Having worked in television news for several years in a past life, it makes me (so) mad when I hear television news personalities use subjective terms to describe various people, situations, events, etc. Since we’re in the heat of a presidential election, this phenomenon is now being applied most to those running for president (and vice president). For example, today Joe Biden criticized Sarah Palin for her stand against stem cell research, implying that such research could help cure diseases like Down syndrome, which Palin’s youngest child has been diagnosed with. Larry King, on his show (entitled “Palin: Fact vs. Fiction) tossed to break saying, “Joe Biden makes some controversial comments about Sarah Palin.” They’re only controversial because Larry says they’re controversial. To most reasonable observers, Biden’s comments would simply be factual. Way to separate fact from fiction Larry. Similarly, Barack Obama called out Palin and McCain for their specious claims about the Bridge to Nowhere, and Anderson Cooper teases his show by saying, “Did Obama go too far?” Most reasonable people probably wouldn’t have thought so, but thanks anyway Coop. My advice to the media: when there are facts to support one side or the other (like there’s video of Palin saying she supports the Bridge before she came out against it), flip those attention grabbing teases around. Instead of saying, “Did Obama got too far” say something like, “Did Obama go far enough? We’ll show you Palin in her own words and you decide?” It’s time the media stop trying to make up our minds and let us decide for ourselves.
It seems like the McCain campaign can dish it out, but they can’t take it. A few months after a senior McCain adviser referred to America as a “nation of whiners,” McCain and his staffers have become a campaign of whiners. They’re a bit ruffled over all of the questions surrounding VP pick Sarah Palin. Or they’re upset that people are asking questions. It’s hard to tell. At any rate, they’re whining that the media is being unfair to Palin and too hard on her. Now listen, just because the GOP has claimed the mantle as the Family Values party and even ridiculously attacked fictional TV character Murphy Brown several years ago for having a fictional baby out of wedlock, that doesn’t give the media the right to ask whether that conflicts with the real life fact that Palin’s 17-year-old daughter is a few months away from giving birth to a real life baby out of wedlock. What is the media thinking? Just because Palin is embroiled in a scandal where she’s being investigated for improperly trying to get an Alaska state trooper fired, her former brother-in-law who happened to be involved in a custody battle with her younger sister at the time, doesn’t mean the media should be poking their noses where they don’t belong. Come on media! Just because some audio of a radio interview has surfaced during which Palin is heard laughing and giggling along with the host, while that host calls one of her political rivals a cancer and a bitch (by the way, the rival is a cancer survivor), doesn’t give the media a free pass to ask questions about not only her judgment, but the judgment of McCain for picking her. Darn media. Have you no sense of decency? There’s more about Palin being unearthed almost hourly, including a video of her speaking at her church in Alaska saying the troops in Iraq are on a mission from God (sounds like what we hear from the terrorists) and that her fellow church goers need to pray to God to deliver a new pipeline to Alaska. That’s right; a pipeline. Despite all of this, GOP hacks continue to play the same stale cards: the media’s being unfair, Palin’s critics are elitist, she has more experience because she’s led the Alaska National Guard (not even kidding about that one. GOP flacks are actually touting this), etc. Well, I’m betting it won’t work this time. There are only so many media outlets McCain can alienate before no one covers his campaign at all, seriously anyway. I’m actually betting the McCain camp sends Palin packing before week’s end, while they still have at least Fox News on their side.
UPDATE: So they haven’t sent her packing, and as far as I can tell, that’s solely because she’s being used as a pawn to energize the evangelical base who otherwise would have stayed home on election day. Since she’s still in the race, how’s about she start answering some media questions, rather than just playing the media victim. Specifically: Do you think the media has been unfair to you? Why? Tell me about you and your husband’s involvement with the Alaskan Independence Party? You said you were pleased with your daughter’s choice to keep her child. Given the fact that you oppose abortion in all cases, under your administration, women in a similar situation wouldn’t have that choice. How do you reconcile that? What was your involvement in the attempt to fire Trooper Mike Wooten? How would you describe your foreign policy expertise?
Perhaps the most memorable moment from Barack Obama’s acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention was when he exclaimed “Enough!” He was referring to the past eight years of GOP corruption and mismanagement, but another recent phenomenon is nearly as serious, and warrants just as stern a rebuke: men wearing plaid shorts. It’s uncertain who first thought it would be a good idea to suggest that men wear plaid shorts, though I blame J. Crew. I’m absolutely certain however, that this is the worst fashion faux pas since the rolled up blazer sleeve. I’m looking at you, Don Johnson. So, can we please come together as a nation and call a halt to this gross crime against crime against fashion? Because if we don’t stop it now, there’s no telling how bad it could get.
I like walking when I get on an escalator; you get to the end twice as fast. But we’ve all been stuck behind them, those statues who get on the escalator, with no one remotely close to being in front of them, and they just stand there. As if riding an escalator is a sight-seeing trip, akin to taking a cable car over Paris. Well, I’ve been on a lot of escalators, and none of them has been that compelling. That’s why I like to get to the end of the ride as soon as I can. Listen people, I’ve got places to go. If you want to hang out and enjoy the view of the indoor-mall waterfall, more power to you. Just get the f*** out of my way so I can get by. Kthks?
I’ve not seen the Al Gore environmental film “An Inconvenient Truth”, but after today I have a pretty good idea of what it must feel like to experience it. I attended an all-day offsite workshop on sustainability. All day. It began with, you guessed it, a PowerPoint presentation and, amazingly, went downhill from there. Now, for your reading pleasure, a glimpse inside my mind as I sat through these 8 grueling hours. Hour 1: PowerPoint slide #4 Moderator: CO2 is changing the biosphere. What I’m thinking: Really? Someone should coin a phrase for that. I shall call it “Global Warming.” Hour 2: PowerPoint slide #8 Moderator: If we continue fishing at current levels, we will fish-out the oceans by mid-century. What I’m thinking: What? No more fish sticks? Now you’ve got my attention! Moderator: And all those big screen TVs. They use a lot of energy. What I’m thinking: Hey, you just dissed TV. You lost me again. Hour 2.5: PowerPoint slide #10 Moderator: It’s worth noting how much we actually waste. What I’m thinking: Does time count? Hour 3: PowerPoint side #12 Moderator Now I’m going to tell you a couple of anecdotes which I think are pretty humorous. What I’m thinking 5 minutes later: These aren’t humorous. My eyelids are heavy. Hold on, did you say pizza? NO! Not another anecdote about the pizza caterer! Shaking fist at anecdotes! And that was all before lunch. It didn’t get much better after we ate. Because that’s when the Group Exercises began. There were several, but all had the same basic premise: raise awareness among us about how much stuff we waste on a daily basis in the office. Like I needed a formal class to tell me that. One such exercise required us to take an inventory of all the items we regularly bring in to the workplace (read: look at how much shit you’re wasting). The list started off on the right path: paper, pens, toner. Then suddenly it took a left turn and headed straight toward wacky town:”We also take in questions and ideas.” “And air”. I honestly thought someone was going to add “b.o.” and “despair”. After a full day of this, the only thing that was sustainable was my desire to get the hell out of there.
Apparently I’ve been living under a sports rock for the last few years, because recently a spate of heretofore unwatchable sporting events has been occupying my lovely widescreen television. Usually during prime time to boot. For example, when did women’s beach volleyball become so compelling? It’s not like there’s any suspense. We all know who’s going to win. Ditto for synchronized diving. Listen, if a couple of guys want to swim together in barely there speedos, more power to them. But I don’t need to see the subsequent shower and hot tub scenes. Another sport that shouldn’t resurface is water polo. “Marco!” “Crapo!” None of these really is popular, of course. But that’s not what the NBC Olympic programming directors would have you believe. They’re making it seem like these recreational activities are a quarterback away from their own category on the ESPN crawl. Now I like the competitive swimming events as much as the next guy. Michael Phelps truly is superhuman. And I’m looking forward to some of the track and field events. It’s just the rest of these intramural ennuis that I could do without. Got that Costas?
Today a colleague accused me of dismissive to her at work. She didn’t actually accuse me directly; rather she ran to her boss, who in turn told my boss, who then relayed it to me. This all started a couple of weeks ago when the accuser asked me to meet with my boss. Her initial meeting request to him was so incomprehensible that he and I openly wondered what, in fact, she was getting at. It included something about outide/in and customer service call centers; essentially areas which didn’t seem to apply to our team, since we design and create marketing materials. Ultimately, he asked me to meet with her instead. I accepted, not fully understanding what she wanted, which was my first mistake. When we met, it became clear that she a) had not a clue about what my team did and b) didn’t mind wasting my time by not bothering to research what my team did. Did I mention we’re in the same department? After I asked her a few questions, I gave her some names of people she should contact instead, thinking I had been quite helpful to this nitwit. The meeting was over in less than 10 minutes. Apparently she didn’t see it that way. Somehow, her lack of investigative effort and respect for her colleague’s time translated into my being dismissive. I tend to disagree. Now, had I said something like, “Fuck off you incredibly uninformed imbecile!”, that would have been dismissive. In retrospect, I should have exhibited at least some dismissiveness, to let her know to better prepare next time. Unfortunately, the end result is that I’m now faced with cleaning up this mess and she likely hasn’t learned anything.
During the course of a day, many things simply make me angry, but angryblog.com was aready taken (see initial post). So now, those things make me mad, so mad. Makes me so mad is a running collection of them. Generally, I’m not a mad person; these things are mostly fleeting. But fleeting.com was already taken. That makes me so mad! Conferences I’ll be hosting a talk at SXSW 2009 entitled “Your Personal Blog is Dead”. Ironic, I know. If you’re going to the conference or you’re just in Austin in mid-March, stop by and say hi. T-Shirts Feeling a connection with one of the posts on makesmesomad? Just look for the symbol at the bottom of select posts, then you can wear your shared sentiment, and your anger, literally on your sleeve. search These guys don’t make me mad Mamalit Urban Bliss Design From Maternity to Madness recent Wells Fargo (and the bailout) People Who Use Cell Phones While Driving in the Snow Unclear Web Forms Slow Parking Garage Drivers McCarthy Revisited inside.