Webspace Oddity

The lack of editing and editorial control in the media often makes me shake my head. As much as a lot of these people are being paid and given the amount of them, you'd think a typo or boo-boo would be the exception rather than the rule. Today's strange anomaly has me wondering just what is behind it.

This morning, I followed my regular routine of sitting in front of my computer and sifting through the headlines via Google News. That's when I came across this:


After the jaw-dropping double-take, I clicked on the link:

**http://content.usatoday.com/communities/theoval/post/2010/07/obama-wes-still-headed-in-the-right-direction/1**

Even though the headline on Google News from above read "We's" and it was in the link itself, the articles' headline was different:


Google News, the link, and the article itself have since been changed as of about 9:30AM PST.

http://content.usatoday.com/communities/theoval/post/2010/07/obama-on-jobs-we-are-headed-in-the-right-direction/1

All of this begs to question: Is this an incident of blinding racism that slipped through the cracks, or just a blunder of cosmically unlucky coincidence? In either event, I think I can speak for all of us when I say, we's all very interested to find out.

Adam Lambert Is Gay. We Get It.

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The entertainment news is full of anger and outrage today because following the cancellation of Adam Lambert's Good Morning America appearance, it was learned an interview and performance was scheduled for Chris Brown. Feminists and Gay Activists are wondering why a rapper convicted of abusing his girlfriend rates over an openly gay singer. Like anything, there's more to this story.

Adam Lambert is gay. This is supposed to mean something to us. Why? I'm not sure, but we're just supposed to go with it. As is the ABC Network. The evil, gay-hating, abuse-loving ABC Network. Dirty, naughty, bad ABC Network....had enough yet? Me too.

ABC aired the American Music Awards. They commissioned Lambert to give a performance during the awards. Lambert rehearsed his act in front of the producers and censors and it met their approval. However, this was not the performance that Lambert gave when the awards aired. He completely changed his performance, and he added several lewd acts in the mix. This caused viewer outrage and a backlash which ABC may or may not recover from.

Following his AMA performance, ABC canceled Lambert's appearance on the Good Morning America show, because even though they'd barely skated by the previous night due to the time he gave the performance, they didn't want to take a chance of him pulling more shenanigans during a morning slot when they definitely would be fined.

Yep, that pretty much says it all...

I bet ABC feels like this guy right about now.

The truth of the matter is, Chris Brown was booked way before any of this even happened. If you haven't been living under a rock, you've heard of the Chris Brown hoopla. It's been out for months, and his scheduling for Good Morning America was to be in response to Rhianna's recent interview. It's also a lot more important than Adam Lambert trying to extend his fifteen minutes of fame in the entertainment world.

Is entertainment news really important at all? No. Does a famous superstar couple airing their dirty laundry in the media beat out an attention queen with a gay agenda acting the part on a music awards show? Yes.

Yet still, we have to hear about how this is discrimination against gays, and how we're supposed to accept Lambert's irresponsible acts because it's all about gay rights and freedom of speech. Well, Adam, here's a clue: If you want to exercise your freedom of speech--go right ahead, but do it on your own dime, not someone else's.

Are we really going to blame ABC for reacting this way after the Janet Jackson/Justin Timberlake fiasco? Adam Lambert didn't just go with the flow once he took the stage, this was a completely planned out ruse. He deliberately auditioned one act to pass the censors, and then bent ABC over and rammed it home the minute he took stage. All so he could push his gay agenda, and cause a big enough controversy to make the headlines.

What is ABC's message to Lambert in all of this? You deceived us and put us in a compromising position. We can't afford to be fined for your puerile little whimsies. We no longer trust you. Have a nice career on another network.

What is my message to Lambert in all of this? You're gay. We get it. No one cares. Being gay doesn't make you special anymore than being straight makes me special. You either have talent, or you don't. Your gay agenda has no place here. If you have to shove your gayness in everyone's face to get them to notice you, then you're a no-talent hack who needs to quit music and go be a tax lawyer.

Like Horny Goats to the Slaughter

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The English are weird. I'm just going to put that right out there. Not that we don't have our own oddities, but you have to admit, this makes a whole lot more sense when you realize where it happened.

Joanne Hale, 39, gave her husband Peter an herb called horny goat weed before cutting his throat in woodland at Stoke Bishop, Bristol, on 27 December 2008.

Bristol Crown Court heard she then left the scene to have a romantic liaison with a man she had met on the internet.

Hale, of Stapleton, will be sentenced at a later date.

The trial jury heard that after taking the aphrodisiac, Mr Hale was led to the woodland by his wife believing they would have sex.

Instead Joanne Hale inflicted a 12cm (4.7in) cut to his throat and then stabbed him, leaving a wound to his chest which caused lung collapse, cardiac arrest and heart damage.

Christopher Armstrong, the surgeon who treated Mr Hale, said that he had come "close to death".

At least in America, we only use the internet to make asses out of ourselves because people are picking on Britney Spears, or to find our long-lost sons so we can sleep with them...like I said, the English are weird.

The rats told her to do it...

That horny goat weed must be some primo stuff, because I'm still trying to figure out at what point you don't tell someone there's no way you're going into the woods to have sex.

After the attack, she left Mr Hale in the care of a passer-by and went to Bristol Parkway railway station to meet Philip Sudol, a married postman from Leeds, with whom she had been having an internet relationship.

Mr Sudol told the court of his shock as he arrived back at the Hales' home in Hawksmoor Lane to be met by a large number of police.

"I heard the police say there had been some sort of incident, and she had been accused of being involved with that incident and they arrested her on attempted murder.

"A couple of minutes later someone came over and arrested me as an attempted murderer - I was quite taken aback by that. I'd been in Bristol for an hour, maybe less," he said.

Mr Sudol was subsequently released.

Joanne Hale declined to give evidence at her trial but she had told police that Mr Hale had cut his own throat after an argument.

She was convicted by a majority verdict.

I see, the old he-cut-his-own-throat-and-left-himself-for-dead defense. She probably should have doused him with petrol and set him on fire. The jury would have believed spontaneous combustion.

Chins That Kill...On The 11 O'Clock News

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In an article from the L.A. Times today, NBC affiliates are pitching woe as they see their 11 o'clock news programs declining in ratings. According to the affiliates, the source of this sudden decline in ratings is The Jay Leno Show. They are stating that because the show is the lead-in to their news programs and is gathering poor ratings, it is directly affecting the subsequent ratings for their news programs.

Call it the Leno effect. NBC's controversial decision to shift the late-night talk show host to 10 p.m. has been billed as a savvy business move that enabled NBC to substitute a low-cost talk show for expensive scripted dramas. But now it's playing havoc with many of NBC's more than 200 affiliates, where Leno's weaker "lead-in" is undermining audiences of 11 p.m. newscasts. News programs are crucial for local stations, which draw upon them for a third of their revenue.

Leno's new show averaged about 5.6 million viewers through the first four days of last week, less than half the audience it attracted when it premiered and more than a third less than the audience that NBC drew last season with its longtime schedule of drama shows. The network says the declines are in line with expectations and cautions patience as viewers discover the new time slot for the talk show king.

Local stations, whose goodwill the network depends upon to keep Leno's show on in every market, could soon grow antsy. Already hit by the recession, which has dried up advertising by such onetime mainstays as auto dealerships, retailers and mortgage companies, NBC affiliates may not be able to tolerate the financial pain that Leno is causing to their late-night news programs -- and may be forced to consider their own program alternative for the 10 p.m. hour.

The real question to be asked here is: Does this count as a valid argument? It's obvious the stations are suffering from the programming change, but can Leno really be blamed for this? Due to the economy, advertising has taken a huge hit, which directly effects television. As a result, NBC is trying something new with The Jay Leno Show to mix things up and still provide entertainment. It's also a way to give some new blood a shot in the Late Night slots.

The show is struggling to find an audience at the moment because it's a new concept, and most people are stuck in the 10 o'clock drama mindset. However, if you listen to what the local NBC affiliates are saying, it basically simplifies down to the theory that people watch whatever news program comes on after the show they are watching during the 10 o'clock slot. So if CSI:NY is better than Leno, they going to watch the CBS affiliate's news instead of ABC's or NBC's.

Bruce Campbell is going to have to change the title of his Bio.

At what point doesn't this fall on the affiliates' shoulders? If their news was really as good as they like to tout, then wouldn't people switch anyway? This is 2009, you have to figure 98.9% of the populace have a remote controlled television, and I'm probably being too generous. In reality it's probably more like everyone has a remote controlled television. Do you really think people are that lazy that they won't switch the channel to better news considering they don't have to get up to switch it? I have my own personal favorite as well, and when 11 o'clock comes around, if I'm watching television, I'll switch the channel no matter what channel the 10 o'clock show I was watching was on.

Currently, all of the best shows are on CBS and FOX. The only show I watch on NBC is 30 Rock, and I don't watch anything on ABC. I've watched The Jay Leno Show twice now, and to be honest, it's not all that different from his Tonight Show, it's just on at 10 o'clock. Leno is a likable, funny guy, and I've generally enjoyed his show. However, like most people, my decision on which late night show to watch is completely dependent upon the guests for the evening, but there have been numerous times where I would watch Jay's monologue and then switch over to Letterman for his guests--and vice-versa.

I think what's really hurting NBC right now is Hulu. With the invention of Hulu, you can watch all the shows you want to watch on a given night, and then if there was something on NBC or FOX which was competing, you can watch it the next day on Hulu. Since Hulu is a deliberate venture between NBC and FOX, they can't really blame anyone but themselves for it. However, it's obviously playing a part, because it recently hit the media that they're discussing charging for access to Hulu.

Of course it doesn't help that NBC just made some really bad choices in their Fall Lineup. So bad that they ended up having to bring 30 Rock and Chuck back earlier than scheduled to make up for it. Just the cancellation of Life was ridiculous. It was a good show with great writing, and I know a lot of people who really liked it. They could have easily given it a better slot and pulled the ratings up, but they chose to cancel it, along with several other shows, so they could save a buck and try their new experiment with Leno. Unfortunately, these are times when you have to try to play it safe, and they may well end belly up before this experiment is over.

As for the affiliates, it's very easy to try and blame NBC and Jay Leno, but the simple truth of the matter is, if they want people to watch their 11 o'clock news, then the burden is on them to make better news programs. NBC can't be blamed for that.

The Politics of Whining

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I read an Op-Ed piece in The New York Times entitled The Politics of Spite. Although it's obvious Paul Krugman likes to hear himself talk, or whatever the written equivalent of that would be, it's equally obvious he missed the point. Because there's so much spin in this article, you'll heave up your corndog when you get to the end, and yes, it was a good idea you didn't have that Icee.

Something very important happened on October 2, 2009. The World told Obama, "No, you can't," when the Olympic Committee eliminated Chicago on the first round of voting.

Though many in the media want to claim this decision was political, and that Christmas had come early by giving the World a chance to kick the US and not have to take heat for it, I don't believe this was the case. I don't believe the Olympic Committee hates the US, and I don't believe it was their intent to get even for the rest of the World.

Although it would be fun to spend the rest of my time writing this article about the ineptitude of Obama, and cap it off with a nice zing like--What's next? Is the White House chef not going to leggo his eggo?--there are deeper issues here.

The simple truth is Barack Obama acted like a complete fool and embarrassed us in front of the World. There are many layers to how he accomplished this. For starters, he sends his wife and...Oprah? Really? I'm sorry, but The Olympics doesn't house a pie eating competition. Why on earth would you send Oprah as a representative to the single greatest athletic competition in the universe? Not to mention, she didn't even speak.

I think that was a major contributing factor to them eliminating Chicago. How insulting is it that we think we can just flash a miscellaneous celebrity at them and sway the vote? Like the Olympic Committee was going to say, "Damn, they brought out Oprah, it's over now. We might as well just hand it over."

Anything's possible...

Then he shows up, gives a quick speech which was basically all about him, and then rushes off like he's too busy to stick around. When you're pleading your case to a committee, especially an important one like The Olympic Committee, and you're trying to sway their vote in your favor, at what point does giving them the proper respect and dues not come into the picture?

I just want you to know, Bob. I've always hated your skeevy little guts. You suck, I rule, it's just that simple. Can I borrow five bucks?...Yeah that's gonna happen. Nothing says win like self-aggrandizing pomposity.

Obama's arrogance and lack of respect was even mentioned by members of the committee.

The thing America is finding out, is we are no longer a Superpower. Gone are the days of Reagan and America's World prominence. We're still in the Country Club, but we're just one of the guys. Barack Obama is no more important than Nicolas Szarkozy, Gordon Brown, Angela Merkel, or any other major World Leader.

He's starting to believe his own press. He thought he was just going to waltz into The Olympic Committee and they'd give him whatever he wanted because he's Obama. The Olympics are bigger than World Leaders, and they don't care if you're the first black American President, or the media's self-made second coming of Jesus.

So now we get to bust out the wahmbulance because "The vast right-wing conspiracy" is at it again. They're mean and spiteful and won'ts gives us whats ourses! Puh-leeze.

Unlike Rush Limbaugh and others, my moment of joy was not from Obama not getting his way. My moment of joy was when they told him no and then picked Brazil. Finally, something they couldn't blame on racism.

The Director, The Dictator, & The Direct Democracy

Besides being a melting pot for not only its multicultural society but also some of the finest chocolate in the World, Switzerland is possibly best known for its staunch neutrality. For years, it has maintained this neutrality, but as time has gone by, piece at a time, their neutrality is waning.

All of this asks the question, without the neutrality Switzerland is famous for, what appeal will Switzerland hold? Sure there's Swiss Army Knives, Swatches, and Toblerone, but in all honesty, people like Switzerland because of Swiss Bank Accounts and it's a place to escape to with a certain amount of anonymity.

Recently, Switzerland has been the subject of much ado in the press when Filmmaker Roman Polanski was detained in Switzerland this weekend while attending the Zurich Film Festival. Officially invited by the Swiss government to attend, Mr. Polanski was greeted by a less than hospitable welcome as he arrived in the nation's largest city.

Roman Polanski's arrest in Zurich at the weekend has caused headlines around the world and anger among many.

But legally, Switzerland's extradition agreement with the United States is clear.

The US had issued an international arrest warrant for Mr Polanski. US officials apparently pointed out that the film director would be on Swiss soil on Saturday, and asked the Swiss authorities to detain him.

Switzerland's Justice Minister Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf did not hesitate.

"We have an agreement with the US to apprehend those wanted for offences," she said.

"When we knew Mr Polanski was here and the US asked us to act, it was our duty to do so."

The arrest has caused an enormous backlash and garnered fierce criticism and outrage around the World, but in particular amongst the Swiss citizens.

Many Swiss - especially those who turned up at Zurich's film festival expecting to see Mr Polanski receive a lifetime achievement award - feel the police action ordered by the government was clumsy, even cruel.

"How the Swiss can invite him to an official event to receive an award, and then arrest him, I can't understand it," said one visitor. "It's ludicrous, ridiculous."

"I think it is shameful, bothering an old man like that," said another. "I am ashamed to be Swiss."

Swiss political parties on the left and the right have their doubts too.

"For me this arrest is impossible to understand," said Ueli Leuenberger of the Green Party. "He was an honoured guest in our country."

On the Swiss political front, there is much anger from both sides considering this a political ploy and is being criticized as "Switzerland's eagerness to carry out US instructions."

"It's ridiculous and just shows what happens when we try to serve foreign masters," said Mr. Toni Brunner of the Swiss People's Party.

Notwithstanding all of the criticism and disapproval, the Swiss government is still sticking to its guns on the issue stating:

"What we are talking about is the statutory rape of a 13-year-old girl, one of the most serious crimes there is," said Christophe Darbellay of the Christian Democrats.

"I think Mr Polanski should be extradited to the United States as soon as possible."

It is very clear expeditious extradition will not be the case. In mere minutes of Mr. Polanski being detained this has already become a highly politicized international incident. The US has sixty days to serve its extradition request at which time not only can Mr. Polanski appeal it in the Swiss courts, but so can France and even Switzerland itself.

It is not clear whether the critics of this arrest condone the actions of Mr. Polanski or merely despise the deeper ramifications this action holds on the international reputation and intranational fundamentals of Switzerland.

It is suspected that Mr. Polanski's lawyer will request bail due to the length of time it will take for the Swiss courts to come to a final decision in the matter; however, given Mr. Polanski's prior history of fleeing, it is questionable whether or not it will be granted.

The All New MacGyver Snacks, direct from Switzerland.

Interestingly enough, Mr. Polanski's woes occurred three days after Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi addressed the U.N. General Assembly in New York City. In his address, he criticized the United Nations for being unfair to small nations. Even more interesting, a few weeks prior to his address, the Libyan dictator submitted a proposal to the U.N. to abolish Switzerland and divide it up into three parts, giving them back to France, Germany, and Italy respectively.

Gaddafi, who randomly gives improv performances as a fruitcake, has a new found angst towards the vanilla nation after Gadaffi's son Hannibal and his wife were arrested in Switzerland for alledgedly beating two servants at their hotel. He immediately retaliated by closing all Swiss interests in Libya and withrawing more than five billion dollars from Swiss bank accounts.

Public outrage grew from chocolate-covered pistachio lovers everywhere, then they realized pistachios come from Iran, and grew unanimously silent from the subsequent embarrassment.

Although the motion was thrown out because it violates the U.N. Charter, which states that no member country can threaten the existence of another, some Swiss leaders are still concerned that Libya could use its yearlong presidency of the U.N. General Assembly, which began on Sept. 15, to keep up Gaddafi's vitriolic attacks on their country.

It's hard not to chalk all of this up to an increasing feeling of a great negative change which is saturating life and the World as we know it. It's hard not to ask, what kind of World are we living in when you can't even trust Switzerland to be neutral anymore? Quintessentially, everything does change. In general, change is random, but as time moves forward it increasingly is not for the better.

Though this seems to be, in a way, marking an end of an era, one has to question the common sense of such a policy change. With a World which seems to be gearing up for the next World War on a day-to-day basis, is it really a wise decision for Switzerland to give up its neutrality?

A Show of Force

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Fox News and Talk Radio Host Glenn Beck has taken yet another beating in what shows to be the wave of his future. It appears that several of the Corporations who advertise during his program have decided to pull their ads after Mr. Beck decided to exercise his First Amendment right and say the things everyone else is too afraid to stand up and say.

In an America where the Press are no more than a pack of deifying fanboys, all too eager to lick the feet of King Barack, Mr. Beck has decided to stand his ground and have his say. Every night Mr. Beck stands up for the rights of all Americans as he tells it like it is, exposing The Obama Administration for being the farce it truly is, and calling out our "Representatives" on to the mat.

Mr. Beck is neither a radical, nor is he a pushover. He has a common sense, no-nonsense outlook on Society and Politics, and he capably expresses it.

WANTED

His reward for all of this is to be labeled a racist, a radical, an instigator, a terrorist, a Republican, and anything else The Lurk and Pounce Media can come up with when they're not staking out Michael Phelps.

Good job, Glenn. We get it.

Swing on by Mr. Beck's website today, www.glennbeck.com, and drop him a little e-mail in support.

The Lurk and Pounce Media

Here is an article that is a prime example of everything wrong with The Press today.

This is from the Associated Press, or AP as it is commonly referred, let's dissect it.

BALTIMORE — Michael Phelps was driving an SUV that collided with another car in Baltimore Thursday night, but the Olympic gold medal swimmer was not injured, police said.

The female driver of a Honda Accord was "shaken up" and taken to a local hospital as a precaution, police said. Two passengers in Phelps' Cadillac Escalade were not injured, said police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi.

Guglielmi says Phelps has been interviewed by police and alcohol was not a factor. No citations were issued and the accident was being investigated, with a report perhaps available Friday, Guglielmi said.

Okay, the validity of how newsworthy this story is to begin with is obviously in the eye of the beholder. However, I personally feel that it is complete fill and does not fuel anyone's need to know what's going on in the real World. No offense to Mr. Phelps, but if I just got in a fender-bender with someone, even if the vehicles were totaled and one or both of us went to the hospital in critical condition, I highly doubt it would make the local news, much less the annals of the AP. Believe me, this statement is in no way tempered with any kind of jealousy. It's a fender-bender and no one was hurt. Where's the story? He'll have a new Escalade by Noon tomorrow.

Phelps won eight gold medals at the Beijing Olympics.

Welcome to the 2008 Beijing Olympics! Wherein we would not even know or care who Michael Phelps was if it wasn't for him winning eight gold medals. Way to stay on top of things and inform us. You get an A.

I mean, I completely glossed over that whole Olympic gold medal swimmer thing in the first sentence. Sheesh, if it wasn't for you reminding me of that, I would have just kept thinking of him as that Stoner who lost his Wheaties endorsement.

Phelps' SUV had a crumpled hood and was on a tow truck. The gray Accord had considerable damage on the front driver side.

No offense to this fine, fine piece of Journalism, but in the defense of thought and flow, shouldn't this be above the bit where he won the eight gold medals? I mean, it kind of puts a cap on the first three paragraphs. No? Moving forward...

Phelps has had brushes with the law in the past. USA Swimming suspended him earlier this year for three months after a British tabloid published a photo of him using a marijuana pipe. The Richland County, S.C., sheriff's office investigated the photo but found there wasn't enough evidence to charge Phelps.

Ah...there we go. See? They could have left that whole eight gold medals bit out entirely at this point, because now we've reinforced that he IS the Stoner who lost his Wheaties endorsement.

More to the point, why do we say: "Phelps has had brushes with the law in the past."?

Are we to understand that this counts as a "brush" with the law? I may be stoned myself, but I don't recall anywhere heretofore in this article where it claimed Phelps was responsible for this accident or that he had done anything illegal. So is this how things are now? I'm parked at a red light, minding my own business, and someone who isn't paying attention plows into me from behind, and I'm now a wanted man? I have to go on the lam now or I'll wind up in prison married to T-Ray and learning how to make license plates?

Furthermore, there is no mention that he was intoxicated or that there was any suspicion of intoxication. So why exactly are we talking about pictures of him smoking a marijuana pipe? The article does clearly state: "...Phelps has been interviewed by police and alcohol was not a factor," but that's Standard Police Operating Procedure.

In an earlier incident, Phelps pleaded guilty to driving while impaired shortly after he won six golds and two bronzes at the 2004 Athens Olympics. A Maryland state trooper had pulled him over after Phelps ran a stop sign. He was sentenced to 18 months' probation.

Now I get it. They're helping us. Just like when my 2 year old nephew holds his toy up to me and says, "Dis mine!" Thanks, Little Rony, I'd never have guessed it if you hadn't put it all out there for me. Here's some candy!

Most recently Phelps earned five golds and a silver over eight days at the world swimming championships earlier this month.

Now wait just one hot minute there, Pal. This is an utter lie and an unconscionable fabrication of the facts. Most recently, Mr. Phelps got into a fender-bender and wound up bent over taking twelve inches of AP coverage. I vote for a retraction!

HA! Who's the Reporter now, AP?

You just showed pictures of the wreck in your article!

For an AP article, this is among their finest; however, I do believe they are slipping. This is definitely not on par with their long-lasting standards of excellence. They didn't even cap this potentially Pulitzer Prize Winning article off with their lovely standard: Neither Phelps nor his Publicists were immediately available for comment Thursday.

Seriously, they're never going to make this guy look guilty unless they point out he doesn't want to talk to the Press because he's been in a slightly traumatic experience. What were they thinking?!?!?

Summary: This is not News. This is merely Media SOP. They don't look for News Stories anymore, they merely lurk in the bushes and wait for a moment to pounce on someone so they can bring up all the old dirt that they got back during those days when News wasn't slow and they actually had something to report.

Hey, reruns and stock footage cinematheque works for The Sci-Fi Channel, why can't it work for The Press?

UPDATE: Link

BALTIMORE – A crash involving Olympic gold medalist Michael Phelps was blamed on the other driver, who ran a red light, Baltimore police said Friday.

Oops! I guess he was completely innocent. Damn! But not to worry...

We've got our eye on you, Phelps. One mistep and we'll be all over you like... well, Us on You.

UPDATE: Link

BALTIMORE – Olympic gold medalist Michael Phelps was driving with an expired, out-of-state license and told police he drank a beer about an hour and 15 minutes before he was involved in an accident, Baltimore police said Friday.

The accident Thursday night was not Phelps' fault, police said, and officers did not administer field sobriety tests because he showed no signs of being impaired by alcohol.

But the swimming star will be cited for driving without a license and failure to establish residency in Maryland, police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said. The citation carries no fine, but Phelps will have to appear in court.

"We had our very best eyes on the situation, and we're very well aware of his history and his notoriety," he said. "We wanted to make sure that everything was done completely by the book."

AHA! WE GOT HIM!!! Good job guys! I knew if you kept after him you'd get something. Now we can go back to reporting about a Michael way more important, Michael Jackson.

This just in: Yep, still dead.