A late lunch today due to a late meeting, but here are some observations from scanning the headlines:
- From the “Fukc it up” Department: Some interesting flubs are making the news today. The US Government issued a duck stamp recently that contains a phone number for more stamp purchases. The problem is: The carrier card for the duck stamp transposes two numbers, so instead of listing 1-800-782-6724, it lists 1-800-872-6724. The first number spells out 1-800-STAMP24, while the second number spells out 1-800-TRAMP24. The latter number directs callers to a phone sex line. The USPS cannot afford to correct the error.
In other errors, as John McCain last night was talking about a veterans, a picture of a venerable 1930s building was projected behind him. Most folks probably thought it was Walter Reed Hospital. The problem is: it wasn’t. It was Walter Reed Middle School in North Hollywood CA.
- From the “But At Least It Was Popular” Department: When you make a mistake, make it big. In the last item, I mentioned that the wrong Walter Reed ediface was projected behind John McCain’s speech. A lot of people saw it. Viewership for McCain’s speech was even higher than Obama’s: 38.9 million viewers on eight television networks, surpassing the 38.3 million for Obama. As for Palin, her speech was seen by more than 37.2 million combined viewers on six networks, vs 24 million viewers for Sen. Joe Biden’s keynote, or 26 million for Sen. Hillary Clinton’s prime-time speech. Overall, the Republican National Convention averaged nearly 34.5 million viewers over three days, vs. 30.2 million for the Democratic Convention. [ETA: Note there are some disparities in how these numbers were calculated. Remember: there are lies, damn lies, and statistics.]
Speaking of the women, the NY Times is predicting it will be a Hillary vs. Sarah fight for the female vote, and the LA Times is noting that Cindy McCain’s outfit on Tuesday night was estimated to cost $300,000.
- From the “Member of the Tribe” Department: True, Joe Liberman was not on the Democratic or the Republican ticket. But there is a candidate with a Jewish relative: Michelle Obama. It turns out that Michelle’s cousin is the country’s most prominent black rabbi. Specifically, Michelle and Rabbi Capers Funnye, spiritual leader of a mostly black synagogue on Chicago’s South Side, are first cousins once removed. Funnye’s mother, Verdelle Robinson Funnye (born Verdelle Robinson) and Michelle Obama’s paternal grandfather, Frasier Robinson Jr., were brother and sister. Rabbi Funnye (pronounced fuh-NAY) is chief rabbi at the Beth Shalom B’nai Zaken Ethiopian Hebrew Congregation in southwest Chicago.
- From the “What’s In A Name” Department: 99c Only Stores, a leading retailer in California, has a problem. It’s harder to find things to sell for just 99c. Recently, they’ve been forced to be creative. For example, when a dozen eggs became too expensive, 99 Cents Only temporarily began offering six-packs instead to keep prices under a dollar. The company also reduced the size of its milk cartons and stopped selling items such as butter, peanut butter and cooking oil on a regular basis. But this isn’t the right solution. So, after 26 years, the 99 Cents Only Stores chain is expected to announce Monday that it will raise some of its prices above 99 cents for the first time. Supposedly, the name won’t change, but the slogan will. One wonders if they will then be sued for false advertising.
