Keith Olbermann's Special Comment from December 6, 2007

Bush: Pathological liar or idiot-in-chief?

My ranking of Season 1 episodes of The Office

With no new episodes of The Office in the foreseeable future because of the strike, OfficeTally is once again having a Survivor Poll, this time for Season 1. The first 2 rounds are done, and the 3rd round started today. Here is the link if you want to vote and/or see how the poll has gone so far:

OfficeTally Survivor Poll: Season 1

Here is my list ranking the episodes, which wasn't very difficult to decide:

1. Diversity Day
2. The Alliance
3. Hot Girl
4. Health Care
5. Basketball
6. Pilot

Presumably after this one is done there will be a Survivor Poll for Season 2. Considering the fact that Season 2 of The Office is one of the greatest seasons of any show ever, ranking those episodes will no doubt be much more difficult. It will also be more interesting to see how the fans collectively rank them.

I ♥ The Onion

Conservation Group Condemns Waterboarding As Wasteful

December 4, 2007 | Issue 43•49

WASHINGTON—National Water Watch, a Washington-based conservation group, criticized the government's use of waterboarding Monday, calling the practice of stuffing a cloth into a detainee's mouth, immobilizing him, and pouring water over his face and body to simulate the sensation of drowning "a tragic waste of resources." "The idea that the United States could condone the despicable act of squandering several pitchers of water is shameful," NWW spokesman Gregory Hammil said. "It is amoral, unconscionable, and in direct opposition to all internationally recognized water- saving techniques." Hammil recommended the government switch to more eco-friendly means of enhanced interrogation, such as waterboarding with a return-hose device in order to reuse old water, or simply beating suspected terrorists to a bloody pulp.

This is nuts.

Official Leaves Post as Texas Prepares to Debate Science Education Standards

No response yet from the NBC Universal Store

It's been 3 days now and I still have not received a response to my question at the NBC Universal Store about whether or not the Dunder Mifflin Infinity players whose logos are being featured on merchandise sold in the NBC Universal Store are being compensated for the store selling items featuring the logos they designed. So a little bit ago I sent the question again, with a slightly different wording:

Are the people who designed the logos featured on the Dunder Mifflin Infinity Custom Gear merchandise being sold in the NBC Universal being compensated in any way for the use of the logos they designed as part of the Dunder Mifflin Infinity game? If so, will they be getting a percentage of the profits from the sale of items featuring their logo, or a flat fee for the use of their logo, or something else?

I'm sure you guys are very busy with the holiday season and all, but I would greatly appreciate a response to my question at your earliest possible convenience.

I dropped the part where I asked what percentage of profits they're getting, since if they are getting a percentage of profits, it's not my business what percentage they're getting, as long as they are getting a percentage, or some other form of compensation for the use of their logos, then that's all that really matters.

I don't know how good the odds are I'll get a response this time, but as before I'll post here if I do.

Something rotten at Dunder Mifflin Infinity

So I logged on to Dunder Mifflin Infinity this morning to see what the new task was, and while the new task isn't up yet, I saw this news item which was posted last night:

Nov. 29, 10:00 PM ET
BRANCH MERCHANDISE NOW AVAILABLE!

Attention all DMI Employees:

T-shirts, mugs, posters, cards and mousepads featuring all of the official branch logos can now be purchased exclusively at the NBC Universal Store! Show your DMI pride, click here!

Dunder Mifflin Infinity, for those that don't know, is an online game where people form virtual branches and participate in various tasks each week to earn SchruteBucks which can be spent on virtual items to decorate a virtual desk. Creating a branch logo was the very first task that was assigned, about 2 months ago. For completing the task we were each paid $50 SchruteBucks for completing the task, which is a meager sum, even in SchruteBucks, which have no monetary value outside of the game. Then we voted on our favorite logo in our branch, and the logo that got the most votes became the branch's official logo. While most of the logos are OK, there are a few that are awesome (e.g. Racine, Topeka, Spokane).

The big issue here, though, is whether or not the people that designed the logos on this new merchandise that's being sold are going to be compensated with a percentage of profits from the sale of items featuring the logos they designed, or will receive some other fair form of compensation.

Shortly after seeing that items featuring the logos we created were now being sold, I emailed the NBC Universal Store with the following question:

With the new Dunder Mifflin Infinity Custom Gear being sold in the NBC Universal Store, what percentage of profits or other compensation will the creators of the branch logos that are being put on the various items being sold receive in return for their designs being used?

I have not yet received a response, but I will post as soon as I do.

If it turns out that the logo designers will be getting a % of profits or other fair compensation from the sale of items featuring their work, then that's great!

But If it turns out that the logo designers will not be getting a % of profits or any other fair compensation from the sale of items featuring their work, then this is an outrage that must be responded to.

This is the same bullshit (on a much smaller scale, obviously) that the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) tried to pull on the Writers Guild of America (WGA) regarding online use of programs without compensating the writers.

If the logo designers are not going to be fairly compensated, then I think we all must do the following:

1. Boycott the NBC Universal Store for as long as these items are being sold without fair compensation going to those who designed the logos.

2. Express our dissatisfaction with this at Dunder Mifflin Infinity, by either quitting the game until those who designed the logos get fair compensation for their work, or continue to play the game, but express our dissatisfaction with this in every way that we can (e.g. every new task, message board posts, emails to DMI) until this is resolved.

Would Hillary lose to each of the major Republican candidates?

Today on Digg an article was posted with a new poll by Zogby suggesting that Hillary Clinton would lose to all the major Republican candidates if the election were held today.

From the article:

In the new survey, Clinton trailed Senator John McCain 42 percent to 38 percent, former New York mayor Rudolph Giuliani by 43 percent to 40 percent and former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney by 43 percent to 40 percent.

She also lagged behind former Arkansas Republican governor Mike Huckabee by 44 to 39 percent, and former Senator Fred Thompson by 44 to 40 percent in hypothetical general election matchups.

So Hillary trails in each of the match-ups among those with an opinion, with the percentage she trails in each match-up ranging from 3 to 5 percent.

But I think the key number here is the percentage of undecideds for the various match-ups, which ranged from 16 to 20 percent.

With the anti-Bush, anti-Republican mood of the country as strong as it is, I would guess that the undecideds, if forced to choose (as they would have to if the election were actually held today), would overwhelmingly break for Hillary, giving her the election easily.

The article also states that Obama and Edward both have leads over every major Republican candidate among those with an opinion, but if does not state how big the margins are, or what percentage of respondents were undecided.