Posts Tagged ‘nostalgia’

Morning Joe was dealing with the Onion today so in honor of that and Harry Reid’s success to impose Cloture it’s worthwhile to link to this highly relevant Onion story from 1997:

GENEVA, SWITZERLAND—World Health Organization officials expressed disappointment Monday at the group’s finding that, despite the enormous efforts of doctors, rescue workers and other medical professionals worldwide, the global death rate remains constant at 100 percent.

Death, a metabolic affliction causing total shutdown of all life functions, has long been considered humanity’s number one health concern. Responsible for 100 percent of all recorded fatalities worldwide, the condition has no cure.

I love the Nader “quote”:

“Why should we continue to spend billions of dollars a year on a health care industry whose sole purpose is to prevent death, only to find, once again, that death awaits us all?” Nader said in an impassioned address to several suburban Californians. “That’s called a zero percent return on our investment, and that’s not fair. Its time the paying customer stood up to the HMOs and to the so-called ‘medical health professionals’ and said: ‘Enough is enough. I’m paying through the nose here, and I don’t want to die.'”

Yeah it’s funny and the Onion as always is worth a laugh but the bottom line is still what the article says. Everyone dies. That includes me and you.

Boy, back to back post on death, I know I’m in a bit of a mood today but two posts in a row on death? Bad sign, but as Curley Howard once said: “The Morbid the merrier”

I guess the “free cigarettes” line would get this a R rating today.

their coverage will follow:

David Almasi, executive director of the National Center For Public Policy Research, kept a log of commercials aired during the ABC World News broadcast from June 24th to October 12, a period of approximately three-and-a-half months following ABC’s rejection of health care-related ads from Conservatives for Patients’ Rights.20 The results are as follows:

In July, 173 of 326 commercials, or 53 percent, were PhRMA company advertisements. In August, 176 of 321 commercials, or 54.8 percent, were PhRMA. In September, 156 of 293, or 53.24 percent, were PhRMA commercials. Of the eight days in October analyzed, 45 out of 80 commercials, or 56.25 percent, were PhRMA company ads.

The grand total? In the 98 days of ABC World News programming analyzed from June to October, the broadcast featured 1,102 commercials, 597 of which were PhRMA member company advertisements, representing 54.17 percent of total commercials aired.

Notes Almasi, “Ad after ad on World News came from members of the drug lobby group PhRMA. It’s almost laughable how many ads they run each day. If they were to stop, it would seem doubtful the broadcasts could continue.”

The data, representing months of recording and logging of ABC World News commercials viewed in the Washington D.C. market, reveal an astonishing double layer of hypocrisy. ABC News, in spite of its morally superior affectations against “advocacy ads,” is perfectly willing to turn over large chunks of its news programming to a politician – if that politician is backed by companies representing more than half its advertisements.

You might recall ABC shrugged off charges that they did not or would not bring any opposing view to the broadcast in question.

Never forget that the broadcast networks revenue source is. Their product is an ad platform, PERIOD! Over the last 15 years the number of choices (read ad platforms) have increased and thus the need to have that guaranteed source of income becomes vital.

Remember the Quiz Show scandals:

The firestorm that resulted, claimed Variety, “injured broadcasting more than anything ever before in the public eye.” Even the sainted Edward R. Murrow was sullied when it was revealed that his celebrity interview show, CBS’s Person to Person, provided guests with questions in advance. Perhaps most significantly in terms of the future shape of commercial television, the quiz show scandals made the networks forever leery of “single sponsorship” programming. (emphasis mine) Henceforth, they parceled out advertising time in fifteen, thirty, and sixty-second increments, wrenching control away from single sponsors and advertising agencies.

Forever is apparently not all that it’s cracked up to be.

If any of this surprises you, then it is very likely you haven’t been paying attention.

This was the #1 image result?

The photo is 5 years old but I think the statement is still true.

If you want to see the post where those photos came from, including some nice shots of the Crayola Museum, Hershey Park, and the Gettysburg Battlefield, then click here.

Unfortunately the last 13 months have given an answer to the question associated with the final shot on that page. I was hoping for a different one.

Taken: Amazon Review

Posted: December 13, 2009 by datechguy in amazon reviews
Tags: , , ,

My review of Lian Neeson’s revenge fantasy Taken is available at Amazon.com here.

As I stated in my review I couldn’t help think of John Wayne in Big Jake when watching this movie. One scene in particular.

The Texas Rangers rush off in their newfangled automobiles to ambush the kidnappers and are themselves ambushed instead. Many are killed several are wounded, their cars are not working and they are stranded without food or water. Big Jake (Wayne) rides by on his way south with the ransom chest and sees the aftermath of the situation. He is unwilling to loan them horses or food but leaves them some water before continuing on his way. The leader of the rangers, an old friend that he happily greeted less than a day ago sarcastically thanks him saying he has been more than kind. Big Jake replies:

I think I’ve been. 20 years ago I would have killed you for risking my grandson’s life.

He is an old friend. He was happy to see him and actively risked his own life to try to save the boy but that doesn’t enter into it.

I don’t want to give out any spoilers but lets just say Neeson’s character is nearly 20 years younger than Wayne’s.