NBC Sochi Olympics: some thoughts

[Good things about NBC coverage:] 

 NBCSN (which I had to order special for the month) has a great format for showing the sports. They showed all 20 of the pairs skating for instance, much of it live. They have few boring spots because they do some editing. They do not confusingly switch around too much between sports to build excitement.... and confusion, as I remember all too well.

[Bad things about NBC coverage:] 

NBC edited out much of the IOC Anti-Discrimination Statement From Opening Ceremony. The... games this time have really been besmirched by Russia's laws that would have gay people arrested, which they backed off of for the Olympics. NBC did leave in part of the statement about tolerance, because that was mentioned more than once in the IOC speech. Some news agencies defended NBC because they did not edit out ALL of the Anti-Discrimination statement. I say if the IOC is making such an important statement about the games, Americans deserve to see the full version that the rest of the world saw. Here is a difference in Russian propaganda and USA propaganda. Russian propaganda is controlled by the government which has a lot of influence from the new aristocracy. In America, the corporations (aristocracy) directly control the networks, and they want to make more money, misrepresentation and distorting is just part and parcel of the ratings game. NBC made statements about the "controversy" but THEY framed the argument. THEY took care of their ratings so we would not have to watch some "boring" IOC statement which was a direct rebuke to Russia. After all, everything must be pretty for NBC. They could lose money if they showed the less scenic parts of the truth.

Deadspin:

http://deadspin.com/nbc-edits-out-ioc-anti-discrimination-statement-from-op-1518727938

Coverage of Deadspin: 

http://news.yahoo.com/olympic-viewing-nbc-39-opening-ceremony-editing-203536768.html

CNN reports the CBO report correctly??? Wow!!!

On the CBO report on Obamacare...

CNN:The estimated reduction (in "jobs") stems almost entirely from a net decline in the amount of labor that workers choose to supply, rather than from a net drop in businesses’ demand for labor, so it will appear almost entirely as a reduction in labor force participation and in hours worked relative to what would have occurred otherwise rather than as an increase in unemployment (that is, more workers seeking but not finding jobs) or underemploy­ment (such as part-time workers who would prefer to work more hours per week).

  I have been saying this for a while and I think I am correct. Logically, the ACA is doing exactly what we wanted it to. It is making the marketplace more efficient. If people are holding on to their jobs PURELY because of a need for insurance to defend against the artificially high cost of healthcare, then they are sucking up jobs they neither want nor need (income-wise).. jobs other people out of work DO want and need. So the truth, to me, appears to be the opposite, not just as CNN reports as neutral but a positive for our economy. I am so surprised to see so many editorial cartoons and articles portraying a GOP talking point that is so obviously wrong. Call me naive. Or wrong, but I don't think so.

America the Parochial

 
 

:)

Beatles' Bootleg 1963

For me, bootlegs became what I thought they should be when shady members of the "bootlegging community" were finally releasing multiple takes of very early Beatles songs. These were outtakes that were interesting regardless of whether the take was broken down or flawed. I prefer things presented one take after another in order of time recorded. I honestly felt I had listened to these things more times than would motivate me into a another listening session. Well, that was true, up until I was on my way to work today.

Last night I acquired what I suppose will be known as "Bootlegs 1963." These are some officially released studio outtakes and other performances that needed to be released for copyright purposes. Normally, I would be interested in that legal aspect but I guess I'll learn that later because the few early articles in the news are just interested in making an event out of it.

For people who follow the Beatles, this is a big event whether it is publicized or not. The anniversary of 50 years on 2013 of the year "1963" which is attached to the name probably means we may be in for more good stuff every year for a while. There is no release of these songs on any physical form and are available only through iTunes. Having no physical cd or vinyl album is not really new to people who want every last recording and variation of every song. What is new, is the willingness to release recordings in great, and I do mean great, sound quality without regard to the lowest common denominator tastes of the mass audience they usually shoot for.

It was really heaven listening to these things which are basically takes and recordings that were too inferior to appeal to a mass audience. I found myself singing a highly (newly learned) nuanced version of "There's a Place" to myself the rest of the morning. When you love something like The Beatles as much as I have in my life, it finally comes down to nuance.

Truthy Stuff

An entire month went by without any sandwich truth. I have mission creep from Facebook but hopefully I will be back here doing what I like to do best.

There is a possibility that I will be doing an annonymous sort of blog that you won't see, but I will be writing. I just got back from a cruise and I realized that writing is the missing part of my life. When I found out that I no longer had an off-line app for my Chromebook, I actually had to ask the cruiseline for some paper to use for all these thoughts floating by.

I want to effect the world through social media but Facebook is so frenetic. I feel like I am bouncing around all over the place with no deep passion.

So, without further ado, I will end this entry. :)

Not sure if....

I have been trying to figure out so many things this morning. It seems like I must take someone's word on pretty much everything I do. Written contracts are just not what they used to be. Trust us.

If there is every a time for mistrust... wouldn't you expect it now. But getting something precisely spelled out to you is an impossibility on paper. Why I would have to

I guess I could document it here that I have been told I am able to leave the City of Montgomery's health plan and come back to it if I needed it later, at any time, no less. You see, they just changed the contract amd this makes my current method economically silly.  Heck, if they can change the contract at the drop of a hat anyway, where am I?  It is so confusing and I feel lost in these transactions. Heaven forbid that I ever have to actually go back to coverage by the City of Montgomery to find out I have been lied to. Hell, they may not even be there. I have kind of have made my decision to work through to medicare, I guess, because, how can you rely on them to stick to a "contract."

At any rate, on a lighter note, I hear a bunch of stuff about bonds not being the go-to investment anymore. So I look up on USAA, my bank, to see my investments in bonds and come across this graphic under the allocation of my bond fund:

Sometimes it seems like a struggle to just successfully navigate life to get to the portion where they put you six feet under.