Tag: news media

I saw the news today, oh boy.

I made the mistake of watching my local noontime newscast. Here were the items covered before breaking for weather:

  • Yesterday’s school shooting!!! Complete with interview of distraught parents!!!
  • Benghazi!!! No, nothing new to report. Just Benghazi!!!
  • Firefighter pointing out what he thought was a deceased victim before the fire truck ran over her…. last year!!! New footage!!!
  • Identification of a snowboarder who unfortunately died on Mount Charleston (yesterday)
  • Kids set fire in vacant house (yesterday).
  • Late night shooting in North Las Vegas.
  • Sentencing delayed for the alleged pimp (who allegedly shot another pimp, causing him to crash into a taxi and burst into flames) on [unrelated] sexual assault charges. This is one of those cases that would make a better CSI script than the stuff they film sometimes.

Apparently, it is not newsworthy that:

  • Congress is working on an important budget bill (and congrats to the feds for having a $53,000,000,000 surplus in December!).
  • Germany may or may not be trying to negotiate a “no-spy” treaty with the United States.
  • 75 leading economists think our minimum wage workers deserve a raise.
  • Some men in Congress want to make women pay out of pocket for abortions regardless of whether they are medically necessary.
  • Anything whatsoever is going on about the NSA, the promised list of upcoming “reforms,” and the court cases involved.
  • There are stalled bills to restore food stamps and extended unemployment benefits.

I could go on this way for a while, but there’s no point. Apparently I’ve been watching News Lite: 25% less relevance. I wonder how it compares to original News as far as facts.

In Closing: antibacterial soap, West Virginia chemical, and just maybe if either of the political parties actually tried representing We The People, there wouldn’t be a record level of “independents“.

Music Monday: In “honor” of the Pope

It seems like everybody has at some point today said “I didn’t know the Pope could quit!” A lot of us remember John Paul II spending a lot of years being rather frail, so I am forced to wonder about Benedict XVI’s “health” issues.

Tim Minchin is hilariously funny, highly intelligent, a ridiculously good musician, and sometimes highly offensive. Not Safe For Work, Not Recommended For Catholics:

 

In Closing: this can’t be good; mood music for tortoises; how dare a government agency work in favor of the people; how to really help the middle class; McCain is a realist sometimes; college; on the post office; Reuters seems to misunderstand the term “liberal”.

 

Music Monday: Musicology and Modern Popular Music

Free term theme idea: Recurring Thematic Material in the Collected Works of Flo Rida.

If one were to listen to his entire discography, how many songs would seem to reference oral sex?

Regrettably, there doesn’t seem to be an official music video I could embed.

In Closing: a bounty I hope gets paid; waaah, the media isn’t telling why it might be a good idea to shoot 14 year old girls in the head for wanting an education (damn liberal media!); maps; quiet victory; this could be a bumpy election; confession; she’d be a Saint even without the Pope’s say-so; who needs effective antibiotics anyway?; science literacy; duh; and just say no.

Music Monday: Inspiration, Part 2

Last week I said I had two inspiring videos. This is the other one.


 

It took guts to make this video. But no, don’t go off the antibiotics until the whole run is done, ever, ok?

In Closing: gee I wonder why; some negatives??; this could be bad; “How dare researchers publish research that isn’t about what we think it should be about!”; War on Drugs is still a fail; and unemployment.

 

Facebook

Facebook is a social media site that I don’t use. At all. Ever. You see a Bridget Magnus over there? It’s not me. Probably that lady from Vancouver.

Ok, disclosure out of the way.

So, it seems that their stock is at a record low. And it’s expected to dump more altitude in a couple of weeks when employee stock can start to trade.

Is it really relevant to talk about a stock being at an all time record low when it hasn’t even traded for 6 months yet?? Seriously?

If you want a real Facebook story, how about the fact that 80% of ad clicks might be bogus? That’s where Facebook makes it’s money; is it possible that their profits are padded by bot-generated activity? Which of course begs another question: who ever clicked on those ads? I had about 3 hours where I thought it might be a good idea to advertise over there, but then I came to my senses.

As for myself, I’m not buying their ads, not buying their stock, and not taking their free membership either.

In Closing: life lessons; Jill explains why the Post Office is really in trouble; enough with biometric security already (hello!); how far will this scandal reach?; sugar; Orwelling; nope, no such thing as global climate change (BTW it’s raining in Vegas today).

Music Monday: A Better Movie than I Expected

Admittedly, I liked seeking the “Vegas of 1964” shots. The race sequence is remarkable because I know those landmarks: they really did start downtown, head south to cross Hoover Dam, somehow or another end up north of town on Mt. Charleston, and then cruised back down Rancho back to downtown. By the way, you’ll notice I said downtown and not The Strip? Those are two different places.

In Closing: They recommend the status quo; crime fighting fail; only CNN thinks it means anything; compare and contrast; Oh really!; and the best way to have some Viva Las Vegas? Free.

Shorties: The Hands of Fate

The Things One Finds: Roman beads in ancient Japanese burial mound.

Well, we all gotta go sometime: Ok, sure, we have more heart disease and cancer. We also have a whole lot less tuberculosis, flu, gastrointestinal infections, and diphtheria.

Because the real purpose is to make Chertoff a nice chunk of change: Not a single terrorist has been arrested through the use of whole body scanners.

It’s a good start: Two slimeballs convicted, one for molesting kids and one for standing by and doing nothing about it.

Oh really, USA Today??: “Supreme Court’s health care decision could affect millions”? Really? You don’t think that’s a given? By the way, it’s not a health care decision. It’s a health insurance decision and don’t ever forget it.

This is what rock bottom looks like: Former high school principal “went on a drug- or alcohol-induced rampage on Friday, stabbing several people — killing two — before driving his car into a crowded porch and brutally attacking a couple at a motel they ran. ‘You’ll be very proud of me, I just killed 10 drug dealers,’ Giancola told his mother afterward….”

Jill’s Got a Point: If already-low taxes and record profits aren’t enough to make “job creators” actually create jobs, what is?

Hillary’s at it again: saying radical stuff like how women need to be able to decide for themselves whether to have children. Hey Hillary, be sure to keep that message going once you get back to the States, mmkay?

How to Prevent the SWAT Team Bashing Your Door Down at 3 AM: boils down to “don’t be poor.” Because middle class and wealthy people never ever run drug operations or anything like that. Never. And the low level poor people never work for higher-ups who have money and don’t live in “the hood”. Couldn’t possibly happen!

Why That Burger Doesn’t Look Like the Picture: Truth be told, it’s a pretty good reason.

More Comedy Gold from USA Today: Are they running a newspaper or what? Apparently there are some Baby Boomers who have money to blow on $100,000 classic car restorations. Seriously? Because most of the Boomers I know are worried about whether they can afford retirement. Don’t get me wrong, I love to look at old cars and I have a soft spot for classic VWs. Even so, I can’t justify spending that kind of money on any car. I keep thinking “That could buy 3 nice sedans. Or maybe a sedan, a pickup truck, and a convertible.”

Another reason to take the bus: License plate scanners are on the rise, telling authorities (and anybody who cares to subpoena the records) everywhere your car has been for the last 2-5 years. Expect this data to end up in a criminal or divorce court near you.

And last: Here’s what 100 grams of protein looks like.

Things really are tough all over

Maybe you saw the report showing that the net worth of the average American family is down almost 40%. It’s down to the levels we had during the Original Bush Administration (oh, and Happy 88th Birthday to him).

Now, of course that’s partly because home prices are down to where they were a decade ago. But it’s also because unemployment is still over 8%. And even for those who are employed, last year inflation adjusted income is roughly what it was in 1968. And we’ve still got discouraged workers and the underemployed.

The nicest thing I can say is that at least household debt is going down. Of course, it’s going down for the bad reasons —  like ditching the house that will never be worth what it sold for 5 years ago.

It is still the economy, “stupid.”

In Closing: how is this different than the Bush Administration, exactly?; has anything really changed about the Vatican since Alexander VI?; at least violent crime is down; the impossible dream; now I have really no reason to watch mainstream news unless it’s local; the disappearing phone booth; and illiteracy.

My Boss Had Some Things to Say about Fear

He gives us a video update every week at our office meeting. I thought this one was more general interest, not really about real estate this week.

One thing though: why was he smiling about the idea of a knife to one’s throat?

In closing: movie; Zoinks, a ghost ship!; REAL done; don’t let them make it about sluts; moderate levels of chocolate and exercise work well together; the simple version of why mandatory health insurance isn’t the answer; I’ve been wondering the same thing; going in my blogroll; and exercise myths.

An Update: Ok, he wasn’t a good man. He probably would have robbed the place if nobody were home to stop him. Still, I don’t know of any court that sentences someone to death for sneaking into a back yard.

A Few Words about “Nice, Safe Neighborhoods”

It isn’t very often that I have something to say worth posting to both my personal and professional websites. This is one of those posts.

I am often asked by my relocating clients about “nice, safe neighborhoods.” This is honestly a trick question that I can’t really answer. I can point you to Metro‘s or Trulia‘s Crime Map, I can tell you what I like about various areas, I can tell you about historical resale trends. What I can’t and won’t do is say “Oh yes, that’s a great neighborhood and you shouldn’t have any problems there.” Not going to happen.

I can’t even say that gated communities are “safe.” A lot of people think it’s a “security gate,” but it’s only an “access gate” and it will only keep out people who want to be kept out. And what if the guy who wants to hurt you already belongs within the gates?

If you ask 10 random Las Vegans about desirable neighborhoods, at least 8 will mention Summerlin. Granted, one or two might use it in a sentence like “Well, a lot of people like Summerlin, but….” Of course “but” can lead many directions: but it’s kind of expensive, but the HOAs can be so picky, but it’s so far away from the Strip. I do think, however, that more than one of our imagined random people could be persuaded to say the area is “safe.”

Sadly, bad things happen in “nice, safe neighborhoods” too. Yesterday, a 19 year old was shot and killed in a Summerlin backyard. It’s a little unclear yet whether he was really trying to break in or was just cutting through the yard, or even whether he tried to get away after the first shot was fired.

Nobody really wants to live in a bad neighborhood. However, living in a “good” neighborhood is no magic spell preventing crime or tragedy.

In Closing: Mr. Rogers; Larry Niven on the Universe; KABOOM!; you knew the media did this, right?; interesting; this messed up traffic; predatory; only works because we’re afraid to say no; insane; internet is 4.7% of our economy; consensus.