If You've Lost Jon Stewart

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- Jon Stewart has his show pulled off Apple TV. I forgot he had a show.

- We live in the crazy time

- UPenn says they don't want your money. Good. Hope they raise tuitions.

- I admit - I laughed

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

I'm still surprised that Donald Trump wigs never became a fad or an ironic fashion trend... Zaphod Beeblebrox for President 2024: A Name You Know... If you think about it - shoplifting food is both hunting and gathering... Fame is fleeting. Twenty-years ago most American college students' views on current affairs were shaped by Jon Stewart and The Daily Show. Today if you polled current college student's I'm guessing Jon Stewart's name recognition may be about 10%. Too bad the damage is already done... China claims that nobody from the Wuhan lab ever even caught the virus and Iran claims that there are no homosexuals in their entire country. Not sure which claim is more unbelievable... 

Flotsam and Jetsam

 Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

President Trump agreeing via Twitter to a 4-hour debate with Joe Biden to be moderated by Joe Rogan is a perfect example of what Scott Adams calls "free money." There was free money on the table and Trump took it. There's no down side for Trump to agree to the debate because he knows that Biden's team will never agree to it and by agreeing to it he looks good to a large portion of Joe Rogan's 190 million fans... Many Patriots fans wanted to show their support of Tom Brady for all he's done for New England over the years by betting on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Those fans will be paying their bookies today... Confession - I am 100% Irish but am much more likely to get drunk the first Sunday of NFL football than I am on Saint Patrick's Day. This year was no exception... Meanwhile Cam Newton led the New England Patriots to both a win and a cover. Few more games like that and you'll see fewer and fewer number 12 jerseys around Boston (sorry but that's the way sports works)... "Liberty is the parent of science and virtue, and a nation will be great in both in proportion as it is free." - Thomas Jefferson. This quote makes me think of how the political climate is actually stifling science today because scientists have to be careful to toe the PC line or get cancelled for their "science." That's not a healthy situation... All these years later and I still can't shake the feeling that Anthony Weiner was some sort of elaborate long-con Borat-like prank from the folks at The Daily Show all along. Weiner was Jon Stewart's roommate in college... 

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

The descent into our world of "fake news" really accelerated when The Daily Show with Jon Stewart became the defacto source of news for many young people. Snark became a replacement for facts...  This is beautiful to me (Trinity College library, Dublin)... This may sound strange but I'd really like to hear what Adele could do with a cover of Ted Nugent's Stranglehold... "Opportunity is missed by most because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work" - Thomas Edison... Interesting rundown of some of the discoveries of the past decade in archaeology. We know so little about our past but hats off to those who are piecing together the puzzle of humanity's history... You have to hand it to Trump's media people. I haven't seen anything from the Democrats that's even close to being this good at messaging... If you're looking for a family movie I recommend the vastly underrated Kubo and the Two Strings. Its a couple of years old and came and went with little fanfare but it has a 97% critics rating and an 86% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes...

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- I like that West Virginia is paired with New Zealand. That just seems to fit in my mind.

- Very thoughtful interview of Jon Stewart on Trump, the election, fake news, etc. Well worth the read.

- With this "tease" - Joe Biden just raised his speaking fees 100%

- The best recommendation General Mattis can get as Secretary of Defense in my opinion.

- So only the Panthers and Raiders have spent less than the Patriots these past 4 years?

- The science is settled

Donald Trump

I find I enjoy politics more these days if I imagine Donald Trump as Count Chocula and Joe Biden as Frankenberry. To follow through on the analogy - I think it would be cool if instead of Trump's Apprentice program there was instead The Next Renfeld where people competed to be Donald "Count Chocula" Trump's new crazy, bug-eating assistant.

Is it me or is it strange that Donald Trump not only has his own IMDB page but it has lots of credits. He's been on things as varied as The Jeffersons, Spin City and Zoolander where he's credited as an actor (some would argue that his running for President as a Republican should be credited as an actor's role as well). Plus there's 189 things where IMDB credits Trump as appearing as himself. This includes multiple WestleMania and WWF Raw appearances starting back in 2004 - showing Jon Stewart to be a Johnny Come Lately to the world of wrestling compared to the Donald.

Jon Stewart

Interesting couple of articles today on liberal icon Jon Stewart.

One suggests he's a bullying racist.

One comes right out and says he's anti-union.

I wonder how many stories like this we will see once Jon Stewart is fianlly gone from The Daily Show.

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- Why do people buy into mythology of the Confederacy? Because our understanding of history is wrong!

- Dangerous animals. Holy crap - hippos are killers!

- Average cost of beer in cities around the world.

- I agree that George Bush should do the Daily Show before Jon Stewart departs. I think people would be surprised by how well Bush presents himself. Watch the Rumsfeld episode to see how Rummy owned the room because he was right and had the facts. Bush would do the same.

- Heh Heh

Delta Drops Daily Show

I read this about Delta dropping out from advertising on The Daily Show because of an offensive "vagina manger" skit.

The skit may have been over the line and I do agree that if they had tried to place an image of Muhammad in place of the manger - then it would have been censored - but I think the reason Delta decided to stop advertising on the show is more simple. The target audience of The Daily Show is not really the target audience for Delta. How many college students or slackers buy airline tickets? Not many. This viewpoint also explains why Kellogg's isn't dropping their advertising over the "vagina manger". What percentage of The Daily Show's audience buy boxes of cereal? Pretty much all of them.

I'm guessing that The Daily Show isn't too worked up abut losing Delta Airlines - Ramen Noodles has probably been waiting in line for some time.

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting and thought I'd share.

- The Cars are releasing a "new" CD. Here's the first single Sad Song. I guess I'm torn about this. I like The Cars but Benjamin Orr is dead.

- Jon Stewart on the pending Government shutdown

- Usually not a fan of April's Fools jokes but this was pretty damn funny

- Inside David Foster Wallace’s Private Self-Help Library

- Who was Walter Reed, and what did he do to get an Army Medical Center named for him?

- “The Best and the Brightest” looks like a pretty funny film

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting and thought I'd share.

- Jon Stewart: Not a fan of President Obama’s not war speech. It seems to me that the speech on Libya can simply be summarized as "Obama vult" (Obama wills it!)

- I can't believe this is a real movie. Strangely mesmerizing.

- PBS's Frontline piece on the NCAA. First Tunisia, then Egypt, now Libya and the NCAA is next! Freedom is on the march!

- Excellent news - FX picks up Justified for third season

- Autistic boy, 12, with higher IQ than Einstein develops his own theory of relativity

Morning Links

Some thinks I found interesting and wanted to share.

- The man who created SpaghettiO's and Chunky Soup has passed away

- Lane Kiffin going to USC as compared to the Trojan War

- Awesome card trick using the entire deck of cards

- Jon Stewart's fantastic speech toasting Bruce Springsteen at the Kennedy Center Honors

- Top 10 Poker Hands of the Decade