Just an observation, James Gandolfini died a few days ago, and it is still "news," I wonder why. On TV again right now, talking about it. It must just be a slow news day. He had a heart attack and died, no foul play, no decadent meal, no drugs, someone wants to find something, and there is nothing there. New Jersey is going to fly their flags at half mast ..... overweight Governor Christie decided that about overweight, possible high cholesterol, James Gandolfini. I just have to wonder why it is still so newsworthy.
The Food Network has apparently severed ties with Paula Deen over racial slurs she has made. "Paula Deen, the self-proclaimed queen of Southern cooking and a sugary mainstay of the Food Network, was dropped by the network on Friday, after a bewildering day in which she failed to show up for an interview on the “Today” show and then in two online videos begged her family and audience to forgive her for using racist language." The first time I saw her, and heard that voice, which incidentally, was the first and last, well, once the chills quit running up and down my spine, I knew why I didn't like Southern Cooking. Now I can start watching the Food Network again.
They were known as the “7-Eleven Houses,” the two shabby homes in Islip Terrace on Long Island, and not simply because of their proximity to the 7-Eleven on Carleton Avenue — one across the street and one tucked behind it. It was because, morning and night, the men, more than half a dozen just from one house, some neighbors said, would file from the peeling doorways to work at the convenience store in shifts so long that it sometimes seemed as if they lived not in the tattered houses, but at the shop. But on Monday, after federal authorities indicted the owners of the 7-Eleven and seized the store, it was revealed that the houses were what prosecutors in New York State referred to as part of “a modern-day plantation system,” packed with illegal immigrants living in substandard conditions, working under false Social Security numbers, and being paid pennies on the dollar for hundreds of hours of labor.
Companies can fire a founder. But they can’t fire his brand. That’s the dilemma Men’s Wearhouse is left with after dumping its founder and spokesman, George Zimmer, a decision announced Wednesday. Mr. Zimmer had starred in the suit retailer’s commercials for almost 30 years, guaranteeing men that “you’re going to like the way you look.”On Thursday, a day after the company’s terse announcement, reaction on social media continued to be fast and furious, indicating that Mr. Zimmer had made the jump from business executive to cultural icon. “George Zimmer” was one of the top searches on Google on Wednesday, and news of the firing made the gossip sites TMZ and Gawker. And the Men’s Wearhouse Facebook page had more than 200 comments criticizing the company for ousting Mr. Zimmer, with sentiments like “If George Zimmer isn’t coming back, neither am I!” and riffs on Mr. Zimmer’s signature ad closer like “You’re going to miss the way I shopped. I guarantee it.”
COMMENT: Pop-ups are almost ruining my "internet experience." They are getting really bad. I think we should start a movement of some kind to boycott any company that pays big bucks for a popup ad. I make a mental note to NOT support a company or a product that pops up on my screen. I was on a newspaper site today, and I think there were 4 popups and one, when you closed it, another came up, etc., etc. Advertising rules our lives on television, why not the computer ..... next, ads on the GPS ..... before you can find out where you are you have to listen to an ad. Then, screens in your car, you hit the starter, and you have to watch three ads before the engine starts. How about screens in urinals, watch an ad before toilet paper dispenses, that's diabolical.
