hate reality TV?

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/02/business/media/02reality.html

Now that reality TV has been around long enough for the non-disclosure agreements to expire, NYT has done an article about how they get people to act whacked on TV: don't feed them, don't let them sleep, don't let them have any contact with the outside world (not even books or magazines), and give them an endless supply of alcohol.

I enjoy some reality TV, particularly Clean House and Ruby, and secondarily The Biggest Loser (but some series of that annoy me so much I find them unwatchable, and I fast forward through a lot). I will occasionally watch What Not to Wear, but it sort of pisses me off. It's a little tough to imagine any of these suffering from the alcohol problem, altho the sleeplessness does show up on Clean House. It is interesting to realize that I watch Reality TV -- but very little of the competitive stuff. Go figure.

green shoots and changing parties

There's been a fair amount of angsting about how this economy had better show signs of improvement soon, otherwise the midterms are going to be tough on the Democrats.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/02/us/02unemploy.html

We all expected this (well, we should have). Employment is late to recover after a recession -- the markets recover way, way before the layoffs even end, never mind everyone having found a new job. And recessions brought on by financial crises tend to be nasty, long-lasting ones with slow recoveries. Blah, blah, bleeping, blah.

But I do wonder about the Democrats will get hammered for not doing enough to improve the economy theory. Let's say you live in a state where you are eligible for 79 weeks of unemployment insurance, and you try everything imaginable, only to discover you can't even get a job flipping burgers. And then, some time later this year, or before the election in 2010, that unemployment runs out and you still don't have a job.

Are you _seriously_ going to vote for a Republican who tried to block the extension because it would be hard on businesses? Really?