John Sez: Other than the fact that he, at times, gets extremely marble mouthed, I like Lou Dobbs. I can’t say that I agree with all of his commentary (although his reporting on illegal immigration was spot on, in my opinion) his was one of the few (the only?) show left on the 24 hour news channels that asked the hard questions, and had no fear of confronting anyone regardless of their status, power or money. He also has some incredible good reporters (notably Casey Wyann, whom I hope has a long and illustrious career ahead of him after the Dobbs show) on his staff, who were apparently the last remnant of a free press on the big news corps.

Like him or not, he was all there was left of the heard edged, old school type of presenters and CNN if the poorer for his leaving.

Interestingly enough, Media Matters for America sent me form e-mail claiming that Dobbs’ leaving was their doing. Um, considering that Dobbs wife was almost killed in a drive by on his home a couple of weeks ago (perhaps by someone inflamed by Media Matter’s rhetoric? Hmmmm…), I think he may have had some reasons other than a hack political activism group’s efforts to smear him to draw back from the television limelight. (see video below of Lou Dobbs announcement)
In other news related new, Bill O’Reiley is the biggest douchebag onTV - followed by, perhaps, his recent guest Col. Peters(for a real meeting of the mindless, see video below)
 
 
John Sez: It wasn’t that long ago that I posted about Dr. Oz making the rounds on the TV news telling people how they should all go get their swine flu shot. The first alarm bell that rang in my head concerning Oz’s campaign to get people vaccinated was that he admitted during a news interview (video at bottom of story, or go here for the original post) that he would not be vaccinating his own children even though he was pushing for others to get the shot or to have thier children innoculated.

Now it has come out that this Oz character owns 150,000 option shares in SIGA Technologies, a vaccine technology company who’s stock is sure to rise with every vaccine given. To make matters even worse, he’s not just a shareholder of  SIGA, but he is a member of their Board of Directors, and has been since 2001.

To make a long story short: OZ has been seemingly using his position as a TV doctor with millions of viewers to convince people to get a vaccination to make money for him and his companies shareholders and not for the betterment of the health of those who listen to him.

This is absolutely disgusting. This man should have his license to practice medicine revoked immediately due to ethics violations. He is nothing more than an opportunist, a modern-day snake oil salesman whose greed has overshadowed his Hippocratic oath; he has put potentially hundreds of thousands of people’s lives at risk pushing a vaccine which is completely untested for safety FOR THE MONEY.

 Story from NaturalNews:

Conflicts of interest? Dr. Mehmet Oz owns 150,000 option shares in vaccine technology company

by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor

(NaturalNews) Dr. Mehmet Oz is a huge promoter of vaccines. He's been on television reinforcing fear about H1N1 swine flu and telling everyone to get vaccinated. But what he didn't tell his viewing audience is that he holds 150,000 option shares in a vaccine company that could earn him millions of dollars in profits as the stock price rises. It is in Dr. Oz's own financial interest, in other words, to hype up vaccines and get more people taking them so that his own financial investments rise in value.

Evidence describing these facts was delivered to NaturalNews by a private investigator named Joseph Culligan (http://webofdeception.com/oprah.html#oz). That evidence includes an SEC document detailing how Dr. Oz. bought options on stocks for SIGA Technologies in 2005, 2007, 2008 and 2009. SIGA Technologies (stock symbol SIGA) is a vaccine technology company with many advanced developments whose success depends on the widespread adoption of vaccines. According to SEC documents, Dr. Mehmet Oz. currently holds 150,000 option shares on SIGA Technologies, purchased for as little as $1.35 back in 2005.

At the time of this writing, SIGA Technologies is trading at $7.10, making those options bought in 2005 worth $5.75 in profits today. If all the 150,000 options purchased by Dr. Oz. were exercised today, they would be worth roughly $180,000 in profits (they were bought at different prices, not all at $1.35). This is all revealed in what the SEC website calls an "insider transaction" document

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Embedded video from CNN Video
 
 
John Sez: For years I had seen an episode here or there of the TV show, Stargate SG1. While I liked what I saw (as well as having enjoyed the original movie), I always resisted getting into the show because it seemed to me that I was a little in the dark about where the show was in its story arc, as well as having some of the impact of what I was seeing lessened or missed entirely due to not knowing the back-story. Thanks to Netflix (a GREAT service which I highly recommend – and no, they didn’t pay me to say that) the entire show became available to me on DVD. So I watched…every…single…friken….episode over the last year or so. And I’m not at all sorry at all that I did.

For those of you who may not have tuned into the show thus far, let me offer a very brief and basic plot synopsis:  Stargate SG1 follows the exploits of a secret Air Force program called “Stargate Command”, which has the control of an portal (the Stargate, of course) which allows them to travel millions of light years instantly to any other Stargate in the universe. While the gate is used for exploration to set up cultural and economic trade, it also opens up a conflict between Earth and the Go’a’ould (I’m not sure if that is spelled correctly, but it looks right), a race of powerful and advanced ancient beings who proclaim themselves as gods.

Along with a superb cast, which gelled perfectly and had great chemistry (even through some personnel changes), there was some excellent writing and an amazing eye for detail and continuity. Like any good high adventure, I found that I cared about the characters, despised the villains, and enjoyed the exotic as well as the familiar viewed through the lens of the universe created for the show. It was a very well done show; if you like science fiction or adventure with some humor and a detailed world, I would suggest checking it out – but you have GOT to watch it in order or you miss out on a lot.

I am also planning on watching the first spin off, Stargate: Atlantis. Like the original, I’ve seen a few episodes, but realized that I had no idea what was going on. Hopefully it lives up to the quality of its parent show.

Now  a quick word about the third spin-off, Stargate Universe, now in its first season on SYFY.

I really, really wanted to like this show. The previews made it look like a darker take on the Stargate franchise, one filled with mystery and tension. Unfortunately my expectations were apparently way too high, and I found myself profoundly disappointed in the program. After watching the pilot plus three episodes, I simply gave up watching.

The show centered around a large group of people who used the Stargate to jump to an unknown ‘address’ in order to escape destruction. They find themselves on an ancient space ship which is falling apart. Unable to control the ship or to gate back home and finding themselves short on supplies, the ‘crew’ endeavors to do what they can to survive and maybe find a way back to Earth.

What might have started out as a good idea with a great deal of potential quickly deteriorated into a complete train wreck of a show. First off, within the first half an hour of the pilot the audience was treated to a graphic and gratuitous sex scene – considering I was watching this with my young daughters (who enjoyed SG1) and that the scene had no purpose as a plot device or character development (other than to be shocking, apparently), I felt that not only was it out of place but also inappropriate.

Also, the behavior of some of the characters was not believable. The supposed Air Force cream of the crop which one would expect in such a secret program like Stargate (established in the first series) were nowhere to be found, which really hurt the suspension of disbelief that one needs to get into this kind of show. Most of the uniformed folks behaved childishly or stupidly, and in one case one of the officers has severe anger management problems which I would think would keep him from being in such a specialized program in the first place…but apparently looked like a good plot device to the writers of the show.

Problems with the characters don’t end there, unfortunately. Although the cast is very large, I couldn’t find one character I was either sympathetic with or even cared about. After five hours of viewing, some kind of connection needs to be made with the audience through the characters, but no attachment could be had. It wasn’t that I particularly disliked any of the characters, I just really didn’t care either way.

Also, the plots have been really thin. There’s no sense of excitement, adventure or exploration. Instead the scripting seems to be character driven, trying to bring out angst, drama, and emotion (more in the way of a soap opera than a space opera) in the viewer. Unfortunately, when you have no connection to the characters,  it’s nearly impossible to grow a series that way.

In the end, Universe seems to be a poor use of a great franchise, and will do much to tarnish the reputation of the Stargate world. I think the show will be lucky to make it past two seasons, and I can only hope that it does not leave a bad taste in the mouths of viewers and industry executives which would ruin another foray into the world of Stargate.
 
 
John Sez: Although Mr. Mizzy’s career was larger than the Addams Family theme, one has to admit that one single 60 second song (harpsichord, finger snaps and Mizzy singing the fun and catchy lyrics) is one of the most recognizable TV themes ever created.

Rest easy, Mr. Mizzy.

Story from Variety:

Composer Vic Mizzy dies at 93 Wrote music for 'Addams Family,' 'Green Acres'

By JON BURLINGAME

Vic Mizzy, who composed the indelible theme music for "The Addams Family" and "Green Acres" died Saturday in Los Angeles. He was 93. For the "The Addams Family" theme, which became a long-remembered part of '60s pop culture, Mizzy played the harpsichord and sang the vocal parts (overdubbing his own voice three times) and coached the actors during the main-title sequence (including on-camera finger-snapping by the actors).

The equally iconic "Green Acres" theme was performed by stars Eddie Albert and Eva Gabor. Mizzy also wrote all the underscore for both series. His theme for "Addams" was reprised in the 1990s feature films.

Although he was most famous for his sitcom music, Mizzy also had a number of top-20 hits in the late 1930s, '40s and '50s when he was active as a New York-based songwriter. Doris Day sang the most popular, "My Dreams Are Getting Better All the Time," in 1945.


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John Sez: Apparently that poor excuse for afterbirth, Glen Beck, was praising the new CD by the band Muse(a band I’ve been diggin’ for years, since I first heard the track 'Muscle Museum' on a CMJ compelation CD) on his show. It seems that someone associated with the band heard his faux fawning, and it wasn’t long before Beck received an e-mail from a representative of the band telling him to cease his praise.

Beck (and I spell that with a capitol MORON) has been trying so very, very hard to co-opt as many grass roots movements as he possibly can over the last couple of years. He has tried to stamp his ‘brand’ on tea parties, ‘end the fed’, the Ron Paul Revolution, and just about every other topic covered by radio host Alex Jones. And speaking of Jones, he’s a fan of Muse (and they are fans of his, apparently) and has even had them on his show a couple of times.

Not to be insulting, but anyone who follows this mewling simpleton Beck need s to take a step back and re-evaluate their gullibility quotient. He’s nothing more than a modern day snake-oil salesmen. Like Limbaugh…and Hannity….and O’rieley…and Cooper….and Blitzer…and Zakaria….and Olbermann ( I had really high hopes for him)…and Scarborough…and Sanchez…and Tony Harris of CNN – in my opinion, the award winner for the most simple-minded TV news presenter.

Story from the London telegraph:

Muse tell Glenn Beck to retract endorsement

Glenn Beck, the Fox News commentator, was forced to withdraw an endorsement for the British rock band Muse after they complained that he misrepresented their political beliefs

Beck, an outspoken conservative known for his caustic attacks on Barack Obama, praised a song on the band's new album The Resistance for warning against the dangers of "one world government".

Describing their music as "absolutely fantastic", Beck implied that the band members shared his concern about the centralisation of power by liberal politicians.

He repeatedly compared the lyrics of United States of Eurasia to George Orwell's anti-totalitarian novel 1984, in which the world is divided into three superstates including Eurasia.

"These guys are brilliant, they know the time that we live in. They are libertarians from England," he said on his nationally syndicated talk radio show, The Glenn Beck Program.

"All of the lyrics are... dead on, on what's coming our way."

But Beck withdrew his recommendation after being emailed during the show by a representative of the band.

"They would like me to retract my endorsement," Beck told listeners. "My apologies to Muse for saying that I like them. I didn't mean to destroy all their credibility and all their coolness.

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And here’s one of my favorites from Muse: