November 11, 2012

UASREC Civilian, Madison Avenue Division, 1977 -1987

Worked in creative group at ad agency that did the Army's BE ALL YOU CAN BE campaign. Promoted from secretary to copywriter in 1982. Wrote print ads, a TV spot, and radio commercials (one of which won an award). Visited Forts Lewis and Benning, but, oddly, not the Army's recruitment headquarters (USAREC) Ft. Sheridan.

Of course, we had saner commanders-in-chief back then.


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November 8, 2012

Hurricane Sandy: My Final Fury

When I "commuted" from my motel near Newark Airport to my local polling place, I learned that the neighborhood had gotten its lights back on the night before. No Internet though, so there was no point in coming home until yesterday.

This morning, I got up at 8AM, saw that the time on my cable box still read 12:00, and self-piteously went back to bed. When I got up again, the time read 12:43, and it really WAS 12:43 -- my Internet and cable were back! So I guess my chapter of the Hurricane Sandy saga is officially over, and it's time for gratitude to all who helped me cope.

With only a radio to rely on, I bounced between Seton Hall U. WSOU (music), WFAN/ESPN (sports coverage and derision at Mayor Bloomberg's not cancelling the NYC Marathon), and NJ 101.5 (local info and broadcasting the Red Cross benefit NBC-TV did). And thanks to DU and the motel's Wifi, I didn't have to rely on major network coverage (though I did enjoy glimpsing at all the sad faces on Fox). All I had to do keep refreshing the Latest Threads link on my cellphone!

Lessons learned? I have a radio, and I've always kept a supply of batteries, lights, candles, and matches, so I was prepared in that sense. Though I didn't lose gas, I also have some chafing dish burners so I can cook over tin cans supporting an oven rack. And since Hurricane Irene, I've followed a DUer's advice to keep a gallon jug of water in the freezer, which kept my food cold for three extra days. If there's anything I regret, it's not having a personal hotspot for my cell phone -- I couldn't make calls until Saturday.

But for thousands of others, Hurricane Sandy won't be over for a very long time. There's still much to be done, and I hope you won't forget them just because there will be less media coverage. Join me in doing whatever you can to help.

Well, until the next perfect storm...

http://www.redcross.org/charitable-donations
https://civ.moveon.org/donatec4/sand...76-gzCw9ux&t=1


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October 18, 2012

The media isn't talking about it, but that doesn't meant that WE can't

The other day, somebody suggested that the capture of bin Laden has been Obama's silent ace in the hole. Though it hasn't been a front-row feature of the campaign, it gives him a huge edge in terms of pure public sentiment. I think Obama had a similar advantage over Hillary: It wasn't her fault, of course, but I believe that subconsciously, a lot of voters were turned off by the prospect of a Bush-Clinton-Bush-Clinton-(Jeb?) Bush progression.

In the same vein, I believe that though Seamus and the tax returns are "ancient history" as far as the MSM is concerned, those two insights into Mitt are still burning brightly in the psyches of the voters (if only because his subsequent behavior has reinforced them). And for Mitt to suggest that harping on them are a waste of time when it's "issues" that should be discussed, well, the quality of one's personal character is very much a political issue. Just ask Bush. And Clinton. And Bush. And Clinton. And (Jeb) Bush.



http://www.democraticunderground.com/1120150


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September 7, 2012

The wire was temporary -- until they could perform a surgical implant

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September 6, 2012

In 2008, I knew that Obama would win when McCain picked Palin

because Palin's youth and inexperience took away McCain's strongest and most legitimate weapon against Obama -- OBAMA'S youth and inexperience!

In a similiar vein, I believe this election is over as long as rMoney refuses to show more income tax returns, because it's taken away HIS strongest and most legitimate weapon against Obama -- equal footing with independent voters. It's not equal anymore:


Of course, criticizing Obama for not having enough business experience while his running mate has even less doesn't help, either.


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September 4, 2012

Biblical Styles of the 2012 Presidential Candidates

http://vimeo.com/48781343

Divine inspiration provided by DUer Scuba.


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September 1, 2012

The kerfuffle over Clint Eastwood's RNC performance

has compelled me to return to this conversation, because I mentioned that social media would give us "you peoples" even more skin in the political game.

Barely before Clint was finished, Twitter was set ablaze by #insertchair, #invisibleobama, #clinteastwooding. Nobody sat around waiting for the MSM or the network-connected blogosohere to instruct them on how they ought to react -- they reacted with thousands of tweets, with the more skilled among them linking to quickly-constructed cartoons:






in response, the Obama camp tweeted:

Twitter says it was the most popular retweet during the RNC convention, and Obama's most popular retweet next to the one he sent out supporting same-sex marriage. Yet I'm supposed to believe the MSM'S insistence that it's still a dead heat right now.


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August 30, 2012

2012 Republican Convention, Democratic (Underground) Backdrops

Thanks to EarlG's GOP Convention Backdrop "Photoshop Fun" thread!

vimeo.com/48605699


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August 27, 2012

Well, if the RNC isn't going to present Mitt's "most memorable Olympic moments"

Perhaps we should take a crack at it:

[center][/center]

Despite a vast increase in Federal funding, Romney's (2002) Olympics ended in a DEFICIT

Romney commissioned official (2002) Olympic pin in his image and likeness

Romney Adviser's 'Anglo-Saxon' Comment 'Stunningly Offensive,' Obama Side Says

Mitt Romney's Olympics blunder stuns No 10 and hands gift to Obama

London mayor mocks Romney at Olympic rally

Don't talk about Ann Romney's fancy Olympic horse. Don't even THINK about it.

Carl Lewis on Mitt Romney: 'some Americans shouldn't leave the country'

Olympic Minister Laughs When Asked If Romney Will Carry The Torch

Ann Romney's horse fails to win dressage but avoids offending British

Click on the pic for more toons:




You're welcome, Mitt!


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August 26, 2012

DING DING DING! BlueStreak, you're our grand prize winner!

Conventional wisdom is that all but 8% have their minds firmly made up. I think conventional wisdom may be wrong. The logic the seasoned watchers use is simply that in "normal election cycles" (if there is such a thing anymore)...I think that could be very wrong this year...

I've always said that the polls should be taken with a pillar of salt. But since 2005, I've also said that "conventional" election watchers have been loath to acknowledge that there's new skin in the game: the Internet has given the voters themselves the power to shake their dependence on the MSM and define their own roles within the election cycle:

2005: The MSM has been perfectly happy to go along with Bush's fake news videos, scripted press conferences, prepackaged talking points, and payoffs. More important, they were also able to dismiss the Will Pitts, Greg Palasts, Daily Kozes, and Mike Malloys as part of a luntatic fringe who commanded neither credibility nor respect. But then the Gannongate swung open!

To use a now archaic journalism term, the MSM got scooped, caught completely flat-footed missing a story that anyone over the age of twelve with an Internet connection could have put together. Even worse for them, the authors of Gannongate did what journalists are SUPPOSED to do -- TELL THE TRUTH completely, accurately, comprehensively, and objectively. The MSM's response was to accuse bloggers of working in basements in their pajamas and looking at the world "through a pinhole"...


2007 (by DU-er PlaidAdder): In a recent address to NYU journalism students, NBC’s Brian Williams bemoaned the fact that his hard-fought climb to the top of his field is now being undermined by "people who have an opinion, a modem, and a bathrobe...(N)ow I'm up against a guy named Vinny...who hasn't left (his) efficiency apartment in two years...” What really gets Brian’s goat is the fact that Vinny’s ever-widening audience consists of...intelligent, self-motivated people who have a wacky penchant for wanting the facts...

Brian just doesn’t get it. Day after day, he serves his pre-digested, warmed-over, corporate-endorsed, nutrition-free pablum, and he wonders why the world is beating a path to Vinny’s Place, where the news is served pipin’ hot by a guy who probably doesn’t even have a personal manicurist. Maybe Brian should use his alleged journalistic prowess to do an in-depth report on why Vinny’s rise to the top was so inevitable...


2008: (The MSM has) got two problems: McCain's flagrant disrespect for them, and the blogosphere... The...GOP couldn't care less if the MSM doesn't like getting only 90-second peeks at McCain's medical records...But the MSM also knows that the less they fight back, the less credible they become, and the more their viewers will turn to--WAIT FOR IT!!!--the blogosphere for information that has at least a nodding acquaintance with reality and truth...


2009: ...Fortunately, we DIDN'T have to judge the election by who "won" the daily news cycles: thanks to the blogosphere providing us with a "public option" of sorts, the MSM couldn't "push" McCain "ahead" the way they could have a few short years ago. If we'd had to depend entirely on the MSM news cycles, a LOT fewer of us would have learned that the Clintons also had ties to Wright and Rezko, that there were plenty of controversial clergypeople in the McCain/Palin camp, and that Joe the Plumber WASN'T a plumber...

And since the last presidential election, we "little people" (including the "vinnies" ) have been given even more skin in the game via increased social media capabilities, and pollsters have only recently come up with a way to reach people on their cell phones!


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