I hope everyone has a Happy Thanksgiving today and eats well since know I will be this year. The girlfriend and I will be going to her brother’s and we are going all out this year since with the economy going the way it is next year we may only be able to afford to feast on cold cereal.
Now, most people will get up early tomorrow and try to take advantage of good deals and shop all day. I think people who get in line at 11 PM the day before stores open are not buying for other people but mostly for themselves. I have never felt the need to battle with the crowds on the day after Thanksgiving so would never buy anything myself. Little did I know what I did informally was being done by social activists for years in protest of our over consumption and called it Buy Nothing Day.
It’s now an international event but was founded by Vancouver artist Ted Dave in 1992 and subsequently promoted by the CanadianAdbusters magazine. The event is held in North America every year the day after Thanksgiving or Black Friday. The point is not that buying nothing on one day will make a difference but that we think about how our consumption effects everything everyday.
Last year Adbusters created a commercial to make the public aware of the cause and to buy nothing. Oddly in our free society of ideas the big corporations would not take their money to air the ad on any of their TV channels. Apparently the concept of taking a day to buy nothing and think about our consumption habits is controversial. CNN did end up airing the ad at the last minute which you can view in this video…
I have seen the question of Jack Cafferty missing from CNN’s Situation Room on TheZoo and Daily Kos blogs today. So where is Jake? The last entry from his blog which is on my blogroll only reads this from Oct. 2…
Jack will not be in the Situation Room Today.
Jack is known for real straight talk that John McCain could learn a lot from and the best example would be his commentary on Sarah Palin from her interview with Katie Couric. He basically called her pathetic and unfit to be a heartbeat away from the Presidency. He even turned on Wolf Blitzer when being the tool he is tried to apologize for Ms. Palin. You have to cheer when someone states the truth seldom heard else where on the 24/7 news information wagon.
We hope CNN has not muted Jack because he pulls no punches since he is the voice of common sense on TV News. You can make your feelings known to CNN on Jack being off the air here…
The most likely reason for Jack being off the air is he may be grieving from the unexpected death of his wife Carol last month or just on vacation. Anyone can understand if Jack needs time because of his wife…
Any readers who know more information about why Jack has not been on CNN of late please share it by commenting on this post.
UPDATE 10/23 – All is good…Jack Cafferty is back on CNN and he apparently just needed a undisclosed surgical procedure. I wish him well and may he have many more years on CNN. Maybe his own show?
When John McCain picked Sarah Palin for his VP running mate it seemed out of nowhere (Alaska to be exact) she became an overnight sensation and even wowed the far right faithful at the RNC. I admit was a little nervous with the choice and not because she was qualified or the best choice but that she added freshness and some life to McCain’s campaign.
Then her first interview with Charlie Gibson of ABC News came and we found out she didn’t know anything about foreign policy. It was crazy for her not to know what the Bush doctrine was but yet agree with it, right? She had the nerve to say Georgia did absolutely nothing to provoke Russia or actually say perhaps we would need to go to war with Russia (Hint – short of a direct attack you avoid war between two nuclear powers at all costs).
I then started to tell friends and comment on blogs that there would be nothing to worry about… Let Sarah Palin have her 15 minutes of fame because as she is exposed more to the people they will get to know her and realize she is totally unqualified and nothing but George Bush in a skirt. In my post - My initial thoughts on Obama picking Joe Biden for VP – I said…
I do have some advice for John McCain on who he should be looking at for his VP if he wants to have any chance of winning. He should not be listening to the social conservative Christian block and just pick someone to appease them
John McCain, of course caved into the far right social conservative Christian block of his party and he ended up with checklist candidate who was the wrong choice and is now dragging down his campaign as shown in the polls. Sarah Palin is not even polling well with woman except with non-college educated woman. The not so bright VP candidate is polling well with the uneducated people in general…shocker! Sarah Palin and George Bush both have been said to appeal to the common person which is just another way to say the uninformed and uneducated.
I said once the hype dies down with Sarah Palin she will be nothing but the punch line for jokes in which I turned out to be a prophet. The SNL skit with Tina Fey playing Sarah Palin was a new classic for the show.
The McCain campaign decided needed to step back and drop down to a even more softball interviewer so they choose Katie Couric of CBS News (ironically she was also not the most qualified woman available for her position either) for a couple of interviews. What a disaster as Sarah Palin seemed to be confused even by the simplest of questions. SNL and Tina Fey did another skit mocking the first interview where they had to make few changes from Sarah’s Palin’s actual real answers for the laughs.
This all leads up to yesterday with Keith Olbermann’s Countdown video of the greatest hits from all the Sarah Palin interviews. This is very enlightening and shows with out doubt she is unqualified to be a heartbeat away from the Presidency. The media is now getting the Sarah Palin joke. Enjoy the video before you watch the VP debate tonight where we are sure to get more Sarah Palin (low)highlight moments.
Quick update on the George Bush impeachment process…
Rep. Dennis Kucinich as I posted about last week was able to have a hearing on his articles of impeachment against President Bush before the House Judiciary Committee which lasted almost six hours on last Friday. The Democrat leadership pointed out it was not an official impeachment hearing but it was a small step for the millions of people who want George investigated and held accountable. Republicans are already spinning the hearings as “an anger management class”.
The mainstream media of course is still barely covering the events in Congress. Britney Spears must have been spotted passed out drunk again…
Former White House press secretary Tony Snow, twice member of the Bush Administration died at 53 years old from colon cancer he was suffering from for a number of years early this morning. The media spent the morning talking about what a nice guy Tony was and how hard he fought his cancer. I will not disagree with either count and I know it’s not polite to speak ill of the recently deceased for at least a couple of days but here goes anyway.
The media has been concentrating mostly on his time as White House press secretary. I like to talk about Mr. Snow’s first stint in the White House for President George Bush in 1991, as chief speechwriter and later as Deputy Assistant to the President for Media Affairs (1992–1993). Snow’s most important role was after the takeover of Afghanistan and the people did not want to hear about another invasion into Iraq and it showed in the polls at the time. He was very instrumental in running the public relations campaign (propaganda) fueled by the lies feed from Bush and company to make the case for a another war. As we know, public opinion turned and the war in Iraq was on and is still going over four long years later.
When we think about the cost of the Iraq war (over 4,000 American troops dead, 80,000 to million Iraqis dead, and will hit the trillion dollar price tag), George Bush possibly may not have been able to make it happen without the hard work of Tony Snow. Our country has owes a great debt to Mr. Snow and I mean literally.
Tony Snow was only the front man for the criminal gang known as the Bush administration so I hope he passed away peacefully. Since Congress won’t punish them, hopefully God will have more fittings ends for the rest of the gang — Rove, Rumsfeld, Cheney, and Bush.
I have never talked about sports before on this blog but have been a long time fan myself. This rant is based on a recent column by Jerry Sullivan of the Buffalo News.
Jerry Sullivan
Updated: 06/24/08 7:06 AM
A few days ago, I was listening to an update on sports radio and heard a reference to Citizens Bank Park. I searched my brain for a few seconds and came to a stunning realization. I had no idea who played there.
The White Sox? No, that’s U. S. Cellular Field. Reds? They play in Great American Ball Park. Pirates? PNC Park. Or is it PETCO? No, that’s the Padres. How about the Diamondbacks? Didn’t they change it from Bank One Ballpark? Yeah, but it’s Chase Field now.
I always have hated the constant name changes of sports stadiums. I am with Jerry on trying to remember all the new stadium names. When I was a kid could rattle off the stadium names of most of the pro sports teams. Today? Forget it… I was shocked to learn even Wrigley Field has it’s naming rights up for sale now. The Cubs fans need to revolt or the Wrigley Company somehow or someway needs to secure the name again. I am not sure what would do if my beloved Boston Red Sox sold the name of Fenway Park to the highest bidder.
What Jerry Sullivan did not address in his column is what we can do about this? I think the solution is very simple. The only reason naming rights have value is because of the exposure they cause. Why does everyone including you and I, sports reporters like Jerry, or the media seem to be compelled to use the corporate name of any sports venue? Why can’t we all just adopt a common used alternative name for any corporate named stadium for our use?
In Buffalo here, the Sabres play at HSBC Arena but why not just refer to it as the original working name of the Crossroads Arena? The Buffalo Bisons baseball team has played at Pilot Field, North AmeriCare Park, and Dunn Tire Park. Come on now… Why can’t the local media just refer to it as the Downtown Park like most people do already and be done with it? No worries with the Buffalo Bills since the owner, Ralph Wilson just names it after himself.
It’s time we stop being held hostage to the lastest naming rights change of our favorite sports team’s home. If the people and media stopped using the corporate name then the naming rights would have no value anymore. The teams themselves really don’t need the revenue from naming rights or else they would just get players salaries under control. Just a idea…
