This is one possible explanation for why the Indianapolis Colts won Super Bowl XLI! Click here for more winning sports tips! Perhaps we should try this approach in Iraq… or, uh, maybe we already have.
Category: Politics, Religion & Money
NPR Explores Income Inequality
NPR is doing a series this week on the widening gap between the rich and everybody else. Like global warming, there are those who deny the evidence, but that’s only because they’re happy with the way things are. Many working Americans aren’t.
We’ll see at the end of the week whether or not the series is adequately critical of CEO pay and entitlements, as well as Bush’s tax cuts for the ultra-rich. Click here to go to the series home page.
Randy Newman Defends Our Country
As told back in October (before I figured out how to do embedded audio and video right), I was once a huge fan of Randy Newman, back in his satirical days. Newman is in Newsweek, and I caught him today on BBC radio, talking about his new composition, “A Few Words in Defense of Our Country”.
Newman’s never-great singing voice seems to be failing him, so he just talks his way through this, and it isn’t one of his catchier tunes, but it’s good to have him despairing over Presidential politics enough to write about it.
Aqua Teen Colbert Report
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As expected, Stephen Colbert had something to say about the stupid mess we had in Boston on Wednesday.
Note: this is the first time I’ve posted a clip from Colbert while the show is still on!
AdveRtising TerrorISTS
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This is video of the mysterious objects being placed around Boston. This stunt ranks with the San Diego radio station contest that got a woman to drink water until she died, to win a Wii. But as stupid as The Cartoon Network was, Boston authorities must accept some blame for playing the part of Chicken Little.
Guerilla Lawsuit Day
It was supposed to be Gorilla Suit Day, and instead it turned into Guerrilla Lawsuit Day!
The spin machine is working. There’s lots of tough talk, and an arrest has been made in the Aqua Teen Hunger Force “guerrilla” advertising campaign.
Artist arrested for planting marketing figures
By Maria Cramer and Maria Sacchetti, Globe Staff
The man who sent city and State Police rushing to defuse what they believed were explosive devices around the Boston region was arrested tonight.
Attorney General Martha Coakley scheduled a 9 p.m. press conference to announce the arrrest of Peter Berdvosky, an Arlington artist.
What stopped the city was the way the situation was handled. Here’s audio from WBZ radio. You’ll hear some of a news report, the beginning of Paul Sullivan’s talk show, and part of the opening statement at that 9 p.m. news conference by Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley. Lots of talk about getting tough, along with the usual compliments about how well all of the various agencies cooperated, and what a great job everybody is doing, blah, blah, blah…
[audio:http://www.dograt.com/Audio/JAN07/WBZBostonTerror.mp3]The Boston Globe has posted this editorial, and I’m glad it includes the following comment:
Homeland Security experts will need to review the response of local law enforcement. Public safety personnel may have overreacted; local bloggers apparently identified the guerrilla advertising campaign early on.
The fact that the promotional campaign was orchestrated by an advertising agency on behalf of The Cartoon Network isn’t incidental or irrelevant, but these mysterious objects could have been a stunt by college kids. Does this mean that ANYthing out of the ordinary, no matter what it is, can result in an emergency response of such magnitude? If so, then we’ve lost the war on terrorism.