Saying No to the "Party of No"

The Supreme Court saved the Obama Administration's signature health care law in a 6-3 decision.   According to CNN, the ruling holds that the Affordable Care Act authorized federal tax credits for eligible Americans living not only in states with their own exchanges but also in the 34 states with federal marketplaces.   This is a big win for Obamacare.  Is this law perfect?   Hardly.   Does this decision save millions from losing health insurance?   Absolutely.   Have Republicans done anything in the way of healthcare alternatives?   Not in the least, as they repeated their futile efforts to repeal Obamacare in Congress fifty times over.   What's their solution?   If they can't articulate it, who can?

If for no other reason, the GOP has earned its reutation as "the party of 'no'".   When will they ever learn?

End of Discussion?

Charleston prayer service (WLTX)

It's all too uncomfortable to politicians on the right, and even to some in the center.   We see it again in the wake of nine shooting deaths of churchgoers and prominent community members in Charleston, SC.   Ask them about gun control and you'll get a response that just labels the latest massacre as a case of one deranged individual.   Charleston's mayor Joe Riley denies the role or very existence of racism in his fair city.   That wouldn't reflect well on this major tourist draw.   Ask South Carolina Senator Presidential candidate LIndsey Graham about the racist symbolism of the Confederate battle flag and he'll tell you that his state has worked out a compromise over its display to satisfy "both sides to this issue."    Fox News depicts the shooting as an "attack on Christians" instead of blacks clearly singled out for their skin color.   These are issues that make people bankrolled by the NRA leadership and other powerful conservative lobbyists very uncomfortable.    Mention the role of guns in mass shootings and you're met with well organized chants of the false narrative that any discussion of guns means President Obama and liberals are aiming to confiscate every firearm in the hands of private citizens.   

The discussion embargo doesn't end with gun violence and racism.   Even the Pope, a scientist, gets criticized for expressing concern over climate change hastened by human activity by people who preface everything by, "I'm not a scientist, but..."    Senator Elizabeth Warren took issue with our allegedly socialist President Obama over "free trade" with the Tran Pacific Partnership bill being pushed through Congress with no room for open discussion of its particulars.    Newly announced GOP candidate Donald Trump calls people who might disagree with his vague ideas "clowns" and "losers."    There are many people who blame the media for "harping on" things, stirring up trouble.

An open discussion is the American way of life... ideally, anyway.   If the NRA bosses and deniers of all types want to take their marbles and go home when they can't have things 100 per cent their way, that's their problem.   That doesn't mean the rest of us who want everything to be fair game should give up and allow these powerful narrow interests to shut down the exchange of ideas.   

     

Identifying Ourselves

Rachel Dolezal

Spokane, Washington NAACP leader Rachel Dolezal stepped down amid revelations that she had been falsely claiming to be African American.   Her estranged white parents have come forward to deny she is black.   Is this fraud punishable by law?   The legal system can decide that part.    She said to Matt Lauer on NBC's Today Show that she "identified as black" and showed no regret over what she had done.   I think an apology is due at the very least.   She lied.   That is a disservice to the very advocacy group she represented.    There is no reason a white person can't hold a responsible position in the NAACP, but there is no excuse for concealing the fact.   A man leads the UConn women's basketball team year after year.   An Englishman led Arabs in revolt against the Ottoman Empire a century ago.   Gender and ethnic identities don't matter in these cases.   Racial identity shouldn't matter here.   Integrity should.   As Dr. King said, it should not be about "the color of their skin, but the content of their character."   Judge her on that alone.

Bruce (now Caitlyn) Jenner said he "identified as a woman."  Jenner was very open over this aspect of his identity to the point where the news was everywhere.      Dolezal's racial identity should have been more of an open book, too. 

Country Radio's Feminine Side

Singers Amy Grant, Jennifer Nettles, Martina McBride and
Miranda Lambert at the 2014 MusiCares Person Of The
Year awards Jan. 24, 2014, in Los Angeles.
(Photo: Christopher Polk, Getty Images)

One of my many radio gigs for Hall Communications is at longtime country outlet 97.7 WCTY, a leading station in eastern Connecticut that is consulted by Keith Hill.    Keith became the center of some controversy last week when he seemed to recommend playing a higher percentage of male artists than female ones.   Country artists Miranda Lambert and Martina McBride were quick to jump on the backlash bandwagon and take offense with Hill's assessment of successful country formats by saying females are "just not the lettuce in our salad. The lettuce is Luke Bryan and Blake Shelton, Keith Urban and artists like that. The tomatoes of our salad are the females."   Cries of radio sexism ensued.    Could this have been expressed in a way that resulted in fewer repercussions?   Absolutely, but he does have a valid point.

Ironically, females have become a much more essential component of country's target audience.  This is more than ever about what female listeners want to hear.   Country used to be a very male-oriented radio format.   That has changed dramatically, with today’s country attracting younger and female fans now more than ever.    What you hear now is the key to getting ratings and revenue.    AT WCTY and many other stations, this is due in no small part to research provided by people like Keith Hill.    As a male over 55 who has slid off the radar of most ad agencies, I actually enjoy female country artists more than I do most male singers.   Then again, as I’ve argued countless times as a voice in the wilderness, this is not about what you or I think “sounds good.”    It’s about what works.    Don’t take my word for it.   Ask your target audience.    

It's How I'm Geared

My brother Gary - the mechanic in the family

I like to think of myself as a reasonably intelligent and capable person.  My wife tells me I should go on Jeopardy!  Go ahead, ask me any state capital, radio station location or historical fact from World War II.   Ask me to fix something that inevitably breaks down in real life and I'm usually stumped.   I admit it; I am not a handy man.   For some reason dating back to my childhood, those types of things never penetrate into my head.   Even when I worked at gas stations, I really didn't get far beyond fixing a flat or, when they were shorthanded, changing somebody's oil.   I was the guy who kept the place spotless and was pretty good at greeting the customers.   On the other hand, my younger brother Gary takes after my father.   Once they changed the engine in my '67 Plymouth Satellite.   When I saw what they went through, I felt guilty putting them through that while it reaffirmed my desire to stay the hell as far away from a wrench as I possibly could.

In today's society, mechanical aptitude can earn you a decent living.   I am in awe of the talent some people have working with their hands.   I do like some painting and gardening around the house, but that doesn't require handyman status.   There are urgent times when my limited abilities as Mr. Fix-It are required, but that's a last resort.    With the car, I have peace of mind knowing AAA is a phone call away.   There are instances when I surprise myself.   I have actually put IKEA-type furniture together following the detailed directions... with only a couple of parts left.   A recent plumbing emergency seemed like a quick fix, but after struggling with pipes to no avail I got my brother to come down.   He still gets royally ticked off at plastic parts being made so cheaply, but the third try was the charm.   This past weekend, a grill I actually assembled two years ago was not heating up past 200 degrees.   Our friend Betty said her husband fixed theirs by pounding on it a few times.   That did the trick!    Mechanically challenged prople like yours truly love solutions like this... very satisfying.

Who's Number One?

What hasn't been said about David Letterman ending his run on late night TV?   I agree with most of it.   Leno was OK, but Letterman was one of a kind.    Once Dave was passed over for Johnny Carson's spot I always felt watching Letterman was like rooting for the underdog.   Dave did start out number one in the late night ratings, but Jay's O.J. Simpson jokes ushered in a long period when NBC's Tonight Show could not be caught.   Still, Dave leaves in a sea of accolades while Jay's departure seemed almost after the fact even though Leno was ratings gold.   As with so many things, the numbers don't tell the whole story.   

Dave was certainly not a perfect person.   His embarassing sex scandal revealed that.   On the other hand, his emotional reaction to his heart surgery and 9/11 plus his ability to handle the most difficult guests and take part in the most ridiculous situations only strengthened our connection with this man who only reluctantly shared his private life.   Jay was generally considered a nice guy, yet the tension over the Tonight Show succession left a bad feeling with a lot of people... twice.

This storied late night competition is yet another example of how "the numbers" don't tell the whole story.   Leno may have been the winner to Madison Avenue ad agencies, but on Broadway it was Letterman.   He'll be considered the iconic showman for years to come.   He leaves have a legacy like Carson.  Just ask Jimmy Kimmel or Conan O'Brien.  Something can be a flash in the pan (Leno was bigger than that), but Letterman set a pop culture gold standard.       

In both print and broadcast aspects of my media background, it's not about how much circulation your direct mail publication has or how your radio station shows in the ratings.   It's about what works.   When I worked across town in radio, we were told to often interject that our station was "number one in the ratings."   How does the listener relate to that?   "We've got the most power!"   Who cares?     If a record hit number one for six weeks in 1977, does that mean we ever want to hear it again?   Ratings/rankings are a snapshot of what was... nothing more, nothing less.   Letterman blazed the trail beyond that. 

Various Thoughts...

Our transit infrastructure is woefully inadequate compared with most developed countries, yet House Speaker John Boehner is quick to dismiss a reporter's question about adequate Amtrak funding as "stupid".  He does this while rushing to lay the blame on one engineer's error before all the facts come out as to the cause of the fatal Philadelphia train derailment.   The afternoon after the crash, the Republican House actually cut funding for Amtrak.   Do Republicans really expect big business to come in and update infrastructure without government investment and reasonable profit?   The GOP is clearly tone deaf on this one, to say the least.

The Iraq War threatens to turn the 2016 Presidential election upside down.   Hilary Clinton has at least admitted her mistake in supporting an invasion that came back ruin her 2008 prospects. She still has to be more forthcoming in dealing head on with the Iraq consequences embodied in ISIS.   The money may still be leaning toward Jeb Bush on the Republican side, but I still find it shocking how unprepared he was to consistently answer the inevitable question over whether he would have taken the same action his brother did in 2003 based on faulty intelligence.   On foreign policy, Republicans need to get over their fear of the Dick Cheney unrepentent right wing and come to grips with perhaps our biggest mistake in a century.

It seems like the Patriots Deflategate saga has already taken a break from public awareness for now.   Haters outside New England are gonna hate no matter what, but as a Pats and Tom Brady fan I still have to admit that it does sound like Brady at least had some inside knowledge of the tampering.   That said, does this warrant a stiffer penalty than one to another NFL player caught on video knocking out his wife in an elevator?    Also, is there any doubt that the Patriots played a great season with or without Deflategate?

The death of B.B. King reminds us of how iconic a musician can be even without big hits on the radio.   It also reminds people like me who deal with type II diabetes about the need to take this condition seriously.

They said pollen allergies would be severe this year, and they were right!   When my car stops showing all the yellow stuff I hope my eyes will stop tearing up uncontrollably.   

Pop Culture Back in the Day

Science fiction movies and comics sprang from the early days of nuclear proliferation.   Spy themed television and movies really took off in the sixties as the Cold War intensified.   Much of this seemed to capitalize on certain societal fears.   Even though I wasn't born yet during the Second War War, as a young child I remember countless images and bits of information from this most terrible conflict in history.   I'm not sure if they were always accurate ones, but one thing was universally clear: we Americans really felt righteous in our might.   

I recall two things from getting my haircuts as a kid at Vinnie's Barber Shop in North Branford, CT.   One was the sound of a breed of country music on WFIF-1500 AM out of Milford that seems so far removed from today's country.   The other was the pile of comic books he had that seemed to be always about seemingly superhuman heroes facing down evil Nazis and Japanese in WWII.   It made me wonder even back then whether an American Indian riding on a horse could really shoot down a divebombing Messerschmitt fighter with a pistol.  It didn't matter; we were the good guys.   As the Vietnam War got more controversial and I started forming my own opinions, the roles of good and bad guy seemed to blur as the goal of our mission was never defined. 

As we face one of the most evil forces in decades in the form of ISIS, I don't see the same dichotemy between good and bad portrayed as widely in pop culture.   Perhaps that in itself is a good thing, but I also wonder how much of it is based on a disconnect from the conflict as Americans know more about the Kardashians than the whole Middle East while some distrust our own government so much that they question its constituionality or legitimacy.   We should have a natural reluctance to demonize people not of our group while questioning authority, but some basic allegiance to a greater good shouldn't go the way of WWII comics - or the sound of yesterday's country music.      

       

AM Radio Changes

Fifty years ago, RKO-owned AM station 93-KHJ in Los Angeles revolutionized a still young Top 40 format as "Boss Radio."   It was a fast-paced, music intensive approach that was emulated in varying degrees by stations across the country and Canada, including WPOP 1410 in Hartford.   WPOP gave rival WDRC a run for its money in an era of music, personalities and promotions most Baby Boomer listeners wouldn't forget.   A generation later, the music had pretty much died on AM with the exception of adult standards nostalgia formats.   Talk and sports in the 80s and 90s gave many traditionally dominant AM's a much needed infusion of Baby Boomer adult listeners, but now sports has migrated successfully to the FM band while syndicated talk's move in that direction has been slowed largely because of an aging audience.   

In Hartford, heritage signal WTIC-AM 1080 has jettisoned political talk in afternoon drive time in favor of local sports talk, but 'TIC is exceptional in several ways.  WTIC's 50,000 watt signal and their lineup of major sports team play-by-play cover the market far better any other local AM or even the one existing FM sports outlet on 97.9.   Hartford, unlike many markets its size, is not over-radioed.   Even so, WPOP now struggles to get a .1 share of total audience with syndicated Fox Sports.    If profitable sports talk has largely abandoned the AM dial, how long can WTIC keep it as their AM cash cow?

Is talk toast in medium and major markets?    I can point to Providence, where Cumulus Media's WPRO beats the Rush Limbaugh affiliate WHJJ three to one with a very live and local approach, but even local celebrities don't come cheap.     CBS Radio shows less interest in hanging on to any radio stations beyond the top markets, which may also explain why they saw sports as an easier route to relatively young male demographics while they let WTIC-AM's longtime news director Dana Whalen go.    As a child of the sixties now in my sixties, I'm really in the last generation to grow up listening mostly to AM radio.   Does anyone under 55 care about AM?     As a lover of AM, I have to wonder where these stations are headed.

Victimization

1968 Baltimore riots - 2015 wasn't the first time

Feel free to correct me if I'm missing something, but three attitudes seem to be common in every human being I've ever come across who has hit rock bottom:

• My situation is totally someone else's fault.
• I'm unfairly getting the short end of the stick.
• I can do whatever I want.

These are very selfish words to live by.   No man is an island.   We all have to depend on others to some extent.   Life is not fair.   Much of it is beyond our control.   That reality is no excuse for sitting idly by in the face of injustice.   There are things we can control.   Sometimes we find people who illustrate magnificently how to make the best out of the hand we've been dealt.

As I watched the ongoing news coverage of the riots in Baltimore, I saw a lot of examples of selfish acts with looting and ignoring the pleas for nonviolence.   One person asked what the difference was between these riots in a major city or wanton destruction after a college basketball game.   There is none.   Thugs are thugs.

The news media gets blamed for fanning the flames of violence.   That is a price for a free press I'm willing to pay.   CNN deserves major kudos when they interviewed a 30-year veteran whose service dates back to Vietnam.   He was standing up to out of control rioters, telling them to go home where they belong and to stop disrespecting the memory of a possible victim of police brutality or neglect.   His bottom line: "I am an American."

When I hear angry voices, I hear people who feel 100 per cent victimized.   It doesn't just apply to young African Americans in big cities.   Fox News is happy to drum up the idea that their target audience has done all it can to look out for others and is now victimized by everything from being white to religious persecution to total gun confiscation.   The urban rioters sadly ignore the fact that they will only make their situation more desperate by burning down their own neighborhood businesses.   My concern is how this will push the disconnect between two segments of America to even greater levels. 

Not So Fast

Last week we learned that Norway would be pulling the plug on what we know as good old FM radio by January 2016 in favor of DAB - digital audio broadcasting, where one broadcast signal can carry multiple stations with higher quality.    Wait, isn't that the same technology that's been tried on a limited number of FM and even AM stations in the USA with less than stellar results?   How could a failed technology "left for free market forces to decide on" in this country be the wave of the future someplace else?   In the United States, the new so-called "HD radio" channels have not been used for their original purpose.   People have not snapped up radios equipped with the HD receivers.   While the main HD station program is available in FM quality sound on AM and offers two or three additional CD quality channels on HD FM, the net effect has been a proliferation of analog low-powered "translator" FM stations fed by an HD-2, HD-3, etc.    Some station operators have taken advantage of this loophole to expand ethnic, religious or other specialty programming previously unavailable from small market broadcasters.   In the process, the FM dial has become crammed with signals that overlap while AM HD disappears as that band faces the bigger problems of a dwindling and aging audience.   

Will digital audio broadcasting be the new force in radio?    The way our communications regulators decide things here, I doubt things will change very rapidly.   So many technologies have been touted as the "savior" of radio.   Remember FM quadrophonic, the addition of more FM signals in the 80s/90s, competing (and failing) AM stereo technologies and allowing more AM stations to stay on at night?    

Instead of approving hundreds of new low power FM applicants that fail to truly serve local communities, why didn't more longtime AM stations get preference on FM positions?  In Canada, most AM stations have gone off completely as many established AM broadcasters were allowed to get preference in a transition to FM.    When there was room, a struggling AM had a better shot for survival.    In the crowded Northeast, it's a shame we didn't have a wider FM frequency range allocated to the local operators who own (or owned) some of the most iconic and distinctive heritage radio stations now facing extinction in AM static and nighttime interference.   

As with digital TV, over the air reception of HD radio doesn't just gradually fade; it cuts out completely.   This is especially a problem because these digital signals don't have the radius of regular analog terrestrial stations.   This issue needs to be addressed.   Will we then have less free access to radio the way we need to subscribe to over-the-air local TV 25 miles from the transmitter?     Noway is a simpler place; the American transition to digital radio will not be as short and sweet.    

Paying For "Those People"

Dumb Thinking

Another tax deadline comes and goes.   Most of us pay up or get back some money we loaned interest-free to the federal or state governments over the past year.   It's been a way of life in this country for at least a century.    We generally accept it as one of the few sure things in life.   Is that acceptance changing?    With at least one of the presidential contenders, Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, calling for the abolition of the Internal Revenue Service.   This plays into a sentiment on the right that increasingly distrusts the federal government and expresses resentment over sending money to "those people" in the form of various programs.   At the same time, those "red states" where the feeling is most pervasive are also the biggest beneficiaries of our federal tax dollars.    The right wing is also tone deaf to the unprecedented tax breaks given to the largest service-oriented businesses that routinely pay their employees poverty wages to the point where many full-time workers get federal assistance.   Who pays for that, McDonald's corporation and Walmart heirs?    The wealthiest one tenth of one per cent of Americans get a huge break by avoiding any inheritance tax.

The poorest in our society often get the blame for bleeding our public coffers dry, yet the savings of weeding out abusers of the welfare system for drug abuse wouldn't even justify the cost of screening aid recipients.   To date, nobody has come up with a better system proven to fairly tax everyone according to their means and needs, including a proposed "flat tax" across the board or more regressive sales taxes.    Libertarian calls for abolition of the income tax do not provide an acceptable alternative.   If you want to reform the system for fairness, we can talk.   If you want to slam the I.R.S. as just another evil arm of our government in your Utopian dreams or polarizing route to a Presidential run, count me out. 

Red With Embarrassment

Indiana Protests (Reuters)

No sooner do I finish railing in my last post against turning back the clock of positive reform when the Indiana governor signs a bill into law paving the way for businesses to refuse service to same sex couples.   Governor Pence's defense of the law was so pitiful that even Republicans who voted for its passage have had to consider scrapping or "clarifying" it.     The resulting political and economic backlash should be enough to deter any other states from passing these discriminatory laws, but along comes Arkansas Governor Hutchinson ready to pander to social reactionaries by signing similar legislation.  Presidential aspirants looking for GOP primary support (even big bucks main-streamer Jeb Bush) see this as a way to enhance their own social and cultural conservative credentials.   Thankfully, most Americans have undergone a remarkable evolution on this issue since the dawn of the 21st century.   Attempts to exclude portions of our society in the name of religious freedom or states' rights go back to the birth of our nation.   The Fox News narrative is false again.   Religious freedom is not under attack in America.   Religious beliefs and customs are taught and learned through life.   Sexual orientation is in our DNA.  

I applaud Governor Malloy's quick action banning Connecticut state government travel to Indiana.   There are also enlightened leaders in Indiana and Arkansas, such as the mayors of their respective state capitals, who oppose these backwards laws and remind us that even the reddest states aren't ready to sacrifice economic stability and social justice to advance narrow, outdated agendas.    

Tantamonut To Surrender

I've heard this mantra on the left before.   Since Democrats and Republicans vying for power are both so married to big business lobbyists and their money, many liberals say we should stay away from the polls on election day.   Yeah, that'll show 'em... not.    As a left of center guy myself, I believe that is seriously messed up thinking.    That passive approach plays right into the hands of right wing activists who have already been trying their utmost to make it more difficult if not impossible for different groups that lean Democratic to cast their ballot.   This liberal call for a ballot boycott also strikes me as a path of least resistance.   Translate that to lazy.   I know 66% of Democratic voters would like Hillary Clinton to have some viable challenger to provide a choice in the primaries.   Wall Street critic and liberal Senator Elizabeth Warren has consistently denied any interest in running, yet many in her party refuse to accept Hillary Clinton as the inevitable candidate.   I've even heard these progressive purists say it would suit us right to have the GOP take the executive branch and make it a clean sweep and teach us all a lesson.    Hmmm, does that sound a bit like the all-or-nothing approach of the Tea Party?    They too are ready to take their mainstream party down in the interest of their ideology.

Conservatives may be on the losing end of the younger and more ethnically diverse demographic shift in the United States, but they still do one thing well.   They vote.   Republican politicians tried their best to prevent access to Florida polling places in 2012, but voters braved the long lines anyway.   Voter participation like this should be encouraging and access should be easier.   You may not agree 100% with the choices, but we can't allow a well financed and orchestrated movement to turn the reform clock back to the "good old days."    That would dishonor the work that has been done, even in this gridlocked government.

Don't Answer

I may be the winner of a free Disney vacation! Microsoft support tells me my computer has been hacked, but they can help me out with a little personal info.   Rachel let me know there are no problems with my credit card account, but if I press something I can get a lower rate.
    

My home phone land line has morphed into a receptacle for an endless stream of scammers who will do anything to empty out my bank account.   This continues to happen several times per day, often repeatedly from the same bogus automated or boiler room callers that may not even be where my caller ID says they are and perhaps even in another country. Unwanted phone calls are an increasing intrusion into my home and privacy.   It's gotten totally out of control.   At least with email phishing schemes I just have to avoid clicking on mysterious looking attachments to avoid malware choking my computer.   With my sometimes very early work hours, I often ward off sleep deprivation by coming home to grab a nap early in the afternoon before going back out to finish up what I have to do.   I always have to wonder whether a phony phone call is going to jolt me out of a refreshing catnap or break my concentration on work I am doing in my home office.   

Yes, I have put my number on a national Do Not Call registry.   Criminals are not deterred by that.   I do have a call blocking feature, but that doesn't prevent the first scam call and the phone will still ring once before blocking a repeat scammer.   I often Google the numbers and they invariably contain complaints about the same few scams.  They usually hang up before your voicemail picks up.   If you call the number back, you often get a "no longer in service" message anyway, so don't bother.   Of course, many "legitimate" companies buy or share phone lists based on your giving the most basic information by entering a contest or responding to a survey.   The real hardcore scumbags will target the elderly who may be on fixed incomes.   A few years back, my mother was the target of con artists calling from the 876 Jamaica area code.  Fortunately, they never got access to financial information. ABC News had reported that some Jamaican gang members would actually kill each other to get ahold of these phone lists the same way gangs fight for drug turf.   They were especially unpleasant solicitors who have thankfully gone away.   My mother had a slightly more optimistic view of human nature, thinking they can't all be liars.   In this scammer underworld, I'll stand by my more jaded view.   And no, the IRS won't call you for owed taxes.   Just hang up.          

Winter Whining?

I recently saw a post from a Facebook friend complaining about people complaining.   In this case, he was sick of hearing people acting all upset over the wintry weather, suggesting these malcontents could shut up and relocate to a warmer climate.    After all, it is winter in New England.   What did you expect?    That made sense to me most of my life, when cold temperatures and heavy snowfalls were not unprecedented.   This season, however, brought a nonstop combination of low temps and heavy snow accumulations that I don't remember in all of my not so short lifetime.  

 

A little cabin fever is one thing, but any year when you have to dig yourself out from 100 inches of snow, pay hundreds to some guys to shovel your roof and still get a leak in the den ceiling is not my idea of an average winter.   Maybe this is par for the course 400 miles to our north, but four out of the past five winters have been unrelenting around here.   Sky high fuel bills, commuting in a business where your presence is especially required during storms and a few chance encounters between my car and an icy snow bank all add up to serious business.   This has also been the slowest February/March ever for businesses I call on for our direct mail ad publications.   If you want to gripe a bit, don't let me stop you.   Maybe this will help us all appreciate the arrival of spring... and milder winters ahead.    When people stop complaining, that's really when we need to worry.   Remember, you won't hear too many discouraging words in North Korea.

America's First Diplomatic End-Run

Edmund-Charles Genêt

America's founding fathers set a solid precedent in heading off one of this nation's first foreign policy crises in 1793.   Edmond-Charles Genêt  had been made the French ambassador to the United States during the French Revolution.   Genêt traveled through the new United States taking his government's cause directly to the American people before even presenting his diplomatic credentials to President Washington.  By trying to export the French Revolution, "Citizen Genêt" stirred up a lot of angry emotions from South Carolina north to Pennsylvania, much to the chagrin of a U.S. administration which professed neutrality between warring European nations.    American factions under Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton, usually at odds with each other, agreed that Genêt had to go and President Washington asked France to recall Genêt.   Meanwhile, the political situation in Genêt's home country had gotten so volatile during the French "Reign of Terror" that the fiery ambassador had to request asylum here to avoid the guillotine there.   The consensus of Washington's cabinet meant Genet would lose his job but not his head.   The U.S. successfully averted major European entanglements until the War of 1812.    France had been an important ally of the United States during the American Revolution, but Washington wisely recognized the French Revolution as a different phenomenon.

It is no secret that House and Senate Republicans will do anything to derail President Obama, but even the early heated factions of the late 18th century could come together in presenting the United States as one when dealing with other nations.   Like France, Israel has historically been been a strong ally of the United States.   Extending an invitation to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to address a joint session of Congress two weeks before he faces his own very contentious election without discussing this with President Obama is a horrible precedent set by Speaker Boehner.   To pretend that this invitation is anything other than pure partisan politics designed to insult President Obama is a big lie and a mockery of the executive branch itself.   Most Americans share Israel's concerns over Iran's potential nuclear capability, but Netanyahu failed to use his bully pulpit by offering any viable options to the current nuclear negotiations with the Iranian regime.   For all we know, upcoming elections could change Israel's leadership soon.   Where will all this GOP equating Netanyahu with Churchill  and Obama with Chamberlain get us then?

UPDATE 3/9/15:   47 GOP U.S. Senators sent a letter directly to Iran's ayatollahs stating they or the next President could scrap any deal resulting from the current nuclear negotiations made between the U.S. and Iran.   Does the Iranian regime really need an American civics lesson?    Perhaps that course could include the Logan Act of 1799, which these Republicans violated with this latest shameful diplomatic end-run. 

The Crazy Parade Begins

Gov. Scott Walker (nymag.com)

What the hell?   Now we have Wisconsin governor and GOP darling Scott Walker claiming that if he could take on public employees unions then he certainly can take on ISIS.  As prospective Republican Presidential candidates make their cases to the right wing CPAC gathering, we see how far politicians are willing to bend to the will of the Tea Party wing.   It is once again all about winning a contest that fails to reflect the will of most voters: the Iowa caucuses.   In the past, these caucuses have thankfully not been launching pads for successful GOP primary candidates.   Pat Robertson and Michelle Bachmann come to mind.  This early competition for the hearts and minds of the far right has repeatedly overheated to the point where the so-called Republican establishment has stepped in and used its power of the purse to clean up the mess and anoint a candidate that nobody can get too excited about.    

Governor Walker refuses to even acknowledge evolution or weigh in on Putin-loving Rudy Giuliani's outrageous assertions about President Obama's love of America.   This shill for the Koch brothers' billions is yet another distraction in the path to the presidency.   We know we are guaranteed a very regressive period in American history if these clowns who pander to an out of touch minority suck up all the oxygen in the GOP primary process.   

SNL at 40

The 40th anniversary salute to Saturday Night Live was a big ratings hit for NBC.   I can't say I was surprised.   Nor was I surprised by the harsh criticism of the half-live/half-classic clips event.   Yes, I could have done without Kanye West too.  Lorne Michaels said that people generally think most fondly of the SNL they knew from high school.   That didn't apply in my case, seeing as the show didn't even exist until the middle of my college years.    I have always been absolutely fascinated with the history of SNL.   This iconic franchise has had its low points with changes in cast, especially right after the original Not Ready for Prime Time Players were gone in 1980.  However, SNL has consistently proven the naysayers wrong about predictions of its demise.  The first five years set a high bar for future seasons, but my sense of nostalgia has never clouded the fact that talent doesn't die off in a generation.   The up and down cycle will undoubtedly continue.   Despite a  solid format, the live element will always make for some messy, interesting and sometimes controversial moments.    That makes it a very American institution... warts and all.   Given the background of many SNL key people over the years, we could call it a Canadian institution too.

Screw Evening News Ratings

Brian Williams has been suspended for six months without pay from the anchor desk of NBC Nightly News.   This follows his admission of "misremembering" the details of his helicopter ride a decade ago with American forces in Iraq.   Other dubious claims by Williams surrounding other stories have also come into question.   This is different from the faulty Dan Rather story of George W. Bush's military service, Hilary Clinton's recollection of being under fire during a stop in Bosnia and Richard Blumenthal's slip about serving "in Vietnam".    Williams' misstatements were not a one time thing.    He repeated the Iraq exaggeration multiple times and only issued a brief apology after being called out on it by other people there.   Network execs acted so shocked to hear this... I don't buy that.   It should go without saying that trust is a key component of delivering the evening news.   When Walter Cronkite called America's Vietnam involvement into question, President Johnson knew the war's escalation was a futile effort.   How many news anchors can have that effect today?     Where are the corporate edict and culture to do that? 

You don't hear the word "gravitas" being used anymore when talking about news anchor qualifications.   I think the CBS Evening News has the most solid anchor in Scott Pelley, yet his newscast lags behind Williams on NBC and the increasingly tabloid content on ABC's World News Tonight with new anchor David Muir.     There was a time - in my lifetime - when news was not seen as a major revenue generator at the Big Three networks.   It was, well, journalism.   Now with 24-hour so-called news networks geared only to what their respective audiences want to see, an aging viewership, attempts to turn anchors into rock stars and the total advertising domination by pharmaceutical companies, it's easy to see why "dinner hour news" is as relevant to younger viewers as waiting for "film at eleven."   It's also no surprise that satirical news like Comedy Central's Daily Show resonates more with younger folks.   At least Jon Stewart gets to leave on top in what matters.    Screw the ratings for once.   Do real news for 22 minutes each evening.    Aren't there enough other time slots where the networks' corporate owners can make money out of "infotainment"?    Truth in reporting shouldn't be a luxury we can't afford. 

How Business Friendly Is Montville?

The former Best Market, Uncasville

Best Market employees in Uncasville were instantly out of a job.   The Bethpage, Long Island based grocery store chain closed the store a week ago with no advance notice.   The company had opened the former Tri-Town Foods and Beit Brothers store just a few months ago with the intention of buying the entire plaza and renovating it.   Then negotiations with the current landlord broke down and Best wasted no time closing its doors.   In addition to the shock to store employees, the saddest part was that the new business had been well received by local shoppers who gave high marks to the market's value and service.  Best Market was catching on; it was growing in this community.   Town leaders seemed to be equally out of the loop over what happened.

I have worked with direct mail advertising clients in Montville and surrounding towns since 2002.   You don't stay in this line of work without success stories, but I can't help but wonder why a town with Montville's location and population has so many vacant storefronts.   One narrative I get all around town is the difficulty in dealing with longtime landlords.   This often explains why so many small businesses move up and down Route 32 or close completely.   Is old money shutting out new money?    After the disastrous Rand Whitney judgment against the town, I would have hoped that political leaders would have taken a more proactive stance in working with businesses.    While a handful of entrenched local business owners get by with their old ways (including almost no advertising), new entrepreneurs have to think twice before making a commitment to setting up shop here.   From a deserted and blighted convenience store on one highly visible end of town to a relatively new plaza with high turnover and vacancy to a former video store right across from Town Hall, it's becoming obvious that landlords and political leaders (some being both) are not protecting enough of Montville's business interests.    The Best Market fiasco should be examined, since it is clearly not an isolated situation. 

Defending Meteorology

From NBC CT

There must be something about human nature that allows us to remember the bumps in the road more than the overall journey.   Meteorologists are seldom judged by their overall accuracy rate, but rather by the missed calls.    For the New York City metro area, what was billed as an approaching "historic storm" by meteorologists and local leaders failed to deliver much of a punch.   Facebook friends in that area equated meteorology with fortune telling.   A few weather forecasters even apologized.   Is that necessary?    No apologies were needed in my neck of the woods.  This latest winter storm arrived with relatively little advance notice, but it definitely lived up to expectations in eastern Connecticut and points north and east of here.   Several computer models misread the impact on New York City, but a newer type of model was proven more accurate.   Next time they may pay more attention to the new model.   Technology has improved dramatically since the unforeseen monster storms of 1888 and 1938 and continues a rapid advance.   While many lives have been saved, the future is still a tricky proposition.   We are reminded of our limitations in so many realms of scientific progress, but weather predictions have come a long way.   

I recall when media coverage of weather consisted of presenters with next to nothing for a meteorological background.   Some were hired because they could draw cartoon characters on a weather map.   Now the local stations have a real team of actual meteorologists backed by technology.   Still, I wonder if some of the nonstop hype is over the top, especially when they start with gimmicks like naming every storm.   Brag about your accuracy, not about equipment all your competitors also have.  There's a popular myth about meteorologists being unlike the rest of because they actually get paid to be wrong most of the time.   That's just wrong.   I've known enough weather people to know that they are well educated and take their job and our safety very seriously.   They do it with a remarkable batting average.    Judging forecasters' reliability by one storm is about as shortsighted as saying one cold spell disproves global warming.   Don't get me started on that one!

Sound Familiar?

Bill Belechick

You've got to be kidding.   That was my first reaction as a Patriots fan to the allegations that footballs used by the Patriots in Sunday's AFC playoff game had been inflated below the minimum allowed pressure.   I stopped laughing at the situation when I learned that eleven footballs were involved and it must have happened after the footballs were inspected for that game against the Colts.   Given the humiliating sanctions and fine imposed after the Patriots' 2007 so-called "Spygate" scandal, head coach Bill Belichick can no longer afford to be so characteristically tight-lipped when answering questions.   NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell is also under pressure to investigate and proceed with any punishments.   This is not the first time Belichick and the Patriots could be in violation of league rules.   Given this history, credibility is very much at stake.   I know there are football fans that are sick of hearing about nothing but the Patriots and Tom Brady, but it is hard to see how this possibly deliberate infraction won't hang over this year's Super Bowl like the Goodyear blimp.    If true, the question remains: Why would a team that won so decisively in the last game feel the need to engage in dirty tricks?

Then my second reaction kicked in.   Do Belichick or perhaps the Patriots culture remind you of the Nixon administration?   In 1972, the outcome of the Presidential election was never in doubt, yet GOP operatives conspired in the Watergate break-in and the resulting cover-up led all the way up to Nixon himself.   It didn't have to be that way.   Is it arrogance, paranoia or a drive to win that supersedes everything else?   

Aging Demographics

From www.theblaze.com

I've seen a lot of radio music formats come and go over the decades.   Easy listening instrumentals, big band standards, '50s/'60s oldies, mellow '70s rock and a few others have either disappeared or barely exist as vastly updated versions of their former selves.   These once lucrative formats vanished from the radio dial well before their listeners had abandoned them.   Major advertisers simply did not want to reach an audience that was aging over 55, with more set buying habits that didn't change much through hearing advertisements.   The fact that they may still be active adults, loyal listeners and potential spenders didn't matter enough to the folks who sell and buy radio time.

 

Now the same thing has been unfolding on the talk radio side.   Liberal talk never took off, thanks to being on inferior AM market signals, a more diverse potential audience, NPR's appeal to liberal intellectuals and a somewhat half-hearted attempt to syndicate it by big conservative media corporations.   I never subscribed to the idea that liberals were less compelling or entertaining than their conservative counterparts.   The Stephanie Miller Show, for one, thankfully lives on through cable, satellite and streaming.  

 

Now these same big conglomerates who eagerly hitched their wagons to Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Michael Savage, Laura Ingraham, Glenn Beck and countless other right wing voices are now struggling to downsize them to less potent signals while scratching their heads over who (or what) can replace them.   AM syndicated talk has few options while the shift to FM talk has been almost totally stopped in its tracks.   Sports talk on FM gets a younger adult audience, so that migration from older-skewing AM works; conservative talk doesn't.   Rush and company face the same issue on radio as Fox News does on TV with its median 68.1 year old audience.   I believe conservative talk has also been beating a dead horse to all but the most strident Obama bashers.   Cumulus Media is now trying to convert the angry, one-sided political narrative to more "lifestyle" topics.   Good luck with that, Mr. Savage.   I have serious doubts it will work while Cumulus' locally oriented station in Providence, WPRO,  clobbers the right wing syndicated shows competing against them.    Rush may have singlehandedly saved AM radio 25 years ago.   Those days are gone.   I hope AM can  find a way out of this mess.   It won't be through rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic.    

Je Suis Charlie

The story around Paris unfolds as I type this.  Police just raided two sites and killed Islamic terrorists who have been holding hostages.   This was connected to a horrific massacre a few days earlier of twelve people working at the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo.   This bloody assault on free speech is a clear and present danger to every freedom-loving citizen.    Just weeks ago, a satirical movie about North Korea's leader was prevented from mass distribution in theatres on Christmas Day with a hack on Sony Pictures and violent threats orchestrated by a government that terrorizes its own people.    I was recently talking about the role of media in the Ferguson and Queens shooting controversies and was told there was too much freedom of the press.   That attitude is scary.   It's bad enough how much of the U.S. media is owned by a few giant corporations not necessarily committed to journalistic integrity..   Why would anyone want government to further limit news coverage?   The Charlie Hebdo killings serve as a reminder that there are many threats to getting both the objectivity and multiple perspectives we all need to make the right decisions.   We need a truly free press let us know what we're up against.    The French and people around the world are defying the intimidation of violent radicals with the phrase "Je Suis Charlie"... "I Am Charlie."   

My Times Square New Year

Times Square 1992

Happy New Year!    I readily admit to sleeping right through the midnight celebrations, but there was no way I was going to do that when I have a 4:00 AM wakeup call for the early morning show on WICH AM 1310.      I don't bid good riddance to 2014 any more than I expect 2015 to be perfect.   My resolution last year to avoid drama worked well for the most part, but health issues persist with elusive answers.   There are certainly some things still on my bucket list, and I really want to feel up to it.   That's all I ask.

 

The trip to Times Square is one major New Year's tradition that came off my bucket list when a friend and I became a part of it during the transition from 1991 to 1992.   We took the train from New Haven to New York City that night.   Panhandlers were everywhere from the moment we arrived at Grand Central Station.    After dinner, we made the trek of a few blocks to where a million revelers had gathered.     It was very cold, similar to last night, and there was the most massive police presence I had ever witnessed.   Wherever the TV cameras would point, that portion of the crowd would absolutely erupt like a giant wave of sound and motion.   I remember trying to get out of the cold in the alcove of a Broadway theatre for at least a short time, only to be politely yet firmly told to move on with a "Good evening, gentlemen" by the workers there.   We finally found refuge and facilities in a huge McDonald's that was among the most welcome sights I've ever seen.   After hours of waiting, mostly outside, the ball dropped and pandemonium ensued just like the clockwork it always is.   Within an hour, the crowds were mostly headed home, producing a roaring echo through the canyons between the buildings like I've never experienced before or since then.   The train ride back to New Haven was certainly full of a cast of drunken characters.  One guy got off at a small rail platform stop to relieve himself only to find his train ride pulling away.   I'll never forget the astonished look on his face.   A big barrel at New Haven's Union Station proved its worth as a handy receptacle for a very inebriated young female passenger's vomit.   Yes, it was a special night.   Now I can say that Big Apple adventure is under my belt.   As with many things in life, I can say I have no regrets doing it and have no plans to do it again.        

Then They Came For Us

We find ourselves faced by a new and real threat from an old foe halfway across the globe.   North Korea is definitely the most paranoid country in the world, isolating and repressing its own people for decades. This rogue nation is evidently responsible for hacking into SONY Pictures' emails and has already caused big disruption in this Japanese company to the point where SONY has backed off from the Christmas release of "The Interview", a movie farce about a fictional CIA plot to kill North Korean leader Kim Jung-Un.    So, why should our government, much less the rest of America, care that much about a foreign company's cyber security woes?   A lot of Americans reacted by saying they had no interest in this movie to begin with.   Others felt the whole movie's premise was just inviting trouble anyway.   Who cares?   

Every freedom-loving citizen on the planet should care.   This went beyond an embarrassing or costly data breach.   Movie houses who show "The Interview" were threatened with 9/11 scale attacks.   SONY and major theatre chains quickly scrapped plans to show it.   That seemed to accomplish what North Korea wanted, so they kicked it up another notch.   The perpetrators then increased their demands, telling everyone not to even think about releasing "The Interview" (including its trailers) online, on DVD or in any form.   Actor George Clooney called on his industry to stand up to this international blackmail, but supportive voices were conspicuously silent. 

North Korea has effectively exercised censorship in this case.   It is hard to imagine Kim Jung-Un stopping there.   Will our electrical grid or defense capabilities be in the crosshairs next?    This should be an issue on everyone's radar.    Cyber terror has just sounded a huge wakeup call.

"A Hallelujah Day"

Florida Senator Bill Nelson, a Democrat, called today "a Hallelujah Day" as he hailed President Obama's dramatic announcement moving the U.S. toward normalizing diplomatic relations with Cuba.    It has been a long time in coming since the total break in early 1961 and the subsequent Cuban Missile Crisis in the fall of 1962 that brought the world closer than ever to the brink of nuclear war.    Many politicians representing districts with significant Cuban exile populations in Florida and elsewhere, such as Nelson's fellow Florida Senator Marco Rubio, condemned the move as recognizing a dictatorial regime's "permanency."   What rock is he living under?   Most Cuban Americans can't even remember the Castro revolution.   The Soviet Union, despite Putin's recent moves, is gone gone.   Cuba's oil supplier, Venezuela's socialist President Chavez, is dead after creating his own economic nightmare in that country.   Dictators, communist or not, justify their whole existence based on paranoia; the U.S. has conveniently played the boogie man to Fidel Castro and his successor, brother Raul.    

Over fifty years of embargoes have not brought Cuba into the democratic world.   It is high time to try a new strategy.   Open up this country at our doorstep to new economic and political possibilities.   Fidel Castro may have been totally willing to plunge everyone into World War III in 1962, but we have maintained diplomatic relations and traded with many other countries whose human rights records would make Cuba look stellar.   Let's hope this new relationship produces positive results in the lives of Cuba's ordinary citizens.   They are the ones who have suffered the most from this outdated isolation policy.