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Friday, January 30, 2009 - 11:29:54
Stop the Presses! John Boozman is in Hog Heaven!
It must have been a frightening few weeks before the inauguration for John Boozman. After all these long years of not having to think for himself, was he going to have to begin 2009 being his own man, going his own way, without any guidance - or was he going to hide under the covers, refusing to come out until someone told him how to vote?
Well, thanks to the inspired “leadership” of men such as John Boehner and Eric Kantor (who seem, in turn, to be taking their intellectual cues - such as they are - from Rush Limbaugh), Comrade Boozman can again spend the next few years never having to think for himself, or asking any questions.
Disaster is averted!
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The Boozman Blog
I read Boozman’s “blog” from time to time, and it’s the strangest thing I have ever read. Is it supposed to be from him? Because if it is, and he likes to refer to himself in the third person, this guy’s got some serious issues.
http://www.boozman.house.gov/blog/
As it is, it’s just pretty blah, standard press release stuff. Aren’t blogs supposed to be fun?
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Are you looking for guidance, or are you just lost?
People have been making cruel jokes about the photo of John Boozman on his website for years. The kindest explanation for his eyes looking upward is that he is looking to Heaven for guidance - though he just sort of looks like a guy lost in the woods.
All those big words! John! Eric! Tell me how to vote!
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Quote of the Day
There is something about an open fire, bread and butter sandwiches, very strong tea, yellow fog without and the cultural drawl of English voices which makes London very attractive and if I had been fascinated before, from that moment I loved it dearly. - Isadora Duncan
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Book of Revelations - another interpretation
I don’t spend an awful lot of time thinking about the Book of Revelations, believing as I do that it is all a bit silly - but maybe that’s just from overexposure to all those horrible History Channel “documentaries” about it.
But I read a lot about the mounting rage and hysteria on the part of those who lost the last election. Not the party professionals, but on the part of the Orcs, led by the likes of Sarah Palin and Rush Limbaugh, who may soon emerge as the leading lights of the Right, simply because no one on the Right with any common sense has the guts to stand up to them.
If there is some conflict coming, maybe it’s a conflict between the intelligent people, and the Orcs of the world.
And who knows? Maybe you could even link 2012 to all this - in some vague, catastrophic, money-making, History Channel-duping kind-of-way.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009 - 12:22:40
The "Deadeye Dick" Bill: They didn't even allow this in the Old West
This is from today’s Morning News:
Bill To Allow Guns In Church
Wednesday, January 28, 2009 11:11 AM CST
LITTLE ROCK —— Arkansans with permits to carry concealed handguns could bring their guns to church under a bill filed Tuesday by state Rep. Beverly Pyle, R-Cedarville.
House Bill 1237 would remove any church or other place of worship from the list of places that a person with a license to carry a concealed handgun is not allowed to carry a gun under state law
While true that a very small number of violent incidents have taken place in churches, this ludicrous idea, which would allow everyone who has ever had dreams of drawing down on a varmint in public is just flat-out insane.
I suppose one could allow churches to hire security people. But private citizens? Ye gods!
The popular notion is that under fire, the stalwart hero will just pull out their weapon, take swift and sure aim, and stop the miscreant in their tracks. Reality - something the good Ms. Pyle may want to visit sometime - teaches us that in a panicked situation, with people screaming, bullets flying, and everyone running to and fro for cover, any potential Bernard Goetz is just as likely to shoot another innocent church-goer.
Not to mention some poor choir member, or the poor baby Jesus, trying to catch a few minutes sleep at the Christmas pageant.
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Quote of the Day - this especially true for the supporters of the “Deadeye Dick” Bill
"Evolution is cleverer than you are." - biochemist Leslie Orgel
Tuesday, January 27, 2009 - 00:44:33
Ice Storm 2009: It actually got here - much to my surprise
Well, so much for my mocking tone; the predicted ice storm arrived on schedule. Ice everywhere! The lawn! The trash cans! The two concrete slabs in the backyard that are part of the ongoing addition to the house.
And as I stood, barely keeping my balance, Action Dog (she who actually has three names) stood next to me, hitting me on the side of my leg with her frisbee.
“Are you insane?” I asked. You’ll just fall on your butt out there.”
Dropping the frisbee at my feet, she barked, pleadingly.
“All right,” I said. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you.” I tossed the frisbee across the yard and she ran - straight and true - and caught it in the air. This being Action Dog, she likes to throw the frisbee in the air and catch it again before trotting back to me, which she did.
And she did all this without sliding, or slipping, and in the dark.
“It’s cold and I’m wet,” I told her.
But she barked again, maniacal joy in her eyes. Daddy - frisbee - running - jumping!
So we spent a few minutes in the dark, and I watched my dog race across the sheet of ice in the yard, never sliding, even after jumping into the air, playing with her beloved frisbee.
Somewhere in that savage breast, I am sure, beats the heart of a potential Super Soldier . . .
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Quote of the Day
The trouble with the future is that it usually arrives before we're ready for it. - Arnold H. Glasow
Monday, January 26, 2009 - 15:23:08
Iconoclast leaves the field of battle?
Wow. You take a few hours off to go downtown, and when you return your “in-box” is full of email, and not just by people who want to sell you stuff.
No, the famous blog written by “Jonah Tebbetts” - The Iconoclast - has suddenly vanished from our midst. It was the blog of choice for many people, whether they agreed with the views of the people who wrote the blog or not, and its absence will be keenly felt.
A good piece about the Iconoclast’s disappearance was written today on The Fayetteville Flyer site:
http://www.fayettevilleflyer.com/2009/01/26/rip-iconoclast/
I was late coming to appreciate reading blogs, and don’t spend an awful lot of time reading them, but I have my favorites, and anyone who goes online regularly and doesn’t check out out at least one blog - well, as Anita Bryant said, that’s just like a day without sunshine.
I know that there is some speculation that The Iconoclast’s job may have been done, now that Brother Coody no longer occupies City Hall, but damn it, there is always something to write about.
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Quote of the Day
"Believe nothing just because a so-called wise person said it. Believe nothing just because a belief is generally held. Believe nothing just because it is said in ancient books. Believe nothing just because it is said to be of divine origin. Believe nothing just because someone else believes it. Believe only what you yourself test and judge to be true.": Buddha - Hindu Prince Gautama Siddharta
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Ice Storm 2009 - The End of Life As We Know It?
Well, a winter storm warning is dominating the television screens, and weather people are raising the terror threat levels - yet again.
We’ll see what develops, if anything . . .
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I remember a time, sonny . . .
During the mind 1980s, we had one winter that so bitterly cold, and ice storms so heavy, that local factories were actually shut down, so that homes would be guaranteed enough gas to heat with. I worked at Mexican Original at the time, so the days off were nice. Hated the short paychecks, though.
It was so bad that many people were house-bound, as they were literally iced-in.
Sunday, January 25, 2009 - 12:21:57
Time for a Secretary of the Arts?
This came my way via the Alliance for Community Media list serve, concerning an effort by Quincy Jones, who is hoping persuade President Obama to appoint a Secretary of the Arts.
While many other countries have had Ministers of Art or Culture for centuries, The United States has never created such a position. Many in the arts - and not in the arts - arts feel this country needs this. I’d like to echo that. All too often we hear folks say, “I don’t know anything about the arts,” as if this were something to be proud of. Now, more than ever, and this country needs an appreciation of the arts.
It’s never too late for anyone - young or old - to learn more about our artistic heritage, and to be proud of it.
To take a look at the petition, and sign it if you like:
http://www.petitiononline.com/esnyc/petition.html
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Quote of the Day
The love of our neighbor in all its fullness simply means being able to say to him, "What are you going through?" - Simone Weil, "Waiting for God"
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Matthew Petty: The Green Collar Economy
This week on C.A.T., I sit down with Fayetteville alderman Matthew Petty to discuss the book, "The Green Collar Economy," by Van Jones. In the book, Jones discusses ways in which ordinary Americans we can invent and invest our way out of the traditional pollution-based economy and into a healthy new green economy.
Building upon a coalition based upon the lives and struggles of everyday citizens, Jones writes about how this path will serve the dual purpose of cutting our energy prices and creating enough work to pull the United States out of its economic doldrums.
Show days and times
Sunday - 8:30pm
Monday - 3pm
Tuesday - 10am
Wednesday - 4:30pmThursday - 7:30pm
C.A.T. is shown on Channel 18 of the Cox Channel line-up in Fayetteville.
Those outside the Fayetteville viewing area can see the program online at:
www.catfayetteville.org/
Programs shown on the website are seen at the same time as they are shown on C.A.T.
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Read More Books!
The above show isn’t part of my “On the Air” series, but part of an set of shows we are informally referring to as “Read More Books!” in which people from the community come on and talk about books that have impressed them, in the hope that it might inspire others to read them, as well.
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Wire in the Blood
Two excellent mysteries to report on, featuring British criminal psychologist Tony Hill. I've just finished "The Last Temptation," and am working my way through "The Torment of Others," which was adapted for the brilliant series "Wire in the Blood," shown on BBC America.
No murder in the chamber pot stories here, but terror, evil and gruesome death - not to mention the writing talents of a Val McDermid, woman who leaves many of her American counterparts in the dust. Forget "CSI" - these stories deliver the real deal.
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About that “Murder in the Chamber Pot” remark . . .
Years ago mystery novelist Joan Hess was on my show, and I made an offhand reference to Agatha Christie novels as being “Murder in the Chamber Pot” stories. Since Hess evidently likes Christie's stories, she wasn’t terribly amused.
Thursday, January 22, 2009 - 09:53:19
The first 2009 forum: Maybe it's time to change the format?
Come next week, Fayetteville’s Telecomm Board will have a aubcommittee meeting to discuss having a special forum to deal with some matters that have long plagued it. Though the kibosh was put on roundtables and forums in general last year, in the Great Public Forum War, certain types - such as the one authorized by the Telecomm Board - still make the grade.
Though I voted in favor of keeping the public forums on the Government Channel, I am more than a little disappointed that the people who were so hot on the forums that were abruptly canceled last year never tried to have them done on C.A.T. Quite frankly, it’s insulting to the many producers who have been trained at C.A.T., and have taken part in many live studio productions, to say that the quality control on a round-table or forum done in the C.A.T. studio would not be up to the standards on the Government Channel.
And I’m not just talking about a contract production, where one would pay the C.A.T. staff to produce it, either.
I’m talking about contacting independent C.A.T. producers and asking for their help. There is a lot of genuine talent out there, and anyone who tries to tell you otherwise is an idiot.
But I digress - then again it is my blog, and I’ll digress if I want to.
I’ve been having thoughts about the “official” format of the Government Channel forums. Sometimes, the Old Ways are not always the Best Ways, after all.
While I believe that public involvement is vital to the democratic process, I believe that too much of a fetish has been made of the dreaded speaker-phone and the laptop that have been ever present at whatever forums or roundtables the FGC put on over the past few years.
What? Get rid of the laptop? Get rid of the speaker phone? Are you mad, sir? Are you trying to block public involvement?
No, Silly Person, I’m trying to preserve the lost art of conversation.
While I like forums and round-tables, I absolutely despise the “stop-and-start” type of conversational flow that occurs when the demonic devices mentioned above are present, especially when the conversation is on a roll, and the question deals with something that may have been dealt with a few minutes before, or is completely off-base.
I think the best sort of forums took place when there was plenty of conflicting opinion, and viewers at home could see passion and enthusiasm, rather than dry conversation. Probably the best forum I ever took part in was the FGC forum about controversial programming on C.A.T.
No calls or emails came in, but we had plenty of good, old-fashioned conversation.
Part of this comes from the fact that I think my own show got better after we got rid of the calls, and just concentrated on conversation. Part of it comes from years of watching - and taking part in - other televised discussions over the years.
But a lot of it comes from talking to viewers, who tell me they get bored, or downright annoyed by the calls that interrupt a fascinating conversational flow.
And I think that’s one thing that people easily forget, that it’s television, and that you have to keep the interest of the folks at home.
Keep it interesting, and when you can, create an atmosphere for great conversation. That, more than anything else, will increase public support for more forums.
And oh yeah, try doing one on C.A.T.
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Quote of the Day
When I look back at the three or four choices in my life which may have been decisive, I find that, at the time I made them, I had very little sense of the seriousness of what I was doing and only later did I discover what had seemed an unimportant brook was, in fact, a Rubicon. - W.H. Auden
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Another blog you should check out
Last week Steve Smith emailed me and told me about this blog - http://afscme965.blogspot.com/ - that is concerned with things union related.. You gotta add this to the list of blogs to check out on a regular basis.
Also: For those who missed it, some new guy coming into the White House and all, the show we did on the Employee Free Choice Act is being repeated next week: Same Same Cat-Time, Same Cat-Channel!
Any way, here is an excerpt from the blog:
They're calling it a miracle--the successful landing of a US Airways jet in the Hudson and subsequent rescue of all 155 passengers. They're detailing the heroism of all involved, starting with the pilot and including cabin crew, ferry crews, and first responders. What they're not telling you is that just about every single one of these heroes is a union member.
There's the pilot:
What might have been a catastrophe in New York —— one that evoked the feel if not the scale of the Sept. 11 attack —— was averted by a pilot’’s quick thinking and deft maneuvers,
On board, the pilot, Chesley B. Sullenberger III, 57, unable to get back to La Guardia, had made a command decision to avoid densely populated areas and try for the Hudson,
When all were out, the pilot walked up and down the aisle twice to make sure the plane was empty, officials said.
Sullenberger is a former national committee member and the former safety chairman for the Airline Pilots Association and now represented by US Airline Pilots Association. He--and his union--have fought to ensure pilots get the kind of safety training to pull off what he did yesterday.
To read more, click on the blog. There’s lots of other fascinating things there, as well. Have you hugged a union member today?
Wednesday, January 21, 2009 - 09:54:35
Battle Lines
Just for fun, a look at the bad old days, when progressives were labeled with the term “aginners,” and nobody seemed to trust anybody else. Most progressives in Fayetteville only counted City Board members Dan Coody and the late Julie Nash to be among their number.
According to Nash, the “traffic stop” mentioned below was the result of city employees pulling her over one night and telling her of their problems with the city administration. Unfortunately, when push came to shove, none seemed willing to come forward to back up her claim.
It was that kind of city, in the bad old days of the early 1990s.
Years later, it was my great pleasure to work for a time with Julie Nash’s daughter at the Ozark Gazette.
This originally ran as part of my “Street Jazz” column for Grapevine, and is an excerpt from “Ozark Mosaic.”
Julie Nash: Battle Lines
Written by Richard S. Drake
It has been an eventful couple of weeks, hasn't it? Every time I think I’ll just let politics slide for a few weeks or so, and concentrate on other(just as interesting, if not more so) subjects, I open the paper and headlines hiss and, leaping out from the page, grab me roughly by the collar. What can I say? It's fate.
The once respected Northwest Arkansas Times featured an ugly, as well as misleading, headline this week (May 30), proclaiming “Nash: Chief and Manager on Drugs?” To the average reader, it might appear that City Director Julie Nash had accused Chief Richard Watson and City Manager Scott Linebaugh of being dopers. A careful reading of the article, however, would show that Nash said nothing of the sort.
Following on the heels of the now infamous “traffic stop” incident, the Fayetteville Board commissioned former state circuit judge Mahlon Gibson to investigate. At the close of the investigation, Gibson concluded that the incident never happened. Nash maintains that it did, in fact, occur as she said.
During her second deposition, Gibson asked Director Nash if she would consent to a polygraph test. She replied, “I'll run one. I’ll run a drug test. But there are going to be a lot of people in there with me when I do it.”
When Gibson told her she wasn’t accused of being a drug user, she said, “No, but I’ll be happy to take one. But the city manager, chief of police, and about fifty other people will be taking it with me.”
I’ve heard the same thing, many times over, from working people. I’ve heard Tyson employees say, “Sure, I’ll take a drug test, but Don Tyson had better, as well.” Far from accusing anyone of being a drug user, the employee is pointing to the unfairness of drug tests in general. If I’ve got to take one, others will also, is what they are saying.
It’s pretty obvious that only someone with an inflated sense of self-importance or else unfettered by the bonds of rationality could construe such a statement as being an accusation of anything.
City Manager Scott Linebaugh said that Nash’s statement represented “just another wild accusation.” Of course, since Nash enjoys the trust of some city employees, she might well be perceived as a threat to Linebaugh’s political potency.
Fayetteville resident Dee Wright is circulating a petition calling on Director Nash to resign. Wright says that Nash should share the financial burden of the investigations (both Gibson’s and the police internal report) even though neither was done at her instigation. Wright, who is reported to have an interest in running for City Board herself, says that the cost of the reports has been “enough out of our pockets already.” An election to replace Nash, should she resign, would cost the city additional funds.
I have to wonder where Ms. Wright was when City Directors voted to spend vast sums of city money on defending an unwinnable lawsuit. She has also been strangely silent over alleged violations of the state constitution, with regards to the infamous incinerator bonds. During last year’s Quorum Court race, many were not impressed with Wright’s shallow grasp of issues facing the county.
Meanwhile, in what could hardly be considered as a tribute to the late (and much admired) journalist Ernie Deane, The Morning News has chosen Boyce R. Davis to fill his space. Mr. Davis writes a column called The Wry Side, though there was nothing at all wry about his column on May 26 entitled, “Local Governments Need Do-Right Rule.” He contended that in Northwest Arkansas “We have too much pandering of every conceivable special interest group by elected representatives and those it appoints to special tasks.
“The Fayetteville city Board of Directors, the Washington County Quorum Court, and the Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport Authority all spend too much time letting just any mouth that goes on autopilot open at their public meetings.” Italics added.
He further complains that credibility is accorded those who do not merit it.
Now, where have I heard this before? Oh, yes, now I remember. It’s the same tired old argument trotted out by those who would limit public debate on various issues. It’s just before some legislative body votes to spend eight trillion dollars on out-of-state consultants. When citizens rise up in protest, they are ridiculed as being part of a “group” that opposes progress.
And as for those “special interest” groups that Davis has such a phobia about? I have seen only parents concerned about their children's future. I have seen only those concerned with political abuses in this county, and the anger an average citizen feels when it is apparent that, if you aren't armed with a college degree, you are not considered “credible.”
The sad truth, Mr. Davis, is that there is very little “pandering” to citizen groups in this county.
Or maybe you were speaking of those bankers and bond salesmen who see Northwest Arkansas as a financial playground? Were you referring to universities with out-of-control athletic departments? Out-of-state lawyers who are taking money, by the sackful, from city treasuries?
Or perhaps it is city officials who violate the state constitution? If these are your targets of criticism, Mr. Davis, I’d be proud to stand with you. But I don't think they are. I think you are one of those who equates lack of formal education with lack of political acumen. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Things are getting rough in Washington County. The political (and financial) stakes are very high, and the battle lines are being drawn. The winners will determine the quality of our lives for the foreseeable future.
Grapevine - June 7, 1991
rsdrake@nwark.com
The legend of Billy Mays
Vouchers for digital converter boxes? Why not for cars?
I just called to say, "I love you."
More questions arise about AT&T's U-verse
AT&T U-verse - ain't all it's cracked up to be?
Well, it seemed like a good idea at the time
C.A.T.: People's Revolutionary Television goes online
Is Dickson Street Reession-Proof? Chapter 109: Let's charge for parking!
Old Main, we can hardly see ye
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