Air Deadbeat. Literally

By William Teach April 1, 2005 – 11:19 pm

I ran across this little ditty from Blue State Conservatives via the hacked Puppy Blender site, and it should be an eye opener for any liberals, er, progressives out there. The BSC’s quote the Radio Equalizer:

And it isn’t too new to measure, especially not in New York City, where
WLIB’s just-released numbers show, in the broadest audience measurement
of adults 12+, that Air America’s flagship station has declined to a
tiny 1.1 share of the audience. There’s a full year of data to look at
now and the picture isn’t pretty for lib talk.

This is below where the station stood a year ago with its previous
Caribbean specialty format and a drop from a 1.2 share last month. In
the Fall 2004 Arbitron survey, WLIB had a 1.4 share of the radio
listening audience, so it is safe to say it’s actually shrinking in
popularity.

Since they were nice enough to provide a link to check my local market, and went and did so. WCHL-1360 in Chapel Hill doesn’t even appear on the list for Raleigh. Which means they aren’t even garnering a 0.1 share. The station that carries Rush and Hannity, WPTF, garners a 5.6. And who is number 1? Yup, a country station. So much for the redneckistan theories.

Hey, I bet for a $10 spot I could buy a 30 second commercial spot. Get all the Chapel Hill libs, er, progressives, to troll by my site. Na, would get a better return from a lunch and dinner at Taco Bell.

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Great White released

By William Teach April 1, 2005 – 4:23 pm

No, not the group. A real Great White shark, which I have blogged about a few times, was released from the Monterey Bay Aquarium today.

A great white shark that survived far longer than any other in
captivity was returned to the wild Thursday because it was growing too
large and had begun preying on other fish at the Monterey Bay Aquarium.

The shark, captured by a halibut
fisherman off the coast of Orange County in August, was in captivity
for 198 days. The previous captivity record was 16 days.

It was also the first great white to regularly eat outside the wild, putting on 100 pounds while at the aquarium. 

This is something that I have kept track of every few weeks. Just incredible to see her live on cam at the Aquarium.

PS: anyone surfing south of Monterey might want to consider that she may be a bit peckish.

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What’s happening

By William Teach April 1, 2005 – 8:45 am

Puppy Blender left for the weekend and has been hacked!

Basil’s depressed. Go cheer him up.

Sortapundit’s car needs a saving. Let’s help him out by suing the guys who took his name.

Janette is using string and tin cans to connect to the internet(s). Go play. We’ll just blame Jody ;)

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Back to the Lottery

By William Teach March 31, 2005 – 8:23 pm

Will Mike E. get his boondoggle lottery this time? From the way things are going, I would have to give the odds at 2-1 that it passes this time. People are coming out for and against it. Ogre says:

Enter Jim Black (D). He really, really, really wants a lottery because he is the primary person who gets to determine where all the general slush fund money will go since he is speaker of the house for life. He knows the lottery will give him literally untold millions of dollars for him to spend as he sees fit (I’m honestly not making this up, heck, I’m not even exaggerating!).

The Flannel Avenger:

It seems very painfully obvious to me that what little money the government gets to keep will be used for more pork barrel politicking (The money will “go” for education, but that doesn’t mean that the education money is going to stay where it is). It also seems to me that in a State where the Governor has proposed a budget of almost $17 billion that they really expect for an extra $500 million (I think that’s the number being floated, seems right anyway, not 100% sure on that) is going to make all the difference in the world of education.

Now, as someone who, for the most part, grew up with a lottery in New Jersey, I can take it or leave it. It makes no difference to me. I tend to buy tickets if I stop in a state that has them, and usually get a few when visiting the parental units who still haven’t gone over the wall from NJ. (Hold on, I’m going somewhere with this.)

That said, I have an issue with the NC plan for the lottery. Like most states, it is essentially a way of adding money to the State coffers in the name of "education," so that money can be diverted from the General funds that otherwise have gone to education. Way back in August 2004 I did a survey of what most of the states that have lotteries do with the money, and it wasn’t pretty. Rather then regurgitate the information, check that post. Or, check this Yahoo link, and investigate each states lotteries.

Essentially what you get is a program in most states where the money really doesn’t go to eduction, and, in many cases, for any particular program at all. When I think "education" for the money, I think grades K-12. Vocational, community college, prison programs, and other college related programs are not what I consider a wise use of the money, nor are they what the law-making critters imply the money will be used for. However, that is typically where the money goes. Colorado is rather upfront in that up to $35 million goes to specific environmental programs. No misrepresentation there.

If the NC elected critters can guarantee that the money from a lottery will be used to supplement the already allocated money for K-12 education, I would support it. Heck, if they said it was going to go to specific, worthwhile programs, such as clean water, roads, State Parks, etc, I might throw my support to it. However, we all know that it is just a way to add more discretionary funds, read Blacks discretionary funds.

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Terri Schiavo dies

By William Teach March 31, 2005 – 10:29 am

State sponsored murder.

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Standing up for Dignity

By William Teach March 31, 2005 – 8:46 am

Image hosting by PhotobucketJoin the fight! What we have here is leech on society who feels that it is OK to conduct witch hunts on gays that do not agree with the far left agenda. No matter what your feelings on gays and lesbians may be, this issue is deeper. It is an issue of freedom and privacy, as well as decency to our fellow human beings, something that this leech on society, Michael Rogers, does not have. Perusing his leech on society weblog (then washing my hands with Ajax and disinfecting my keyboard), all I see is intolerance towards gays who do not agree with his leftist agenda.

Stand up for the Rights that the Founding Fathers stood for: Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness. Things that this leech on society doesn’t. Go to Lime Shurbet and The Gay Patriot and show your support. (shamelessly stolen from that playful primate Beth at My Vast Right Wing Conspiracy)

I feel nauseated that I gave Rogers links.

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5 Questions for the Bandwagon

By William Teach March 31, 2005 – 8:05 am

Jody from the bandwagon has been sucked into the 5 questions meme not once, but twice! (insert evil laugh here). Go here for her answers to me, and here for her answers to Beulah Mae from My Vast Right Wing Conspiracy.

  1. You have 5 minutes with George W Bush: what do you ask him?
  2. What  is your favorite book, and why?
  3. What is the wildest thing you have ever  done (at least that you will share)?
  4. How would you spend the perfect  day?
  5. Can you describe the Theory of Relativity as it relates to Neutron  stars?

And that completes the meme for me. I’d like to thank all those who played, Jody, Beulah Mae, Pooklehufr, and Tom. Still waiting for Patty Jo’s answers, though. Where you be, Patty Jo? I blame JulieB for this. Someone call AL Gore’s Jr Internet(s) Rangers.

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AARP putting one over

By William Teach March 30, 2005 – 9:31 pm

Pretty soon the Leftist media and pundits will be espousing the benefits of the AARP study, which found that 6-10 (59%) of the respondents disaprove of President Bush’s plan for Social Security privatization. Amazing how worked up people can get over a measly 4% of your FICA withholdings, isn’t it?

Here’s the problem. First of all, the study actively exluded not only those under 50, but those over 50 who are not AARP members. In other words, these are people who tend to agree with goals and agenda of the AARP to start with. The questions asked were leading and inflammitory. For instance:

  1. The Social Security program has no serious problems, certainly none that require changing the current system (21%)
  2. Social Security has minor problems that can be fixed with slight changes to the current system (24%)
  3. Social Security’s problems are serious and can be fixed only with substantial changes to the current system (26%)
  4. Social Security’s problems are so bad that the current system should be replaced (25%)
  5. Don’t Know (4%)

Leading.

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5 Questions to Beulah Mae

By William Teach March 30, 2005 – 7:48 pm

Beulah Mae has done gone an’ answered ma 5 questions on a special White Trash edition. Head on over to My Vast Right Wing Conspiracy to see the answers that the web goddess Beth has allowed her to post today.

  1. who’s yur favorite NASCAR driver, and why?
  2. when describin how to get to yur home, how many landmarks do you use? And, do you even know the names of roads in Birmingham?
  3. If yur bass boat is stranded out on Lewis Smith Lake, what 3 things do you take wit yu? And is one of them a Jeff Foxworthy book?
  4. What country does the US open a big ol can of woop ass on next?
  5. Squirrel or possum?

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We’re mis-branded

By William Teach March 30, 2005 – 3:03 pm

So, I wasn’t really seeing anything out there that really floated my boat to write about. Kinda out of it today, getting sick, needed something wacky, goofy, insert adjective here. So I figured I would check some moonbats, and low and behold I ran across this at Oliver Willis’ casa via Kos:

on the left, most everyone is a proud Democrat, the right is fairly littered with libertarians.

I’ve found this to be a remarkable phenomenon. In the blogosphere, you have almost a reverse dynamic to that found in the media. Overwhelmingly liberal bloggers identify themselves directly as Democrats. Yes, there are many who see the party as the lesser of two evils, and in their hearts would prefer Dennis Kucinich or Ralph Nader, but overwhelmingly I’ve found bloggers on the left have no problem saying "yep, I’m a Democrat" (I obviously count myself among that group).

But among bloggers on the right, it always seems that great pains are taken to make it clear that they are "independents" or "libertarians" – these are people who usually endorse much of the GOP agenda and reliably vote for Republicans – and they don’t identify as "Republican". Yes, there are some like GOPBloggers who identify with the party, but that was essentially a recent development.

Really? Kinda funny how Oliver cannot name one Libertarian. How about Questions and Observations? They are devout Libertarians. And I could discuss that I am registered Independent, and consider myself a Classical Liberal. I have no qualms saying that I generally always vote Republican, and consider myself a Republican at this time. You know what? Oliver is kinda correct. We on the Right do spend less time identifying ourselves as Republicans.

But, let’s be clear here. Those on the Left spend more time discussing being Democrats and opposing everything the Right stands for then coming up with any plans or agendas, beyond protesting. Why is it so important for those on the Left to affiliate themselves with the Democratic Party? Most of those on the Right seemingly do not feel the overwhelming need to sheeple along and yell "I’m a Republican, I’m a Republican!" We know who we are, and we each individually know what we stand for. We know that we do not support everything that the Republican party stands for. I have issues with it myself. I have never cared for the GOP position regarding the environment, and a damned sure have not cared for the casual way our borders are being treated. But, consider how often you see a member of the "reality based community" disagree with a Democratic ideal or platform. Not often.

I do not know about you, but I find it more important to identify myself with ideals and goals, rather then Party affiliation. Sue me. Kos had this to say:

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