Archive for March, 2009

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Octomom Made Me Do It: Snoop and GetFired

March 31, 2009

Can you imagine losing your job over Octomom?  That&;s what more than 20 Kaiser hospital employees are contemplating this morning.  Apparently they couldn&;t contain themselves from looking at Nadya Suleman&;s records. Even if they were looking for &;the frozen pop&; (the best description I ever heard of a sperm donor) or the tabloids were behind it, this summary judgement and punishment seems riduculously harsh.  A warning would probably have worked for some of the curious. By taking in this woman and deploying enormous resources (46 employees  in the delivery room) without asking questions or asking for supplemental payments, Kaiser already has a lot to answer for.  If I paid premiums there, I&;d be screaming. And considering how hard it can be for a company to fire someone, one wonders if this is an easy way to cut costs and clean house.

Tags:celebrity-privacy-violations, Octomom, privacy-violation Posted in Privacy, tabloid-journalism | Leave a Comment &;

GM CEO Rick Wagoner&;s nextmove

March 31, 2009

No, not Disneyland.  You&;ll see him driving a

 

  &; armored Mercedes S600

     

 

or a

with a hearty &;Fuck you!&; finger raised high. And a pair of these dragging behind&;

Tags:auto-industry, Barack-Obama, public-relations-disaster, publicity-stunt Posted in business-journalism | Leave a Comment &;

Henry Blodget vs. KenLewis

March 27, 2009

Henry Blodget: Why does Ken Lewis of Bank America still have his job? World: Why are pump-and-dump-style commentators like Cramer or Henry Blodget still making their living from the stock market?  Shouldn&;t Blodget be in jail?

Tags:business-jounalism, Henry-Blodget Posted in business-journalism, pump-and-dump | Leave a Comment &;

Got TruckBalls?

March 27, 2009

What does it say about our society that &;balls&; are big, but you never see the Playboy bunny emblem on vehicles anymore?

Lonely Solid Tough Bad Ass

Of course, when you have an accessory like this, who needs Playboy?

Posted in Playboy, Sex and Society | 3 Comments &;

Magazine Publishing OfficiallyDead

March 26, 2009

Not quite official yet, I guess.  I&;m still awaiting the publication of some pieces I&;ve submitted in the last few weeks and, of course, some checks.   And I&;d love to keep selling my work, although that seems less and less likely. But when the Western Publishing Association (home of the Maggie Awards) cancels their annual publishing conference because of low registration, that&;s a pretty big nail in the coffin.  When my magazine won its one and only Maggie in 1992, the conference went on literally days after the LA Riots ravaged the city. Not this time. An annual event for the media publishing community in the western United States, the conference has, in prior years, drawn upwards of 230 people, offering more than two dozen educational sessions covering all areas of print, digital and event media. In addition, vendor tabletop exhibits were available as well as other vendor sponsorships. &;It was an extremely difficult decision to make,&; said Jane Silbering, Executive Director. &;We have a responsibility to our sponsors to deliver attendance worthy of their expectations and dollars spent, and to our speakers, to deliver an audience worthy of the time and effort spent in preparing their presentations.&;

Tags:death-of-newsmagazines, death-of-print, Maggie-awards, Western-Publishing-Association Posted in death-of-magazines, Journalism | Leave a Comment &;

Twitter is forTwits

March 26, 2009

I do have a Twitter account.  I haven&;t used it in more than a year. Nonethess I constantly get emails that so-and-so is &;following you&; on Twitter.  Why?  To see if I move or just continue laying there? I just got a tweet announcing I&;m being followed by, of course, someone I don&;t know.  Intrigued (not), I went to his profile page to see what his answer to the burning Twitter question, in fact the only Twitter question, WHAT ARE YOU DOING RIGHT NOW?, was.

watching tv

Actually, twittering as the latest expression of our addled ADD age isn&;t for twits.  John Cleese has it right.

Tags:John-Cleese, Social Media, Twitter Posted in Social Media, technology, technology-journalism, Twitter | Leave a Comment &;

Natasha Richardson Injury, Parent TrapCurse?

March 17, 2009

First of all, let me say that my prayers are with Natasha Richardson and her family.  I hope the ever-reliable NY Post and others are wrong and that she is not &;brain-dead&; from a skiing accident.  She&;s a talented actress and a beautiful lady I&;ve had the chance to see in the flesh a couple of times, performing in Cabaret on Broadway and in 2005 ago at a premiere party for her film The White Countess, which though well-reviewed was essentially dumped after the death of producer Ismail Merchant. She was the epitome of Hollywood glamour at the premiere in a tight-fitting skyblue gown. Hollywood curses on films have about the same credibility as Hollywood ghosts, which I&;ve written about for the National Enquirer, embroidering the tale of Ozzie and Harriet haunting their old Hollywood home.  But with Lindsay Lohan&;s well-publicized troubles, the near-death of Dennis Quaid&;s young twins and now this, perhaps the Parent Trap should join the list.   

Tags:Natasha-Richardson, Parent-Trap-Curse Posted in Hollywood, Hollywood-deaths | 1 Comment &;

WSJ Goes Tabloid onMadoff

March 14, 2009

And it&;s the right way to cover Madoff.  Today&;s (March 13) six column story looked at the victims of the scam and the now-convicted scum&;a reminder that there are real people being hurt, not just numbers thrown around. Murdoch&;s instincts are correct.  Although I hate the potitics of the editorial page, the newspaper is thriving in the most difficult media environment in memory.

Tags:Bernard-Madoff, Murdoch, Wall-Street-Journal, WSJ Posted in business-journalism | Leave a Comment &;

Obama Kneecaps LasVegas

March 11, 2009

Although Las Vegas workers were key to Barack Obama&;s successful campaign to win the &;battleground&; state of Nevada, so far he has repaid them with the back of his hand.  At issue is Obama&;s bluenose comment &;You can&;t go take a trip to Las Vegas or go down to the Super Bowl on the taxpayers&; dime. There&;s got to be some accountability and some responsibility.”   It&;s not just banks like Bank America that have cancelled scheduled trips, which are typically eagerly-awaited rewards for top salespeople and marketers. The Las Vegas Review Journal reports: * The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority reported 340 event cancellations in the past 90 days. * The situation has cost the local economy about $131.6 million in lost spending. * The rampant flaking on Las Vegas business trips and the cancellation of conventions and business meetings has cost LV resorts 111,800 guests and 236,700 room nights Rather than look bad, corporations would rather cancel and pay the cancellation fee.  The fleshpots of Las Vegas may not be professor Obama&;s cup of decaffeinated tea, but a lot of unionized workers depend on the celebration of capitalism there for their income.

Tags:Barack-Obama, Las Vegas, Las-Vegas-conventions, meetings-and-conventions, Oscar-Goodman Posted in Barack-Obama, business-journalism | Leave a Comment &;

Jon Stewart Rips Cramer a NewOne

March 10, 2009

The self-important pump-and-dump crew are finally getting the respect they deserve, from a comedian, no less.  Unfortunately, the only thing that will bring down the crowd of corporate CEO butt-kissers (until the advertising  completely collapses) would be if the clowns turned their cannons at the mismanagement at GE, which has fallen nearly 80% since I bought this &;safe&; company at $39.7 a share in November 2007. Oh wait&;GE owns CNBC?  No worries&;the public will still get the truth from CNBC&;s crew of crack journalists.  &;In Cramer we trust.&;

Tags:CNBC, GE-mismanagement, Jim-Cramer, Jon-Stewart, pump-and-dump Posted in business-journalism, CNBC | 1 Comment &;

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