March 13, 2009
Four For Friday
Q1 - Work it Out: The week-long "feud of the century" reached its climax last night as Jon Stewart welcomed freshly minted nemesis Jim Cramer to "The Daily Show." Cramer, who hosts a CNBC show called "Mad Money" had figured heavily in a "Daily Show" piece highlighting that network's poor track record on the financial apocalypse ("If I only followed CNBC's advice," Stewart said then. "I'd have a million dollars today -- provided I'd started with $100 million.") When Cramer objected publicly to what he considered unfair treatment, Stewart and his writers, smelling comedy blood, turned their sights toward him. Or, as Stewart described it last night, "We threw some Boston Cream pies at CNBC, you got a little shmutz on your jacket from it, you took exception, and then we decided to hit you with more pies." If you could compel two public figures to 'work it out' on live television, who would you put into each of two chairs?
Q2 - Sacred Places: Anza-Borrego Desert State Park in Borrego Springs, California, now offers an AT&T-powered Wi-Fi service enabling park visitors with wireless enabled laptop computers or personal digital assistants (PDAs) to access the Internet. Should Internet access be offered to state and national park visitors, or are some places meant to remain off the grid.
Q3 - Sentencing: Muntadhar al-Zaidi -- the Iraqi broadcast journalist who removed and then threw his shoes at George Bush in mid-December of 2008 -- was sentenced this week to three years of prison for "assaulting a foreign leader." Mr. al-Zaidi, who served as a correspondent for Iraqi-owned, Egyptian-based Al-Baghdadia TV, often reported on the plight of widows, orphans, and children in the Iraq War, and himself was kidnapped and beaten while on his way to work in central Baghdad in 2007. If the shoe was on the other foot, so to speak, and you were the judge in the case, how would you have sentenced al-Zaidi?
Q4 - Building: There's a $28 million home near mine that goes on the auction block tomorrow morning because its owner let it fall into foreclosure. If you could own any building in the world, what building would you choose to own and what would you do with it?
Posted by Mikal at March 13, 2009 7:28 PM
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Q1: First off, I have to say that I don't know how Cramer got a show. The first time I saw the guy, I couldn't change the channel fast enough. What an idiot. I'd choose Benjamin Netanyahu and Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, because maybe, just maybe, if they could work out their differences, other people in the Middle East could learn to get along.
Q2: I think WiFi is okay. I would ban anything that disturbed the atmosphere, but I suppose they already have restrictions on how loud you can play your radio. I hate going camping and having to listen to someone's cranked up stereo system.
Q3: My initial reaction when I first heard about this is that the sentence is excessive. I would have made him serve as President Bush's butler for a month, but I'd keep a secret service guy on him at all times.
Q4: I would own the United Nations building, evict everyone, level the place, and plant trees.
1. I think all the political 'playas' should be forced into a small boat and dropped in the middle of the Northern Atlantic until they work it all out amongst themselves. No comedy, no joke.
2. How stupid. Just...hopefully, only in California.
3. Hell, *I* would award the guy, have a statue built in his honor, and write his memoirs! The guy's a hero. Many's the time I've wanted to throw things at that particular "leader."
4. I would love to be able to afford the upkeep on the Hermitage in Leni...er, St. Petersburg. How awesome would that be, to sweep through those amazing halls looking at the artwork and sleeping in a different room practically every night of the year?!
1. Shirley Phelps-Roper vs the President of GLAAD. I doubt that any differences would actually be worked out, but it would certainly show up people like Phelps for the buffoons they are.
2. If it's done without detracting from the park's natural beauty I have no problem with it. There's a scenic little county just west of my hometown that's essentially chosen to have no cell phone service because the towers would have to be placed on clearcut areas on highly visible ridges. Since the unspoiled vistas are important to the area, I think they were right to limit cell phone towers.
3. Maybe some community service at most.
4. Biltmore House, or something similar that's not only beautiful and historically significant, but that run as a going concern rather than a museum.
1. I wouldn't really care. I think anything that happened on live TV would be pretty fake anyway. Isn't that the type of stuff that Maury Povich tries to do every show? While it would probably be more interesting with feuding celebrities or politicians, it's still not really the kind of stuff I care about.
2. Wow, this is a tough one for me, but in the end, I'd rather they remained off the grid. Sometimes, you need to get away from technology. Soon it will be very hard to do. I guess you can always just leave you cell phones and laptops at home.
3. While I can sympathize with Mr. Al-Zaidi, I think I would have sentenced him very similarly. I certainly don't agree with all the decisions President Bush made, but you have to find better ways to protest than assaulting the president. And while his actions seem fairly harmless, precedents must be set to show that kind of behavior will not be tolerated. I mean honestly, who throws a shoe?
4. Can I choose a complex of buildings rather than a single building? If so, I choose the Vatican. If not, I would choose to own Madison Square Garden. I would give myself court-side seats to every Knicks game. Plus, when a b-ball team as terrible as the Knicks can sell out or come close to selling out most home games in this economy, well, I'd probably make some really good cash from the venue as well.
1- Can I say the Palestinians and the Jews instead of individuals?
2- I think there should still be places to get away from it all, so it seems like a place like a national park makes sense. I mean, how do you really enjoy the place if you're answering email the whole time you're there?
3- I think you can't let non-related circumstances influence the sentencing. If its a first criminal offense, give him a sentence on the lighter end of the legal options, but I'm a fan of consequences.
4- I'd pick the most expensive building on earth, sell it, then buy a nice house on a large piece of land, but hopefully net enough cash to have to work again.
Q1 - Work it Out: Matt Groening and Seth MacFarlane. Maybe they'd get over themselves and come together to write some sweet comedy.
Q2 - Sacred Places: Well, like Clark said, if you want to get away from "it all," then leave "it all" behind when you go. Some people can't because their freakin' employer expects more than is humanly possible from them, and the only way they'll ever get a vacation in is by pretending to vacation while working, and at least that way their family gets to see their dad while on said pretend vacation instead of ditching him for a week. WiFi access? Great! If I'm lucky a bear will maul me to pieces and feed me to the fishes... not that I'm complaining or anything.
Q3 - Sentencing: I'd sentence him to whatever the law required me to. I know... it's so mean, isn't it? Requiring people to live by laws and stuff?
Q4 - Building: Well, Greg's choice is the obvious one here. But assuming you weren't allowed to do that (kind of like wishing for more wishes from the genie) then I might pick the Wynn Hotel and Casino. I'd try really hard to run it well enough to make money, despite current conditions being what they are.
Speaking of million dollar homes, I thought I just saw Keith Barton's (famous Utah attorney) old home, which he bought for $30 million and sold for $15 mil, on the market for $10 mil.
Q1: Binham Mohammed - The British citizen whose penis was sliced while being "interogated" in Gitmo vs. Dick Cheney - the man who I feel is most responsible for authorizing the torture.
Q2: I would hope that we can refrain from checking our email while backpacking, camping, etc. We are all too removed from our natural universe as it is, I say turn it off!
Q3: I would have thrown my shoe at him.
Q4: Your talkin specifics here, aren't you Belicove? Howard's Cafe in Occidental, CA. - so I could have breakfast on the patio every morning.
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