So it turns out all those Baby Einstein videos we parents have been showing our infants aren't the panacea we thought them to be. New studies show that children under the age of two should not be watching any video at all, and certainly not those inane puppets set to Mozart and brought to us by the fine folks at Disney. Turns out the videos might even lead to a worsened attention span as children reach school age. Doh!
Threatened by the possibility of a class action lawsuit brought by a group called Campaign For a Commercial-free Childhood, Disney is now offering refunds to parents who have purchased these videos in droves. Parents must be apoplectic, wondering if they have ruined their child's life by force-feeding to them sock puppets set to classical music. What's next? Will studies show that those mechanical mobiles we hung over their crib gives them vertigo? Does allowing them to have a binky make them overly dependent? What is a parent to do?
All I can say is that the one person laughing all the way to the bank is the lady who first thought up the Baby Einstein idea and then sold it to Disney for millions. And for all the parents out there wringing their hands, all I can say is if it's too good to be true, it probably is.
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Thursday, October 15, 2009
NFL To Rush: No Thanks
I wrote the other day about Rush Limbaugh's bid to become part owner of my beloved Rams. The next day Dave Checketts, owner of the St. Louis Blues hockey franchise and head of the prospective ownership group, unceremoniously dropped Limbaugh from the group. The hue and cry from fans, active players, NFL Commissioner Goodell, and other owners about Limbaugh's involvement had risen to a fever pitch, and Checketts really had no choice.
What I find interesting about the whole matter is Rush's predictable response. He seems to think this is another example of the "liberal media" and liberals attacking the conservative movement. He thinks some sort of liberal miasma is somehow seeping into the NFL.
On his radio show yesterday, Limbaugh called the NFL "a collection of unhappy, angry, agitated people." He went further, saying "Obama's America is quite possibly going to include the National Football League, and pressure from Obama, the Congressional Black Caucus and other places might be brought to bear on the owners."
Sorry to be the one to point this out Rush, but NFL owners are quite possibly the most conservative collection of men in America. They broadcast their games on Fox Sports, for crying out loud, not exactly a shining example of American liberalism, if you catch my drift.
No, Rush, I don't think the NFL is rife with liberals. In fact, the very reason NFL owners dumped you is their extreme conservatism. They are straight-laced and careful by nature. They don't want anybody rocking the boat. Commentators joke that NFL stands for "No Fun League."
Indeed, Rush, I think most of us see this entire episode for what it is: a shameless attempt to boost your ratings during October sweeps nothing more, nothing less. Go back to your radio show, preaching your vile, racist rants to the converted.
What I find interesting about the whole matter is Rush's predictable response. He seems to think this is another example of the "liberal media" and liberals attacking the conservative movement. He thinks some sort of liberal miasma is somehow seeping into the NFL.
On his radio show yesterday, Limbaugh called the NFL "a collection of unhappy, angry, agitated people." He went further, saying "Obama's America is quite possibly going to include the National Football League, and pressure from Obama, the Congressional Black Caucus and other places might be brought to bear on the owners."
Sorry to be the one to point this out Rush, but NFL owners are quite possibly the most conservative collection of men in America. They broadcast their games on Fox Sports, for crying out loud, not exactly a shining example of American liberalism, if you catch my drift.
No, Rush, I don't think the NFL is rife with liberals. In fact, the very reason NFL owners dumped you is their extreme conservatism. They are straight-laced and careful by nature. They don't want anybody rocking the boat. Commentators joke that NFL stands for "No Fun League."
Indeed, Rush, I think most of us see this entire episode for what it is: a shameless attempt to boost your ratings during October sweeps nothing more, nothing less. Go back to your radio show, preaching your vile, racist rants to the converted.
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Rush Limbaugh Is a Big Fat . . . NFL Owner?
As a card-carrying self-avowed liberal as well as long standing Rams fan, I was naturally aghast at the news noted fat blowhard (and Hillbilly Heroin addict) Rush Limbaugh is heading a prospective ownership group trying to buy the Rams.
Good God. Haven't we Rams fans suffered enough? The Rams this year, quite possibly, are fielding the worst NFL team in history. We have no hope of winning, our players merely trying to get out of the stadium each Sunday with a modicum of dignity still intact. The Vikings, whom we play today, are averaging more points per game than we've scored all season. Moreover, other than that short, glorious period when we were known as The Greatest Show On Turf, the Rams have been the laughingstock of the league for over two decades.
Much of that ineptitude, of course, sprang from the wretched ownership of one Georgia Frontiere. Through her penny-pinching ways and inability -- or unwillingness -- to hire good football people to run the team she oversaw a franchise truly remarkable in its ineptitude. Indeed, the Rams are just 5 - 31 since the beginning of the 2007 season. I doubt we could beat USC.
But Frontiere died in January 2008, thereby giving the Ram's legion of long-suffering fans reason for hope. Her children, Chip Rosenbloom and Lucia Rodriguez, inherited controlling interest in the team. They proceeded to shock Ram's fans everywhere by actually hiring experienced football people to remake the front office. Then they lured respected defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo away from the Giants to run the team. Spagnuolo cut a lot of dead weight and came up with a respectable first college draft. Yeah, we're still awful, but we're one of the youngest teams in the league, and the guys are playing hard; for the first time in years there seems to be light at the end of the tunnel.
Alas, it appears that light is an oncoming train in the form of Mr. Limbaugh, a fat, reactionary racist who has been paid far too much money to spew his mindless venom over the airwaves all these years. We have a tough time attracting free agents as it is, yet dozens of players have already said they would never consider playing for a team with Limbaugh as owner.
And what of the fans? Could I in good conscience continue to support a team with Mr. Hillbilly Heroin as its titular leader? Politically, I am diametrically opposed to everything for which this soulless man stands. The thought of rooting for this Neanderthal to succeed in anything fills me with a self-loathing that makes my physically ill. Please Mr. Commissioner Goodell, tell me it's not so. Tell me you won't let this happen. Is it too late for me to become a Charger's fan?
Good God. Haven't we Rams fans suffered enough? The Rams this year, quite possibly, are fielding the worst NFL team in history. We have no hope of winning, our players merely trying to get out of the stadium each Sunday with a modicum of dignity still intact. The Vikings, whom we play today, are averaging more points per game than we've scored all season. Moreover, other than that short, glorious period when we were known as The Greatest Show On Turf, the Rams have been the laughingstock of the league for over two decades.
Much of that ineptitude, of course, sprang from the wretched ownership of one Georgia Frontiere. Through her penny-pinching ways and inability -- or unwillingness -- to hire good football people to run the team she oversaw a franchise truly remarkable in its ineptitude. Indeed, the Rams are just 5 - 31 since the beginning of the 2007 season. I doubt we could beat USC.
But Frontiere died in January 2008, thereby giving the Ram's legion of long-suffering fans reason for hope. Her children, Chip Rosenbloom and Lucia Rodriguez, inherited controlling interest in the team. They proceeded to shock Ram's fans everywhere by actually hiring experienced football people to remake the front office. Then they lured respected defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo away from the Giants to run the team. Spagnuolo cut a lot of dead weight and came up with a respectable first college draft. Yeah, we're still awful, but we're one of the youngest teams in the league, and the guys are playing hard; for the first time in years there seems to be light at the end of the tunnel.
Alas, it appears that light is an oncoming train in the form of Mr. Limbaugh, a fat, reactionary racist who has been paid far too much money to spew his mindless venom over the airwaves all these years. We have a tough time attracting free agents as it is, yet dozens of players have already said they would never consider playing for a team with Limbaugh as owner.
And what of the fans? Could I in good conscience continue to support a team with Mr. Hillbilly Heroin as its titular leader? Politically, I am diametrically opposed to everything for which this soulless man stands. The thought of rooting for this Neanderthal to succeed in anything fills me with a self-loathing that makes my physically ill. Please Mr. Commissioner Goodell, tell me it's not so. Tell me you won't let this happen. Is it too late for me to become a Charger's fan?
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