In your face advertising

Like most people, I feel we’re living in the most over saturated environments (home, work, TV, magazines, movies, radio, roadside and fashion). One of the areas where American’s have gone to escape has been the TV but with the invent of the DVR we’ve all been able to knock out one of the major annoyances of TV (besides the TERRIBLE programing), the commercials. I don’t even watch TV live any more if at all, so I just record the shows of interest and pass through the commercials or delete the whole show if it’s crap.

With one of the only reality shows I’ve watched, Top Chef, the product placement every week within the show is out of control. Still and hold shots on product, announcements of product focus and even forcing the cheftestants to cook with specific products (Uncle Bens give me a fucking break).

TBS has just introduced what I had suspected would happen but worse… commercials DURING the show – Here’s and example where they actually have the character “walk” on to the screen and pause the show to pitch their product. It’s directly focused to get eyeballs on the DVR crowd and it does not make me happy.

For the first time, I’ve made a complaint to a cable network but in reality, they won’t do anything, so I’ll have to just stop watching TBS. Their loss. Check out the commercial break here:

Credibility of JFK terror case questioned

Let me preface this story to say that I think this country has great intelligence organization, probably some of the best in the world. The primary problem I have with them is their lack of communication between each other, the government body of the US (electoral and congressional) as well as the divulging of factual information to the public in a timely manner. I abhor the way our current administration manipulates the information presented to them, by either omitting actual details, embellishing plausible threats to us citizens and all people around the world – either with the full knowledge that the information presented has not been authenticated or knowing authentication and hyping the plausibility to foster fear and further their own agenda – or even creating their own reality from their own information or unsubstantiated claims.

There was a story yesterday about the capture of Trinidadians who planned to set destruction in motion at America’s largest airport: JFK. The plot originally released to the public as detailed in this video by U.S. Attorney Roslynn Mauskopf on CNN news (youtube and google video have been scrubbed of all coverage, you can view these on AOL video):

However, after fact checking and reviewing the suspects, their capacity to execute such a plan and their backgrounds, the credibility and even plausibility of this plot ever being executed has been called into question. And now we should all listen very carefully to understand if this was a possibility and were Americans in danger, or is this another plot by the GOP, right and current administration to coral Americans into believing they are still insecure, vulnerable and encourage further governmental stranglehold on our rights and liberties.

Credibility of JFK terror case questioned

“When U.S. Attorney Roslynn Mauskopf described the alleged terror plot to blow up Kennedy Airport as “one of the most chilling plots imaginable,” which might have caused “unthinkable” devastation, one law enforcement official said he cringed.

The plot, he knew, was never operational. The public had never been at risk. And the notion of blowing up the airport, let alone the borough of Queens, by exploding a fuel tank was in all likelihood a technical impossibility.

And now, with a portrait emerging of alleged mastermind Russell Defreitas as hapless and episodically homeless, and of co-conspirator Abdel Nur as a drug addict, Mauskopf’s initial characterizations seem more questionable — some go so far as to say hyped.

‘I think her comments were over the top,” said Michael Greenberger, director of the Center for Health and Homeland Security at the University of Maryland. “It was a totally overstated characterization that doesn’t comport with the facts.’ “

“The Only Thing We Have to Fear Is Fear Itself”
:Franklin D. Roosevelt’s First Inaugural Address

Dancing in the streets to fight the law

There are only 69 venues in Manhattan where it’s legal to dance. Since the inception of the Cabaret Law in 1926 designed initially to curb public lewdness and interracial mixing, the laws were made tighter in the 80s by renewed building codes, neighborhood zonings and renewal laws. City wide there are 148 cabaret licenses and that includes adult entertainment, hotels, and restaurants.

The Cabaret law forbids any type of dancing at any establishment not licensed by the city to allow such practice. So essentially that booty shaking you do at your local bar’s jukebox is essentially illegal and could land the bar several hundred dollars in fines if the authorities choose to enforce the law.

These laws are antiquated and serve little public good as it’s the noise laws that regulate the club and bars of New York, not the cabaret laws when it seems now, only serve as another method to “tax” nightlife establishments.

This month, organizers of the upcoming 1st annual “Dance Parade” kicks off on May 19th and they expect to gather about 6300 dancers of all types for a festival/protest of sorts to bring awareness to this ridiculous law. Kicking off with a parade down Broadway and ending in Tompkins Square Park (tentative change to Washington Square park?), expect to have DJs Kool Herc, Danny Tenaglia, John “Jellybean” Benitez and more spin house, dance and all types of tracks to get your feet moving for the repeal cause.