Oh lord..
CDC investigating another outbreak of different E. coli strain at Chipotle
Monday, December 21, 2015
CHRISTMAS WEEK.. BE CAREFUL IN THE JUNGLE OF TRAVEL..
And seriously it’s December 21 already? The year…went…where? It’s almost gone? Done? Finished.. That’s bizarre to me. It really feels like it turned the big 15 yesterday… It did not. But ‘tomorrow’ or something similar it will be 16.. And you know how 16 year olds act… Get ready for another wild year no doubt..
THE MEAN SEASON IS HERE.. THERE IS A CAMPAIGN TO REMOVE MARISSA MAYER AS THE CEO OF YAHOO!
Michael Wolff in USA TODAY writes,
For investors the choice is simple. Sell it now in a way that, according to various estimates from some of the funds now heavily invested in the company, would yield approximately $46 a share. Or, look a year or more into the future, when, after a restructuring, Yahoo managers can try again to make good on a turn around plan that they have for several years gamely tried, and abjectly failed at.
In the eyes of investors, and, likely the cosmos too, it is not just mismanagement, and lack of vision, or lost opportunities — not buying Netflix when it was cheap, for instance. Rather the problem is in the nature of Yahoo, and, arguably, digital media itself.
And this is important for a few reasons to some of you reading. If you blog on Tumblr, don’t forget who the landlord is..
Geocities part 2?
Sunday, December 20, 2015
Saturday, December 19, 2015
It’s beginning to look a lot like summer, just in time for Santa..
Seriously. This will be the temperature map around Christmas.. 70 in DC.. widespread 50s and 60s. No snow, no chance of reindeer tracks.. no need for a sleigh..
No ice skating.. No nostalgic Christmas feeling. Instead you may get a hint of a notion to try to find Easter eggs and wear a bonnet.
The Heat Miser victorious in ‘15..
Friday, December 18, 2015
The Force Awakening for a generation that sleeps
It’s this weekend..
It’s happening..
Star Wars is about to take over pop culture.. take over movie theaters.. take over the gift selection on Christmas morning.
But will the newest generation of movie going Star Wars fans awaken enough to accept Kylo Ren over Darth Vader? Will the newest generation appreciate the circumstances that befall the heroes of A NEW HOPE, the EMPIRE STRIKES BACK, and THE RETURN OF THE JEDI?
There are some prospects that this weekend’s movie going audience will make the FORCE AWAKENS’ profits swell to over $200 mil by the time we hit Sunday. Maybe more.
Actually probably more..
I think there will be more than a few that also see the movie more than one. Or twice.. or thrice..
There will be debates outside of movie theaters..in the seats.. people soiling and spoiling online without regard to kindness of those who have yet to see the film.
The NEW HOPE was seen by over 230 million people from 1977 through 1979, according to most estimates. This film? Maybe not nearly as much. So does that mean less of a pop cultural impact? Does that mean it’s going to amount to a less significant purpose in society?
Most likely nothing will ever be able to recreate the magic of the original STAR WARS series. Not even George Lucas was able to do that with the newest batch of forgettable flicks–except Jar Jar Binks, who we actually remember for all the wrong reasons. But this new movie may come close to redefining a series of a new generation.. one that has the unruly mayhem of Kylo Ren as the villain.. and a new generation of Jedis with attitude as the heroes and heroines.
Is THE FORCE AWAKENS going to give us heroes we want? Or heroes we need? Are we going to get the villains we want? Or potentially the villains who will remind us all too well of the madness on Earth?
There are lots of interesting comparisons STAR WARS can have to society at large, the planet of politics and international intrigue..
Pop culture awaits a decision by the movie going audiences of the planet earth. The force awakening? Or just tossing and turning during sleep…?
Despite my exuberance over the newest STAR WARS movie ..
…I’m going to institute a self imposed ban on reviewing the film or giving any personal thoughts on it for at least 24-48 hours.. Much to digest. Much to contemplate.. Much to consider .. Expect something from your friendly neighborhood Coal Speaker.. Just not yet.
Thursday, December 17, 2015
Amazing story.. A nearby (relatively nearby considering the vast distances of space and time) a planet rests that may be habitable ..
http://www.cnn.com/2015/12/17/world/wolf-1061-exoplanet-alien-life/index.html
Why This Year’s Christmas Season Is So Angry - Bloomberg Business
Good article.. I have my own thoughts I’ll be writing.
Why This Year’s Christmas Season Is So Angry - Bloomberg Business
Bill Carter: How Jimmy Fallon Crushed Stephen Colbert (and Everyone Else in Late Night)
This article goes to great pains attempting to explain why Stephen Colbert is failing in ratings.. One theory even says he is too smart for his audience.
I disagree.
If you read back in the annals of this website, I predicted it would fail.. I thought this was a moment for CBS to name a female host for late night.. It was the moment. They blew it.
People don’t like politics at night. For that, they turn to the DAILY SHOW. For late night, they want silly lip synch battles, or as David Letterman once did, sidewalk races..
People want something to make their minds forget the day before bed.
Colbert reminds them of everything about the day they hated.
And that is why they turned to Fallon and will not turn away.
Bill Carter: How Jimmy Fallon Crushed Stephen Colbert (and Everyone Else in Late Night)
TRUMP VS MALALA
Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai, who survived a Taliban shooting in 2012, called Donald Trump’s anti-Muslim views “tragic” and discriminatory, becoming the latest in a stream of luminaries, celebrities and politicians to condemn the Republican presidential front-runner’s comments on Muslims.
“Well, that’s really tragic that you hear these comments which are full of hatred, full of this ideology of being discriminative towards others,” Yousafzai, the youngest Nobel peace laureate, told AFP in response to Trump’s comments.
Do Muslims and Christians worship the same god? College suspends professor who said yes.
Wheaton College, a prominent evangelical school in Illinois, has placed a professor on administrative leave after she posted on Facebook that Muslims and Christians “worship the same God.”
The official school statement Tuesday about associate professor of political science Larycia Hawkins’s suspension said Wheaton professors should “engage in and speak about public issues in ways that faithfully represent the College’s evangelical Statement of Faith.”
Very interesting stuff.
I have actually had this same conversation with people as of late. In one room, I chatted with a Jehovah’s Witness, an atheist, and a born against Christian .. I made note that all of the people n the room believe they are 100% right about what they believe and that would mean the other two are wrong. They religious people disagreed, saying even though they have differences, they have the same foundations. I told them they don’t.. I made mention that there are Chinese and Italian restaurants too but that they are not the same.. even though they both serve food.
Imagine no religion>
It’s not easy.. even if you can.
Back to the POST story.. things sure can get silly.
Do Muslims and Christians worship the same god? College suspends professor who said yes.
FEAR PORN SELLS..
But the FBI is a bit perturbed about the reporting of the San Bernardino shootings..
This is the wording from reporter Erik Wemple at the WASHINGTON POST:
A whoa moment here: FBI Director James B. Comey today told the media that the suspected assailants in the San Bernardino, Calif., massacre — Syed Rizwan Farook and Tashfeen Malik — wrote private messages to each other stating support for jihad. However: “So far, in this investigation we have found no evidence of posting on social media by either of them at that period in time and thereafter reflecting their commitment to jihad or to martyrdom. I’ve seen some reporting on that, and that’s a garble,” Comey said at a media availability during an event in New York City.
Maybe you should read that again. “No evidence” of something Jihad related.. ISIS related..
The smoking gun to connect this to a bigger issue of terrorism seems to be weak at best.
But that never mattered.. fear always win. Doesn’t it?
Nothing to fear but fear itself? The same person who said that also set up internment camps that later would be viewed as repulsive.
Yes fear wins. Facts lose.
Wednesday, December 16, 2015
Droids and The Force: How the Science in ‘Star Wars’ Is Actually Real
From the WALL STREET JOURNAL:
For a story that takes place “a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away” a great deal of the technology in the “Star Wars” series actually has parallels today on planet Earth. Part of the reason is, ironically, how long the franchise has been around. Concepts and ideas that were the stuff of science fiction when the first “Star Wars” movie came out in 1977 have had almost four decades of science to become real.
If such stories like this continue, surely also will the swelling ranks of the Church of Jedi..
Droids and The Force: How the Science in ‘Star Wars’ Is Actually Real
STAR WARS will earn a lot of money.. may even break some budgets.. but there is one thing important to consider..
INFLATION!
Ticket prices back in the 1970s were .. oh.. a wee bit lower than the wallet bursting prices that greet consumers today.. on average then: $2.23. ON average now? A lot more than that..
So STAR WARS got $512 mil in ticket sales in 1977 and 1978 (theaters in some cities actually played the movie daily for two years) .. I saw a number today that approximately 230 million Americans saw STAR WARS A NEW HOPE..
Here is a good graph from BLOOMBERG today on how inflation has impacted STAR WARS’ release:
Yes the force will awaken. It will be gigantic.
But it will not be the new hope .. nothing quite will ever be the new hope..
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