In Case You Haven’t Heard Yet
Current mood: handsome
Category: News and Politics

Did you hear about this? If you have clips on You Tube, be very afraid. Why? Because Viacom the mega-global media corporation sued You Tube for billions over them allowing people to post copyrighted material. Without permission. And they didn't get any compensation.

Now, You Tube to has to provide the names of ALL posters. And at this stage, nobody can gurantee that Viacom won't get other personal stuff as well. It's such a  weird double standard. You Tube says (like other sites) that you can't post anything that's copyrighted, racist, etc. Yet, I see tons of clips every day that are obviously racist and harmful in content. Some people use the excuse of, oh, it's "public domain." So that makes it ok. Kind of like the neocon MSM saying, it's free speech. If you don't like it, turn it off. But when somebody else uses some of the same content, they'll jump on your ass and sue for big bucks. More corporate hypocracy.

Be very afraid.

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Not Your Typical Independence Day Message
Current mood: happy
Category: News and Politics

Happy Really Long Holiday weekend! Kick back, enjoy your favorite beverage as you watch the fireworks and do whatever you love to do.

But as you do, take a second and think about what's at stake right now. Because like it or not, this won't go away. You can't call in elections just like "American Idol" (as much as the the main two parties and their consultants would love you to do). So instead of everybody making money off of this mass apathy, why not refuse to be a part of that and act instead?

Just a thought. We now continue with our holiday weekend.

Currently listening : Crossroads Guitar Festival Release date: 2004-11-09

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Pre Fourth of July Stuff
Current mood: bummed

Happy Thursday. Tomorrow is the start of another holiday weekend here in the States. And as a public service to you our loyal readers, here are a few ways to survive this:

Tomorrow worldwide you'll see lots of crazy Americans talking about fireworks, consuming mass quanitites of everything and more. If you don't agree or understand everything they're saying, don't worry about it. Just smile, act like you agree with it all. And you could get lots of cool free drinks and more all day long.

But now the flip side of it. As great as all that is, it's hard to really be that UP for it all. Pick a problem: everything from legal torture to no health care. An illegal and immoral war that keeps right on going. A government that only cares about money, power and maintaining their share at all costs.

Which means that the gap between the haves and the have nots keeps getting bigger. In other countries, when people have to act they act (usually at great risk to themselves). Here, nothing. Is it because of arrogance, laziness, or something else? It seems like many of the progressive people out there are profiting off this just like the neocons are. Because if they stick with just the progressive approach they'll be broke forever? So, be a hypocrite. But a filthy rich hypocrite.

So what do you do now?

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Do You Know the Answers to These?
Current mood: artistic

Lunchtime and time to think about a few things. People have debated these for years, and still haven't found the answers. So if you know the answers, get in touch. Do you win anything? Sorry but not. Once we become the Number One blog, then we'll have a budget for cool prizes, lunches and more.

Onto the questions:

If gas keeps geting more expensive, does this mean no more takeout delivery? If you have nothing to eat at home, what do you do?

Next month is the Summer Break in Washington, D.C. Literally all government stuff shuts down. NOTHING happens or gets done. So what happens if some big emergency happens and nobody's there? Not too long ago a Finnish hacker got the Oval Office private number and used it for a few days before he was caught. So if HE can do it, you can't tell me that some other joker won't try the same thing. What would you do if they called you?

What happens if voters are so pissed off at the top two parties that NOBODY votes in November? What do the parties, MSM and others do? People are spending close to half a billion dollars on this. Legally Bush and Cheney will be history. And somebody has to do the job. So what will they do then? Will they use a headhunter search to find somebody? Will we have endless interviews and more to narrow it down? And then who makes the final decision? Hopefully not Bush or the Supreme Court. Remember what they did in 2000?

If you had a Net webcam show seen by a billion people worldwide, what would you put on it? Do these people really care what Bragelina had for lunch yesterday at their French estate?

And then probably the most important question of all. Coke or Pepsi?

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Happy Canada Day!
Current mood: pleased
Category: News and Politics

Happy Canada Day to one and all! If no Molsons or Labatts is around, don't worry about it :). Anything is ok.

Currently listening : Great White North By Bob & Doug McKenzie Release date: 1996-09-24

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What’s Really Happening Today
Current mood: handsome

Welcome to July 1st. If this is a holiday for you, enjoy yourself. And try not to rub it in for the rest of us to have to work, ok?

What's happening around the world?:

Bragelina FINALLY had their twins over in France. Which means that all of their kids are dual citizens. A very cool thing in this age of globalization.

North Korea is officially off the U.S. terrorist watch list.

Saudi Arabia and Jordan have signed nuclear power deals with the U.S. and Canada. They're dictatorships that are allowed to have nuclear power. But Iran, a peaceful country that's NEVER threatened the U.S. isn't. Please explain this.

Looks like the Screen Actors Guild is now on strike. Make sure you still have your Blockbuster card.

And finally, have you gotten thru on Obama's 866 number? Remember that there's more than just two candidates. The rest of the world is allowed to see them. But the corporate MSM here continues to censor them.

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End One Strike and Start Another
Current mood: talkative

Happy Monday. The stock market's up for a change. So is the cost of everything else. The dollar is still down. And  unless a settlement happens in the next 24 hours, the Screen Actors Guild goes on strike.

SAG is the main actors guild that has roughly 124,000 members. Some other interesting facts:

The top 3% of members are the only full-time actors.

The more money you make, the higher your annual dues.

You can do two acting jobs as a non-member. After that you have to join.

To get into many different jobs in Hollywood, you have to join a union to really get anywhere.

That being said, if they go on strike, it will have a ripple effect on related businesses. The Writer's Guild strike cost the local economy almost $1 billion. How much will this one cost? It depends on your perspective and your status.

How much are A-list actors making these days? Roughly $20-25 million a film. Keep in mind that all of these people have a crack management team behind them (agent, manager, attorney and others). Assume that after 50% goes to taxes, each of them takes a percentage. Which probably leaves around $7 million. If you have a "back end deal", that basically means that you take almost no money upfront. And then make up for it thru a healthy percentage of the gross and not net profit later.

Next question. Are these people overpaid? It's one of those eternal questions like who's better, the Yankees or Boston? All of these people will say, that's the going rate. These studio executives didn't get to where they are by being stupid businesspeople. After all, it's called show BUSINESS, right?

But in all of the hype about this, nobody ever mentions a very important point. Nobody's forcing the studios to pay these people this money. Studios, record companies, sports teams and others choose to pay these people. When Michael Jordan hit it big, lots of people bad mouthed him for being greedy. His response? All of these people are hypocrites. Because if they were in my shoes they'd be doing exactly the same thing. As long as somebody agrees to pay your asking price, you're not overpaid.

Now, the other side. When was the last time you saw a great movie that was totally original? (PAUSE FOR DRAMATIC EFFECT). You can't remember, can you? If these people (along with directors and crew) are making such great money, how come they keep putting out crap content? Because it's a corporate mentality (to a point). All that matters is profit. So we'll remake this to death.

As SAG and AFTRA (American Federation of Radio and TV Artists) battle it out, here's a suggestion. Why not actually say to help improve the product, we're going to be radical and take LESS  money? The product improves, the strike possibly ends sooner. And it's great pr for everybody involved.

For more free business consulting, you know where to find me.

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Will SAG Go on Strike?
Current mood: creative

Not too long ago Hollywood writers went on strike. And everybody lost roughly $1 billion dollars. Now, it looks like the main actors union the Screen Actors Guild will go on strike starting Tuesday.

If this happens, it means that all movies and TV shows (which start shooting in June or July to be ready for the fall) will stop. This leads to many questions:

Will this change anything about the way business is done in Hollywood?

Will this finally force studios to stop remaking everything to death and actually create ORIGINAL content?

If Will Smith gets $25 million for his next movie, is he overpaid? One side says yes. Try living on what the little people in the audience do every day. The other side says, it's show BUSINESS, right? The studio executives aren't stupid businesspeople. Going for the highest price you can is American capitalism. And what's wrong with that?

If SAG goes on strike, will any major actor actually say, you know what, us big name actors make way too much money. So from now on, I'm going to take LESS money until people start actually making original ideas for a change.

And finally, movies and TV shows are made all over the world. Usually because shooting overseas is cheaper. Should all of the work only be done in the States?

More on this tomorrow.

5:29 AM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

Just In Case
Current mood: artistic

Obama officially kicked off his campaign yesterday with Hillary at his side. But remember that there are others than him and McCain. And the MSM will do everything they can to keep these people silent.

To our international readers: do you have the same stuff? Are all candidates allowed to be heard? Do you have limits on campaigns? Many other countries do and do just fine. Just in case it doesn't work out with Obama or McCain, would YOU like this job?

Imagine if any or all of these things happened:

Nobody shows up to vote. What would the MSM do? What would the candidates do? If nobody votes and nobody wins, then what?

"None of the above" wins by a landslide.

Everybody feels guilty and votes for me :).

Do you realize that in Arizona, somebody actually talked about paying people to vote? In Australia you're fined if you don't vote. But in "the greatest country in the world", the citizens have to be bribed to vote.

And some people are mystified why the rest of the world doesn't like the U.S. Amazing...

2:48 PM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

Where In The World is Obama?
Current mood: creative

It's Friday. Bin Laden still hasn't been found. And now, starting today, we probably won't have any idea when Obama will show up for his day job. Obama and Hillary are "officially" starting his campaign today. Which really isn't true, since political campaigns are perpetual here in the States.

From here on out, be aware of the following:

Nothing is going to get done in the U.S. government.

Everyone will bitch, complain, and use as many soundbites as possible for "the news."

People will be gone as much as possible on their "well deserved breaks".

The neocons will spend as much money as possible on racist ads against Obama. Here's a idea. If everybody knows that these are racist, then why take the money and run them? Why not actually say no, we refuse to do this. Will the whole system collapse? Will the country fall apart? Probably not.

The MSM networks will continue to have ridiculous "debates" that are a complete waste of time. But they won't care because it's "free speech." If you don't like it, turn it off.

And finally, at any time, Bush could attack Iran and then cancel the election. Which means martial law. Bush will make all decisions. What will the two main political parties and "expert network pundits" do then? How will the rest of the world react?

Maybe you should finally get that passport? Just an idea.....

2:56 PM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment