By John Y. Brown III, on Fri Jul 20, 2012 at 12:00 PM ET  Facebook advertising and paying for colonoscopies.
As I watch Facebook succumb to ad creep I am reminded of a ridiculous joke I suggested a couple of months ago to a friend as we discussed the need for, ahem!, colonoscopies and how to pay for them.
My idea was a simple, All-American pro-Capitalism approach. I thought of the most obvious solution that everyone else seemed to be missing.
Look, some people rent out their cars for ad space. We have ads in the most intimate public spaces, including restroom stalls. And don’t forget the human sandwich boards.
The solution was so simple, a child could have thought of it. Why not allow us to contract through our insurance providers to rent out our colons as advertising space?
Duh!!
When doctors are doing a scope they will see advertising campaigns specifically targeted to them. Ads for new medical equipment, new pharmaceutical medication, trips abroad, Mercedes Benzes and subscriptions to Cigar Aficionado. With the new advertising revenue derived from colon ads, we will be able for every American to be able to financially cover all the needed medical procedures involving their colon.
Health improves. Our health care system is more financially solvent. And doctors get interesting and relevant information about new marketplace opportunities while snaking through our colons looking for the presence of unusual new growths.
It’s a classic win, win, win.
And reminded me of the new spate of ads we are all subjected to now on Facebook. We are all being treated like doctors now, in an odd sort of way. I guess. There is always a silver lining if you look hard enough.
And also, if you look hard enough, there is another advertisement that just appeared. ; )
By Jonathan Miller, on Fri Jul 20, 2012 at 10:55 AM ET Last night’s horrific tragedy in a Colorado movie theater involved the brutal murder of more than a dozen human beings, including a few children whose lives were obscenely ended in a needless fit of violence.
I ask our political leaders to take a break from the their self-serving tweeting and sound-biting of what’s now emerged as our language’s most overused cliche — “our thoughts and prayers are with the families of the victims” — and instead offer some meaningful attention to the horrific crisis of gun violence in our nation, whatever your particular ideological view on the issue.
This should not be used and yet another opportunity to demonstrate your empathy for voters. Guess what — the families are already in our thoughts and prayers. The way to truly honor the victims of this tragedy is to use the authority the voters have already given you to take meaningful action to decrease the likelihood that this will ever happen again.
By Zack Adams, RP Staff, on Fri Jul 20, 2012 at 10:00 AM ET The Politics of Pigksin
Cowboys WR Dez Bryant has been arrested and charged with family violence, a Class A misdemeanor. It is reported that he shoved his mother during an argument. This is not the first time Bryant has had run ins with the law. [WFAA]The Colts have signed #1 overall pick
Here is an opinion piece on Bryant’s future. [ESPN]
Andrew Luck. Terms of the deal were not released. [Yahoo! Sports]
In more arrest news Rams first-round pick Robert Quinn was arrested for a DWI this month. [KSDK]
Which is the best division in the NFL? [NFL.com]
In even more arrest news Marshawn Lynch has been arrested for a DUI. Not a great offseason for the NFL’s crime image. [MercuryNews]
By RP Staff, on Fri Jul 20, 2012 at 8:30 AM ET So says Fishbowl DC:
Now that congressional candidate-turned political pundit Krystal Ball has a regular spot co-anchoring MSNBC’s “The Cycle,” we’ve been able to take a closer look at her. And while we may be overshooting here, we’re ready to say Ball looks very much like the beautiful Dutchess of Cambridge herself, Kate Middleton.
“Ha! Very flattering,” Middleton Ball told us. “I’ll take being compared to her any day!”
She told us we’re not the first to compare her to Middleton but that she is “more commonly” compared to a young Demi Moore. “Both are extremely flattering and a bit of a stretch,” she said.
If you’re wondering where she got the curious name, a 2011 WaPoprofile on Ball notes that her father, a physicist, wrote his doctoral dissertation on crystals.
OK, You decide. Let us know what you think in the comments section below.
By Jonathan Miller, on Thu Jul 19, 2012 at 2:00 PM ET
By Jeff Smith, on Thu Jul 19, 2012 at 1:30 PM ET Poignant stuff. Lovely slideshow: 83 yr-old woman’s court case may be strongest argument against DOMA: [Huffington Post]
By John Y. Brown III, on Thu Jul 19, 2012 at 12:00 PM ET Are you feeling shallow today?
Did your boss seem dismissive of you?
Are you not getting the kind of respect at home you feel you deserve?
Next time you feel a personal slight, actual or anticipated, stop yourself. Straighten your back. Look the person in the eyes and repeat this quote–soberly and with conviction.
“There is no coming to consciousness without pain. People will do anything, no matter how absurd, in order to avoid facing their own soul. One does not become enlightened by imagining figures of light, but by making the darkness conscious.”
Pause. And then add,
“Oh yeah. That’s Carl Gustave Jung. Since you appear confused.”
Shuts ’em up every time. And they will not take you for being shallow or inconsequential again.
By Jonathan Miller, on Thu Jul 19, 2012 at 11:00 AM ET
By Zack Adams, RP Staff, on Thu Jul 19, 2012 at 10:00 AM ET The Politics of Tech
Despite $500k Comcast marketing campaigns, a town overturns a Colorado law against cities owning broadband utilities and looks at funding its own gigabit broadband fiber network. [Times Call]
A Congressman in the Philippines with strong MPAA ties is pushing a bill that would send illegal downloaders aka pirates to jail with a minimum of 2 years for first offense. [Daily Dot]
Australians get the shaft when it comes to downloading music and games (legally). For example they pay 50% more for their downloaded music and games as well as hardware and software than their US counterparts according to a consumer watchdog. [The Age]
The judge in the case against Kim Dotcom of Megaupload has quit the case. [NZ Herald]
This robot is going to help clean up the oceans by eating the garbage and pollution. [Earth Techling]
Windows 8 has a release date: October 26. [CNET]
By Jonathan Miller, on Thu Jul 19, 2012 at 8:30 AM ET For those in the RP Nation following the narrow defeat of an Israel divestment effort within the Presbyterian Church (USA), here is the front line perspective of one of the principal leaders of the effort to clock divestment, Ethan Felson, the vice president and general counsel for the Jewish Council for Public Affairs:
The Presbyterian Church (USA)’s 220th General Assembly had just cast its first vote on an anti-Israel divestment resolution when the spin began. Major news outlets and activists on each side could hardly wait for the debate to finish the next day before declaring winners and losers.
This was my fourth GA and one thing I’ve learned is that reality lies somewhere between the headlines. Here are some reality checks on the GA.
* The defeat of divestment was narrow — and it wasn’t.
The widely reported 333-331 vote earlier this month was on a motion to substitute a positive investment minority report for the main divestment resolution. This means the very first time the plenary had a chance, it shot down divestment. It was close, but in subsequent votes the positive approach passed by a much wider margin — and additional pro-divestment motions continued to fail by increasingly wider margins. The Positive Investment substitute — passed 369-290 — calls for financial support for projects that include collaboration among Christians, Jews and Muslims and that will help develop viable Palestinian infrastructure, job creation and economic development.
* The PCUSA is different from other churches – and it isn’t.
Think of the most intense anti-Israel delegitimizers you’ve ever seen, heard or read. They run the show at the PCUSA.
Before the GA, the PCUSA’s coordinator of social witness policy defended divestment, attacked positive investment and said an Israel-apartheid comparison is unavoidable. An advisory committee called as its resource person before the GA’s Middle East committee a Jewish representative from an anti-Zionist group that actively favors boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS). Even the church’s executive council backed divestment.
But there were also several major Presbyteries, seminary presidents, former national moderators and other key leaders who opposed divestment. One group, Presbyterians for Middle East Peace, successfully advocated for a balanced approach that was clearly more in keeping with the mind-set of Presbyterians.
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