Day: November 10, 2008
The Most Irritating Phrases
We here at Pensito Review pride ourselves on our ability to toss about the well-worn cliché with the best of them, but even we have a limit to what we can stomach in polite conversation or, worse yet, everyday basic communicative writing that is intended to convey meaning and emotion. Hence our joy at seeing that Oxford University — famed for its dictionary and shoe style — has published its own list of the top 10 most annoying phrases.
We mostly agree:
1. At the end of the day
2. Fairly unique
3. I personally
4. At this moment in time
5. With all due respect
6. Absolutely
7. It’s a nightmare
8. Shouldn’t of
9. 24/7
10. It’s not rocket science
While we consider the Oxford list to be an excellent starting point, we have a few more that we would like to see added to a longer list of obnoxious phrases:
In order to
When all is said and done
Going forward
Same difference
Six of one, half a dozen of the other
In the final analysis
Drill down
Reach out
Do you have some phrases that are pet peeves? Leave us a comment and, at the end of the day, we’ll add them to our list of banned language.
Mormon Church Owns Mainstream Radio Stations in 8 Top Markets
The Mormon Church owns a for-profit corporate empire worth at least $11 billion. One of the church’s highest-profile companies is a broadcast network that includes mainstream radio stations in eight markets, including Los Angeles, Chicago, Washington D.C., Seattle, Phoenix, St. Louis, Cincinnati and Salt Lake City. The church also owns the NBC television affiliate in Salt Lake City, KSL, Channel 5.
In its campaign against gay marriage, the Mormon Church, through its members, donated up to 70 percent of the funding for California’s Proposition 8, which passed last Tuesday by 52 percent to 48 percent.
Gay groups and their supporters are planning boycotts of businesses owned and operated by Mormons, but one of the many things that set the Church of Latter Day Saints apart from most other denominations is the fact that the church itself owns a wide range of for-profit companies. Recent revenue figures are not readily available on the Intertubes, but here are a couple of paragraphs from an Aug. 1997 Time Magazine article titled, “Mormons Inc.”:
In Seattle, the Mormon Church owns the right wing talk radio station, which it has branded “The Truth.” That just about says it all, doesn’t it?
The top beef ranch in the world is not the King Ranch in Texas. It is the Deseret Cattle & Citrus Ranch outside Orlando, Fla. It covers 312,000 acres; its value as real estate alone is estimated at $858 million. It is owned entirely by the Mormons. The largest producer of nuts in America, AgReserves, Inc., in Salt Lake City, is Mormon-owned. So are the Bonneville International Corp., the country’s 14th largest radio chain, and the Beneficial Life Insurance Co., with assets of $1.6 billion…
All told, TIME estimates that the Latter-day Saints farmland and financial investments total some $11 billion, and that the church’s nontithe income from its investments exceeds $600 million.
Bonneville International, the broadcasting network owned by the Mormon Church, is interesting because, unlike most broadcast outlets owned by religious groupsthat only run religious programming — the networks owned by Pat Robertson and Paul and Jan Crouch, for example — Bonneville’s stations broadcast mainstream programming. Their Los Angeles outlet, 100.3 “The Sound,” for example, plays “Hot AC,” or adult contemporary music. A typical Hot AC playlist might include a mix of songs by Bob Marley, the Waterboys, Cold Play, Jackson Browne and Tears for Fears.
While several of the stations owned by Bonneville are “news/talk,” only KTTH in Seattle is full-on right-wing talk radio. Its moniker is “The Truth” — which just about says it all, doesn’t it? Besides truth-averse hosts like Rush Limbaugh and Bill O’Reilly, KTTH also broadcasts the show by Glenn Beck, who is a Mormon.
In Salt Lake City, the church owns the NBC outlet, KSL, Channel 5. It would be interesting to learn from SLC residents if the channel makes it clear to viewers that church owns the station, and whether the station ever reports controversies involving the church.
A complete list of Bonneville’s radio stations follows.
Florida Democratic Party Fails on State Level
Florida Democrats have one foot in a blue state and the other foot firmly planted in a red one. Despite Sen. Barack Obama’s victory in Washington, Tallahasee looks about the same.
Republicans, who in 1996 took control of the Legislature for the first time since Reconstruction, return to Tallahassee with their iron-clad majorities intact. The Senate stayed the same with 26 Republicans and 14 Democrats, while the House is at 76-44 after a one-seat pickup for the Democrats.
Finger-pointing is not only in full swing, but to my mind it’s appropriate. Fellow P.R. editor Buck and I, both Florida residents, have long questioned Karen Thurman’s leadership as head of the Florida Democratic Party (FDP). Thurman is, after all, subcontracted by Republican lobbyist and campaign consultant Al Cardenas. When we and others cried foul over this conflict of interest, we were shouted down by folks who really like Karen as a person.
I wonder about the result of losing Steve Schale, who previously ran House Victory, and whose position seems to have never been filled. In an election year.
We’re sure Thurman is just as nice as can be, but after the disappointing results in Florida races last week, it’s time to take another look at the effectiveness of FDP leadership. Almost everyone blames strategy, or lack thereof.
Leading Democrats are at odds and analyzing whether they relied on a strategy that spread their resources too thin across a host of races, rather than zeroing in on a few winnable ones…
Even in a Democratic year, Florida Republicans had distinct advantages. Republican leaders drew district lines to benefit their candidates. That makes it almost impossible for even well-funded Democrats to succeed, [Senate Democratic leader Al] Lawson said.
Republicans also used their financial clout to keep Democrats on the defensive — what Republican strategist Chip Case described as a strategy of outspending and outlasting the Democrats.
Democrats infused at least $75,000 into what should have been a solidly Democratic seat, District 85 in liberal-leaning Palm Beach County. It turns out, it was solidly Democratic — Joseph Abruzzo won with 58 percent of the vote.
Personally, I wonder about the effect of losing Steve Schale, who previously ran House Victory, the FDP’s House campaign office. Schale stepped down to head the Obama campaign’s successful Florida efforts. Not only does it seem that Schale’s effectiveness masked other problems in the party but, going by the FDP’s web site, his position was never filled. In an election year.
Tell me again what a great leader Karen Thurman is?
Before the Second Meeting
Political Wire ran this excerpt today from Barack Obama’s book, The Audacity of Hope, in anticipation of this afternoon’s meeting between Pres. George W. Bush and Pres.-elect Barack H. Obama:
In anticipation of Monday’s afternoon meeting between President Bush and President-elect Obama, here’s an excerpt from The Audacity of Hope, where Obama tells of his first meeting with the man he will replace:
The inside of the White House doesn’t have the luminous quality that you might expect from television or film; it seems well kept but worn, a big old house that one imagines might be a bit drafty on cold winter nights.
On a chilly January afternoon in 2005, the day before my swearing-in as a senator, I was invited there with other new members of Congress. At 1600 hours on the dot, President Bush was announced and walked to the podium, looking vigorous and fit, with that jaunty, determined walk that suggests he’s on a schedule and wants to keep detours to a minimum. For 10 or so minutes he spoke to the room, making a few jokes, calling for the country to come together, before inviting us for refreshments and a picture with him and the First Lady…
“Obama!” he said, shaking my hand. “Come here and meet Laura. Laura, you remember Obama. We saw him on TV during election night. Beautiful family. And that wife of yours – that’s one impressive lady.”
“We both got better than we deserve, Mr. President,” I said, shaking the First Lady’s hand and hoping that I’d wiped any crumbs off my face.
The president turned to an aide nearby, who squirted a big dollop of hand sanitizer in the president’s hand.
“Want some?” the president asked. “Good stuff. Keeps you from getting colds.” Not wanting to seem unhygienic, I took a squirt.
“Come over here for a second,” he said, leading me off to one side of the room.
“You know,” he said quietly, “I hope you don’t mind me giving you a piece of advice.”
“Not at all, Mr. President.” He nodded. “You’ve got a bright future,” he said. “Very bright. But I’ve been in this town a while and, let me tell you, it can be tough. When you get a lot of attention like you’ve been getting, people start gunnin’ for ya. And it won’t necessarily just be coming from my side, you understand. From yours, too. Everybody’ll be waiting for you to slip. Know what I mean? So watch yourself.”
“Thanks for the advice, Mr. President.”
“All right. I gotta get going. You know, me and you got something in common.”
“What’s that?” “We both had to debate Alan Keyes. That guy’s a piece of work, isn’t he?”
I laughed, and as we walked to the door I told him a few stories from the campaign.
It wasn’t until he had left the room that I realized I had briefly put my arm over his shoulder as we talked — an unconscious habit of mine, but one that I suspected might have made many of my friends, not to mention the Secret Service agents in the room, more than a little uneasy.
Obama-Biden Now Hiring
Want a job?
If you are among the 6.5 percent of Americans left unemployed after eight years of George W. Bush, I have good news! Barack Obama and Joe Biden are hiring.
This website is designed to provide prospective applicants with information to help them apply for positions in the Obama-Biden Administration. President-Elect Obama will make appointments throughout the federal government. Some positions will require Senate confirmation while others will not. Some appointments will be made during the transition process and others during the early part of the new Administration.
Hear that? You might not even need Senate confirmation. What are you waiting for? Go to Change.gov, click on “Jobs,” and apply today!
