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Tuesday, March 31, 2009 - 13:59:07
The world turned upside down: Arnold out, Masterson in at Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
George Arnold, who has served the Northwest Arkansas community well with his columns in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, has been replaced with Mike “my car doesn’t even make left turns” Masterson as the opinion editor for the Northwest Arkansas edition.
http://www.nwanews.com/adg/News/256014/
There has been much consternation over the past few days, and many are wondering if Masterson will be as open-minded and as willing to work with letter writers he doesn’t agree with as Arnold may have been.
While George Arnold represented the Reasonable Man, Mike Masterson, in recent years, has come to resemble nothing so much as the Hysterical Man, overreacting to almost everything in sight - in short, he fits in perfectly with the editorial vision of the Arkansas Democrat-gazette, whose motto these days may well be, considering the national political landscape we find ourselves in:
Better Red than Dead.
******
But this is why Mike Masterson should not be the opinion editor
Just days before the November elections, Masterson repeated the most racist rumor making the rounds in this country at the time, that if Obama lost the election, many black Americans would be rioting in the streets.
Some of his recent writings have had a racist tinge to them, particularly his partisan - and clumsy - attempts to explain the mortgage crisis.
*****
I doubt the ADG will say it, so . . .
Thanks, George. A lot of folks appreciate the fine work that you have done over the years. You’ll be missed.
****
Quote of the Day
One of the odd things about being in a hurry is that it seems so fiercely important when you yourself are the hurrier and so comically ludicrous when it is someone else. - Christopher Morley
Sunday, March 29, 2009 - 10:52:41
Does the future of public access mean less access for the public?
Yesterday I took part in a panel discussion, “The State of Community Media Today and Tomorrow,” at the Create-Connect-Community Media Summit. It was an interesting discussion, and the participants were all experts in their fields. There were also a lot of good questions from the audience.
One of the things that sort of disheartened me was the fact that, to placate so many elected officials across the country who take offense at what local citizens do when they actually take advantage of their First Amendment rights, a growing number of stations are going out of their way to produce programs for the business community, or civic leagues, or what have you. This is actually a trend I have noticed for some time.
As I listened to the discussion, I had to wonder how much of the day - or even the week - was leftover for the average man and woman to come down and produce their shows.
I know from talking to some people who have traveled across the country that some access stations seem to be primarily “feel-good” channels, and that private citizens may not be as equal in the grand scheme of things as the groups whose good will the station is trying to curry favor with.
I know that I have given the “Public access is a living tapestry of the community” speech so often that lots of people can give it it even better than I do, but it’s still true. Public access teaches us things about ourselves, and our community that we may not otherwise know exists.
That’s why I am such a fervent believer that every community needs some sort of access sation, be it city or county.
And when push comes to shove, when access stations are in danger, Feel-Good stations don’t have hundreds are people writing letters of support, or showing up by the busload to city council chambers.
******
Quote of the Day
There are certain queer times and occasions in this strange mixed affair we call life when a man takes his whole universe for a vast practical joke. - Herman Melville, Moby Dick, Chapter XCIII
*****
The Tea Party will be televised
One of the organizers for the “Tea Party” planned for the Fayetteville Square on April 15 has informed me that the event will be videotaped, and shown on Community Access Television, which of course, can now be seen almost entirely world-wide - save for certain dictatorships, I suppose.
****
Fran Alexander: Unbowed
This week Northwest Arkansas Times columnist and long-time environmental activist Fran Alexander and I sit down to discuss the book Unbowed, by Kenyan activist Wangari Muta Maathai. This is the story of a woman who truly has had the cards stacked against her at several points sin her life, but still goes on receive the Nobel Peace Prize for her work in to sustainable development, democracy and peace.
To read more about this amazing woman:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wangari_Maathai
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
Show days and times:
Sunday - 11:00pm
Monday - 3pm
Tuesday - 10am
Thursday - 3pm
Friday - 9pm
Saturday - 7:30pm
rsdrake@nwark.com
Friday, March 27, 2009 - 13:25:41
Papa and Daddy and Babies in Alaska
It’s always sort of a crap shoot when you read books by people you know; you hope against hope that it won’t be too terribly bad. Well, Gary Beuschel’s book is a lot better than that, it’s fascinating, well-written, and even - a description I don’t throw around very often - life-affirming.
And it may be especially timely for many is us to check this book out, given the bigotry and fear mongering taking place in Arkansas, California, and other parts of the country.
Papa and Daddy and Babies in Alaska (Moose Kiss Press) is the story of Gary and his partner (John Kruse) and their decision their twin daughters, who were brought into this world via surrogacy in Alaska.
What this story is about is about two adults who desperately want to have children, and their determination to have them, no matter the odds. Little did they realize that the path to their parenthood would be fraught with tension and danger.
Born three-months premature, and weighing less than two lbs. A piece, neither child had a firm grip on life.
Gary and John flew up from San Francisco to be with the babies during this frightening time. The babies, now named Zola and Veronica, were so young their brains had not yet developed circuitry needed to maintain the very basic functions of life.
They could not breather without assistance, Their lungs were so immature, they couldn't breathe without help. Unable to see, they could neither see nor drink. In short, they needed 24-hour a day care, just to survive the next few months.
Despite their initial trepidations that an Alaska hospital (and a Catholic one, to boot) might not be open to their needs, they could not have been more mistaken. They were treated with kindness and respect, and this helped ease their journey.
Not only that, but they came to realize that they were in a first-class NICU facility.
As the story unfolds, we travel along with the parents and the tiny babies as they make they odyssey from tiny creatures to healthy babies.
And along the way, a large support system of family and friends is revealed. The truly wonderful thing about this book - aside from the story itself - is how Gary Beuschel has chosen to incorporate so many of the emails between that support system and the parents, as well as private journal entries.
These emails and journal entries give the story an emotional impact that pulls the reader in, and reveals the depth of love and friendship in the circle around these two men.
Personal note: It was especially enthralling for me to read some of these emails, since I had gone to High School with several of the correspondents.
It’s also a harrowing story, in that here are certainly medical nightmares and setbacks to undergo. Along the way, Gary, who works in the medical field, feels that he has surely gone back to school. He is constantly being barraged with new medical knowledge.
And Gary - who stays in Alaska during the three-month period - develops an appreciation for Anchorage he may not otherwise have had.
But the story doesn’t end once the babies come home to California. Children who are born premature are no normal babies, and Gary and John have both already discovered, and their care can be very expensive. They must be constantly monitored at first.
But the end results are more than worth it.
When Gary and John send Christmas cards, pictures of two loving parents clowning with their kids, they resemble any other family in America, clowning with their own kids. These photos should be on billboards across the country.
After the California Supreme Court ruled their marriage illegal, John Kruse formally adopted Zola and Veronica. Legal relationship or not, John Kruse and Gary Beuschel are loving parents who have fought like lions for their children.
This story is inspiring for anyone, gay or straight. Ask your local library if they would order a copy of this book for their collection. And it’s not too early to start buying those Christmas presents, you know.
******
Domestic Partnership Registries saved in Arkansas
Killed in Committee: No joy in Mudville for the Family Council.
*****
Quote of the Day
This minute that comes to me over the past decillions,
There is no better than it and now. - Walt Whitman, "Leaves of Grass"
rsdrake@nwark.com
Wednesday, March 25, 2009 - 16:11:40
Bill O'Reilly sends goons to stalk and ambush woman blogger
That champion of women everywhere - Bill O’Reilly - was really strutting his stuff this week!
Bill O'Reilly sends goons to stalk and ambush woman blogger
Bill O'Reilly's 'great ambushers...of justice' stalks blogger
Muriel Kane
Published: Monday March 23, 2009
Blogger Amanda Terkel has become the latest victim of an ambush by a producer for Fox News host Bill O'Reilly.
The O'Reilly Factor's producers -- who have been dubbed "great ambushers...of justice" by The Daily Show's Jon Stewart -- are well-known for attempting to catch competing journalists as they go about their daily routines and firing accusatory questions at them.
Terkel had criticized O'Reilly for accepting an invitation to speak before a support group for rape survivors, even though he had suggested on his radio show last year that an 18-year-old, 5-foot-2-inch college student who was raped and murdered would "be alive today" if she hadn't been drunk and wearing an outfit with a bare midriff.
"This weekend, while on vacation, I was ambushed by O’’Reilly’’s top hit man, producer Jesse Watters, who accosted me on the street and told me that because I highlighted O’’Reilly’’s comments, I was causing 'pain and suffering' to rape victims and their families," Terkel writes. "He of course offered no proof to back up this claim, instead choosing to shout questions at me."
The producer accused ThinkProgress of being part of a "smear pipeline" and demanded that Terkel offer an apology on camera to rape victims. "O’’Reilly never asked me for a statement nor invited me on his show before sending Watters to harass me," Terkel emphasizes. "Since I’’m a 5 ft, 100 pound woman with an opinion that he doesn’t like, perhaps O’’Reilly believes I deserve to be treated this way."
What makes the incident particularly disturbing is that it occurred while Terkel was on vacation, and the Fox producer and cameraman had apparently been stalking her for some time. She explains, "My friend and I were in this small town for a short weekend vacation and had told no one about where we were going. I can only infer that the two men staked out my apartment and then followed me for two hours. Looking back, my friend and I remember seeing their tan SUV following us for much of the trip."
To read more:
http://phoenix.craigslist.org/cph/pol/1089167944.html
******
Quote of the Day
Vitality shows in not only the ability to persist, but the ability to start over. - F. Scott Fitzgerald
*****
Last chance to get involved in Create-Connect-Community Media Summit
From the good folks at Community Access Television. For more info, or to register: www.summit.cayfayetteville.org
Create-Connect-Community Media Summit
March 27 & 28th at the Cosmopolitan
Events scheduled for Friday are Free! & Open to the Public:
Friday, March 27 at the Cosmopolitan Hotel
ACM Regional Board Meeting
4-6pm in Fulbright Room
(just inside the restaurant on the 2nd floor)
&
Show your Stuff - Video Reception
6-9pm in Pike Room
(just outside of the restaurant on the 2nd floor)
Reception Videos::
Sunshine Morgan - Reawakening
Sheree Burnett - The Coffee Moochers
Aiden Burnett - Game Rev
Jon Hayden - Words of Faith
Dan Vega & Roger Henry, One Whirled View
Paper Tiger TV
Free Speech TV
CAT FAY
ACM
THE SUMMIT
The entire format of the conference is taking the SCAN concept and using the acronym to spell out "Share-Connect-Act-Now!".
At every workshop facilitators will be asking participants to share "What they do, and how." We are going to engage the audiences in the conversation and asking them to take the information they receive home to share with their
communities.
SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
Saturday, March 28 at The Cosmopolitan
Show Your Stuff Trade Show
8am - 5pm
Garland Room
8-8:30am
Trade Show,
Continental Breakfast/Showing of “ What’s Going on in Community Media?”
Garland Room
Opening Session:
8:30 - 9:00am
Colleen Pancake introduces Mayor, Lioneld Jordan
Marion Orton/Alderwoman Brenda Thiel introduce Charles Benton of the Benton Foundation - Opening Keynote
www.benton.org
9am-10:30am
Diversity Discussion:
Garland Room
Subject & Facilitator:
BLACK FOCUS - Niketa Reed
LA VOZ DE LATINO - Luty Romero
SPECINEEDS - Cecilia Tu
WOMAN TO WOMAN - Seajay Crosson
LGBT & Q - Jori Costello
PEACE, JUSTICE & ECOLOGY - Gladys Tiffany
SENIORS - Marion Orton
YOUTH - Jeff Montgomery
CREATE YOUR OWN INTEREST GROUP -
9-10:30am
McIlroy Room
Professor Larry Foley, Raising Funds for Independent Films
9:30-10:30am
PEG Center Tour:
Fayetteville Government Channel, Engineer, Neal Bilbe
Community Access Television, Office Coordinator, Heather Drain
101 W. Rock Street
10:30 - 11am
Entertainment:
Everyone Can Sing Choir
Garland Room
11am-12:30pm
Garland Room
Lunch Keynote:
Roger Henry/Dan Vega introduce Sara Strahan & Antonia
Levy (Paper Tiger TV)
12:30 - 1:00
Garland Room
Entertainment:
Love or Money - Mashburn Foundation Scholarship recipients
Freedom Stage
1-5pm
Garland Room
Hostess of the Open Mic: Jennifer Nesbitt
1:00 - 2:30pm
McIlroy Room
New Media & You
Moderator - Jon Carlson
Stefan Wray - Channel Austin
Ann Theis - Denver Open Media via the Internet
1-1:30pm
UATV Tour:
UATV, Station Manager, Dan Phillips
2-3pm
Free Speech Lecture at Lemke School of Journalism
Kimpel Hall room 111
Dr. Steve Sheppard - Free Speech: Public vs. Private Speech
3:00 - 4:30pm
McIlroy Room
The State of Community Media Today and Tomorrow
Moderator - Richard S. Drake
David Hawkswor- DH Consulting
Linda Litowsky - Channel Austin
Fred Fman - Houston Media Source
JoMcMahon- Benton Community Access Association
Don Marr - Chief of Staff, City of Fayetteville
6-9pm at the PEG Center
101 W. Rock Street
FAT CAT Awards Banquet
Dinner 6-7pm
Awards Show 7-9pm Live! On Channel 18 and on The Internet
www.catfayetteville.org
rsdrake@nwark.com
Home-Schooling - a personal horror story
The Paranoid Right is up in arms about the bill before the state legislature to more closely regulate home-schooling in Arkansas. Basically, the bill would require all home-school parents to prove by August 15 of each year that their children took the most recent state-mandated home-school test. This bill also enables public school educators to school prohibit students from transferring to a home-school once the school semester is underway.
If they don’t provide such proof, the kids must attend public school.
The Rigid Right is aghast at this possibility, with the Family Council sending out hysterical emails, and Mike Masterson wrote a defense of home-schoolers in the Democrat-Gazette this week, which comes as no surprise to anyone who has been reading his stuff the past few years, I suppose.
Proponents of home-schooling like to point to fairly high ACT scores among many home-schoolers, but they attempt to use these sleight-of-hand arguments to take our eyes off the ball and not pay attention to some of the more spectacular failures that the home-schooling “system” has produced.
The grim truth is that a lot of kids fall through the cracks when it comes to testing, and the home-schoolers are more than aware of this. Do they care?
Case in point:
Some years ago a friend in Springdale asked if my wife and I could take care of her 16 year old daughter while she was having some marital difficulties, and to continue her home-schooling.
Sure, we replied.
We should have looked before we leaped.
Even though she was 16, her parents had effectively stopped her home-schooling when she was at the sixth-grade level, either because she was too difficult to teach or because they were having so many personal problems of their own.
To placate her over the years, they bought her things - a TV, video games, a DVD player, electronic toys.
By the time she was staying with us, she thought that working on her education for over two hours a day was cruel and unusual punishment. After a few months she returned to her mother, and I seriously doubt that her education progressed.
The idea of requiring proof of testing is good not only for the child, but good for society as a whole. These home-schooling parents should stop whining and get with the program.
******
Well, isn’t that just special?
A few years later, I happened to glance threough another’s child’s home-schooling text, and was reading in the “science” section about Charles Darwin, and how “Satan” had put the idea of evolution into his head.
Maybe somebody needs to be taking a closer look at some of these textbooks?
*****
Quote of the Day
"What does ultima ratio regum mean?"
"The Last Argument of Kings,” the Librarian says. "King Louis XIV had it stamped onto the barrels of all of the cannons that were forged during his reign." - Neal Stephenson, "Snow Crash"
****
Take that, book lovers!
A couple of good letters in the Arkansas-Democrat-Gazette in the past week from Donald Harington and Maylon T. Rice concerning the silly decision of the paper’s part to eliminate its book review section. This is a growing trend among papers who are trying to save money. I think it is very short-sighted, however. Maybe cut its frequency, but to cut it out altogether?
Soon, I suspect, only alternative papers will have active book review sections. Personally, I think every publication out there should have a book section, no matter how small.
On a sadder note, I suspect that the paper will continue to get more letters carping about the size of the new TV listings, dwarfing any letters they get about the missing book review section.
***
Speaking of alternative papers . . .
Emerald City, the Little Rock based alternative paper, will drastically cut back on the number of papers it sends to Fayetteville.
**
Coralie Koonce: Swimming in a Sea of Ideology
A new book from Fayetteville writer Coralie Koonce is upon us, Swimming in a Sea of Ideology, which examines some of the ideologies that distort public discussion with their rigid, oversimplified, and self-serving ways of thinking.
The book describes such ideologies as superpatriotism, religious fundamentalism, neo-conservatism, Manifest Destiny, Social Darwinism, and other persistent idea-systems that blinker us and hinder the urgent work of dealing with species threats such as climate change and other ecosystem failures, nuclear proliferation, and dwindling resources.
According to the author, they obstruct our efforts to create a more just, peaceful and sustainable world.
The book is available from bookstores, online, or an e-book version can be obtained at Koonce’s website:
http://outskirtspress...com/swimminginaseaofideology>http://outskirtspress.com \
/swimminginaseaofideology
Now, get thee to a book store . . .
rsdrake@nwark.com
Tuesday, March 24, 2009 - 10:53:20
Farewell, Life on Mars - and Good Riddance
Well, I really wanted to like ABC’s Life on Mars. Both Tracy and I loved the British version, and we are enjoying the sequel, Ashes to Ashes. The story of police detective Sam Tyler, who is struck by a car and ends up in 1973 seems to be a winning formula. Is he in a coma? Has he traveled back in time? Is he in an alternate universe?
What’s not to love about that concept?
Well, there was a great deal to love about the original - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life_on_Mars_(TV_series) - but, like so many shows from overseas, it did not translate well once it was redone into “American.”
Where hints were subtle on the original, on the ABC show, they were delivered with all the gentleness of a lead pipe. And much as I love Harvey Keitel (who doesn’t?), there is truly only one Lt. Gene Hunt, and that is Philip Glenister. To see him in action is to see a primal force on screen.
But I think what finally did the show in was the producers’ unwillingness to go all the way with the fantasy elements of the series, especially when they were switched to Wednesday nights. The hints about what was really happening to Sam were shoved to the background, and the series seemed to become a sort of straight 70s cop show.
Been there, done that.
So when the series ends in two weeks, a rushed ending will no doubt be improvised. The producers say that it will be completely different from the British version, which seems appropriate, I suppose, since this series turned out to be almost as far from the original as you could get.
******
Quote of the Day
"If we have learned one thing from the history of invention and discovery ,it is that, in the long run - and often in the short one - the most daring prophecies seem laughably conservative." - Arthur C. Clarke - 1951.
*****
God is nowhere? Or: God is now here?
In a perfect world, television networks wouldn't be run by soulless automatons, concerned only with the bottom line. In my idea of the perfect world, television programs would actually be given a chance to find an audience and a following before being yanked off the air.
Ah - silly me.
Miracles (2003) is another one of those shows that you might have enjoyed, had you actually known it was on. Like so many series before it, it concerns a group who investigate what we like to refer to as "the unknown." No, not Bigfoot - that's for would-be scientists who think that Coors has all the essential vitamins they need.
The Miracles team looked into so-called miracles, trying to determine how authentic they might be. Paul Callan (Skeet Ulrich - Jericho) is a priest who had previously served the same function for the Roman Catholic Church, only to leave due to his frustration over the fact that the church didn't really seem all that interested in the cases they were sending him out on. The idea that some of the "miracles” might be real seemed to make some in the church hierarchy nervous.
While looking into one case, Callan is involved in a car accident, and sees the words, "God is now here," written in his own blood.
Or, as pointed out to him later, was he really seeing, "God is nowhere?" This brings him into contact with Alva Keel, formerly of Harvard, now full-time investigator of the paranormal. Keel feels that dangerous events may be happening at an accelerated pace on the spiritual realm, and that they must look into these occurrences.
They join up with a former police officer (Marisa Ramirez - General Hospital) and begin to find their way through this psychic maze. I wonder how you find a psychic detective agency, anyway?
Miracles had a good pedigree; executive producer David Greenwalt was one of the creators of Buffy the vampire Slayer, and had worked on the spin-off, Angel. Richard Hatem, writer of many of the shows, helped guide The Dead Zone on the USA network.
Even so, ABC did its usual bang-up job of mishandling a truly creative series, giving it an extremely poor time slot, and giving it very poor promotion. As a result, the show was canceled after only six episodes.
Interesting thing about shows that are yanked like this - when these shows are shown in foreign countries, those viewers often get to see the entire run of episodes. And so it was with Miracles; though American viewers were denied the final seven shows, foreign viewers were able to see them.
But now, thanks to the magic circles known as DVDs, we in the states can now enjoy them. Almost without fail, the episodes are intriguing, and provide the viewer with more than a few chills. The only weak episode is the last one, in which I felt they were trying to tie up a few too many loose ends.
Sure, a lot of it has been done before, but it's how you tell the story that matters. The crew behind Miracles have a sure hand when it comes to storytelling, and the guest star roster is also impressive.
rsdrake@nwark.com
Monday, March 23, 2009 - 10:17:25
April 15: Tea Party on Fayetteville Square?
Come April 15, there will be a Tea (Taxed Enough Already) Party gathering on the Fayetteville Square, from 4pm -7pm. This will follow along with similar events happening across the nation on that day.
It is designed so that local, state and national government leaders will be reminded that “We the People . . .” are still around, and “concerned” with what is happening to the United States.
We the People? I suppose that this is to distinguish them from the rabble who elected that fellow to the White House last November. We the People, to judge from the Internet postings (I’ve got way too much free time on my hands) seems to consist of the equivalent of the folks we meet at many similar rallies - the angry types with eyes bulging, faces red, and voices raised.
Don’t expect much in the way of actual humor. What there is will be mean-spirited, and more than a little defensive.
Yes, it’s the folks from Free Republic, only with better table manners.
Anyway, it’s being held across from KNWA, so it should get some decent press coverage. Community Access Revision is a block away, so if they have their wits about them, they will have someone document their efforts that night.
Several of the folks on their mailing list have availed themselves of what C.A.T. has to offer before, so there is no excuse for them not to just rely on press coverage.
If they don’t document their event, and they are unhappy about their press coverage, I don’t want to hear their whining.
For more information:
http://taxdayteaparty.com/teaparty/arkansas/
So, if anyone gets really riled up and actually spills some tea - probably out of tea bags - will they clean it up themselves when they leave, or leave for the street crews?
******
Quote of the Day
As memory may be a paradise from which we cannot be driven, it may also be a hell from which we cannot escape. - John Lancaster Spalding
*****
The best political rally ever held in Fayetteville
Back in the 1990s the stalwarts of the Ku Klux Klan held rally in front of the old Washington County Courthouse, waving placards, and showing off their laundry skills - whiter than white!
Ordinarily, this might be an occasion for well-meaning, pretentious opponents to gather across the street, holding their own signs, and even remonstrating with the boisterous bigots.
Leaving aside the question of why an otherwise intelligent person might actually think you could engage in debate with a member of the KKK and change their mind, it’s just silly. These guys - and they are, for the most part., guys - are dumber than a box of rocks. They love it when liberals want to engage them.
Well, when the Boys in White got to town that afternoon they were in for a rude surprise.
Across the street was another rally, the Ku Klux Klown rally, which set about to mock the KKK and the “values” they stood for. This was something totally outside their realm of experience, and they left early, truly, never, ever to return . . .
Except on talk radio and the letters pages of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, of course.
****
Moral outrage is highly over-rated as an art form
All of which, I think, just goes to prove what Harlan Ellison said so many years ago:
“Laugh the f*****s out of existence.”
rsdrake@nwark.com
Kate Orman: The Winds of Time and Space
I finally sent John Boozman the letter I've wanted to write for a long time
Representative Brian King: Follow me, boys! The Dark Ages are calling us!
When the media serve as the "morality police"
Panicked message from the Family Council: Act One Update: Prayer Needed!
Preservation with Paula
Memo to Dickson Street business owners: We've all got "skin" in the game
Can a TV series be a plot by insurance companies? Sure, why not?
The future of alternative newspapers?
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