Josh's Uncommon Sense

HILLSDALE DAILY NEWS FOR THE WIN!

2008-08-15T15:29:00.001-04:00

Pruitt and the gang NAILED it!

Even better, these lines are the smack in the face this community has needed for some time now:

We aren't saying we don't support this effort. What we are saying is that we need to have a new attitude, a new motivation that sets our eyes on the future. We have to be different, unique to make ourselves heard above the din.

That means some people will have to change their attitudes about Hillsdale College, Hillsdale Academy and the Hillsdale Community Health Center. Whatever wrong you may think they have done to the city, you will have to let go in your heart. We can't go back, only forward. These entities are great resources for the city and magnets for growth. We need them to be on board and we need to use them as a springboard for this marketing effort.

It's about time someone said it!

My Second-Favorite Air Force is Making Me Very Happy.

2007-09-12T01:00:00.001-04:00

You've just gotta love the pair the IAF has on 'em… they blow "a great hole in the desert" and leave their calling card, almost as if to say, "Yeah, I did it. Come at me!" Go Israel! Kick their ass and turn the desert to glass, I say!

SOUTHWEST WINS SEASON OPENER... AT HOME!

2007-08-18T21:06:00.001-04:00

SOUTHWEST 33 (1-0)
NORTHWEST 21 (0-1)

I wish I had been there to see the 100-yard interception run and touchdown . Seeing it would have made up for three solid years of nothing but losing home games... and most away games.

By the way, a word to the Greensboro News & Fishwrap: I know everyone except Southwest hates Southwest with a passion (and even a good chunk of Southwest is self-loathing), but for the sake of those of us who actually care, put more photos of the WINNING team up on your website next time. I know your photog took them. I know many professional media photographers and I know they wouldn't take just SIX photos of the game, half of which had nothing to do with Southwest other than the fact that they featured the coach, cheerleaders and crowd belonging to the team Southwest played. I also know you have the server capacity to host many more than just six photos of ANY game that happened this weekend. A little more effort would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

Bullshit alone sickens me, but bullshit that harms an innocent person like THIS is enough to ENRAGE ME!!!

2007-05-09T21:59:00.001-04:00

Let's think about this story for a few minutes here.

A young girl is mentally disabled. Supposedly she'll never mentally develop past the age of a baby or small child (though that diagnosis could very well have been wrong, but we won't ever know that now).

Her parents have a controversial (and in my view, just plain wrong in this situation) procedure performed on her to stunt her growth.

They claim they did this out of compassion, not convenience, as the story says. But then they post this on their blog:

"Ashley's smaller and lighter size makes it more possible to include her in the typical family life and activities that provide her with needed comfort, closeness, security and love: meal time, car trips, touch, snuggles, etc."

Outright lies sicken me, but lies of contradiction PISS ME OFF!

THEIR VERY BLOG POST PROVES THIS WAS PURELY AN ACT OF CONVENIENCE, NOT COMPASSION!

The key is the phrase "makes it more possible." Is it more difficult to include a grown person who's developmentally disabled in family activities? Yes. Is it impossible? Absolutely NOT. Is it worth it? YOU BET YOUR ASS IT IS!

THEY DID THIS BECAUSE THEY WANTED A PERMANENT BABY TO TAKE CARE OF SIMPLY BECAUSE IT'S MORE CONVENIENT FOR THEM! THEY'VE SAID IT THEMSELVES! AND YET THE HAVE THE AUDACITY TO TELL THE PUBLIC THAT IT'S A COMPASSIONATE ACTION!

THAT'S BULLSHIT AND THEY KNOW IT!
They CANNOT tell me personally that I don't know what I'm talking about. I have a cousin with Down syndrome, and while his mental capacity is well beyond that of an infant's, we as a family would never change him or force him to be something he's not simply because it might be more convenient for us. He has a handicap. We all understand that. We work with him to include him in ways he's capable of handling.

I don't care if Ashley will never mature mentally past a certain age; that's no excuse to stunt her growth to match that age! If she ages physically but not mentally, tough shit if you feel you're inconvenienced by that. You work to live with her no matter what because you love her. The fact that these people would even consider doing this to a poor child like her makes me doubt they truly love her at all.

It's parents like these two who should never have procreated in the first place. If they weren't prepared to love their child without condition, they shouldn't have had children. Makes me want to travel to Washington and punch them both right in the head. They appall me.

The Assfucks That Did This Deserve A WORSE DEATH!

2007-05-05T03:46:00.000-04:00

I AM SICK AND TIRED OF THIS SHIT!!! And people are honestly asking why we need to stay over there?! If the Iraqi people can't handle the fucking unhuman pieces of trash who do things like this, WE NEED TO BE THERE TO HELP THEM!

I hope the people who stoned this poor, innocent young girl are tortured and brutally and painfully murdered. I have no pity on them. None whatsoever. They can rot in the deepest bowels of Hell.

Spam spam spam spam spam spam spam baked beans spam spam spam and spam!

2007-05-01T20:10:00.001-04:00

"Spam Spam Spam Spam! Lovely Spam, wonderful Spam!" I got this, presumably through my public e-mail address (since it most resembles my public address), this afternoon and couldn't help but laugh before I even clicked on it to scrutinize it. I use Gmail (Google's mail service), and it gives me a brief glimpse of the text in an e-mail message before I open it, a feature which allowed me to find the first two spelling/grammatical errors... and burst out laughing. I'm posting this here more for your amusement than safety. The e-mail is titled "Bank of America protection I.A.C." That was the first tip-off... I don't have a Bank of America account, I've never had a Bank of America account, and none of the banks I've ever done business with have merged with Bank of America (I happen to know this as a fact).

Dear Customer, josh.shields.

That's not my name.

You are receiving this message, due to you protection, Our Online Technical Security Service Foreign IP Spy recently detected that your online account was recently logged on from am [IP Address] without am International Access Code (I.A.C) and from an unregistered computer, which was not verified by the Our Online Service Department.

Just by the grammar alone, it couldn't be any more obvious that this is a phishing attempt. In any event, the spammer went well out of their way to make this sound official, and in doing so, made it quite obviously unofficial. "Online Technical Security Service Foreign IP Spy"? Forgoing the perfectly logical question "why not just say 'our records show'," my first question is thus: isn't "Online Technical" a little redundant? If it's online, obviously it's technical, unless they, like a certain Congresscritter, think the Internet is a "series of tubes." And as for the term "Foreign IP Spy," this message is being sent to an address that doesn't exist (I get these every once in a while when Google thinks the address is close enough to my own), so if they don't even know that the address they're sending the message to doesn't exist, it's pretty safe to say they don't know what country I live in. Therefore, I could very well live in the part of the world that the IP address they noted is registered to (which happens to be London, England, in case you're wondering), and they wouldn't know if I live there or not. Of course I don't, but they wouldn't know that. In addition, even if they did know that, they would not outright give me the IP address of whomever attempted to log in to my account, as that would be a security risk to someone who may have accidentally attempted to access my non-existent account in an effort to access their own ( i.e. if their account access information were a few mistyped characters away from mine), and therefore would be a liability to the bank if I were to attempt to hack into the computer that IP address is assigned to. Given that the spammer is obviously too stupid to realize that's a definite possibility, I'd bet that IP address leads right to the computer running their spambot... either that or the phishing site where you're supposed to enter your information for "security purposes" (though I wouldn't know... I didn't follow it because of the obvious security risks that would subject me to).

If you last logged in you online account on Thursday April 5th 2007, by the time 6:45 pm from an Foreign Ip their is no need for you to panic, but if you did log in your account on the above Date and Time, kindly take 2-3 minute of your online banking experince to verify and register your computer now to avoid identity theft, your protection is our future medal.

"Your protection is our future medal"? What was that supposed to mean? Perhaps "your protection is our goal"? I can kind of see the connection there... you can win a medal for reaching a certain goal in athletic events... but that's a real stretch. Secondly, they state that if you logged in at such-and-such a time and date from "an Foreign Ip" (this was obviously done by someone who does not speak English well at all), don't panic (which quite obviously isn't how a bank would phrase such a statement), but then they say "but if you did," so apparently the spammer doesn't understand the difference between "did" and "didn't." And again, as one should always remember (and as any financial institution or online retailer will tell you), no legitimate business will ever ask you for your account information through e-mail, nor will they direct you to a web page on which to "verify" sensitive information.

Verification Link

I removed the actual link for everyone's safety. But again, if this e-mail had actually been official, the bank probably would have included the link in the text, not separately (although it's possible they might have a direct URL to copy and paste for those using browsers and e-mail programs that don't support linking in-text, but that's pretty uncommon these days). This e-mail didn't include either, it just had a separate in-text link that said "Verification Link," most likely to hide the URL so that you don't immediately realize it's a fake, though if you're reading it in a browser like I do and you have the status bar turned on at the bottom of the window, you can see the URL when you hover over the link anyway.

Notice: You can acess your account from a foreign IP or country by getting am (I.A.C) International Access Code, by contacting our local brances close to you.

Again, atrocious spelling and grammar. Of course, given the state of language skills among the masses today, I'd actually be surprised if the majority of the people who receive this e-mail even notice how poorly written it is.

And now for something completely different: a Scotsman on a horse.

Back In The U.S.S.R.... AGAIN.

2007-04-27T17:58:00.001-04:00

From this story:

Putin told Czech President Vaclav Klaus at a Kremlin meeting that the proposed missile shield would be used to track Russian military activities.

Why is he all of a sudden worried about that? Aren't they supposed to be our allies? What could they possibly want to hide from us?

I bet I know...

Speaking at a news conference with Klaus, Putin compared the missile shield plan with the deployment of U.S. Pershing-2 missiles in Western Europe in the early 1980s, which triggered a bitter diplomatic crisis in the final years of the Cold War.

What, so we're back in the Cold War now?

Let's be honest here: the Cold War never ended. Yes Reagan toppled the Evil Empire and democracy spread to Russia. No one's doubting that. But there are still forces, very strong forces in Russia that would have liked to have kept that from happening... and the scary thing is, they're quickly regaining their power.

Does anyone doubt the KGB still exists? I certainly don't. The former agents being poisoned in Europe certainly proved it to me. That string of attempted, and at least once successful, murders had KGB written all over them. And we already know Putin had KGB ties. Hell, the man has KGB roots. If the organization is still active, and there's no doubt in my mind they are, he knows it. Whether or not he's involved has yet to be seen, but if they're taking action on anything, something tells me Putin certainly wouldn't call them out on it, even if he wanted to.

His own political maneuvers of late have been a bit shady... taking forceful action against critics, consolidating governmental and economic power and using rhetoric that recalls images of the Soviet era (such as the latest mention in his last state of the union speech of abandoning the Conventional Forces in Europe treaty). He's stoking the fires of nationalism again, too, with statements that are intended to unify Russia under a new national identity... not that there would normally be anything wrong with that, but given everything else and that the KGB seems to be coming back into play, it makes you wonder just where he plans on going with all of this. I, unfortunately, have come to the conclusion that we're looking at the resurgence of Red Russia. Just what we need, right?

When you couple all of this with the accusations floating around that Russia is selling technology to Iran, it becomes pretty clear, if one assumes that's all true, that Russia being our ally is most definitely a conflict of their interests (and, subsequently, our own). Ask yourself: which partnership are they making more money on? On the one hand, you have us. We're fighting a war on two fronts at the moment. We're asking for help, which involves a lot of money spent. On the other hand, you have Iran, whose leader is clearly bent on establishing a global khalifate and is in search of any and every weapon with which to accomplish that goal and is willing to pay craploads of money for it. And, honestly, only a damned fool (and I truly mean damned fool) would believe that they're using their nuclear technology for energy. They're sitting on top of the world's largest supply of oil, and somehow President Tom doesn't come across to me as a go-green anti-pollution energy-conserving hippie. If they really wanted energy, they'd ask Russia for the technology to refine the oil they have, not nuclear technology. In addition, Iran, due to their "Mission From Allah (TM)," has absolutely no problem giving any weapons they have to the insurgents in Iraq. We've already proven that. So let's follow the supply chain here:

Russia -> Iran -> Terrorists

Pretty obvious, isn't it? So I'll give you three guesses what it is Putin is afraid of us finding.

Nope.

Nope.

Whoop, hold that thought. Thought I just saw a mushroom cloud on the horizon.

The Trouble With Islam

2007-04-20T20:26:00.000-04:00

'It th' nail on th' 'ead wi' that one, 'e did!

Any Broadcaster's Worst Nightmare

2007-04-20T07:48:00.001-04:00

This is why, after I set up any console, I tell everyone working around it DO NOT TOUCH ANYTHING.

WARNING: explicit language. Not (necessarily) safe for work.

MOBILIZE NOW!!!

2007-04-17T13:47:00.001-04:00

If the jackballs on the Copyright Royalty Board (and the RIAA behind them) aren't reigned in soon, the radio industry... ALL OF IT... is doomed.

Today the CRB determined that the arguments Clear Channel, NPR and the webcasters recently brought before them (after the initial webcasting rates ruling that proved just how much the RIAA wanted to screw us all over) didn't present any new evidence and, therefore, determined a re-hearing was unnecessary. Which, as we all know, is complete and total bullshit.

More on the story here, here and here.

Write. Call. Flood your Congresscritters' fax lines and mailboxes with letters telling them in no uncertain terms you want this overturned NOW. This has already gone too far, there's no good reason to let this pass any further without your attention.

More Hatred From the Left

2007-04-09T21:34:00.001-04:00

The vitriol and threats of violence (threats that remain threats if they're not acted upon... we've seen all too many cases where the left has acted on their hatred) continue.

See Fred. See Fred Run.

2007-04-06T17:47:00.001-04:00

Run, Fred, run!

Not Just Treason, Felony As Well!

2007-04-06T17:42:00.001-04:00

We already know Pelosi should hang for her treason, but I'd love to see her get three years in prison beforehand!

The point?

The Logan Act makes it a felony and provides for a prison sentence of up to three years for any American, "without authority of the United States," to communicate with a foreign government in an effort to influence that government's behavior on any "disputes or controversies with the United States." Some background on this statute helps to understand why Ms. Pelosi may be in serious trouble.
President John Adams requested the statute after a Pennsylvania pacifist named George Logan traveled to France in 1798 to assure the French government that the American people favored peace in the undeclared "Quasi War" being fought on the high seas between the two countries. In proposing the law, Rep. Roger Griswold of Connecticut explained that the object was, as recorded in the Annals of Congress, "to punish a crime which goes to the destruction of the executive power of the government. He meant that description of crime which arises from an interference of individual citizens in the negotiations of our executive with foreign governments."

I like this part, too.

...consider this statement by Albert Gallatin, the future Secretary of the Treasury under President Thomas Jefferson, who was wary of centralized government: "it would be extremely improper for a member of this House to enter into any correspondence with the French Republic . . . As we are not at war with France, an offence of this kind would not be high treason, yet it would be as criminal an act, as if we were at war."

So the bill of high crimes Nancy Pelosi has committed now adds undermining Presidential diplomatic authority to the already damning crime of giving aid and comfort to our enemies. Is there still any question that she should pay the full penalties for both?

DetNews: Michigan Democrats are Morons.

2007-04-06T17:16:00.001-04:00

I knew there was a reason why I've always liked the editors at The Detroit News.

(And by the way, I can't fully place the blame on the Dems here... as the editorial says, there are some Republicans who are willing to go along with them on certain things.)

You are required to read:

2007-04-05T21:13:00.001-04:00

A Mancow Rant. One that makes more sense than anything coming out of Washington these days.

The Yearly GCS Goals Meeting

2007-04-04T18:42:00.001-04:00

This gets more and more fun every year!

School Board Works On Goals For Grier

by Jana Benscoter
Staff Writer

March 29, 2007
On the Thursday, March 29 Guilford County Board of Education's agenda is an item that can take board members hours to talk about – establishing goals for Superintendent Terry Grier.

The goals would help measure how well Grier is doing on the job, as well as help to determine if he gets some extra pocket change added to his paycheck in the form of an annual raise.

Because there's nothing the Guilford County School Board loves to do more than pat themselves on the back for accomplishing nothing.

Board member Amos Quick said he thought the board had made some progress establishing some goals last year that could be realistically measured.

"In my humble opinion, we have not set real goals," Quick said. "We danced around it last year. We got as close as we could to true benchmarks, and not having broad and general goals."

Quick said he doesn't want to see goals like the one that requires Grier to raise the number of schools that pass federal Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) tests.

"We've got to have more good things happening," Quick said, "and then we will sit back and applaud."

Quick said he is happy to see schools pass AYP, but he thinks the efforts of the school system need to be focused on setting up each student for a successful life.

"You can put a knife nine inches in a man's back and pull it out three inches and you still have a knife in the back," Quick said. "We need specific measurable outcomes, not broad thematic statements."

My GOD I love this man! Everytime he speaks, he says something that MAKES SENSE! Why can't we get the rest of the school board to learn how to do that?

Quick said he has jotted down some ideas, but that he wasn't ready to reveal them.

The board voted in favor of setting several goals in different categories for the 2006-2007 school year. According to Chief of Staff Eric Becoats, who is supposed to be presenting the information to the board, there is action being taken toward each goal that was created.

For instance, under thematic goals, the goal of having all students entering kindergarten in the 2006-2007 school year reading at or above grade level by the end of the third grade (results would be available in 2009-2010) is moving along by providing leadership training for principals and curriculum facilitators, performing literacy audit with a focus on the top failing schools, and implementing a computer-based reading program at Jamestown, Jesse Wharton, McLeansville, Monticello-Brown Summit and Southern, elementary schools.

Yeah, good luck with that. Unless they've significantly improved the standards they hold their teachers to ( i.e. high school English teachers who can actually teach and actually know English and proper English grammar... and I seriously doubt they've improved those standards), that's not going to happen. You can sit children in front of computers in an attempt to teach them how to read as much and as long as you want, but if they don't have a teacher there who can correctly answer any questions those students may have, the school system will have absolutely no success in achieving this goal (which, for them, is a lofty one).

Efforts are being made to improve middle school math scores and to graduate all rising ninth grade students starting this year.

HA! There's not a snowball's chance in the fifth ring of HELL that will happen!

According to Becoats, the strategies being used to reach each goal are to identify and monitor the progress of failing students; implement focused interventions and extended learning; assign coaches to the newest principals; require schools to prioritize improvement strategies in revising school improvement plans; use benchmarks to monitor progress; deploy intervention teams to the 18 failing schools; complete a training program for teachers, staff and administrators called STARS that supports the use of data, effective instruction and professional learning communities.

Ooh, fancy-shmancy. If they follow through with this as well as they've followed through on any other efforts they've made to improve the education they put out, not much will get done.

The six other goals for Grier are: to pay attention to effective programs and initiatives that affect the thematic goals by using a balanced scorecard assessment, which the school system has been doing;

Are you serious? "Paying attention" to progress is a goal? Isn't that supposed to be in Grier's job description? Good Lord; when you have to tell your superintendent to pay attention to what's going on in the district he serves, it's time to fire your superintendent!

...develop and implement an effective instructional leadership development training for school administrators and 26 principals have been involved in such a program to date;

My sister would be better able to tell you how well this has worked so far (add a comment if you would, please, Gen).

...establish project teams to meet with various representatives in different departments of the school system to work toward strategies on improving working conditions based on working condition survey results, which the schools claim to have done;

Plan to plan to plan more! When are we going to leave the planning stages and actually get something done here?

...strengthen the minority and women business enterprise (MWBE) program by increasing MWBE participation, which, the schools say, by working with a consultant will be accomplished;

Because Lord knows they can't make it work on their own; that's why they need the program in the first place.

...increase the number of schools making AYP – those results are pending with the final determination made at the end of the year; and improving students' SAT scores – the final determination will be made at the end of the year.

Somehow, in some way, they've supposedly made progress on this over the course of last year. I don't see it, I know my sister doesn't see it, but supposedly it's happened. Maybe my (and my sister's) standards are simply higher than even those of NCLB.

As of late, teachers and board members have been critical of Grier's leadership skills.

As of late? How about ever since he was hired. They may have become vocal about it publicly as of late, but believe you me, spend some time in the classrooms of Guilford County and you'll find quite easily that teachers, while somewhat reluctant to say anything outright, have no qualms about making it clear to their students that they're not happy with Grier. None of them. Trust me. None of them.

School board member Darlene Garrett, at the first board meeting in 2007, challenged Grier to step up to the plate and show everyone his leadership skills because the schools need it.

He should have stepped up to the plate from Day One. Why the board didn't fire him years ago is well beyond me.

Teachers, through a teacher working conditions study, also expressed their concerns about the lack of leadership throughout Guilford County Schools.

That's what it took? It took a working conditions study to figure out that teachers are concerned about a lack of leadership throughout the system? It couldn't have been discovered due to the uproar over the fact that the schools to this day are underfunded while the board and superintendet are grossly overpaid and regularly use school system funds for things that clearly have nothing to do with the school system, including personal vacations? This is a school board that has embezzled. This is a school board that has lied. This is a school board that has cheated. This is a school board that has ultimately failed in every goal that is not only inherent to their existence, but the majority of goals they've set for themselves as well. And it took a friggen working conditions study to determine that the people working under them aren't satisfied with them?! Good God, these people could be at fault for causing a nuclear explosion and, upon seeing the telltale flash of that explosion, would promptly pat themselves on the back and tell the press how happy they are with themselves for preventing it!

Another item the board will soon have to make a decision on is what they are going to offer students enrolled in magnet programs as an opt-out school, as well as the opt-out schools for students who attend schools sanctioned by No Child Left Behind (NCLB) legislation, which requires all students be proficient in reading and math by 2011-2012.

I've always found it amazing that GCS prides themselves on their supposedly outstanding magnet programs and courses, but they're still trying to figure out how to teach kids the basics.

There are several options as to what the schools can offer with regard to resources such as transportation and tutors, now that it is in needs-improvement status and NCLB is moving forward.

I've got some ideas for courses. Try these on for size:

Remedial English
Remedial Math
Remedial Reading
Remedial Geography
Remedial Science
Remedial History
Remedial Common Sen... oh, sorry, there isn't even a standard course for that.

So yeah, that should pretty much round out the bill.

A school needs to improve its reading scores for two years before it is taken off the watch list, and other actions are dropped against the school system, an issue Grier needs to be taking seriously.

And yet isn't. And hasn't. And probably never will. What are the taxpayers of Guilford County paying him for again?

Some parents have been trying to help get the schools out of the needs-improvement category and feel as though their input has not mattered.

Because it hasn't. The school board and Grier have together stabbed the parents in their backs at every turn and aren't in the least bit sorry about that. See, as Rush Limbaugh says, I know these people as well as I know every square inch of my glorious, naked body (not just the back of my hand). They have the power. They are in charge, not you. You're just the taxpayer; what do you know? While you are hard at work to pay their salary, they're the ones making the tough decisions, not you. They know how to best run the school district, because they are charged with the power. Qualifications matter not. Just by the mere virtue of their election, they are automatically qualified. You, on the other hand, have not been elected, therefore you have no qualifications and no room to voice your opinion on how the schools should be run, no matter how much you care about the education your child is receiving. These people are elitists in every sense of the word, and they won't hold back from doing everything they can to prove it to you. That's why the parents feel that their input hasn't mattered: to the school board and Terry Grier, it doesn't.

One thing is for sure – if parents came up with Grier's goals, they wouldn't be letting him off the hook.

And the fact of the matter is, they shouldn't be letting him off the hook. They already tried to run him out of town once.

The taxpayers of Guilford County need to completely abolish the school system as it stands now and start over from scratch (with the exception of Amos Quick, who always seems to know what he's doing, and maybe one or two other board members who occasionally make sense from time to time). Whoever, in 1994, came up with the idea that the school board should be responsible for finding and hiring a superintendent should be tarred, feathered and rolled out of town in a pickle barrel. The school board should be rebuilt as to have a strong superintendent with a separate school board, and the taxpayers of Guilford County should vote for their school system's superintendent, not the school board. Until all that is done, they're going to be left with the mess their in. It's all up to the people.

Liberals Are Becoming Increasingly Hostile

2007-04-04T16:17:00.001-04:00

If liberalism is a disease as many (in jest) claim, it seems to make those who exhibit the symptoms more violent as the sickness progresses.

Absolutely Ridiculous.

2007-03-30T14:02:00.000-04:00

This comes from WOWO in Fort Wayne.

THE WOODLAN JUNIOR-SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL JOURNALISM TEACHER MIGHT SOON BE HEARING THE PHRASE "YOU'RE FIRED". AMY SORRELL RECEIVED A LETTER FROM THE SCHOOL DISTRICT SAYING THAT WHEN THE BOARD MEETS MAY 1ST THEY'LL CONSIDER TERMINATING HER CONTRACT BECAUSE OF NEGLECT OF DUTIES AND INSUBORDINATION. SORRELL SPARKED A FIRE STORM OF CONTROVERSY AFTER AN "OPINION PIECE" ON HOMOSEXUALS WAS WRITTEN BY ONE OF HER STUDENTS.

Unfortunately this written piece doesn't give you the full description of what actually happened, however if you've listened to their newscasts today, you'd know the story.

So what happened? Sorrell is, as the school's journalism teacher, the advisor and chief editor of the school's newspaper. She approved an editorial, written by one of her students, that advocated tolerance of homosexuals and homosexuality. Big whoop, right? Not so much.

After the editorial was published, the school's principle, Edwin Yoder, changed policy so that he would be editor-in-chief of the newspaper, and all stories and editorials published would now have to be approved by him, not the journalism teacher -- who, I'm sure, is appointed the editor-in-chief of the school's paper in her job description; she is the JOURNALISM TEACHER after all!

As if this wasn't crazy enough as it is, Sorrell went about her business of doing her job as the school paper's editor-in-chief (as well she should have, as once again, I'm sure it's IN HER JOB DESCRIPTION), and she's now facing termination for refusing to submit the newspaper to Yoder before publishing it. The school board is now claiming insubordination, failure to follow school policy and apparent inability to perform the duties of her job.

HOW CAN SHE PERFORM HER JOB DUTIES IF YOU WON'T LET HER?!

What I find rather interesting is that there's absolutely no mention of this situation, which WOWO is as of 1:00 this afternoon calling a First Amendment battle in their on-air newscasts, on the East Allen County Schools' web site. Funny... even Guilford County would have the sense to maybe post a letter from Terry Grier addressing "public discontent" (or making a vague reference to "some controversial actions" at the very most).

Before we even get to the underlying moral aspect of this, let me just make this clear: this isn't an issue over the morality of homosexuality for me, and I'll tell you why. This principal is acting on his own moral beliefs in taking over the school newspaper from the journalism teacher. That's not his place. His place is to govern the school and make sure that the students are being taught factual information in a safe environment that's condusive to the learning experience without hindering students from forming their own opinions about that factual information. What was published in the editorial was opinion, as are all editorials. Did it cause an uprising amongst the students? I highly doubt it. Knowing the school environment these days, I'd be willing to bet very few students actually read it, but if they had, I doubt they would have disagreed with it had they cared at all. The fact of the matter is that Yoder probably caused the controversy to begin with just by making it an issue where it wouldn't normally have been, all because he probably has a "moral problem" with homosexuality.

At the end of all of this, East Allen County Schools as an organization, and Edwin Yoder in particular, are going to come out of the situation with egg dripping from their faces. They'll be painted as intolerant homophobes (which, if this really is all there is to the story, would be correct). Even if they disagree with homosexuality in general, they should never have told any student, let alone their entire student body, that homosexuality is wrong. Leave that to the parents if they so choose. Amy Sorrell, on the other hand, will likely be able to find a job in just about any other school district in the country, and the student who wrote the editorial will probably be lauded by their fellow students as someone who exposed the school's administration for what they are. Trust me, I know someone who was involved in a similar situation at my own alma mater. I've seen it happen.

Now to where I stand on the underlying moral debate. Believe me, I understand; New Haven is a small Indiana town just outside Fort Wayne... I'm sure they see themselves as the typical conservative American small town, with conservative values and the like. And trust me, I'm as conservative as they come... when it comes to the issues that matter. HOMOSEXUALITY IS NOT ONE OF THOSE ISSUES. I know what the Bible says, I know what most churches views are on the matter (and no, they aren't necessarily one and the same). Quite frankly, my interpretation of the passage that Christians most often use to condemn homosexuality leads me to believe that the law put into place by God at the time was for the health and safety of those involved, not for the morality of the matter. I put it in the same vein as pigs being unclean animals... we eat plenty of pork nowadays. Why? Because we now know how to protect ourselves from the diseases that pigs used to carry (we have, in fact, rid those diseases of porcine herds used for food). Back then, we didn't know how. Now, granted, today we still don't have a cure for AIDS or HIV, and there are still a lot of other sexually transmitted diseases lurking out there that we can only treat, not cure. However, we also know how to prevent transmission of many of those diseases, and efforts to do so throughout the world have proven fairly effective. It's a much safer situation today than it was in Biblical times, and while very real risks do still exist, we know about them, and we know how to avoid them. As I've said before, I'm not gay, but I have no problem whatsoever with homosexuality.

Just because you have a different opinion doesn't mean you should force it on those who disagree with you.

The RIAA: Failing Left and Right

2007-03-28T12:36:00.001-04:00

It just keeps getting better! This time, we have a middle-aged couple who have complete evidence that they didn't illegally download or distribute copyrighted music. Not only does the RIAA decide to go after them anyway, they A) file suit in the wrong district, B) attempt to use evidence that was proven inconclusive in previous cases, and C) have absolutely no evidence to positively back up their claim.

Then, the defendants' lawyer sends the RIAA's law firm this letter, upoen receipt of which the RIAA immediately drops the case!

A little unsure of ourselves now, are we, RIAA?

If I were any person involved in the conglomerate's side of this case, right about now I'd be thinking, "How the heck did we even manage to file this suit in the first place?!"

I'm telling you right now, if these snakes don't slither back into the slimy holes they came from, pretty soon they'll be trampled. Or, worse yet, burned to death. And we all know what snakes look like when they burn. It ain't pretty.

I've heard of TV-over-Broadband, but vice-versa?

2007-03-27T21:19:00.001-04:00

Anyone have any details on this thing? It sounds like a great idea... if it works.

Weekend Update

2007-03-25T16:37:00.001-04:00

I'm probably violating some 32-year-old copyright by using that title (sorry Chevy, Lorne and NBC).

Anyway, here's some reading for you to do on the topic of the copyright ruling . It's all basically the same stuff I've said already, but Wil Wheaton went so far as to include snippets of other posts (which are good reading in and of themselves) and encourages you to call, e-mail, fax and write letters to, as he puts it, "your congressmorons" (but don't call them morons).

Blogger and Nevada Appeal (Carson City) tech writer Tasha Costa brings us an editorial about Debbie Foster, the Oklahoma mother who took the RIAA to court for legal fees (and won) after they backed out of an illegal-downloading lawsuit that, by their own admission, was unfounded to begin with. Based on RIAA president Cary Sherman's 2005 comment that the only thing he knew about the downloading lawsuits the organization files is that the defendants have Internet access, Costa makes an excellent point of likening the RIAA to schoolyard bullies... and points to the fact that the tactics used are riding the line of extortion.

But, of course, there will always be fools out there. In yet another case of people ignoring the wisdom of the plea, "Don't encourage them; they'll just get more obnoxious," Business Week reports that 116 out of 400 college students recently accepted discounted out-of-court settlements in the mass John Doe lawsuits the RIAA filed over downloading through college computer networks. Not that I'm advocating ignoring a lawsuit, but every once in a while you've got to stop and think, "Do I really have to part with enormous amounts of cash over this?"

Which brings me to another point: since when was hacking legal? Because last I knew, it wasn't, and as far as I've seen or heard, the RIAA doesn't have the authority to A) be granted a warrant or B) act on one if they did have that authority. Now, by the Sherman admission above, we can assume they don't have law enforcement agencies acting on warrants because they don't even know who they're suing or if the people they're suing are even guilty of what they're dragging them into court over in the first place. But let's say for the sake of argument that the average person doesn't realize this (and, given the third story, that's a pretty safe assumption). What is it going to take for an innocent defendant in one of these lawsuits to file a countersuit against the RIAA and claim not only legal fees but time lost from work and defamation of character as well? Just sue the living crap out of them!

I'm sure I'm not the only one who would just love to see it happen!

Estrich: Reagan Knew It, These Goons Apparently Don't.

2007-03-06T01:12:00.001-05:00

Mitt Romney has gone on the offensive as of late, but he hasn't been attacking those on the other side of the aisle for their stupidity. Instead, he's been attacking his fellow Republicans for liberal stances. While I agree with him on most issues, what he's doing is both stupid and damaging. At least save it for the primary debates (and even then, don't). Right now isn't the time. If we're going to win in 2008, we have to show the nation what we as a party agree on, not where we disagree.

What I fear, sadly, is that there's little we agree on anymore. The GOP has lost sight of it's values too much over the years. Somewhere along the line we abandoned our fight for small government, we completely accepted government overspending, we became too focused on "family values" and those issues concerning the faith-driven members of the party and lobbyists behind them, and we forgot 98% of what Ronnie instilled in the party. Somehow, we as a party lost our uncommon sense.

We need to get back to basics. Stop bickering with each other and let's focus on the things that unite us, no matter what those things may be. The war, for example. Most Americans, I believe, are for the troop surge when it's explained this way: win fast and hard with more troops, meaning the troops finish the job and come home sooner. Focus on that as a key point (and ignore those a-hole commanding officers on the ground who disagree with the idea vocally... it's not their job to question their orders, it's their job to execute those orders, and if they can't do that, they should be replaced; end of story). Focus on tax cuts as a way to generate revenue, and explain how that works for those who don't get it at every opportunity (and don't give a damn about what the Party of the Ass will say; it didn't work the past two times, and I doubt the third time will be the charm if it's done the way I suggest). Focus on the progress we've made economically in the past several years, and don't be shy to pointing out the policies that put us in dire straights beforehand.

Reagan called it the Eleventh Commandment. We'd do wise to follow it.

The Bubble, The Concept and the Latest Outrage

2007-03-05T10:12:00.001-05:00

It's official: Spring Arbor University has been put on the map, but certainly not for something it wanted to be put on the map for. It is, however, something anyone considering getting involved with the school should take into consideration beforehand, along with a slew of other things.

The story is that of Julie Nemecek, formerly John Nemecek. She was a professor and Associate Dean of Adult Education at Spring Arbor University (yes, the school yours truly attended his freshmen year), had been with the school for over a decade and a half, and for much longer than that time had struggled with gender identity dysphoria. It wasn't public knowledge, and nothing would have made it obvious, until she began showing up at the school as a woman.

Spring Arbor, having more than several anti-gay policies woven into their student and staff conduct codes, wasn't in a particularly welcoming mood when the board caught wind of this, especially since she'd told University President Gayle Beebe she'd be doing so ahead of time. Here's the good part (and trust me, I've learned over time how these folks think, I can pretty much guarantee you this is how it went down ): realizing Julie's (then John) contract was due to end in May, they decided to effectively let her go early due to " John's decision to not honor the contract we had agreed on." They first reduced her responsibilities and assigned her to telecommute (i.e. not be seen on campus), then later informed her that they wouldn't renew her contract. And believe me, they planned it out that way from the beginning. They didn't inform Nemecek of their decision to not renew the contract until later, but I promise you that had been the idea the entire time.

This says a lot about the university. But not as much as anyone who knows better would like it to. So I'm taking it upon myself to fill anyone who cares about such things in on the topic. Let's deem these...

"The Rules of Spring Arbor's Reality"

Rule 1) The Spring Arbor Bubble Nulls Reality.
Students and certain staff members often reference "The Bubble." It truly does exist, if only psychologically. Basically, it's a force surrounding Spring Arbor University's campus that, much like anything Billy Mays promotes, cuts through the dirt and grime and doesn't harm the good stuff underneath.

At least that's the way it's supposed to work. The truth of the matter is that it filters reality through the eyes of those running the school, the majority of whom apparently are very, very ignorant of reality. Example #52,475: Lansing Community College is considering backing out of it's contract with Spring Arbor for usage of the new University Center in Lansing in return for promotion of SAU in and around LCC's campus... because this ordeal brings to light discriminatory policies at Spring Arbor that clearly violate anti-discrimination policies at LCC. Where does The Bubble come into play? Well, despite media coverage in the Jackson Citizen Patriot, the Lansing State Journal and on WLNS, among other local outlets, SAU Vice President Dr. Betty Overton-Adkins didn't know a thing about LCC's doubts.

The Bubble strikes again. Could one pass it off as plain ol' ignorance? Perhaps, but then you'd be dubbing a good chunk of SAU's staff and student body "ignorants." And, yes, that may very well be the cause of the existence of The Bubble. But it just sounds nicer to chalk it up to The Bubble itself rather than blame those responsible for The Bubble's creation. That's not ignorance, it's just being nice. Of course, it goes entirely against my policy of speaking my mind, but sometimes tact can be a good thing. Now, if you would please, completely forget that I just called a good chunk of Spring Arbor's staff and student body "ignorants." Thank you.

Rule 2) Everything Is Against The Concept.
The Spring Arbor University Concept is the school's purpose statement. It is as follows:

"Spring Arbor University is a community of learners distinguished by our lifelong involvement in the study and application of the liberal arts, total commitment to Jesus Christ as the perspective for learning, and critical participation in the contemporary world."

Spring Arbor is known among students and staff for aggresively enforcing the concept. Yes, they use this idea as the basis for all reprimanding actions they take, thus the student body-coined term "against The Concept." According to many (myself included), everything is against The Concept. Fun is against The Concept. Freedom of expression is against The Concept. Breathing is against The Concept. You get the idea.

What's truly ironic (read "moronic") about this is that anyone with half a brain and the ability to put together a coherent, logical thought pattern would realize that The Concept is actually liberal at it's core, not conservative. And we're not just talking politics... the phrase "liberal arts" literally implies critical thinking, and the link between liberal arts and critical participation should be quite obvious to the aforementioned half-brained, logical person, let alone someone with a fully functional mind. The key is the phrase "critical participation," and several of my former professors there bring up this debate in their courses: what does that phrase mean? At the most obvious conclusion, it means we are to think things through fully, and most applicable in this case, not just act out based on our emotions and preconceived notions.

But, again, SAU will use The Concept here as they have done time and time again. Their explanation will be that Julie Nemecek's actions are selfish, disrespectful of God's creation of not only herself but mankind as a whole, and that her "total commitment to Jesus Christ" has been undermined by her actions. Oh, yes, I've heard all the arguments. I've been a Christian all my life and I've attended many churches of several different denominations, including a good 'ol Southern Baptist church who was still lacing racism into things as recently as the early 90's. Going by the Spring Arbor definition, I knew what The Concept was before I knew it was The Concept. I knew it was wrong then and I know it's wrong now.

Gender identity dysphoria is a documented, studied and, yes, real disorder. Julie Nemecek is living proof of that. To say that the fact that God created her imperfectly is in any way a sin on hers or anyone else's part is deplorable. This is the same line of thinking that once led people to believe (and, sometimes, still does) that mentally and physically handicapped people are born with their deficiency because of some sin their parents had committed. It's ignorant and wrong. All of us are created, are now and will be for a long time to come, imperfect. That's a fact, look it up. Surprise, surprise... it's in the Bible! Also in the Bible: the concept of loving the sinner and hating the sin. Even if Spring Arbor were correct about Julie's actions being sinful (which, again, they aren't), they would still be on some pretty shaky ground when it comes to that tenet. All it takes is one look at who Jesus hung out with on a regular basis to see that. I've been wondering for several years now how this all wound up being "against The Concept."

So you see, Spring Arbor fulfills pretty much every negative stereotype a Christian college has. It took me a couple years, one in and one out of the school, for me to realize that. People often ask me if I ever consider returning, and the answer is, with increasingly good reason, no. They've abandoned many of the principles they should be embracing, abandoning some of them before I even realized it. Had I known the truth, I probably would never have gone to the school. Sadly, I have to urge others to take that into consideration. It's definitely not a place for anyone who thinks for themself.

More Coverage:
Jackson Citizen Patriot follow-up with Nemecek
...editorial
Initial WLNS story
...follow-up on LCC's possible contract dismissal
365gay.com and WLNS cover student rally in support of Nemecek
CBSNews.com briefly mentions Nemecek in story about Largo, Florida city manager's own sex change controversy

Who really cares?

2007-02-26T10:32:00.000-05:00

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/article-23386857-details/I've+found+the+coffin+of+Jesus%2C+says+film+director/article.do
http://www.breitbart.com/news/2007/02/26/D8NHFDRG3.html

Okay, this is bugging the crap out of me.

No, it's not what you think is bugging the crap out of me. It's the idea that you think that's bugging the crap out of me. That's what's bugging the crap out of me.

See, I really couldn't give a flying monkey if Jesus married Mary Magdalene and had children or not. It in no way whatsoever changes my faith. Jesus still stood for the things he taught, he still performed miracles, he still was the Son of God, and married with children or not, those facts don't change. As young children, most of us raised as Christians were taught that Jesus knows everything we go through in life due to his experience here on Earth. Why should that necessarily be any different with marriage? Because of the Church being Christ's bride? Is that the line everyone's hung up on?

You know, with all the debates biblical scholars have had over the centuries, especially over such basic and semantic things like "are the seven days of creation literal or figurative?" (and really, who cares? Does that really change our lives in any huge, earth-shattering way?), you'd think that they'd all just wake up and realize this doesn't matter! If your faith is so weak that a revelation about Jesus' love and family life stands even the slightest chance of breaking it, that's a problem with your faith, not the facts it's based on. One of the things I've always admired about the United Brethren Church (one of which I regularly attended for about a year and a half) is that one of their basic tenets is this: the little things don't matter. We could argue all our lives about seven days in the beginning of Genesis. We could spend an entire decade on the ins and outs of the book of Revelations. But in the end, it really doesn't make a difference.

That's exactly how I see the arguments over Jesus being married: petty, inconclusive and just plain annoying. It's not a life-and-death issue. If it rocks the foundations of the Church as it's established, that would only be because the Church has flaws. Read it yourself: we're not perfect yet. We won't be until the end of time. But if the Church itself needs a readjustment in it's principles based on truth (which, just look back at history... it's had to happen time and time... and time... again), so be it. That doesn't change my faith.

Now, once again, please note: I'm not taking the "they got married" side over the "they didn't get married" side, or vice-versa. I'm just pointing out that, either way, it doesn't change anything for me.

It's the End of the World as We Know It

2007-02-03T12:15:00.001-05:00

National Weather Service Zone - MIZ081

IWXWSWIWX
WWUS43 KIWX 031518
WSWIWX

URGENT - WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORTHERN INDIANA
1018 AM EST SAT FEB 3 2007

DANGEROUS WINTER CONDITIONS WILL OCCUR TODAY THROUGH MONDAY...

EXTREMELY COLD AIR WILL OVERSPREAD THE SOUTHERN GREAT LAKES

REGION TODAY THROUGH MONDAY. VERY STRONG WINDS WILL COMBINE WITH
THE FRIGID TEMPERATURES TO PRODUCE LIFE THREATENING WIND CHILL
VALUES AND SIGNIFICANT BLOWING AND DRIFTING SNOW.

THIS IS A VERY DANGEROUS SITUATION. PEOPLE NEED TO STAY INDOORS
AND RESTRICT UNNECESSARY TRAVEL. EXPOSED FLESH WILL EXPERIENCE
FROSTBITE IN A VERY SHORT PERIOD OF TIME. BLOWING SNOW WILL CAUSE
WHITE OUT CONDITIONS AND SIGNIFICANT DRIFTING SNOW WILL MAKE
TRAVEL ON NORTH SOUTH ROADS NEARLY IMPOSSIBLE.

INZ003>005-MIZ077-078-032330-
/O.CAN.KIWX.WS.W.0001.000000T0000Z-070204T0500Z/
/O.NEW.KIWX.BZ.W.0001.070203T1518Z-070204T0500Z/
/O.CON.KIWX.WC.Y.0001.070204T0500Z-070205T1700Z/
LA PORTE-ST. JOSEPH IN-ELKHART-BERRIEN-CASS MI-
INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...MICHIGAN CITY...LA PORTE...SOUTH BEND...
MISHAWAKA...ELKHART...GOSHEN...NILES...BENTON HARBOR...
ST. JOSEPH...BUCHANAN...DOWAGIAC...CASSOPOLIS
1018 AM EST SAT FEB 3 2007 /918 AM CST SAT FEB 3 2007/

WINTER STORM WARNING IS CANCELLED...

BLIZZARD WARNING IN EFFECT UNTIL MIDNIGHT EST /11 PM CST/

TONIGHT.
WIND CHILL ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM MIDNIGHT EST /11 PM

CST/ TONIGHT TO 12 PM EST /11 AM CST/ MONDAY.

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN NORTHERN INDIANA HAS ISSUED A
BLIZZARD WARNING...WHICH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL MIDNIGHT EST /11 PM
CST/ TONIGHT. THE WINTER STORM WARNING HAS BEEN CANCELLED. A WIND
CHILL ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM MIDNIGHT EST /11 PM CST/
TONIGHT TO 12 PM EST /11 AM CST/ MONDAY.

WEST WINDS GUSTING TO NEAR 50 MPH WILL CAUSE SIGNIFICANT BLOWING
AND DRIFTING SNOW. WHITE OUT CONDITIONS WILL RESULT TODAY AND
TONIGHT...ESPECIALLY IN OPEN AREAS. NORTH SOUTH ROADS IN RURAL
AREAS WILL BECOME NEARLY IMPASSABLE.

THE STRONG WINDS WILL COMBINE WITH BITTER COLD TEMPERATURES TO
PRODUCE WIND CHILLS TO NEARLY 25 BELOW ZERO THROUGH MONDAY. EXPOSED
FLESH WILL FREEZE IN LESS THAN 30 MINUTES.

WHILE THE SNOWFALL WILL BE NEARLY IMPOSSIBLE TO MEASURE DUE TO
BLOWING...2 TO 5 INCHES CAN BE EXPECTED BY LATE TONIGHT.

A BLIZZARD WARNING MEANS SEVERE WINTER WEATHER CONDITIONS ARE
EXPECTED OR OCCURRING. FALLING AND BLOWING SNOW WITH STRONG WINDS
AND POOR VISIBILITIES ARE LIKELY. THIS WILL LEAD TO WHITEOUT
CONDITIONS...MAKING TRAVEL EXTREMELY DANGEROUS. DO NOT TRAVEL. IF
YOU MUST...HAVE A WINTER SURVIVAL KIT WITH YOU. IF YOU GET
STRANDED...STAY WITH YOUR VEHICLE.

Damn global warming. Or cooling. Or climate change. Or whatever they're calling it this week.

Here, let me do my part...

There. That little bit of methane should do some good.

I want to see this song shoot straight to the top.

2007-01-16T09:58:00.001-05:00

Maybe it'll help make up for the piece of crap that Hinder's "Lips of an Angel" is.

Face Down
Red Jumpsuit Apparatus

Hey girl you know you drive me crazy
One look puts the rhythm in my head
Still I'll never understand why you hang around
I see what's going down

Cover up with make up in the mirror
Tell yourself it's never gonna happen again
You cry alone and then he swears he loves you

Do you feel like a man
When you push her around?
Do you feel better now
As she falls to the ground?
Well I'll tell you my friend,
One day this world's going to end
As your lies crumble down,
A new life she has found.

A pebble in the water makes a ripple effect
Every action in this world will bear a consequence
If you wade around forever you will surely drown
I see what's going down

I see the way you go and say your right again,
Say your right again
Heed my lecture

Do you feel like a man
When you push her around?
Do you feel better now
As she falls to the ground?
Well I'll tell you my friend,
One day this world's going to end
As your lies crumble down,
A new life she has found

Face down in the dirt
She said, "This doesn't hurt"
She said, "I've finally had enough."
(repeat)

One day she will tell you that she has had enough
It's coming round again

Do you feel like a man
When you push her around?
Do you feel better now
As she falls to the ground?
Well I'll tell you my friend,
One day this world's going to end
As your lies crumble down,
A new life she has found
(repeat)

Face down in the dirt
She said, "This doesn't hurt,"
She said, "I've finally had enough."

Why do we need a song to make up for "Lips of an Angel"? The whole glorifying men as man-whores idea. I've already run into this with several people... mostly of the female persuasion. They all seem to think "Lips of an Angel" is the greatest song ever. Meanwhile every time I hear it I want to gouge my eardrums out with a Q-Tip.

And I know what your next question is going to be: why do you feel that way about this song and not every hip-hop song made in the last 20 years? Well, quite frankly, I do hate the same idea in hip-hop, but I also understand that most people enjoy those songs because of the music behind the lyrics, not the lyrics themselves. Everyone I've talked to who enjoys "Lips of an Angel" has specifically told me that they like the song because of what it says, not the sound of the music (though they usually find it catchy... it is a "jingle song" after all).

Now we've got a song going for mainstream adds that holds up a man for being a true man and standing up to some a-hole who beats his girlfriend. I would much rather see music that holds men up as real men, not guys or dogs, but men.

Thank you, Red Jumpsuit Apparatus. I'll be pulling for you.

Think marching band is easy?

2007-01-09T09:07:00.001-05:00

Watch and learn.

2007-01-09T09:00:00.001-05:00

Anyone who knows me knows I'm no UF fan, but...

G OD BLE SS YOU GATOR S
FO R MAUL ING TH E
BU CKEYE S!

Let's now sing together in celebration of last night's 41-14 destruction of Ohio State!

(Thanks to Buzzboard user Charlie and good 'ol Dick Purtan for the audio.)

Note to Lauren Grover: It's Called Research.

2007-01-08T07:47:00.001-05:00

I was simply curious: what does Google say about WCSR? I typed in "WCSR Hillsdale" for this search, and the results included a November 30th, 2006 article from the Hillsdale Collegian, entitled "All things considered, no NPR for campus" with the byline "Local tower impedes 'liberal' radio reception, colleges seek 'on-air' time."

The article, written by the Collegian's news editor Lauren Grover, is full of so many erroneous uses of technological terms and completely incorrect statements that it had me shouting at my computer monitor after reading the first two paragraphs alone.

The rest of this post is directed to her.

Lauren, maybe it's the stresses of school. Maybe you were misinformed. Maybe you just rushed to get this done and didn't double-check your information. Whatever it is, though, it's no excuse for these errors. This is journalism, my friend. Research is mandatory, and a couple of calls to WCSR does not research make.

I'll now go through and point out every error in the article. I want you to take notes. This will be on the exam.

It isn't a protective bubble over the college that's kept National Public Radio off local airwaves...

No, it's the fact that no one in Hillsdale has seriously taken the time and effort to put an NPR station on the air here. On top of that, Hillsdale College is, by design, a conservative school and, as such, doesn't particularly find publicly-funded broadcasting to be the best use of our tax dollars.

...but simple, practical barriers of location and weather. The closest stations to carry the NPR feed— WKAR 90.5 FM out of East Lansing and WUOM 91.7 FM out of Ann Arbor—are both more than 60 miles from Hillsdale...

Correct: 69.5 and 70.2 miles, respectively, between each station's tower and Hillsdale College's Central Hall.

...a distance that inhibits reception...

Funny, I have no problem picking up WKAR or WUOM here on West Street. Then again, I'm using my dipole antenna connected to a stereo (a dipole antenna could just as easily be connected to a boombox). Additionally, distance from the tower isn't the only factor here, which is where you go with the article next.

...despite each station's 60,000-watt towers.

Lauren, Lauren, Lauren... that's a hugely incorrect statement!

First let's deal with the most obvious error. The towers don't put out 60,000 watts, the transmitters do. The tower is simply there to hold the antenna, which broadcasts the signal coming from the transmitter, in the air. FM signals are received in a line-of-sight fashion, so the taller the tower, the further the signal will travel, assuming the transmitter is running at the same power at each time the antenna sits at one of the two different heights.

Now let's go into the incorrect information. Technically speaking, both WKAR and WUOM are actually grandfathered Class B stations which means that, due to the fact that they were licensed before the current class system was put into place, they actually operate above the power and tower height other stations in their class are limited to (50,000 watts, 492.13 feet HAAT, or height above average terrain). WKAR-FM operates with 86,000 watts horizontal effective radiated power and 57,000 watts vertical effective radiated power at a HAAT of 896 feet. At the same time, WUOM operates at 93,000 watts horizontal-only... which is only 7,000 watts away from the class C1 legal limit of 100,000 watts for a tower of it's height (778 feet HAAT).

The height of WKAR and WUOM's respective antennae, combined with their power, give each of the stations a rather large service area. So long as you know what you're doing with a dipole antenna (and it's not that hard to learn simply by trial and error), you should have no trouble at all pulling either station in from campus.

All of this information could have been found by doing a total of two Google searches.

In addition, both call numbers are too close in proximity to WCSR's 92.1 FM, whose 6,000-watt tower overrides neighboring call numbers for listeners in town.

Firstly, the term you're looking for is frequency. 92.1 megahertz is the frequency at which WCSR operates. Their call letters are WCSR. However, the basic idea of what you're trying to say is correct in the case of WUOM: 91.7 does get a run for it's money from 92.1 when you're closer to 92.1 than you are 91.7, depending on your radio and antenna. I've already explained the antenna part of that... the radio part is coming up right now.

Local broadcast engineer of 43 years, Michael Bradford, said this function—called front-end overload— is standard to all radios.

Actually, front-end overload is what the technology behind the effect you're witnessing is trying to prevent from happening. The effect itself is not actually a function, it's a side effect, and I'll explain why it happens after Bradford gives one half of the explanation.

"The amplifier on the front of the radio has what is called AGC, or automatic gain control built in," Bradford said. "That means that if you're nearby a radio station, it automatically turns the gain down so that you don't overload the receiver. Unfortunately, if you're nearby a station you don't want to listen to, it turns down the gain anyway."

Now that's not actually the cause of the issue, it's an unintentional result. The actual problem lies in what's called selectivity. Different radios are built with different amounts of selectivity between stations, meaning that some radios are better than others at separating the signals of stations that are close together on the dial. Unfortunately, it's a relatively expensive problem to deal with (and is one that most radio listeners don't worry about), so many radios sold to the average consumer don't feature very high selectivity. This is why Bradford referred to the AGC: when a radio with low selectivity detects a stronger signal than the one you're trying to listen to, even .4 megahertz away, the AGC will kick in and reduce the gain of that station in favor of the stronger one.

It sounds like he didn't actually explain that part of it to you, so I can't fault you for that much, however, once again, a simple Google search would have turned up this information.

Bradford—who monitors 11 local stations including Hillsdale's WCSR— said atmospheric conditions are another important variable in a radio's reception quality, especially for FM frequency waves that run through the ionosphere.

At nighttime or in adverse weather conditions the ionosphere— a layer of charged gas particles—moves closer to the earth. For FM frequency this can work "like a mirror—signals bouncing off and traveling hundreds of miles further than expected," he said.

Actually, Brafford was referring to AM frequencies (WCSR also operates at 1340 kilohertz) on this one. I'll let it slide this time... you could have just misunderstood what he was saying. But if you turn on your AM radio at night, you'll hear stations from half a continent away. Some of the most receivable stations here in Hillsdale are 830 WCCO Minneapolis, 880 WCBS New York, 1000 WMVP Chicago, 1040 WHO Des Moines, 1060 KYW Philadelphia, 1100 WTAM Cleveland (which probably comes in the strongest) and 1140 WRVA Richmond, Virginia. Get out of the city, away from all the electrical noise, and you can pick up even more. The most distant station I've heard under normal conditions out in the rural areas of Hillsdale County is 850 KOA in Denver, over 1,100 miles away!

"Somebody in Toledo could be listening to WCSR; somebody in Hillsdale might be listening to a station in Missouri," Bradford said.

It's very possible on the AM side... though WCSR's AM station is on what's considered a "graveyard" frequency, a location on the dial where there are literally hundreds of lower-powered stations across the country. The interference that environment creates, not to mention the very low-power 250 watts WCSR runs at night, makes it difficult to hear the station's AM side at night, even as close to the station as Waterworks Drive. Stranger things have happened, though, so I wouldn't be entirely surprised if WCSR had heard from an AM listener in Toledo (I'm not knocking WCSR's technical capabilities, just pointing out the facts of the situation).

On the other hand, WCSR's FM signal gets out freakishly well to the east-southeast, and I know for a fact they've heard from listeners in Toledo on several occasions. My parents have similarly dragged it all the way out to Cabellas in Dundee. No one's really been able to figure out why that happens, though, other than a simple lack of interference.

Other factors include "skip"—a phase in either spring or winter when the ionosphere can act strangely...

Actually, "skip" isn't a time of the year, it's simply another term for the phenomenon of radio signals traveling long distances. What you're probably referring to is "E-skip," which is named such because the ionosphere is often referred to as the "E layer" of the atmosphere according to it's order. Very dense particle clouds in the ionosphere bounce FM and VHF TV (channels 2-13) signals, much like the ionosphere normally does with AM signals. It has to do with the density of the ionized particles as to why it affects the FM and TV range of the electromagnetic spectrum, though why that is and what causes the ion clouds to form is still a mystery to scientists. The occurrence of E-skip is actually relatively rare compared to other forms, though it's much more common in the winter and spring.

This could have been a simple misunderstanding as well, but yet again, this could have been found by doing a Google search.

—fog, temperature drops and thermal inversion—when cold air and warm air layers crash into one another.

This is what's known as "tropospheric skip" or "tropo" for short, named such because of the conditions in the troposphere. Not an error, just pointing it out for future reference.

One thing that he didn't mention that also causes interference is the Aurora Borealis. When a CME (coronal mass ejection), or solar flare, hits the ionosphere, it wreaks absolute havoc on just about all of the broadcast bands... AM, FM and TV. I've even noticed it affecting my WiFi connection recently. On FM, it reduces a signal's service area and results in loud bursts of static. On TV, it will have essentially the same effect as a strong nearby lightning strike. On AM, you'll hear lightning-like static as well, but the really interesting effect is that it completely silences the 50,000-watt clear channel stations (such as WCCO, WTAM, etc.) and brings low-powered stations in clear as a bell. I picked up my third-longest skip catch ever in the Fall aurora of 2004: WPCF Panama City Beach (which, at a mere 55 watts night power, isn't even a pea-shooter), Florida from Horton, Michigan, a distance of 964 miles. If it weren't for the aurora, I probably never would have heard that station in a million years unless I flew down there with the specific intent of listening to it.

That's a big one that you could've found on Google, so I'm docking points for it.

"God had a sense of humor when it came to things like that," he said.

That and the platypus, yes.

WKAR and WUOM—both non-commercial educational stations affiliated with Michigan state universities—chose to carry the NPR feed and its programming.

Part-time WCSR radio personality and Hillsdale resident Juli Wahtola said it is up to a station to pick which feed they want to run in addition to their local programs.

"Like any other network, it's the station's discretion whether or not to take a feed, one like NPR," she said.

Wahtola said some broadcast houses have multiple stations they run from one place, allowing them to broadcast simultaneous feeds of different kinds. WCSR runs one such network program during the night through a barter—an agreement allowing that network to play its own commercials and programs together.

Jones Radio Networks out of Denver. That's where they pick up Heart to Heart, the majority of the afternoon programming on the weekends and a good chuck of the national commercials you hear on the station.

Bradford said commercial stations can choose to run certain NPR programs—such as a presidential debate—for a fee.

"There is production cost involved," he said. "It is public radio, but remember that public radio stations pay NPR a fee for every one of the programs they carry."

It never comes free. Radio doesn't work that way.

Twenty-six million listeners tune into NPR weekly from more than 800 independently operated, noncommercial stations across the nation. NPR's Morning Edition is the country's most listened to morning news program, posting 12.8 million listeners, according to Arbitron Nationwide Spring 2006 statistics.

And yes, I'll be the one to say it: NPR holds a lock on the majority of news/talk listeners who lean politically liberal. That's why you won't find an NPR station popping up here in Hillsdale anytime soon. We're a red county. Even if Hillsdale County turned blue (and it slowly is doing so), Hillsdale College would certainly never fund an NPR station. As I pointed out before, it's a conservative school by design, and not only would they not support liberal programming, they certainly wouldn't support a station that receives partial funding from the government, as they do all they can to remain separate from the government.

Colleges Opening the Airwaves

Some colleges and universities help to open the radio airwaves on their campuses through community antennas, ones capable of picking up signals of distant stations.

"If enough students, say, want to listen to a particular station, whether TV or radio, sometimes colleges will install directional antenna and feed it into a universal TV system, so students can tune into a station through cable TV," he said.

Other schools have started their own noncommercial, educational radio stations on campus. Michigan State University's WUOM 91.7 FM is one such example.

Bradford said Hillsdale College could follow suit.

"You students could produce your own programs—the station could carry NPR," he said. "It could be a great service to the college community and the Hillsdale community at large."

Hillsdale might start it's own station for the students, but again, that station would not carry NPR programming.

Bradford said expenses—from buying equipment and a tower to maintaining the station— can easily rack up to $300,000 "at a snap of a finger."

Likely much more than that.

On the other hand, benefactors and alumni of the college could contribute to special fundraising events put on by the station, such as the week-long fundraiser WUOM holds once a year.

However, as I said before, it's a red county. Raising funds for an NPR station here would likely be impossible, and you'd certainly never see any money for one coming from the college's donation base.

Bradford said the Federal Communication Commission makes allotments for noncommercial stations to file radio applications for no fee.

Another possibility would be to start a Part 15 station that rebroadcasts WUOM or WKAR across campus, possibly even from the Internet stream of either station. Part 15 refers to Part 15 of the Communications Act of 1934, the act that founded the FCC. It states that, with certain very low-power limitations and restrictions on antenna length and signal coverage, one can operate an AM or FM transmitter without a license. It's the rule that allows you to use those FM transmitters for your iPod or satellite radio in your car. There are many people and organizations who use the AM side of that rule to operate small community-based radio stations (and Part 15-compliant AM signals travel at least twice as far as Part 15 FM signals do). With a Part 15 AM station, you could easily cover the majority of the campus with one transmitter.

However, as I've been trying to make this point for the past eleven years, Internet radio is where the entire industry is going to be within the next five to fifteen years. Spending money on a transmitter may not be the wisest long-term investment at this point for the college. Portable WiFi devices are becoming more and more numerous and available every day (and Ford is even putting them in all of their vehicles starting this year), so all you need is a series of hot spots around campus. I know several already exist. All you need to do is tune into the stream of the station you want to listen to... even an NPR station from California if that's you're choice.

So, to sum up, there were a lot of things missed in this article, a lot of things that were flat-out wrong, and a lot of things that could have been thought out a lot more thoroughly than they had been. The key word here is research. It seems not a whole lot went into this article.

The Joshy's Have Moved (On the Calendar)

2007-01-08T02:22:00.001-05:00

The 2006 Joshy Awards have been moved, and I've decided to go by "X Annual" instead of the year for noting which Joshys are which. Therefore, the 2nd Annual Joshy Awards have been moved to February 5th, 2007. Aside from making it possible to consider the entire year instead of just the first 11 months, this gives you about a month to get your votes in, and coincidentally, puts the awards "ceremony" two days before my birthday. No connection, really, other than my awards being near my birthday... it just works better that way.

This is officially your chance to nominate people, companies, groups... whatever you want. The categories this year are:

MEDIA

RADIO (For radio station and personality nominees, please be sure to include the station's call letters. If you're not sure of a station's call letters, check here.)

Best Mainstream CHR:
Worst Mainstream CHR:
Best Rhythmic CHR:
Worst Rhythmic CHR:
Best Classic Rock:
Worst Classic Rock:
Best Classic/Variety Hits ("Jack"):
Worst Classic/Variety Hits:
Best Active/Modern/Alternative Rock:
Worst Active/Modern/Alternative Rock:
Best Oldies:
Worst Oldies:
Best Country:
Worst Country:
Best Christian AC:
Worst Christian AC:
Best Christian CHR/Rock:
Worst Christian CHR/Rock:
Best Dance:
Worst Dance:
Best News/Talk:
Worst News/Talk:
Best National Music Program:
Worst National Music Program:
Best National Political Talk Program:
Worst National Political Talk Program:
Best National Non-Political Talk Program:
Worst National Non-Political Talk Program:
Best Sports Program:
Worst Sports Program:
Best National Newscast:
Worst National Newscast:
Best National/World News Coverage:
Worst National/World News Coverage:
Best Morning Show:
Worst Morning Show:
Best Midday Host:
Worst Midday Host:
Best PM Drive Host:
Worst PM Drive Host:
Best Night Host:
Worst Night Host:
Best Format to Work In:
Worst Format to Work In:

TV
- Best Drama:
- Worst Drama:
- Best Sitcom:
- Worst Sitcom:
- Best Reality Show:
- Worst Reality Show:
- Best Talk Show:
- Worst Talk Show:
- Best Comedy:
- Worst Comedy:
- Best Network Overall:
- Worst Network Overall:
- Best News Network:
- Worst News Network:
- Best Newscast:
- Worst Newscast:
- Best Debate Show:
- Worst Debate Show:
- Best Commentator:
- Worst Commentator:
MOVIES
- Best Comedy:
- Worst Comedy:
- Best Drama:
- Worst Drama:
- Best Action/Adventure:
- Worst Action/Adventure:
- Best Sci Fi:
- Worst Sci Fi:
INTERNET (Please be sure to include a link.)
- Best News Source:
- Worst News Source:
- Best Political Blog:
- Worst Political Blog:
- Best Topical Blog:
- Worst Topical Blog:
- Best Comedy Site:
- Worst Comedy Site:
- Best Music Source:
- Worst Music Source:
- Best P2P Program:
- Worst P2P Program:
- Best Type of Web Site:
- Worst Type of Web Site:
NEWSPAPERS (For the columnists, please be sure to include what newspaper or news service they write for.)
- Best Overall:
- Worst Overall:
- Best Local News Coverage:
- Worst Local News Coverage:
- Best Editorials:
- Worst Editorials:
- Best Columnist:
- Worst Columnist:
- Best Comics Section:
- Worst Comics Section:

GOVERNMENT
- Best Law Passed:
- Worst Law Passed:
- Best Action Taken by Congress:
- Worst Action Taken by Congress:
- Worst Waste of Congress' Time:
- Best Use of the Court System:
- Worst Abuse of the Court System:
- Worst Waste of the Court System's Time:
- Best Supreme Court Decision:
- Worst Supreme Court Decision:
- Worst Waste of the Supreme Court's Time:
- Most Laughable Scandal:
- Most Damaging Scandal:
- Best Action Taken:
- Worst Missed Opportunity:
PEOPLE
- Most Heroic:
- Least Heroic, Yet Overblown by the Media:
- Dramatic with Good Reason:
- Overly Dramatic:
- Funniest Person:
- Not So Funny:
- Most Complicated Life:
- Least Complicated Life:
- Best Individual Move:
- Worst Individual Move:
- Best Communal Move:
- Biggest Communal Brain Fart:
CORPORATE WORLD
- Most Laughable Blunder:
- Most Damaging Blunder:
- Most Helpful Success:
- Most Damaging Success:
- Best Move:
- Worst Move:
- Most Laughable Scandal:
- Most Damaging Scandal:
SPORTS
- NFL
  - Best Offense:
  - Best Defense:
  - Best Overall:
  - Play of the Year:
- NBA
  - Best Offense:
  - Best Defense:
  - Best Overall:
  - Play of the Year:
- MLB
  - Best Batting Lineup:
  - Best Field Lineup:
  - Play of the Year:
- NHL
  - Best Offense:
  - Best Defense:
  - Best Overall:
  - Play of the Year:
- COLLEGE FOOTBALL
  - Best Offense:
  - Best Defense:
  - Best Overall:
  - Play of the Year:
- COLLEGE BASKETBALL
  - Best Offense:
  - Best Defense:
  - Best Overall:
  - Play of the Year:
- Best Sports Town:
- Worst Sports Town:
- Best School:
- Worst School:
GENERAL NONSENSE

That Girl's HOT!:
That Girl's Not:
That Man's HOT!:
That Man's Not:
The "Aaaaaand... no." Award:
Best In Show:
Worst In Show:
Most Useful:
Least Useful:
What Were They Thinking?:
Victim of Natural Selection:
Jackass of the Year:
Who Gave Them Permission to Breed?:
He's Insane:
She's Insane:
Ratio of Good SNL Reruns at 3:00 AM to Good SNL Episodes at 11:30 PM:

I'll be putting the winners' list together on the 4th, so that's when I ask you have your nominations in by. Remember, it's all up to you to bring the Joshys together. This is, in essence, your awards ceremony. I just tally the votes (my own included) and post the results. It's exactly like our presidential elections: once I get the results posted and you disagree with something, if you didn't vote, you can't complain... Adam :-)

Happy voting!

"Steal from the rich, give to the poor." - Karl Marx (paraphrased)

2007-01-08T01:37:00.001-05:00

I'm going to start calling Nancy Pelosi Robyn Hood.

Why Marching Band is More Than Just Marching Band

2007-01-06T11:52:00.001-05:00

This article hits the nail on the head with pinpoint accuracy.

Bargaining Chip: Mecca

2006-12-29T11:41:00.001-05:00

You know, I'm pretty sick and tired of this shit. The extremist Muslims just keep getting their way while our politicians sit at home bickering over the morality/funding/staffing/cause/reasoning/strategy of World War 3.

Notice I said extremist Muslims? No, I don't care if that offends anyone. I have yet to see or hear a single Muslim stand up and condemn the factions of their faith who have dedicated themselves to destroying us to establish a global Khalifate. If you're not standing up to these treacherous asshats and screaming your lungs out as you damn well should be, you're no better than any of them yourself. Until I start seeing and hearing some movement from the peace-loving Muslims I keep hearing so much about, I'll continue to group the entire religion together in my mind. STAND THE FUCK UP!

You'd better believe I'm pissed! If you don't now, you will after you read the following sentence.

Give them ten days to stop the fighting, or we nuke Mecca.

Yep, you read that right. We need to threaten (and, if need be, follow through on that threat) Mecca. A people so corrupt and vile don't deserve their precious holy land. If they value the place their faith holds sacred, they put an end to their jihad immediately. And believe you me, if that doesn't get the peace-loving Muslims to stand up and scream bloody murder, nothing will.

In the meantime, whaddaya say we start actually fighting this war, huh?! Let's try sending some more troops in from Afghanistan, bring in more reservists, and (gasp! God forbid!) bomb mosques. I don't give two shits about "holy ground." If Muqtada al-Sadr is in a mosque, I'm all for lighting the place up like a goddamn 4th of July fireworks show. Your average, everyday mosque can easily be rebuilt. On the other hand, gaining any semblance of freedom under a global khalifate will be impossible. Which would you rather try to do?

This is World War 3.
It is literally a fight between Good and Evil.
Which side are you on?

MIRACULOUS: Something on which I actually AGREE with the PTC!

2006-09-23T10:58:00.000-04:00

WARNING: for those of you reading this on The Radio Blog (this post is also displayed over on Josh's Uncommon Sense) who take offense at my religious and/or political views, you know I don't generally express them here, but they are very much integrated into the fiber of this story. As I mention below, there is no right to no be offended, so if you think you may have a problem with this post, don't bother reading it. If you do decide to read it, and you're offended by it, don't bother complaining to me. I warned you ahead of time.

"And now, uh, back to the saga." -- John Cleese

When I first saw that VeggieTales was coming to NBC, I thought exactly what Rebecca Marks hoped I would: "VeggieTales on network television? Cool!" I happen to love VeggieTales. It's right up there with two of my other favorite Christian series, "McGee and Me" and the old TBN staple "SuperBook." Not to mention, of course, some of the other Christian video and television series I enjoyed watching as I grew up... stuff like "Colby's Clubhouse," "Davey and Goliath" (didn't everyone watch "Davey and Goliath"? It sure seems like it...), "Flying House," "Gospel Bill" and Canadian-produced show, "Circle Square."

But apparently, NBC has seen fit to do a bit of editing. It seems Christian values and moral lessons aren't politically correct (and who would've guessed that?), so NBC's Censorship Kommission (otherwise known as the network's "Broadcast Standards" department) decided to, as Brent Bozell so aptly puts it in the article, rip "the heart and soul out of a successful product[...]". He goes on to say (better than I could've put it myself), "The series is successful because of its biblical world view, not in spite of it. That's the signature to 'VeggieTales.'"

Truth be told, I'm not so much disturbed by the fact that the censorship took place to begin with, though that is disturbing in and of itself. I'm more disturbed by the reason as to why NBC felt the need to censor the show. In our anti-offensive culture, it seems the only religion that the media thinks could possibly be offensive to anyone is Christianity. I guarantee you that if the show taught Muslim, Buddhist or even Native American religious values, no censorship would take place. Judeo-Christian values, on the other hand, are for some reason automatically assumed to be offensive.

The idea is, of course, ridiculous.

As I've made the argument so many times before, both on Josh's Uncommon Sense and The Radio Blog in relation to various topics, you do not have the right to not be offended. I, for one, happen to find the existence of the city of Jacksonville, Florida offensive ("biggest city in the state"... hmph! They'd still be the size of TAMPA if they hadn't incorporated all of Duvall County, damnit!), but that fact doesn't require the city to cease to exist. It also doesn't give me the right to tell everyone that they can't make any mention of the city at any time simply because I might hear or see it and take offense.

The same is true of Christianity.

No, I don't think VeggieTales sold out. NBC did. And they sold out big time. They are my favorite network. They always have been, and they always will be. But this time around, they really eff'd up, and more people than they think are going to be very unhappy about it. Once again, unnecessary censorship destroys something good.

Way to go, NBC. You may now kiss the gunners daughter. Take them below for the makings.

Granholm's Passion For Education Exposed For What It Is: A Lie.

2006-09-11T14:29:00.000-04:00

     Normally I'm not one to write posts about school systems I haven't had any experience in. This post (together with the post below it) is a rare exception.

     See, this rant involves Detroit's school system, a district in which a good chunk of the teachers are currently striking. In all fairness, this post is more about Governer Jennifer Granholm than the school system itself, but the strike plays a key part in the upcoming election. How, you ask? It's quite simple: campaign promises.

     I can just see that look on your face right now. "Josh, you're not making any sense. What do Jennifer 'Malaise' Granholm, the election, campaign promises and the Detroit teachers strike have to do with one another?" I realize I probably have to do the math for a good chunk of people out there, and that's exactly why I feel compelled to write this. I don't think of my regular readers as ignorant at all... and trust me, I know they already get it. This is for everyone else out there who came across this blog on Google or were sent here by a regular reader. And if this is your first time here, this will be a good lesson in just what this thing I call "uncommon sense" is.

     Think back to the 2002 election. Michigan was humming along fairly decently at the time. Sure, we had our share of problems. The auto industry, as it is today, was struggling financially, there were worries about educational funding and state test scores, and industry as a whole was starting to dry up (and while we saw it coming for a long time, the turn of the century was when it really started kicking into high gear). Remember what Jenny's big campaign promises involved? Education. Education was the answer to everything. Charter schools were a must. Public funding for private schools was going to develop a new partnership for jobs in the state. Somehow test scores would magically rise, and all of this would bring more jobs back into our economy.

     Fast forward to 2006. A handful of charter schools have popped up, but not the number Granholm had expected or campaigned on. The public balked at the idea of public funding for private schools, and even if they hadn't, most private schools balked at the idea themselves and would have refused the money anyway. Test scores have actually declined. Currently, our economy is among the worst in the nation. Obviously Jenny didn't follow through.

     Take a look now at the Detroit teachers strike. The first thing to note is that the strike is flat-out illegal. The law says so quite plainly. Secondly, school started a week ago. Children are missing valuable (and I use the term loosely) days of education because teachers who are paid fairly well for various reasons (getting combat pay for being in the city of Detroit certainly helps) are striking because they want a salary hike.

     Now let's take a look at this year's election. Granholm is trying to campaign using the few things in which she hasn't fallen flat on her ass. That adds up to a whopping grand total of one so far: bringing Toyota into the state (supposedly, anyway... the promise is there, but no plans to move forward have been made known to the public as of yet). Further than that, there's not much she has really campaigned on (and in all honesty, there isn't much else she can campaign on) except the actions she took to lock up those who abused the elderly in nursing homes during her tenure as state attorney general and falsities about Dick DeVos. She could campaign on negative things about DeVos if she could find any. Her campaign lackeys had to make some up to accomplish that.

     What's my point? Simple: if Granholm really, truly cared about education as she's so fervently told us she is in the past,

She would fire the striking Detroit teachers.

     Much like Reagan did with the striking air traffic controllers, she should fire the whole lot of 'em. School started an entire week ago now. These teachers not only have no right to be striking, they have the responsibility to be looking out for the education of the children in their classes. This isn't about them, it's about the children they are put in place to teach. That's their first priority, not looking out for unnecessary pay raises.

     And yet what does Jennifer "Malaise" Granholm do about it? Nothing. She continues to sit comfortably in Lansing, not paying attention to the fact that the state's largest school district is in the middle of an illegal strike... one she has every right and the responsibility (there's that word again) to stop.

     Granholm's passion for education apparently doesn't exist.

128 students suspended for - of all things - a dress code violation.

2006-08-28T11:14:00.000-04:00

Clicky.

Just watch: tomorrow, 256 students will show up in improper dress. Unless uniforms are mandated (which, in this case, they aren't), students will always protest a strict dress code. I went to a school of 1,200 myself in North Carolina, and I can tell you right now that it wouldn't be hard to organize a simple dress code violation protest consisting of 128 people. 256 might be a little more tough, but it could be done with a little effort (and secrecy). I'd do it... but then again, that's coming from my lack of respect (and passionate dislike) for the Guilford County school system. As far as Hammond, Indiana's schools go, I have no idea whether I would or wouldn't. If they're anything like, say, Broward County Schools, I wouldn't. But given enough similarites to the previous... it's dress code violation time, baby!

!!! JUS NEWS ALERTS !!!

2006-07-31T16:11:00.000-04:00

--------------------------
ER ACTRESS MAURA TIERNEY FILES FOR DIVORCE
--------------------------
(FOX NEWS) - AFTER 13 YEARS OF MARRIAGE, MAURA TIERNEY HAS FILED FOR DIVORCE FROM HER HUSBAND BILLY MORISSETTE. TIERNEY IS KNOWN FOR HER ROLE AS ABBY LOCKHART ON NBC'S MEDICAL DRAMA "ER," AS WELL AS ROLES IN "WELCOME TO MOOSEPORT," "LIAR, LIAR" AND HER ROLE AS RADIO PRODUCER LISA MILLER IN THE NBC SITCOM "NEWSRADIO."

I'D STILL HIT THAT.

--------------------------
SABAN TURNS DOWN PRESIDENT
--------------------------
(MIAMI HERALD) - MIAMI DOLPHINS COACH NICK SABAN POLITELY TURNED DOWN AN INVITATION TO HAVE DINNER WITH PRESIDENT BUSH WHILE THE NATION'S LEADER WAS IN SOUTH FLORIDA. WHILE SABAN SAYS HE WOULD HAVE ENJOYED MEETING THE PRESIDENT, HE TOLD THE PRESS HIS MAIN PRIORITY WAS PRACTICE AND TRAINING WITH THE TEAM... AND AFTER THE PAST FEW SEASONS' PERFORMANCES, CAN YOU BLAME HIM?

THE TEAM DID SEND A REPRESENTATIVE TO MEET THE PRESIDENT, HOWEVER: ONE DAN "DAN MARINO" MARINO. IF I WERE PRESIDENT BUSH, I'D BE MORE HAPPY NOW THAN IF I WERE MEETING SABAN.

--------------------------
TRAFFIC TO BE A NIGHTMARE SOUTH OF GREENSBORO
--------------------------
(GREENSBORO NEWS & RECORD) - THE EXIT RAMP FROM THE INTERSTATE 85 BYPASS SOUTH TO U.S. 220 WILL BE CLOSED THIS COMING FRIDAY THROUGH NEXT MONDAY SO N.C.D.O.T. CREWS CAN REPAVE THE ROADS. AS IF TRAFFIC WEREN'T BAD ENOUGH IN THAT AREA. RUSH HOUR IS GOING TO BE PURE HELL.

--------------------------
QUOTE OF THE DAY
--------------------------
I have two very rare photographs. One is a picture of Houdini locking his keys in his car. The other is a rare photograph of Norman Rockwell beating up a child.
-- STEVEN WRIGHT

VINDICATED AGAIN!

2006-07-17T18:47:00.000-04:00

"I am now firmly convinced that the world confronts a situation that is frighteningly similar to a Third World War, one every bit as serious and dangerous as the two great conflicts of the 20th Century."
- Newt Gingrich in today's "Winning The Future" column, which he writes for the weekly news magazine Human Events.

Again, I've been calling it World War 3 ever since 9:08 AM on Tuesday, September 11th, 2001. People are just finally starting to realize how right I was back then.

Better late than never.

Two More Great Quotes from Today's News

2006-07-17T18:38:00.000-04:00

"Only a nation that can protect its freedom deserves it."
- Ehud Olmert, Israel's Prime Minister.

"The Zionists think that they are victims of Hitler, but they act like Hitler and behave worse than Genghis Khan."
- Mahmoud "I'm A Damn Nutjob" Ahmadinejad, Iran's President.

That's My Bush!

2006-07-17T18:30:00.000-04:00

A direct quote from our President:

"What they need to do is to get Syria to get Hezbollah to stop doing this shit."

Glad to know I'm not the only one who resorts to profanity when talking about Middle-Eastern asshats who want to destroy Israel (and I'm not just referring to the political entity). I've been sick of this shit my entire life.

Anyone who would like to see Israel wiped off the map may now kiss the gunners daughter. Take them below for the makings.

The Reason Why

2006-07-12T13:26:00.000-04:00

There are some people in my life, my mother especially, who still don't understand my refusal to communicate with my father and stepmother. Some seem to think it has to do with me being unforgiving. Others think it's a control issue; that I don't want my father to have any authority over me any longer. While the latter argument is true, that's not the reason why I won't talk to him. Neither is a lack of forgiveness.

I've forgiven my father and Connie for what they've done to me. That's over with; done. I'm long past that now. Some may think that's not the case because of what I told my father when he first brought up the idea of kicking me out… my exact words were, "If you kick me out, you'll never see or hear from me again." And yes, I will keep that promise. But not for the reasons anyone thinks.

The reason is simple: history. They've lied to me, they've physically abused me, they've insulted me on more occasions than I can begin to count, and they've done everything they possibly can to turn me into someone I'm not (namely themselves). And before anyone brings up forgiveness again, let me point out that I have forgiven them. But I have not, and will not, forget what they've done because it all comes back to one thing: history. Everyone who's ever been through an elementary school history lesson can recite the age-old cliché: "history repeats itself," the point of which being that one should learn every lesson they possibly can from history so they can avoid the mistakes their predecessors made. In this case, I've learned from my own history that Don and Connie, given the chance, will return to the way they've always dealt with me. They won't change… not because they can't, because they don't want to.

Another mistaken impression some are under is that I'm doing this to hurt my parents. That couldn't be further from the truth. Believe me, I'd much rather have a vibrant relationship with them. But since I know their behavior won't allow that, I won't have any relationship with them. I'm not going to willingly put myself in a position to be repeatedly hurt by them. And to be honest, that's more for the benefit of the people around me than it is for my own. Anyone who knew me while I lived with them knows I was in a constant state of misery. I didn't show it publicly… I wasn't going to let their treatment of me keep me from having a good time… but anyone who really sat down and talked to me (to name names: Greg, Jill, Carrie, Shelley, Tim, Brittany L., Adam, Emily) knew my life was a train wreck. Even people I met in college (especially Chris, Steve H., Steve L. and Marla) took the time to find out what had happened.

I resolved long ago to not put my friends through any more of that as soon as I left that house. My then- and now-closest friends, all of which I've named, have no need to hear about my father and his wife's attitude and actions toward me. Hell, it's even made Chris so angry at my father to the point that… well, let's just say he's made mention of physical retaliation. And that's not what I want. I don't want my friends to be angered, hurt or disappointed over something my parents have done. They don't need that aggravation. Neither do I.

I hope that clears this whole matter up.

The Legend of Drunken Master

2006-07-11T15:49:00.000-04:00

Can there be anything much funnier than an intoxicated Jackie Chan?

"This... is New York." -- Edward R. Murrow from beyond the grave.

2006-07-10T12:36:00.000-04:00

On September 11th, 2001, I think I was probably the first person in the world to call this war what it is: World War III.

If I recall correctly, everyone I knew told me "It's too early to call it that," and "It won't escalate that far."

Once again, I've been vindicated. And it took a New York Daily News columnist pointing it out three years later to do so.

Proud to Be an "Ugly American"

2006-07-03T11:24:00.000-04:00

I feel like starting one of those annoying e-mail forwards, so forward this on to everyone in your address book. Nothing good will happen to you just for doing so (as if any of the e-mails that claim will do so actually do), but you should do it anyway for the sake of making me proud to see my ramblings become an internationally-known annoyance.

Whilst cooking my world-famous "Colletta Heart Attack Burger" (recipe below) for dinner after work, I turned on the TV to watch the news. ABC was airing a fluff piece about how not to be an "ugly American" when traveling overseas. I'll come out and admit it right now: I am an "ugly American." I'm overly enthusiastic about the NBA, and my Miami Heat in particular. I could talk about the pros and cons of living in Miami, Greensboro (North Carolina) and Hillsdale (Michigan) for hours on end. My fashion sense is that of a typical American who just doesn't care: I put on a pair of jeans and grab a random T-shirt every morning. And yes, I'll be the first to point it out: I'm fat. Those are just some of the things that make me an "ugly American."

You see, I have no problem with the term "ugly American" because I am one and I enjoy being one. If anyone thinks that I should care how I come across to the rest of the world, they're wrong. I like being me, I'm not going to stop being me, and I'm not going to change myself just because someone doesn't like who I am. That's not how reality works.

What I take issue with when discussing the whole "ugly American" idea is that if we, as Americans, were to start using the term in reference to any other nationality (oh, say… "ugly Palestinians"), there would be an international uproar (as if there isn't one already). Why does the rest of the world seem to think that Americans are the only people capable of being ugly? Are they blind to the fact that there are plenty of obnoxious people in every other country on the face of the planet?

Take... hell, the whole rest of the world for example. It seems everyone except us is extremely devoted to soccer (which, by the way, I agree with radio hosts Rick & Bubba that it's a communist plot). Please excuse my language, but I couldn't give two shits about an athletic event that takes place for hours on end with nothing of any significance occurring for an hour at a time (that's how much I hate the "sport"). Yet around the world it's referred to as "a beautiful game," and just about everyone has a favorite team, a favorite pub devoted to that team, and a favorite player. To me, that's ugly.

The French hate us. According to a recent survey, only about 17% of Frogs have a favorable opinion of us. To me, that's ugly… but then again, how many of us like them?

I have nothing against Australia, but I would most certainly classify Steve Irwin as an ugly Australian.

Politically, most of Canada is ugly.

Quite obviously, we aren't the only country in the world with ugly people. So since the rest of the world has seen fit to apply this label to all United States citizens, I propose the following: let's start calling everyone, no matter what their nationality, "ugly." We'll have ugly Russians, ugly South Africans and ugly… whatever you call people from that abandoned oil rig that one guy chartered as its own nation. Because when you think about it, the whole world is ugly. We're an obnoxious species, and anyone who thinks otherwise should be shot. There, see? I was just ugly.

And now the recipe for the world-famous "Colletta Heart Attack Burger." Before I go any further, I should point out that I came up with this long before Hardee's put out their artery-hardening ground beef sandwich. Besides, mine tastes better. Also, I heartily recommend buying the brands I have listed in order to get the right taste. This recipe makes one burger… and believe me, that's all you'll be able to eat.

What You'll Need:
- 1/2-pound (cooked) ground beef
- 3 strips of hickory smoked bacon
- 3 3/8-inch (or so… you don't have to be that anal about it) slices of Kraft extra-sharp cheddar cheese
- 1 tsp. of Lawrey's seasoned salt
- Hidden Valley Ranch salad dressing
- A "jumbo" hamburger bun.

What To Do:
First, make sure you already have the hamburger bun opened on a plate conveniently located near your stove. Break the bacon strips in half and, in a medium frying pan, cook them until firm and crispy. While they are cooking, prepare the hamburger patty. Start by forming a bowl shape with the ground beef, and sprinkle about a teaspoon of Lawrey's seasoned salt into the middle. Then knead the beef into a patty. Be sure not to make the patty too thick, or it will take too long to cook. About a half an inch tall should be about right. By the time you're finished, the bacon strips should be done frying. Place the cooked strips on the bottom half of the bun. DO NOT DRAIN THE PAN. Set the stove on medium heat and place the hamburger patty in the center of the pan, making sure it's surrounded by bacon grease. While it's cooking, press it down with the spatula every couple of minutes or so to keep it the same size. When you've cooked the patty through (which should take about ten minutes), reduce the stove to low heat and place the slices of cheese on top of the patty. Continue cooking the patty and cheese for about five minutes… just enough time so that the cheese starts to melt, but not so long as to let it melt out of it's shape. Then place the patty cheese-side-up on top of the bacon strips. Pour (to taste) the Hidden Valley Ranch salad dressing over the cheese. Close the bun and serve.

Variation:
You might try throwing an onion slice and lettuce leaf in there, too, if for nothing else than to make the thing at least look healthy.

That's all for now. Again, pass this along. Magical unicorns that grant you three wishes will appear to you if you do.

He probably realizes that when Britney finally wakes up and divorces him, he's going to need every last one he can get his hands on.

2006-06-23T16:14:00.000-04:00

Kevin Federline wants to save the penny. To quote Dave Barry, I am not making this up.

In the voice of my mentor, Michael Baiamonte...

2006-06-21T18:15:00.000-04:00

Get ON THE STREET... for YOURrrrrrrrrrr MiAMiiiiiiiiiiiii...

HEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAT!!!

"Can you feel the Heat down in your soul?"

2006-06-20T15:07:00.000-04:00

I, and WSVN, can!

The Best Eastern Conference Finals 2-Pointer of ALL TIME!!!

2006-06-06T18:18:00.000-04:00

Watch the Ah-Ah-Ah erupt for D-Wade!

The Language Factor

2006-05-17T18:32:00.000-04:00

My friend Jill sent this to me yesterday, and I thought everyone might get a kick out of it.

Two al Qaeda spies separately made their way into the United States. They met at a busy restaurant to discuss their plans. One man began speaking to the other in Arabic. The second man quickly shushed him and whispered, "Don't blow out cover! We're in America now; speak Spanish!"

HAAAAAhahahaHA!

2006-05-10T16:35:00.000-04:00

Nothing against Google... well, actually, yes, I do hold some things against Google... but this is just frickin' hilarious!

Full disclosure: Google hosts this blog and provides the e-mail service from which I post to it. I don't hold too much against them. Just that whole selling out to China thing. That really pisses me off.

Are we starting to get the picture?

2006-05-10T13:43:00.000-04:00

I know I got it a long time ago!

Simple Fact: Congress Hasn't a Clue.

2006-05-10T13:36:00.000-04:00

So now they're trying to re-write the DMCA to be more strict, more harsh and more restrictive.

What they don't understand is that not only would these proposals be massive undertakings making them all but impossible to enforce, but they also don't realize that this would prohibit new technologies, ones that could be used legally, from coming into play!

Even the record industry, who's just now beginning to learn these are bad ideas, is going to be hurt by this. Aren't they who Congress is supposedly trying to protect here?

Of course we all know Congress is simply trying to appease the lobbyists who added green sheets to their wallets, but try and forget that for just a second and think about what they've been saying all this time. And think it in the voices of your local Congresscritters. "We're protecting the record companies! We're protecting the artists! We're protecting you!"

How can they protect anyone if their actions will harm us all?

Write them. Tell them to wrap their mind around the above sentence for a while. It probably won't mean anything to them, since they don't really understand the technology anyway. Ask them if they know what "MP3" stands for. No, seriously, do it. They probably can't tell you. But write them just the same. Get everyone you know to do so as well. This stupidity has to stop. They don't realize what they're doing in the name of "protection".

If it doesn't end, they're going to destroy digital media in ways they can't possibly understand for generations to come.

DOES ANYBODY REMEMBER ANDREW ANYMORE?!

2006-05-08T18:26:00.000-04:00

According to this article, A hurricane like Katrina would practically wipe Miami off the map.

Um, hello?! We went through ANDREW! Anyone remember that? Category 5? Brian Norcross and Tony Segretto broadcasting from the underbelly of the WTVJ studios? Homestead and Florida City being levelled? Does anyone besides me recall what happened August 25th, 1992?

South Florida has dealt with worse. No, Andrew didn't bring as much water into the inland. It was a pretty dry storm. But the storm surge sure as hell did tons of damage. Trust me, I saw it firsthand. And with the water table being so high, South Floridians pretty much have to be prepared for flooding at all times. Even in the dry season (it's happened before). Buildings built or remodeled after 1992 have all been upgraded to withstand category 5 winds to some extent. Of course, not every building has been built or renovated since then, but the people who own those buildings realize that. And even those buildings that have been... the owners, tenents and/or residents know there's always the threat of damage from wind and water in any hurricane, no matter how strongly the place is built. That's just part of living in South Florida!

Andrew may not be the costliest hurricane on record any longer, but it was stronger than Katrina. In fact, there have only been two hurrcanes stronger than Andrew since 1900: Camille at #2 and the Keys hurricane (commonly referred to as "The Labor Day Hurricane") of 1935 ranks first.

The only reason Katrina caused so much damaged was because the levees were both topped and broken. South Florida does have levees: those around Lake Okeechobee. If a wet hurricane were to hit those, even after the canal system brought the lake's levels down (which, for non-Floridians, is done before any major tropical storm system hits), there would definitely be flooding. Those canals run all throughout the southern half of the state, both South Florida and Southwest Florida. Flooding would be pretty much impossible to stop. Everyone who lives there knows that. That flooding, combined with the storm surge, would be pretty damaging. But, simply put, the flooding wouldn't be anywhere near the level it was in New Orleans. There's nothing there to hold the water inland! Once the lake water flows out to sea (which is why the canals were dredged to begin with), that would be it! Cleanup wouldn't be nearly as massive an undertaking as it continues to be after Katrina.

As far as South Florida goes... well, quite honestly, the region isn't as weakly built as this article would have you believe.

It's about time Israel started talking some smack!

2006-05-08T17:50:00.000-04:00

Peres: "Iran can also be wiped off the map."

He HAD To Have the Last Word!

2006-05-03T14:18:00.000-04:00

Anyone on the Buzzboard's Detroit section knows about my little tiff with "Towerfreak". This e-mail that showed up just further proves my point that he's as immature as... as... um, well, I can't really think of a good comparison right now, at least not for someone his age (or the age he claims to be).

Hey Josh,

I just wanted to say I had fun talking to you on the message board. I know I got under your skin and you always had to respond to my posts.

Ho, whoa whoa whoa! Did he just say what I think he said? I always had to respond to his posts? I tried to end the stand-off more than once! He was the one who had to post in response to everything I said! On top of that, he's the one e-mailing me after he got booted off the board for continued harassment! And I'm the one who had to have the last word? Talk about trying to flip the script!

I wanted to show you that your points of radio were way in left field but then again half those people are non-radio people who speak out of their ass.

He didn't show anyone anything. All he did was insult me. No, seriously, read the threads (there are two of 'em).

I have 17 years in the radio business and I have worked for some of the top radio stations in DETROIT !

Whoop-dee-doo. If he's had that much experience, he should be able to point out where I'm wrong. He didn't, therefore, I don't care what he has to say.

Allot of people that you had issues with I have worked with them in radio and I can tell you are not getting a radio job.

Okay then! So apparently all that production work I do (and have done in the past) doesn't count. The show I'm working on putting on the air right now doesn't count. The various shows I've done in the past don't count. Nothing I do or have ever done counts.

Oh, wait... well, I guess I just blew him out of the water again.

Have fun Alex P Keating, it's a reference from Family ties, a TV show that was very popular. You are too young to understand.

Actually, I was a huge fan of Family Ties and I got the reference. It just has nothing to do with me. The connection he tried to make was a weak one at best.

Take care,

John C. Miller

Good riddance, John.

Is QuotationsPage Trying To Tell Me Something?

2006-04-28T16:18:00.000-04:00

Get this: these are the top two quotes of the day from QuotationsPage.com.

Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel.
- Samuel Johnson

Everything in the world may be endured except continued prosperity.
- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Hmm... anti-patriotism and negative economism? How undeniably liberal!

Excuse me while I vomit in their general direction.

I set traps and wait for people to fall into them!

2006-04-27T15:23:00.000-04:00

I just love toying with people who don't know better than to keep their mouths shut! It's time for more fun with the simple-minded!

BACKSTORY: In the Detroit / SE Michigan section of the Michgan Radio & TV Buzzboard, a thread was going on about how all Fox TV affiliates owned and operated by the network are soon going to be switching to a logo and graphics set similar to Fox News Channel (for my North Carolinian friends, this includes WGHP; sorry South Florida, Fox doesn't own WSVN). This triggered my interest in another Fox News Channel / Fox broadcast network tie-in that I've long thought would be a good idea: simulcasting The Fox Report with Shepard Smith in the 7:00 hour between FNC and those Fox affiliates who opted to pick it up (I wouldn't make it a mandatory network program... for example, the newscast probably wouldn't rate very highly on WSVN).

This spurred a debate on two topics: 1) whether or not that simulcast would be viable, and 2) the validity of Fox News Channel's "Fair and Balanced" slogan and what media fairness actually means.

The latter debate ended up hijacking the thread (something I hadn't intended to have occur), and that was a great example of me ripping someone's wrong ideas to shreds as well. I might post that later.

What I'm posting now, though, is something that I find absolutely hilarious. There's one Buzzboard member that, for some unknown reason, seems to have a problem with me. Whether it's the fact that I'm always right (don't say it, Jill ) or if he thinks I've somehow wronged him... or even if he has some sort of mental disorder, I have no idea. But whatever his problem with me is, he's been taking cheap potshots at me for some time now, without providing any reason or basis for them whatsoever.

In the (unfortunately) hijacked thread, he decided to take another one, and I decided to finally call him out on it... just because I wanted to ensnare him. Yes, I'm an evil, horrible person. If you didn't know that about me by now, you don't know me at all!

Let's start with the post to which he first resonded... which wasn't directed toward him at all.

--------

JColletta275:
Look, you don't seem to get the gist of what it actually means to debate someone. We don't have to agree... and neither one of us has to lay down our own beliefs and fully concede to the other. Apparently, that's what you'd have me do. On top of that, you claim that I won't shut up long enough to understand anything; but in reality, I've said everything I wanted to say in this debate. It's you who has been spouting the same thing over and over again. Additionally, as I said before, I've refuted every point you've made that I disagree with, and you have yet to prove anything. As you're the one making the arguments, that's a burden that falls on you, not me. And on the topic of making personal attacks (which is not allowed in official debates of most kinds), you did so with your very first post! If you and I were debating each other in a high school debate team meeting, you would have been disqualified just with your opening statement!

--------

The interesting thing is this: his response to the above paragraph was the first time he popped into the thread at all. He was apparently just looking for a fight.

--------

Towerfreak:
This keeps getting better and better.. no wonder he's not in radio, he's to busy fighting people on here.

JColletta275:
Who, me or vox1? Because I'm back in radio... have been for a while.

--------

And in a subsequent post:

--------

JColletta275:
I still love the fact that Towerfreak continually takes potshots at me, yet refuses to answer my questions. Grow a pair, dude. Come out and play.

Towerfreak:
dude, when you talk all I see is blah blah blah..
and for the record --Vox1 was giving you a history lesson but your to almighty to listen.
but hey thanx for the laff.

JColletta275:

I've had plenty of history lessons throughout my life, most of them learned on my own. On top of that, his history lessons were straight left-wing talking points. He can keep 'em.

It would be nice if you would actually come out and give me responses instead of randomly posting things in an attempt to insult me. People, myself included, would have a lot more respect for you.

Glad I could make you laugh. Unfortunately, nothing I said was humorous.

Towerfreak:

YAWN...

was somebody talking to me?

JColletta275:

Wow. That's a real endearing attitude.

Towerfreak:

somebody needs a tissue..

JColletta275:

You think I'm upset over this? I was laughing my ass off because your post proved me right!

I love how easy it is to toy with simple minds!

--------

I also love how his next post just barely makes sense!

--------

Towerfreak:

it's the other way around.. but whatever your "Little mind" works-it's ok with me.

--------

Now watch me set the final trap.

--------

JColletta275:

I'm not going to post any further in response to you, Towerfreak. All I'll say is that the fact that you need to have the last word says a lot about you.

--------

And now watch him completely fall for it!

--------

Towerfreak:

ask me if i care?

go watch more dawson creeks..

--------

I still can't believe he walked right into it!

I love it!

What Outranks A Princess?

2006-04-24T13:12:00.000-04:00

The lovely and talented Jill Smith sent this on to me. Is it just me, or does this guy sound like Big Gay Al? Or Jack McFarland? Or any comedian's impersonation of Richard Simmons, for that matter?

A British Airway's passenger cabin was being served by an obviously gay
flight attendant, who seemed to put everyone into a good mood as he served
them food and drinks.

As the plane prepared to descend, he came swishing down the aisle and
announced to the passengers: "Captain Marvey has asked me to announce that
he'll be landing the big scary plane shortly, lovely people, so if you
could just put up your trays that would be super."

On his trip back up the aisle, he noticed that a well-dressed rather
exotic-looking woman hadn't moved a muscle. "Perhaps you didn't hear me
over those big brute engines" he said, "I asked you to raise your trazy-poo
so the main man can pitty-pat us on the ground."

She calmly turned her head and said, "In my country, I am called a
Princess. I take orders from no
one."

To which the flight attendant replied, without missing a beat, "Well
sweet-cheeks, in my country I'm called a Queen, so I outrank you. Tray-up
bitch."

I'm super, thanks for asking!

CNet: Kids Are Smarter Than Web Filters

2006-04-21T16:49:00.000-04:00

Funny... I could have told you this years ago.

For example, when my father first installed the restriction program CYBERSitter (which, by the way, I do not in any way endorse) on my computer, I simply installed a UDOS-formatted (if I recall the name correctly) Linux distribution. Voila! No CYBERSitter. Of course, he soon discovered Linux, and that was the point at which I re-installed it in a hidden partition that only I knew how to get to (sorry, Chad!). Then my freshmen year in college, my friend Adam pointed me to WinVNC, which allowed me to graphically operate my computer remotely. Of course, my computer was on the campus network, and was therefore subject to the same restrictions as any computer I was using to access my own. However, I could have set my computer up to do the exact thing the kid in this article did had I not been on the campus network. If I had really wanted to, I probably could have found a proxy site that allowed me to dodge the campus network's filters.

Please understand, I'm not condoning doing anything wrong. I'm not suggesting that it's okay to beat the system. All I'm pointing out is that... well, quite frankly, this shouldn't come as news to anyone!

SIDE NOTE: in the case of Me v. My Father, I and everyone else around me knew that I wasn't doing anything wrong, and his lack of trust in me -- and the obvious lack of attentiveness to my activities that was the root of that distrust -- only fueled my drive to go behind his back. This psychological analysis brought to you by Mint Green Wipes. "So fresh... down there!"

Dance Dance RevoMegaMan!

2006-04-11T15:05:00.000-04:00

Jadrie combined two of the greatest games of all time! Well, okay, one great game and one lame-ass one. You guess which one's which!

That's the D.

2006-04-11T14:27:00.000-04:00

Continued violence in New Fallujah leaves D12's Proof dead.

If you love America so much that you're willing to fight to live here after coming in illegally...

2006-04-10T13:50:00.000-04:00

Then why the hell are you flying my flag upside-down?!

Last I heard, that was illegal.

Apparently illegal aliens don't care about that.

Enamored With the Wrong Entities

2006-04-10T11:34:00.000-04:00

This was sent to me by my friend Jill Smith. As it's a forwarded e-mail, I can't claim that it was actually written or presented by Stein (although I'm sure I could Google it and come up with an answer), but that really doesn't matter. The reality of it stings harshly.

The following was written by Ben Stein and recited by him on CBS Sunday Morning Commentary, Sunday, 12/18/05.

Herewith at this happy time of year, a few confessions from my beating heart: I have no freaking clue who Nick and Jessica are. I see them on the cover of People and Us constantly when I am buying my dog biscuits and kitty litter. I often ask the checkers at the grocery stores. They never know who Nick and Jessica are either. Who are they? Will it change my life if I know who they are and why they have broken up? Why are they so important?

I don't know who Lindsay Lohan is either, and I do not care at all about Tom Cruise's wife.

Am I going to be called before a Senate committee and asked if I am a subversive? Maybe, but I just have no clue who Nick and Jessica are.

If this is what it means to be no longer young. It's not so bad.

Next confession:
I am a Jew, and every single one of my ancestors was Jewish. And it does not bother me even a little bit when people call those beautiful lit up, bejeweled trees Christmas trees. I don't feel threatened. I don't feel discriminated against. That's what they are: Christmas trees.

It doesn't bother me a bit when people say, "Merry Christmas" to me. I don't think they are slighting me or getting ready to put me in a ghetto. In fact, I kind of like it. It shows that we are all brothers and sisters celebrating this happy time of year. It doesn't bother me at all that there is a manger scene on display at a key intersection near my beach house in Malibu. If people want a creche, it's just as fine with me as is the Menorah a few hundred yards away.

I don't like getting pushed around for being a Jew, and I don't think Christians like getting pushed around for being Christians. I think people who believe in God are sick and tired of getting pushed around, period. I have no idea where the concept came from that America is an explicitly atheist country. I can't find it in the Constitution, and I don't like it being shoved down my throat.

Or maybe I can put it another way: where did the idea come from that we should worship Nick and Jessica and we aren't allowed to worship God as we understand Him?

I guess that's a sign that I'm getting old, too.

But there are a lot of us who are wondering where Nick and Jessica came from and where the America we knew went to.

In light of the many jokes we send to one another for a laugh, this is a little different: This is not intended to be a joke; it's not funny, it's intended to get you thinking.

Billy Graham's daughter was interviewed on the Early Show and Jane Clayson asked her "How could God let something like this Happen?" (regarding Katrina)

Anne Graham gave an extremely profound and insightful response. She said, "I believe God is deeply saddened by this, just as we are, but for years we've been telling God to get out of our schools, to get out of our government and to get out of our lives.

And being the gentleman He is, I believe He has calmly backed out. How can we expect God to give us His blessing and His protection if we demand He leave us alone?"

In light of recent events...terrorists attack, school shootings, etc. I think it started when Madeleine Murray O'Hare (she was murdered, her body found recently) complained she didn't want prayer in our schools, and we said OK.

Then someone said you better not read the Bible in school . the Bible says thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not steal, and love your neighbor as yourself. And we said OK.

Then Dr. Benjamin Spock said we shouldn't spank our children when they misbehave because their little personalities would be warped and we might damage their self-esteem (Dr. Spock's son committed suicide). We said an expert should know what he's talking about. And we said OK.

Now we're asking ourselves why our children have no conscience, why they don't know right from wrong, and why it doesn't bother them to kill strangers, their classmates, and themselves.

Probably, if we think about it long and hard enough, we can figure it out. I think it has a great deal to do with "WE REAP WHAT WE SOW."

Funny how simple it is for people to trash God and then wonder why the world's going to hell.

Funny how we believe what the newspapers say, but question what the Bible says.

Funny how you can send 'jokes' through e-mail and they spread like wildfire but when you start sending messages regarding the Lord, people think twice about sharing.

Funny how lewd, crude, vulgar and obscene articles pass freely through cyberspace, but public discussion of God is suppressed in the school and workplace.

Are you laughing?

Damn.

2006-04-06T15:29:00.000-04:00

He's not leaving after all. Clicky.

I wonder how much longer it's going to be? Everyone in the county is sick of him... he does practically nothing... how much more can Guilford County's parents take?

Cool.

2006-04-05T15:22:00.000-04:00

Very, very cool.

Good judge! You get a cookie!

2006-04-04T12:54:00.000-04:00

The judge in this case is correct: based on the zoning ordinances, you do not have the right to dance in any establishment in New York City. It's on the books. And he's right... the law should be changed, but as it stands as of now, dancing isn't legal in all NYC restaurants and bars.

One thing I should point out: I do disagree with him on the point of dancing being a Constitutional right. It is a form of expression, which is a freedom granted by the Constitution. Does he have the jurisdiction to overturn the law based on that fact? I don't know. However, I'd much rather have him err on the side of upholding the city's laws (forcing the complaintent to seek either reform of the laws or take the case to a higher court) than make a decision based on his personal opinion. Judicial activism is something that needs to be quashed, and quite frankly, I'm glad to see it didn't take place in even a case as small (and, quite frankly, unimportant) as this one.

Grier out?

2006-03-31T12:36:00.000-05:00

Could he possibly be LEAVING?! Who's got the champaign? I'll bring cheese and crackers! Let's have a party!

DAMN STRAIGHT!

2006-03-30T16:25:00.000-05:00

Well, actually, it ought to be the first offense, but that'll never happen. On top of that, it's a shame this won't likely last long thanks to big Libs the nation over. On the other hand, though, this is long overdue.

FRY THOSE A-HOLES!

You can't get this feeling anywhere else!

2006-03-30T15:43:00.000-05:00

"The best party for me was Sasha/Digweed @ Space Monday night. The place was CRAAAZY! Nothing like dancing on the terrace to the sunrise with the Miami skyline surrounding you, one of the best feelings in the world. "

-- progressivehouse, on the Radio-Info.com message boards.

My hometown can beat your hometown with both it's hands tied behind it's back.

Am I glad I'm out of there?

2006-03-15T16:59:00.000-05:00

Hell yes!

With all the crap going in the Guilford County school system, you've got to wonder... where are all the intelligent people?

Judge to Saddam: STFU.

2006-03-15T16:23:00.000-05:00

From the AP:

Chief judge Raouf Abdel-Rahman interrupted, saying Saddam was not allowed to give political speeches in the court.

"I am the head of state," Saddam replied.
"You used to be a head of state. You are a defendant now," Abdel- Rahman barked at Saddam.

Clicky.

Good for them!

2006-03-14T13:20:00.000-05:00

Now, anyone who regularly reads this blog knows I'm not exactly the type of person to support prostitutes or what they do. But in this case, all I have to say is... GO GET 'IM!

A Universe Tuned for Life

2006-03-10T13:50:00.000-05:00

We keep finding evidence that life-sustaining conditions exist on other planets in our own system. So how long until we find actual life forms, here or elsewhere?

Not so subliminal, is it?

2006-03-10T13:38:00.000-05:00

Is Reuters calling for Cheney to retire?

A better question would be, did they ever not?

Clicky.

Quote of the Day

2006-03-10T13:35:00.000-05:00

"In 1994, Gingrich had the Contract With America. In 2006, Democrats will have another glass of merlot."

- Jacob Weisberg, Slate.com

To read the full article, clicky.

And also courtesy of SomethingAwful:

2006-03-01T16:49:00.000-05:00

Back in tha day, fools would'a called dis "gettin' thwapped".

SomethingAwful brings you a frightening look ahead.

2006-03-01T16:38:00.000-05:00

Josh "Livestock" Boruff posted the following on SomethingAwful.com. I encourage you to read through it all, as these laws will be very strictly enforced in the undiscovered country (... the future).

Crimes of the Future

Every so often I turn my fancy to the future and offer some bold predictions on what's to come in the strange lands beyond tomorrow. As to how I get these predictions, well, I can only reveal that it involves an in-depth understanding of trends, metrology, cage fighting, gastrointestinal juices, and an intricate knowledge as to just what is going on inside a turtle's shell. From this I can get a pretty solid idea about what will happen in the future, if not a massive stomach infection. Usually both.
As I am a huge fan of "Law & Order" shows, particularly that one where Vincent D'onofrio solves crimes by being omniscient, I thought I might turn my attention to both the future and law. So, without further dillydally on my behalf, let us take a take a look at THE CRIMES OF THE FUTURE!
Creating or trafficking in bootleg mayonnaise will be criminalized when crippling mayonnaise addictions grow to epidemic levels in the United States.
Marijuana will be legalized, but only because it will have evolved into one giant hippy-killing organism that prowls the west coast looking for smelly flesh to rend.
It will be illegal for preteen girls to wear shirts that say "hottie," "princess," or "too sexy" unless judged as such by a panel of their peers.
Ownership of poisonous snakes will be illegal, however, ownership of specially engineered poisonous dogs will be a gray area as far as the law is concerned, unless that dog is a St. Bernard.
Ownership of or collusion with a St. Bernard will be illegal due to the great Human-St. Bernard War of 2018, in which 132,342 humans were killed fending off a St. Bernard attack against Las Vegas, Nevada. When the dogs couldn't take the city itself, they laid siege to it for forty days until President Jenna Bush negotiated a peaceful surrender.

Stealing items out of a dog's mouth will be punishable by death, even if you previously owned the item. Due to various international treaties, the inside of a dog's mouth will be considered sovereign territory.
Assassinating the president will still be illegal, unless you do it from within the center of a roundabout, which, due to strange traffic law loopholes of the future, will exist outside of any legal system.
Calling somebody a "turtle-headed hillbilly" will be considered hate speech, mostly due to the emergence of a poverty-stricken underclass of turtle-headed people.
Campaign finance laws of the future will be so strict that no one will be able to afford to run for office. As such, America will default into a monarchy that lasts until the Mummy Wars of 2037, when democracy is restored.
Operating a tractor beam while intoxicated will be punishable by loss of license and a mandatory workplace sensitivity course. If the tractor beam is used to sexually harass someone, then an additional gender sensitivity class will be required.
Jumping turnstiles and using the ancient teleportation device on the moon without paying will result in a 1000 credit fine and six months of community service for next of kin. The ancient teleportation device is for paying customers only, and also for instantly being transported to the center of a black hole.
Cloning humans will be illegal except in extreme cases when it is absolutely necessary to clone someone, such as an irreversible scheduling conflict requiring a person to be in two places at once.
Cloning a government official for purposes of political subterfuge will be doubly illegal. However, cloning a government official for purposes of sex and companionship will be legal, as it every elected officials duty to please his or her constituents.
The Secularists will win the War on Decency and set out to run effective government while religious zealots will be relegated to living on reservations where they will be free to practice their religion. On one such reservation in Eastern Montana, human-robot marriage will be punishable by stoning. If the robot is built too strong to be damaged by mere stones, then it will be pelted with smaller robots. Failing that it will be re-programmed to hate itself.
Mechanic-assisted robocide will be illegal due to the Interstellar Supreme Court ruling Robbie v Henderson, in which a terminally malfunctioning robot fought its owner in court for the right to die. Helping a robot terminate its own operations will net you 15 years in prison.
Interference from garage door openers will no longer be a valid excuse for violations of the Three Laws of Robotics. This after a robot pleaded temporary insanity after murdering 47 people in the vicinity of a malfunctioning garage door.
Harvesting tree sap without a license will get you five years of hard time on the moon where there are no trees.
Stealing a mummy from a museum will be considered the gravest of all crimes, unless said mummy was being held against its will and will testify to that in a court of law. In such cases of mummy liberation, the liberator is to be granted one honorary term as President of the United States.
Abortion in South Dakota will be mandatory, but only because South Dakota will be run by a cabal of radioactive super fetuses unwilling to share power.
Proclaiming "The Future is Now!" in public will result in a 500 credit redundancy tax.

Disclaimer: I cannot personally guarantee that any of these predictions will come true, so please consult a lawyer if you feel that any of your future actions may fall into a gray area. However, I have it on very high authority that at least 95% of these laws definitely will come to pass, especially the ones about dogs. As I said before, I've been offering bold predictions about the future for several years now, and a good portion of them have definitely come true. For example, we currently have a two midgets serving together as one president. I predicted that. Also, as early as this past December, I predicted 2005 would be a record year for hurricanes. I think my skills speak for themselves.

Amazing.

2006-03-01T14:35:00.000-05:00

An update to "The Horrors of MySpace: WJIM-FM Edition".

It's finally up and running. And it looks halfway decent. It's not at all optimized for an 800x600 resolution display... in fact, it looks like it's more optimized for about a 1001.9333x600 resulotion screen (which is interesting, considering the fact that displaying 93.33% of a pixel is actually impossible). But at least they have a website, it doesn't look like garbage, and it might actually have some usefulness.

So now the question is: do they abandon MySpace and build a station-exclusive community on their own server (what I would do) or do they stick with MySpace and all the crappy, ugly, horrid "features" that come with it so they can save money and not actually put any effort into it (what I would expect them to do)?

It's A Wonderful Time!

2006-02-24T16:35:00.000-05:00

You know, the more and more I think about it, the more and more I realize... we're living in a wonderful time!

CONSERVATIVES: Oh, the liberals are trying to undermine freedom! ON TOP of the terrorists out there trying to kill us!

LIBERALS: Tax cuts for the rich! Bush lied! HALLIBURTON! HALLIBURTON!!!

You know what... all of you... just shut up for a few minutes.

Consider this: we're on the eve of some pretty huge breakthroughs. And amazingly enough, a lot of it is proving what many "rational", "logical" and "common sense" thinkers have considered to be the kook fringe right.

My first example: technology. We're on the doorstep of an age in which oil is an afterthought. Flip through a history textbook sometime... even the ones that distort reality... and you'll easily find that every technological age has always thought of itself as the ulitmate. We're at a point now where we, no matter what our political ideology, are agreeing that we can't rely on oil much longer. We may have different reasons for thinking that, but we're agreeing nonetheless. In the coming decades... maybe even years... we'll be seeing more and more ways to ween ourselves off of oil, and we'll be taking those opportunities increasingly.

Another example: science. It's astonishing how many new stories there are every day about new discoveries being made in so many areas... from the biology and geography of our planet (such as the article I posted yesterday about the recently-discovered Venezuelan cave) to super-string theory (Google it! It's pretty astonishing!). When you look at all of these things in one big picture, it's not hard to see how many changes and advances can be made using this research.

And finally: politics. Both conservatives and liberals are starting to wake up out of their party-line mentalities. Conservatives are realizing that the Dubai Ports World deal is potentially dangerous in many more ways than one, whereas in the recent past I think it probably would have gone unnoticed. Liberals are starting to reject the kook base that has taken over the DNC ( i.e. the governor of Washington refusing to be photographed with Howard Dean). People on both sides of the aisle are starting to see that nothing is getting done around here! Politicians are realizing that If there's going to be any progress toward anything in this country, they're going to have to work together, no matter what their reasoning behind it is. That is exactly how this government was set up, and somehow, we'd forgotten that. Well, no, scratch that... they had forgotten that. We (as in those of us who aren't mired in the bureaucracy of Capitol Hill... and have half a brain) never did.

All in all, things are looking up! Despite the war (which is necessary) and all the bickering going on, or maybe because of those things (be it wholly or in part), we're starting to see some amazing changes taking place. This truly is a wonderful time to be in... because there's something about change that reinvigorates us. It always has. I think I can speak for all of us when I say we could sure use some reinvigoration!

You may now go back to your petty party-line squabbling.

It's a dog's world!

2006-02-24T13:45:00.000-05:00

You'll never see books about cats sell as well as this book has!

Dogs rule.

Wow.

2006-02-22T16:08:00.000-05:00

Check out the two helicopters at the bottom of the photo there. That'll give you some idea of how huge the Cueva del Fantasma (Cave of the Ghost) in Venezuela is. The cave was just discovered recently, and the finding was published in the journal Zootaxa. Go to the whole story here.

Indeed.

2006-02-20T19:07:00.000-05:00

I have to agree with The Chu... this truly is the best animated image of all time.

Chuck Norris rules.

The Shame Game

2006-02-20T18:52:00.000-05:00

Why are human rights activists up in arms over this? You don't have a right to not be shamed in this country. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that if you commit a crime... especially something like this... the state has the right to shame you. And I'd also say they have a right to fry you, because I wholeheartedly believe that pedophiles should be executed on their first offense. But that's a long way from coming into law.

IngSoc is coming sooner than you might think.

2006-02-20T14:08:00.000-05:00

Uncool.

Really uncool.

Uncoolest.

War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength. Big Brother is watching you.

PayolaGate 2006 Just Keeps Getting Better!

2006-02-17T13:54:00.000-05:00

Two articles up today... both coming from ABC through AllAccess. The first was based on the Primetime broadcast, the second on additional interview material found on ABC News's web site (which was not broadcast).

The ABC NEW PRIMETIME payola report finally aired last night (2/16), and CKEY/BUFFALO PD DAVE UNIVERSAL, who was fired last year by crosstown ENTERCOM Top 40 WKSE for allegedly being involved in payola, defended his financial dealings with the record labels. He claimed that payments received by the station didn't constitute payola because requests for funds occurred after songs had been added to the station.

"So he says I was guilty of extortion not bribary," retorted NEW YORK STATE Attorney General ELLIOT SPITZER.

UNIVERSAL claimed that he was just doing his job. "Apparently, I'm the poster boy for payola. Little old me," said UNIVERSAL. ROSS asked, "How much money went through you from all the record companies?" UNIVERSAL responded, "I'd say usually I raised about $100,000 a year... I did really well! I was ENTERCOM's golden boy for a long time."

ROSS and UNIVERSAL had this exchange:

UNIVERSAL: "Did I go back and say, 'whattaya got on this record?' Absolutely! I did that every single time. I would take whatever I thought I could get."

ROSS: "In your view, there's nothing wrong with that?"

UNIVERSAL: "No, because I'm reinvesting that in the product?"

ROSS: "But isn't that payola?"

UNIVERSAL: Not at all! Because you're making these decisions after the fact."

Oh, so just because you take the money after the music is aired doesn't make it illegal? Pardon my language, but BULLSHIT! Pay-for-play is still pay-for-play, no matter when you pick up the payoff! Either this guy has absolutely no sense of right and wrong or he has some sort of mental deficiency. I can think of no other explanation for such a stupid, stupid comment like that.

UNIVERSAL claimed that the money went to his superiors at ENTERCOM, saying, "It was good for them, because I brought them money in. I was the guy doing the work for them. As much money as I could bring in, the better I looked."

SPITZER reinforced the contention that higher-ups were involved, saying, "Based on the evidence we have seen, some of the radio conglomerates clearly are participating, and knowledge of this and orchestration of this came from the very top." ROSS stated that ENTERCOM CEO DAVID FIELD declined to be interviewed for the program.

I think Field declined an interview because he's calculating the best route to take in order to get out of this mess without a mark on his head. How much do you want to bet he's neck-deep in this? Say what you will about how people who decline to comment aren't necessarily guilty, but I beg to differ. If you've got nothing to hide, you talk. Simple as that.

The show featured quotes from several artists. SEMISONIC drummer JAKE SCHLICHTER talked about how payola allegedly helped the band's hit song "Closing Time" become a major hit. "We definitely benefitted from payola. There's no doubt about it. It cost something like $700-$800 thousand to get 'Closing Time' on the air... to keep it on the air long enough for public taste to really grab onto it."

CORRECTION FOR BS FACTOR: "It cost something like $700-$800 thousand to get 'Closing Time' on the air... to keep it on the air long enough for the listeners to figure, 'they're still playing it, so someone must like it.' We never would have seen the light of day if it hadn't been for all the money waving in MD's faces."

ROSS also grabbed a couple of comments regarding PAYOLA from artists on the Red Carpet at last week's GRAMMY AWARDS. TONY BENNETT said, "It costs a lot of money to make something famous," and FOO FIGHTERS' TAYLOR HAWKINS added, "I think back in the 70s they used to pay people with, you know, like hookers and cocaine. But now they're just doing it with straight-up money... so they can go out and buy their own hookers and cocaine."

Watch Foo Fighters tracks be involved in this, too. I laugh just thinking about the possible irony!

Here's the second article.

As a follow-up to last night's (2/16) ABC NEWS PRIMETIME feature on payola, an article entitled "Poster Boy For Radio Station Payola: Fired Station Employee Says Pay for Play Just Good Business" appeared on the ABC NEWS website this morning containing additional quotes from CKEY/BUFFALO (and former WKSE/BUFFALO) PD DAVE UNIVERSAL, who was interviewed by ABC NEWS reporter BRIAN ROSS.

"If I worked for a company who said 'Don't bring in any money,' I wouldn't have brought in any money. If I worked for a company who said don't go on any trips, I wouldn't have went on any trips. I did what I was doing for my company," said UNIVERSAL, who claimed that he was actually rewarded for his success and the hundreds of thousands of dollars he brought in from record companies.

Okay, here's what you do: you look at this from a black-and-white perspective (because this world truly is black and white with no shades of gray) and ask yourself, "is this right or is it wrong?" If it's wrong, you find another company to work for. There! Problem solved! The fact, Universal, is that what you did was wrong. It doesn't matter whether your company told you to do it or not... ultimately you were the one who did it! It comes down to you! Don't try to dodge this... you're guilty! End of story!

"I was doing my job for ENTERCOM, and I did it well," said UNIVERSAL. "I was a good negotiator. You know maybe sometimes the labels were a little upset that I was asking for money every single time. But hey, the money's out there. My job's to bring in as much money as I could and it would make me look good."

No, Dave, your job was to program your station according to what your listeners wanted to hear. You instead took money to play music that the labels wanted to get out there... and again, whether they offered the money or you asked for it doesn't matter.

UNIVERSAL stressed that he only collected money after the decision had been made to add a song, saying that he never took the money or gifts in exchange for putting a song on the radio he didn't think would be a hit.

Doesn't matter. Still illegal. Next!

"Honestly I never once in my life ever, ever added a song based on money," said UNIVERSAL, adding, "payola doesn't exist in radio."

pffHA!!! Excuse me... I need to go grab a towel and wipe up the coffee I just blew out my nose!

"The $1,500 they're spending to get us to play that record is money that's really going to go right back in their pocket. They're just investing in their product. What's wrong with that?"

IT'S PAY-FOR-PLAY, AND IT'S ILLEGAL YOU IDIOT! Is Dave Universal truly this stupid? He's not ignorant... that's not the word to be used here. There is no doubt in my mind that there is a serious lack of mental capacity here. If he can't see what's wrong with what he did, there really and truly is something wrong with his brain. How anyone firing on all cylinders (and even many of those who aren't) can't see the wrong in this is beyond me.

"A genuine...

2006-02-17T11:59:00.000-05:00

Felix Leiter!" Clicky.

I couldn't care less about the rest of the story... I'm just glad to hear that Felix is back in the Bond series! Sure Joe Don Baker's Jack Wade character was likeable, but I don't think anyone really bought into him as a CIA agent. He just didn't fit. The Felix Leiter character, to be played in Casino Royale by Jeffrey Wright, is very believable on the other hand.

We've seen Felix before in several movies: Dr. No, Goldfinger, Thunderball, Diamonds Are Forever, Live And Let Die, then again in both The Living Daylights and License To Kill.

Felix has only been played by the same actor twice in the movies, making him a fairly unrecognizable character. Because of the acting changes and the fact that the movies have really downplayed his relationship with James Bond (in the novels, the two are actually as close as Alec Trevelyan asserts he and Bond were in Goldeneye), most people probably don't even know who Felix Leiter is, let alone the possibility of them having developed a real sense of like for the character.

If you really want to dignify the film's existence, it didn't help that Leiter also appeared in Never Say Never Again, which was a terrible remake of Thunderball that had some truly awful attributes. Bernie Casey's Leiter just came across as... well... weird. It wasn't the race change... I wouldn't mind a black Felix Leiter (and I look forward to seeing Wright's performance), but the character Casey played just wasn't Felix Leiter. Then again, the same could be said for the portrayals presented by Cec Linder (Goldfinger) and Norman Burton (Diamonds Are Forever). I could throw John Terry (The Living Daylights ) in there, too, but the problem with his portrayal was more in the part that was given him, not the way he played it.

The best actor to play Felix Leiter yet has been David Hedison, which probably explains why he filled the role twice (Live And Let Die and License To Kill). He's the most similar to the character from the novels, being Bond's American contemporary in both movies and apparently being very close friends with James in License To Kill. Though most people would probably only remember the character (and likely not by name) from Live And Let Die (License To Kill didn't do very well at the box office), it's the one version of Felix that most people recognize and believe in. The other actors that played Felix well were Jack Lord in Dr. No and Rik Van Nutter in Thunderball. Neither performances were very prominant, though, as the producers didn't want to take too much focus away from Bond himself, therefore many who are familiar with the character don't recall that Felix was even in those films.

If Wright can capture what made Hedison's Leiter likeable and believable, his portrayal will be added to my "good" list. I didn't see him in Syriana, but he's been in many other films and television series, and he's very rarely given a poor performance. Let's hope this isn't one of those rarities.

Guilford County Schools: UNSAFE.

2006-02-16T16:41:00.000-05:00

For anyone who may still doubt me when I say that Guilford County couldn't run their school system if their lives depended on it, I refer you to this article .

And really, all you need to know is this:

"School safety is the number one priority of schools," State Superintendent June Atkinson said in a statement. "A safe learning environment and high student achievement go hand-in-hand. I congratulate these schools for working diligently to ensure the safety of their school community."

Not one school from Guilford County was on the list.

ABC News reports on PayolaGate 2006

2006-02-08T16:39:00.000-05:00

Click here for the full story.

For my commentary, read on.

Spitzer says record company documents obtained in the investigation of Sony BMG and Warner, both which have settled with the attorney general, reveal payments for songs that became major hits, including Jennifer Lopez's "I'm Real" and John Mayer's "Daughters."

With "I'm Real", that's sort of a surprise to me. At the time it came out, Lopez was doing fairly well. I doubt the play count would have differed much there had payola not taken place. On the other hand, "Daughters"... well, does that really surprise anyone? That's a terrible song... I never understood how it did so well. Now I do.

Other artists whose songs are named in the documents Spitzer has obtained include Jessica Simpson, Celine Dion, Maroon 5, Good Charlotte, Franz Ferdinand, Switchfoot, Michelle Branch and R.E.M.

Jessica Simpson being named doesn't surprise me, nor does Celine Dion. Maroon 5... that does catch me a little off guard. Good Charlotte doesn't surprise me in the least. I've never really payed much attention to Franz Ferdinand, and the radio stations I listen to don't either, so I don't really know what to make of that one. As for Switchfoot... ouch. A Christian artist, recently moved to a secular label, getting tangled up in a payola scandal. If that's not a sign, I don't know what is. Michelle Branch being on the list is a bit of a surprise. R.E.M., though... I've heard the things they've put out in the past two years, and I can easily see payola being a necessity to get that stuff on the air.

The nine radio conglomerates that have received subpoenas from the attorney general are Clear Channel, Infinity (now CBS Radio), Entercom, Emmis, Citadel, Cumulus, Cox, Pamal and ABC.

I wonder if, in the broadcast version of this, there will be any disclosure about how the parent company of the network owned ABC Radio during the time this investigation was taking place? They sure don't go out of their way to mention it here. I know, I know... it's kind of obvious. But there are those out there who wouldn't make that connection.

Interesting how all the big names (read: everyone I see fit to criticize more than others) are involved. Why am I not just gasping in amazement here?

"I would like to see the FCC more directly involved in addressing what is very clearly a payola scandal that has run rife through the industry," Spitzer told ABC News.

Good luck with that one. Getting the FCC to do anything that it should be doing is like trying to get my late bassett hound to obey any command. It just won't happen.

All in all, no one is going to suffer horribly from this, although they (the record companies and the broadcasters involved) should be paying some pretty harsh penalities... and not just monetary ones. Some pretty serious overhauls need to be made. Unfortunately, they won't be, and that will continue to cause problems in the long run.

!URGENT! AP NEWS ALERT

2006-02-07T18:47:00.000-05:00

No, not really. But... well, actually, yeah. Cllicky.

GREAT quote on Google today!

2006-01-17T16:43:00.000-05:00

"The world is a tragedy to those who feel, but a comedy to those who think."
-- Horace Walpole

Aww... the little freak of nature was CUTE!!!

2006-01-12T06:40:00.000-05:00

Cy, short for Cyclopes, a kitten born with only one eye and no nose, is shown in this photo provided by its owner in Redmond, Oregon, on Wednesday, Dec. 28, 2005. The kitten, a ragdoll breed, which died after living for one day, was one of two in the litter. Its sibling was born normal and healthy. (AP Photo/Traci Allen)

Poor little guy. It's sad he didn't make it. Anyone who knows me knows I'm not a cat person, but a one-eyed cat? Now that's pretty cool.

Oh hey, look! Comment Spam!

2006-01-03T19:39:00.000-05:00

Time to turn on word verification in the comments section. Sorry... unsolicited advertising will not be tolerated here. My blog does not exist for others to pimp their warez, ya heard?

I've got a fever...

2005-12-21T18:45:00.000-05:00

...and the only prescription is more cowbell!

Behind The Music: Blue Oyster Cult (sketch transcript)

The Cowbell Project

Washington Post article on the sketch

cafepress.com "More Cowbell" items.

Never question Bruce Dickinson.

The Horrors of MySpace: WJIM-FM Edition

2005-12-20T19:20:00.000-05:00

That's right, folks, it's time once again to look into the vast digital wasteland that is... MySpace.

Our only MySpace profile this time around comes from a station that recently launched here in Lansing. WJIM-FM is "The New 97-5", an adult-leaning Top 40 station that, while they have their own domain name and web site that they haven't done a thing with yet, decided it would be a good idea to promote their MySpace site. Notice, for one, how you can't see any of the native MySpace links thanks to the white background of the radio station logo that they plastered liberally in the background of the page. Another thing to note is the excessive usage of the Comic Sans font. This just once again proves my theory that all MySpace users are stuck in 1997.

Instead of putting up a MySpace page, which A) looks like crap (which is simply inherent to MySpace as a whole), B) will be irrelevent in six months when the next big online social networking craze takes hold, and C) doesn't contain any information about the station beyond the station's name and the names of the jocks, WJIM-FM should have put their web site up.

That's the question I'm really asking here: where the heck is their web site? It's been months now. I could have had the basic site (the graphic design, the page layout, the individual sections and pages, any Flash animation) done for them in a week. If they wanted any scripting, that would take longer, but I would have put the basic site up with "coming soon" notices until I got the rest of the programming taken care of, which, at most, would take a couple weeks for me to work out with my programmer. So what's going on? Why the delay?

While we're waiting, the station's online reputation is being crippled by MySpace. Just another victim of the zeros and ones that occupy the myspace.com domain name.

Approved by the Hero of Chappaquiddick himself!

2005-12-16T16:12:00.000-05:00

Relive the Summer of 1969!

Makes a great Christmas present!

OH MY GOD....

2005-12-15T16:23:00.000-05:00

I cannot believe I agree with Pam Farlow on something! Clicky.

For those of you who don't know, Farlow is the orchestra teacher at Southwest High and Middle Schools and has also taught band classes at the middle school. She's not a very good band director, and when she started the orchestra program at the high school, the class used the band room, which she apparently thought meant that the room was now hers (orchestra posters and banners adorned the walls, having been hung where our band posters and banners were hung at band camp just two weeks prior to the opening of school). Though she'd never know it (nor would she know who I am), I've had many an issue with Farlow. It's a miracle we actually agree on something.

You've got to be friggin' kidding me.

2005-12-15T16:05:00.000-05:00

First the French are on his case, now some Italian cyclist? Armstrong just can't catch a break, can he?

Today in Sports

2005-12-12T19:29:00.000-05:00

In the spirit of helping to generate animosity towards the Lions management (not the players, don't get me wrong here) as we approach the Orange-Out , I am posting these Lions facts. They're not jokes. This is actually reality.

For those not in the know, the Orange-Out is an event organized by Lions fans (who are sick of their home team being the worst in the league for just one month under four years now) encouraging those in attendance of the December 18th, 2005 Lions home game at Ford Field to wear orange, the primary color of the visiting Cincinatti Bengals, in protest of the Lions' refusal to fire president and CEO Matt Millen. If you haven't heard the news, the Lions fired head coach Steve Marriucci on the Monday after the team's pathetic 27-7 Thanksgiving Day loss to the Atlanta Falcons. Lions fans (such as myself) are extremely upset over the fact that team owner William Clay Ford (yes, Ford as in "Ford Motor Company"... they own the Lions, too) didn't fire Matt Millen who, since his hiring in 2001 (long before the hiring of Marriucci), seems to have done everything he can to bungle any chance the Lions may have of actually looking and playing like a professional football team.

Blatantly stolen from Jason Kragt on the Michigan Radio & TV Buzzboard.

Q: What do you call 47 millionaires around a TV watching the Super Bowl?
A: The Detroit Lions.

Q: What do the Detroit Lions and Billy Graham have in common?
A: They both can make 70,000 people stand up and yell "Jesus Christ."

Q: How do you keep a Detroit Lion out of your yard?
A: Put up goal posts.

Q: Where do you go in Detroit in case of a tornado?
A: To Ford Field - they never get a touchdown there.

Q: What do you call a Detroit Lion with a Super Bowl ring?
A: A thief.

Q: Why doesn't Grand Rapids have a professional football team?
A: Because then Detroit would want one.

Q: What's the difference between the Detroit Lions and a dollar bill?
A: You can still get four quarters out of a dollar bill.

Q: How many Detroit Lions does it take to win a Super Bowl?
A: Nobody knows and we may never find out.

Q: What do the Detroit Lions and possums have in common?
A: Both play dead at home and get killed on the road.

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In other sports news, (and much better news, at that), Pat Riley is back on the sideline at the Ah Ah Ah. Stan Van Gundy resigned today for family reasons, and Riley, not being one to pass up the chance to win another championship (especially with a team he partially owns), jumped right into the head coach's position.

The talk amongst many sports analysts and commentators is that this will be a public relations nightmare for Riley; that his taking the helm will appear to fans to be the act of taking over an already successful team and taking the credit for the whole season if and when they win the NBA championship. But here's the deal: Riley's not the kind of guy to do that. Riley's the kind of guy who acknowledges those who worked hard to bring success, and this will be no different. You watch. If he continues where Van Gundy left off and leads the team to an NBA title this season, he'll acknowledge Van Gundy for the fine work he's done. He's not an attention hog. Having been a life-long Heat fanatic, I know that to be a fact.

What do I see in this move? The bias of the sports media against Miami, as usual. Everyone likes to rag on Miami. The Dolphins suck (although they're doing better than the Lions, that's for sure...), the Marlins suck and they can't seem to find that new stadium they want (even though they don't need it), the Panthers (the supposed hockey "team" that calls South Florida home) have a 9-21-4 overall record, placing them second to last in the Southeast Division, just ahead of Washington (who, at 9-17-2, are actually dead last in the entire league), and despite the fact that the Heat are second only to Detroit in the Eastern Conference (Miami: 11-10, Detroit: 15-2), their record makes them an easy target for those who aren't loyal to the team.

When the Heat, Pat Riley included, bring Miami it's first NBA Championship, the "Miami Sucks" crowd will crawl back into their slimey holes like the nocturnal parasitic insects they are. Count on it.

Weather Control

2005-12-09T15:09:00.000-05:00

I love the way this article is titled: "...May Renew..."

What's to say the efforts ever ended in the first place? Yes, I know, conspiracy theories abound, but in this case there is some pretty shocking evidence. Coast to Coast has covered this several times, the page this link will take you to being just one example. While there's no mention in the show summary of the United States having weather control capabilities, Scott Stevens did go into that part of the topic during the show, and while he noted that we're far behind in comparison to Russia, he did make it clear that efforts are still being made on our part... just not to the same extent as they had been in the past.

So when it comes to our weather control program in this country, there's nothing to renew except the commitment to it. The program is obviously still going, it just needs to come out of it's pseudo-black state.

Next stop in the War on Terror: Iran.

2005-12-08T14:37:00.000-05:00

My solution? I call for the heads of the Iranian government, no questions asked. I'm sick of this bullshit.