In addition to the claims brought up by this documentary, I could mention others that have rubbed me the wrong way in the past. 

I know a lot of people will find something offensive about “Outfoxed.” I know, since I’ve been told that I hate America, spit on veterans, and that I am a secret member of the left-wing because I believe in getting to the truth of the matter rather than walking a party line or taking the easy way out by blindly accepting things based on appearances alone. And, more often than not, those making these ridicuouls claims were “informed” by hours-upon-hours of watching Fox News.

Anyway, there’s no requirement that people be open-minded, feel comfortable enough with their own deeply-held beliefs to question their own assumptions, etc. Apparently, a lot of folks who’ve drank the Fox Kool-Aid claim Fox News and their associated properties to be an “alternative” media outlet. Just remember, news is a biz and the goal of businesses is profit. Moreso now-a-days, news is becoming wrapped in slick marketing and public relations techniques specifically designed to drive you to a particular point-of-view.

But if it makes you feel better, you can believe whatever you want to believe. Who am I to change your reality? Hmmm, but then again, who is Fox News, and who are they to change your reality?

H/T: Daily Paul

It just happened that a global warming rally was supposed to be happening during the recent blizzards that have hit the South and the East Coast. Fox’s Neil Cavuto took this opportunity to interview one of the activists associated with the rally. My struggles with the weather made me much more apt to watch something like this and much less offended by Cavuto’s over-the-top mockery.

For the most part Neil Cavuto is a clueless ideologue dick, but in this interview he has a good point on the marketing. All protests in favor of global warming should occur in the hottest months of the year. It helps to draw in people who don’t understand the cyclical nature of local and global warming and cooling patterns. Better yet, the summer months increase the chances that there will be a major hurricane somewhere in the Atlantic Ocean or Gulf of Mexico that you can use to garner more attention for your claims, never mind the fact that hurricanes typically happen in the summer months and can get quite big without the benefits of a climatological crisis.

As far as I’m concerned, neither side is helping me out. If it’s getting warmer, why am I not seeing it? If theres nothing to global warming, why is it so damn cold? Nobody’s saying how we should survive these alleged conditions. All I want is to be safe and warm. I guess I’ll ignore the snow outside, stay in and put an extra blanket on top of me.

Apparently there’s something weird about legalizing a substance that grows naturally and has legitimate medical uses. Beck brought up (again) that he’s a recovering alcoholic. Yeah, I get it — you can’t control your drinking. That has nothing to do with what other people would do with their lives. Also Glenn Beck lost control of an interview that was supposed to be about taxing weed; the change to make fun of potheads was just too tempting for a person with an admittedly addictive personality. Anyway, stuff like that could be why I’m not a big fan of his.

I’ve been getting a more negative tone from folks across the blogosphere who’ve been commenting on Glenn Beck. A lot of folks are mentioning there’s been some sort of change in what he’s doing, like he’s become more sensationalist and alarmist. I think I’ve figured it out — he’s changed since moving his television show from CNN’s Headline News to Fox News. Today, I suddenly realized that he’s the incarnation of Howard Beale. This is probably what happened when he was first escorted into a meeting with the Fox big-wigs:

I learned shortly after beginning formal marketing studies that there’s more to marketing than promotions. It’s important to understand your company, customers, competitors and distribution channels (the 4 Cs). Only then can you concentrate on the 4 Ps of the product, pricing, place and (then and only then) promotion. I keep finding that there are extensions to this marketing mix. Services marketing adds three additional pieces (people, process and physical evidence), while Web 2.0 marketing adds four more (personalization, participation, peer-to-peer and predictive modeling). Anyway, the point of the matter is that there is more to marketing than quirky commercials and slick ads. My interest in commercials is how well they fit into the overall scheme of an entire marketing plan.

That’s not to say that I wasn’t interested in watching this year’s Superbowl commercials at all. It’s just that I was much more interested in the game itself. A few of the commercials this year stood out. Probably the most noteworthy one in my mind was the Doritos commercial that involved the guy and the snowglobe that he said was a fortune-telling crystal ball:

It was really quirky, and the Doritos people usually come up with something good every year.

I also thought that it was an important statement that some of the commercials capitalized on the current state of the economy. The ones I remembered included Hyundai…

…and Cash4Gold…

It was also good seeing Ed McMahon back in the pitch business after his recent bout of medical and money problems.

I also had the opportunity to get stoked for a couple of the upcoming movies. Particularly Angels & Demons…

…and the movie remake of The Land of the Lost…

Normally I don’t go for remakes, but I go for almost anything with Will Ferrell in it.

I’m sure there were some other good ones, but those are the ones that I particularly remembered. Correction, those are the ones that I remembered that I viewed favorably. I also remembered my disappointment in this year’s GoDaddy commercials. I’m a staunch GoDaddy loyalist, so I would be one of the ones to turn in just to see their commercials. I’m sure that part of it is due to the desire to push the limits butting heads with standards and practices. Kind of like the punchline to the standards and practices discussion in the Gee Whiz episode of Aqua Teen Hunger Force — standards and practices ensures that a really funny idea is turned into a totally lame or mediocre end-product. But GoDaddy’s come out with a few good ones that are on their website (and a few that didn’t make it).

For the rest of the best Superbowl commercials, you can check out YouTube (or any number of sites whose commentators are blathering on-and-on about silly commercials).

While the costs were exhorbitant, the thing that bugs me the most about inaugurations is the distraction and disconnect created by such events. Other than a few rogue tweets I received, everyone I know was transfixed by what was going on. Haters of Obama became his most ardent supporters. People were filled with the feeling that they were experiencing something rare, even beyond seeing only the 44th President this country has ever had. While I have been critical of Obama in the past (and will continue to be), I don’t mean to take anything away from one man’s annointment through the mechanisms of the American electoral process. At the end of the day, though, Obama is one man. Repeat after me: ONE MAN. Claiming that “the dream” has been achieved because one man reached a pinnacle is a bit premature. True change on a global scale can only be realized when a whole lot of individuals wake up, make positive individual changes and stick to those changes. Obama might be able to lead others to the well, but the people need to make up their own minds to drink.

I think a lot of opportunities are missed with traditional inaugurations. If I was elected President, I would put my foot down and sternly decline the expensive inaugural festivities. After taking the oath of office, I’d take a few questions as I ran over to the White House for my first official day on the job, even though I’ve been working for the citizens of the country well before deciding to run for public office. And when the one reporter that still doesn’t get it asks me who my designer is, I’ll answer back, “You may have heard of him — JC Penney!” Instead of balls and expensive get-togethers haunted by lobbyists of every ilk, visitors to DC will be able to participate in teach-ins at every public place in the city. I’d be sure to stop by each and every one of them for some feedback on what real Americans want as part of my daily listening tour. No taxpayer money whatsoever will be spent on my inauguration. If private donors (who understand no strings are attached) can’t be found to fund the festivities, they won’t happen. Ehhh, maybe the world’s not ready for that sort of person holding elective office.

But there are questions that are still to be answered from today’s events. Why do I know that Michelle Obama wore a gown by Isabel Toledo? What insidious pet projects are lobbyists pushing for now that Democrats are in power? How does a school get named for a President before he has even taken office? Why is the media re-hashing the same economic policy options from months ago like we’re going to do it all over again? When will people realize that the most pressing forms of slavery aren’t from the distant past, but the one’s we are experiencing today? Forget about that nonsense, Michelle’s gown was really super cute — maybe I need to order one, two or maybe even twenty. You see, thanks to the mainstream media, the nature of politicians and the ease by which we are too easily distracted, even though there’s a new President, the distraction party won’t be over by a long shot. I guess it’s true that the more things change, the more they stay the same.

I get to go over there and let there [sic] “Average Joes” share their story, what they think, how they feel, especially with world opinion, maybe get a real story out there.

Rick Sanchez of CNN seems more than a bit peeved about Joe’s comments about journalists covering war:

While I’m not sure about Tom’s predictions coming true, I definitely agree with Sanchez’s commentary. Joe the Plumber utilizing his fifteen minutes of fame doesn’t bother me (I’ve gotten used to tuning out stuff like that), but like Rick Sanchez, I do take offense at his calling for media to avoid covering the hell of war. Joe himself hoped to “maybe get a real story out there.” With the way media covers Britney Spears, Lindsay Lohan and Paris Hilton as if it was a matter of life-or-death national security, I would think Joe would want the media to actually start covering things that really are life-or-death national security issues. When the media does its job (which it rarely ever does), it can ferret out wrong-doings that those in power would like to sweep under the rug. Besides, freedom of the press is one of the five guarantees in the First Amendment. Or do conservatives not believe in the First Amendment?

My recommendation is that Joe the Plumber get a real story from his trip to the Middle East. He’s in Israel talking to “Average Joes”. Why stop there? I propose that he stay true to his mission. Instead of just hearing one side of the story, why doesn’t he talk to “Average Joes” in Gaza? The West Bank? Lebanon? Other parts of the Middle East? I’m sure that “Average Joes” exist everywhere throughout the world. They too have their stories that deserve to be told. I’ve never been to the Middle East, but I’m sure their “Average Joes” want the same things America’s want — to live free and in peace.

Making comparisons to which politicians are alike is a bit more reasonable. Doing it before they enter office is up there with politician worship, though. I’ve been hearing a lot of comparisons of which previous President Barack Obama is like, but this means very little until he actually becomes President and does something Presidential. At this point it is based upon a mental model or a fairy tale that the media can cook up to pull in more viewers. In terms of comparisons, you generally look at who were considered the best Presidents, look for a match between your political party and theirs, find one thing that you think might be the same and then make your pick. Thusfar, I have heard Obama compared to Roosevelt (for his zeal to sink the economy even more with massive construction industry welfare programs), Clinton and Kennedy.

One interesting comparison choice that I’ve heard a lot lately is Lincoln. I thought this was a joke, since I’ve always heard that Lincoln was racist. By “racist”, I mean that Lincoln was making a judgment about individual persons based upon their race, as he believed whites were superior to blacks in numerous ways. If you adhere to this line of though, you could simply dismiss Lincoln’s views as making him a product of the times he lived in, but isn’t that like saying racism was okay up until a certain point in time? Most people have either never heard of this idea or have summarily dismissed it because it doesn’t jibe with their beliefs (rightly or wrongly) about U.S. history that they received in their public elementary schools. By looking past this, a lot of people will still feel it is appropriate to raise Lincoln to an ideal model for President, disregard the differences in party and declare prematurely that Barack Obama is the present-day incarnation of Abraham Lincoln.

Incidentally, there are a couple of links between Obama and Lincoln. Contrary to the popular belief, Obama is not the first black President. Some say Lincoln was one of America’s previous black presidents (of up to five other previous Presidents). In the case of Lincoln, I find this claim highly debatable. I’m a little more certain of what Obama will best be known for during his administration. Just as Lincoln was concerned about forcing the South to be part of his crew, I suspect Obama will try to pull out the guns when the Ben-and-Jerry’s guys in Vermont try to secede. I mean, they named an ice cream after his campaign slogan and still want to split from his rule. How bad is that?

Whatever the comparison, let’s just hope Obama is not another George W. Bush. It’s more probable, though, that a President will be more like the immediately previous president than one from 100 to 150 years earlier. But then again there’s alway “hope” or “change” or one of those other things Obama’s been blathering about.