950 to go...

Nothing would make me happier than to see the whole organization fold like a cheap lawn chair!!!

Gazette.com:

Because of a weak economy and cash-strapped donors, Focus on the Family said it is eliminating 202 jobs, the deepest cuts in the 32-year history of the Colorado Springs-based Christian nonprofit. The ministry laid off 149 workers, and cut another 53 vacant positions.

The cuts announced Monday slash Focus' local workforce by nearly 18 percent - from about 1,150 to 950. Twenty percent of the cuts are in management.

The layoffs come just weeks after Focus announced it was outsourcing 46 jobs from its distribution department. Focus also laid off 30 workers and reassigned 15 more in September 2007.

The Jimi Hendrix Experience - R.I.P.

Sad for the music world.  They're all dead - but their legacy will live on forever!!!

• Jimi Hendrix - guitar, lead vocals (also occasional bass, keyboards, drums, harpsichord, and recorder(once))
• Noel Redding - bass, backing vocals (also occasional lead vocals, 8 string bass, and rhythm guitar)
• Mitch Mitchell - drums, percussion, backing vocals (also occasional lead vocals, and glockenspiel)

 

 

Hat Tipped to Chuck Lorre

Great episode of Two and a Half Men tonight...  I have trouble sleeping in beds that aren't my own, too... 

Vanity card #228

CHUCK LORRE PRODUCTIONS, #228

We were recently slammed by something called the Parents Television Council. Rather than protest, I wrote a vanity card thanking them for the plug and sent them a box of fancy cupcakes. They promptly responded with a cute thank you letter suggesting that I might've poisoned the cupcakes. The letter went on to explain how they planned to employ one of their young interns as a food taster. If he did not die from eating one of my cupcakes, the rest of the PTC staff would happily dig in. If he did die, they would happily hire an attorney, sue me and become wealthy. Cute, right? But then I got to thinking, this is an organization that exists solely to protect the youth of America from entertainment they find objectionable. And yet their immediate response to a box of cupcakes - albeit in joke form - was to sacrifice a young member of their team. Say what you will about the comic content on Two and a Half Men, when suspicious food arrives at our offices we would never dream of asking a young intern to test it. We'd ask an old writer. And only because the body of an aging comedy writer is capable of ingesting poison and turning it into TV.

File under: Huh?!?!?

A good analogy for the quote below (via Power Line) would be "Edward R. Murrow should conduct his interviews as Groucho Marx does on "You Bet Your Life?":

Obama thinks he is a good talker, but he is often undisciplined when he speaks. He needs to understand that as President, his words will be scrutinized and will have impact whether he intends it or not. In this regard, President Bush is an excellent model; Obama should take a lesson from his example. Bush never gets sloppy when he is speaking publicly. He chooses his words with care and precision, which is why his style sometimes seems halting. In the eight years he has been President, it is remarkable how few gaffes or verbal blunders he has committed. If Obama doesn't raise his standards, he will exceed Bush's total before he is inaugurated.

 

 

Photo via Wikipedia

Deep Thought

Now that the election is over - I need a new "enemies list".  And I think I've found it in the Parents Television Council.

Better Late than Never

Our President-elect...  Barack Obama giving his acceptance speech on November 4, 2008.  A very historic day for the United States of America!!!

 

My Views on Proposition 8 in CA

I've been listening to many views on this subject and I've never supported such a measure, even in my own state of Nevada. My feelings are that if two people are in love, they should have the right to marry like anyone else. It's sad when religion has to play a role in affecting peoples lives the way it does.

I agree with John Aravosis that the Mormons crossed the lines when they descended upon California from Utah to fund and canvass a state that is not their own (Via Washington Post):

Gay rights activist John Aravosis, whose well-trafficked AmericaBlog.com is urging the boycott, is unapologetic about targeting Utah rather than California, where voters defined marriage in the state Constitution as a heterosexual act.

Utah, Aravosis said, "is a hate state," and on this issue, "at a fundamental level, the Utah Mormons crossed the line. . . . They just took marriage away from 20,000 couples and made their children bastards. You don't do that and get away with it."

The Mormon Church, based in Salt Lake City, encouraged members to work for passage of the ballot measure. Thousands of Mormons worked as grass-roots volunteers and gave tens of millions of dollars to the campaign.

Also, listening to Randi Rhodes about this issue and how easy it is now to change a state constitution with a ballot initiative. To change the US Constitution you need the following to happen under Article V:

The Congress, whenever two thirds of both Houses shall deem it necessary, shall propose Amendments to this Constitution, or, on the Application of the Legislatures of two thirds of the several States, shall call a Convention for proposing Amendments, which, in either Case, shall be valid to all Intents and Purposes, as part of this Constitution, when ratified by the Legislatures of three fourths of the several States, or by Conventions in three fourths thereof, as the one or the other Mode of Ratification may be proposed by the Congress; Provided that no Amendment which may be made prior to the Year One thousand eight hundred and eight shall in any Manner affect the first and fourth Clauses in the Ninth Section of the first Article; and that no State, without its Consent, shall be deprived of its equal Suffrage in the Senate.

It should be just as hard to do with a state constitution. In essence, all of the gay couples who were married were just divorced by the State of California.

But Keith Olbermann said it best on tonight's edition of Countdown:

Laughable

Some people need to find a good hobby...  If they don't like a show, change the fucking channel!!!  Personally, I thought the episode in question was smart and funny.  Apparently the PTC knows nothing about the show or the premise behind it.

LOS ANGELES (October 22, 2008) – The Parents Television Council™ is filing an indecency complaint with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and urging its members and concerned citizens to do the same after a three minute long strip club scene featuring a lap dance aired on CBS’s “Two and a Half Men.” The episode at issue aired on Monday, October 20 at 9:00 p.m. in the Eastern and Pacific Time zones/8:00 p.m. in the Central and Mountain Time zones.

The strip club scene features the main character attempting to have a conversation with his nephew’s former teacher turned stripper while she gives his brother a private lap dance. The stripper grinds on his brother’s lap eliciting moans and cries of “yes, yes, yes” before the scene ends.

“We believe that the patently offensive sexual content in this episode of ‘Two and a Half Men’ crossed the broadcast indecency line. Rather than airing the program after 10:00 p.m., and rather than assigning a content rating that accurately reflects the material contained within the episode, CBS chose to air it when millions of children were in the television viewing audience, and they deemed the material to be suitable for 14-year-olds,” said PTC President Tim Winter.

“The shocking episode included a strip club scene that lasts three full minutes and features up close shots of a leading character being ‘serviced’ by a stripper complete with moaning and other sexual references. The scene was in no way ‘fleeting’ or accidental; rather, it was specifically written into this scripted program.
“It’s high time for CBS to be held accountable for violating the public trust, the broadcast decency law, and the two consent decrees it signed with the FCC promising not to air indecent content. This episode of ‘Two and a Half Men’ is just the latest act of irresponsibly from the network that brought us the Janet Jackson Super Bowl striptease, an unedited ‘f-word’ on ‘Big Brother’ and unobscured male genitals in high-definition to kick off the new season of ‘Survivor.’

“In addition to our indecency complaint, we are urging parents to contact the FCC to let them know enough is enough from CBS. We will also be contacting advertisers that appeared in the episode to ensure they are aware of exactly what type of content they chose to associate with their hard-earned corporate brands,” said Winter.

My hat is tipped to Mr. Chuck Lorre who has shown grace to this:

 

CHUCK LORRE PRODUCTIONS, #226

A special thank you to the Parents Television Council

Every time you single out Two and a Half Men for being a horrible and tasteless television show, our ratings go up. Since you do this pretty regularly, I've gotta believe that's your intention. Well, kudos! Very crafty on your part. Were you to simply label the show as being funny and naughty (what my eighty-nine year old aunt in Fort Lauderdale calls it), our viewership would probably remain unaffected. Anyway, I just wanted to let you know that I'm sending you a big box of tasty cupcakes as a way of expressing my gratitude. I hope they add a little sweetness to your next meeting. Keep up the good work Parents Television Council! Oh, and if it's not too much trouble, could you please condemn The Big Bang Theory... and my stock portfolio.