Remember - The Peon Pulpit Called It First

Remember back in 2008 when I made my first stock market prediction and was somewhat amazed that it failed to even come close to being accurate? At the time I suggested that perhaps the Fed was covertly purchasing stocks to prop up the market artificially:

It does seem like every time the market makes some huge drop (like 11/13/2008's -554.11 drop) it makes a remarkable close up the next day (11/14/2008's 324.88

Could it be bargain hunters? Or could it be the Treasury/FED monster propping up the dead?

Either way, you heard it here first.

Well it appears that now I'm not alone in my suspicions:

Newsday Learns An Important Lesson

As pointed out here on the Pulpit, charging people for news is one sure way to get people to stop reading your news. Three months into their own 'pay to read' experiment, Newsday.com has a total of (35) paid subscribers. Yes...THIRTY-FIVE. They paid $4 million to upgrade the site to accept payments, and have made $9,000. Heh. Good riddance. That's the price you pay for not reading the Pulpit Newsday.

Next up: The New York Times.... I'm looking forward to that crash and burn.

Brown Win In Massachusetts Throws A Lifeline To Democrats

I suspect that the Scott Brown win in the race for Massachusetts senator will throw Democrats a lifeline. Unlike statements made earlier in the week that the Senate may delay seating Brown until they can pass a health care reform bill, I think Democrats will move to swiftly seat Brown.

The reason is simple: Democrats running for re-election in 2010 want out of the bill as fast as possible. They might push a watered down bill, which, like Keith Olbermann suggested, will only "mandate child-proof medicine bottles". I doubt they will even do that, as it will continue to keep the health care issue (which is now a Democratic albatross) in people's minds.

I also predict that the "tea bagger" jokes that have been repeated countless times by Democrats on television will suddenly fall out of favor. I bet making fun of the tea party movement Isn't going to be as popular with elected Democrats as it once was. This will leave it up to democratic mouthpieces (like Olbermann) to keep it alive. Eventually, even he'll be asked to tone it down, for fear that it will only serve to stoke voter anger against Democrats.

Mainstream Media HALL OF DOOM!

Nothing gets people interested in watching TV or reading newspapers & magazines quite the way that impending doom does. Just like clockwork, whenever the mainstream media runs out of legitimate stories (or when the current legit story get stale like, say, an ongoing debacle of a war in Iraq) they will trot out the latest "_This_ will scare the sh*t out of You!!" Story.

So today I inaugurate my new Mainstream Media Hall of Doom (MMHOD). This will be an ongoing collection of current and past "this is really going to ruin your life" themes the media harped on and then promptly forgot as the next juicy story overtook it. You may have forgotten about these yourself, so I will archive them here.

Mainstream Media Hall of Doom (MMHOD)

• Swine Flu Outbreak (2009) Attack of the Sick Pigs!
• Cell Phones and Cancer (2004- current) Boy, *that* was an expensive call
  
• Water Shortage (2003 - Current - Does this mean Water World won't happen??)
• Global Fish Shortage (Current 2008 - Suddenly, food=fear)
• Worldwide Food Shortage (Rice Famine? 2008 "At the end of the day, you will pay the price for being a fussy eater.")
• Colony Collapse disorder (2007 So Long, And Thanks For all The Pollen!!)
  
• Bird Flu (2006-2007)
• Rogue Asteroid Strike (2004)
• SARS (2003)
  
• Terrorism (current)
  
• Global Warming (current)
• Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (1990s -2000's Angry cows on the warpath)
  
• Y2K Glitch (1999)
• Deformed Frogs (1995)
• West Nile Virus (2002-2005 Invasion of the Infected Vampires)
• Satanic Day Care (1980-1990)
• Hole In The Ozone Layer (1985)
• Acid Rain (Late 1980's)
• Global Cooling (1975)
• Population Explosion (late 1960's)
• Commies Are Going To Get Us! (1950s-1980s)
  
• Nuclear Annihilation (1950-1980)

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I have color coded these in the following way:

Green - While it might have been real to some extent, if you never fretted about it, you'd be no worse off
Orange - Maybe you should (or should have) worried a little about this one.
Red - OMG, the Media was right! We're all DOOMED!
Black - An ongoing event (too early to tell...so you'd better worry yourself into an ulcer just to be on the safe side).

Of course, an item's color code will change if the situation warrants.

Originally Posted: 4/24/2008
Last updated: 11/15/2009
_______________________________________________________________

The Peon Pulpit's Best Shows On Television (2009)

TV seems to be in a holding pattern these days.....

1. Best Reality Series -
2. Best Educational Series - How It's Made (Science Channel/Discovery Channel/Ztele)
3. Best Drama Series - Dexter (Showtime) New entry!
4. Best Documentary Series - Frontline (PBS)
   
5. Best Comedy Series - The Office (NBC)
6. Best News Show -
   
7. Best Political Show - The McLachlan group (TMG)

Updated 11/15/2009

Pfizer Bulldozes Woman's Home...Then Walks Away

Basically. After winning a case that went to the Supreme Court, New London, CT made a woman move out of her house so they could give her land to Pfizer. They took it promising all sorts of jobs and econmic benefits. The city in turn gave Pfizer all sorts of tax breaks. Now it looks like Pfizer just gave the town the middle finger. Nice.

Serves them right. This should be a warning to all other states to limit eminent domain.

Sounds That Remind Me Of Other Songs...

This is a collection of songs that to me, sound like other songs. Maybe not to the point of being completely ripped off, but definitely share similar sonic elements:

• Taylor Swift - "You Belong To Me" (2009) sounds like "First Time" by Lifehouse (chorus) (2007)
• Maroon 5 - "She Will Be Loved" (2004) sounds like Tears For Fears "Break It Down Again" (1993) ["I don't mind spending every day".... = "It's in the way you're always hiding from the light"]
  

American's Just Don't Know How To Protest

Americans are really bad at protesting...below is an amazing video on YouTube from an Estonian Protest in Tallinn.



I doubt people could get it together and protest like this in the US.

"Severe Abdominal Pain" Is Sweeping Through Hollywood

What is up with all these cases?

• Tori Spelling in Hospital with Severe Abdominal Pain
• Paul Rodriguez Rushed to Hospital
• Dennis Hopper in hospital in New York (stomach ailment...)
  

Silly Pseudoephedrine Law Captures...

Grandma. Good work. All the while, meth streams in from Mexico. Who would have thought?

So let's do the math: Grandma get's an arrest record, and our meth problem grows.

Brilliant.

D.C. Ends Vehicle Inspections - But Is The Joke On You?

D.C. has announced that starting October 1, 2009, they will no longer require vehicle owners to get an annual inspection. This was announced as a budget reduction , allegedly saving the district some $400,000 per year.

Of course, the paranoid in me immediately questions how the People's Republic of D.C. could ever give up this control and revenue stream. Why wouldn't they just increase the inspection sticker price? Seems a bit out of place, doesn't it?? Unless....

Unless it gives them more control. Is it possible, that after October 1, 2009, a D.C. Police officer can pull you over for no obvious violation but instead do it under the cloak of a 'roadside inspection'? Am I really that paranoid? Yes.

Before you judge, consider that this surprise inspection cancellation announcement comes just 65 days after D.C.'s plan of setting up roadside checkpoints in certain high crime neighborhoods was ruled unconstitutional by a federal court. So D.C. can no longer roadblock whole neighborhoods, but perhaps they will now just set up vehicle inspection programs? Perhaps setting up shop in certain neighborhoods? Yes, that makes it all fit together nicely.

We'll see...

Obama (Allegedly) Calls Kanye West A 'Jackass'

If it's true, it may very well mark the first time someone in a position of power has actually said out loud what the rest of us have been thinking/saying for a long time.

Thank God. Maybe Moron TV will not invite him to their shows anymore (unlikely).

Jaycee Lee Dugard Case Could Get Complicated Fast

This week's very bizarre story of Jaycee Lee Dugard has captured everyone's attention. Ms. Dugard was kidnapped 18 years ago when she was just 11 years old by Phillip Garrido ( a convicted violent sex offender) and his wife. Over the course of the 18 year imprisonment, Garrido appears to have fathered at least two children with Dugard. He was arrested and charged with rape and kidnapping.

But what if Ms. Dugard is experiencing Stockholm Syndrome? This seems likely since she's now a 29 year old woman who has not made any apparent attempts to flee (time will tell on that).

The oldest child is 15, which would have made her 13-15 years old at the time of birth. Clearly that would have been, at the very least, statutory rape. Her other child is 11 which would put her age at roughly 18, so rape would be the only charge available there.

The question now is, what are the statute of limitations on kidnapping, statutory rape (assuming Dugard claims it was consensual due to Stockholm Syndrome) and rape (assuming Dugard realizes she was kidnapped and held against her will) in California?

I'm betting that many of those have run out.

Amazon.com Shows BB Application Developers How It's Done

Now this is how you make an application for the Blackberry. Amazon.com released its own Blackberry application back in March or April. You can search, buy, track and even take pictures of items and Amazon will tell you if they sell it or a similar product. Pretty cool. All the other app developers should take a look at this and figure out how this was done.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/anywhere/sms/bbapp

Just Great: Meth Addicts Are Also Alchemists

As if it weren't bad enough that they were also psycho-killers, methheads are apparently more resourceful than the rest of us. They've figured out how to make meth with soda bottles, a tiny bit of Sudafed and who knows what else (perhaps a crow's claw?).

AP IMPACT: New meth formula avoids anti-drug laws

So you can see the set up here. We're going to have to ban soda.

The Epidemic of Vitamin D Deficiency

Much has been written about Vitamin D recently. I am frequent reader of the Mercola website and remember reading about it years ago but basically ignored it as I was taking Centrum multivitamins (400 IU of vitamin D) and assumed I was covered. Years later, I moved to the Costco brand of multi-vitamins and was beginning to wonder if I was meeting the minimums being discussed by Vitamin experts. Some were throwing out numbers like 2,000-5,000 IUs a day. So I began taking 1,000 IUs in addition to the multi (1,400 per day). This went on for about 3 months and then I bought a new batch of Costco's vitamins and found they upped the D to 1,000 in their vitamins. This mean that I was taking 2,000 IU a day.

That went on for about 1-2 months. Just last week I got my Vitamin D levels checked with a 25-hydroxyvitamin D test. My levels, I assumed might be sky high, but one thing was sure...they wouldn't be low.

The recommended range was from 30-80 ng/ml. I came in at 42 (less than 30 is a deficiency). My levels were actually on the low side, after months of taking ~1,500 - 2,000 IUs a day.

What I'm wondering is, how on earth can most people, who spend their days under fluorescent lamps and don't take vitamins.....getting any at all?

The Vitamin D Council website has an interesting article on Autism and Vitamin D. It draws parallels between the sudden widespread deficiency and the sudden rise in Autism (maybe breast cancer too?). It's important to remember that Coppertone first introduced UVA/UVB blocking sunscreen only 24 years ago in 1985.

Godwin's Law In action

Looks like Goodwin's law applies outside of Internet newsgroups and message boards. In the last few days, anti-health care protesters have been compared to Nazis and Tim McVeigh.

Will The Economic Crisis Descend Into Violence?

It sure seems like it might. As the economy gets worse, politics it seems, is getting to be a rough business. American politicians have rarely had to deal with this sort of belligerent constituent rage, and it has appeared on the public stage suddenly and in a widespread fashion.

Nancy Pelosi and others blame these spectacles on conservative special interest groups. And to some extent, she's right. But it appears that all they are doing is tapping into a well of anger and distrust many Americans are obviously feeling.

I don't think the general public nor the politicians have caught onto how deep into an economic crisis we are. And in times of national struggle, such as we find ourselves, everyone must be on their best behavior to avoid widespread civil unrest. We can hardly afford that sort of thing now.

The Death Of (Online) News

Rupert Murdoch announced that all of his News Corp business will being charging for content. Let me be the first to say goodbye to News Corp.

The Financial Times is also floating the same ballon that within the next 12 months "news agencies" (Read: The Financial Times) will begin charging for content as well. At least the FT had a 120 + year run at it. I, personally, am looking forward to watching the prestige and power quickly and quietly drifting away from any news organization who walks this path.

What does all this talk of charging really mean? I think means that news agencies are realizing that the internet bubble of 2000 actually ended. It also means that the current financial crisis is bringing their empires to an abrupt end....and we've just caught a glimpse of the hand they're holding. If they're losing too much money, why not just shut the site down and avoid the embarrassing fade to insignificance? I have a theory....

First, lets take a look at the brief history of news:

1. First there was gossip/rumor
2. Then there was government controlled 'news'
3. Then the free press got in on the game to help form public opinion and foment revolutions...somewhere around the time of the American Revolution (with their pamphlets and all....)
4. Then people started charging pennies for pamphlets to cover their printing costs
5. Weekly/daily newspapers started popping up in populated localities, usually charging enough to cover the business costs
6. Advertising was introduced as a way to "make money" in these newspapers
   
7. Radio came along with no way to charge so the profit/expenses were all covered by advertising (and payola).
   
8. TV came along with the same problem, so the news was given for free (just like radio). It was done at a loss that was made up for by advertising on the 'entertainment' side of the business. This was done because the networks realized the news gave them leverage to use against the government. As a result, TV networks (and to a lesser extent, a few newspapers) gained power as the unelected mouthpiece of a nation, forming public opinion as they wished.
   
9. This bloody internet thing came along (to upset everything) and the established media saw it only as a way to extend their TV/newspaper reach.
10. Magazines and Newspapers get into the game thinking they can charge the same price for their electronic product as their paper product (and it costs almost nothing to distribute). It fails miserably (with few exceptions).
    
11. Everybody is happy with the results until the Great Depression of 2008-?
12. All the established news organizations realize they're going bankrupt because advertisers can't afford to pay the fees anymore. Desperation sets in.
13. People like Murdock float the idea that they'll begin charging everyone for what they used to get for free.

Sounds like a great plan in the midst of a massive global economic depress..err..recession. Day-dreaming of the good the old days won't help the bottom line of News Corp or any of the other faded, fat, greedy news media. If Murdock goes through with his promise, News Corp will quickly be reduced to insignificance.

I predict however that they will quickly change their mind, much like an airline trying to raise airfares by itself, when their page hits drop 99% [On a side note, I can't wait to see the look on a Fox reporter's face when President Obama answers one of the (last) Fox News questions by starting with "You can tell you 15 readers - it is 15 right? or did you guys get a new subscriber in the last week ?- that the reason..."]

But it won't happen, because charging won't happen. Because after all, what mass media is about is power. The power to sway opinion. And it's a power people like Murdock are willing to pay for, even if they have the audacity to try charging you for it.

Rupert and Friends would be smart to remember the Encyclopedia Britannica. Once a proud source of knowledge, for over 200 years, now relegated to a dark, seldom visited corner of the internet/library.

That all happened after this site showed up just 8 years ago: Wikipedia - Much maligned, but still triumphant.

Just wait until you see what the plan is for your kingdom. The free ride might be over, but that doesn't mean people will pay to ride. They might just go back to walking.

Cool Software For Your Cellphone (...that also threatens corruption, evil and oppression everywhere)

Qik is a website and a free application for your cellphone. The application installs on your phone (Blackberry for example) and allows you to one-click record video using your camera's built in video camera. What's cool about Qik is that it simultaneously uploads your video to your own personal Qik web page. Apparently you can also stream live video from your cell phone too, but the part that caught my eye was the fact that it records (saves) your video in real time on a remote server.

Keeping in mind my previous post of the dangers of the police state, Qik is a new threat to the corrupt. One of the problems with being on the scene or being arrested, for example, is that your camera/recorder etc will be seized and then possibly lost/erased etc. Qik renders the physical confiscation of the camera irrelevant. By the time the camera is taken, the video is on the Internet, and the gene is out of the bottle.