50th Anniversary of the Edsel

Today's New York Times features an article entitled "To Ford, a Disaster. To Edsel Owners, Love," which chronicles how Edsel fans are celebrating the 50th anniversary of the auto industry's most famous failure.

Failure magazine's March 2002 feature - Edsel: An Auto Biography.

Big, odd and useless projects that failed

From the "What Were They Thinking?" department is Mental Floss' stunning top five projects that failed:

My favorite? The misguided attempt to dam Idaho's Snake River.

Phillies Suffer 10,000th Defeat

Tonight, the Philadelphia Phillies organization suffered the 10,000th loss in its 125 year history, losing 10-2 to the St. Louis Cardinals at Citizens Bank Park. Fittingly, the outcome of the game was never really in doubt, as the Cardinals hit six home runs and generally dominated the Phillies.

Coincidentally, the game was scheduled for ESPN's Sunday Night Baseball, and as a result it was televised nationally. Throughout the contest the ESPN announcers talked about losing; even the trivia question focused on defeat, asking, "Which Phillies player has participated in the most Phillies losses?" The answer: Mike Schmidt (who was involved in 1,140 Phillies defeats). One fan even held up a placard that read, "I have not failed. I have just found 10,000 ways that won't work. -Thomas Edison."

To find out how Phillies fans plan to "celebrate" the 10,000th defeat read "Loss Leaders."

Bush says Democrats are failing

Earlier today, during his weekly radio address, President Bush said, "Democrats are failing in their responsiblity to make tough decisions and spend the people's money wisely." Well, if that isn't the pot calling the kettle black. Specifically, Bush was referring to the death of the recent immigration bill. Never mind the fact that the primary reason the immigration overhaul failed was due to opposition from members of his own party.

Of course, Bush uses this tactic all the time, pointing the finger at others (or attempting to liken his efforts to especially noble past endeavors) in an effort to divert attention from his administration's own failures. Hopefully, the American people have learned to see through Bush's diversionary tactics, but sometimes I'm not so sure.

Extent of Right-Wing Radio Bias Revealed

Today, the Center for American Progress and the Free Press released a report entitled “The Structural Imbalance of Political Talk Radio,” which conclusively proves that there’s an overwhelming right-wing bias on American news/talk radio. Of course, this should be a surprise to no one. Even though it has been several years since the debut of Air America, most Americans would still be hard-pressed to name a single progressive or liberal radio host, while countless conservative hosts—including Glenn Beck, Neal Boortz, Sean Hannity, Laura Ingraham, G. Gordon Liddy, Rush Limbaugh, Michael Medved, Bill O’Reilly and Michael Savage—enjoy national name recognition.

But the report is still shocking in terms of how one-sided the statistics are. CBS’s 30 stations feature 74% conservative content versus 26% progressive; Clear Channel’s 145 stations are 86% conservative and only 14% progressive; Citadel (23 stations), Cumulus (31 stations) and Salem (28 stations) are all 100% conservative. Not surprisingly, several major American cities—including Dallas, Houston and Philadelphia—hear no progressive or liberal-oriented news/talk radio at all. And even in a supposedly liberal city like New York, the majority of airtime (53% to 47%) is devoted to conservative content. Click here to read the report.

Now what we need is a study illustrating the right-wing bias on television. Fox is still the acknowledged leader in terms of conservative slant, but in recent years ABC has been threatening to overtake Fox in terms of right-wing bias. Meanwhile, CBS and CNN have both become predominantly conservative; only NBC maintains any semblance of balance.

Suedbyscotts.com

New feature article in Failure magazine entitled Worm War I - about the ongoing trademark-false advertising-unjust enrichment lawsuit between Scotts Miracle-Gro and TerraCycle Inc.

Campaign Theme Songs

Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign has garnered more than its share of attention. Most recently she has been soliciting assistance “from the people” in choosing her official campaign song. Among the songs up for consideration are “I’m a Believer” (Smash Mouth), “Rock This Country!” (Shania Twain), “Beautiful Day” (U2) and “Suddenly I See” (KT Turnstall) — plus write-in candidates like “Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic” (The Police) and “Are You Gonna Go My Way” (Lenny Kravitz). For Hillary, choosing a campaign song is a delicate proposition, because she needs a song that’s strong and upbeat, and at the same time feminine but not too girlie.

Naturally, people who aren’t fond of Hillary have picked up the torch and offered up their own subversive suggestions — “The Bitch is Back” (Elton John), “Bitch” (The Rolling Stones), and “Don't Go Away Mad (Just Go Away)” (Motley Crue) — being a few representative samples. Of course, it’s easy to pick on Hillary; not only has the conservative media been working overtime (for the past 15 years) to demonize her, there’s no shortage of popular songs demonizing women in general.

That’s why a more interesting and less obvious question is what songs Democrats would choose to assign to the 2008 Republican presidential candidates — including Rudy Giuliani, Mitt Romney and John McCain — if given the chance. This would appear to be a considerably more challenging proposition, for at least two reasons: Ideally, the songs would remind listeners of the corruption, dishonesty and failure of the past six years of Republican leadership, while at the same time reflecting the personalities (or lack thereof) of our white bread Republican candidates.

Nevertheless, we invite you to offer suggestions, either for individual candidates, or the group as a whole. Feel free to submit them as “comments” below.

Carter refers to the George W. Bush administration as the "worst in history"

The following quote sounds like a good candidate for Failure magazine's This Day in Failure feature. Today, former President Jimmy Carter was quoted in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette as saying, "I think as far as the adverse impact on the nation and the world, this [George W. Bush] administration has been the worst in history. The overt reversal of America's basic values as expressed by previous administrations, including those of George H.W. Bush and Ronald Reagan ... has been the most disturbing to me."

While some would argue that the Carter Administration was itself a failure, it's difficult to argue with Carter's assessment. Even die-hard Republicans can't wait to throw Bush under the bus. No doubt, at the next Republican National Convention the Republicans will try to pretend that George W. Bush never existed.

Walter Thomas goes bust in 12 minutes

Walter Thomas (6-5, 375) received more than his share of attention leading up to the 2007 NFL Draft thanks to his size, strength, and natural physical ability. Yet, despite his awesome upside potential Thomas went undrafted, signing as a free agent with the New Orleans Saints. In hindsight, perhaps Thomas should have signed with a northern team, as opposed to one that practices in the humid, Louisiana heat. According to the Saints' official Web site, "the massive lineman lasted less than 15 minutes into the [team's] first practice before leaving the field and not being able to continue in the warm conditions."

"He had a brief career," said Saints head coach Sean Payton. "It was a situation where from a conditioning standpoint he had a long way to go. I think it was 12 or 13 minutes into practice and he was struggling."

Tort Reform and Lawsuit Abuse

As you may know, Failure recently posted several new stories related to the controversial topics of tort reform and lawsuit abuse: One is a Q&A with Stephanie Mencimer, author of the book "Blocking the Courthouse Door" (Free Press). The other considers whether Satan can be held legally responsible for his actions? As you may know, Satan has on at least one occasion been taken to court. Read "Devil's Advocate" to find out how he fared as a defendant.

Tort reform and "frivolous" lawsuits

A few days ago America Online’s subscriber home page featured a news story recounting a long list of supposedly frivolous/loony lawsuits. You know, the kind of suits that tort reform groups present to the media as fact, but which are actually hoaxes or misleadingly oversimplified sound bites that bear little relation to the actual cases.

I write not to point a finger at AOL; many large media outlets allow themselves to be mouthpieces for the propaganda of tort reform advocates. This explains why virtually everyone in the U.S. has heard of the McDonald’s coffee-spill lawsuit, in which an old woman (Stella Liebeck) supposedly received $3 million, all because she made the mistake of spilling hot coffee on herself. What you never heard is that she was paid only a very small fraction of that amount, and that she had a very strong and legitimate case against McDonald’s. The truth is, she probably deserved several million dollars in damages.

With this in mind, Failure magazine will soon be publishing a special issue on the subject of frivolous lawsuits and tort reform. We’ll be featuring an interview with Stephanie Mencimer, author of “Blocking the Courthouse Door” (Free Press), a new book which demonstrates that our so-called litigation crisis is a myth, and explains how insurance companies and big businesses are fighting to win new limits on citizens’ right to sue.

We’ll also be shining a spotlight on some of these “frivolous lawsuits” you’ve heard about--either to expose them as urban myths or explain how the facts have been so grotesquely twisted that they really do sound loony. Believe it or not, even Satan himself has been party to a lawsuit. Stay tuned to find out how the Devil fared in court.

Route 66

In its heyday Route 66 was arguably the most famous highway in history. But by the time it was officially decomissioned in the mid-1980s, towns and cities all along the route were in decline. But are Route 66 communities in the midst of a comeback? Find out in "Route 66: Road Worthy."

Myth Busters & The Hindenburg

In January 2002 Failure magazine reported on the legendary Hindenburg disaster of 1937. On Wednesday January 10 (9pm) the Discovery Channel's "MythBusters" examines the Hindenburg disaster, experimenting with a miniature replica in an attempt to prove how it caught fire and why it burned so fiercely. For more information click here.

From Dittohead to Democrat

For more than a decade Jim Derych was a diehard Rush Limbaugh fan - a dittohead. But over time, the thirty-something financial planner realized that the real world wasn't much like the one Limbaugh paints for us on his syndicated national radio program. Finally, after 13 years of listening to the "chubby, drug-addled, matrimonially-challenged elephant" Derych decided Limbaugh was full of crap and changed his allegiance to the Democratic Party. In a new interview ("Left Turn"), Derych speaks out about why he deserted the Republican Party, and decided to write "Confessions of a Former Dittohead."

ExxonMobil Smears Gore Through Intermediaries

Currently available on YouTube.com: "Al Gore's Penguin Army," a two-minute anti-Gore video that presents the former vice-president in a decidedly negative light and seeks to marginalize the message of his documentary "An Inconvenient Truth." The video was ostensibly made by a 29-year-old amateur, but according to an article in today's Wall Street Journal, the video appears to have come from a computer at DCI Group, a Washington D.C. Republican lobby and public relations firm whose clients include - surprise - ExxonMobil. The future of Republican smear campaigns has arrived: High-priced right-wing PR firms and "think tanks" secretly producing expertly-crafted smear videos, then trying to pass them off as the work of your average twenty-something. In this case, the deep-pocketed DCI Group went so far as to purchase sponsored links [like the ones appearing above this post] for search terms "Al Gore" and "Global Warming" that pointed Web surfers directly to the video.

Next time you fill up your gas tank think about how much of that $3-plus a gallon is going to pay for political/anti-global warming propaganda.

U.S. Capitol Historical Society to honor Cunningham, DeLay

On July 19 the U.S. Capitol Historical Society will hold a reception to honor a select group of lawmakers “for their hard work, service, time and the sacrifices made in upholding the office with which they were entrusted.” Among them is former Rep. Randy “Duke” Cunningham (R-Calif.), who will not be able to attend ... because he's in prison. Another disgraced former Representative is also on the list of honorees: Tom DeLay (R-Texas). No word yet on whether DeLay will attend.

American Gasbags

A few months ago the blogosphere was abuzz with chatter about a planned July 4 weekend boycott of ExxonMobil. ExxonMobil had recently reported $8.4 billion in first quarter profits and Americans were vowing to send Big Oil a message by refusing to buy gas for a day or two. What happened? Did anyone follow through on their pledge? We haven't heard a peep in the media about the fallout (or lack thereof) from the boycott. And, for what it's worth, BoycottExxonMobil has registered virtually zero traffic in the past few months. It seems Americans may have sent ExxonMobil a different message: We are addicted to oil and we'll pay whatever you charge us, even if it kills us.

"Little House On The Prairie"

Our latest feature article--about Prairie Opportunity and its efforts to reverse population loss in northwest North Dakota, a.k.a. "out-migration"--is a good introduction to what we're all about. Read the story, entitled Little House on the Prairie: Attracting the Modern-Day Ingalls Family and let us know what you think.

Q&A with Congressman Lynn Westmoreland

Late last week Republican Representative Lynn Westmoreland (GA) was interviewed by Steven Colbert on the Colbert Report. Predictably, Colbert asked Westmoreland to recite each of the Ten Commandments. Keep in mind that Westmoreland was responsible for co-sponoring a bill that would have required placing the Ten Commandments in all courthouses and public buildings.

Colbert: What are the Ten Commandments?
Westmoreland: You mean all of them...? Um... Don't murder.... Don't lie.... Don't steal.... Um... I can't name them all.

Westmoreland couldn't even recall, Do not take the Lord's name in vain. Heck, even a heathen could name more than three Commandments.

The rest of the interview was equally embarrassing. I guess this is what happens when a Republican can't rely on the talking points of the day.

Video of the interview can be seen here

Ann Coulter is Representative of America

Today, Ann Coulter was greeted by a throng of cheering supporters at a bookstore in New York—there to sign copies of her latest book-length diatribe. Even if you accept the notion that Coulter makes completely outrageous statements just to get attention and sell books, the fact that she gets a humongous amount of mainstream media exposure (and can attract a crowd of rabid fans at a book signing) says a lot about American society in 2006. Ten or fifteen years ago Coulter would have been considered a part of the lunatic fringe; today she represents the views of a huge percentage of the Republican base.

Of course, her statements regarding the 9-11 widows have attracted the most attention. If you find your opinions aligned with Coulter think about this: Imagine one or more of your family members was killed in the next terrorist attack. How would you feel if a Coulter (or another talking head) garnered fame and fortune by claiming that you were “enjoying” the loss of your loved one(s) a bit too much, and that you had no right to speak your mind. Still feel the same way?