Dear America: STFU. Love, Uncle Sam
World War II posters come in many varieties, but one that's recently caught my eye are exhortations to American civilians and military personnel to shut up.
Tag: Hitler
Will Barack Obama Be “Hell-Bent for Election” in 2012?
It's not even 2012 yet and this is turning out to be one of the saddest and most lackluster presidential campaign seasons in recent memory. Barring a societal or economic meltdown of Mayan Prophecy proportions (and no, the so-called Great Recession doesn't quite reach that level), I don't see how Barack Obama can lose.
That's not to say that he's been kicking ass for the last three-or-so-years. Aside from taking out bin Laden, perhaps Obama's most memorable accomplishment this term has been that he kept McCain and Palin out of the White House. And for me at least, that still counts for something. I just wonder if he'll have much ammo to use when a Republican candidate finally emerges from the farcical battle royale that has been the GOP Octagon, which is down another competitor now that...
Even though nobody asked, here are my thoughts on bin Laden
So Osama bin Laden is dead at last. Maybe. Probably. It's been fewer than 12 hours since I saw the news, but here are my thoughts and impressions so far:
1 -- I feel not one ounce of joy that he is dead, as this hardly means the so-called War on Terror is over. You better believe there will be another bin Laden popping up any time now. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if there were already plans in place for more attacks to take place in the event that bin Laden was killed or captured.
2 -- This is not the same thing as getting rid of Hitler at the end of World War II, despite many people making that clumsy comparison. This killing is a symbolic victory, nothing more. Its military or strategic value is negligible.
3 -- We lost hundreds, maybe thousands, of lives and spent billions...
Here’s some stuff I enjoyed this week
Here’s a fresh batch of some quality interweb finds I’ve come across over the last 7 days:
A rundown of the 15 best Burger King ad campaigns by Crispin Porter + Bogusky: Long live the Burger King! (AdFreak)
Tommy Shaw sits down for an awesomely candid and funny interview about his career in Styx. Hint -- it involves lots of drugs. (The AV Club)
It came from Reddit -- the Good Intentions Axe Murderer / Dating Site Murderer Meme. (Next Round)
Here's a less-than-memorable Budweiser slogan from 1922: "Stimulates the Appetite - Assimilates the Food." (Shorpy)
You just know this couple owns every Meat Loaf album and knows all the words. (Awkward Family Photos)
So how does Libya's air force compare to the coalition's? (National Post)
A series of excellent "Historically Hardcor...
Book report: The Murrow Boys: Pioneers on the Front Lines of Broadcast Journalism
It's hard to imagine, especially for those of my generation or younger, but broadcast news was not always a wasteland of vacuous celebrity gossip, shallow political "analysis", or crude sensationalism. There was in fact a time when the men and women who called themselves broadcast journalists were actually journalists first, broadcasters secondly. A time when networks valued the insight and knowledge these broadcasters brought, with not nearly as much regard for profit.
And for a period of almost 20 years starting in the late 1930s, there was one group of broadcast journalists more insightful, knowledgeable, professional, and popular than all others. They were the Murrow Boys, started and led by the legendary Edward R. Murrow. While most people still know his name, the names of the ...
You know something else Hitler ruined?
I'll tell you what - he totally ruined yelling for German people. Seriously, I can't look at any German getting all foamy at the mouth or maybe even pounding a table without thinking of this:
So after all that business with World War II, how can any German politician give a really powerful, emotional speech and not be compared to Hitler? It doesn't even matter what he's talking about. He could be going on a rant about something trivial, like his favorite Scorpions song, and if he starts getting too loud all the Germans would be like, "Woah dude, calm down, we don't want to be invaded again or anything."
Think I'm exaggerating? Check out this classic internet meme, the Crazy German Kid:
Logic tells you that this kid is just a spaz, but admit it - you were just a little ...
Venture Bros. wrapup: “Blood of the Father, Heart of Steel”
So hey, I'm a little late on this review. I know that seems inexcusable since it is the season premiere, but my damn DVR didn't record this when it was supposed to. And if it's not on my DVR, it doesn't exist. But enough of that...VENTURE BROS. IS BACK!!%$#!
I think the question I asked as season 3 ended - in what direction do Jackson Publick and Doc Hammer want to take this show? - has been answered, at least on the basis of "Blood of the Father, Heart of Steel". They're going to get even deeper into the show's characters, while at the same time strengthening their geek cred. And we're also going to get plenty of laughs. So we got that going for us, which is nice.
(more…)
Interesting stuff I now know thanks to Wikipedia (Vol. 3)
As with the first two entries, the premise of this is simple. I just used the Random Article link on Wikipedia and saw if anything good came up. (a lot of it is quite useless)
The town of Britton, Michigan is named after storekeeper John Britton, who in 1888 paid $500 to rename the town of Balch after himself.
There is a variant of Scrabble called Clabbers, whose rules are the same except for one: The letters used must form anagrams of acceptable words.
The Grammy Award for Best Gospel Vocal Performance, Female was only given out from 1984 through 1990. Amy Grant won it four times.
The 1968 Cannes Film Festival ended early, without awarding any prizes, due to a French general strike in May.
I can't believe I didn't know this, but Adolf Hitler had a sister, Paula Hitler. She...
Retrotisement – Skippy Peanut Butter
It's no understatement to say that I love old commercials. So much so that I plunked down 10 bucks just to own some of them. And I especially love commercials of the 1950s, most of which display a cheerful lack of cynicism so often found today. In a lot of cases, we get treated to some really great animation or stop-motion photography. There are, however, some real odd entries in the canon of classic advertising. Like, say, this circa 1958 ad for Skippy Peanut Butter.
The commercial starts off with a brief history lesson (the true sign of a rip-roaring ad) - "Fifty to sixty years ago, people were introduced to peanut butter for the first time." (Incidentally, it turns out that George Washington Carver did not actually invent peanut butter.)
These "people," i...