Atlanta's public transportation system, MARTA, is spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on a public relations campaign to win more riders and expand its reach.
To fight a perception that the system is unsafe, what brilliant idea did one firm come up with? Well-placed Coca-Cola vending machines.
Yes, you read that correctly.
People feel safe and comforted when they're near the familiar red-and-white Coke logo, says the Atlanta marketing firm Turner Fernandez Turner. Acknowledging "this is going to sound crazy," the firm suggests that putting Coke vending machines on MARTA trains would conjure up "all sorts of positive images of childhood, security, stability and Americana."
100 Jeffs were surveyed, and this is what they explored as other ways we can make people feel good about themselves:
Mona Charen, in her syndicated column, brings up a good point, that our society has gotten to pride itself so much on being 'nonjudgmental' that "the body count in our high schools is their reward."
Clarence Thomas also chimed in earlier this year, observing that, "By yielding to a false form of
'civility,' we sometimes allow our critics to intimidate us. As I have said, active citizens are often subject to truly vile attacks. They are branded as mean-spirited, racist, Uncle Tom, homophobic, sexist, etc. To this we often respond (if not succumb), so as not to be constantly fighting, by trying to be tolerant and nonjudgmental -- i.e. we censor ourselves. This is not civility. It is cowardice, or well-intentioned self-deception at best."
The SHUT UP ALREADY award goes to Richard Williams, blowhard and overbearing father of tennis stars Venus and Serena, for his reaction to fans at Indian Wells, California booing the family for Venus pulling out of a match with her younger sibling at literally the last minute.
"It's the worst act of prejudice I've seen since they killed Martin Luther King," Williams said. "That's the hardest time in the world I've ever had," Williams said. "I'll never go to Indian Wells again, because I believe that guy would skin me alive."
Comparing a few boos to MLK Jr. being killed means that he's learned from Jesse Jackson. No matter what happens, compare your situation to the Civil Rights movement of the 60s, that a few comments is somehow equal to lynchings and beatings.
You know you're having a bad fantasy sports day when all three of ESPN's "Fantasy Duds" are on your rosters.
Last week a Palestinian sniper killed a 10-month-old Israeli boy. A few days prior, a Palestinian suicide bomber killed two Israeli teenagers as they waited at their bus stop to be taken to school.
Why do I bring these up? As another example of the one-sided war being waged in the region by the Palestinians. Wait, you say. But far more Palestinians have died in the past months than Jews.
Yes, but let's see how they died. Palestinians died because they attacked Israeli troops, who naturally fought back, sometimes with deadly force necessary. The Israelis who have died were either ambushed soldiers or innocent civilians at the wrong place and wrong time during a Palestinian terrorist attack.
The Palestinian's thug leader, Yasser Arafat, was given far too much credence during the Clinton administration, and now that Bush is in power in the U.S. and Ariel Sharon has taken over as Israeli Prime Minister from the weak Ehud Barak, it is time to deal with the situation properly.
Timothy McVeigh will be executed next month for the bombing of the Oklahoma City federal building. Normally this wouldn't bother me. The problem? He wants it, in a twisted effort to become a martyr for extremists. Thus, I say we keep him alive and torture him daily, live on the Internet. And each family member and friend of a victim gets to do whatever they want to McVeigh short of ending his pitiful existence.
Another troubling sign that the NEA and the Left don't care about children, only power, came to light in San Francisco. Despite unwavering evidence that for-profit schools have brought up test scores and increased child/parent participation in urban areas, the SF Board of Education wants to rid the area of all Edison Schools Inc., a for-profit educational firm that now runs 113 schools in 45 states, many of them charter schools like the Edison Charter Academy in San Francisco.
Critics charge racial discrimination (against blacks at this heavily Latino school) and say that explains Edison's rising test scores. (Is that racist, or what?) But even The New York Times says opponents "have failed to offer concrete evidence that Edison has forced out students to increase its test scores." (Maggie Gallagher)
Joke time:
The Democrat was very impressed, and when they came upon another homeless person he decided to help. He gave the homeless person directions to the welfare office. Then, he reached into the Republican's pocket, took out fifty dollars, and gave it to the homeless person.
Homer quote: "The code of the schoolyard, Marge! The rules that teach a boy to be a man. Let's see. Don't tattle. Always make fun of those different from you. Never say anything, unless you're sure everyone feels exactly the same way you do."
Random Site: Guess the Dictator or Sitcom Character.
In a bizarre turn to the most recent school shootings in the past month, instead of condemning the kids that committed the crimes, we're hearing reaction after reaction blaming the bullies that supposedly brought on such anger. To Jill Wynns, president of the San Francisco Board of Ed, success is irrelevant. "Although we recognize that a number of parents are satisfied with the education their children are receiving at Edison," she told the crowd, "the fact is ..." that none of that matters to the board.
A Republican and a Democrat were walking down the street and came upon a homeless person. The Republican gave the homeless person his business card and told him to come by and see about a job. He then took twenty dollars out of his pocket and gave it to the homeless person.