The U.S. could learn a thing or two from the Netherlands
Every time I come to the Netherlands, I cant help think that the United States could learn a thing or two from the Dutch. Over the last week I've watched their incredible capacity to move people using their mass transit system while at the same time reaping the results of their investment into an infrastructure which encourages people to use human-energy-propulsion methods.
They employ a version of the “hub system” similar to what the top airlines have been forced to embrace as a cost cutting philosophy to become more efficient. The hub system develops hubs to which all feeder routes converge and connect. The Dutch do this so effectively with their cities as the natural hub where everyone wants to go. And I mean everyone.
In Amsterdam for example, there is an incredible array of choices for the commuter to get from the outer suburbs into the incredible city of Amsterdam. And all of the various forms of mass transit have been developed to feed off of and take advantage of the Dutch people's love affair with the bicycle.
The mass transit systems are well thought out and well maintained. For the commuters, this means that you get incredibly efficient, incredibly clean, safe, and very cheap mass transit to the hub city of Amsterdam, and once you are there, you can continue to rely on their mass transit system in and around the city as well. Or you can do as the natives do and grab a bike.
And when you examine the system closer, the bicycle is the key that sets Holland's system apart from any other big city with a subway or commuter trains system. One of the first things visitors to Amsterdam notice are the thousands of bikes locked everywhere they are allowed, but even more impressive to someone from the United States are the huge bicycle parking lots.
Michael Jackson's Death: I Don't Want to Know More Than the Legacy of His Music
My friend asked me this morning if I was going to write about the death of Michael Jackson, and my answer was “maybe.” Why would you even hesitate to comment on a story like the demise of the “King of Pop?”
Maybe it’s because in one way, at one point in my life I was really impressed by this young man’s talent, and recognized him as one of the most musically gifted people of modern times, at least since John Lennon. Maybe it’s because after that period of awe, I began to see the terrible effects of celebrity on what turned out to be just another human being. Michael Jackson at his death was a poster boy for the cliché “Be careful what you wish for.”
This good looking, show-stage effeminate young man transformed into a hideous testament against plastic surgery. His private life went from one of unbelievable creativity to a tail-spin of one bizarre action after another. What good does all that money do if you cannot be happy? Money and fame is something that many people dream about all their lives, but until you’ve achieved it, you’ll have no idea what it can cost you.
Michael Jackson is not the first casualty of fame and fortune. The list starts before Jesus Christ, and goes on through time all the way to yesterday when the news broke that Michael Jackson was dead at the age of 50. Fame is gained at the cost of anonymity, which in turn marks the end of normalcy. To the ranks of the rich and famous, normalcy equals boredom. To many of those same people normalcy equals obsession and extravagance that goes beyond the bounds anything anyone could consider healthy. Michael crossed all borders of normalcy and seems to have been obsessed with being white and constantly surrounded by adolescent boys.
Michael Jackson will be remembered in mention for a couple more generations, at least as long as his sixth studio album, Thriller, holds the record for “Best Selling Album of All-Time” with over one hundred million units sold. That record will likely hold strong for some time, as his closest contenders are all following the number two album, AC/DC’s Back in Black with around forty-five million sold, not even half of what Thriller sold.
Neil Rogers: "Retires!" and gives it to WQAM in the "Rectum?"
When we heard of the apparent over-sight in former talk-show host Neil Roger’s contract with 560 WQAM which allowed management to fire his longtime producer and side-kick Jorge Rodriguez, we should have known that even “Neil God” was vulnerable (“You are correct Sir!”). Well it happened, and Friday marked the end of an era in South Florida radio when Neil Rogers aired his last show after accepting WQAM’s offer to buy out the remaining time on his contract.
Despite Neil’s vow to work to the very end of his newly signed 5-year contract out of sheer spite to piss-off WQAM’s General Manager, Joe Bell, and anti-fart-sound-activist, Beasley Broadcast Group attorney Joyce Fitch (which rhymes with….well you know) apparently the Beasley’s (to coin a phrase from one of Neil’s favorite movies – in the voice of Marlon Brando as Godfather Vito Corleone) "made him an offer he couldn’t refuse.”
But what’s good for Neil is bad for South Florida, because we’ve lost a legend of the airwaves. The famously inconsolable Neil was often mixed with waves of static because of a weak signal, which maybe in some ways just made us listen closer. Obviously the Beasley’s know very little about the radio business even though they are up to their necks in it. How do you pay a man what has been reported on his previous contract to have been making $1.5 million per year and then transmit his show with a signal so weak, broadcasts from Cuba would often bleed over Neil’s famous tirades about the grim reality of life on this earth from A to Z?
Really though, Neil Rogers is just another Beasley Broadcast casualty as they commit radio Hari Kari and one by one fire all their big name talent. If I were “Mad Dog” Jim Mandich, who handles the 4 to 7 p.m. slot, or the “Big Dog” Joe Rose, who handles the morning drive slot, I’d be brushing up my resume and preparing for the axe to fall any day now. In all fairness though, both of them do have a couple things going for them that neither Jorge nor Neil had. They both have nicknames with “Dog” in them, and they’re both former Miami Dolphin football players. After all WQAM is the station “where football always matters.”
But it seems that being a jock or “sport-hole” isn’t enough to keep your job on WQAM. Sports gurus and gambling mavens, Ed Kaplan, and “The Hammer” Hank Goldberg couldn’t escape Joe Bell’s imitation of Jason, (the mad-slasher from Friday the 13th) and all they talked about was sports and sports betting. I guess it helps to work really cheap, though it’s been reported that Ed Kaplan offered to do the job for no pay from the Beasley’s if he could just keep his endorsements and commercial fees.
Maybe the key secret to keeping your job at WQAM is the cliché, “don’t bite the hand that feeds you.” In other words, “I’m yer frayend!” All of the big-name WQAM casualties at one time or another bitched or moaned about management, the studios, or “Jolly Joe Bell.” But none did it more often and more harshly than “Uncle” Neil. In one way, it’s amazing that he lasted as long as he did.
"God is Great!" But Can't He Show Some Mercy in Iran?
Freedom of expression and liberty is a funny thing, once you get the taste in your mouth it’s a bitter-sweet taste, and you just can’t get rid of it. That’s what’s happened to the Iranian people. They went into this presidential election thinking their vote meant something, and when their millions of votes were disregarded and swatted at like a swarm of pesky mosquitoes they took to the streets after they heard the results of the #iranelection.
When we saw the numbers of protesters and their persistence, many of us knew it would eventually turn to bloodshed, and that’s what has come to pass. Now it is a contest, of the human will and fortitude of the protesters against the government’s willingness to slaughter their own citizens to stay in power.
Dozens have already been killed, and since the foreign press has been expelled and the few that remain have been restrained from reporting anything other than the state controlled news feed, nobody can be sure how many dozens. The images we’re receiving are posted to the internet by courageous and savvy young Iranians who know how to manipulate the internet better than the clerics and the government controlled militias in power. The pictures that have pierced through the net are not pretty.
We saw the same kind of situation unfold in the Tiananmen Square protests in China, twenty years ago, in which the government triumphed after seven weeks of protests. The Chinese Government had absolutely no mercy and it is estimated that they killed over 2,000 protesters and wounded close to 10,000 others.
However there are major differences between the two situations. The Iranian military is by no means as strong and numbered as the Chinese military and it is doubtful that they are as singularly programmed. But perhaps the most significant difference is the religion factor, the influence of Islam. The Chinese had been a society that by the time the eighties had been reached they were a society which had been created with the absence of religion for generations. The Iranians are just the opposite. They are a people who for the last thirty years have been living in a strict Islamic theocracy. The political structure in power is the result of a theocratic revolution that has shaped generations of Iranians to hold true to the tenets of Islam.
Conservatism Takes a Hit in the USA and now in Iran
The Republicans, especially presidential loser Senator John McCain have been criticizing presidential winner President Barack Obama’s low-key stance on the massive protests taking place in Iran over the obviously rigged presidential election last week. In doing so no one should be surprised as it is only the Republicans living up to their moniker as “Conservatives”.
Dictionary.com's Number One definition for “conservative” reads as follows:
-adjective
1. disposed to preserve existing conditions, institutions, etc., or to restore traditional ones, and to limit change.
Their leaderless, rudderless stance as the new party of “No” and insignificance, as well as their efforts to outwardly oppose everything President Obama has endorsed or said, have found themselves on the short end of the stick on every issue because of the President’s continuing popularity.
But it’s really no surprise because they are only doing what conservatism tells them they must, they oppose all change, no matter how incremental, or how much they profess to want change.
With Iran, they are staying true to form. John McCain wants President Obama to speak out in support of the opposition movement, even though most experts on the subject of Iran agree that that would only empower the current regime by proving that America still wishes to interfere with Iran’s domestic policies and governance. It was that history of meddling in Iranian politics that sparked the Islamic Revolution in 1979, and the storming of the American Embassy in Tehran.
Conservatives wish to continue the politics of political posturing with little force to back it. That is surely preservation of the existing conditions and the American institution of a three-decade-old hostility towards Iran. When will the Republicans learn that being the earth’s chief bully is not always the best political or diplomatic path to follow?
Rhode Island Governor Vetoes Law to Allow Medical Marijuana Sales
As expected Rhode Island Governor Don Carcieri vetoed legislation that would have allowed dispensaries to sell medical marijuana to the state's approximately 600 registered medical patients permitted by the state to possess up to 2.5 ounces of marijuana and up to 12 cannabis plants.
The bill was passed by the state’s lawmakers a few weeks ago and had been sent to the Governor’s office for signing into law. In a written statement, Republican Governor Carcieri said that permitting the manufacture and sale of drugs illegal under federal law would send the wrong message to children about use.
The bill’s sponsor State Representative Thomas Slater said that though the exact date has not yet been set, the House and Senate leaders have promised to hold a veto override vote.
The absurdity of Governor Carcieri’s statement sends another wrong message to the children of the more than 6oo registered medical marijuana patients and any other man women or child who has ever suffered a severe illness. In essence he is stating that although the State of Rhode Island recognizes that marijuana can help them stave off the suffering, the state refuses to provide them safe access to their medicine. Governor Carcieri is telling the citizens of all ages in the State of Rhode Island that it is okay to purchase medicine on the black-market, and that it is okay to support the drug cartels and organized crime.
D-Day Conquers Twitter - Remember?
If you were on Twitter last night, you know that “D-Day” held the top spot in the Trending Topics for several hours. A very appropriate achievement since yesterday, June 6th, was the 65th anniversary of the D-Day landing on the Normandy coast in France. D-Day was the beginning of the end of World War II, with around 10,000 allied casualties, men either killed, wounded, missing, or captured.
For those of us who were baby-boomers, children created as a result of the returning troops, and the end of the war, D-Day is almost as real, as those who actually lived through it. We had the dead uncles, and heard the stories first-hand over and over again from the survivors of D-Day, the war in the Pacific, and all the other battles and support troops of “The War to End All Wars”.
By the time we had reached our teens, we had heard every anecdotal war story, to the point that we could lip-sync the major talking-points, and we had seen every black-and-white World War II film many times over. We were a bunch of peace-freaks created by living through the Vietnam War, tired of hearing about World War II, the Korean War, and just plain sick of war. It’s no wonder that we took to the streets to protest the Vietnam War, much to the dismay of our parents and all the other veterans.
Yet as you get older, for some reason, you naturally begin to appreciate your roots and your parents, and realize not only their value, but also the unselfish gifts they had given you that you’d previously taken for granted. For the sons and daughters of the World War II generation, aside from our parents’ seemingly bottomless well of love and devotion to making our lives better than theirs had been, the victory that started on D-Day was their greatest gift to us.
If you were on Twitter last night, you saw reverent and irreverent posts about D-Day. Those who acknowledged the importance of D-Day were either baby-boomers or “Thirty-to-Forty-Somethings”, who had paid attention to the all-day news coverage of President Obama’s visit to Normandy. The rest were probably just Tweeters playing the trends trying to get followers.
Barack Obama Delivers a Speech that Defines the Day in Cairo
Some days the words of one man or woman are so powerful, and so far above any actions or any other words that are uttered on that day, the words alone define that day for the rest of history. Many would disagree for a myriad of reasons, but today, President Barack Hussein Obama defined June 4th as the day he challenged the entire world to peace.
His speech in Cairo, Egypt to a predominantly Muslim audience challenged those present, challenged the followers of Islam throughout the world, challenged the West, challenged Israel, challenged Palestine, Hamas, Iran and Americans alike to leave the stereotypical hate of the past behind, and to form a new coalition of peace, tolerance and prosperity based on mutual respect and goals.
On their own, these are not new challenges, but the manner in which they were delivered, in the setting they were delivered, and the courage with which the words were spoken were historical. President Obama didn't just declare his challenges to those with whom we are normally at odds, but to the American people as well.
As in other speeches, President Obama renewed a recurrent theme that in order to find peace and progress, we needed to focus on our similarities more than our differences, while at the same time respecting each others' rights to those differences.
It is with all the deepest respect to a man with whom I don't always agree, that I present his words in their entirety. Sometimes one man's or woman's words define the day, and today is such a day.
William S. James, Privileged
Speech by President Barack Obama in the Grand Hall of Cairo University on June 4th, 2009
I am honored to be in the timeless city of Cairo, and to be hosted by two remarkable institutions. For over a thousand years, Al-Azhar has stood as a beacon of Islamic learning, and for over a century, Cairo University has been a source of Egypt's advancement. Together, you represent the harmony between tradition and progress. I am grateful for your hospitality, and the hospitality of the people of Egypt. I am also proud to carry with me the goodwill of the American people, and a greeting of peace from Muslim communities in my country: assalaamu alaykum.
We meet at a time of tension between the United States and Muslims around the world — tension rooted in historical forces that go beyond any current policy debate. The relationship between Islam and the West includes centuries of co-existence and cooperation, but also conflict and religious wars. More recently, tension has been fed by colonialism that denied rights and opportunities to many Muslims, and a Cold War in which Muslim-majority countries were too often treated as proxies without regard to their own aspirations. Moreover, the sweeping change brought by modernity and globalization led many Muslims to view the West as hostile to the traditions of Islam.
Violent extremists have exploited these tensions in a small but potent minority of Muslims. The attacks of September 11th, 2001 and the continued efforts of these extremists to engage in violence against civilians has led some in my country to view Islam as inevitably hostile not only to America and Western countries, but also to human rights. This has bred more fear and mistrust.
New Hampshire Legalizes Gay Marriage: One Small Step For Equality
Today, proponents of equality, liberty and individual freedom have a small reason to celebrate, as New Hampshire becomes the sixth state out of fifty to legalize same-sex marriage.
It is a small step because it is a struggle for equality that is not embraced by the federal government, or a majority of Americans, and represents ground that must be taken state by state. Representing one of the smallest states in the nation based on its total population of 1.3 million people, New Hampshire ranks 41st, but that’s not what makes this such a small step. We recently witnessed the rise and fall of same-sex marriage in California, the largest state in the nation, go from the joy of triumph, to defeat in the polls, to defeat in court, and then to new found sorrow and back to inequality, within a matter of months.
What should be such an easy decision, granting equal rights in a union recognized as marriage between two loving consenting adults, comes very difficult for those who profess to be inspired by the man who they claim had divine levels of forgiveness.
Abortion Doctor Killed in the Name of Christ in the House of God
On Sunday, the number of doctors who perform late-term-abortions in the United States dropped from three to two, when Dr. George Tiller was shot to death while attending church in Wichita, Kansas.
The irony that the doctor who performed legal, albeit controversial abortions was killed in a church by a man murdering in the name of God is another sign of the danger posed by the Right-Wing media, and the vocal Ultra-Far-Right. The shooter, 51-year-old Scott Roeder is not the first person to attempt to kill the man the conservative movement had labeled “Tiller-the-baby-killer”. Dr. Tiller had previously been shot in both arms, and had seen his clinic bombed and vandalized.
Law enforcement believe that Roeder had some connections to the Montana Freemen, who rejected federal authority, were opposed to the banking system, and believed that killing abortion doctors was justified because of the babies lives that they saved. On the website of the Wichita based anti-abortion activist group Operation Rescue, a person identifying himself as Scott Roeder posted “Tiller is the concentration camp ‘Mengele’ of our day and needs to be stopped before he and those who protect him bring judgment upon our nation.”
The Freedom to Say a Product Sucks: Magix Movie Edit Pro 15
Life is all about freedom, and one of the things that once made the United States a world power was the ability of its people to innovate in a free market society. Anyone with two nickels and some ingenuity could start an empire if they were willing to work like a dog to get their idea or product off the ground.
That same history of innovation and historic capacity to produce created the greatest consumers the world has ever known. Americans expect choice, quality and price and we are willing to camp out overnight in a cold Walmart parking lot, facing possible death, to get first crack at a sensational buy. It was with that American consumer spirit that I began searching for new video editing software.
A firm believer in doing my homework, I began reading the online reviews, and on my lunch hours, began skulking around software aisles in electronics and office supply stores. My first mistake was that I had decided that I wanted an actual CD as opposed to an internet downloaded version.
In today’s world holding the actual piece of plastic is worthless and even worse, if it sucks you are stuck with it because most software is only returnable if it is faulty, if it just sucks, you have no recourse and your money is lost. Buying software nowadays is like buying a new automobile or pair of shoes, you’re an idiot if you buy a car without a test-drive, you’re a fool if you buy a pair of shoes without trying them on, and you’re asking to get ripped off if you purchase software without a trial period.
Enter Magix Edit Pro 15. The packaging is well-done, they have a smiling little blond girl, a fuzzy white puppy and a beautiful sunset right on the cover, it’s hard to resist. Its descriptive copy reads like the video editing studio of Lucas Films, with all of the latest features needed to create dazzling videos from video clips and photographs, to Dolby surround sound, chroma key effects, and effortless burning.
From the moment I broke the seal on that box, and effectively flushed my money down the toilet, Magix Edit Pro 15 has delivered one disappointment after another. Each step of the way, I have been affronted by error messages, and the inability to accomplish even the simplest of goals, let alone a full video presentation with a mix of images, video clips, transitions, titles, and audio.
Is the Constitution ineffective in today’s world?
The United States Constitution is arguably one of the greatest instruments of governance ever written, yet more and more our government seems to be intimating that in today’s world, it just doesn’t work.
Our government, through its actions leads us to believe that the Constitution is ineffective against issues such as abortion, the freedom of religion, marriage, street violence, drug use and abuse, vehicles of communication such as the phone, television, radio and the internet, the economy, the banking system, and since the terrorist attacks of September 11th, 2001, it seems that the Constitution falls way short of fighting terrorism according to the rule of law.
First Bush and Cheney, (or was it really Cheney and Bush?), touted the Patriot Act on the heels of 9/11 and soon thereafter the Bush Administration developed the legal loophole that by keeping terrorists suspects and criminal captives outside of U.S. territory, we could hold them indefinitely without formal charges ever being brought. Then the Reign of Terror went even a step further, and they did all sorts of legal gymnastics to justify the use of terror in their own minds. Based on the documents which have recently been released and the post-administration speech campaign by former Vice President Dick Cheney, their legal gymnastics performance was nowhere near a 10. There were so many holes in the logic applied that the Constitutional judges of that performance would be hard-pressed score the Bush presidency higher than a 3.5 or a 4.
How Ronald Reagan hurt the GOP and the USA
Mention Ronald Reagan, and Republicans bow their heads in homage to St. Ronald as if he he’d been the Messiah of the conservative movement. Anyone who wants to become a mover and a shaker in the Republican party better make sacred reference to Ronald Reagan, and after they finish painting glowing imagery of the conservative knight in shining armor, they’d better drop to their knees and ask Rush Limbaugh for forgiveness for their sins.
That is the rite of first communion into the GOP. So why is the party shrinking faster than the polar icecaps, which according to Republicans are not shrinking, the same people who believe the whole lie of global warming is just a socialist plot to restrict big business? The answer is Ronald Reagan.
Before you burn me at the stake for patriotic blasphemy I’ll give you a liberal’s point of view on how Ronald Reagan single-handedly sent the GOP onto their path towards extinction, and how Reagan politics played a major role into getting this country into the mess we’re in today. History may one day show, that Ronald Reagan was one of the worst presidents in our nation’s history, not because he was ineffective, not because he was incompetent, but because he popularized hate, and bigotry, and made it politically correct to hold the middle and lower class people in total disdain in order to elevate the wealthy to super-wealthy no matter what the cost to our nation.
Jorge Rodriguez Gets Shmit-Canned from WQAM
It was a sad day for South Florida radio Thursday, when the listening community learned that the rumors had come to fruition, and Jorge Rodriguez, producer and longtime sidekick for the Neil Rogers Show had been “shmit” canned from 560 WQAM.
The subject of Jorge’s forced departure from the show had been surfacing so often that many listeners in the audience thought that it was some kind of shtick to fill airtime. What made it even harder to believe was Neil’s claim that “Norma Can’t”, his attorney and agent had written his contract to give Neil the right to choose his own producer. Apparently Norma lived up to his name, “You Fairy!” If anyone should be fired, it should be that “Ass-clown” Norma. Of course even that would be too late to help Jorge.
Aside from producing the show, Jorge had one of the toughest jobs in radio, filling in for Neil when he went on vacation or was sick from too much gut plunging at Woodbine. I remember the first time I heard Jorge filling in for Neil. I guess I had the same negative reaction many people seem to have, because I had turned in to hear Neil Rogers, not some Neil-Rogers-wannabee. But I quickly found, what I liked most about Jorge, was that he never tried to be anything at all like Neil, he was always true to himself. In fact, at least on the air, two people who worked so close together could not be more different.
The Top 10 Vehicles Most Likely to Contain Bad Drivers
The United States is an automobile oriented society and has a long history of our love affair with anything on wheels. Part of the reason that we have so many cars on our roads was the migration from inter-city living to the suburbs and the American distaste for mass transit, whether it’s on subways, trains or buses. Couple that with America’s love for the automobile not only as a utilitarian object to get from Point A to Point B, but also as a statement of personality, style and social status.
There are few experiences that rival the excitement of taking delivery of a shiny new car, sliding into the driver’s seat, and taking a deep breath of that “new car” smell. But why do certain cars and vehicles seem to naturally attract bad drivers? Is it the style, or lack thereof? Is it caused by socio-economic factors? I don’t know. But I do know after 40 years of driving, with more than 10 years as a professional, and close to a million miles logged behind the wheel, I’ve concluded that certain vehicles, either by their make, their vehicle type, or because of the personalized modifications made to them, that happen to be “Bad Driver Magnets.”
What follows is a totally non-scientific observation of the 10 vehicles I hate most to get stuck behind because of the likelihood that a bad driver will be sitting in the driver's seat. Not included on this list are vehicles like semi-tractor trailers, buses, and large trucks like dump trucks or cement mixers, because although they will surely slow you down, it is not primarily due to the fault of the driver.
Also not listed here but worth a dishonorable mention are “multi-tasking” drivers like the make-up artists, the diners and the phone-talkers. Since women started driving in large numbers back in the 60’s there has been a rash of rear-view mirrors ripped off of windshields because of all the women who put their makeup on while they drive. During the morning commute it’s common to pull up at a stop light and in the car in front of you, see the rear-view mirror yanked down at an angle so the driver can put on her mascara or eye shadow. And if the light turns green before she’s finished that eye, you’ll just have to wait.
But of the multi-taskers, nobody is worse than the cell-phone driver. Ever since cell phones became smaller than a toaster, cars have been transformed into rolling phone booths. I think back to when I was a kid, and my father or mother made their phone calls before we got into the car, all of us kids piled into the back seat, calling “dibs” on a window, because until we got to where we were going, looking out the window was all there was, no DVD players, no Gameboys, and nothing but “old people’s” music on the radio as we watched the world pass by. How ever did we manage? If you observe other drivers at any given moment you'll see how many are driving with one hand, and holding their cell phone to their ear with the other. Now with texting so popular, you have another whole dimension added to the dangers caused when cars are mixed with phones. I've read statistics that people on phones present the same risk as drunk drivers. Maybe more cars have to have a designated phone talker while the driver concentrates on driving.
So here it is....
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