Monday - November 10, 2008

Trash Removal

I went into the back room here at BMEWS and emptied out the dustbins. By which I mean I cleaned out another batch of old and probably fake membership applications. We get a lot of those. You get a month to respond, which is plenty. After that it’s into the trash.

There were a couple in there that looked real, so I left them. That means you “CrowsNest”. You’ve got another month to activate. If I snipped anyone who was planning on doing it, sorry. Re-apply and then activate it when you get the email. It’s that easy.

I am very glad to see that a large number of the applications in the past few weeks have been from readers in the UK. Welcome aboard mates! Have something to say whenever you’d like. We here on the left side of the big pond are quite aware of what’s going on on your island, from the VAT to the knives to the wonders of National Health, Nu Labor and the fun from Belgium. So sound off, even if it’s about something only Englishmen would really know about. Here you are not alone.

Posted by Drew458     on 11/10/2008 at 04:19 PM   
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FER ALL A YOU GUN TOTIN’ WILD WEST BUCK-A-ROOS BACK IN THE USA,

Here’s about the shortest post I’ve ever done and sorry no link but it comes from The Telegraph originally.

By that I mean, that’s where I found it.  Ya ready?

AIR RIFLE USED TO CONFRONT TEENAGERS

HA. EXCEPT THE DAMN THING WASN’T LOADED BUT NEVER MIND.  AN ARREST WAS MADE BY THE KEYSTONE KOPS.

A grandfather has been arrested after using an unloaded air rifle to confront a gang of “youths” who had fired rockets at his house.

He was given a caution for possessing a fire arm with the intent to cause “FEAR OF VIOLENCE.”

-end-

So, what do ya think people?  Justice served? The youths must be shaking in their boots. From laughter.

This isn’t even funny.  So it’s simply a caution.  It should have been a medal he was given.

Posted by peiper     on 11/10/2008 at 03:15 PM   
Filed Under: • Blog Stuff • Crime • Daily Life • Stoopid-People • UK •  
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   Wednesday - November 05, 2008

JOE THE PLUMBER EXPLAINS ECON 101 to President Obama.  (from Rich K)

Well what a morning this has been.  BMEWS posters prove again and again that they write better material then the speeches written by the pros and spoken by (mostly) amateur speakers.  I wish Mr.McCain had done this.  Or Mrs. Palin.

This was under comments by Rich K and again, I wanted it posted here and I hope it will be copied and passed around.
Hey Rich, maybe a year from now someone will be checking it out on Snopes.com to see if there really is such an act.

JOE THE PLUMBER EXPLAINS ECON 101

Barack Obama discovers a leak under his sink, so he calls Joe the Plumber to come and fix it. Joe drives to Obama’s house, which is located in a very nice neighborhood and where it’s clear that all the residents make more than $250,000 per year. Joe arrives and takes his tools into the house. Joe is led to the room that contains the leaky pipe under a sink. Joe assesses the problem and tells Obama, who is standing near the door, that it’s an easy repair that will take less than 10 minutes. Obama asks Joe how much it will cost.
Joe immediately says, “$9,500.”

“$9,500?” Obama asks, stunned. “But you said it’s an easy repair!”
“Yes, but what I do is charge a lot more to my clients who make more than $250,000 per year so I can fix the plumbing of everybody who makes less than that for free,” explains Joe. “It’s always been my philosophy. As a matter of fact, I lobbied government to pass this philosophy as law, and it did pass earlier this year, so now all plumbers have to do business this way. It’s known as ‘Joe’s Fair Plumbing Act of 2008.’ Surprised you haven’t heard of it, Senator.”

In spite of that, Obama tells Joe there’s no way he’s paying that much for a small plumbing repair, so Joe leaves.
Obama spends the next hour flipping through the phone book looking for another plumber, but he finds that all other plumbing businesses listed have gone out of business. Not wanting to pay Joe’s price, Obama does nothing. The leak under Obama’s sink goes unrepaired for the next several days.

A week later the leak is so bad that Obama has had to put a bucket under the sink. The bucket fills up quickly and has to be emptied every hour, and there’s a risk that the room will flood, so Obama calls Joe and pleads with him to return.
Joe goes back to Obama’s house, looks at the leaky pipe, and says “Let’s see ? this will cost you about $21,000.”
“A few days ago you told me it would cost $9,500!” Obama quickly fires back.

Joe explains the reason for the dramatic increase. “Well, because of the ‘Joe’s Fair Plumbing Act,’ a lot of rich people are learning how to fix their own plumbing, so there are fewer of you paying for all the free plumbing I’m doing for the people who make less than $250,000. As a result, the rate I have to charge my wealthy paying customers rises every day.

“Not only that, but for some reason the demand for plumbing work from the group of people who get it for free has skyrocketed, and there’s a long waiting list of those who need repairs. This has put a lot of my fellow plumbers out of business, and they’re not being replaced. Nobody is going into the plumbing business because they know they won’t make any money. I’m hurting now too, all thanks to greedy rich people like you who won’t pay their fair share.”

Obama tries to straighten out the plumber: “Of course you’re hurting, Joe! Don’t you get it? If all the rich people learn how to fix their own plumbing and you refuse to charge the poorer people for your services, you’ll be broke, and then what will you do?”
Joe immediately replies, “Run for president, apparently.”

Posted by Rich K

Posted by peiper     on 11/05/2008 at 09:30 AM   
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   Tuesday - November 04, 2008

It’s Christmas as usual and it would appear the press have it wrong? (Thanks, Fido)

Yesterday, yours truly caught an article in The Telegraph that I thought was total insanity.  I think on reflection, that I should perhaps have emailed or even called the city council to see if the story about a ban on Christmas was some silly mistake.  In my (very weak) defense may I say that even the Telegraph didn’t do that and they are getting paid.  But no matter. I SHOULD HAVE!  And it’s thanks to Fidothedog who I now nominate as an official watchdog in case I screw up again, that the error was found.  So H/T Fido and thanks for this link to the correct story.

An interesting and telling comment by our Dr. Jeff belongs here as well. It’s sadly the way of our present world.

“The scariest part is that we have reached the state of affairs where we’ve come to expect this sort of insanity from government institutions.  It is easy to believe that the Oxford City Council or the Oxford Inspires could have come up with such an insane idea.  It’s equally possible to believe that they immediately backed up in response to the ensuing firestorm.  Who knows?  It was believable regardless.” Dr. Jeff

Latest News

Statement on Christmas Celebrations 2008

News Christmas Lights

After recent articles in the local and national press about Christmas Celebrations in Oxford, we have issued the following statement.

Councillor Bob Price, Leader Oxford City Council says: ”Oxford City Council has not ‘banned Christmas’ and has not banned the use of the word ‘Christmas’. The Council has not even considered doing either of these.

“Oxford City Council will celebrate Christmas 2008 in the same way as it has celebrated all previous Christmases: we will have Christmas trees in the Town Hall and in Broad Street, the Lord Mayor will host a Christmas reception for community workers and will hold the annual Christmas Carols event, and we will be sending out Christmas cards.

“Oxford Inspires, who is jointly funded by Oxford University, Oxford Brookes University, the City and County Councils and the Arts Council to sponsor cultural and arts events across the county, designed the WinterLight event for 2008. This builds on the very successful event of December 2007, with the same name, which involved the late night opening of many museums and galleries, with musical events, food and drink, and activities for children.

“For Christmas 2008, Oxford Inspires agreed with the City Council to time the WinterLight event for November and to have it on the same evening as the switch on of the city centre Christmas Lights and the re-opening of Bonn Square.

“Oxford Inspires WinterLight event in Oxford builds on similar events in many cities across the world where the arrival of darker evenings and colder weather creates the opportunity for some magical and exciting events in public buildings and public squares. It is a cultural event without any specific reference to the religious festivals that also occur in this period.”

A spokesman for Oxford Inspires says: “WinterLight Oxford is part of a wider countywide programme which incorporates Christmas Lights switch on events in towns from Abingdon to Woodstock, Christmas Carol concerts, pantomimes and other seasonal events.

“Other Oxfordshire towns have events which combine their Christmas Lights switch on with other entertainment - such as Woodstock’s “Night of a Thousand Candles” on 29th November or Burford’s Advent Fair on 30th November.”

http://tinyurl.com/6rqbja

Posted by peiper     on 11/04/2008 at 07:40 AM   
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   Sunday - November 02, 2008

No Thanks

I want no part of the rift between LGF, GoV, and JihadWatch. I think it’s all pretty stupid. I haven’t spent more than a few minutes reading about this Belgian Vlaam Belang group, so I don’t know, or even care, if they are or are not a pro-white, white supremecist, or fascist organization. They’re in Belgium, for crying out loud, the only place on earth to have all of the faults of the fwench and none of the benefits. It simply does not interest me.

I think it’s a shame though that these 3 conservative blogs can’t get along. LGF (Little Green Footballs, for the acronymically challenged) and GoV (Gates of Vienna) are both excellent blogs with their own very large and very vocal group of members. If the comment threads here were even 1% as long as those there, we’d have the biggest discussion we’ve ever had. JihadWatch is another excellent blog, keeping us abreast of all the allayousnackbar bits that don’t ever make the news. Robert Spencer runs the place, and I buy and read his books. I think he’s one damn smart cookie, and his observations and insights are nearly priceless.

It’s a shame they can’t get along, but I will let them work it out themselves. And if Charles at LGF feels a need to put his foot down and ban everyone and everything associated with those other two blogs, that’s his right. It’s his blog. I don’t agree with that action, but to be frank I have not followed the Vlaams story hardly at all. Maybe this was necessary. Maybe he’s pitching a fit. Maybe I don’t really care, and I can drop by any of these blogs to get caught up with everything else, and then leave.

Posted by Drew458     on 11/02/2008 at 06:57 PM   
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   Friday - October 31, 2008

HALLOWEEN 2008 AND MEMORIES OF BETTER YEARS PAST.

I suppose we all enjoy being frightened, as long as there’s no real danger to us.
That would explain why horror shows have been popular.
It certainly explains the popularity of the radio programs of my day.

Programs such as SUSPENSE, THE INNER SANCTUM and LIGHTS OUT to name just three.

An aside if I may and an interesting one. There are only two sounds in radio that are trademarked.  The creaking door of Inner Sanctum, and the NBC chimes.

I am not concerned with movies here but something oft referred to as the “Theater of the mind.” And trust me, it was.

Even commercials could be scary and one in particular, the Bromo Seltzer radio commercial leading into Inner Sanctum.

I think to fully appreciate what I’m saying the expression, you had to be there applies. 

The Bromo Seltzer radio commercial has never been equalled for chills.  Sure, you modern kids that were brought up with blood and gratuitous gore might not get all tingly.  But keep in mind the era I’m writing about.  The 1940’s to about 1953 or possibly 1955.  When I was growing up in the 40’s, it was a slower time, there wasn’t any TV yet, movies could be scary, The Mummy comes to mind, and sex hadn’t been invented yet. So for sheer thrills, listening to a radio mystery alone, at night , with the lights out, was thrilling.

The ad agency for Bromo Seltzer might have been the first to use something we’d call techie today. Well, I might.  They did it with the human voice and an organ. The organ of course was the staple for radio mysteries and soapers. 

Bromo Seltzer sponsored Inner Sanctum and you can easily find the program online today.  The commercial itself was boring as most are, BUT , the intro and lead right up to the show was creepy.
“Fight headache, threeeeee waaaaaysss – chug-chug- bromo seltzer, bromo seltzer, bromoseltzer..  Each repeat of the product name building and speeding up and giving the impression of a train leaving the station … choo-choo and that lonesome whistle leading up right onto that evening’s show.  Sometimes that was the best part of the program.  It set the stage for what was coming.

Bromo_Seltzer2_CUT.mp3

One of the times I believe my generation, and my parents as well, could justly use the term “The Good Old Days” and not suffer by comparison with more modern times and technology, was radio.
Roma Wines sponsored SUSPENSE, one of the most literate and well done programs of it’s time, referred to as the theater of thrills.  A producer of that show was the late William Spier who hired Orson Wells long before he became theee Orson Wells.  I know that because I did an interview with Mr. Spier at his home in Ct. many years ago.  He also wrote and directed a good many of the shows.

I feel so darn bad now that I hadn’t saved all the photos I had from so many years ago of some truly talented and wonderful people.
Of particular interest here is a show titled, “THE HOUSE IN CYPRESS CANYON.”
Even as an adult, that show and one other Suspense offering, “THE THING ON THE FORBLE BOARD” are still remembered by me today as chilling.  But by far the scariest was The House in Cypress Canyon.  It’s a much better offering in the chill factor then War of the Worlds. I would urge you to listen to it if you can make the time.  Go ahead. Listen to it and see if you don’t agree.
But it should be listened to as we did. With nothing to get in the way or interrupt the listening and concentration.  I guess we were pretty lucky. There wasn’t anything else to take our attention or get in the way.

http://ia341011.us.archive.org/2/items/SUSPENSE2/45-12-05_The_House_In_Cypress_Canyon.MP3

Apologies for the quality on the above. It’s simply there if anyone want to link and listen.  The quality isn’t bad all the way through and it’s still worth it.

And there was everyone’s other favorite along with Suspense, “THE INNER SANCTUM.”

After some three or so bars of organ music, the show would open and you’d hear Raymond turning a door knob and next you’d hear the sound of a squeaking door.
A longish squeak that of course suggested menace. 

The Inner Sanctum was hosted by Raymond. He called us friends, in a very creepy sort of way.  Good evening friends, won’t you come in.  This way. With his words and vowels drawn out and a slight menacing sound to his chuckle which wasn’t a chuckle at all.  Squeeeek went that door and once we were inside … SLAM. 
Then came some graveyard humor, and a laugh that was intended to make the listener shiver.  It always did.

People listened as much to hear Raymond as they did the program. Perhaps more. And believe me, he was always worth listening to, with that creepy yet somehow humorous voice. 

After the first commercial break Raymond would come back and immediately bring us back into his dark world and it was as though we’d never left for the break.
At the end of the program our host would intone; Well, now it’s time to close the squeaking door of the Inner Sanctum until next week.
So good niii-ight… Pleasant dreammmmssss?” Heh-heh-heh-heh-haaaaaaaaaaa!
And the way he drew out that word dreams as his voice rose at the end in a question, absolutely raised shivers up the spine.
(Sound effect: Squeaking door sloooowly closes shut.)

this link is just the intro and out, for the program. For brevity I cut out the show. But this short 1:52 clip give you the idea.
Inner_Sanctum_410518_Dead_Freight_CUT_CUT.Mp3

Raymond Edward Johnson was a great,great actor and voice from that period.  I had the honor to meet and be part of a group that helped the great man in his later years
when he was destitute and living alone in much reduced circumstances. We hunted for him and he was found, in a wheel chair and living on the second floor of a resident hotel in NH, overweight, broke and forgotten by all. He thought. Well not quite. We got him out of the hotel and into a VA hospital and in months he lost weight, his color was back as much as it would ever get, and he was on the mend.  In a sense. 
He was still suffering as he had for many years from MS.  But I met and shook hands with and helped a man I’d listened to for so long.  He gave me an old reel to reel tape which may well be the only one in existence, of dramatic readings he’d done in better years.  The man was a master of his craft.

In the early days of radio actors played multiple parts on many shows.  For example, Raymond was also Mandrake the Magician, Kato, on the Green Hornet, Don Winslow, of Don Winslow of the Navy and that’s just naming a few.
His sister was also in radio btw.  She played on a show my grandmother would never miss called, Ma Perkins.  Not for young boys of course. Boring to any but grandmas.

Raymond suffered from Multiple Sclerosis for a very long time. Called to Hollywood at one point, and I had the still photos once of the audition scenes, he just could not hide his condition although he tried.  He had a cane by then and tried to hide that. But his condition gave him away.

In 1997 he appeared at a gathering of the Friends of Old Time Radio. He delivered a reading from a portable bed.

Do you recall a movie with Richard Gere called “Power?” The year was 1986. 
In that movie, the lead played by Gere is on a private jet. He’s got a pair of drummers sticks and I think he was tapping out Sing-Sing-Sing with BG’s recording in the background.  We saw this movie in the theater.  So, this short man whose face you do not see is walking up the isle and Gere says to him, “Hi Jackson.” The actor replies hello back.  No more then a word and that was all we’d see of him.
I was the only person in that audience who knew exactly who that guy was with his one line word.  Damn near fell outta my seat.  Told the wife, my god. That was Jackson Beck. That was Jackson Beck.  I waited through the whole movie for his return but of course he never did.  But there was his name in the credits at the end of the movie. 

Who was Jackson Beck? Just the little man with the VERY BIG voice on radio who announced for every boy in America, “Look, Look up in the sky.  It’s a bird. It’s a plane. No. IT’S SUPERMAN.”

He worked right up into old age doing hundreds of voice overs and no doubt you’ve heard him on commercials in the 80s, on TV.  He was really short and so when I first met him at a dinner and gathering our radio organization held in Ct., I was shocked.
I expected someone huge because he had this large voice. No a loud voice mind you.  But big. 

So, what I’d intended as a Halloween thing has turned into a trip down memory lane.

It couldn’t be helped and no apologies forthcoming.  I’ve had a lifelong love affair with radio and am happy that for a brief time in my life, I too was a tiny part of the business.  But gosh, I wish it could have been in the 30s and 40s.  I was born too late.  I should also confess that being in love with radio is also somewhat like being in love with an unfaithful mistress.

RAYMOND EDWARD JOHNSON
JULY 1911 - AUGUST 2001

Stay Tuned

Posted by peiper     on 10/31/2008 at 10:30 AM   
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   Wednesday - October 29, 2008

OOPSIE

Um, I just killed a couple member accoounts by accident.

Please send me an email with your user name, screen name, email address and I will stick you back in ASAP with a default password you can change yourself.

Use my home email if you have it, or just send the info to my BMEWS inbox.

Sorrrrreeee. 

Posted by Drew458     on 10/29/2008 at 04:58 PM   
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   Sunday - October 19, 2008

Goal: Push the forums.

Hey folks. I didn’t know this either. BMEWS has forums!

Check it/he/she/them out.

Posted by Christopher     on 10/19/2008 at 12:49 AM   
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   Wednesday - October 15, 2008

Sarah Palin dives in poll ratings, and msm in USA are not biased, reports The Telegraph.

And ya read it here.  Unless you caught it all back home in US.

It may hurt but there’s no way to ignore this reporting on American elections from the Brit side.
Honestly, and yes I know I’m being cowardly, I so far have avoided watching the other parodies of Mrs. Palin. I saw the first and yes it was funny.
I might get the nerve to see the others. Not really sure I want to.  It’s nice and warm and secure here in the sand.

Sarah Palin dives in poll ratings as Tina Fey impersonates her on Saturday Night Live
It has broken Sarah Palin’s spell and could decide the next president. As Obama and McCain square up for Wednesday’s final debate, Neil Midgley explains how US TV entertains, informs and influences voters in a way that would be unthinkable in Britain.

By Neil Midgley
Last Updated: 9:05AM BST 15 Oct 2008

Three weeks from now, Sarah Palin may be the Vice-President elect of the United States of America. But today, few people would call her the most powerful woman in American politics.

Arguably, that honour doesn’t go to former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton or House Speaker Nancy Pelosi either. Today, the most influential woman in America is probably Tina Fey – a television comedienne.

Since Palin’s nomination as Republican John McCain’s running mate for the White House, Fey has mercilessly and relentlessly impersonated her on NBC’s late-night satirical show Saturday Night Live (SNL).

Fey’s physical resemblance to Palin is uncanny, and Fey has an equally spooky knack of replicating the Alaska governor’s near-Canadian accent.

In public, Palin has taken Fey’s mockery in good part. But Palin’s poll ratings are telling a more devastating story.

In a Newsweek poll in September, voters were asked whether Palin was qualified or unqualified to be president. The result was a near dead-heat. In the same poll this month, those saying she was “unqualified” outnumbered those saying she was “qualified” by a massive 16 points.

Some of Fey’s best satire has come straight from Palin’s own unforced errors.

At the end of last month, Palin was interviewed by Katie Couric, the main news anchor for the CBS television network.

Couric asked Palin whether the $700 billion for the Wall Street bail-out, which had at that point not been approved by Congress, might be better spent helping out middle-class families.

Palin replied: “That’s why I say I, like every American I’m speaking with, we’re ill about this position that we have been put in where it is the taxpayers looking to bail out.

“But ultimately what the bail-out does is help those who are concerned about the healthcare reform that is needed to help shore up our economy. Helping the – it’s got to be all about job creation too, shoring up our economy and putting it back on the right track.

She went on: “So health care reform and reducing taxes and reining in spending has got to accompany tax reductions and tax relief for Americans and trade – we’ve got to see trade as opportunity, not as a competitive, scary thing, but one in five jobs being created in the trade sector today – we’ve got to look at that as more opportunity.”

That babbling response was a gift for Couric, but an even bigger one for Fey the following Saturday. Repeating Palin almost verbatim gave Fey her most powerful line so far.

Thanks to Fey, SNL is defying gravity. While other television shows continue to lose viewers, its ratings are up 50 per cent this autumn – despite the fact that it is now in its 34th season. It currently commands 10 million viewers – a creditable figure for a primetime drama, let alone a late-night sketch show.

NBC has given it an extra slot on Thursday nights. And its success in feeding off serious anchors such as Couric highlights just how powerful a force television has become in deciding this presidential election.

Other satirical shows, such as The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and The Colbert Report, are also enjoying record ratings, as well as influence far beyond their own viewers.

Stewart’s combination of comic monologue, fake news reports and genuine celebrity guests (such as Michelle Obama and Tony Blair) has gained him a cult following both in the US and here, where the show airs on the digital channel More4.

Even bigger than Saturday Night Live have been the presidential and vice-presidential debates. Sarah Palin’s set-to with Joe Biden on October 2 attracted nearly 70 million viewers – a record for a vice-presidential debate and the highest-rated election debate since 1992.

Presidential candidates Obama and McCain only managed 63 million, but even that is a massive number. To put it in context, this year’s American Idol finale – one of the highest-rated shows in the calendar – had 32 million viewers.

It is impossible to imagine a similar level of engagement with political television in this country. Gordon Brown and David Cameron would not only have to debate each other on TV – an unlikely scenario in itself – but pull in an audience bigger than the finals of Britain’s Got Talent and Strictly Come Dancing put together.

American networks do have some advantages over the BBC and ITV in planning and executing their political coverage.

Presidential elections happen on a rigid four-year timetable, avoiding the unholy scramble when a British general election is called at a month’s notice.

That allows the networks to engage with the process much earlier on – not least with their Sunday morning political talk shows.

“Two years ago, the then-potential candidates were making their pitstops on [NBC Sunday morning show] Meet the Press,” says Brian Stelter, a media reporter for the New York Times and the lead contributor to that newspaper’s TV Decoder blog. “In some ways, those shows are really try-outs.”

British TV channels also labour under Ofcom’s impartiality requirements, which bar the kind of opinion-led political shows that litter America’s cable news channels.

Every weeknight, there is a primetime battle between Fox News’s legendary conservative Bill O’Reilly, and firebrand liberal Keith Olbermann, whose show airs on NBC’s cable news spin-off channel MSNBC.

Olbermann calls O’Reilly “Billo the Clown”; O’Reilly glories in the fact that Fox gets higher ratings than MSNBC.

The BBC News channel and Sky News could never engage in such playground antics, no matter how entertaining – not least because they could distort the outcome of elections.

“I think we’re learning what it means to have opinion journalism in this country on such a grand scale,” says Stelter. “It’s only in the last six to 12 months that those lines have hardened between Fox and MSNBC. I think the [ratings] numbers for cable have surprised people.

“Cable, which is a niche offering, is in some cases beating some of the big broadcasting networks. I think that shows that people are looking for different stripes of political news.”

American political TV certainly is polarised. When Governor Palin attacked the media in her speech at the Republican convention last month, the crowd chanted “NBC”.

Gwen Ifill, a respected anchor on the non-commercial channel PBS, who moderated the vice-presidential debate, saw her impartiality attacked because she is writing a book about African-American politics that mentions Obama in its title.

Yet despite the Wild-West flavour of some shows, America’s networks comprehensively outstrip this country in both volume and quality of political coverage.

All three major US networks – ABC, CBS and NBC – offer a large amount of serious (and unbiased) political coverage, both in their evening network newscasts and in their morning equivalents of GMTV. All three have Sunday morning political talk shows.

(and here we conservative folks have been thinking how biased those innocents are. silly us. )

By contrast, ITV has almost abandoned politics, and Channel 4 offers precious little political coverage outside Channel 4 News (and, occasionally, Dispatches).

The BBC still wheels out politics on Sunday mornings, but Andrew Marr’s show is very soft and The Politics Show, with its heavy regional component, often seems like a box-ticking exercise by the corporation.

Michael Portillo and Diane Abbott, BBC1’s late-night political Punch and Judy, would seem dangerously flippant among NBC’s line-up of heavyweight political pundits.

Even more worryingly, political television gets no support from Ofcom’s ongoing review of public service broadcasting (PSB), which will likely mutate into government policy early next year.

The regulator appears so obsessed by preserving regional news on ITV, and so charmed by Channel 4’s bid for public funding, that it will allow the broadcasters’ coverage of national politics to drift.

Unlike science, arts, and history, political television does not get a separate mention from news and current affairs in Ofcom’s definition of PSB; the word “democracy” did not appear once in the regulator’s latest 155-page report.

Impartiality and the public service ethos hardly characterise Tina Fey’s performances. Tonight’s presidential debate forms part of a series driven largely by commercial networks, not publicly funded channels. Neither Fox News nor MSNBC was set up as a sop to a regulator.

Yet if Lord Reith were alive today, he’d see more education, information and entertainment about politics in US television than on the BBC.

Can we learn something from our American cousins? As Sarah Palin erself might say, “Darn right, doggone it, you betcha!”

http://tinyurl.com/3nygoz

That link will also take you to all the Tina Fey parodies. 

Posted by Drew458     on 10/15/2008 at 03:38 AM   
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   Sunday - October 12, 2008

STAND UP, SHAKE IT OFF, AND GET OUT THERE AND FIGHT.

MY DEEPEST THANKS TO FRIEND DREW WHOSE KNOWLEDGE OF THINGS TECH. HAVE ALLOWED ME TO POST THIS TOON OF OUR SARAH, WHICH I ORIGIANLLY GOT FROM THE TELEGRAPH A WEEK AGO BUT HAD NO IDEA HOW TO GET RID OF THE PRINTED ARTICLE THAT SURROUNDED IT, AND GET IT TO DO THIS.

I’M AFRAID TO ASK HOW HE DID THIS.  ANYWAY ... THANKS.

NOW THEN ... TO SOMETHING TURTLER POSTED UNDER COMMENTS.  IT DESERVES A REGULAR POST RIGHT HERE. AND I SHOULD THANK T. ALSO BECAUSE I HAVE NOT BEEN FEELING TOO UP ABOUT THINGS LATELY.  BUT T. IS RIGHT.  WE CAN NOT JUST LAY DOWN AND LET EM RUN US OVER NO MATTER HOW BAD THINGS LOOK.  SO THANKS TURTLER, FOR THIS.

I cannot guarentee that Obama will not win.

I cannot guarentee that our political system will recover from its present corruption.

I cannot guarentee that we will remain a nation worthy of its past.

I cannot guarentee that any effort we make will not be in vain.

HOWEVER, THAT DOES NOT MEAN WE HAVE THE RIGHT TO LIE DOWN IN A FOXHOLE AND DIE WITHOUT AN EFFORT!

In the pledge, we swear ourselves to this nation, its flag, its Democratic Reptublic, and its Constitition. We are obliged to serve and support it against all enemies, foreign and domestic. And in this we cannot waver.

But you say that there is no use, we are certain to loose, even if we do defeat Obama.

However, and this is purely my opinion, that does not matter. We are obliged to stand and do our damndest, even if there is no hope for success.

Why?

Because, imagine what the world would look like if there were no people to stand up and fight the good fight even though they were certain they would be destroyed?

What would have happened at Theromopylae?

And, once more, history has been changed by futile stands against impossible odds by people with no real expectation of winning.

It is entirely possible that the Western Allies in North Africa would have been overrun had it not been for the brave resistance of a group of hodge podge Free French and Palestinian Jews who fought the full wrath of the Afrika Korps at Bir Hakeim and Bir el-Hamet after the Allied disaster at Gazala.

If it were not for the ultimately futile Armenian resistance agianst the Turks in WWI, it is entirely possible that the Turks could have turned the full force of their troops (who outnumbered the Allied forces in the area) around and pushed the Western Allies out of Mesopotamia and Palestine, which would have given them control of the Suez Canal, thus greatly weakening the Allied Cause.

Were it not for Charles de Gaulle going to Britain in defiance of the tactily legit Vichy government, it is possible that the French Colonies would have fallen to Germany.

The bottom line is that we must be willing to accept defeat but fight anyway. For without the willingness to make sacrifices and even suffer defeat for lost causes, Democracy would have been snuffed out long ago.

SO STAND UP, SHAKE IT OFF, AND GET OUT THERE AND FIGHT THE GOOD FIGHT!
Posted by Turtler United States 10/11/2008 at 03:32 PM

Posted by Drew458     on 10/12/2008 at 10:43 AM   
Filed Under: • Blog Stuff • Editorials • Politics •  
• Comments (7) • Trackbacks(0)  Permalink •  

   Saturday - October 11, 2008

Stop sharia law in Britain.  USA SHOULD ALSO TAKE SERIOUS NOTE.  PAT CONDELL VIDEO

Good Sat. afternoon to all who fall by here.

Here’s latest (far as I know) from Pat Condell.  He doesn’t need me to add anything.

Posted by Drew458     on 10/11/2008 at 06:47 AM   
Filed Under: • Blog Stuff • RoPMA • Terrorists • UK •  
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   Saturday - October 04, 2008

POINTS OF VIEW ……. A discussion, not an argument.

THIS POSTING IS A DISCUSSION ON THE SUBJECT WITH REGARD TO THE RIGHT OF A PHARMACIST TO WITHHOLD MEDICATIONS BASED ON PERSONAL RELIGIOUS BELIEFS. 
My position being that the rights of a patient come first where meds are the question. The right to expect to have an Rx filled without hassle based on someone else’s religion.  Apparently, things are not that simple.

I normally wouldn’t do this as a posting but .... Jarand does make a point here that I thought I should post, along with my reply under comments.
It’s interesting beyond where I originally thought the subject should go.  Not that I have changed my mind. But rather I see that it might not be so opened and shut a case as I believe it to be.  Not that it makes any difference because authorities agree with the pharmacist in question and with Jarand as well.

Although most of what I read on this site is pretty good stuff and in my opinion, right on the money, I have to disagree with you here. The pc left and libtards are exactly the people who want to force people to act against their own religious convictions. The fact that this guy is Muslim instead of Christian doesn’t change the fact that there is and always should be a conscious clause. Nobody should be forced to dispense a product that they find morally objectionable. She can say he’s imposing his religion on her but the fact is that, in this case she is trying to impose her lack thereof on him. He told her where the pill would be available. Let her just go there and get it.

Posted by jarand550 United States 10/04/2008 at 06:27 AM

Well, the way I see it is.  I can see your point and understand what you’re saying. But.

If you take a job dealing with the public and especially in this field working in a very major store, think Wal-Mart or Cosco in size, then you are going to be seeing ppl of many different values and backgrounds.
You’re a customer who walks into a store with the honest expectation of being able to get an Rx filled at a pharmacy. Chances are also (but I wouldn’t know in this case) that you’ve done or are about to also do your grocery shopping at the same time.
But hold on a minute ....
The pharmacist, based on his personal religious beliefs, can say to an atheist, a Jew or a Christian, “Sorry but based on my religious beliefs I can’t fill this Rx for you.  There’s another store a mile away that might.” ??? huh?

Can a very conservative Catholic pharmacist refuse to sell “The Pill” to a woman because he or she believe in the rhythm system? Or whatever it’s called.

There are some compromises that one makes in taking employment. Or should make.
If you can’t bring yourself to fit in with the predominant culture in which you live, maybe it’s time to return to where you will fit right in with others who hold the same beliefs.
Or get a different job.

One of the problems here in the UK has been and remains, the constant pandering to various minority groups, to a point where their beliefs should be put ahead of the views of the majority of the population.

peiper

Posted by Drew458     on 10/04/2008 at 08:23 AM   
Filed Under: • Blog Stuff • Daily Life • Health-Medicine •  
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   Tuesday - September 30, 2008

Horny goat weed ‘could rival Viagra’ .  (I just report this stuff but, can’t help wondering,)

Does it work?  How many goats has it been tested on?  What do the goats say?

I think I’m gonna file this under humor. Although I suppose it isn’t really a funny subject to many. 
Still, you know.  Can anyone help the giggle that forms when this subject comes up.  Wait ... no pun there.

Horny goat weed ‘could rival Viagra’
A Chinese plant known as horny goat weed could be an alternative to Viagra in tackling impotence, research suggests.

By Jon Swaine
Last Updated: 3:23PM BST 30 Sep 2008

A compound made from epimedium brevicornum - also known as horny goat weed and Bishop’s Hat - could also have fewer side effects than the drug, scientists from the University of Milan found.

Mario Dell’Agli, the lead researcher, said that experiments showed that icariin, a compound found inside the horny goat weed, blocks PDE5, an enzyme which limits blood flow to the penis and therefore prevents erections.

Sildenafil, the active ingredient in Viagra, also works by inhibiting PDE5. It is thought to be 80 times more effective than icariin. However, Mr Dell’Agli said that by producing a modified version of the horny goat weed molecule, a compound that “works as well as Viagra” can be produced.

Mr Dell’Agli and his colleagues tested four plants which are regarded as natural aphrodisiacs in their traditional cultures. Only horny goatweed was found to have an effect.

“This could be the natural Viagra,” said Mr Dell’Agli. “We have synthesised a new molecule that one day may be able to replace Viagra.”

In addition, a new drug could have fewer downsides than Viagra, Mr Dell’Agli said. People with heart problems are unable to take Viagra because it also affects enzymes crucial to heart function. Tests suggest the horny goat weed alternative does not have the same side-effect.

Mr Dell’Agli said that further tests were necessary and that it would be at least 10 years before any drug was available to consumers.

http://tinyurl.com/4udp98

Posted by Drew458     on 09/30/2008 at 09:36 AM   
Filed Under: • Blog Stuff • Health-Medicine •  
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   Monday - September 29, 2008

DO THE FOLKS IN CHARGE KNOW WHAT THEY’RE DOING?  UNCLE JAY EXPLAINS THE NEWS.

Uncle Jay explains the news.

This guy is fun.  Stay with it to end.

cheers .... hey .... it’s from the USA!

Even the people in charge don’t know how it works! 

How do you think they got to be the people in charge?

http://www.unclejayexplains.com/

Posted by Drew458     on 09/29/2008 at 03:39 AM   
Filed Under: • Blog Stuff • Fun-Stuff • Humor •  
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