Monthly Archive for October, 2009

Page 6 of 7

Tim Russert is Still Dead; Newseum Prepares his Chapel

Published on October 8, 2009 in Baby Boomer. 0 Comments Tags: luke russert, meet the press, nbc, newseum, tim russert.

An undated photo provided by the Newseum shows Tim Russert in his office at NBC News in Washington. Russert's office will be reassembled in an exhibit opening next month at the Newseum in Washington and will be on view through 2010. The longtime "Meet the Press" moderator died June 13, 2008 of a heart attack at work.

Tim Russert is still dead.

Tim Russert, the guy from NBC’s Meet the Press. Tim Russert, whose death launched the skyrocketing career of his son Luke Russert and other famous inside-the-beltway kids. Tim Russert who is being canonized by newsers in preparation for his ascension to sit a the right hand of Huntley-Brinkley.

Here’s what I said when he died:

Hyperbole. Over and over and over. Why did Russert have to die at the beginning of the weekend when news is slow? Can we be far from St. Tim of Buffalo? Most bigwigs have settled into a “he was a great journalist” reaction…

Tim Russert has been dead for 18 months. Yet the beltway media dopes just can’t dump enough accolades on his rotting flesh.

“And here children, you see the workspace of a media giant, St. Tim of Buffalo, aka Tim Russert whose life and work brought immense value to the American way of life and who shall be remembered for ever and ever as one of the great pioneers of television journalism talk shows.”

Me to FTC: “Drop Dead”; FTC: Thud

Published on October 8, 2009 in Baby Boomer. 0 Comments

I win.
Because of my rebelliousness, the FTC has admitted they will not fine bloggers $11,000 or ever $11 for not disclosing all the freebies that flow into their households.

Richard Cleland: [FTC Consumer dude] “That $11,000 fine is not true. Worst-case scenario, someone receives a warning, refuses to comply, followed by a serious product defect; we would institute a proceeding with a cease-and-desist order and mandate compliance with the law. … There’s no monetary penalty,… even in the worst case. Our approach is going to be educational, particularly with bloggers. We’re focusing on the advertisers: What kind of education are you providing them, are you monitoring the bloggers and whether what they’re saying is true?”

(emphasis mine, if the FTC decides to regulate style too)

Advertisers have to monitor what I say is true?

One door closes and a drawbridge descends.

Memo to advertisers: same deal as before, send me stuff. Send me the right stuff and enough of it and I will lie through my teeth about the value your product has to mankind. (Unlike some other bloggers.)

Memo to Macanudo: cigars arrived in great shape. Undoubtedly the finest cigars in the world. Worthy of elevation to the next best think to chocolate you could put on your lips. Worthy of Michael Jordan being allowed to smoke them on any municipal golf course in America.

My doorstep awaits the arrival of other freebies and letters from the FTC will light my Macanudo.

WordPress Plugins Added and Recommended

Published on October 7, 2009 in Baby Boomer. 8 Comments Tags: After The Deadline, Facebook Connector, RSS.

I now have 33 active WordPress Plugins. Thirty friggin’ three. I remember when Kirk had to hold my hand to install a plugin. Back in the WordPress 2.1 days. Now WordPress has made it easy and painless.

Bring it. I have an audio plugin, and comment plugin (courtesy of Kirk), that make the site better. Plus a crapload of other plugins that are supposed to make the site get more traffic, be more social, generate revenue, and be more stable.

In addition to the couple above, here are a couple more that I think add value.

After The Deadline is a contextual spelling, style, and grammar check plugin for WordPress. Click on the spell check icon in the “visual” post box and After the Deadline suggests better stuff.
Facebook Connector As much as I hate it, Facebook is the preferred way to “build a community” blech, hate to write that cliche. This plugin lets Facebookers login using their FB account, uses their FB profile photo, etc.

Facebook provides the most loyal visitors, with 20% of those that originate from the social network in turn visiting the site they landed upon four or more times in a week.

Now, where is my RSS delay switch? Despite all the spell checks, reading and re-reading of drafts and previews, and After The Deadline, I still spot an error of some type when the RSS feed arrives. Hate that.

Bloggers Freaking Out Over FTC Rule for Reporting Freebies

Published on October 6, 2009 in Baby Boomer. 3 Comments Tags: aprons, brats, ftc, johnsonville, macanudo, payola.

The FTC made an announcement.

I have an announcement.

I will accept freebies and write glowing reviews about them and not disclose nothin’. Nada. Bupkis.

Blogger-payola accepted here.

Cash is also accepted via PayPal.

Screw the gummit.

Here’s what the FTC has to say, via ReadWriteWeb…

According to new guidance from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), bloggers who fail to disclose that they have received freebies when they write about a product can now be fined up to $11,000 per post. The new FTC Guide Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising argues that any post of a blogger who receives “cash or in-kind payment to review a product” should be considered an endorsement. Because these posts are now officially considered endorsements, bloggers who receive freebies must now disclose this fact on their site.

I’m a rebel. A I’ll take my chances. This statement of new policy is me to throwing tea in the harbor.

Keep sending me Macanudos, books, M&M’s, Johnsonville Brats and Aprons, and I will gladly use your product and write glowingly about it. Or I will write nothing at all, like Mother told me.

The FTC can suck my brat and kiss my Macanudo. What I do in the privacy of my home and what I pay for it isn’t up to them.

As a matter of fact, PR firms need to get on the stick and get this stuff in the hands of bloggers like me pronto. I’m sure they are sitting on piles of freebie stuff and now are just freaking out like the biggie bloggers.

What about ethics? Ptooey, I spit on the shoes of ethics. If you want ethics, read this blog. If you want consumer advice, read this blog. If you want me to have tons of free stuff, read my blog.

FTC? Aren’t they the ones that have “red flags” to protect consumers from phone fraudsters, mail order scams, sweepstakes rip-offs, credit counseling crooks, and their ilk?

Yeah, I’ll take my chances. SEND FREEBIES TODAY!

I’m cranking up the positive vibes already.

Impressed with my challenge to gummit authority? Don’t be… get this:

FTC Assistant Director of Advertising Practices Richard Cleland admitted to CNN that there will be no group actually enforcing the guidelines. There is also no standardization regarding how the disclosure should appear other than that it should be clearly visible.

Which fits in perfectly with this blog: nobody actively in charge, no standardization and clearly invisible.

Geeky Animated Gif Monday

Published on October 5, 2009 in Baby Boomer. 0 Comments

Last flower of fall… die. die. die.