Dave Zatz at Zatz Not Funny!: The process probably hasn’t played out exactly the way TiVo and Netflix anticipated when they initially inked a development agreement in 2004… In fact, the struggle to find content and move this project forward drove Netflix CEO Reed Hastings to declare there’s “no work going on,” “no content,” and “no point” in 2005. Fast forward a few years and … [Read more...] about Netflix Coming to TiVo
(Election Countdown Edition) Wanted: A Better Caption For This Photo
THE SCENE OUTSIDE A HOUSE SOMEWHERE IN AMERICA … [Read more...] about (Election Countdown Edition) Wanted: A Better Caption For This Photo
McCain Gets Key Endorsement. Obama Doomed.
This seems to be the long awaited October Surprise. In a last minute switch, a decisive endorsement has moved from Obama to McCain. As usual, a picture is worth a thousand words. Click through the jump for all the details. (Image via Weekly World News) … [Read more...] about McCain Gets Key Endorsement. Obama Doomed.
World Series 2008: A Phabulous Phillies Victory Is Tempered By A Greater Reality
World champions (top) and The Wild Thing The Philadelphia Phillies' last gasp as a World Series contender ended on a frigid late October evening in 1993 with one swing of the bat as the Blue Jays' mighty Joe Carter launched a fastball hurled by reliever Mitch Williams into the left-field seats of Toronto's Sky Dome for a walk-off three-run homer. Williams, known with an … [Read more...] about World Series 2008: A Phabulous Phillies Victory Is Tempered By A Greater Reality
Wednesday Night Live
The presidential campaign peaked on prime-time TV with Barack Obama's 30-minute, $5 million valentine to the American middle class, followed by John McCain on Larry King, free of charge, expressing pride and confidence in Sarah Palin, while admitting their maverickosity leads to an occasional difference of opinion. Later, Obama upstaged himself on the Daily Show by … [Read more...] about Wednesday Night Live
Election Prediction (2008)
I can't take the horse-race nature of the presidential election reporting much longer. Who's ahead now? We hear of poll after poll, polling averages and polls of "likely" voters. (Does an "unlikely" voter count? And who decides who is "likely"?) We are expected to pay attention to this as it crowds out more substantial reporting. Here in the final stretch - oh! - the race … [Read more...] about Election Prediction (2008)
Notes from a Disgruntled Hollywood Conservative
My partner told me about this post by Los Angeles Times blogger Patrick Goldstein, where he interviews Michael DeLuca, a Hollywood conservative (a rarity) who is leaning towards Obama in this year's race, but grudgingly. His words read like something I would say, heck it IS something I said. He liked McCain, but wonders what happened to the McCain of 2000: As much as I’ve … [Read more...] about Notes from a Disgruntled Hollywood Conservative
Our Better History: Thoughts on Obama’s Half-Hour Prime-Time TV Ad
I thought it was excellent: the focus on the economy, on the middle class, on his personal story, a story that is so profoundly American, on a strong foreign policy that focuses on the real threats and that restores America's standing in the world, on the themes of hope and change that have come to define Obama's run for the presidency from the very beginning. And, once … [Read more...] about Our Better History: Thoughts on Obama’s Half-Hour Prime-Time TV Ad
You Can Vote However You Like!
A joyful reminder from Atlanta's Ron Clark Academy, via Andrew Sullivan... … [Read more...] about You Can Vote However You Like!
Obama’s 30 Minute Infomercial: Smart Production Values And Smart Target Focus
There are those of us who are old enough to remember the days when politicians bought 30 minute blocs of time to do infomercials that ran on one or more networks. These political infomercials weren't always purchased by the main, top candidates -- and their production values often left lot to be desired. In 1964, then Pennsylvania Gov. William Scranton ran an extended … [Read more...] about Obama’s 30 Minute Infomercial: Smart Production Values And Smart Target Focus
Thoughts on the Obama Infomercial
First a reminder. I'm biased. I've been a supporter of Barack Obama since he ran for Senate in 2004. I am truly "in the tank" for Obama and have been all along. So this won't be an "objective" reaction to the infomercial. It will be the reaction of a supporter who is optimistic about next Tuesday but knows very well that this race is not over yet. So here goes. First, was it … [Read more...] about Thoughts on the Obama Infomercial
Eighteen Latin American Countries Prefer Obama: Poll – Observa, Uruguay
One of a flood of new international polls on which U.S. candidate people prefer, is one by Latinobarometro. According to the Chilean organization's Web site, this annual survey involves some 19,000 interviews in 18 Latin American countries, representing more than 400 million inhabitants. Covering the results of the survey, this article from Uruguay's Observa newspaper says … [Read more...] about Eighteen Latin American Countries Prefer Obama: Poll – Observa, Uruguay
Polls: Obama Still Has Stable Lead And Gaining In Battleground States
Most key polls still show Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama ahead with a fairly stable lead -- as he continues to gain ground in key battleground states. With a week to go until voting -- and hours before Obama airs a 30-minute infomercial on several networks that could either help him solidify support or backfire and give his opponents ammunition -- the … [Read more...] about Polls: Obama Still Has Stable Lead And Gaining In Battleground States
Obama’s Debt to the People
If elected, Barack Obama will be the first truly independent President of modern times without a large debt of gratitude to big business and financiers. For the nearly two grueling years of campaigning, he is carried aloft by millions of ordinary people and financed for the most part by contributions of less than $100. His debt is to the people. Obama has already made … [Read more...] about Obama’s Debt to the People
The Obama Infomercial: What to Expect
The NYT gets and shares an abbreviated sneak peek. … [Read more...] about The Obama Infomercial: What to Expect
Civil Rights Roundup: 10/29/08
Your daily dose of civil rights and related news The White House is asking its (now totally apolitical!) Justice Department to hamper 200,000 Ohio residents from voting. Black voters are really nervous about the integrity of this election. A Black Brazilian immigrant gets a lesson in racism upon arriving in America. Lawyers have finally secured access to a … [Read more...] about Civil Rights Roundup: 10/29/08
The Idea of Sarah
Danielle Crittenden, the wife of conservative writer, David Frum, is putting a lie to the belief among some conservatives that the only people against VP candidate Sarah Palin are elitist snobs who go to Ivy League Schools. But Ms. Crittenden is no such person. She never went to college, having gone straight into the family business of running a newspaper and becoming an … [Read more...] about The Idea of Sarah
Mental Health: An Interview with Rep. Patrick Kennedy
Our family and others have long believed that mental, neurological, and related ailments should be treated on par with physical/biological disorders. The Mental Health Parity Act of 1996 started the process by prohibiting health plans from offering lower annual/lifetime benefits for mental health than physical health. Unfortunately, as a result, many health plans complied … [Read more...] about Mental Health: An Interview with Rep. Patrick Kennedy
Change: Good Luck with That
Every campaign season brings promises of change. What are the chances, in an election cycle more based on these promises than any in recent memory, that the next President will actually change anything? I speak to well-informed friends and they harp on the nuances of the Parties’ positions. The news media frets over the absence of specifics. It is ludicrous to think that the … [Read more...] about Change: Good Luck with That
Around The Campaign 2008 Sphere
Seven days to Election Day. Here's our linkfest guide that whisks you to weblogs on the right, left and center, big and small which will be presented daily until after election day. TMV encourages you to bookmark these sites and return to them as part of your daily reading if you want a good sampling of Internet opinion. Making Ayers, Reverend Wright And Rezko A Major … [Read more...] about Around The Campaign 2008 Sphere