http://diverge.org All these different people Tue, 17 Apr 2007 18:52:59 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Last week's announcement of the proposed merger of the two seemingly failing satellite radio companies XM Satellite Radio and Sirius Satellite Radio has created a lot of excitement but also a sort of active stand-offishness among those who believe satellite radio is a doomed and soon to be irrelevant enterprise ... http://diverge.org/2007/02/the-worst-thing-about-satellite-radio-is-its-lame-me-too-value-proposition/ Critics love it, so it is perhaps no wonder that "Friday Night Lights," the TV-show that was spwaned from a movie that was spawned from a book, is faltering, flailing and probably dying in the ratings. The viewers just aren't there. I can't say I'm all that surprised. The problem with ... http://diverge.org/2006/10/living-in-the-bright-lights-of-friday-nights-is-a-lot-better-than-watching-them-on-tv/ While the ratings for whichever evening news show Katie Couric hosts has dropped, the fall hasn't been nearly as dramatic as the one the XFL experienced. So while the ill-fated league started out stronger, Ms. Couric has better legs. But we already knew that. http://diverge.org/2006/10/katie-couric-outdoes-the-xfl/ While Wal-Mart is often seen s as unstoppable retail-juggernaut, same-stores sales-growth has actually slowed dramatically for the Arkansas-based company over the past few years and is now hovering around 3%, down from 9% in 1999. Eduardo Castro-Wright, the Chief Executive Officer of Wal-Mart's U.S. stores has designed a new strategy ... http://diverge.org/2006/09/the-six-american-nations-of-wal-mart/ Katie Couric's debut show with CBS News recorded a 9.1 Nielsen rating. By comparison, the XFL's first game on NBC scored a 9.5 rating. Just saying. http://diverge.org/2006/09/xfl-had-a-stronger-start-than-katie-couric/ In today's Washington Post, columnist Anne Appelbaum contrasts the pathetic lies of James Frey - whose fabricated "memoir" has become a major embarrassment for Oprah Winfrey, the high-priestess of self-obessed emoting - with the pathetic lies of Lillian Hellman who in 1973 published her supposed memoir Pentimento, in which the ... http://diverge.org/2006/02/in-desperate-search-of-street-cred/ By leading the New England Patriots to three Super Bowl victories in four years (2001, 2003, 2004) Bill Belichick has established himself as one of the greatest coaches in the history in the National Football League, and his team's recent loss to the Denver Broncos doesn't change that, especially since ... http://diverge.org/2006/01/david-halberstam-pulls-a-jimmy-the-greek-on-his-book-on-new-england-patriots-head-coach-bill-belichick/ ...our retail-sales reps had some problems last year. Jill in Accounting - wow, did she ever have a brutal third quarter or what? I'm not taking anything away from our competitors, they really out did us with excellent customer service and superior products, but, yes, we did have some problems ... http://diverge.org/2006/01/im-trying-to-be-the-good-co-worker-but/ Sports Illustrated's Richard Deitsch let's off a gigantic oestrogen bomb in his "My television wish list" piece on SI.com's Scorecard Daily section. In a list if 10 things he would like to see on sports television this year he includes this bizarre suggestion: ESPN should create a female version of ... http://diverge.org/2006/01/female-play-by-play-commentators-and-other-anti-viewer-ideas/ Nice, decent, educated, sensitive people take exception to the old "Merry Christmas" greeting since some people - very few in America, mind you - don't celebrate Christmas and hence might be offended by such a well wishing. Yet I don't know of anybody who holds back on hearty "Happy New ... http://diverge.org/2006/01/not-so-much-angst-over-new-years-greetings/