Daily PUMA Column - Commentary by Alessandro Machi

Friday, June 26, 2009

DailyPUMA thoughts about blogs and their comments sections.

Why should a controversial topic title be paraded on dailypuma if the blog owner won't allow responses to appear in a timely fashion?

I just tried to respond to a blog that is not necessarily a PUMA blog but had been listed on dailypuma anyways. My response did not appear right away. This bothered me because the title of the blog article that popped up on DailyPUMA was definitely controversial as it referred to Michael Jackson and basically said good riddance.

It seems somewhat inconsistent for DailyPUMA to provide updating of new blog articles when comments posted to those articles may take a day or two to show up, no? Just saying.

My focus is specifically about posting a controversial topic with a controversial headline that gets blasted by DailyPUMA to anyone reading DailyPUMA, yet does not allow comments to appear in a timely fashion, I think that kind of ruins the purpose of DailyPUMA, no?

However, I also understand that maybe the blog writer wants everyone to read their article without the additional distraction of comments that may or may not add to the content, and I also understand that blogs that appear on DailyPUMA don't necessarily give a hoot about what DailyPUMA thinks, and that is how it should be.

(this next part reminds me like I walked into an Andy Rooney Sixty Minutes commentary)

Wordpress passwords bug me because they require visitors to keep a password that is different for each and every wordpress blog! I believe if it were easier to leave comments without having to sift through endless email lists to find my password, more comments would be left. If the comments are stupid or off topic, just delete them, who cares if they are up for a few hours before they get deleted? My guess is that people are concerned that some idiot may post something really inappropriate or of a personal nature and they want to protect themselves, so maybe I have answered my own question.

(Back to your regular internet reading voice).

I think it can help with readership if as soon as someone posts a comment, it appears quickly in the blog article comments section so others who visit will feel like they are part of an interactive community, which is what blogs are supposed to be.

One comment option I wish software designers would add is a timing feature where if a comment is not approved within a specified amount of time set by the blog owner, the comment automatically appears although the blog owner could still delete the comment if necessary.

Thursday, June 25, 2009

Was Michael Jackson working out six hours a day, emaciated, and dehydrated at the time of his demise?

I would find it really sad if Michael Jackson succumbed because he just worked out too hard in preparation for his upcoming world wide tour. I heard that Michael Jackson was just too skinny and dehydrated for his body to hold up to the intense six hour workouts he may have been doing for his upcoming tour.

When the news channels started showing clips of Michael Jackson performances from the 80's and early 90's, was he possibly trying to do all of those routines and probably new ones as well for his upcoming tour? If this turns out to be the case, it might be an amazing gesture if all the people who pre-purchased tickets for his upcoming tour allow the money to go towards Mr. Jackson's debt and some other worthwhile causes as well. Michael Jackson may have died for his art.

Saturday, June 20, 2009

HEALTH FREEDOM USA dot org fighting against prescription only medicine, forced use of pesticides and genetically altered food being considered normal.

I struggle with the issue of how closely medicines should be regulated by our government.

On the one hand, I am a bit skeptical of MLM medicinal products that are made without close scrutiny by food and drug regulators. On the other hand, I want a choice above and beyond prescription medicine as to what kind of medicine I may or may not put into my body. (I actually avoid medicine but I would still want a choice).

To learn more about this issue, and possible legislation that may soon outlaw non-prescription medications, please check out this link.

Friday, June 19, 2009

When Oil Prices Rise, is it possible the additional oil profits go to prop up stock market share prices?

One variable in the 2008 stock market crash that I don't think was adequately addressed by the mainstream media was the role of ultra high oil prices and the use of huge oil profits to possibly falsely prop up the stock market.

I believe it is possible that the huge profits made from gasoline hitting 4.50 a gallon in the United States and and a barrel of oil staying well over a 100 hundred dollars, even between 115 and 135 dollars for a sustained period of time, may have falsely propped up the stock market for several months while also creating huge profit streams in the credit card industry as well. The credit card profit streams resulted from increased use of credit cards to pay for higher priced food and transportation items, plus the rising cost of transporting those goods.

When falsely inflated oil prices started descending, the stock market "mad money" spending began drying up and was no longer available to keep stock prices artificially inflated, and everything came crashing down. The sub-prime mortgage fiasco may have actually been masked by the oil profits money going into the stock market, actually making the crash that much worse when the cost of oil began dropping.

I don't want to oversimplify this, but one can make a correlation between huge oil profits driving the credit card industry into short term profitability, which in turn excites other stock market sectors into a short term rise in perceived value as well.

Beginning from June 2009, the next several months and perhaps even longer, if oil prices keep creeping up and somehow magically the stock market share prices also keep rising, be very careful about investing because there could be a very insidious relationship between rising oil profits and a rising stock market that is built on "mad" oil profits money versus true stock market stability.
Here is one simple economic rule to cling to, there can be no true economic recovery if consumer credit card debt remains near one trillion dollars and interest rates on this debt remains at 20 to 30% interest.
What I find frustrating is that I think the world needs higher oil prices and oil profits to invest in the development of alternative forms of energy. However, in a capitalistic society, we don't force people into spending their profits in a way that may benefit the planet, that is something a socialistic society might do. (gasp).

So there you have the gift of the Magi. Capitalism can create higher oil profits that can lead to helping to solve future energy problems if the profits are spent wisely, but it probably takes a non-capitalistic approach to actually enforce how the oil profits money is spent.

Clearly, capitalism needs a "friend".

Thursday, June 18, 2009

Connecting the Dots between David Letterman's Snarky Teenage Girl Sex Comments and what appears in the Sunday Newspaper ads.


This ad came out in this past Sunday's Newspaper. I'll be the first to say that this ad was not a direct result of the latest David Letterman comments about Sarah Palin's Daughters.
However, I think it is fair to wonder if snarky comments about teens WITHOUT EVER SHOWCASING a POSITIVE VIEWPOINT about them eventually leads to the above type of AD PROFILING and MARKETING to young teenage girls.
The "bikini" bottom pictured in the ad is revealing an awful lot of skin below the belly button. What is actually being covered below the belly button may not be that much more than what a G-String covers. The picture is designed to fool parents into thinking more is being covered than is really being covered.

So what we are left with is an onslaught of publicizing young girls sexuality on television and also in print ads. Is it any wonder these young girls voluntarily send pictures of themselves nude via their own cell phones then feel publicly humiliated for having done it?

So what about it Dave, your apology is NOT ENOUGH.

Do more David Letterman, figure it out.

Profile some other aspect of being a teenage girl, and have teenagers on your show! Why not stand up and actually influence the type of advertisements about teens that would run on your show should you decide to have a teen week or teens as guests from time to time.

Do more David Letterman, figure it out.

Or you could choose to stay as you are and instead donate a huge chunk of money to some charity of Sarah Palin's choice. Although I don't think that would be as effective a solution as it doesn't actually enlighten or inspire other teens to be more than what advertisers prop them down to be, and it doesn't necessarily change your behavior either.

Plus, is that additional money you would be donating, or would you just be shifting money you already donate from one charity to another?



Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Letterman's new apology (his second attempt) accepted by Sarah Palin, but how truthful was what Mr. Letterman said?

Did David Letterman speak the truth when he claimed he wasn't in the habit of making fun of underage children of politicians?

If we reviewed transcripts of past Letterman shows, would we really find no jokes about Chelsea Clinton, the Bush Daughters, or even other jokes about the Palin's that went under the radar?

The real solution for me is for Mr. Letterman to start having teenage guests, even better of the non-celebrity type, teenagers who could be considered role models for other teens, and even adults. Or at the very least, a solid week of at least one teenage girl role model appearing on Letterman's show.

It seems the longer that our "hallowed" TV personalities such as Letterman and Oprah Winfrey are on the air, the more hollow they become as they avoid interacting with anything that is really new or different from what they have already done.

Unless Letterman actually periodically has female teenage guests on his show, and perhaps as on location field reporters where they are not the joke, nothing has really changed in my book.

Saturday, June 13, 2009

David Letterman's "joke" about Sarah Palin's daughters and his follow up "apology" don't address the bigger issue.

I have been trying to define what it is about David Letterman's joke that bugs me the most. Besides the most obvious answer, Letterman shouldn't be talking about minors in a sexual way for laughter, profit, and fun, on national television, something else is bothering me about his Willow Palin "joke".

When was the last time Letterman found something a female teen did that was maybe worth a positive mention on his show?  

It would seem to me that not only is it wrong to make sexual jokes about underage females for public consumption and profit on a national TV show, it seems even more inappropriate because no time is spent on Letterman's show discussing positive underage female role models.

If the obvious answer is, well it would be boring to talk about underage female teens in a positive way and make it funny and interesting, then maybe David Letterman and his writers have become too old school and behind the times.

I found Mr. Letterman's follow up non apology to be actually worse than the original Willow Palin joke he was apologizing about.  Mr. Letterman had time to think about his response and come up with something wise and profound to say, yet once again, Letterman and his writers fell short and literally gave the message that they just didn't think it was that important to properly address his avarice against female teens.

Maybe Letterman, short of being fired or suspended, devotes a week to teenage girls as guests on his show.  It would be interesting to see if Letterman can handle these teenage encounters in a way that is non-destructive.  It would be even more amazing if the some of the commercial content would be aimed at young teens and the real issues they are going through.

15 blogging gadgets and widgets you may want to consider for your blog, but sometimes there is a "GOTCHA" to consider.

I found this article about adding some interesting gadgets and widgets to a blog site. If you have your own link to more interesting gadgets and widgets, please share it in the comments section.

We can never have too many gadgets or widgets.

Wait a minute, yes we can.


I found this proviso under the terms and conditions for the PDF converter which I did not like, so I won't use this particular gadget and I cancelled my registration as well...

6. License of Your Content to Provider. By uploading your content to the Web Site for processing into PDF format, you are granting Provider a royalty-free license for the uploaded content to be processed into PDF format and for that uploaded content to be present on the Web Site server(s) after it has been processed into and exists in PDF format for retrieval by users.

I assume this means that any content that I upload for purposes of converting to a PDF file allows the hosting site royalty free use of the content !!!  Are you kidding me?  Um, (since I attempt to not swear in articles I write, all I'll say is, grrrrrr.)

I don't mean to be nasty but come on, if I write an article and I one day might want to include it in a book, I don't want a third party software company having equal access rights to my original content, ESPECIALLY when their terms of use also include warnings about NOT STEALING THEIR SOFTWARE!

I think what they meant was they have the right to process the original content without being sued by the author, but their wording implies a much broader access to the content.

Friday, June 12, 2009

Pavement Art Anybody?

I've seen this before and every time I see it, I like it just as much as the prior time I saw it.


When you click on the link you will need to search on the right column, near the bottom, where it says Highest Rated Posts and click on the Pavement Art link.

Thursday, June 11, 2009

My Desperate Plea to all Bloggers, PLEASE do not do what this blogger did.

CLICK ON IMAGE TO ENLARGE
The above article is not a puma article. This is just advice in general for all bloggers. PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, do not ask "where's the anger?", yet not allow any way for readers to leave a comment!  Most of you know already know this. I just find this type of title completely contradictory.

Thankfully, this writer at least left a contact email address. Asking "where is the anger" while not allowing people to respond, is pretty much a self fulfilling prophecy and an unintentionally preposterous supposition.

I wonder if the AP will ever allow comments in response to articles written by their own reporters. 

I probably should not have made the title so dramatic sounding as many people probably won't appreciate the frustration it brings out in me when I see a source that makes a plea but doesn't allow public interaction.

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Did David Letterman really take a Pot Shot at Sarah Palin's 14 year old daughter, Willow Palin, on his Top Ten List? Sure Looks like it.

From Team Sarah... (If only Sarah Palin could grab hold of the credit card issue and tear apart Chase Bank and friends and the FDIC for their idiotic refusal to create credit card debt paydown incentive programs for those who are trying to pay down their credit card debt, that would be something not soon forgotten) ...comes the following email about David Letterman and his top ten list.

A message to all members of Team Sarah


Dear Friends,


David Letterman’s latest Top 10 List and late night monologue directed at Governor Palin and her family is absolutely shameful, to say the least. Not only did Letterman’s list include a vulgar sexual reference to the Governor, but his monologue on June 8 went so far as to try to “joke” about 14-year-old Willow Palin being “knocked up” by Alex Rodriquez at a Yankee game.


Granted, much is fair game when it comes to public figures and late night comedy. Children, however, are never “fair game” and should never be the subject of such indecent sexual “jokes”. This attempt at comedy, using the suggestion of statutory rape as a punch line, goes beyond a breach of basic decency. Indeed commentary of this nature reflects a much darker, more disturbing trend that has permeated our supposed “entertainment” viewing.


David Letterman is entitled to his political views just like everyone else, but he is certainly NOT entitled to make explicit and vulgar sexual references toward women and children. We are appalled at such contemptible commentary.


Team Sarah is calling on members to express their views to CBS regarding this serious matter.


You may contact CBS at (212)-975-4321, send a message via the online feedback form:


http://www.cbs.com/info/user_services/fb_global_form.php,


or mail your feedback to:


CBS Television Network


51 West 52nd Street


New York, NY 10019




Best,


Lisa S.


teamsarahhq@gmail.com




IMAGINE IF..........even just 10% of Team Sarah’s members were able to donate $5, $10 a month toward our community? If you’d like to be a Team Sarah supporter, go to http://teamsarah.kintera.org


Visit Team Sarah at: http://www.teamsarah.org

Sunday, June 7, 2009

Richard Wolffe's new book Renegades appears to confirm that Barack Obama put his career ahead of caring for his family, some things never change.

I brought this point up last year, while Barack Obama's mother was dying from cancer in Hawaii in the mid 90's, it appears that Barack Obama went to Bali to finish tribute writing his first book about his deadbeat dad. When I factor in that it appears Barack Obama returned to Chicago to schmooze the financial elite for his political aspirations, it just makes it so galling to me that Barack Obama even mentioned his dying mother and health insurance reform for political gain.

Is it ethical to complain about the health care system if one doesn't make a worthwhile attempt to be there for their infirm loved one?

Yet Barack Obama mentioned his dying mother and healthcare reform in ads in Texas, and then again in the second debate against John McCain. It is one thing to not visit your last living birth parent in their final year of life, but it is quite worse to then use their situation for political gain.

Michelle Obama "hated the failed race for Congress in 2000, and their marriage was strained by the time their youngest daughter, Sasha, was born a year later.""There was little conversation and even less romance," Wolfe writes.

"She was angry at his selfishness and careerism; he thought she was cold and ungrateful."When Obama ran for the Senate in 2004, his wife still had mixed feelings about her husband's love of politics, and played no part in the campaign, the book says.
...I then wonder if this pattern of behavior as described above was also going on in the mid 90's! Food for thought to consider, what if....
... Barack Obama eschewed being in Hawaii by his terminally ill mother's side so he could instead go to Bali to write a book about his deadbeat dad? Is that not the kind of vetting the media should have been doing last year?
Here are a couple of pro Michelle and Barack Obama links and their reaction to the book.



Saturday, June 6, 2009

Magic Moments -The best of 50's Pop, performed by the original artists, 50 years later, I kid you not.

Magic Moments -The best of 50's Pop. This video originally was released in 2004. That still means a 50 year time span from when these artists first sang their hit songs, until when they were asked back, yet there they are, many of the original artists performing the songs that made them famous 50 years ago.

In the Los Angeles Area, the show is airing on KOCE PBS as I write this. (Saturday, June 6th, 2009). I don't recall seeing this bit of musical history when it first came out, pretty amazing actually. Nick Clooney, Ahem, George Clooney's father and former news anchor in Los Angeles, hosts the PBS fundraising interludes.

Apparently it took 2 years to plan the actual concert that featured the reunion of all of these 50's pop stars. Now I ask you, would not "the making of this event" have made the ultimate reality TV show? Finding musical stars from 50 years ago and asking them to get back together to perform in front of a huge audience for history's sake, wow!

I hope somebody is writing a screenplay about this entire endeavor because it would truly be amazing to show the early successes, possibly a long period in between of "normalcy", and then in the age of the internet, when many of these performers probably were well into their retirement, suddenly they are being asked back to perform.

I feel cheated that we did not get to see the entire behind the scenes of how this event was put together. There must be some remarkable stories that still have not been told about the stars and the making of this video and CD album reunion.

Never Forget May 31st, 2008.

I found this article on Betty Jean Kling's blog, Freemenow, it is written by Ricki Lieberman.

Monday, June 1, 2009

Barack Obama wants to Hear From YOU!


Let Barack Obama know what is on your mind. I think you have until June 02, midnight, 2009 to let him know. Here is the link.

It looks like there is one issue that is heads and shoulders above the others by the name of "Let me see your papers", aka Birth Certificate.

For me there is a second issue, and that is the right to OPT OUT of any financial agreement when there is a proposed change in terms by the bank or credit card company. When a bank or credit card company wants to change the original agreement that both sides had been honoring, citizens should have the right to opt out, also known as, just say no.
Edit update, well, there have been 38 yes's to my OPT OUT as a consumer right, and only 3 or 4 no's. Sadly, two of those no's were from wanna be PUMA's who were so rabidly for Barack Obama revealing his birth certificate, they just spammed other topics and voted no against anything that was not about the Barack Obama certificate.  Of the 38 yes votes for my OPT OUT topic, most of them have come from outside of this blog. That is kind of a wake up call for me.
I am struggling with how PUMA's can be for Barack Obama revealing his birth certificate, but be ambivalent towards fighting so their neighbors don't lose their homes to unfair and usurious credit card interest rate increase tactics that are also suffocating the local economies all over the country, which actually affects everybody.

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10,000 Dollar Grant! Another Great Find from FABULOUSLY40.com

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Would this be a good way to win funds for Louisa's Law ?