloom Projector (another Paste Magazine sampler)

Friday, April 11, 2008

I love the law.

Not the idea of law.

Not lawyers.

Not Jude Law.

It's the finer points of law that I take pleasure in, like this tidbit:

[It is prohibited] to discard, launch, propel, release, squirt or throw any gaseous, liquid, semi-solid substance or object toward or among the participants, vehicles or animals in [a] special event.

When law makes you picture people throwing poop at a parade, you've just got to smile.

However --

I was researching the legal status of Silly String in the area where I live, as my wife cautioned me against having a Silly String fight with the kids -- she feared it had been made illegal out here.

I was pleased to discover it's NOT illegal, but can not be used to disrupt a parade or similar gathering -- hence the law above.

On The Mark -- Recession Indicator?

Recently on a Saturday I went to my local barber, Tony, with my son to get our hair cut. I've been going to this same barber for at least 11 years. It's just a hole in the wall, old-fashioned barbershop with the twirling red and white stripe outside and the whole 1960s works. He charges $23 for a cut.

Usually the place is busy. All three chairs filled and a walk-in or two reading a paper while waiting. This time the place was empty. Empty when I walked in. Empty when I walked out. I usually like to sit there silently while I get my hair cut, but this time I was curious so I asked him how business was going.

"Terrible because of the economy," he said. "And all my colleagues at other shops are experiencing the same thing." I was surprised and told him that I would have thought an economic slowdown wouldn't affect his business because it's like health care or food...you always need it.

He said, "You don't need it if you don't have a job and you don't need it if you can't get an interview."

On The Mark - Blogging for Money

Recently a study was conducted on "The State of Blog Relations" by APCO Worldwide and the Council of Public Relations Firms. PR Week wrote an editorial, "Paying Bloggers Risks the Notion of 'Earned Media,'" based on one aspect of the study. PR execs and bloggers were asked to respond to this statement: It is okay to compensate bloggers for writing about my clients, but it is not up to me to tell them to disclose the payment."

PR execs disagreed (96%) with this statement. But 48% of bloggers agreed, and another 16% were neutral or had no opinion.

If you were approached by a company and offered $5,000 a month to write positively about their product(s), -- and let's say you didn't really care for the product -- would you 1) take the money; and 2) disclose to your readers that you were being paid?

Thursday, April 10, 2008

On The Mark -- Crisis Communications 101 and Mark Penn

I’ve worked on crisis communications cases for more than 25 years, including many of the biggest issues, some of which are taught in university public relations classes today.

Today, when I walk into a chief executive’s office whose company is under siege (and sometimes the chief executive as well) I always tell them that your priority audience is your customer and prospective customers. It’s not the media. This usually requires a very long discussion because the media coverage is typically top of mind, but to put it simplistically – it’s not what the media are saying, it’s what your customer is thinking that really matters. If your customer trusts and has confidence in your company and or brand, then you can weather the media storm. This requires good brand equity to begin with, but it also means that communicating with your customer base during a crisis is most important.

Mark Penn reportedly stated to his employees at Burson-Marsteller that the media coverage of his demise would dissipate in a few days and everything will be ok. The media coverage prediction may be true (although they’ll do their best to keep it alive a little longer now that they’ve heard this). But only time will tell what the impact will be on their current and prospective customer base.

I have some clients, for example, who believe their businesses would be impacted negatively if a democrat got into the White House. I’m sure they wouldn’t be happy if they saw that I was trying to make it happen. Magnify my business a zillion times to Burson and one can only imagine the potential fallout. It wouldn’t be obvious. Prospective opportunities that may have presented themselves at one time won’t be there anymore. Clients with contracts expiring may find it easier to move on.

If there ever was a situation that called for a leave of absence in order to work on a separate project, this was it. But it’s too late now. One has to wonder what the top brass at Burson were thinking when they allowed Penn to continue to run the company while also being the chief strategist for the Clinton campaign. That Clinton was a slam dunk for the White House, maybe?

Wednesday, April 09, 2008

Making the Boss Happy

They talk of a man betraying his country, his friends, his sweetheart. There must be a moral bond first. All a man can betray is his conscience.
Joseph Conrad (1857–1924), novelist

To read the entire piece follow the link.

By Robert Scheer
From Truthdig.com

General Betray Us? Of course he has. MoveOn.org can hardly be expected to recycle its slogan from last September, when Gen. David Petraeus testified in support of escalating the U.S. war in Iraq, given the hysterical denunciations that worthy group received at the time. But it was right then—as it would be to repeat the charge now.

So why are we surprised? Why do we expect the generals to lead us on the path to peace when that is the professional task of statesmen and not warriors? It is an abdication of civilian control of the military, the basic principle of American constitutional governance, to assign a central role to an active duty general to make the decision to end the war. It betrays the legacy warnings of our two most famous wartime generals, George Washington and Dwight D. Eisenhower...

Tuesday, April 08, 2008

On the Mark -- Torch the Torch Relay

What is the Olympic torch doing in the U.S. anyway? Today, in San Francisco, with the torch protected by Chinese paramilitary, we could have a near riot on our hands as activists attempt to disrupt the torch relay as protest against China’s human rights record and the violence in Tibet.

I worked on the original event, known in 1984 as the AT&T Olympic Torch Relay. I was on the periphery doing odd jobs, not one of the dedicated team members who gave up six months of their lives to ensure a smooth handover of the torch in each city while generating tons of publicity as they traveled across and around the United States. It was a big idea and a huge success. But it was for America and Americans, at least as I remember it. I recall getting choked up at one of the wrap-up meetings as film highlights of the months long relay were shown to the sounds of Ray Charles singing America the Beautiful.

To be true to the torch relay concept, and not make it a perfunctory, hollow attempt to make China look friendly and worldly, shouldn’t the torch be traveling through the villages and cities of China to generate patriotism and support for their athletes?

On the Mark -- Mark Penn Follow-Up

As I was saying about conflicts.



This from Ad Age (beginning of story):



NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- To see how the tables have turned on famed crisis counselor Burson-Marsteller in the past few days, consider this. Ted Smyth, chief administrative officer and senior VP-corporate and government affairs at Heinz, is used to his company paying the firm big bucks for PR counsel. Now he's got some of his own PR advice for an agency that, after decades of quietly helping corporate giants out of sticky situations, is caught up in a crisis of its chief executive's making.


"He forgot the importance of avoiding conflict of interest or any apparent conflict of interest," Mr. Smyth said in an interview. "It was impossible to balance the responsibility of being the chief strategist for Clinton while representing a number of clients for Burson. At some stage it was going to end up in tears." ..."What Burson should make clear is that they have rules in place to avoid conflicts of interest and that these rules will be strictly articulated and enforced, which they weren't in this case," Mr. Smyth said. "The agency will need to issue a policy or, if they have one, re-issue it, indicating how this would be handled in the future."

Monday, April 07, 2008

On the Mark -- Mark Penn and The Scent of Power and Money

I found the stories today about Mark Penn getting the boot as Hillary Clinton’s chief strategist very interesting. Actually, previously I had found it more interesting that, as CEO of Burson-Marsteller, long a giant in the world of public relations agencies, he was even trying to do both. I spent a little more than 10 wonderful years at Burson-Marsteller. I got to work with the best minds in the business and was able to work on big-time assignments that I still talk about today.

But there was that ever-present wall of conflicts. Burson-Marsteller, like every agency, worked on controversial business when I was there, but I recall there was always a strict “is this a conflict” analysis that took place before we worked for a new client – this covered both whether there was a competing product or if the new business would affect work we were doing with other clients. I remember that we had to turn down many new business opportunities.

We were taught to be very loyal to the brands we represented (for example, you would never find a can of Pepsi in any of the offices since we represented Coca-Cola – especially if Harold was coming into town). Although I never heard it directly from Harold Burson, founder and still chairman, there was an unwritten rule to stay away from politics (you can see it’s been a while since I worked there). There was, however, a written rule to not take on any business that might have a direct or indirect negative impact on current client business.

My guess is that Harold Burson didn't like this arrangement, and probably saw the trouble that would be coming their way, but it looks like the scent of money and power was too strong for those now making the decisions.

Congratulations Bob Dylan

People today are still living off the table scraps of the sixties. They are still being passed around—the music and the ideas.
Bob Dylan, singer, songwriter

Bob Dylan has been awarded a special music citation from the Pulitzer Prize committee for his "profound impact on popular music and American culture."

Sunday, April 06, 2008

Why I Don’t Like Grocery Shopping with My Wife

“Never speak loudly to one another unless the house is on fire”
H. W. Thompson

“MY GOODNESS HOW MANY BOTTLES OF WINE ARE YOU GETTING?” she shouted with some surprised, but no anger.

At this point, I am at the top of the aisle assembling the six bottle, 10 percent discount that Ralphs offers, and wife is at the bottom of the aisle near the registers, and everyone has turned to see the wino loading up the shopping cart. I ignore her and go the other direction. She forgets that she is no longer in the Bronx.