Friday, October 23, 2009

Welcome Mr Smith

When someone starts a sentence with "My mother" I think "Oh boy, here it comes . . . ". It seems our mothers have that special talent for bringing loaded baggage and emotional reaction to most conversations. And so I start with . . .

My mother loves Fox. It is her primary, overwhelming majority, source of "news". From it she comes away with "factual knowledge" which results in her asking questions such as:
"Did you know Obama isn't an American?", "Did you know that Obama is trying to get Death Panels included in his new health policy?", "Do you know that Obama hates Jews." It is impossible to present her with information that is counter to what she saw on Fox. Uggg.

My wife says there is too much stupid to fight in this world. From my point of view Fox is doing all they can to spread stupidity and nurture it with as much bull poop as they can. With that I've add Mr. Ben Smith's blog link to 159. I like his non-BS way. Just the facts. I also like factcheck.org (as you can tell by the link-outs).

Fox News is most definitely not a source for truthful facts. Don't take my word for it. Read what they say about themselves . . . .

Fox CEO Roger Ailes described Fox News’ fight against the Obama administration as "the Alamo."

Fox's senior vice president for news, Bill Shine, said the network was "the voice of the opposition."

Fox News host Glenn Beck predicted last week that he will soon "take the administration down."

My mother has been duped. She thinks "Fox News" is as credible as CNN, MSNBC, or the networks. She, and other Fox viewers, are being fed a steady stream of bull poop. Based on the mis-information they are given they think / say stupid things.

I wonder why the legitimate news sources don't take Fox to court and sue to remove "News" from their logo / tagline. Fox is damaging the creditability of what "news" is. It's like someone selling woodshavings flavored with peanut oil and calling it peanut butter. It would damage the public perception of all peanut butter. Can bet other peanut butter makers would be put up a royal stink to have it removed from sale!

I wish my mother had truthful factual information.

I wish I could block Fox from broadcasting their garbage into her home.

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

They Said

So the other day my daughter and I were riding in the car. Evidently a look crossed over my face and she asked what was wrong. The question kinda surprised me and I had to pull myself out of that semi-conscious mode I sometimes get in when driving. I had been listening (somewhat) to the local news station WBBM NewsRadio 78 and there was some story about a politician whining about the Health Care proposal floating around DC and that it would bankrupt Medicare. Besides being full of bull puckie the politician didn't offer an alternative solution - just whined about what was proposed.

So I turned to my daughter and told her there are two types of people in this world. The first points to a house that is on fire and tells everyone "the house is on fire". They mistake their talking as having done their job. The second type of person is the one that grabs a hose, makes a call to 911, helps people get out of the house. I told her to be the person who acts rather than talks.

I wish our "leaders" in DC and throughout the country would do more and talk less.

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Worth repeating

I attended AD:Tech Chicago today. The keynote was given by Rishad Tobaccowla. He's the CEO, Denuo. If he publishes a book I'll buy it.

Memorable quotes and thoughts as a result of listening to him . . .
. . . clients spend 50% of their time demanding things for which they have budgeted 10% of their spend

. . . marketing is understanding and meeting customer requirements. (think customer service - external & internal)

. . . social media works for those that have an advantage / point of distinction over competitors

. . . detractors are 4x - 8x more likely to speak out than advocates;
(my take on this: don't let the naysayers get you down;)

. . . marketing is king; know your unique niche / point of distinction and focus on that
> it's not enough to advertise - anyone can look up your claims and determine if true or not

. . . the future does not fit in the containers of the past . . .
> must have vision and willingness to bet bruised to get beyond today

. . without agility your company is dead; must act in real time . . .
> to meet and plan and put on a calendar 6 months from now doesn't work in real time media / client expectations

. . . only the schizophrenic will survive; must have multiple models in place so can transition and grow

. . . to understand someones behavior then you must understand their incentive

Wednesday, January 7, 2009

What You Can Accomplish in Just 8 Years

Truth to be told I'm not a fan of Former President Bush (gosh I like the way that looks in print!). Today I found a link that compares where we (the USA) is today as compared to 8 years ago.

You can read it for yourself at:

Or you can read it here:

From NBC's Mark Murray
With President Bush set to leave the White House less than two weeks from now, here's a "Then and Now" to show what the United States looked like when Bush was entering office and what it looks like now as he's leaving. The "Then" is the best-available figure as Bush was taking office in 2001. The "Now" is the most recent figure.

UNEMPLOYMENT RATE
Then: 4.2% (Bureau of Labor Statistics, January 2001)
Now: 6.7% (Bureau of Labor Statistics, November 2008)

DOW JONES INDUSTRIAL AVERAGE
Then: 10,587 (close of Friday, Jan. 19, 2001)
Now: 9,015 (close of Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2009)

BUSH FAVORABILITY RATING
Then: 50% (1/01 NBC/WSJ poll)
Now: 31% (12/08 NBC/WSJ poll)

CHENEY FAVORABILITY RATING
Then: 49% (1/01 NBC/WSJ poll)
Now: 21% (12/08 NBC/WSJ poll)

CONGRESS APPROVAL RATING
Then: 48% (1/01 NBC/WSJ poll)
Now: 21% (12/08 NBC/WSJ poll)

SATISFIED WITH THE NATION'S DIRECTION
Then: 45% (1/01 NBC/WSJ poll)
Now: 26% (12/08 NBC/WSJ poll)

CONSUMER CONFIDENCE (1985=100)
Then: 115.7 (Conference Board, January 2001)
Now: 38.0, which is an all-time low (Conference Board, December 2008)

FAMILIES LIVING IN POVERTY
Then: 6.4 million (Census numbers for 2000)
Now: 7.6 million (Census numbers for 2007 -- most recent numbers available)

AMERICANS WITHOUT HEALTH INSURANCE
Then: 39.8 million (Census numbers for 2000)
Now: 45.7 million (Census numbers for 2007 -- most recent available)