No Clydesdales?

The Super Bowl without the Clydesdales would be like...like...well, Budweiser without beer!

It was but a blip on the news yesterday but I did catch the part where you had to let Anheuser-Busch know if you objected. So ever diligent sleuth about all things important I cozied up with Google this morning to see what I could find.

Sure enough. The plan had been to scrap the Clydesdale ads in favor of edgier stuff. This is one instance media reporting did some good. The response from the announcement drew so many negative responses they've put up a Facebook page where you can vote for the spot they eliminated or two competing spots.

I would usually not join a 'fan' page for a one time participation but I really felt strongly about this!

I'm pretty ambivalent about the game itself this year. I'd like to see the Saints win because of their story, yet I really like Peyton Manning. It's a push. Maybe I'm leaning toward the Saints because the NFL is being stupid by making a fuss about the Who Dat slogan being their property. It shouldn't be nor should vendors trying to make a buck be intimidated by the NFL lawyers with cease and desist orders for making garments in the Saint's black and gold sporting the slogan. Sheesh. Get a life guys!

When I heard about the now foreign owned Anheuser Busch folks being just as stupid, I had to act. I joined. I voted. I expect "Fenced" will win.

The Clydesdale ad came in second last year. So what? Some things should just not be changed. The Clydesdale Super Bowl ads being one. If you feel as I do click the Facebook link and vote. There's enough edgy stuff out there already. Leave good old Americana tradition alone. It's bad enough Anheuser-Busch is no longer a part of it.

The Joy Of Reading Is Changing

It probably started with the ancients drawing a line in the sand to warn against crossing some unwritten admonishment. It then advanced to petroglyphs telling of how lives were lived, legends, histories. Then came variations on paper and pen. Books. Newspapers. Now the Kindle and most recently the iPad.

Actually, a version of the iPad has been around in the imaginations of science fiction writers for some time. just watch old episodes of Deep Space Nine and others of it's ilk. From what do they read? A version of a hand held computer.

This morphing into the age of technology isn't comfortable for this old creature of habit. Just in the past few years, as newspapers have taken their hits, my reading habits have changed and not for the better. It's becoming another thing on my 'to do' list rather than a few moments of wonderful down time.

Not so long ago we had a full pot of coffee every morning, settled into our respective arm chairs, propped our feet up on our foot stools to provide ample lap space for papers and dug in. No more. Full pots are now reserved for week ends. Judging from this morning it won't be long until it becomes Sunday only. Monday is barely worth dirtying the pot unless we decide to read page after page of AP wire stories and the legal notices. What a sorry state for the once noble pursuit of keeping informed!

The hype tells us the iPad is the future of how we're going to get our news. Well, the computer, because that's what it is. Paying for content is controversial at the moment but no matter where we go to read, we have to pay. Whether it's a purchased book, newspaper or magazine subscription, or the electric bill for running your computer. My objection is having to pay for content on line for a paper to which I also subscribe, especially if the on line content is free but you have to pay to access it's archives. I'm sure there will be legislation dealing with this on down the line. There is legislation pending on nearly everything these days and little to our advantage. Especially in Obamaworld where the government wants to stick it's financial finger into everything.

There is a downside to all of this. I foresee a downward spiral of those who actually enjoy reading, not to mention those who write. Books. Curling up with your Kindle or iPad just isn't like curling up with a good book. Period. So, there go book sales and publishing houses and paper manufacturers and printers, etc. You get the idea. Consider the decrease in coffee sales for those newspaper readers. Okay. The price of coffee is out of sight anyway, but a paper without coffee? Nah.

Maybe even wine sales? How many sip a glass of wine while they savor the story of the latest best seller?

Ah, times, they are a changing! Pretty soon the only thing tangible left to read will be 5000 page bills coming out of Congress. The irony is it's because they aren't savvy enough to get said bills online in a timely manner. Personally I think that's more by design than lack of technical skill, but if it is the latter, what does it say about them?

Will I invest in an iPad or some similar device? Maybe. But not for awhile yet. I still enjoy that morning pot of coffee even if I do no more than stare out the window at the approaching morning.

Some things cannot be taken away by technology. Mornings are one of them. For that I am grateful.

A Fox For FOX!

"All good things come to he who waits." You betcha! It had to happen. Word is out that Sarah Palin has signed on as a contributor to FOX News.

Wow. Just when I've started viewing selective FOX programming. What a bonus! Sometimes I think FOX News Sunday has some merit. That is until Brit Hume suggested Tiger Woods would do well to forgo his Buddhist beliefs in order to redeem himself in the eyes of his public. FOX News Watch also grabs my attention unless FOX contributor Douglas Kennedy is on. He of little knowledge and large opinion. Yesterday he insulted fellow panelist Judith Miller then talked over the entire panel for the remainder of the program trying to right his wrong. The Journal Editorial Report (Wall Street) is another one I try to catch. Not bad for a network I distained as being far too right wing for years.

Of course, during the Bush years I listened the MSNBC. It was probably my imagination, but at the time I thought they at least made an effort to stay the middle. No more. They are so far left you'd think Obama taught them how to write. You know, left leaning script as left handed writers tend to have. Maybe that's too much of a reach.

CNN seldom gets a listen any more for no better reason than I don't particularly care for it's personalities. Networks are now a "recap of the day's events" which means if it isn't breaking it isn't news. So it's catch as catch can.

Back to Sarah. We all knew it was going to happen. We just weren't sure where or in what format but FOX would have been a good bet. Had I been her agent I'd have pushed for a talk show. Lack of knowledge is more easily concealed; hosts depend on their guests to provide substance. Being a contributor would indicate you have something to contribute. I'm not convinced Ms. Palin does.

No matter. It keeps FOX at the top of the heap for "fair and balanced". To be fair, they have some balance. They have their right wingers, the family values group which will now be Palin along with Huckabee - and everyone else including their token liberals. I can't think of anyone else that comes close.

As for my concern that as a contributor Ms. Palin may be expected to contribute, it could be a negative should she decide to try for office again. For that reason alone. She'll need to do better than reciting talking points. On the other hand, if the going gets too rough she can always do as she has been known to do before. Quit. For the good of FOX News!

Kaboom?

We misstepped in Honduras big time. Obama is getting ready for his photo op of the week which will be at West Point to explain his decision on troop levels for the war in Afghanistan. Meanwhile the three musketeers of bad behavior are scurrying around right under our nose. One can only wonder what they're up to.

Who are these pesky fellows? The Castro boys, their student to the South, Hugo Chavez, and the new kid on the hemispheric block, Iran's Ahmadinejad. Here's a trio that ought to make your blood run cold. Let's just hope that's all it does!

When Mahmoud tells Hugo, "we're going to be together until the end", I have to wonder just what they have in mind. Especially when Chavez has just returned from an unannounced trip to Cuba. Both, according to the Jerusalem Post, entertained one another by denouncing U.S. imperialism and that "murderous arm of the Yankee empire", Israel.

I also quake when I read they're talking about a direct flight route between Tehran and Caracas! Think about it. If Iran is successful in getting it's nuclear program against all our efforts and they have a direct flight path to Caracas, it's only a hop, skip and jump to Cuba. It's even less of one from Cuba to the U.S. Kaboom!

Then there is Cuba. Cuba, who's Fidel mentored Chavez. Even though tensions have eased under Obama, the military might feels it hasn't been enough since they are still listed as a "terrorist" country. So what are they doing about it? According to Reuters , they began their biggest military maneuvers in five years because they need to prepare for an invasion by the United States.

Of course this is nonsense, the invasion part. When three bad boys who are little more than dictators in countries that have no free press, what are their people to think? Is our State Department busy trying to quell these fears? I hope so but could find nothing about it.

Perhaps our "free press" should take note. Perhaps it's time to get back to covering the news. What's happening in the world is not predicated on where the President is at any one particular time. It's predicated on what's happening in the world! Right under our nose. Is that so hard to grasp or is it just too much work? Covering party crashers is so much more entertaining.

Thank Heaven For Bloggers!

I've been watching the Obamatization of the media with trepidation. Especially now that the administration is trying to marginalize, if not out right eliminate, FOX as a credible source for news.

You see, this is dangerous. We do not want our government controlling what comes out of Washington. It will lead to worse. It is an attempt to control what we think. We see it here in our small town paper where the news, other than the feel good stuff, is controlled by the power brokers. We, too, have blogs. They present all sides of issues with varying degrees of accuracy, but at least they exist. It's left to the reader to sort through them and decide for themselves what is and is not accurate. Those who don't are not well informed.

It has been interesting to watch MSNBC move left to the point one wants to shout "Tilt"! NBC no longer delivers the news. They either promote their own programming or do feel good pieces. How long has it been since any in depth reporting has been done on anything from other parts of the world?

I don't watch ABC nor CBS except on weekends when they have anchors I can tolerate, though the substance is no better. Most news reporting these days is a collection of sound bites. Period. Or Anderson Cooper wondering why they devote so much time to trash news. Well, why do they? Ratings!

Making matters worse is the diminishing newspaper industry. Reporters no longer dig deep for truths. The papers can't afford to pay them for the time it would require. With shrinking staff, they do well to cover what they do. Then there is the number of papers that are just no longer publishing. Advertising revenue which keeps them afloat is down because it's not affordable. Add to that the number of businesses that are closing their doors because they can't advertise! Do you see a direction here? Like a downward spiral?

So here we are. 60,000,000,000 bloggers around the world hammering away at their keyboards citing opinion on everything from gardening to climate control. If you can't find something that interests you, you don't use a computer!

When it comes to news, though, you have to work to find both sides of issues. That's okay. It improves both reading and comprehension skills! There are blogs covering every aspect of the political spectrum from far left, which we're dealing with now, to the far right which is waiting in the wings. Fortunately, there are enough centrists asking questions of both sides to actually give you something to think about.

It's mostly bloggers. In a way it's frightening that it has come to this. I, however, will take a positive view. Rather than dwelling on how news coverage has devolved, I'll look at how blogging is evolving.

It's almost to the point we have an obligation to our fellow citizens to sort through all that is happening. The "official" media isn't doing such a good job any more and the government isn't doing it at all!

Stop The Bashing Before Someone Gets Hurt!

Whew! It's getting nasty out there. First we're inundated with images of Obama with Hitler's mustache and symbols of hate turning up on a golf course.

Then we move on to the latest in Limbaugh bashing because he wanted to become part owner of a football team. The liberal media did a hatchet job on him that was unprecedented. It is supposedly about a pattern of comments made over years about blacks. How many of them were taken out of context?

Don't get me wrong. I'm no fan of Limbaugh. He's loose with his facts but so are those doing the bashing. They all twist the facts to suit their point of view.

What worries me are the type of comments such as the one from Chris Mathews suggesting that in some point in time someone would step up to the plate and kill Limbaugh.

That's extreme even for Matthews. He did recant the next day. The clip is part of the embed above. The question is, was the damage already done? They succeeded in eliminating him from becoming part owner of the rams. Wasn't that enough?

Criticizing policy is one thing. Questioning ones suitability for ownership in a rich man's club is certainly permissible. Hate mongering is not.

It's time to tone down the rhetoric from those in the administration on down. Let's quit equating people with Hitler and the Nazis be it the President or those who disagree with him. Let's quit taking sound bites out of context and smearing a man because you don't like his politics. As irritating as Limbaugh can be, what point is to be made by lowering oneself to his level?

The liberal media lambastes any and everyone who finds fault with the President and to a lesser degree, his policies and his administration. Yet when one of their own suggests one who they dislike intensely might actually be terminated because of his views, nothing is said.

They best be careful. There are times when what goes around, comes around. Everything is cyclical. The opposition will regain power at some point, and like the elephants they claim as their symbol, they won't forget.

Then it will start all over again. Sigh.

Should Polanski Get A Pass?

I can understand why the woman in the Polanski sex scandal would like to keep it all in the past.

After all, it happened 32 years ago. She is now married with three children. Why reopen old wounds? I can't disagree with that except for Polanski to be brought to justice, those wounds will have to be reopened, the fire rekindled. Such is the way it is with the media and celebrity.

As much as I'd like to see the lady have her privacy, I'd like even more to see Polanski brought to justice. If a nineteen year old boy has sex with his underage girlfriend and gets caught he'll have to register as a sex offender for the rest of his days. There is no reason why a man who lied to a thirteen year old girl's mother, found his way to a friend's hot tub, plies her with champagne and a Quaalude then has sex with her should not have to pay a penalty equally as harsh, if not more so, just because he is a celebrity!

Granted he had some pretty serious emotional baggage of his own, having suffered through the aftermath of the horrendous murder of his wife and friends at the hands of Charlie Manson's nutcases, it is no excuse for what he did.

He skipped the country, finding safe haven in Europe. He went on to a career as an Oscar winning director while she dropped out of school at 18, got pregnant and married by the time she was nineteen.

Both were victims of media overkill, she being made out to be the "temptress" while he was the one who committed the crime.

I'm sure Polanski would like to put it behind also. There is one way to have that happen. Face judgement. Would the courts be lenient because he has lead an exemplary life since? I don't know if he has or not. If not, I can't think of a better time to begin.

It would be a powerful statement emphasizing that at least in one case, the perpetrator is not above the law, no matter how rich or famous. It might also give pause to others who think young girls are no more than fair game!

Comic Relief

I never thought I'd be so happy to see Joe the Plumber pop up in the news again! Actually we need some comic relief before the lid blows off the country.

It seems he's going to add
"comedian" to his already lengthy resume. I thought he always was one; he certainly couldn't be taken seriously as a political consultant or war correspondent! Never-the-less he's signed on to appear in the 16th annual "Funniest Celebrity in Washington" competition. Funny, I thought he was from Ohio. He does get around!

As I said, though, we need a release before things get totally out of hand. I'm inclined to lay blame for the unrest directly at the feet of the politicians and the media. Not the people. After all, the politicians are the ones doing the fear mongering by calling us evil and unpatriotic and Nazi-like. Not the people asking the questions. The politicians who are being asked!

The media isn't helping matters any by hyping the discord rather than digging for the true wording in the legislation and by not reminding us there is as of now no legislation ready for the President's signature. Only that which has come from the House. We've yet to see a Senate version what's more the conciliation of both!

One of my readers mentioned a comment her son made, in effect saying someone was likely to get shot before this is over at the rate it's going. I should hope he is wrong! However, when media commentators fuel the fire it doesn't help. Take what Ed Schultz said on his syndicated radio show last Tuesday.

It's almost as if every one of these town hall meetings is turning into "The Jerry Springer Show". And there are many Americans right now who are starting to fear for the safety of the president of the United States. All over health reform. Folks, these people are psycho, that's what they are.

Sometimes I think they want Obama to get shot. I do! I really think that there are conservative broadcasters in this country who would love to see Obama taken out. They "fear" socialism, they fear Marxism. They fear that the United States of America won't be the United States of America anymore.

There is nothing funny in that kind of rhetoric! Planting the seed should be considered criminal!

Assumptions Can Be Counterproductive

Leonard Pitts had a good column in this morning's Spokesman Review. He addressed, as everyone seems to be doing, the issue as to whether or not our President is legitimate based on the assumption by many that he is not a natural born citizen.

He feels, and perhaps rightly so, that the already weak Republicans are trying to build their platform on this issue. He also points out, importantly, that the "copies" of Obama's Hawaiian birth certificate are considered legal. I might add to the argument that Photoshop is an excellent tool for those who wish to dispute it.

Yesterday was a scorcher so I stretched my aching back out on the couch and watched the Sunday talk shows that I hadn't seen for several weeks. Summer yard work you know.

Three subjects dominated. The "beer summit", Palin's resignation and the "birther" movement. That those subjects dominated didn't surprise me. What did was the venom aimed at our President. Criticize his policies all you want; I've certainly done it often enough. But to "assume" he has all this deep seated hatred for whites is, pardon the pun, beyond the pale. Those espousing this were the FOX conservatives led by Glenn Beck. Others, from other networks, have also pushed the issue with vigor.

That it is being done this long after the election, when it first began, indicates to me the Republicans are even more weak than I thought. If this is the best they can do we'll have Democrats running the country for a good long time. Whether you think it's happening or not, Obama campaigned on hope and change. Not questionable truths and fear. Who won?

Assumptions, presented as truth are dangerous. They are opinion unless backed up with provable fact.

On a lesser level, I received an e-mail from a commenter, "assuming" I was "pissed" because I defended another commenter on my blog. There is nothing further from the truth. I was not "pissed"; I just felt the second commenter had a valid point and said so.

Why do I point this out? It goes to the point that those who "assume" they have the only valid opinion and one dare not disagree with them are little more than bullies. That the Republicans taught and learned this lesson well in the previous administration does not encourage me regarding the party's immediate future!

Fortunately for us there are still journalists and columnists such as Mr. Pitts who can and do present rational commentary on the subjects they address. We may agree or disagree. Their tone makes their view readable. A rant, as hate filled as some have accused Professor Gates as being, only deafens. Hopefully.

Neighborhood "Watch Out!"

I'm sorry Mr. President, but you were the one acting "stupidly" after first admitting you weren't present and didn't have all the facts regarding the arrest of you're friend, Henry Gates, then claiming the police acted stupidly. That, in of itself, was a display of bad judgement on your part. The fire storm it kindled is much worse.

First, this is how I see it had it been my own circumstance. If a neighbor noticed anything untoward on my property, I would want them to call the police. I would want the police to respond in a timely manner and approach the intruder with caution - especially if I was the one being mistaken as such!

If asked for identification, I would gladly show it. I would not mouth off to the officer no matter what color he/she was. Nor if it were a black officer, or Hispanic, or Asian would I think him/her racist if I did mouth off and was arrested because of my conduct.

But that's me. I'm not a high falutin Harvard professor with a chip on my shoulder and an over estimation of my recognizability!

That's where it should have stopped. Obama didn't have his teleprompters handy and ended up with his foot in his mouth. Gates mouthed off and got arrested for it. End of story.

I wish. What began with a good deed turned sour by bad behavior has been blown into a full scale racial incident. I am so disgusted with the news coverage of this. Since it's been on the news 24/7 since it happened it's impossible to escape. Why is the media trying so hard to make it into something it wasn't? Anchors are pushing the racial profiling angle. I haven't seen Jesse Jackson yet. That may be an issue of timing on my part, but the oh, so solemn Al Sharpton is weighing in anywhere he can.

Police officers from around the country are being interviewed. Black police officers. They have, to a man, supported the officer involved, yet I've heard more than one anchor state, in effect,"Oh well, he is a cop!"

We are never going to conquer racism or even control it if every time a white officer arrests a badly behaving black or vice versa.

Obama should either apologize to the officer for an inappropriate comment or just shut up. Defending his comment is just fomenting the controversy. I'd not like to think it is by design but if this continues to simmer with the President, or his spokespeople, in the middle of it I will do more than begin to wonder.

Why?

Seventeen kids, several with special needs ranging from Autism to Down Syndrome, are orphans. For some it is the second time. Why?

What kind of men are those who plotted to brutally murder the parents of these children? They are monsters. Deranged monsters. I'm not an advocate of the death penalty but there are circumstances that are prodding me.

An eye for an eye sometimes seems just. Especially when those who have committed monstrous crimes complain that lethal injection is cruel and unusual punishment because there is no guarantee that they'll be unconscious when the lethal drug is released into their veins. I cannot put into coherent words how I feel about that argument!

It goes to show that no matter how much pontificating takes place or laws proposed, we cannot legislate monsters out of existence. They come in all sizes and colors. Some are on the right side of the law for a portion of their lives before something snaps. Most are not.

Fortunately for the community, suspects were quickly apprehended. What will happen now? Perhaps one of the adult children will be able to look after the siblings. One would hope so.

How long will it be before this story fades from the news? How many of you have even seen anything about it? If we are to honor people taken too soon, Byrd and Melanie Billings get my vote. Yet it won't be them who have hundreds of thousands of mourners weeping for the loss of their children. There will be no moment of silence in Congress. They will fade into the memories of those they loved and who loved them and life will go on.

In the grand scheme of things, despite the horror of what has happened, these people are the fortunate ones. The Billings will be honored by their daughter who has pledged to carry on her parent's legacy. I can think of nothing more appropriate no matter how low key.

None-the-less, why is it I feel compelled to even write this? Why?

When Friends Are Worse Than Enemies!

Well, they're out there! The photos of prisoner abuse.

According to The Daily Kos they were released by an Australian network. Truth be told, when I was looking for pictures for yesterday's post I saw many of them but thought they were among those already released.

I never bought into the argument that releasing them would show the world we mean it when we say no more. What it shows the world is what was done. No one is going to care which administration was in power when it happened. What will be remembered is that it's what the Americans did with their prisoners!

According to the article the channel SBS obtained the photos in 2006 after Abu Ghraib but were not among the photos distributed at the time and are believed to among those the President wanted to block. That hasn't been made totally clear, but there couldn't be much worse among any still unreleased. This photo is one I felt I could post. Even though I make points graphic when I feel it appropriate, there are some lines that even I won't cross. Take that as you may.

So what is it? Not only the Islamic world doesn't trust us; it appears that other countries feel it is their due to take decisions which should be ours, away from us. No, that isn't true. It isn't Australia. It's the Australian media. I have no doubt our media would have done the same given the opportunity. Has all the media succumbed to paparazzi mentality? Anything for a story; a scoop? The Australian media, nor it's country, had no part of the decision making process, they had no hand in the execution of the abuse nor were any of them victims of it.

Freedom of the press? If they've had these photos since 2006 why wait until now? Now, when a new administration is trying mightily to turn around the grievances of the past administration? Where's the responsibility? Is it strictly for the sensationalism of seeing men demeaned? Is it meant to embarrass the American government? What?

The article indicates there are more to come. This is a sorry day indeed. Our President was trying to do right by our soldiers and has been denied. Not by our Congress nor our media but by a foreign entity.

What is the world coming to? In early June Obama is scheduled to travel to Egypt to make a major speech. The photos are "out" there. This is the first time I've really had a queasy feeling in my stomach about the safety of our President on foreign soil.

I have no idea what the world is coming to. In time, it's senses, I hope!

Have You Hugged Your Hog Today?

Just yesterday I was complaining about the lack of hard news in newspapers. Today, I have to bring you proof positive of what should be the biggest non-story of the week and it's only Sunday!

First, I had to laugh at the picture I found when looking for a huggable "swine". What better than one hugging a little Chinese girl. Think Hong Kong, where the current Director General of the WHO, served as a civil servant. Think Hong Kong where masked police (I love the irony) were holding guests captive in their hotels because one guest had flu symptoms.

Now we're being told the pandemic is easing, people are on the mend. Take an aspirin, drink plenty of water and rest. Go ahead and have pork chops for dinner tonight.

Wait! Are Canadian pork chops safe? Hmmm. According to an AP story in today's Spokesman Review pigs on a Canadian farm may have been infected by.......a farmer!

The poor pigs can't win! The farmhand had been vacationing in Mexico and obviously came back with the bug. He's recovering nicely, no doubt after having taken his aspirin, water and rest. If no one panics the pigs should too recover. According to Slate, pig mortality rates from the flu are far lower than human.

I got to thinking we should treat our snouted friends with a bit more respect. After all, many tests are done on pigs before humans because of similarities between the species. How many of us have heart valves from pigs pulsing away in our chests? At times I am ashamed that I so love bacon and ham!

This is the time to put the media to the test. Slate tells us pigs get the flu much like we humans do - from sneezes and coughs from other pigs. They get a fever, cough, their eyes and noses run; they sneeze. They just plain don't feel good and are put in isolation where they'll recover in about a week with proper rest and hydration. Sound familiar? We could pop them an aspirin to speed up recovery but we really need to keep the farmhands out of the pen!

We are told the WHO insists there is no evidence pigs are passing the virus to humans or that eating pork products puts anyone at risk so basically this should be a non-story. That it made the paper, however, makes it a story. It will be interesting to see if it remains an AP filler story on page 5 or if it becomes headline news!

The Great Crash Of 2009!

I hadn't finished my first cup of coffee this morning. I had finished both the morning papers. There just wasn't enough in them to keep me busy. I don't read the want ads which are skimpy at best. I avoid the obituaries like the plague and the stories pulled from the wire services are at least a day old if not more.

The only regional newspaper has completely eliminated the northern Idaho edition and stories in the local daily are mostly that - local. Unfortunately, things that would be of interest like city council meetings or commissioners' meetings are rarely covered. We get more coverage of Chamber of Commerce ribbon cuttings and photos of social events than hard news.

Newspapers have become an endangered species. Advertising revenues are way down. The cycle has become self perpetuating. Okay. Enjoying the papers with my morning coffee may now be a generational phenomenon. Who else has the time to spend an hour or so reading a paper from cover to cover other than retirees?

So what do you do? Turn to TV news? Living in a small market, viewers are at a disadvantage to begin with. We tend to get inexperienced young reporters who's names we've barely learned before they, if they're any good at all, move on to larger markets. We get those left behind and their lack of reporting skills leave us more often in the dark than not. I can't help but question their financial woes when we're told a news crew is being dispatched to the scene of an accident hours after it has happened. On the next newscast we get to watch a reporter standing on an empty stretch of highway explaining to us what had happened hours before. Go figure.

Now advertising revenue is down for the broadcast media. Is it any wonder? Just this last week there was a story in the Inlander regarding substantial layoffs at the local CBS affiliate. They've cut mostly behind the scenes personnel, including producers. You know, the very people who make the newscasts work!

Even the network news has become little more than a recap of the day's headlines. As for cable, you'd have to watch a full slate of both FOX and MSNBC to get both sides of what's happening then figure out where the middle is and you may have an approximate idea of reality.

That leaves the computer. The papers have their blogs and on line editions, the TV stations have their blogs and on line editions and the Internet has it all.

Who has time to sort through all of it? I do but I won't. There are too many other things to do! Too many bloggers already spend too much time at work on line; I've never understood that!

I'm lucky. I have a Mac. Mac's rarely crash. Hub runs Windows and has spent the last three days sorting out a problem. During that time he had to read his headlines and papers on my computer. If it should crash - or the whole Internet should go down as it does more often than is convenient with our local Time Warner, how does one stay informed?

It has become a downward spiral that reminds me of a tornado. At the very bottom there is nothing left except the devastation. The remnants will be an uninformed populace.

Who will know? How will they find out?

I'm already devastated and it's only because I have too much coffee to drink with my papers. I can make a smaller pot. I'll really be devastated when there is no reason to brew a pot at all!

The Great Equalizer!

I spent the better part of yesterday afternoon looking for an illustration of the Swine Flu virus. Variations of the same theme kept coming up - a combination of the swine flu paired with the avian flu. It also illustrates when you should take this post seriously.

The poor maligned pig. For some time now pigs, along with their fellow barn yard companions, are being blamed for our noxious gas problem. Now they carry a flu strain, along with one carried by another of it's barn yard companions, that's creating havoc around the world. In the name of differentiating it from the "bird" flu, researchers dubbed it the "swine" flu.

Who ever would have thought a name would cause such an uproar! Even more, who would ever have thought doing so would have given the United States common ground with both the Muslim and Jewish communities! An Israeli health official wanted to rename it the "Mexican" flu, not so much because it has been the area hardest hit, but because both the Jewish and Muslims consider pigs unclean and are forbidden to eat it. This was perceived as an insult! I don't quite get the connection, but then, that's me! Needless to say the Mexicans weren't too keen on the idea; they're taking it on the chin pretty hard as is with their drug wars.

Then the good old US of A chimed in. Realizing it was not a good idea to besmirch entire nations, they found themselves in a quandary. You see, by calling it the swine flu it could have devastating effects on our pork industry especially when people are having a hard enough time bringing home the bacon. What to do!

In their infinite wisdom they cam up with a pretty innocuous identifier. H1N1 . There is an H and an N in all flu viruses and the fact that there is already a human strain H1N1 makes things a little confusing, but then who's asking?

Maybe I've been underestimating the power of the Obama administration's silvery tongue. Change the name, fuzzy up the context and put everyone at ease. I expect it will work as well as changing the term "Global War on Terror" to the "Overseas Contingency Operation." Change the name, fuzzy up the context and put everyone at ease.

Nope. Won't work. Think "Freedom Fries"!

Dread, The Book, Versus Fear

On April 22 Jon Stewart's guest on The Daily Show was a mild mannered professor from Hunter college by the name of Philip Alcabes. As with many of Stewart's guests, he was there to promote his book, Dread.

Mr. Alcabes specialty is Epidemiology, the study of controlling infectious and communicable diseases. His book is about how our complacent, easy lifestyles has led to our susceptibility to over reaction of happenings in our lives. It could not have been a more timely interview had only the administration watched the show or read the book prior to the outbreak of the new strain of swine flu. It exemplifies perfectly his premise.

I'm not downplaying the seriousness of the flu. I am saying the government and the media are creating a frenzy regarding an outcome that has yet to be known. Consider how much of the news is filled with nothing but people walking the streets wearing masks. How many news cycles will this last?

Realizing we have yet to have a new Secretary of Health and Human Services, I do have to ask why the Secretary of Homeland Security, Janet Napolitano, has been the designated spokesperson. Is it because the disease has had a huge impact in Mexico? Is the implication that it is being carried across the borders by the illegals? This woman who misspeaks on so many issues, from returning veterans being potential terror threats to thinking the 9/11 bombers entered this country through Canada, is not the person I'd have put forward. What she knows about homeland security is questionable at best. What she knows about health issues is even more suspect! Why not someone from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC)? At least I'd be more comfortable thinking they may actually know the facts.

The military is monitoring the situation, we're told. Should they or should they not release their stockpiles of vaccine? Should the border be closed? The EU is advising against travel to the U.S. and Mexico, Russia is going to check every incoming flight from the U.S., and on and on it goes.

The fact that three strains of flu virus have morphed into a new one is true. Testing has really just begun on people who have the flu to see which strain they actually have. At the moment there is no definitive answer.

You have to listen closely to learn that only 40 cases have been identified in the United States. You have to listen even more closely to hear that only one has been hospitalized and that all the others have recovered. There are no details about the one hospitalized either. Old, young, frail? What?

We criticized the Bush administration for governing by fear. This one is doing the same thing on an even larger scale. Fear that the banks will fail, fear that the auto companies will fail, fear that if we aren't already we'll soon be out of our homes. And yes, fear that we all are going to perish. It's almost becoming the "Fear of the Week" administration.

We all might do well to curl up with a nice warm cup of tea and read Mr. Alcabes book. Don't forget to first wash your hands.

Footnote: For those of you interested in this, follow the link to Philip Alcabes Website. You'll find it interesting reading. Thank you to Judith Baumel for the heads up!

Newspapers As Non-Profits

Every time I write a post about the print media I lament the fact that it is slowly, or maybe not so slowly, disappearing. I talk of how I'll miss it with my morning coffee. Just today it was announced the Boston Globe has been added to the list.
True, I sit at my computer browsing on line editions every day. It just isn't the same. So when I read that Senator Ben Cardin, D-Md, introduced the Newspaper revitalization Act I took notice.

Why not? Most newspapers are non profit already! That's why they're going under like corpses encased in cement!

The suggestion is that this may be more suitable for small local papers rather than those held by large media conglomerates. The ones vital for communities, like ours, to get the information needed to be well informed. There are a few caveats however. They must have a staff of reporters large enough to cover what the community needs. The dull and boring stuff like city council meetings, regardless of what's on the agenda, and school board meetings, commissioners meetings, etc. All the non-glamorous stuff. And they must do it. Picture pages of social events and pages and pages of legal notices doesn't cut it.

According to Cardin's thinking, this could open the door for a non-profit paper to purchase one held by one of those conglomerates. Imagine the Coeur d'Alene Press being able to buy, say the Spokesman Review! Now that would be something! Yeah, I know, Hagadone owns a chain of papers but I don't think he's in the same league as, say Gannett or even Spokane's Cowles!

As a 501(c)3 they'd be operating for educational purposes similar to public television. That should be a slam dunk. Isn't that what newspapers are for in the first place? Education?

The best part of all is that while they would still be able to cover all things political, including campaigns, they'd be prohibited from giving political endorsements. Locally that would put a crimp in the style of the blogs operating under the newspaper's banner. It would certainly make for an interesting change of pace. Maybe they'd get back to something else a newspaper is supposed to be. Objective.

Blogging Does Not Automatically Equate Journalism

There is an article on Breitbart that tells me journalism is evolving, not dying. It points to the ever widening spread of the Internet as the reason. I, for one, skim many news sources on the web just to put together a post. But what of the millions of people, not only in this country, but worldwide, who do not have Internet access be it because of location or financial ability? Without hard copy newspapers how are they to be informed?

This brings to mind a headline today from the Salisbury, Maryland paper in which the Mayor, in her State of the City address suggested that mean spirited bloggers were the biggest threat the city faces. The news story was a fair analysis of the Mayor's comments.

The Spokesman Review's Huckleberries picked up on it and asked the following:

Question: In Coeur d’Alene, there are three online sites that touch of city of Coeur d’Alene business regularly — this one, OpenCDA.com, and the Coeur d’Alene Press comments section. The latter two sites are openly antagonistic to Mayor Sandi Bloem’s administration. Do you think those sites help or hurt the city?

I find it interesting when asking if readers thought the local blog sites were detrimental to the city, the moderator neglected to include his own. While he is correct that the other two sites are mostly antagonistic to the city administration and it's urban renewal agency, it is not always without cause. I should think being pro administration, no matter what, can be just as detrimental.

Following is the pertinent excerpt from Mayor Parsons' speech:

While we face the same challenges that other cities and towns are facing, our biggest
challenge by far is a small element within the City that consistently seeks to find
“smoking guns” and conspiracies within the ranks of the City workforce. Daily, I run into
citizens who are weary of the constant “gotcha” mentality on the part of a few citizens
and City Council members. Citizens fear standing up and serving because it quite simply
is not worth the vilification they chance at the hands of blogs and with threatening phone
calls.

Each week I do a taping on a radio station. This past week, I interviewed Gary Comegys
who is running for Mayor. The day the taping was to be broadcast, the station received a
very early morning call from a local lawyer threatening the station manager that if the
station aired the program they would be in violation of the FCC regulations. The week
before, that same lawyer called the owner of a senior complex at his home in
Westminster with a similar threat. The owner of the complex had invited his residents to
a lunch for Comegys and Councilwoman Shanie Shields. This lawyer stated that if the
luncheon were held, the owner would be in violation of federal law because the complex
was built through a program that awards tax credits on a highly competitive basis to
ensure affordable rents for residents. In both cases, there appears to be no legal backing
for his statements. He simply is utilizing threats and intimidation in the hope that those
whom he opposes in the election will have no advantage.

This is the same man who fostered the idea of a taxpayers’ suit against me during my first
year in office. This was dismissed at the most basic judicial level, but not before it cost
the City and our insurance carrier $32,000. In the intervening years, he has enjoyed the
ears of at least one member of each City Council and has cost the City tens of thousands
of dollars in legal and staff time. In almost every case, there has been no legal basis for
his claims and accusations. However much like the taxpayers suit against me in 1998, it
costs money, energy, time and focus from those good and decent people who come to
work everyday to simply do their job.

This is not about differences of opinion and policy questions. This is quite simply mean-
spirited ugly constant intimidation. Combined with the lies and innuendo of several
“bloggers” this city is under siege. Routinely, I receive calls and e-mails from citizens
who disagree with my positions on individual matters. We talk and often find common
ground, and sometimes agree to disagree. It is a very valuable process and I always find
that I see whatever issue under consideration from a new perspective.

This poses a far greater danger to the Salisbury’s future than the current financial crisis.
When people are afraid to step forward, run for office, speak on relevant issues, write
letters to the editor expressing individual opinions, then the future is in jeopardy. I leave
this job, an adventure that I have enjoyed with a firm conviction that the people of this
great city need to stand up and say, “No More”. Only then can we move forward to meet
the serious challenges and build upon the dreams and hard work of the twenty-four
mayors who preceded me in service to this City.

Sorry it is so lengthy, but it goes to the point that Coeur d'Alene's Mayor Bloem could have used much the same rhetoric. What isn't known, in either case, is how close to the truth the "mean and nasties" have come versus the credibility of the mayor's complaint?

There is no "journalism" involved in these blogs even though the Press blogs are under the banner of the Coeur d'Alene Press and Huckleberries is under the Spokesman Review's banner. Blogs are not necessarily and most often not journalism! They are opinion - right, wrong or indifferent. Bearing a newspaper's banner, at least locally, does not change that.

Rhetoric, on either side, can mask the truth. It cannot negate the truth. The question is will the truth will out? And if so, without good journalism, how?

One Man's Pork Is Another's Bacon!

Kathleen Parker's column in today's Spokesman Review talked about how Bobby Jindal's Republican staff nearly did in his political ambitions by the way they framed him in his response to Obama's speech to Congress. As an aside, I agree that he is one of the bright spots in the Republican gloom and left to his own instincts he'll do just fine.

The point of this post, however, is something that was mentioned almost in passing in the column. She pointed out an instance where he was emphasizing excess pork in the stimulus bill. She also mentioned one attributed to Sarah Palin as a gaffe along the same lines. Jindal's was the mention of "volcano monitoring" as wasteful spending. I think not. Just think about it.

Palin's was a reference to fruit fly research as silly spending. Then Parker points out that fruit fly research is crucial to medical research. Did you know that? I did not.

Now I'm going to jump on the media and watchdog groups. True, there are a lot of projects that raise many an eyebrow with good reason, but now I'm wondering how many, even though they may sound silly, are not.

We know the media has become personality driven, too many reporters are lazy and substance is often lacking not to mention objectivity. I would like to see an explanation of pork projects paired with a justification before I'm so quick to condemn them.

Congress embeds pork in bills. They all have computers, cell phones, land lines, Blackberries and web sites. More and more are utilizing Twitter. Spare me. It's not like they don't have better things to do. Point being, they are not difficult to access. So ladies and gentlemen of the media, those of you who still have jobs, how about doing a little probing about these projects and inform those of us who still listen to you or read your papers. Just in case you wonder why there are so few of us and your papers are folding around you, it may be because you're not doing your jobs. I'd not expect to get this information from a columnist. I would expect it from a reporter.

Mass condemnation because we don't like pork no longer makes sense. If you guys want to continue to take home the bacon, talk to us about pork!

Governing By "Photo Op"

Hub, being a Republican at heart, is not enthralled with the daily Obama photo op nor the media's obsession with him. Like myself, he recognizes the flaws in sound bites. The current one that has us both concerned is the capping of executive salaries at $500,000 if their company receives bailout money. If one understands the way the business community works, a cap this severe may make we ordinary folks feel good but does little else that's constructive.

I'll agree that multi million dollar bonuses should be curbed along with retirement packages that are worth more than most of us will see in a lifetime. However, we should also consider what will be lost.

The President's salary is $400,000 per year. Everything else, with the exception of clothing and tooth paste is paid for by the taxpayers. For instance, using Air Force One costs somewhere in the vicinity of $27,000 per hour. That alone would kick his salary in to the million dollar range in very short order.

I agree with the premise that executives should not be rewarded for failing. I also feel actors are over paid at $15,000,000 per film and athletes making millions of dollars for playing their games. We should perhaps be looking at their tax returns too!

As for executives of companies receiving bailout money, they might not be guilty of failing as much as being the result of others failing. Should they be so penalized?

Then too, back to the question of what else will be lost. Assuming there are good guys caught up in this and they pay their taxes, they are used to living on multi million dollar salaries. With that comes the probability of multiple households and all the help and upkeep that is needed to maintain them. Nannies, cooks, housekeepers, grounds keepers, etc. Those are people being employed by those millions of dollars. Do we want them added to the already burdened unemployment rolls?

Consider the homes themselves. Do we want the keys to them thrown back at the banks who already have more than they can handle?

There's a lot of trickle down here and a whole lot of big brotherism that needs to be fleshed out to make sense. Consider that former Treasury Secretary Paulson forced banks that did not want bailout money to take it anyway. There is a flurry of activity afoot for companies to find funding partners so they can give the bailout money back. Those partners will no doubt be foreign entities.

It isn't as cut and dried as the rhetoric makes it sound. The administration has already backed off the "buy American" mantra due to threatened repercussions from other countries.

Soaring rhetoric and indignation sounds wonderful but it needs substance behind it. So far the substance, let alone how to enforce the pronouncements, has been lacking.

As with his cabinet appointees, Obama might be wise and cut out the photo op of the day and give himself time to think things through. The constant reminder that "I won" won't get him far if we the people continue to lose.