He’s losing it. President Obama that is. Obamamania has apparently come and gone–at least among college students.

A new Associated Press-mtvU poll shows just 47 percent of college students now support Obama’s leadership; 27 percent don’t think he is doing such a hot job running the country.

In May of 2009, 60 percent of college students surveyed gave Obama the thumbs up; 15 percent had a negative view then.

The big concern is that this waning support for the president will translate into a much smaller turnout for the midterm elections and, therefore, an increased chance the Republicans will reclaim control of the House.

Student expectations for Obama were so high during the presidential campaign, there was always the danger of major disappointment once it became apparent that Obama is not a miracle worker. This is what is happening now.

The question now is, will many of these disillusioned students simply drop out of the political process altogether, or turn to  either the GOP or a third party to express their political views?

For desperate airlines, safety is taking a back seat in coach to economics as they press to get their planes back into the skies over Europe even though the volcano in Iceland is, once again, apparently spewing out impressive amounts of ash into the atmosphere over many Northern (and some Southern) European countries.

Under intense pressure from the airlines, losing an estimated $200 million each day, European air safety officials have carved the airspace over Europe into sort of a layer cake–with some layers being deemed safe enough for a jetliner to fly through, while other layers are still thought to be off-limits.

But a leading aviation expert, Dr. Brent Bowen, head of the Department of Aviation Technology at Purdue University has put out a news release warning that “getting back in the air too soon could endanger lives.”

He argues there have really been no conclusive or even extensive scientific tests to determine whether the limited air spaces now available to commercial air travel really are safe to traverse?

The problem is, any damage to airliners may not be immediately observable. But that doesn’t make the potential ramifications any less severe.

Would airlines deliberately put their aircraft, crews and passengers in danger just because of—–money?

What do YOU think?

For More Commentary, Please Visit www.notimetothinkbook.com, The Official Website For THE Media Book Of 2010, No Time To Think-The Menace of Media Speed and the 24-hour News Cycle. Now In Paperback Edition!

The hottest news in the aviation world is the recent announcement by the Federal Aviation Administration that pilots flying commercial flights (and other types of aircraft) will now be allowed to take four of the most popular antidepressants while continuing to fly paying passengers.

The evidence seems clear that the medications do more good than harm and the issue has been studied carefully by the FAA, which usually comes down on the side of extreme caution.

But the funny thing is, considering the current state of commercial flying in this country, it seems to me it is not the pilots who need to pop antidepressants, but the passengers.

Flying has become such a dismal affair, I think that it is about time the airlines dispense Prozac and Zoloft and Celexa and Lexapro right there on the aircraft.

They no longer serve food. And, you have to pay, it seems, for just about anything that used to be offered up as part of your fare. Now, it is not uncommon for airlines such as JetBlue and Virgin America and others to sell food and drinks on board–along with wifi, in some cases.

So, why not antidepressants? I bet there would be a huge market and the airlines could make tons of money on the pills!

More important, the passengers may end up having a happier experience than they currently do on domestic flights.

Nothing like a Lexapro and beer to make those flying hours just whiz on by!

For More Commentary, Please Visit www.notimetothinkbook.com, The Official Website For THE Media Book Of 2010, No Time To Think-The Menace of Media Speed and the 24-hour News Cycle. Now In Paperback Edition

It’s about time.

Finally, President Obama has gotten something of historical significance accomplished with the passage tonight of legislation that will radically and fundamentally change the way health care is delivered in this country.

And, while certainly not on the scale of the type of universal medical coverage Americans deserve–and their European counterparts, among others, already get–approval of this legislation will greatly increase medical coverage to an estimated tens of millions of those currently without health insurance.

It will also offer more protection for those who already have insurance but fear losing it should they get laid off from their job–which, nowadays, considering the economic condition of this country, is something every worker must give serious thought to.

If only Obama had become more personally involved in this fight from the get-go a year or so ago, maybe we’d be much further down the road by now?

We’ll probably never know what could have happened.

What we do know is what will happen: And, that is good for Americans and , yes, good for Barack Obama’s presidency, making it far easier for him now to get approval of other measures, such as overhauling regulation of the financial industry in this country.

For More Commentary, Please Visit www.notimetothinkbook.com, The Official Website For THE Media Book Of 2010,” No Time To Think-The Menace of Media Speed and the 24-hour News Cycle.” It Is Now Available In Paperback Edition!

Let’s face it. Toyota is just an easy target right now. Millions of its cars recalled because of rare cases of uncontrolled acceleration. The company says it can (and is) fixing the problem; critics claim it is missing the real problem: the complex, computer controlled electronic throttle system. None of this, however, should give the news media a free pass to stop critical thinking.

Earlier this past week, press reports were buzzing with news that a San Diego, California man had lost control of the Prius he was driving and needed the help of the California Highway Patrol to  safely slow the alleged runaway vehicle to a stop.

Now comes word via the Associated Press that Toyota investigators and the federal government have not been able to make the car, in tests, repeat the claimed unexpected performance, casting doubt, says the A.P. on the driver’s story.

The news agency bases its story on a draft memo it says it has obtained.

There was always something fishy about this particular San Diego story: Even the most critical government investigators have said the problem, whatever the cause, with the Toyota cars (Prius, of course, is the hybrid built by the company) is extremely rare. And yet, on the very same day Toyota was holding a news conference to announce how its planned fixes were going, along came this “new” episode that seemingly showed that the auto company was simply not on top of the situation.

Judging from the massive coverage this story got throughout all media platforms, apparently few news organizations bothered to, at least, cast a skeptical eye on this one story. Rather, most news accounts I saw, heard and read, seemed to accept what allegedly happened with this particular Prius as if it were an established fact.

It may, in the end, turn out that the driver was, indeed, telling the truth and his Prius did, without his input, reach speeds of 94 mph or greater. But there now also seems to be at least some evidence the entire experience may have been made up for reasons as yet unknown.

The next time there is a story about a runaway Prius or other Toyota, it would be nice if the news media were a bit more liberal with the use of the word—alleged!

For More Commentary, Please Visit www.notimetothinkbook.com, The Official Website For THE Media Book Of 2010, “No Time To Think-The Menace of Media Speed and the 24-hour News Cycle,” Now Available In Paperback Edition.

Maybe neither rain nor wind nor snow and all that other stuff can stop the postal service from delivering the mail, but, apparently, the rise of email can.

The postal service is saying that it is hurting so much from loss of revenue because of such things as email and private deliver companies, that it may need to cut Saturday mail delivery as well as overtime pay for employees.

Joseph Corbett, the chief financial officers for the post office, tells Reuters that the service is also planning what he called a “moderate” increase in the price of stamps.

I think people can probably live with paying a few more pennies for postage–though that might not be the case for businesses that rely on mass mailings.

But stopping mail delivery on Saturdays is another matter. I don’t think that will go over well with the public . And, since people will still want their mail delivered, my guess is stopping weekend deliveries would only force more people–if they can afford it–to give their business to the private delivery services resulting in even a larger loss of revenue for the U.S. Postal Service.

In February, says Reuters, USPS posted a loss of $297 million for the first quarter.

For More Commentary, Please Visit http://notimetothinkbook.com/, The Official Website For THE Media Book Of 2010, No Time To Think-The Menace of Media Speed and the 24-hour News Cycle. Soon In Paperback.

Can you be too fat to fly?

Director Kevin Smith apparently was, as far as Southwest Airlines was concerned.

On a flight from Oakland to Burbank, the pilot apparently kicked him off the plane because he didn’t neatly fit into the confines of his seat.

Smith usually purchases two seats for his comfort, but got stuck with only one after he ended up flying stand-by to catch a different flight.

Smith tweeted up a storm knocking the airline and the airline apologized and also gave him a $100 voucher.

A lot of people don’t realize that many airlines have long had policies about very fat people flying, though they enforce these policies in different ways at different times.

While the initial impulse is to come to Smith’s defense-one has to recognize that the airline has a legitimate concern: the safety and comfort of its other passengers.

Airline seats are small enough, especially on the types of aircraft flown by airlines such as Southwest; sitting next to a jumbo human who is overhanging onto your space does not a comfortable flight make.

But it is actually potentially more serious than that: Someone who has trouble fitting into one seat on an airliner can pose a serious safety risk to all on board in the event of an incident that requires the fast evacuation of the plane.

For sure, Southwest probably should have handled this one with more diplomacy. But it is wrong to laugh at its basic policy (that a very large person must purchase two seats) which is a valid one.

For More Commentary, Please Visit http://notimetothinkbook.com/, The Official Website For THE Media Book Of 2010, No Time To Think-The Menace Of Media Speed and the 24-hour News Cycle. Soon In Paperback.

Lots of people already don’t trust Google. Now, there is even better reason.

The New York Times reporting that Google has joined forces with the National Security Agency in an effort to track down who was behind the attacks on its cybersecurity last year.

As the paper correctly puts it, ” The collaboration between Google , the world’s largest search engine company, and the federal agency in charge of global electronic surveillance raises both civil liberties issues and new questions about how much Google knew about the electronic thefts it experienced when it stated last month that it might end its business operation in China, where it said the attacks originated.”

Google’s ability to track and keep track of our most personal doings on the Internet is scary enough. But when you add to the mix the cooperation between Google and a giant U.S. spy agency, the possibilities are truly mind blowing!

Google apparently was the one reaching out to the NSA. Of course, the NSA was reportedly more than happy to agree.

As might be expected, the paper says a Google spokeswoman would not further comment on the matter, while an NSA spookswoman reportedly said the agency is also not able to comment “on specific relationships we may or may not have with U.S. companies.”

That alone is a statement worthy of further exploration: What exactly does she mean by relationships they “may or may not have” with other U.S. companies? Phone companies, perhaps?  Media companies, maybe?

We are, as a society, already well passed the danger point of becoming a police state. The blending of Google with the National Security Agency is just the latest, but, perhaps, most troubling example.

For More Commentary, Please Visit www.notimetothinkbook.com, The Official Website For THE Media Book Of 2010, No Time To Think, The Menace of Media Speed and the 24-hour News Cycle. Soon In Paperback!

It took President Obama a long time in his State of the Union speech before getting around to talking about his health insurance reform initiatives. I can understand why he would not exactly want to highlight this at this point in time.

He did have some typical fighting words indicating that he wanted the reform measures to pass Congress and end up on his desk sooner rather than later.

But he didn’t much sound like someone who believes his own message anymore. A number of side remarks the President made during the speech seemed to indicate that , while he would like to see health care reform this year, he is resigned to the fact that that may not happen..especially in the form that he had hoped.

He didn’t, as some argued he should have, stand up there and basically say–this is the plan I think is good for the country and ,therefore, what I want you to pass.

Rather, he put  the emphasis , as he often does, on trying to get bi-partisan support by saying he would entertain any proposal that offers an alternative to his, whether from his own party or from the Republicans, that accomplishes his basic goals.

But considering that the Republicans haven’t yet made known an alternative plan to the President’s, I think it likely Obama knows that is not going to happen anytime soon.

My guess is,  comprehensive health insurance reform is pretty much dead for 2010. Hope I am wrong, though.

For More Commentary, Please Visit www.notimetothinkbook.com, The Official Website For THE Media Book Of 2010, No Time To Think-The Menace Of Media Speed and the 24-hour News Cycle…Soon In Paperback.

Hillary Clinton was right: Barack Obama was (is) just not experienced enough to be President of the United States. 

How else can you explain how badly he and his administration screwed up health care reform by not paying attention to what was going down in Massachusetts until it was too late to make a difference?

A more experienced politician (say LBJ) would have realized how vital the Senate seat left vacant by the death of Ted Kennedy was and would have made frequent trips to that state prior to Tuesday’s special election to drum up support for the Democratic candidate.

Instead, Obama was on his Hawaii vacation (he didn’t even bother to return to Washington after the Christmas day attempt to blow up an airliner landing in Detroit) when he should have been bundled up against the northeast cold helping to sell his party’s nominee for the senate seat to the voting public.

Instead, the President and those below him were asleep at the switch.

And now, the Democrats have lost their all important 60th vote, the one needed to prevent a Republican fillibuster…not only against health reform, but any other piece of legislation as well.

Obama was probably a damn good college law school professor. And, from most accounts, a pretty good Chicago political street organizor.

But none of that prepared him to wage wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and God knows where else in the months to come.

None of that prepared him to deal with Wall Street so that Main Street doesn’t get screwed, as it has, by the worst economic climate since the Great Depression.

And, obviously, none of that prepared him to effectivly butt heads in Congress to get the health care reform bill he said he wanted when he was campaigning for the Oval Office.

The nation needs health care reform. Badly. But the one person who should have been spearheading its victory through the Congress turns out to be the same person whose spectacular political incompetence has probably led to its premature demise. And, that person is non other than one Barack Obama, President of the United States.

For More Commentary, Please Visit www.notimetothinkbook.com, The Official Website For THE Media Book Of 2010, No Time To Think, The Menace of Media Speed and the 24-hour News Cycle. Soon In Paperback!