Archive for June, 2008
Pam Anderson: People in GlassHouses&;
June 30, 2008
It&;s funny; race and sexual preference are no-nos for criticism, but people have no compunction judging others choice in cars (hybrid good, SUV evil) or food (meat is murder.) As Pam Anderson recently commented, Jessica Simpson&;s &;Real Girls Eat Meat&; T-shirt clearly makes her &;a bitch and a whore.&;
Tags:Jessica-Simpson, Pam-Anderson, Real-Girls-Eat-Meat Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a Comment &;
The Perfect Prius Fuel:Self-Righteousness
June 30, 2008
Since the quest to build a plug in Prius may have been set back by this recent fire, may I suggest an alternative fuel? If only there was a way to tap the vast reservoirs of smugness and self-righteousness of Prius owners, there would be more than enough &;gas&; to go around.
Tags:hybrid-autos, Larry-David, Toyota-Prius Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment &;
Cedars-Sinai: Couldn&;t Get O.J.Simpson?
June 30, 2008
LA&;s Cedars-Sinai, &;Hospital to the Stars,&; recently had a sports-oriented fundraiser &;where the champions of sport celebrated the champions of medicine.&; The first honoree was Baltimore Ravens linebacker and indicted murderer (convicted of obstruction of justice in the case) Ray Lewis. Apparently the audience ate it up; the event raised over $1 million. As my favorite LA Times sports columnist, T.J. Simers, puts it, &;You can&;t make this stuff up.&;
Perhaps the good doctors could have made it a trifecta&;bringing in the Juice and World Series hero/DUI killer Jim Leyritz as well. (Their victims would have to be admitted through the Emergency Room entrance.)
While this article claims Indianapolis Colts Super Bowl star Marvin Harrison is consulting Lewis and Simpson in his &;murder&; trial, you can&;t believe everything you read on the interwebs. He actually only wounded someone in the hand, making his autograph less valuable for such a charitable event.
Once upon a time someone like Jim Abbott, who pitched a no-hitter for the Yankees even though he was born without a hand, might have been Cedars&; honoree. I guess I&;m just a dinosaur.
Tags:Cedars-Sinai, Jim-Abbott, Jim-Leyritz, Marvin-Harrison, O.J.-Simpson, Ray-Lewis, sports-anti-heroes, T.J. Simers Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment &;
Knotts Berry Ends DisabilityPriority
June 26, 2008
Americans are getting pretty low. The Knotts Berry Farm amusement park (and place for kids to pan for gold) is ending line priority for disabled/handicapped people.
Discrimination! Unfortunately, no. A large number of scumbags
&;have apparently pretended to have disabilities to force Knott&;s Berry Farm to end its policy of letting disabled guests cut to the front of line at its amusement park rides.&;
This is reminscent of the UCLA football team parking scandal, when able-bodied players acquired handicapped placards for more convenient parking. More recently, Paris Hilton made use of the handy handicapped spot at Matt Leinart&;s party apartment complex.
She really is a role model for our society, which has given up on integrity and is all about entitlement.
Tags:Knotts-Berry-Farm, Matt-Leinart, Paris-Hilton, UCLA Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a Comment &;
Dealers Indulge in Hybrid PriceGouging
June 22, 2008
It had to happen. Auto dealers have been frantic because the Nissan Armadas, Toyota Land Cruisers, Lincoln Navigators and Cadillac Escalades hybrid Tahoes aren&;t moving with what here in Southern California is often $5 a gallon premium gasoline.
Not to worry; dealerships are now indulging in their time-dishonored practice of slapping higher price stickers on hot cars. In today&;s LA Times, Keyes Woodland Hills Nissan advertised the Altima 2.5S Sedan, with auto and power package, for a $149 a month lease. But the Altima 2.5CVT hybrid (list price only $25,000, 35mpg city versus 31mpg highway for the non-hybrid) was $449 a month to lease!
Good to see though the economy is topsy turvy, auto dealerships are still trying to take advantage of desperate, gullible people.
Tags:gas-crisis, hybrid-autos Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment &;
Tim Russert: OverdoneObituary
June 18, 2008
Not for the first time, I&;m on the same page with Slate&;s Jack Shafer. Coverage of the admittedly shocking premature demise of TV newsman/talking head Tim Russert, 58, has been done to death. And piling on today are the dread &;follow up&; stories, like ABC today claiming that a &;surge&; of doctor visits by Americans woken from their self-satisfied slumber by Russert&;s death by heart attack.
It&;s been a very public media mourning this week, on every cable channel, the Internet and the rest of the media. Perhaps the media, by celebrating one of their own, is trying to make a case for its own importance. Shafer recaps the overwhelming coverage, and notes:
As if all the NBC News airtime isn&;t enough, MSNBC plans to broadcast a private memorial service for Russert from the Kennedy Center on June 18 at 4 p.m.
I&;ve long heard that while journalists aren&;t well-paid, considered important or particularly well-treated, a key perk of their job is that they do get extensive obituaries. Too bad Russert isn&;t around to enjoy his.
Tags:death-of-newspapers, Jack-Shafer, shrinking-mainstream-media, Tim-Russert Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a Comment &;
Sourcing a Flying SaucerStory
June 16, 2008
What is a reporter to do with a flying saucer story? So far, no one&;s been able to produce a spaceship or alien for a sit-down, and photos of distant lights and spinning pie plates don&;t cut it either. And as long as a single editor survives the incredible shrinking MSM, they will torpedo any creative journalist&;s effort to call it &;too good to check&;, like the crap cannon.
What you have to do is what we used to do with UFO and ghost stories; find as credible a source as possible in the inevitably-obscure town and build up their credibility. &;According to Mayor Smith, Constable Jones is a twenty-year police officer with an impeccable record. If he says he was anally probed by aliens, I&;m sure it happened.&;
That&;s exactly what the Times did in this UFO story.
Money quote:
&;He was a pilot and seemed very intelligent,&; said Joiner, a 47-year-old former schoolteacher who had been a reporter for 18 months. Allen&;s friends confirmed the account, convincing Joiner the sighting was real.
Of course, the Times has its cake both ways, debunking as well:
Still, it was a strange story and Joiner&;s bosses were concerned. Managing Editor Sara Vanden Berge said she was so anxious that she cried the next morning when she saw &;UFO&; in the headline. Everyone is laughing at us, she thought.
Not to worry. As Steve Coz, my old editor at the National Enquirer put it, &;A good ghost [or UFO] story never hurt anyone.&; And they don&;t sue, either.
Tags:crap-cannon, flying-saucers, Los-Angeles-Times, National-Enquirer, shrinking-mainstream-media, too-good-to-check, UFOs Posted in Uncategorized | 3 Comments &;
Why the NY PostSucks
June 12, 2008
I have a dirty, dirty habit. Every time I go to New York, I buy the Post.
Everything about the NY Post is dirty now, from its constant innuendo, such as &;news&; stories like Obama&;s &;Judas Priest&; to the more straightforward &;Teacher busted in orgy with 15-year old boy&; (by the Education Reporter!).
Opinion pieces are even worese. Take &;Bam&;s Land of Losers&;, where columnist Adam Brodsky interprets Barack Obama&;s address to Wesleyan graduates as saying &;Face it kids&;Americans are losers. Pathetic, needy dependents who can&;t mke it without help. So forget your dreams, dear graduates. Go forth and aid your fellow deadbeats.&; (All quotes from May 30, 2008 NY Post.)
Even the paper and ink are smutty, dirty.
The most common criticism of the Post is political, that it&;s Rupert Murdoch&;s right-wing flagship. But it&;s the dumbing down of the paper (looks like a third-grade reading level) without truly succeeding as a tabloid (sex, crime, entertainment and sports) that&;s truly unforgiveable. Only Keith J. Kelly&;s Media Ink is really a must read.
I buy it each time expecting it to be better, to be more like the informative, friendly Post of the 1960&;s and 1970&;s I remember my father bringing home each afternoon. But as a woman I encountered in NY put it, &;It&;s not a newspaper. It&;s a rag.&;
Tags:Add new tag Posted in death-of-magazines, death-of-newspapers, Journalism | 1 Comment &;
New York Times Insults Desperate HomeSellers
June 2, 2008
In that delightfully self-righteous way they like to portray as ‘reasonable’, the New York Times offers a template letter for potential buyers to send to home sellers. Here are some selections to savor for its astonishing mixture of chutzpah and hubris.
“Dear Seller:
I’m writing to let you know that I would like to make a bid on your property…But given that my offer is well below your asking price, I also feel I owe you an explanation.
First, consider the big picture. Nationwide, home prices in the first quarter of 2008 fell 14.1 percent…the biggest decline in the 20-year history of the data. As of the end of April, the total number [of existing homes on the market] was 4.55 million…an 11.2-month supply.
So buyers have options right now. A lot of them. I’m no different. Your home is great, but it isn’t unique. Few homes are. I know this may be hard to hear, since you’ve spent years creating memories here. But you may be waiting a long time if you hope to find a buyer with the same emotional connection that you have.
It will be tempting to view my low bid as an insult. Please don’t make that mistake. Your home is genuinely appealing, and I wouldn’t have written this note unless I was serious about buying it. Getting a firm offer in this market is an accomplishment. So congratulations!”
“Congratulations” indeed. As far as I’m concerned, the only possible response to such a letter would be “Dear Asshole: Fuckoff and die. Have a nice day.”
Tags:real-estate-crisis Posted in Journalism, New-York-Times, public-relations-disaster | Leave a Comment &;