Nice Knowing Ya

The asteroid tomorrow

What was that thing we all said back in the ’80’s?

 

Joe PagLIARulo Radio: The ‘Three Rs’ Edition

Joe PagLIARulo decided to get into a little math this morning.  It was a bad idea.  While doing a lame fisking of President Obama’s interview on 60 Minutes last night, Joe got bent about who the president said would benefit from extending the Bush era tax cuts.  The president stated that millionaires and billionaires would get the biggest breaks.  Joe hates this and responds:

Not true.  Now, the whole idea that the people that are getting the biggest breaks are the rich is a lie.  Actual dollar amounts, of course, they’re getting a bigger break cuz they pay way more money into taxes, but percentage-wise, it’s not even close.  Listen, if you pay 10% tax rate right now on your income tax federally, you’re going to pay 15% starting January 1st.  Last time I checked, 10% to 15% was a 50% increase in taxes.  50% more.  The evil rich, they’re gonna go from 35% to 39.6, which is an 11% increase in taxes.  Now, let’s see, who’s getting the bigger break?  The people getting an 11% break or the people getting a 50% break?  I would suggest — actually a 33% break if you were at 15 going back to 10.  I don’t want to get all convoluted by throwing a bunch of percentages and numbers out there, but simple math tells you the people who are going to see — if nothing happens and everybody goes back to the pre-Bush era tax rates, you’re gonna see a 50% increase if you are in the 10% bracket.  If you are in the 36% (garbled) 35% bracket  up to 39.6%, you’re going to see an 11% increase.  Let’s stop the bull.  Let’s stop the lying.  OK?  It’s just not true.

I just had to write in.  It’s clear what he was trying to do, but it was also clear that he was none too sure about his math.

Me:  Joe, it’s a good thing you are in radio and not an accountant.
Let me show you how silly your earlier *math* is.
If there were no flag burnings one year and one flag burning the next
year, according to your *math*, there was a 100% increase in flag
burning.
Which is a misrepresentation, just like your calculations are.
Sincerely,
Michelle

PagLIARulo dutifully responds!:

either bring what I said incorrectly.. or get over it Michelle.  My
numbers are real.. you and the president are on a fishing expedition.

Me:  Here’s what you said Joe — people who are in the middle class benefit more than people at the top and you explained it this way — 15 minus 10 is 5 and 5 is 50% of 10.  36 minus 33 is 3 and 3 is 11% of 33.
I compared that to 1 minus 0 is 1. and 1 is 100% of 1.
So, what did I get wrong?
Sincerely,
Michelle

I was just ball-parking this, as I didn’t hear exactly all of what he said, but I only needed to hear the 50% part to know what he was trying to do, and therefore make my point.

PagLIARulo:

your math is off.. what I said was an increase of 10 to 15 (which will happen if the cuts aren’t extended) is a 50 percent increase.  Going from 15 to 10 was a 33 percent cut.  going from 35 to 39.6 is an 11 percent increase.  Have some coffee and wake up a bit before emailing me .. k?

PagLIARulo fires a CYA (but is it enough?):

btw.. the increase for the top tier is actually 13.6 — thanks for the help!

Me:  You said, “either bring what I said incorrectly, or get over it.”  So I did.What do you want from me Joe?!?!!?!?!?!?!!?!  And your math is still off.

Sincerely,
Michelle

I took advantage of his ambiguous adverb to chum the water and have a little fun.  I’ve read that in a previous job, Joe was considered to be a sort of grammar cop, but I’m not seeing it.

PagLIARulo get miffed:

no math is dead on.. and I corrected myself..

lemme ask you a serious question.. what exactly is that you have a problem with?  Is it that I’m so right so often that it bothers you?  Do you want people to have an 11 or 13 or 50 percent increase in taxes?  Would that make you happy?

what exactly, Michelle, is your actual issue?  You know conservative values are why we’re the one super power left in the world.. and the most free and liberated people?

is that an issue for you?

get to the real issue, Michelle.

j

I don’t think he gets my point, which for me is a good thing.  And running to the “American Exceptionalism” point is very weak.  It’s like asking, “Why aren’t you a patriot?”  Ugh.

At this point, Joe decides to rant about me on the air:

By the way, Michelle the liberal will not stop emailing me.  I mean she, I think she now records the program, and word for word tries to go through — I think she looks up every word I say in the dictionary — (with a fake voice says) well I don’t know that’s exactly the way it’s defined.

The other day she had a problem with me saying that I affected positive change on election day because I tried to educate the voters whether they voted liberal/democrat (sic) or conservative/republican, at least they had better ammunition going to the poll if they listened to my program.  She had a problem with that and then today I said if you had uhm if the tax cuts all expired — the Bush era tax cuts — that people paying 10% tax today would go up to 15% and I said that’s a 50% increase, which it is, now when they went from 15 to 10 they saw a 33% decrease, which it was, which is what I said.  I also said if people paying 35% today go up to 39.6%, it’s an 11% increase.  Well, I was actually wrong about that.  It’s almost a 14% increase.  Sorry, Michelle.  It’s actually worse than I said it would be, but you’re all 100% of this and 50% of that and a bunch of convoluted numbers.  Listen, I stand by what I said cuz you know what?  We’re going to see a massive increase in taxes for no other reason than we’ve got an expanded large government that needs to check itself now, especially after this midterm election.

I just want to say that no dictionary was used in the composition of this blog post.

I wrote back:

Me:  And then you flubbed it completely on the air.  Joe, I don’t have a problem, I just find you hilarious.  So, when I ask you if you have any proof that you influenced (or affected) the elections and you say no, I get to laugh.  Or when you get all turned around trying to do math that is beyond you, I laugh even more.

And if you are interested in what my “issues” are, you can, as they say, “read my blog” 😉 .

Sincerely,
Michelle
calle viena

I ask you, was that too subtle?  All of those guys (they are all pasty white guys) on KPRC flog their stupid non-blogs and Facebook pages RELENTLESSLY.

Patronizing PagLIARulo:

Ur so cute Michelle. Dont care if u laugh or cry Michelle as long as u keep listening. Thx for helping my ratings!!

Help his ratings?  I’m not part of the system that measures that and if he counts a page hit while I write these blogs, well rock on, brother!

I know I don’t have to explain the math to you, my dear readers, but just in case Joe manages to navigate his way here, I want to lay it out clearly.

He decided to look at percentages in a misleading way, which is why I used the 0+1 = 100% increase example.  That sounds like a lot.  And that was Joe’s point.  He wants his listeners to think that 50% of a small number is much larger than 11% or 13.6% of a large number.  (Using Joe’s math, the answer is actually closer to 12%, or 11.61%.)  By ignoring the base number, it *sounds* like the middle class are making out like bandits and the poor top 1-2% of income earners are just barely scraping by.  Another way of showing how misleading this is is by using a retail sales example.  Let’s say something is on sale at 10% off.  Then there is a subsequent sale  taking off an additional 5%.  Well, Joe would say that’s 15% off, but in reality, it isn’t.

And seriously, listening to PagLIARulo always makes me think that he must give himself a headache.

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This is the type of person who just got elected by the teabaggers

As I noted in my previous post, Joe PagLIARulo of KPRC is a liar — a bald-faced one at that, as you will see.  Here’s an email exchange I had with him this afternoon:

Me:  Just wanted to let you know that it might benefit you to know that you lied this morning and your listeners know it.  I called to ask you what proof you had that you influenced this or any election.  You said none.  That’s all I wanted to know and I said thank you.  You then decided to be the big smart man and call me names.  You went on to state and I quote:  “I never said I influenced any election.  You’re wrong.  You’re dead wrong.  . . Do I think that I affected change in the election?  No.”  But you did.  Go back and listen to your show.  At the 10.11″ mark, you state and I quote:  “I’ve got incredible ideas and my ideas, I believe my ideas affected positive gains in the last election.”  I’m betting since you can claim to be “too big” and “too smart”  to “attack on  a personal level” you will just let all this pass and hope that your audience was too stupid to catch it or has such short memories that they will forget.  AMIRITE?  Liar.
Sincerely,
Michelle

PagLIARulo replied:

you are dead wrong.. I don’t say things like “I have incredible ideas.”  You are clearly someone who has a hard time hearing and dealign (sic) in truth.

And again:

I have no idea with the 10.11 mark is.. you wanna give me a specific time?  This is silly, by the way — because I know what words come out of my mouth.

You are a hater.. and need to learn the meaning of the word context.

Me:  You said it to the second Chris who called.  It was after he suggested you should run for president.  You said you have “incredible ideas.”  Here’s the link — listen to it yourself. (I deleted the link from my reply — it’s the same one in the previous post.)  It’s at the 10 minute mark.  You can deny it but you said it and then you lied about it.
Sincerely,
Michelle

Pag LIARulo replies:

you are a hater.. and a liar and have wasted enough of my time.  Learn the word context.  Listen beyond your closed-mindedness.

I’ve taken the time to include an mp3 IN CONTEXT..

I clearly respond to his sarcasm with some of my own about ideas.. THEN — Michelle — I tell him I affected positive change in the election.  What positive change Michelle?  The positive change of a more educated electorate.  I go on to say.. there are many who are democrats like Chris who voted democrat on Tuesday.. but, because of my show they were better educated and prepared.  Do I think I influenced the election?  No.  Did I affect positive change?  You bet.  Listen to the mp3.  I look forward to your apology for being so dead wrong about the context of my comments.

You should be embarrassed.

He includes the link I have already sent him. in the above email.

Me:  Ten Minutes Eleven Seconds (I included the link again.)

Me:  Then later on you said to me that you DIDN’T say that you had affected positive change.  And you started your name calling.  I didn’t call you any names.  And you have started to it again here.  Try to be the big smart man you claim to be and stop lying and name calling.

Me:  I sent you the damn link first, Joe.

PagLIARulo replies:

you have lost.  I look forward to your apology.  Never said I didn’t affect positive change.  Your lame little question was “do you think you influenced the election?”  I said no.  Listen again.. learn about context.. I look forward to your apology.  In life, we sometimes win.. we sometimes lose.. you have lost this won miserably.

Thanks for hatin!

PagLIARulo, again:

watch your language..

awaiting your apology.. you really are making yourself look bad here.

nice try though

Me:  God you are dense.  I asked if you had any proof that you influenced the election and you said no.  You do know that a synonym for affect is influence, right?  They mean the same thing.  First you said that you had affected positive change and then when I called you on it you lied and said that you hadn’t said it.
That lie is on you not me.
Sincerely,
Michelle

Me:  I didn’t mean to offend your tender sensibilities, Joe.  I had no idea you were such a shrinking violet.  Man up.
Sincerely,
Michelle

PagLIARulo back again:

hahah.. can’t admit it huh?  The context of my conversation with Chris matters.. and so does the wording of your question to me.  I didn’t influence the election.. I affected positive change — and I explained that meant a better educated electorate.  Hahah.. English must be new for you.  Two very very different things indeed, Michelle.

Write back if you’re ready to apologize.  Otherwise, don’t expect a further response.  I’m wasting my time offering fact to someone as hard-headed as you obviously are.

Me:  Joe, again, influence and affect have the same meaning.  Look it up in a dictionary.  Sure context is important and you stated, “Do I think I affected change in the election?  No.”  And here you are in this email saying the same thing.  The two words have the same meaning.
You are as thick as a brick.
Sincerely,
Michelle

Ridiculous PagLIARulo:

you’re making me uncomfortable.  I’m married.. stop hitting on me.

I await your apology.

EWEWEWEWEWEWEWWWWWWW!1!11!!!!!!1!

Me:  “I affected positive change.”  “Do I think that I affected change in the election?  No.”
Which is it, Joe?
You are more of a flip-flopper that Mitt Romney.  At least more than a few hours had passed when Mitt flipped.
Sincerely,
Michelle

Creepy PagLIARulo reply:

you’re so cute.. say the words.. type em out.  “I’m sorry, talk show boy.”

you can do it!

you can do it!

<shudder>

Basically, that makes two lies I have caught the liar in and I’ve just gotten started!

Just Wondering

Work is busy, and with the kittens and the garden and all of the other things going on, I was just wondering how much effect talk radio has on votes.

Past elections, even the recent primaries at least here in Texas make me doubt their efficacy.

While all of the local Republican talk stations have supported Perry (and he won the primary), I don’t think that’s saying much.  The Tea Party people tried to take on the Republican party here in Texas and were defeated.  The only exception might be they guy up for Tax Assessor, but he wasn’t championed by the talk radio clique.  They were able to get their establishment Republicans on the ballot and now try to be Teabaggers.  It’s more than a little embarrassing — and sad for the Teabaggers.  They couldn’t even capture the Harris County Republican chairman.

Dan Patrick hasn’t done so well in getting his pet candidates elected — they all seem to be crazy.

Michale Berry decides that he will die on his sword fighting SJL and Bill White.  I still think that the anti-incumbent wave will hit Perry in the face and talk radio will go down in flames again (knock knock knock, twu, twu twu).

Back in 2008, all of talk radio, both national and local was against John McCain.  He still won the nomination quite easily.

In 2006, talk radio defeated their own people on immigration, but just like with Afghanistan, took their eyes off the ball and lost the House.

Michale Berry claims to have the largest listening audience at 5:00 drive time in the city, and yet he can only muster 15K people on his Facebook, despite flogging it every day.  And that’s in a city of 3 million +.  His station is 11th in the area and that means that the other talk radio stations are below that.

I just wonder if there is anyone listening who could be convinced.  Sean Hannity claims to have people who are call in.  (Or at least he used to.)  I don’t listen to Limbaugh or Hannity much anymore, mostly because they have just been repeating themselves for three years now and they didn’t prove effectual in the last two elections, so why bother?

I’m beginning to think the same thing about local talk radio.  It’s the same old thing.  “Government Cheese” (Reagan!).  Does anyone even remember what that was about?  It reveals a lot about their audience.  “Save our freedoms and our liberties!”  Please, if nothing else, they have had a field day.

I’m just wondering . . . could this vision of grandeur be something that is just that?  The Teabaggers have been defeated here in Texas — I can’t see them forgetting what Michale Berry, Pat Grey and Glenn Beck did to them anytime soon.  Elsewhere in the country they have to defend some of the most extreme candidates since David Duke.

I’m actually cautiously optimistic about next month.

 

This is What People like Michale Berry Do Not Get

Today, Michale Berry spent his time on the radio crying about how President Obama didn’t go speak to the homophobic Boy Scouts organization.  (The fact that Berry supports Perry for gov and Perry “wrote” a book about the Scouts might have something to do with that.)  Of course he got a dig in at Sheila Jackson Lee and Bill White, but most of the time he was mocking black people.  You can get a pretty good idea of how Berry feels about black people from how he tries to mock the way he THINKS they all talk.

(I has  a SAD.  I couldn’t get my audios file up.  Just listen here and see if you don’t get what I’m talking about.)

(Curious how few callers he had) — Michale hopes that his listeners accept his excuse that he had so many things to talk about.  But really, Michale is just filling time.  Nobody really calls anymore.  Not even me.

Let’s put this in perspective.  Today a man who was wrongly convicted of rape TWENTY SEVEN YEARS AGO was not released (on bond?  why is there any bond or anything?) as scheduled.  Why?  He got a little pissed off at being shackled hand and foot, so he spends yet another night in jail for nothing.  This is how black Americans have been treated for years.  You behave — even if all of us were wrong and you were right — you BEHAVE!  It’s disgusting.  I’m pretty sure my choice for the inevitable Republican for District Attorney (Jim Leitner) wouldn’t have made this mistake.

It’s a well known, though little talked about fact that the “law and order” Republicans see the justice system as a way to reduce the number of black Americans able to vote.  Their thinking goes along the lines of hit black Americans with everything available and legislate even more ways to make sure a good percentage of blacks get caught up in the penal system.  If a few whites do too, well they represent a larger group and their punishment can be reduced based on the offense.

Just look at how long it took to black farmers to finally (maybe not, sadly, again) to get a settlement from the USDA.  Show me the white farmers with the same grievances.  Oh yeah, they are all of the wealthy farmers living of of government subsidies and bellyaching about the Bush tax cuts expiring.  Right.

I’ve written about this sort of thing before, but not nearly as much as I should have.

This makes me very angry and very sad at the same time.  Listening to Michale Berry today mock black people — while claiming that he didn’t have enough time to get to all of his supposed topics — just made me mad.

And then I realized something.  Michale Berry doesn’t care about black people singularly or in general.  Michale Berry cares about Michale Berry.  Anything he says will not reflect badly on the Republican party because he’s no longer a real player — except to be a handmaiden to Glenn Beck.  In other words, he’s just a tool.  A means to an end.

And so, I don’t feel so angry or mad because you know what?  I can mock him here on my little blog and he links to it and Kevin Whited links to it and every one of their readers turn out to be lame numskull cowards — or paid lackeys.

Here I am.  I support the Innocence Project.  I support the Southern Poverty Law Center.  I support LULAC and La Raza.  And the NAACP.  And Amnesty International and UNICEF.

I don’t support Texas Direct Auto, Gulf Coast Siding, and now IKEA (learn something new every day), or Houston Siding, nor any of the other people who peddle in the hope of making a buck off of the racist audience of Michale Berry.

Gah (vomit) in listening to him to capture the audio I forgot how he falsely accused a Spanish speaker of focusing on Spanish pronunciation.

About Shirley Sherrod

There’s something that has been lost in all of the commotion about Ms. Sherrod and what Andrew Breitbart did to her:  she has obviously worked for years to help all types of people keep their family farms.  This is a long term mission for her.  Perhaps I noticed this because I have started my own little garden and I also remember what sank my grandfather’s farm.  In other words, family farms have been fighting for decades just to stay alive.   It also brings back memories of the dust bowl and the specter of agribusiness.
Ms. Sherrod has devoted her life to helping family farmers.   She has fought against banks. She has actually helped people in a tangible way.

That’s why I was so sad yesterday — so dejected.  If a woman like her could be dragged though mud by a person like Andrew Breitbart, then no one — no one is safe.  No good anyone does will be rewarded without the possibility of someone like Breitbart attacking.

What happened is clear.  Brietbart had a video in hand and published it on the Monday after all of the discussion about racists in the tea party people.  It was his attempt at exacting a piece of flesh.  It’s also clear that he didn’t give one whit about Ms. Sherrod.

The same bloggers who pounch on and/or make things up, pounced on the video and false characterization and I watched it, hoping that someone somewhere would ask the question — is this accurate?

Finally yesterday morning, I saw one hot link on memeorandum — it was from the Atlanta paper.  It had an interview with Ms. Sherrod.  I clicked that mother fucking link on every computer I could log onto.  Why?  Because it discredited everything Brietbart had said.  Everything.  I’m certain that there were many people like me who clicked on that link, knowing that it would rise to the top of memeorandum.  We may not be big blogger types or radio types, but we can push a story, too, even on a wingnut site like memorandum.

When did someone anywhere say WTF?  If you believe Kathleen, she did, as well as others who travel in her circles (she seems to only read the Corner).  But truth be told, Kathleen’s friends were the first ones on the bandwagon to call Ms. Sherrod a racist.  You will have to look at their blogs/facebook 😦 pages to see if they have apologized.  Here’s what Michela Berry had to say on his teenage facebook page:

Federal Official resigns after caught on tape making racist remarks against white farmer at NAACP event…Andrew Breitbart released the tape which shows Shirley Sherrod, USDA’s Georgia State Director of Rural Development, admitting that she did not help a farm with ‘full force’ because he was white. Interestingly the NAACP crowd was not outraged by the incident. NAACP put out a statement about Sherrod saying, “Racism is about the abuse of power. Sherrod had it in her position at USDA. According to her remarks, she mistreated a white farmer in need of assistance because of his race.”

Michela hasn’t corrected anything. I didn’t expect him to. He just lies and lies and lies.

At any rate, Kathleen claims to have been sole support for Ms. Sherrod.  Given what I have read about Ms. Sherrod’s view of FOX News, Kathleen might not feel so comfortable having a beer with her.

But let’s get back to the main point I have:  for years — decades — farming policy has been dominated by big agribusiness.  Family farms have struggled to survive — and I am not talking about “family” agribusiness farms — just simple family farms.  Capitalism would dictate that the large companies win — little family farms can’t compete — look at any industry and tell me that consolidation doesn’t happen when the market is left to itself.

It’s my hope that this mess will lead to a greater examination of what Ms. Sherrod was working on and perhaps bring some media attention to it.

As an addendum:  Kathleen doesn’t seem to have heard that Ms. Sherrod is no fan of Fox News and proclaims:

She said Fox showed no professionalism in continuing to bother her for an interview, but failing to correct their coverage.

“I think they should but they won’t. They intended exactly what they did. They were looking for the result they got yesterday,” she said of Fox. “I am just a pawn. I was just here. They are after a bigger thing, they would love to take us back to where we were many years ago. Back to where black people were looking down, not looking white folks in the face, not being able to compete for a job out there and not be a whole person.”

Still, Fox continued to push for an interview with her, Sherrod said.

“It was unbelievable. I am refusing to be on there. They have been calling me and calling me. I have refused to do an interview because they are biased,” she explained. “I don’t think Fox News does it fairly. It is worse so now. I have sat and listened to the way they cover the news even before this administration and I saw what was going on.”

Sherrod said this situation has worsened her view of racism in media coverage.

“I think it is race. You think we have come a long way in terms of race relations in this country, but we keep going backwards,” she said. “We have become more racist. This was their doing, Breitbart put that together misrepresenting what I was saying and Fox carried it.”

And reading this, Kathleen says:

This is what happens when one is constantly on the defensive, and trying to control the narrative. Pres. Obama and the left need to stop worrying about Fox News, the blogs, and radio talk show hosts, and DO THEIR JOB.

I guess because Kathleen nor Michela read anything but Fox sites they missed that interview.

John Faulk Duct Tape Fetishist and other Republican Oddities

Where to start?  Let’s start with John Faulk.  He’s a good guy, right?  He’s white.  He’s a guy.  That means his campaign will do something like this:

In little type you can read, “paid for by Faulk for Congress Campaign.”

That’s just dandy.  I had another Republican suggest the same about me back in the day.  It must be some sort of movie charged fantasy they all have, like how they all thought 24 was real.  Those white kids are living the dream of duct taping other people.  It’s fun, don’t ya know 😉  Sick is what I call it.

Michael Berry figures out how to find old speeches (poor simpleton learns himself something) and now not only is MLK a Republican, but Barbara Jordan is as well.  Sigh.  Yes he went there.  My guess is that he has never heard of Miles Davis, never heard of the justified anger African Americans have had about their past.  Why would he?  He’s a white man running a white man radio station complaining about non-whites for 4 to 6 hours a day, while making others do his work for him.  He got a vacation out of it didn’t he?  Ride that gravy train Michael!1!!1!1!  In the fall Michael will get lots of money from duct tape John Faulk.  Lots of money.

Republicans, Tea party people, you are making Michael Berry rich.  Do you realize that Michael Berry and Pat Grey and Glenn Beck smashed your tea party point last march?  All of the money you give to John Faulk will go to Michael Berry and Dan Patrick.  The advertising dollars (all of the dollars almost) will go to them.  In a sense, you are voting for them, not your candidate.  And they are all white guy all of the time.

Remember duct tape.

Happy Earth Day

Unless you live on the Gulf Coast and care about it.

The rig that exploded (I linked to it yesterday) in the Gulf sank today and is spewing an estimated 8 THOUSAND barrels of oil a day.  BP is a part of this disaster.  Nothing new around these parts.

One of the survivors says that the 11 missing were burned up in the explosion.

Like I said yesterday, no one has ever died installing a solar panel.  And had we worked to install solar panels on every house in the country for the last thirty years, we wouldn’t be in this mess now.

But HL&P (now Reliant) couldn’t have made as much money if everyone in this sunny region sent energy back to them; Exxon couldn’t have made so much money if people recharged their electric cars at home with energy they captured from the sun.

Just how many people have died pulling oil out of the ground?  Has it been worth it?  How many people have died in coal mines?  Has that been worth it?

I would love to say today, on this Earth Day, that I only get energy from the sun or wind.  I’m part way there, but that’s not enough.

Will this disaster get nearly the coverage that the tea party people did last week?  Looks like the answer is no.

Doing Michael Berry’s Job for Him

Last week, Michael Berry of local radio’s Clear Channel stations, stated that he doesn’t work on the weekends.  While it’s always been obvious, it was more so this weekend.

Berry’s sniffling host when the Astos aren’t playing/after the game for 2 or fewer hours on Sundays, Lores Rizcalla, isn’t familiar with her local co-workers, specifically Chris Tritico, who does what she does, but on Saturdays, and who has also been with the station for a lot longer than she has.  I see this as a failure of management.  Seriously, Berry should spend less time trying to get me to go out to lunch with him and more time on introducing his talent to each other.

Today Lores actually agreed with a caller complaining about Tritico being a Democrat and advising that listeners should just turn their radios off when he comes on.  Michael?  Hello?  I don’t blame Lores.  She can’t be expected to familiarize herself with the programming of the station she works for.  Seriously, it’s too much to ask her to follow baseball on Sundays so she might know if a game gets rained out and she might need to come in.  I lay the blame for that at Michael Berry’s feet.  As we all know, an employee’s failure is a reflection on management.

But never fear!  I have alerted Michael to the problem, and I assure you, he will remedy it.

Now, what he will do about the person choosing the bumper music for Lores is quite another matter.  Today that person chose the American Idol elimination song to end Lores’ show.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAAHHAHAHA!!!!1!1!!111!!!1!

Conflict at KTRH, KPRC

Tune into local Houston stations KTRH or KPRC lately and you will hear the personalities crying about the national deficit or debt.  (The two are very different, but I have given up on trying to argue that, just like I have given up trying to explain the difference between economic vs. political ways to organize a state, i.e. the the socialist vs. democracy argument yadda yadda yadda).

According to Pat Shinn on KTRH this afternoon — the U.S. ranks 6th in debt to GDP ratio within the G8.  Sure there are ongoing talks with the Chinese (who manipulate their currency to keep their deficit where it is and you all who buy shit without looking where it is made contribute to it), but there are other countries — not Canada — that are in worse shit than we are.

Will this fact make any difference in the ongoing debate about the deficit/debt?  No.  Just like no one in the media — including every last person (except Pat Shinn) at KTRH and KPRC — will ever acknowledge that the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan — the most costly parts — were kept off the books until President Obama made the biggest transparency move of all:  putting the wars on the the books.  No one will ever acknowledge that — especially at KTRH or KPRC.

I also listened to Natalie this afternoon.  From what she said, everyone knows about the Houston connections to talk radio and Beck attacking Medina and there seems to be a lawsuit in the works.

Please look at Beck’s website.  The seed conspiracy is more of a dupe/snake oil thing than the ‘buy gold’ thing, but there it is.  And it’s all under KTRH’s URL.  It’s all entertainment, right?  Beck is also planning an event on August 28th this year.  He’s calling it, “Restoring Honor.”  But look closer and you will see that Beck gets his chunk of change before anything goes to the charity,

All contributions made to the Special Operations Warrior Foundation (SOWF) will first be applied to the costs of the Restoring Honor Rally taking place on August 28, 2010.

How charitable of the clearly well-compensated Beck.  It’s much like Hannity’s self promotion concerts.

And we go along and think this is discourse or something.  I never thought I would say it, but I hope AM radio dies — and soon.

In the meantime, President Obama has John Walsh on his team at this point.  Walsh even acknowledged — actually praised the pres for getting it passed  —  that the stimulus bill kept law enforcement officers employed.