As IF Times

link The Clicker – How does Oprahs farewell compare to other TV greats?.

Please, please, enough already.  The long kiss goodbye is nauseating.  It’s not as if Oprah is hanging them up never to be seen again.  She’ s moving on to her very own TV network.  The whole bandwagon is just moving down the block.  With all the sobbing and crying, you’d think Kleenex is a sponsor of the show.

For reasons mysterious to me, Oprah was able to establish herself as the indisputable icon of daytime TV.  As one writer coined it, she brought weepy emotionalism to the mainstream, in particular hooking white, middle aged women into her shtick  of empathy TV.  Her struggles with her own weight alone was enough to draw in a sympathetic audience.  By virtue of her hold on this female demographic, she wound up influencing the other big demographic, the women’s husbands.  Because of this derivative leverage, Oprah’s influence on America was undeniably immense.  In American homes every night, husbands were exposed to “Oprah said this about …” whatever the issue was.

In some ways, Oprah became Mr. Rogers for adults.  Years ago, Mr. Rogers hosted a relatively banal children’s show which had at its core, one consistent theme.  That was, you are special and no one is like you.  That was the underlying appeal of the show, children were subtly coerced to have a high sense of self worth.  Certainly a good message for impressionable children.  Oprah carried this idea to the next level.  Her theme was consistently, I’m OK, you’re OK as well as the notion of recovery from emotional pain.  Who knew that so many people could identify with personal redemption?  Emotional navel gazing became a national obsession.  But it also meant that every fringe personality or lifestyle received validation and blessing from her as well.  Any book authored with compelling personal stories became instant best sellers.   Unfortunately, this gave rise to charlatans and con men who tried to tap into this commercial lotto ticket by being featured on her show.  James Frey and Margaret B. Jones are examples of authors who fabricated heart wrenching stories to be featured on Oprah.

While embarrassing, these missteps didn’t matter to the loyal fans who are generally pre-disposed to tear jerkers.  It’s a certainty she would have been acclaimed as President if she ran, but instead she anointed another.  No one can deny the influence of Oprah on the election of Obama.  But enough is enough. After 25 years of emotional blood letting, it’s time to move on as did the kids who grew up with Mr. Rogers.  You can’t cry all the time.

link Japan earthquake and tsunami: Sales of doomsday nuclear bunkers soars 1000% | Mail Online.

Like a scenario from an Arthur C. Clarke science fiction novel, entrepreneurs are taking advantage of the recent disaster in Japan to capitalize on the fears of a gullible public.  Or at least a very small slice of the gullible public, because these disaster shelters are designed to house only 950  people apiece.

Putting aside the mentality of people who would be tempted to partake in this scheme, consider that  the real filter will be that of money.  At the moment, for the tantalizingly cheap price of $25,000, one is offered a chance at safety should a nuclear disaster strike.  That’s cheap!  You can’t buy a parking spot for that in New York City. 

However, I’ll bet on human nature that as an imminent disaster looks more likely, the owners of this scheme will renege on the deposits and instead, re-sell the spaces to the highest bidders.  After all, what are aggrieved people going  to do? Sue?  “We’ve assigned you a court date in one year”.   Therefore, this logically leads us to the worst part of this scheme.  The people who will be safely ensconced in these tombs of doom will be people with plenty of financial resources. 

Only lots and lots of money will get you in.  That means if you’re lucky enough to get a spot, your co-habitants for a year or so will be sports stars, Hollywood celebrities, business moguls, oil sheiks,  crime bosses and people who own real estate in Vancouver.   Given that, some would rather die a horrible death by radiation, but there will always be detractors.  The configuration of the bunkers is an obvious  issue.   It’s unclear how they will be able to build a space large enough to contain the egos given that all of these constituents are used to having their own expanses of privacy.  At 137,000 sq ft per bunker, it’s barely the size of Donald Trump’s guest bathroom.  You’d have to believe that there would be room made for chefs, cleaning people, publicists and yoga instructors, all key people in this groups’ entourage.   A year without yoga?  Please. 

It’s unclear how distribution of resources and maintenance of civil decorum will occur in such a close space.  Since despised  lawyers likely have been forced to populate their own bunkers, the administration of social decorum will at best be decided by the tried and true, rock, paper scissors method, or at worst, the Lord of the Flies method.  You can imagine what kind of chaos will erupt when someone consumes all of the Cabernet Franc in the first month.   One very serious consideration will be the food supply.  While it can be possible to store lots of freeze dried food and water, eventually, you run low.  It may be a good idea to have maximum weight limits for prospective buyers because you don’t want them unduly straining resources.  So, fat people are out. 

If you really subscribe to this scenario though, the best thing to do now is to get into the racket of selling these things as soon as possible.  At the very least, you may be able to save up enough to purchase a spot for yourself.   The possibility of spending a year with Oprah and the Donald?  Priceless.