politics

COMCAST-TIME-WARNER MERGER Dominating 60% of CABLE?? Yeah . . . so what?

I would like to point out the following:

While true that the Comcast-Time-Warner merger would mean that they would control 60% of the cable business, please play close attention to how that is defined in relationship to all potential Internet\Video\Telecom services. You are no longer locked down as you think. I left cable as son as I moved to Texas – I have been perfectly happy with IPTV. True – I get frustrated at times with ATT U-Verse – however – we have worked out our differences and they have made infrastructure improvements in my area – probably because they knew I could switch back to cable – or better yet – go with Verizon FiOS – another IPTV provider. Coming from Tega Cay, SC – where I was pretty much stuck in 2010 w/ Comporium – a local provider (allowed to have monopoly due to some regulatory rural provision clause at the time) I had to deal with the tyranny of only one broadband option. You would be surprised with how many communities are still stuck with one option for *somewhat* quality high-speed Internet access.

Bent County, CO basically gives you satellite, dial-up, or repackaged CenturyLink using some local Mom-and-Pop shop. How does this affect them? It won’t!

Finally – you know you can always cut the cord, buy a Smart HDTV and Antenna – and enjoy 15-25 primary and secondary channels alongside of NetFlix, Amazon Prime, VuDu, and Hulu Plus using only Broadband. With HBO GO and CBS offering decoupled streaming soon – you get even better options. So let the cable companies consolidate and reduce cable options. Broadband Internet is the utility of the future. The cable companies are consolidating to eek out some final profitability just like the broadcast radio networks.

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Reason #3242 why I’ll never be elected President:

Reason #3242 why I’ll never be elected President: Government severs diplomatic ties and warns people not to travel to North Korea as it is unsafe and there could be dire consequences. Some travel anyway. They get detained. Appeal to the US for Help – Prisoners claim US is abandoning them. If I were President, I would say ” . . . and . . . there you go. Sorry, but tough.”

Either Jan Brewer is a Political Genius or the Public and the Media are just Fools

Fool me once, shame on you . . . fool me twice . . . well . . . I knew this was coming. So the same strategy that Arizona Governor Brewer employed during the last mid-year cycle is holding up just as well the second time around. It’s an ingenious strategy when you think about it at first. Then when you realize the public has such a short memory and the media is completely driven by actions in the now, nobody does their research. Even if we are talking about events in the last few years.

Rewind to 2011: Remember when the obsession with Obama’s birth certificate was reaching high visibility? How do you propel yourself to the top of the daily news cycle over and over again? Have your far-right cronies play the bad cop so you can come in at the last minute and play good cop – or rather – the voice of reason. You can be the epitome of the “cooler heads will prevail” mentality.

Back then, the very social conservatives in the Arizona state legislature – fueled by the upcoming presidential election and the obsession with Obama (also helped by long term Arizona character Joe Arpaio) passed legislation that would have required presidential candidates to provide documentation showing that they were born in the United States in order to be allowed on the state’s presidential ballot. The process was dragged out in the legislature and the duration between passage and her final action was also dragged out for dramatic effect. When she finally made the decision, she came across as the moderate rational hero. The good cop. The voice of reason. The bill, she said in a letter about her veto, was a “distraction” and “a bridge too far” that would have created “significant new problems while failing to do anything constructive for Arizona.”

Fast forward to 2014. Here we go again. The Obama obsession has been played out. What’s another socially conservative firestorm that can energize the base yet allow her to look like a moderate leader? Let’s capitalize on the hatred of homosexuals. She was smart enough to have her staff be sure to purge all references to this from her Wikipedia page (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jan_Brewer) since she knew this would be the extent of any historical research on her (especially since going deep into a search engine required too much diligence. But a simple query of the phrases “Jan Brewer” and “bridge too far” would have brought it all back.

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0411/53710.html

For the past two weeks, Jan Brewer has been in the news. I have no doubt this was orchestrated where the idea was created with the end in mind. Beautiful politics exploiting both sides of the political spectrum. Another reason why I don’t participate in the game. Some say Jan Brewer is old and winding down. I think she is looking for higher office. The question is, how long will she continue to reuse this strategy?

On Ender’s Game – the Movie vs. Politics.

I thought this was a great movie. I have not read the books but I can tell that the adaptation summed up much of the exposition well. The story is set over 100 years into the future and I can understand why the author waited so many years for a film adaptation. He wanted to wait until technology was believable. Let me say this, forget the XboxOne and PS4 – I want to play THOSE games using THOSE Game controls! The movie did not do as well as it should because there was too much controversy attached to the religious views and politics of the author. Since I don’t research the personal politics of every person involved with everything I see, view, or hear (I have a life) I did not fall prey to the desired boycott. For those who may not know, there are no religious or anti-gay messages in this movie. Unlike CS Lewis and the Narnia series – none of the author’s religious influences were played out in the story. I find the notion of giving this movie a review or boycotting it (in some cases – trying to squash the making of it) simply because you don’t like the religion of the book’s author terribly disturbing and un-American. I say this as an Atheist who completely disagrees with Card’s personal viewpoints. Regardless of his viewpoints, it is a great story. Just like Wagner wrote great music and Mel Gibson made good movies – are we supposed to pretend these great works of art do not exist? That is akin to the Taliban blowing up the stone Buddha’s simply because it is different from their religion.

Many of my friend’s are in moral quandaries over this. Some only find it objectionable because he’s vocal and they’re probably blissfully ignorant of other opinions that I disagree with from other folks that I still patronize…. but many of them are holding firm for years on Chick-Fil-A, Hobby Lobby, and Wal-Mart.

How far do we take this? Do we no longer support all of the actors and workers who participated in this movie? Do we boycott Harrison Ford and the new Star Wars films because he took a paycheck and appeared in the film. What if we found out the voting record of every person who wrote and directed movies. We would only see movies made by people who politically agreed with us?

ZZ TOP Had a Reality Show on A&E?

So once again we have a “controversy” regarding a basic cable celebrity. Good thing because the keyboard commandos were starting to get bored – I mean, it’s not like a major holiday season is occurring. We have to have manufactured controversies to give social networks some traction even if it makes no sense since you have people like me constantly on them.

Anyway, my thoughts – i.e. the usual applies: person has the right to speak their conscience, network has right to fire them, supporters have the right to support, haters have the right to hate -yada yada yada. Free speech means free speech but choices do come with consequences. What has happened is not UN-constitutional. Read the first amendment. It applies to governments. No one prevented this person from speaking their conscience, but a private employer has the right to terminate or suspend employment especially if contract was breached (although surely this did not come unexpected.) That’s the “fiscal conservatism” the social conservatives tend to forget.

With that being said, what I would *really* like to know (as I did in the Paula Deen case) is WHO ARE THE PUBLICISTS AND HANDLERS FOR THESE PEOPLE? I mean, obviously the business managers and merchandisers were smart to capitalize on this while they could – because I cannot move in any retail outlet without bumping into something with the Duck Dynasty logo feces all over it. No careers will end over this other than the usual 15 minutes-of-fame expiration. If you think I am wrong, Don Imus has a radio show that is also simulcast on cable. Remember when his career was “ruined?”

If Alec Baldwin’s cable show actually had millions of viewers he would still be on the air. His little controversy gave his employers the opportunity to cancel a money-losing venture. In the case of this person from ZZ Top/Duck Dynasty/SwampNard/Whatever this could just be a bargaining chip for the network to keep salaries in check – especially if they signed a morals clause.

Or – you could all just be a victim of manufactured controversy – as in “there’s no such thing as bad publicity.” Of course, my favorite slant on this (NOT) is the turning of this into the usual political red vs. blue politisport with even Sarah Palin chiming in.

As far as this being the end of A&E? Seriously? Americans have short memories and are massively ADHD. There will just be another “reality show” to come along showcasing rural America with a large audience consisting of people who actually believe and idolize the bullshit before them, people who will watch to make fun of the reverse minstrel show before them, and those that are simply just fascinated with the trainwreck before them.

If you do not believe people idolize and emulate these reality stars, look at the correlation of the emergence of MTV’s Teen Mom and the re-emergence of teen pregnancy in the South.

Then again, I still do not understand the feigned ignorance on both sides. You allow Hollywood to exploit you, you attack a lifestyle well understood to be accepted and even a part of Hollywood culture, and then you wonder why there are consequences? You put a bunch of swamp people from rural Louisiana on TV and you are surprised when they speak out their beliefs?

To tell you how ridiculous this is – Glenn Beck is the voice of reason on this – http://www.businessinsider.com/glenn-beck-duck-dynasty…

Then the irony got creepier – makes you wonder what is really going on – http://seattle-sunset.newsvine.com/…/21992558-duck…

Wow – this is definitely following the Paula Deen Crisis Playbook – http://www.huffingtonpost.com/…/phil-robertson-black…

*Munches Popcorn* #CantLookAway #TrainwreckComing – http://www.rawstory.com/…/westboro-baptist-church-to…/

Turns out the whole thing was probably staged – As they say where I come from – Joke’s on y’all! – Very creative – turn a normal hiatus into a “suspension.” http://www.huffingtonpost.com/…/phil-robertson-duck…

Nerdodamus: Predictions for 2011

The Republicans taking a trick from their ’94 playbook (and being successful) was so obvious that even Nerdodamus saw it pointless to predict – especially since Obama used a lot of Clinton staffers. no armchair Monday-morning quarterbacking from these guys.

Is it safe to say that 2011 will be much like 1995? Most likely –  in the realm of cyclical politics. Pop Culture may yield some surprises though. Here are my predictions for 2011:

(Yes, I know these are softballs but remember who I am!)

1.) Government Shutdown over Political infighting regarding the budget.

2.) Scott Brown is heavily criticized as a RINO because he does not toe the party line.

3.) Hilary Clinton side-steps here claim she is not going to challenge Obama in 2012.

4.) Christine O’Donnell is indicted for misuse of campaign funds since she cannot be indicted for sole stupidity alone.

5.) 3 more States make Marijuana legal for Medicinal purposes.

6.) One state will officially go bankrupt.

7.) Member of Congress gets put on terrorist watch list.

8.) Another Republican Congressman gets caught in a gay scandal.

9.) The Quaid’s get what they really wanted – a reality show – claim whole stunt was “performance art.”

10.) Octomom runs out of options – does soft-core porn.

11.) A Gosselin is kept in the news solely because they get in trouble with the law.

12.) In-fighting begins at Fox news between O’Reilly, Hannity, and Beck over self-promotion, jealousy, and the fact that one of these guys will begin leaning over into the White nationalist realm a little too much.

13.) Jim Carrey, in an effort to rebuild his career lashes out at Jenny McCarthy for bringing him into her Pseudo-science circle. it is revealed this and her association with quacks brought down the relationship.

Most Health Insurance costs less than 15,000 a year.

How to resolve the Helath Insurance problem:

Force all people to buy or put them in jail!

I wonder if Oprah is going to fund all of her fans who can’t afford to pay this. Will she let them go to jail? After all, she commanded her flock to vote for the guy.

http://republicans.waysandmeans.house.gov/News/DocumentSingle.aspx?DocumentID=153583

Documentary film director Michael Moore, who has become a millionaire thanks to the profits from his movies, told CNSNews.com that “capitalism did nothing” for him.

Doesn’t this remind you of a spoiled child? This article is an exercise in irony. Better yet, even more ironic is the fact that Michael Moore’s rise from nothing is an example of how the entrepreneurial spirit and Capitalism can self-make you. I agree with him attacking coporate welfare. I just think its overshadowed by a flawed premise. What he attacks is not true free-market Capitalism.

http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/54833