guilt-free in Arkansas

One thing that will probably not come out in the story about Timothy Dale Johnson (the Arkansas man who assassinated* Democratic super delegate Bill Gwatney (Arkansas Democratic Chairman)) earlier today:

What radio station was he listening to (in his blue pickup)?

I'd bet dollars-to-doughnuts that it was Ann Coulter, commanding him (and anyone else who would listen) to murder as many "Libbberals" as possible. The fact that he didn't use Coulter's designated implement - the baseball bat - is mostly irrelevant. Why he chose not to murder a security guard at the Arkansas Baptist State Convention office (a few minutes after Gwatney's assassination) remains a mystery.

Oddly, had he not threatened that security guard, he might have gotten away with the crime. That worker provided the man's vehicle description, as documented on The Arkansas Times' blog.

This comes just over two weeks after another Coulter disciple, Jim David Adkisson, murdered two (and wounded seven) people at Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church in Knoxville, which was known for daring to be inclusive/tolerant - something that Coulter (and her millionaire accomplices - Rush Limbaugh, Bill O'Reilly, etc) - find abhorrent.

As I understand it, Johnson was fired from his job after he wrote graffiti on a wall at the Target grocery in Conway, Arkansas. He went home, loaded his guns and proceeded to find the state's top Democrat and assassinate him. Ann Coulter must be very, very proud of her henchman.

* The fact that he asked for Gwatney by name makes this an assassination.

Friday update: looks like there are others advocating the killing of Democrats: The Right Shirts.com

Boycott the AP!

In case you didn't hear, the Associated Press will now charge you a minimum of $12.50 if you use more than four of their words in a blog posting, even if you give them full attribution.

That's easy to address: just use any different source. Henceforce, the AP does not exist (AND I removed all AP articles - I always attributed them - from this blog).

limited attention spans

I completed my screening of Ken Burns' The War (thanks, TiVo). Some people said this 7-part miniseries (17 hours total) was too long, but .. 17 hours is 70% of 24 - which would be a daily dose of The History Channel, so .. I'm not sure what they're complaining about. I suspect Limited Attention Spans [LAS] are involved here.

My only complaint about the series: they didn't use subtitles whenever a Southerner was interviewed. I couldn't understand about half of what they said.

Speaking of LAS, I took the freeway en route to this afternoon's doctor visit, and only had to travel 3 exits. Before I got to the onramp, I flipped on the AM radio to catch the traffic report (in case I had to use the surface streets). Since AM radio is dominated by talk radio (100% of which is CFRP in Texas - probably a state law) I thought I'd be able to listen long enough for one traffic report, since they update every ten minutes. No such luck. I could only stomach the lies and distortion for about 3 minutes before the blatant stupidity made me turn it off. Pity there's no more Fairness Doctrine, which would require the airing of both sides. Good thing I didn't need a traffic report, as it was moving smoothly during my lengthy exposure.

Remember the V-chip? I think there's a market for an S-chip: a Stupid-Detecting Radio. When enough Right Wing BS is detected, the radio would either change to NPR or (if there was no local NPR affiliate) play electronic cricket chirps. Ideally it would be mandatory in all SUVs - and could not be turned off or muted if there was only one occupant (98.4% of the time).

playing with DICE

After mowing the grass yesterday morning ("there's no local storage on a lawnmower") I decided to push (!) the car out of the garage and install The iPod Connector. This will only be the second (probably last) modification I make to the car. Soon after I bought it in 2001, I installed a factory alarm system (mostly plugging into the existing wiring), although much disassembly/reassembly was required. This time would prove similar.

(rewind about 4 weeks)

Most of the iPod<->CarAudio devices use a weak FM transmitter, but I wanted one that integrated well with the steering-wheel controls, so this meant stringing cables. I looked around at the local retailers, but only found übercheap stuff - few of them stock anything of quality since Most Americans Only Want Cheap, Not Good.

After asking around (the local car club was useful, as always), I opted for the iPod Car Integration Kit from DICE Electronics. A few weeks ago I bought the stuff from Bavarian Soundwerks in Atlanta, and it's been sitting on my kitchen table waiting for an opportunity.

Their 15-step instructions were mostly helpful, and I had everything done in an hour or so .. although I had to cheat a bit since the last step involved testing my iPod (which has local storage) with the stereo.

Next, it was time to install the spec.dock (from a company called 2point5™); this mostly low-tech gadget allows me to dock my iPod into the ashtray space, rather than leave the iPod inside the glove compartment, or (worse) dangling from a cable. The instructions from 2point5 weren't as good as for the DICE module, and this resulted in the two Band-Aids adhesive bandages now on my fingers. Once I began interpreting the directions instead of following them, things became much easier.



This morning, I made the Annual Pilgrimmage to Carl's Jr. (a west-coast QSR chain that is replicated at the Love's Truck Stops here in Texas) and played with my new toy en route. It sounds great, absent a few odd clicking sounds that may be part of The Learning Curve. Since it ties into the CD changer/amplifier in the trunk, it requires pressing [CD] twice to activate it, then the radio buttons [1-6] to do things like "select next album" (button 3) or "select next playlist" (button 2).

demonizing children

As I left a meeting in Fort Worth yesterday, I flipped on the AM radio to check the traffic report. Instead, I heard Rush Limbaugh talking about how the Democrats were using children as pawns. Not having a clue what he was talking about (and since traffic was moving) I tuned him out, and listened to a CD [Six Feet Under] instead.

I would've listened to Air America for The Opposing View, but they've disappeared from the Dallas airwaves (910AM is now a religious station - the 923rd in Dallas). For now, I'd have to subscribe to XM Satellite Radio, or find a way to get an Internet connection in my car.

Later, when I watched the evening news on the TiVo, I saw what he meant : all the children who were present at the Changing Of The Guard as Nancy Pelosi was sworn in as #3 in our government. Hmm .. have they finally found a focal point for their passion? -- versus the Republicans' focal point of Christian religion. Time will tell (naturally) if this "do it for our children's sake" campaign will work.

I suppose you could foam-at-the-mouth like Rush was doing yesterday, crying foul and spewing "oh how could they?" .. which all leads me to believe the Democrats may be onto something here. Demonizing children is a tricky road, indeed.

no victory at Victory

Check another "thing I've never done before" off the list: I rendezvoused with a DART train (34°F on the platform) so that Jill-Bob and I could ride to a Dallas Stars game. Following her directions closely, I allowed a Red Line train to pass, then hopped onto the one which goes directly to Victory Station at the American Airlines Center. Voila!

Here's the view of the rink from our seats in section 312:


The only one doing any scoring (the Stars lost 0-2) was Jill-Bob, who scored a free Chipotle burrito coupon:

from the Chipotle blimp (doing acrobatics a few feet above our heads):

Jill-Bob was entertained by the guys from a local radio station (the "Jack FM Speedo Team"):

while I was entertained by the Dallas Stars Ice Girls. I wonder if they make house calls? I have some snow that needs shoveling too!

Aside: one of the advertisers was Yet Another Energy Drink : HAVOC. Isn't that market (pardon the pun) oversaturated?

Who Wants Fairness?

What's wrong with Fairness? Isn't that something we aspire to? Well, turns out the answer - in Rove-Cheney's America - is a resounding NO.

I was mired in traffic a few days ago and flipped on the AM band. While waiting for a traffic report, I heard a waif whining that "we just HAVE to win in November, or the Democrats will bring back The Fairness Doctrine, and that will mean The End of Talk Radio". Naturally, the host (one of the many right wing sociopaths) agreed.

Turns out several Democrats (including Louise Slaughter) have suggested reinstatement of The Fairness Doctrine (quashed in 1987 - during Reagan's presidency) -- which would force radio stations to give as much time to opponents as to Coulter/Limbaugh/their ilk. Also, since Everybody Knows™ that liberal talk radio always loses money, it would be harder for conservative talk radio to be financially viable.

Completely unrelated (ha!): today is the last day of Liberal Talk Radio in Dallas. The local Air America station (KXEB-AM) is turning into a Christian Republican station tomorrow.

I recently read Don't Think of an Elephant and thus find it humorous that The Left is finally starting to wake up and use the Right Wing's DoubleSpeak tactics. Although he's not the one who coined the term - merely popularized it (newspeak, oldspeak, doublethink) - it makes me want to re-read George Orwell's [1984].

Deep Thought: If only Orwell'd named his book [2004], he'd have hit it on the nose. Then he'd have to change his name to Nostradamus, I reckon.

---

Everybody Knows is a trademark of the state-run media (Fox "News"); Rush Limbaugh Productions; and the Christian Fascist Republican Party.

Happy, Happy, Joy .. oh, who am I kidding?

I haven't done much blogging lately. I'm just not motivated. It's our busiest time of the year at work, and that was helped along with the announcement of 4500 (± 500) layoffs coming Real Soon Now. Stock analysts wanted twice that. What can I say, but .. here we go again.

Karl Rove's signature was all over this week's "Gay Marriage Vote" in the US Senate. Watch for TV ads this fall from CFRP (Republicans) members using this one vote against their Democrat challengers. I can hear the voiceover now:

"Are Yew Gonna Vote Fer This Libberal Demmy-Krat Who Wants Yer Son To Marry The Boy Nexx Doar? Well ARE YEW??"

Their predictability has grown tiring, but there will be millions who cower in fear and will vote however their preechers tell `em to this fall.

I was surprised to hear Jon Stewart really going after a guest - when he took William Bennett to task for his pro-discrimination tactics. Heck, for amusement I watched about 4 minutes of Bill O'Reilly (on the Right Wing News channel) and watched him lie, lie and lie some more. BO-RING.

Time to sleep early. I'm starting to get the hang of my Timex Auto-Set Clock Radio (with built-in crickets).

If you need more thrills, see my updated Sundry on Thursday blog. Woo hoo.

Dignification

Looks like the Dallas Mavericks and the Miami Heat are the final 2 teams in the NBA playoffs. Does that mean one of them will win The Super Bowl? This whole Sports Thing continues to be mostly lost on me.

Mildly amusing:
The Mavericks play in the AAC [American Airlines Center] while
The Heat play in the AAA* [American Airlines Arena].

* not to be confused with the American Automobile Association

Not sure why American Airlines calls this "Center" versus "Centre" as Everybody Knows™ the latter is more dignified. Oh, wait .. this is Texas. Never mind.

I'm guessing the notoriously ham-handed American Airlines HQ will find a way to royally screw up the marketing opportunity they've been handed on a Silver Taco Platter. Maybe they'll run ads against repealing The Wright Amendment during the games? That'll certainly show their class.

Lay Wah Bob says that her allergies have all been cured, by using Olive Leaf Extract. Hey. whatever works. Rock on.

My 15-year (same employer) Door Prize arrived last week. Given about 24 items from which to pick, I decided on a shiny new digital camera, to supplant/replace the Canon PowerShot A230 I've been carrying for a couple years. So, I chose the Pentax Optio T10. It's actually not half bad, but (naturally) uses a different media format - Secure Digital [SD] - than my others, which have CompactFlash or SmartMedia. So, it's off to The Store to fetch an SD card.

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Everybody Knows is a trademark of Fox "News"; Rush Limbaugh Productions; and the Christian Fascist Republican Party.

Memorial Day 2006

Flashback to Saturday, 21 July 2001. I'd taken delivery of a new car earlier in the month. Partially as a reason to exercise it, I drove down to the DFW National Cemetery.

Although my father spent 30 years in the US Navy, I never had the inclination to join the military, and dad never asked me about it; he died during my second year in college. He didn't talk much about his World War II experiences, other than a brief story about a multi-ship convoy in the Pacific where only his ship and one other survived. I once wrote to the Navy department, asking for a copy of his military records, but they never replied.

I knew the DFW cemetery opened in 2000, and I wanted to look around. I thought I spotted a mountain lion from a distance, but couldn't be sure. There was a sign warning that "(t)his cemetery is being maintained in as natural state as possible [sic] and is inhabited by various wildlife such as lizards; snakes; birds; coyote; deer; fox; skunks; opossums; spiders; bobcat; wild dogs and scorpions". I spent a few hours there, taking photos and otherwise taking it all in.

The next day, I see that I went to the "DFW Founders Plaza" to watch the planes take off and land. I took quite a few photos that day, not knowing that such behavior, two months later, might seem highly suspect in a changed-forever country. Don't bother going back to my thoughts in those days; I didn't start this blog until July 2003.

This morning, I nosed through part of my photo collection (partly as a way to recall when I went to the DFW National Cemetery). I decided to give Adobe's "PhotoShop Album Starter Edition" a whirl with my (eeek!) 11,930 photographs. I'm guessing that they'll offer me all sorts of (paid) upgrades and options, eventually. For now, it's enough that I make a serious stab at organizing them all; if only I had that much time.

---

Unrelated thoughts:

#1

I wonder ... what happened to the rest of the bribe? Louisiana Congressman William J. Jefferson allegedly (yeah, right) took $100,000 outside a suburban Washington hotel, but The Feds only found $90,000 in his freezer. Did he stop at Exxon on the way home to fill up his SUV?

Aside: after listening to AirAmerica skewer this moron, I flipped over to one of the 3R stations (Radical Right Radio) and listened to them say that .. because Jefferson is a Democrat (and a black one at that) .. the "Liberal Left Lunatics" were ignoring the whole thing. Ah, the 3R-Media have learned Karl Rove's lesson well: Lie. Repeat the Lie Until Everyone Believes It. Ignore (or, better yet - belittle) Anyone Who Disagrees.

#2

I wonder ... if the phrase "Haditha Massacre" will be this generation's equivalent to "My Lai Massacre"? Unlikely, since the scale of the atrocity is (apparently) so different. In Vietnam, between 347 and 504 people were slaughtered by US soldiers. In Iraq, it appears that "only" 24 civilians were slaughtered by US soldiers. Time will tell.

#3

I wonder ... if Simone and Marvin remembered Jill-Bob, who I picked up at DFW yesterday, following her three week, 4500 mile* RV trip from Minneapolis to Anchorage. Better her than me!

* Yahoo! Maps says the distance between Minneapolis and Anchorage is only 3206 miles (80 hours). I reckon they were moseyin' and lollygaggin'.

spineless in Texas

I noticed an Associated Press article making the rounds:

The Dixie Chicks' Natalie Maines apologized for disrespecting President George W. Bush during a London concert in 2003. But now, she's taking it back.

"I don't feel that way anymore," she told Time magazine for its issue hitting newsstands Monday. "I don't feel he is owed any respect whatsoever."

Oh, baby .. I think I'm in luv. It's not everyday you wander across a woman who's both intelligent* and has a giant set of cojones.

* not that it takes a mental giant - anymore - to discern that President Quagmire is a waste of space

Odds are the Fundamentalist Country Music fans (some of whom secretly adore the Dixie Chicks) will once again rise up from their double-wides and spew more hate. For me, well .. it's good to see someone stand up for their convictions, even if their fan base will sooner eat their own younguns than admit Their President is little more than a fool.

I read the item in the Fort Worth newspaper ("The Chicks are ticked") about how some CFRP members bullied radio stations into pulling their music off the air. That's all these pond scum inbreeds know how to do - bully others to get their way.

The fact that the radio stations caved in shows how spineless most of them are.

Hell, as much as I loathe country music, Natalie's stance makes me wanna run down to The Record Store and plunk down my last food stamps for their latest CD ("Taking the Long Way"). I wonder if it's available on anything but 8-track?

when a Supreme Court Justice sh-ts in the woods, will anyone hear it?

Okay, so Georgetown University isn't exactly "in the woods," but ...

Did former US Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor choose a forum where only one reporter was present, to hide from Tom DeLay and the other members of the CFRP?

After reading an editorial in the Houston Chronicle ("Judicious temperament") I decided to track down the original article. Turns out it was a radio piece by NPR's Nina Totenberg entitled O'Connor Decries Republican Attacks on Courts (3:18) Good listening, IMHO.

Related: in case you missed The Memo, DeLay's (obviously moron) constituents elected him as their party primary's candidate, to go onto another term. It's a given that he'll handily beat any Democratic challenger in November. I guess DeLay now knows that he can break any law and the good ole boys of his district will send him back to Washington (perhaps in shackles) for another term.

road trip : day eight (final)

My roadtrip of 2,153 miles (through seven states*) is complete. I was too tired to make it all the way to Dallas, and spent the night at a nondescript motel in Lindale, TX (according to the receipt). I didn't stop for The City Tour, which included yet-another Cracker Barrel restaurant and yet-another catfish restaurant.

* Texas; Louisiana; Mississippi; Arkansas; Missouri; Tennessee; Kentucky

While in the car (4 days of about 500 miles per segment) I survived on a diet of lots of hot coffee, assuming I couldn't find Starbucks doubleshot (espresso & cream) and Moon Pies in the various truck stops and/or gas stations.

While making my way down I-55 to Jackson MS (before hanging a right onto I-20) I used the AUTOSCAN feature of my car radio, which finds the 6 strongest signals and programs a special bank of buttons. After deciding I couldn't stomach either country music or rightwing talk radio, I happened across an NPR station, affiliated with Mississippi Public Radio. I was amazed to find voices of reason amidst the flatscape that defines the Mississippi Delta.

I made a brief stop at a Love's Truck Stop in Van TX, hoping to find a ballcap with their logo for sale: no such luck. It rained (lightly) the rest of the way into Dallas, which included The Morning Rush hour at about 7mph.

This afternoon, I went to the post office to retrieve my "held mail". I wasn't asked for any ID before the postal worker just forked over the week's worth of mail. So much for protection from identity thieves!

Miscellany #7: two businesses didn't comply with the Credit Card Truncation regulations (a flower shop in Mississippi and a hotel in Texas). Eight others were in compliance. I wonder if that 80% compliance score is a nationwide average: I hope not!

Miscellany #83: My car requires premium unleaded fuel. I paid between $2.38 and $2.62 per gallon during this trip.

road trip : day one

gotta git me some-o-dat flavored syurp (at the World-Famous Canton, TX Dairy Palace)

---

I got The Call this morning at about 6:30, soon after I'd fetched the morning paper. I'd already made plans for an urgent trip to Mississippi, since mom's health was deteriorating rapidly.

It takes about an hour longer to drive door-to-door, than to fly (drive to DFW, park, take an airport shuttle, wait, fly, rent a car @ JAN, drive 2 hours) .. and you're at the mercy of ATC. I opted to drive, especially since a lot of schedule uncertainty would be ahead.

It rained hard today, for about half the drive. I encountered snow (on the side of I-20) about 10 miles before Vicksburg MS, and again a few miles north of Jackson MS. For about a minute, I was hailed on (no obvious damage from the pea-size hail). And there were several nearby lightning strikes. I didn't spot any toads falling from the sky.

Although I knew there was hail in the area (from a few quips on the CB radio) I wasn't able to dodge it. All I saw was a dark black cloud .. but where would it go? It's not like I could knock on someone's door and ask if I could park my car while the hailstorm passed.

Drive time: 7 hours 45 minutes. No major delays.

---

I stopped by the funeral home this afternoon and got the form they use to gather all the information; it'll be the basis for the Death Certificate; newspaper obituaries; and sundry other documents. I completed it tonight:

Vital Statistics Record

name
sex
race
age
residence address
birthdate
birthplace
education level
marital status
spouse's name
social security number
telephone number
occupation
industry
veteran? Branch:
service number
enlistment date
discharge date
father's name & birthplace
mother's name & birthplace
church membership
clubs/organizations


list of surviving relatives
relation/name/location


funeral service information
place of funeral service
date of funeral service
time of funeral service
place of visitation
date of visitation
time of visitation
final disposition: burial/entombment/cremation/other
minister(s)
Bible/literary passages
musical selections
pall bearers
clothing preferred: own/funeral home/other
hairdresser
jewelry: on/off disposition after service
glasses: on/off disposition after service
use of flag: yes/no/folded/drape casket/present to:
memorials or donations
newspapers to contact
military discharge papers
cemetery property deed
insurance policies
additional information or requests
casket: outer contai ner:
person authorized to arrange final details


record of death
date of death
cause of death
place of death
pronounced by:

Fours Meme

this is stolen from Trish-Bob, who stole it from semantique ...

Four jobs you've had in your life
- Tennis racket stringer
- Radio news reporter
- AutoCAD specialist
- Webmaster

Four movies you could watch over and over
- Doctor Strangelove
- The Rocky Horror Picture Show
- Taxi Driver
- A Clockwork Orange

Four places you've lived
- Elizabethtown, KY
- Boulder, CO
- Manhattan Beach, CA
- Torrance, CA

Four TV shows you love to watch
- Law & Order: Criminal Intent
- The Daily Show (with Jon Stewart)
- P.O.V.
- Star Trek: Enterprise

Four places you've been on vacation
- Sedona, Arizona
- Poipu, Kauai, Hawaii
- Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
- Hong Kong

Four websites you visit daily
- news.yahoo.com
- news.google.com
- dallasnews.com
- a9.com

Four of your favorite foods
- cioppino
- organic brown rice
- blackened redfish
- banana pudding!?

Four places you'd rather be right now
- Point Loma, San Diego, California
- Tuzigoot, Arizona
- Evergreen (or Conifer), Colorado
- Murphy's Pub, Cincinnati, Ohio 

"Just Wait - You're Next" Syndrome

There's probably an official name for it, but I like JWYN [Just Wait - You're Next] Syndrome. How would that be pronounced - Juw-Yon?

The lead story in today's Dallas Managed News was not the suicide bombings in Amman; rather, it was that the same TaliBaptist zealots who backed the pro-Hate Proposition 2 on this week's ballot are now emboldened! They'll next do what's needed to lower Texas' high divorce rate. That's right - now they'll mandate which straight couples must stay together (despite being in loveless and/or abusive relationships). Presumably, they'll disallow it in the case of whites but encourage divorce among The Colored People! As Everybody Knows™, what the world needs the most are more white babies, and who better than the TaliBaptists to Make It So (apologies to Jean-Luc Picard -- to be born in 2305).

Speaking of Star-Trek, the show's writers -- obviously Baby-Eating Liberals -- sometimes tackle race and gender issues when the crew encounters alien species. In a memorable ST:TOS (The Original Series) episode ("Let That Be Your Last Battlefield"), Frank Gorshin played an Emmy-nominated (no joke) role as a species with races distinguished by which side of their face was dark (left-siders versus right-siders, I guess). Naturally, the unbiased Captain Kirk didn't even notice the difference until it was pointed out to him, in typical melodramatic Shatner fashion.


More recently, a ST:TNG episode ("The Outcast") featured an androgynous species where some were "born different" .. they had gender! Anyone exhibiting this abnormality were subject to reprogramming (much as the TaliBaptists aim to "cure" our gay population).

Anyone, back to the JWYN Syndrome: once the KKK-TaliBaptists (now merged) lower the divorce rate (By Any Means Necessary) they'll surely move to the next step: banning divorce altogether. Then, a few years later (further emboldened), they'll implement the Arranged Marriage customs common elsewhere in the world. Somewhere in the middle, they'll ban alcohol and any clothing which allows more than 5% of the skin to show. I can't wait to see what happens after that -- perhaps mandatory full burqas?

It's only a matter of time.

---

Everybody Knows is a trademark of Fox "News"; Rush Limbaugh Productions; and the Christian Fascist Republican Party.

the future of news?

I'm not sure I buy what "Robin Good" (a probable pseudonym) is selling, via his Master New Media website. There, I spotted an article The Future of News Is ... which included a prediction about "The Future of Newspapers":

* Smaller in staff, format, influence, attention, profits and margins
* Specific or niche, no longer mass
* Downstream from the Internet
* Inexorably linked to other media
* Explanatory, investigative and narrative

This list strikes me as terribly self-serving; it reminds me of the early 1990's predictions that The Web would (in short order?) bankrupt all the traditional retail outlets (assuming that everyone would lock themselves inside their homes, attach themselves to their PC, never to venture outside and shop alongside other humans, ever again).

While the trend of huge "McMansion" homes continues (each with an opulent home theatre and nearby game room - both eventual dust gatherers), there's something to be said for Getting Out Of The House and interacting with others (if only to be ticked off by their rudeness).

Deep Thought #69: Maybe the idea of The Home Theatre is to rent DVDs from Blockbuster and show them to your friends? But wouldn't it be a LOT cheaper to just take them to dinner-and-a-movie once a month, For Life? Let's see: a Home Theatre adds (say) $40,000 to a house, OR I could wine and dine my friends at a REAL theatre for a couple hundred dollars each time, so .. doing the math ...

I suspect that there will - for a long time - be a market for mass media. Sure, during my lifetime all the formats - radio, television, magazines, newspapers - have become increasingly diversified (witness the availability of the niche Redneck World magazine, linked via my Sundry on Thursday blog). Yes, there are surely better examples of this compartmentalization, but you get the idea. Each of those survives by advertising, and a smaller niche market means that each advertiser must pay more per eyeball and hope their target market actually reads (or even knows about) that target publication. It's an uphill battle, fer sher. I suspect the USA Today; Time Magazine; and National Enquirer's of the world have little to fear.

going organic

I went to the monthly meeting of the Dallas Sierra Club tonight. The guest speaker was Howard Garrett a/k/a the Dirt Doctor™. He is totally into organics, so if you even think chemicals are the only way to treat your lawn, then it's time to stop listening.

Stuff I learned:

• "Garrett Juice" is Howard Garrett's concoction that can be bought, if you don't want to make your own. It's a liquid fertilizer;
• Texas Organic Research Center
• Tierra Verde is an Arlington golf course that's about 80% organic;
• United States Green Building Council;
• local organic success stories include Frito Lay's Plano headquarters ("organic since 1989"), Radio Shack - 38 acres in Southlake, and also Sabre Corp;
• Soil Foodweb;
• tree advice
  1. remove all ivy
  2. trees are supposed to FLARE as they exit ground (otherwise, roots are too deep)
  3. use "compost tea" to eliminate unhealthy (yellowing) plants and oak wilt disease (see "sick tree treatment")
• Lambert's (214-350-8350) is an organic landscape contractor, and a member of the Texas Nursery and Landscape Association. Lambert's is affiliated with the Moore Tree Company;
• air spade - "fancy sand blaster" for dirt;
• 1000 year old tree - 3 miles north of Waco;
• Garrett's best-selling books: Texas Bug Book and Texas Gardening - the Natural Way;
• regarding mosquitos : the MosquitoNix™ misting system is okay if used with "plant oil" (BiOrganics and EcoEXEMPT™ are neurotoxins to invertebrates only) and they have a nice vanilla scent;
• pyrethrum - very bad for kids with asthma, but used by City of Dallas as a spray for mosquitos (West Nile Virus);
• spinosin (apparently the seeds and leaves of Ziziphus Spinosa) is a good fire ant bait. It appears to be Texas A&M's new recommended treatment
• garlic tea - 30 day mosquito prevention;
• Roundup™ is not as safe as it's marketed! (a new study shows it kills amphibians);
• Green Light®'s goal is to provide effective, environmentally responsible products;
• Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis) is a good way to get rid of tent caterpillars;
• lawn scalping only good in fall except in prep for overseeding;
• philoremediation - removing toxins from soil;
• hardpan is an impenetrable layer of soil, mostly due to compacting;
• beneficial nematodes & molasses - fix grubworm problem (not organic gardening problem)
• Safer (brand) products (not the same as the Safer Pest Control Project);
• Garrett - "i've had no fireants in 12 yrs". He uses a mix of 20 pounds of dry molasses (per 1000 square feet) and says it provides "great fireant control". Also mentioned: orange-oil (but, it will burn grass);
• George "Evil Empire" Bush's Crawford Ranch is 100% organic - this must be a closely guarded secret, lest his cronies in the chemical industry find out
• after the monthly meeting, the Dallas Sierra Club often gathers at Papa's Pizza (on Beltline, in Addison)

Mr. Peabody Awards

In the "Betcha Didn't Know That!" department: the George Foster Peabody Award comes from the University of Georgia's Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication. They recently announced their 64th Annual Peabody Award winners, which included one of my newfound favorites, LinkTV's Mosaic: World News From The Middle East.

Maybe I appreciate good journalism, after having been in that industry (fresh out of college, eons ago). That mini-career started in high school, when I somehow found myself as Sports Editor (and photographer) for the school paper. I think that was after someone stuck a 35mm camera in my hand and said "here - do this!" Eventually, they looked at my English grades and found I could write, and there ya have it.

In college, I earned a double-major, of which half was Broadcast Communications. Then, I landed a job for a few months as a "staff announcer" on a smalltown radio station, before leaving the microphone open one time too often (!) and being escorted out the door. It was the best thing that could've happened, since I despised that job. I ended up a few miles away, working as a news reporter for a radio station next to a major military base. I enjoyed myself, even acting as an investigative journalist a few times (when the situation merited). Being on the "deadline end of the mic" gives me appreciation for some reporters, and contempt for others.



Disclaimer: the Peabody Award was invented long before the Mr. (Hector) Peabody cartoon character from Rocky & Bullwinkle.

Unrelated #0: last week, I attended a Candidate's Forum hosted by the League of Women Voters of Dallas. A crew was there from Dallas Community Television (seen on Comcast cable 27A), but it has yet to air. I got an email from a DCTV staffer today saying that they're adding subtitles, etc. and it will be a few more days.

Unrelated #1: I lunched with Drew-Bob and Roger-Bob at the Addison Pointe today. From the moment I walked in the door, I could smell the cigarette smoke, which made their burgers taste like an ashtray. Ah, the ambiance.

Jerry! Jerry!! Jerry!!!

When I moved to Dallas from Los Angeles (1993) the movers asked if I was a history professor (due to all the books). No, I replied .. just fascinated by the Mistakes of the Past. In that light, this 5-pager by Thom Hartmann was a breeze to read: When Democracy Failed: The Warnings of History.

I've never been a fan of Jerry Springer's TV show, which panders to the Trailer Trash crowd. That said, he has a radio show that's showing promise: Springer on the Radio. Word is that he'll be picked up by the Air America radio network next month, appearing prior to Al Franken. This could be interesting.