Author Archives: oddmanout215

‘Network’ redux, starring Bernie and Barack

Posted on June 9, 2016 by oddmanout215

Bernie Sanders met with Barack Obama at the White House today. I’m picturing the scene in Network (only slightly altered here) where Mr. Jensen lectures Howard Beale on how the real world works: You are an old man who thinks in terms of nations and peoples. There are … Continue reading →

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Hillary’s incremental con game

Posted on June 7, 2016 by oddmanout215

Who says the system isn’t rigged? Today, with the primaries still going on and the Democratic convention more than a month away, the Associated Press anointed Hillary Clinton the presumptive nominee. In fact, AP and other mainstream media organizations have treated Hillary as the … Continue reading →

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Cynical coda of ‘Mad Men’ finale: Coke is the real thing

Posted on May 21, 2015 by oddmanout215

An acquaintance of mine posted this question on Facebook last week: “Does anybody else find Mad Men‘s writing to be vapid, direction glacial, acting somnambulatory, and the cultural references boring?” I asked my friend Swamp Rabbit if he’d like to respond, … Continue reading →

Posted in arts, fiction, history, humor, mainstream media | Tagged , , , , | 8 Comments

Happy Ides of March, and watch your back!

Posted on March 15, 2015 by oddmanout215

If you want to get into the spirit of the occasion, give your friend a big smile and a high-five as you cross paths, right before you sneak up on him with knife in hand. Works even better when you … Continue reading →

Posted in arts, humor | Tagged , , | 14 Comments

Let’s rate news analysts on their track records

Posted on February 17, 2015 by oddmanout215

The New York Times recently issued a “Libya is falling apart” editorial. As Glenn Greenwald noted, The Times failed to mention it was an enthusiastic supporter of U.S. air strikes that helped topple Moammar Ghadafi and destabilize Libya to the … Continue reading →

Posted in humor, Iraq war, liar, mainstream media, New York Times | Tagged , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Friday the 13th begets Valentine’s Day

Posted on February 14, 2015 by oddmanout215

The early morning sun glared through leafless trees and into my shack, urging me to action. “Go out and slay dragons,” Swamp Rabbit said. He was hungry and out of bourbon, and not getting along with his girlfriend. At such times, … Continue reading →

Posted in economic collapse, fiction, Great Recession, humor, life in the big city, mainstream media | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

If you can’t do this exercise, you will die!

Posted on February 12, 2015 by oddmanout215

You gotta love online news features, especially when they come from TV. This is from Fox 8 News in Cleveland: It’s being called the exercise test that can predict your death. A physician in Brazil used something called the sit/rise … Continue reading →

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Jon Stewart, the Rodney King of TV pundits

Posted on February 11, 2015 by oddmanout215

Elias Isquith on Jon Stewart: It’s the shallowness of Stewart’s politics that leads to his other notable weakness as a political pundit… his tendency to fall prey to the trap of blaming “both sides.” Exactly. Stewart will end his run … Continue reading →

Posted in Great Recession, humor, mid-term elections, Occupy Wall Street | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

It takes a village of ‘experts’ to craft Hillary’s POV

Posted on February 10, 2015 by oddmanout215

The headline — “Economic plan is a quandary for Clinton ’16” — was provocative. The lede was downright bizarre: With advice from more than 200 policy experts, Hillary Rodham Clinton is trying to answer what has emerged as a central … Continue reading →

Posted in campaign finance reform, economic collapse, humor, liar, mainstream media, New York Times, plutocracy, The New Depression, unemployment, Wall Street | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

Icelanders: ‘Gimme that old-time religion’

Posted on February 5, 2015 by oddmanout215

Many Icelanders have had their fill of the enfeebled Christian deity and are feeling the nostalgic pull of the old Norse gods: Asatruarfelagid, a neopagan organization, plans to start construction next month on the country’s first Norse temple since Christianity … Continue reading →

Posted in enviromentalism, history, humor | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment