Warning: This man is not the president. He is an actor who sometimes plays the president. For entertainment purposes only. Image from Wikimedia.

I think some Americans out there are confused when it comes to the SNL Obama accomplishments skit. I think they are confused in a couple of ways. One is the nature of Saturday Night Live and comedy in general. That actually leads to the second point of confusion: whether it’s true that Obama accomplishments are nil so far.

The second part — whether Obama accomplishments really are nothing other than “Jack and Squat” as the skit says — is not as important as the fact that it was a joke and people need to understand that and lighten up.  So instead of talking about whether the skit was accurate, I will be explaining the nature of comedy, just in case people need a reminder.

Anatomy of a joke

People can turn anything into a joke, from the best payday loans to the worst place to get hot dogs. Of course, people often joke about far more serious subjects, and when that happens other people often get offended or otherwise riled up. In the case of the SNL Obama accomplishments skit, all kinds of people have gotten riled up for all kinds of reasons, and it all comes back to taking this humorous little sketch too seriously.

You see, hyperbole is a very popular form of comedy. That means situations are exaggerated almost to the point of being untrue, but they contain a little grain of truth, and therein lies the  humor. The SNL Obama accomplishments skit used this form of humor, and it seems to have people on both sides of the aisle looking for just how big that grain of truth is.

This just in: Real news covers fake news

So news outlets such as the Washington Post, the Huffington Post and Yahoo News have taken it upon themselves to make stories out of this fake news cast on SNL about Obama’s accomplishments. Mostly I think this phenomenon has occurred because confused people who don’t understand the concept of “comedy” and “fake news cast” and “fictional entertainment” hear things on SNL and wonder “Is that true?!”

Still others take the words from a comedy skit as though they are a press release from the Wall Street Journal and start preaching them as facts. Here’s the bottom line: SNLs writers and actors are paid to be funny. It’s their job. Obama supporters are all riled up because SNL made fun of him (operative word there is “fun”). Obama critics are all riled up because they want to convince Americans that the humor in the SNL Obama accomplishments sketch was truth instead of hyperbole.

Just kidding

Back when SNL did multiple skits about Sarah Palin, her supporters got all riled up because the show was making her look bad. Similar to what is happening with the Obama accomplishments skit, her critics tried to use the comedy skits as political propaganda.

Sure enough, all the jokes drummed up serious reactions and responses. It is because of this pattern that I feel some Americans just need to learn to take a joke.

Watch the SNL Obama accomplishments video

If you still want to know whether the content in the SNL Obama accomplishments video represents the truth, I’m inclined to point you to one of the news sources I linked to earlier. Now that I have explained the difference between truth and hyperbole and real news and fake news, I trust you to use content responsibly. And by that I mean laugh and remember that a joke is a joke. Use it to make others laugh. But don’t use it to spread lies or as a source of accurate news.

Check out the SNL Obama accomplishments video at NBC.

You could win an Xbox 360 in McDonald's Monopoly game 2009. Image from Flikr.

Yep, it’s that time of year again. From now until Nov. 2, whenever you buy McDonald’s food, your order will come with McDonald’s Monopoly game pieces attached. This year the fast food giant has added an extra twist: There is a possibility someone will win $1 million every day.

It all depends on the roll of the dice. Every day, a player in McDonald’s Monopoly 2009 will have a chance to win either $10,000 or $1 million. If the player selected to roll the dice rolls double sixes, the prize is $1 million. Of course, there will be no actual, physical rolling of the dice. This all happens online at playatmcd.com.

Slim pickings

Now, don’t go blowing your cash till payday on McDonald’s food in order to get your chance at winning $1 million. Millions, possibly billions, of game pieces will be issued, and only 29 players will get a chance at $1 million. In order to become a registered player, you must go enter the code on  your game piece on the web site.

Of course, the more McDonald’s stuff you buy, the more chances you will have to win, but make sure you are doing what’s right for your health and your budget. Even for the $10,000, there’s a very small chance at winning.

Promotional partnership

The dice roll and grand-prize-of-the-day winning will be a nightly event on “The Jay Leno Show.” On weeknights, you can find out who the winner is from Jay Leno thanks to a cross-promotional deal between McDonald’s and NBC. You can also get updates on the winner from Twitter if you follow the McDonald’s Monopoly game 2009 Twitter feed, @McDonald’s. And, of course, you can discover whether you are the winner on the web site.

When  you enter your game piece code on the web site, you will also find out whether you have won a different prize. Prizes in the McDonald’s Monopoly game 2009 include $50 or $500 Shell gift cards, Xbox 360 systems, free Boingo Wi-Fi at more than 11,000 McDonald’s locations in the U.S. and My Coke Rewards Points.

NCR stands for National Cash Register.

When NCR Corporation relocates its headquarters from Dayton, Ohio, to Duluth, Georgia, it won’t just bring jobs, it’ll bring cash.

That’s because NCR Corporation is in the ATM manufacturing business. According to NBC News:

NCR Corporation will locate a new global self-service innovation headquarters in Duluth and a manufacturing site for the company’s next generation NCR SelfServ ATM family in Columbus.

Georgia’s economy

There are 15 Fortune 500 companies and 26 Fortune 1000 companies with headquarters in Georgia, including such names as Home Depot, UPS, Coca Cola, Delta Air Lines, AFLAC, Southern Company, and SunTrust Banks. Georgia has over 1,700 internationally headquartered facilities representing 43 countries, employing more than 112,000 Georgians with an estimated capital investment of $22.7 billion, Wikipedia says.

Georgia’s unemployment rate currently is 9.1 percent. That’s higher than the national unemployment rate, 8.6 percent. While Georgia hasn’t hit double-digit unemployment rates like states such as Oregon and Michigan, it is slowly creeping in that direction. Many unemployed workers get behind on bills and end up needing credit repair. Luckily, there are experts to help.

NBC says that at a news conference today in Georgia NCR Corporation will announce its plans to relocate, and “Gov. Sonny Perdue will be on hand to welcome the company to Georgia.” That’s a sure sign that the state is eager and pleased to accept NCR Corporation into its economy.

How many jobs?

Georgia’s NBC affiliate news station says the NCR Corporation move will bring 1,250 new jobs to Duluth and 870 new jobs to Columbus.

Last year the company brought 916 jobs to Peachtree City in support for its worldwide customer services business.

More on NCR Corporation

NCR Corporation started out as a cash register manufacturing company way back in 1884. The company manufactured and sold the first mechanical cash register.

NCR Corporation continued in the cash register business and during World War I expanded to manufacturing shell fuses and aircraft instrumentation. During World War II, it  built aero-engines, bomb sights and code-breaking machines, according to Wikipedia.

Transition to high techonogy

NCR Corporation stayed with or ahead of the curve on the technology front, and in 1952 it acquired Computer Research Corporation.

In 1956, NCR introduced its first electronic device, the Class 29 Post-Tronic, a bank machine using magnetic stripe technology. With GE the company manufactured its first transistor-based computer in 1957.

NCR made its first ATM in 1970, and it’s been making them ever since. NCR Corporation holds about a third of the ATM market. This will only widen the broad industry base already present in Georgia.

Food is also a major industry in Georgia, with widespread farms producing peanuts, corn, and soybeans across middle and south Georgia. The state is the number one producer of pecans in the world, with the region around Albany in southwest Georgia being the center of Georgia’s pecan production. Gainesville in northeast Georgia touts itself as the Poultry Capital of the World.

Industry in Georgia is quite diverse. Major products in the mineral and timber industry include a variety of pines, clays, stones, and sands.

NBC says "The Office" will continue for another season.

Even the popular network television station NBC hasn’t been immune to the economic downturn as discriminating advertisers get stingy about where they spend their money.

NBC trails CBS, Fox and ABC in prime-time ratings, a huge factor for companies looking for where to buy advertising. NBC hopes to avoid needing short term loans by launching six new shows, which it has announced two weeks before the other major networks.

Drama queens

NBC is launching six new shows, four of which are dramas. The network is hoping to capitalize on the popularity of the 1989 film “Parenthood” with a family drama of the same name. The new show is based on the film.

Throwing a couple more shows into an ever-growing niche, NBC is launching two new medical dramas. “Trauma” follows a fictitious San Francisco trauma team. Entertainment Weekly calls it “one of those ultra-NBC, “pulse-pounding,” lives-in-danger-of-exploding shows in the tradition of ER and Third Watch.”

The second medical drama, “Mercy,” appears as though it may be more like a romance than an action flick. According to EW:

(Head nurse Veronica is) married, but a cute doctor arrives at the hospital (in a wincing Grey’s Anatomy moment, he’s actually referred to as “hot doctor guy”). Hot doc proves to be a former lover of Veronica’s: ooh, complications ensue!

The fourth drama, “Day One,” chronicles the aftermath of a global catastrophe.

Aiming for laughs

NBC is also launching two comedies this fall, the first headed by Joel McHale of “The Soup.” The show is called “Community,” and it’s “about a community college full of misfit students and teachers,” according to EW.

“100 Questions” will also aim to tickle viewers’ funny bones with stories of a woman who signs up on an online dating site and is faced with 100 questions.

NBC also plans to run six new episodes of “Saturday Night Live Weekend Update Thursday,” which got great ratings during the election.

Who goes and who stays

NBC will not officially announce its lineup until May 19, when a schedule and concrete list of returning shows will be revealed. However, the network has already said it will bring back “Heroes,” “Southland,” “Parks and Recreation,” “The Office,” “30 Rock,” “The Biggest Loser,” “The Celebrity Apprentice,” “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit,” and “Friday Night Lights.”

Aguilar won the grand prize on NBC’s popular show “The Biggest Loser: Families.” Aguilar lost 110 pounds, was reunited with her mother and won $250,000. She also won the favor of many viewers with her attitude and kindness. Her final weight was 132 pounds.

Honorable mentions

Second place went to Vicky Vilcan, who lost 101 pounds and fell short of the grand prize by only one pound. Many fans believe this twist is karma. Viewers regarded Vilcan as a schemer and a manipulator. She is still receiving death threats and hate mail.

Competing for the third spot were husband and wife Ed Brantley and Heba Salama. The choice was up to the audience, and Ed won by a landslide 84 percent margin for the opportunity to weigh in for the grand prize. Heba was also very unpopular with fans of the show, who viewed her as a bully and a loudmouth.

Family reunion

Aguilar entered the competition alongside her mother, Renee Wilson. Aguilar and Wilson had been estranged following Wilson’s divorce from Aguilar’s father. They had not spoken to one another for six years.

The mother-daughter pair got to spend plenty of time together. Wilson was the last contestant to be eliminated before the finale. Wilson began giving motivational speeches to various groups after the show, and she says she never could have done it without her daughter.

Aguilar also says having her mother there was a huge factor in her victory. On keeping the weight off after the show, she said she is not worried because she knows she has the support of her family.

The antagonists

Message boards and blogs aplenty have nothing but venom for finalists Vilcan and Salama. Perhaps most irksome to many fans is that Salama, who urged voters to grant her a victory over her husband, took home a $100,000 payday for losing the most weight among eliminated contestants. If she’s careful with her winnings she won’t be needing payday loans before she embarks on her next television venture.

The fans had no problem with Salama’s husband Brantley, though. Brantley urged the audience to vote for his wife when they were pitted against each other for third place. His humility and unselfishness won him the spot.

Inspiration to the nation

In six seasons, this weight-loss show has not only gained followers of the show, it has gained followers of the lifestyle. The Biggest Loser Club (www.thebiggestloserclub.com) invites people who are trying to lose weight to share tips and success stories. It’s a digital way of holding people accountable to motivate them to do well.

In video clips, available at nbc.com, of Wilson’s speeches, audience members say they’ve been inspired by the show and have started their own weight loss program. This season seemed to encourage people to join forces, recruiting the help and support of family members to provide motivation and accountability.

Future losers

Fans of the show don’t have to wait long for a new season. NBC’s next installment of the series, “The Biggest Loser: Couples,” premieres Jan. 6, 2009. Viewers will no doubt be tuning in to find out which loser avoids needing payday loans by winning the next big payday.