http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/columnists/13487511.htm
Posted on Mon, Dec. 26, 2005
AFTER 9/11
Fear destroys what bin Laden could not
ROBERT STEINBACK
rsteinback@MiamiHerald.com
One wonders if Osama bin Laden didn't win after all. He ruined the America that existed on 9/11. But he had help.
If, back in 2001, anyone had told me that four years after bin Laden's attack our president would admit that he broke U.S. law against domestic spying and ignored the Constitution -- and then expect the American people to congratulate him for it -- I would have presumed the girders of our very Republic had crumbled.
Had anyone said our president would invade a country and kill 30,000 of its people claiming a threat that never, in fact, existed, then admit he would have invaded even if he had known there was no threat -- and expect America to be pleased by this -- I would have thought our nation's sensibilities and honor had been eviscerated.
If I had been informed that our nation's leaders would embrace torture as a legitimate tool of warfare, hold prisoners for years without charges and operate secret prisons overseas -- and call such procedures necessary for the nation's security -- I would have laughed at the folly of protecting human rights by destroying them.
If someone had predicted the president's staff would out a CIA agent as revenge against a critic, defy a law against domestic propaganda by bankrolling supposedly independent journalists and commentators, and ridicule a 37-year Marie Corps veteran for questioning U.S. military policy -- and that the populace would be more interested in whether Angelina is about to make Brad a daddy -- I would have called the prediction an absurd fantasy.
That's no America I know, I would have argued. We're too strong, and we've been through too much, to be led down such a twisted path.
What is there to say now?
All of these things have happened. And yet a large portion of this country appears more concerned that saying ''Happy Holidays'' could be a disguised attack on Christianity.
I evidently have a lot poorer insight regarding America's character than I once believed, because I would have expected such actions to provoke -- speaking metaphorically now -- mobs with pitchforks and torches at the White House gate. I would have expected proud defiance of anyone who would suggest that a mere terrorist threat could send this country into spasms of despair and fright so profound that we'd follow a leader who considers the law a nuisance and perfidy a privilege.
Never would I have expected this nation -- which emerged stronger from a civil war and a civil rights movement, won two world wars, endured the Depression, recovered from a disastrous campaign in Southeast Asia and still managed to lead the world in the principles of liberty -- would cower behind anyone just for promising to "protect us.''
President Bush recently confirmed that he has authorized wiretaps against U.S. citizens on at least 30 occasions and said he'll continue doing it. His justification? He, as president -- or is that king? -- has a right to disregard any law, constitutional tenet or congressional mandate to protect the American people.
Is that America's highest goal -- preventing another terrorist attack? Are there no principles of law and liberty more important than this? Who would have remembered Patrick Henry had he written, "What's wrong with giving up a little liberty if it protects me from death?''
Bush would have us excuse his administration's excesses in deference to the ''war on terror'' -- a war, it should be pointed out, that can never end. Terrorism is a tactic, an eventuality, not an opposition army or rogue nation. If we caught every person guilty of a terrorist act, we still wouldn't know where tomorrow's first-time terrorist will strike. Fighting terrorism is a bit like fighting infection -- even when it's beaten, you must continue the fight or it will strike again.
Are we agreeing, then, to give the king unfettered privilege to defy the law forever? It's time for every member of Congress to weigh in: Do they believe the president is above the law, or bound by it?
Bush stokes our fears, implying that the only alternative to doing things his extralegal way is to sit by fitfully waiting for terrorists to harm us. We are neither weak nor helpless. A proud, confident republic can hunt down its enemies without trampling legitimate human and constitutional rights.
Ultimately, our best defense against attack -- any attack, of any sort -- is holding fast and fearlessly to the ideals upon which this nation was built. Bush clearly doesn't understand or respect that. Do we?
Wednesday, December 28, 2005
Thursday, December 22, 2005
RwR meter 10/11/05
Ramblin with Roger
-- Site Summary ---
Visits
Total ........................ 1,841
Average per Day ................. 42
Average Visit Length .......... 1:07
This Week ...................... 293
Page Views
Total ........................ 2,948
Average per Day ................. 57
Average per Visit .............. 1.4
This Week ...................... 402
--- Visits this Week ---
Day
Hour 10/5 10/6 10/7 10/8 10/9 10/10 10/11 Total
---- ----- ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ -------
1 1 1 0 0 2 3 1 8
2 0 1 0 1 0 0 3 5
3 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 2
4 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 2
5 1 0 0 3 1 1 2 8
6 1 0 0 0 2 1 1 5
7 2 0 3 0 2 2 1 (10)
8 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 2
9 2 3 1 3 1 2 4 (16)
10 2 6 4 2 0 3 2 (19)
11 1 3 3 1 2 3 4 (17)
12 3 1 1 0 0 0 4 9
13 3 2 0 1 3 3 2 (14)
14 4 3 4 3 2 3 4 (23)
15 4 6 2 1 1 3 3 (20)
16 5 4 1 1 1 8 4 (24)
17 0 4 2 1 1 5 1 (14)
18 6 3 2 2 3 4 2 (22)
19 2 2 2 0 0 3 1 (10)
20 4 (11) 0 1 1 2 5 (24)
21 0 1 0 0 5 3 1 (10)
22 0 2 3 0 1 0 3 9
23 3 2 3 0 0 2 2 (12)
24 1 1 0 3 1 1 1 8
------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ -------
47- 57- 31- 23- 30- 53- 52- 293
--- Page Views this Week ---
Day
Hour 10/5 10/6 10/7 10/8 10/9 10/10 10/11 Total
---- ----- ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ -------
1 1 1 0 0 2 4 1 9
2 0 1 0 1 0 0 5 7
3 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 2
4 3 0 0 0 0 1 0 4
5 2 0 0 3 1 1 2 9
6 1 0 0 0 6 2 1 (10)
7 3 0 4 0 2 3 1 (13)
8 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 2
9 2 3 1 6 1 2 6 (21)
10 2 7 4 4 0 3 2 (22)
11 2 3 3 1 3 4 4 (20)
12 3 5 1 0 0 0 5 (14)
13 3 3 0 1 3 4 2 (16)
14 4 4 5 4 3 4 6 (30)
15 9 6 2 1 1 3 3 (25)
16 (16) (13) 1 1 1 (22) 6 (60)
17 0 6 2 1 1 6 1 (17)
18 (13) 7 2 2 4 4 2 (34)
19 2 7 2 0 0 3 1 (15)
20 5 (12) 0 1 1 2 5 (26)
21 0 1 0 0 6 5 1 (13)
22 0 2 3 0 1 0 3 9
23 4 2 3 0 0 2 2 (13)
24 1 1 0 4 1 3 1 (11)
------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ -------
77- 85- 33- 30- 38- 78- 61- 402
-- Site Summary ---
Visits
Total ........................ 1,841
Average per Day ................. 42
Average Visit Length .......... 1:07
This Week ...................... 293
Page Views
Total ........................ 2,948
Average per Day ................. 57
Average per Visit .............. 1.4
This Week ...................... 402
--- Visits this Week ---
Day
Hour 10/5 10/6 10/7 10/8 10/9 10/10 10/11 Total
---- ----- ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ -------
1 1 1 0 0 2 3 1 8
2 0 1 0 1 0 0 3 5
3 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 2
4 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 2
5 1 0 0 3 1 1 2 8
6 1 0 0 0 2 1 1 5
7 2 0 3 0 2 2 1 (10)
8 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 2
9 2 3 1 3 1 2 4 (16)
10 2 6 4 2 0 3 2 (19)
11 1 3 3 1 2 3 4 (17)
12 3 1 1 0 0 0 4 9
13 3 2 0 1 3 3 2 (14)
14 4 3 4 3 2 3 4 (23)
15 4 6 2 1 1 3 3 (20)
16 5 4 1 1 1 8 4 (24)
17 0 4 2 1 1 5 1 (14)
18 6 3 2 2 3 4 2 (22)
19 2 2 2 0 0 3 1 (10)
20 4 (11) 0 1 1 2 5 (24)
21 0 1 0 0 5 3 1 (10)
22 0 2 3 0 1 0 3 9
23 3 2 3 0 0 2 2 (12)
24 1 1 0 3 1 1 1 8
------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ -------
47- 57- 31- 23- 30- 53- 52- 293
--- Page Views this Week ---
Day
Hour 10/5 10/6 10/7 10/8 10/9 10/10 10/11 Total
---- ----- ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ -------
1 1 1 0 0 2 4 1 9
2 0 1 0 1 0 0 5 7
3 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 2
4 3 0 0 0 0 1 0 4
5 2 0 0 3 1 1 2 9
6 1 0 0 0 6 2 1 (10)
7 3 0 4 0 2 3 1 (13)
8 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 2
9 2 3 1 6 1 2 6 (21)
10 2 7 4 4 0 3 2 (22)
11 2 3 3 1 3 4 4 (20)
12 3 5 1 0 0 0 5 (14)
13 3 3 0 1 3 4 2 (16)
14 4 4 5 4 3 4 6 (30)
15 9 6 2 1 1 3 3 (25)
16 (16) (13) 1 1 1 (22) 6 (60)
17 0 6 2 1 1 6 1 (17)
18 (13) 7 2 2 4 4 2 (34)
19 2 7 2 0 0 3 1 (15)
20 5 (12) 0 1 1 2 5 (26)
21 0 1 0 0 6 5 1 (13)
22 0 2 3 0 1 0 3 9
23 4 2 3 0 0 2 2 (13)
24 1 1 0 4 1 3 1 (11)
------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ -------
77- 85- 33- 30- 38- 78- 61- 402
Holiday Greetings (from MAK)
Dear Clients and Friends,
I really wanted to send out some sort of holiday greeting but it is so difficult in today's world to know exactly what to say without offending someone. So I met with my attorney yesterday, and on her advice I want to say to all of you:
Please accept with no obligation, implied or implicit my best wishes for an environmentally conscious, socially responsible, low stress, non addictive gender neutral, celebration of the winter solstice holiday, practiced within the most enjoyable traditions of the religious persuasion of your choice, or secular practices of your choice, with respect for the religious/secular persuasions and/or traditions of others, or their choice not to practice religious or secular traditions at all.
I also wish you a fiscally successful, personally fulfilling, and medically uncomplicated recognition of the onset of the generally accepted calendar year 2006, but not without due respect for the calendars of choice of other cultures whose contributions to society have helped make America great (not to imply that America is necessarily greater than any other country or is the only "AMERICA" in the western hemisphere), and without regard to the race, creed, color, age, physical ability, religious faith, or sexual preference of the wishes. By accepting this greeting, you are accepting these terms:
This greeting is subject to clarification or withdrawal. It is freely transferable with no alteration to the original greeting. It implies no promise by the wisher to actually implement any of the wishes for her/himself or others, and is void where prohibited by law, and is revocable at the sole
discretion of the wisher. This wish is warranted to perform as expected within the usual application of good tidings for a period of one year, or until the issuance of a subsequent holiday greeting, whichever comes first, and warranty is limited to replacement of this wish or issuance of a
new wish at the sole discretion of the wisher.
So Happy Whatever, and Best Wishes!
Chris K. Ringel
I really wanted to send out some sort of holiday greeting but it is so difficult in today's world to know exactly what to say without offending someone. So I met with my attorney yesterday, and on her advice I want to say to all of you:
Please accept with no obligation, implied or implicit my best wishes for an environmentally conscious, socially responsible, low stress, non addictive gender neutral, celebration of the winter solstice holiday, practiced within the most enjoyable traditions of the religious persuasion of your choice, or secular practices of your choice, with respect for the religious/secular persuasions and/or traditions of others, or their choice not to practice religious or secular traditions at all.
I also wish you a fiscally successful, personally fulfilling, and medically uncomplicated recognition of the onset of the generally accepted calendar year 2006, but not without due respect for the calendars of choice of other cultures whose contributions to society have helped make America great (not to imply that America is necessarily greater than any other country or is the only "AMERICA" in the western hemisphere), and without regard to the race, creed, color, age, physical ability, religious faith, or sexual preference of the wishes. By accepting this greeting, you are accepting these terms:
This greeting is subject to clarification or withdrawal. It is freely transferable with no alteration to the original greeting. It implies no promise by the wisher to actually implement any of the wishes for her/himself or others, and is void where prohibited by law, and is revocable at the sole
discretion of the wisher. This wish is warranted to perform as expected within the usual application of good tidings for a period of one year, or until the issuance of a subsequent holiday greeting, whichever comes first, and warranty is limited to replacement of this wish or issuance of a
new wish at the sole discretion of the wisher.
So Happy Whatever, and Best Wishes!
Chris K. Ringel
Wednesday, December 21, 2005
Washington Post annual word definitions
Once again, The Washington Post has published the winning
submissions to its yearly contest, in which readers are asked to
supply alternate meanings for common words.
And the winners are:
1. Coffee (n.), the person upon whom one coughs.
2. Flabbergasted (adj.), appalled over how much weight you have gained.
3. Abdicate (v.), to give up all hope of ever having a flat stomach.
4. Esplanade (v.), to attempt an explanation while drunk.
5. Willy-nilly (adj.), impotent.
6. Negligent (adj.) describes a condition in which you
absentmindedly answer the door in your nightgown.
7. Lymph (v.), to walk with a lisp.
8. Gargoyle (n.), olive-flavored mouthwash.
9. Flatulence (n.) emergency vehicle that picks you up after you
are run over by a steamroller.
10. Balderdash (n.), a rapidly receding hairline.
11. Testicle (n.), a humorous question on an exam.
12. Rectitude (n.), the formal, dignified bearing adopted by proctologists.
13. Pokemon (n), a Rastafarian proctologist.
14. Oyster (n.), a person who sprinkles his conversation with Yiddishisms.
15. Frisbeetarianism (n.), the belief that, when you die, your Soul
flies up onto the roof and gets stuck there.
16. Circumvent (n.), an opening in the front of boxer shorts worn
by Jewish men
submissions to its yearly contest, in which readers are asked to
supply alternate meanings for common words.
And the winners are:
1. Coffee (n.), the person upon whom one coughs.
2. Flabbergasted (adj.), appalled over how much weight you have gained.
3. Abdicate (v.), to give up all hope of ever having a flat stomach.
4. Esplanade (v.), to attempt an explanation while drunk.
5. Willy-nilly (adj.), impotent.
6. Negligent (adj.) describes a condition in which you
absentmindedly answer the door in your nightgown.
7. Lymph (v.), to walk with a lisp.
8. Gargoyle (n.), olive-flavored mouthwash.
9. Flatulence (n.) emergency vehicle that picks you up after you
are run over by a steamroller.
10. Balderdash (n.), a rapidly receding hairline.
11. Testicle (n.), a humorous question on an exam.
12. Rectitude (n.), the formal, dignified bearing adopted by proctologists.
13. Pokemon (n), a Rastafarian proctologist.
14. Oyster (n.), a person who sprinkles his conversation with Yiddishisms.
15. Frisbeetarianism (n.), the belief that, when you die, your Soul
flies up onto the roof and gets stuck there.
16. Circumvent (n.), an opening in the front of boxer shorts worn
by Jewish men
Friday, December 02, 2005
RwR meter 10/4/05
-- Site Summary ---
Visits
Total ........................ 1,550
Average per Day ................. 44
Average Visit Length .......... 1:49
This Week ...................... 311
Page Views
Total ........................ 2,550
Average per Day ................. 66
Average per Visit .............. 1.5
This Week ...................... 465
--- Visits this Week ---
Day
Hour 9/28 9/29 9/30 10/1 10/2 10/3 10/4 Total
---- ----- ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ -------
1 0 2 2 0 0 2 3 9
2 1 0 0 1 2 2 3 9
3 1 0 0 0 1 3 0 5
4 0 6 1 0 0 1 0 8
5 0 0 0 0 0 2 2 4
6 0 0 1 0 1 4 0 6
7 2 2 0 0 1 0 2 7
8 0 0 2 1 0 1 3 7
9 2 4 0 1 2 0 1 (10)
10 5 2 4 1 2 2 3 (19)
11 3 3 2 0 0 1 3 (12)
12 4 6 1 0 0 8 3 (22)
13 4 1 1 3 0 (12) 1 (22)
14 6 1 1 0 0 2 2 (12)
15 4 2 3 3 4 4 7 (27
16 1 1 1 4 3 3 7 (20)
17 5 4 0 0 3 4 6 (22)
18 2 1 3 2 0 1 1 (10)
19 7 3 0 1 2 3 2 (18)
20 1 2 2 1 1 3 3 (13)
21 4 1 1 1 2 3 1 (13)
22 1 2 5 1 1 2 3 (15)
23 2 2 2 3 1 2 0 (12)
24 2 1 0 0 1 2 3 9
------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ -------
57- 46- 32- 23- 27- 67- 59- 311
--- Page Views this Week ---
Day
Hour 9/28 9/29 9/30 10/1 10/2 10/3 10/4 Total
---- ----- ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ -------
1 0 2 2 0 0 2 5 (11)
2 1 0 0 1 3 5 3 (13)
3 1 0 0 0 3 4 0 8
4 0 7 1 0 0 1 0 9
5 0 0 0 0 0 2 2 4
6 0 0 1 0 3 5 0 9
7 2 2 0 0 1 0 6 (11)
8 0 0 2 1 0 1 4 8
9 2 5 0 3 4 0 2 (16)
10 (10) 2 4 1 2 5 7 (31)
11 3 3 5 0 0 1 3 (15)
12 5 (14) 1 0 0 (20) 3 (43)
13 4 3 1 6 0 (16) 2 (32)
14 8 2 1 0 0 5 5 (21)
15 7 2 3 3 5 7 (10) (37)
16 1 1 2 4 4 8 (28) (48)
17 6 4 0 0 3 4 8 (25)
18 3 1 3 2 0 6 4 (19)
19 9 4 0 1 5 4 3 (26)
20 1 3 3 2 2 4 4 (19)
21 4 1 1 3 3 3 1 (16)
22 1 2 6 1 1 3 4 (18)
23 4 2 2 3 1 3 0 (15)
24 2 1 0 0 1 4 3 (11)
------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ -------
74- 61- 38- 31- 41- 113- 107- 465
Visits
Total ........................ 1,550
Average per Day ................. 44
Average Visit Length .......... 1:49
This Week ...................... 311
Page Views
Total ........................ 2,550
Average per Day ................. 66
Average per Visit .............. 1.5
This Week ...................... 465
--- Visits this Week ---
Day
Hour 9/28 9/29 9/30 10/1 10/2 10/3 10/4 Total
---- ----- ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ -------
1 0 2 2 0 0 2 3 9
2 1 0 0 1 2 2 3 9
3 1 0 0 0 1 3 0 5
4 0 6 1 0 0 1 0 8
5 0 0 0 0 0 2 2 4
6 0 0 1 0 1 4 0 6
7 2 2 0 0 1 0 2 7
8 0 0 2 1 0 1 3 7
9 2 4 0 1 2 0 1 (10)
10 5 2 4 1 2 2 3 (19)
11 3 3 2 0 0 1 3 (12)
12 4 6 1 0 0 8 3 (22)
13 4 1 1 3 0 (12) 1 (22)
14 6 1 1 0 0 2 2 (12)
15 4 2 3 3 4 4 7 (27
16 1 1 1 4 3 3 7 (20)
17 5 4 0 0 3 4 6 (22)
18 2 1 3 2 0 1 1 (10)
19 7 3 0 1 2 3 2 (18)
20 1 2 2 1 1 3 3 (13)
21 4 1 1 1 2 3 1 (13)
22 1 2 5 1 1 2 3 (15)
23 2 2 2 3 1 2 0 (12)
24 2 1 0 0 1 2 3 9
------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ -------
57- 46- 32- 23- 27- 67- 59- 311
--- Page Views this Week ---
Day
Hour 9/28 9/29 9/30 10/1 10/2 10/3 10/4 Total
---- ----- ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ -------
1 0 2 2 0 0 2 5 (11)
2 1 0 0 1 3 5 3 (13)
3 1 0 0 0 3 4 0 8
4 0 7 1 0 0 1 0 9
5 0 0 0 0 0 2 2 4
6 0 0 1 0 3 5 0 9
7 2 2 0 0 1 0 6 (11)
8 0 0 2 1 0 1 4 8
9 2 5 0 3 4 0 2 (16)
10 (10) 2 4 1 2 5 7 (31)
11 3 3 5 0 0 1 3 (15)
12 5 (14) 1 0 0 (20) 3 (43)
13 4 3 1 6 0 (16) 2 (32)
14 8 2 1 0 0 5 5 (21)
15 7 2 3 3 5 7 (10) (37)
16 1 1 2 4 4 8 (28) (48)
17 6 4 0 0 3 4 8 (25)
18 3 1 3 2 0 6 4 (19)
19 9 4 0 1 5 4 3 (26)
20 1 3 3 2 2 4 4 (19)
21 4 1 1 3 3 3 1 (16)
22 1 2 6 1 1 3 4 (18)
23 4 2 2 3 1 3 0 (15)
24 2 1 0 0 1 4 3 (11)
------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ -------
74- 61- 38- 31- 41- 113- 107- 465
Thursday, December 01, 2005
Free Ivy League education
HARVARD'S TUITION ANNOUNCEMENT - Harvard is offering free tuition for students that have a family income below $40,000. If you are a mentor or have nieces and nephews who might be interested, please give them this information. If you know any one/family earning less than $40K with a brilliant child near ready for college, please pass this along.
Harvard's Tuition Announcement Highlights Failure of Prestigious Universities to Enroll Low-Income Students (March 1, 2004.)
Harvard University announced that from now on undergraduate students from low-income families will pay no tuition. In making the announcement, Harvard's president Lawrence H. Summers said, "When only 10 percent of the students in Elite higher education come from families in lower half of the income distribution, we are not doing enough. We are not doing enough in bringing elite higher education to the lower half of the income distribution." If you know of a family earning less than $40,000 a year with an honor student graduating from high school soon, Harvard University wants to pay the tuition. The prestigious university recently announced that from now on undergraduate students from low-income families can go to Harvard for free...no tuition and no student loans! To find out more about Harvard offering free tuition for families making less than $40,000 a year visit Harvard's financial aid website or call the school's financial aid office at (617) 495-1581.
***
Beginning next year, students at the Yale School of Music will no longer have to pay tuition, due to a recent $100 million anonymous donation. Read the article.
Harvard's Tuition Announcement Highlights Failure of Prestigious Universities to Enroll Low-Income Students (March 1, 2004.)
Harvard University announced that from now on undergraduate students from low-income families will pay no tuition. In making the announcement, Harvard's president Lawrence H. Summers said, "When only 10 percent of the students in Elite higher education come from families in lower half of the income distribution, we are not doing enough. We are not doing enough in bringing elite higher education to the lower half of the income distribution." If you know of a family earning less than $40,000 a year with an honor student graduating from high school soon, Harvard University wants to pay the tuition. The prestigious university recently announced that from now on undergraduate students from low-income families can go to Harvard for free...no tuition and no student loans! To find out more about Harvard offering free tuition for families making less than $40,000 a year visit Harvard's financial aid website or call the school's financial aid office at (617) 495-1581.
***
Beginning next year, students at the Yale School of Music will no longer have to pay tuition, due to a recent $100 million anonymous donation. Read the article.
Wednesday, November 30, 2005
Fifty Uses for Vinegar
1 Kill grass on walks and driveways.
2 Kill weeds. Spray full strength on growth until plants have starved.
3 Increase soil acidity. In hard water: one gallon of tap water for watering rhododendrums, gardenias, or azaleas.
4 Deter ants. Spray vinegar around doors, appliances, and along other areas where ants are known.
5 Polish car chrome. Apply full strength.
6 Remove skunk odor from a dog. Rub fur with full strength vinegar; rinse.
7 Keep cats away. Sprinkle vinegar on areas you don't want the cat walking, sleeping, or scratching on.
8 Keep dogs from scratching his ears. Use a clean, soft cloth dipped in diluted vinegar.
9 Keep chickens from pecking each other. Put a little in their drinking water.
10 Tenderize meat. Soak in vinegar over night.
11 Freshen vegetables. Soak wilted vegetables in 2 cups of water and a tablespoon of vinegar.
12 Boil better eggs. Add 2 tablespoons water before boiling eggs. Keeps them from cracking.
13 Soothe a bee or jellyfish sting. Dot the irritation with vinegar and relieve itching.
14 Relieve sunburn. Lightly rub white vinegar; you may have to reapply.
15 Condition hair. Add a tablespoon of vinegar to dissolve sticky residue left by shampoo.
16 Relieve dry and itchy skin. Add 2 tablespoons to bath water.
17 Fight dandruff. After shampooing, rinse with vinegar and 2 cups of warm water.
18 Soothe a sore throat. Put a teaspoon of vinegar in a glass of water. Gargle, then swallow.
19 Treat sinus infections and chest colds. Add 1/4 cup or more vinegar to the vaporizer.
20 Feel good. A teaspoon of apple cider vinegar in a glass of water, with a bit of honey added for flavor, will take the edge off your appetite and give you an overall healthy feeling.
21 Deodorize the kitchen drain. Pour a cup down the drain once a week. Let stand 30 minutes and then flush with cold water.
22 Eliminate onion odor. Rub on your fingers before and after slicing.
23 Clean and disinfect wood cutting boards. Wipe with full strength vinegar.
24 Remove fruit stains from hands. Rub with vinegar.
25 Cut grease and odor on dishes. Add a tablespoon of vinegar to hot soapy water.
26 Clean a teapot. Boil a mixture of water and vinegar in the teapot. Wipe away the grime.
27 Freshen a lunchbox. Soak a piece of bread in vinegar and let it sit in the lunchbox over night.
28 Clean the refrigerator. Wash with a solution of equal parts water and vinegar.
29 Unclog a drain. Pour a handful of baking soda down the drain and add 1/2 cup of vinegar. Rinse with hot water.
30 Clean and deodorize the garbage disposal. Make vinegar ice cubes and feed them down the disposal. After grinding, run cold water through
31 Clean and deodorize jars. Rinse mayonnaise, peanut butter, and mustard jars with vinegar when empty.
32 Clean the dishwasher. Run a cup of vinegar through the whole cycle once a month to reduce soap build up on the inner mechanisms and on glassware.
33 Clean stainless steel. Wipe with a vinegar dampened cloth.
34 Clean china and fine glassware. Add a cup of vinegar to a sink of warm water. Gently dip the glass or china in the solution and let dry.
35 Get stains out of pots. Fill pot with a solution of 3 tablespoons of vinegar to a pint of water. Boil until stain loosens and can be washed away.
36 Clean the microwave. Boil a solution of 1/4 cup of vinegar and 1 cup of water in the microwave. Will loosen splattered on food and deodorize.
37 Dissolve rust from bolts and other metals. Soak in full strength vinegar.
38 Get rid of cooking smells. Let simmer a small pot of vinegar and water solution.
39 Unclog steam iron. Pour equal amounts of vinegar and water into the iron's water chamber. Turn to steam and leave the iron on for 5 minutes in an upright position. Then unplug and allow to cool. Any loose particles should come out when you empty the water.
40 Clean a scorched iron plate. Heat equal parts vinegar and salt in a small pan. Rub solution on the cooled iron surface to remove dark or burned stains.
41 Get rid of lint in clothes. Add 1/2 cup of vinegar to the rinse cycle.
42 Keep colors from running. Immerse clothes in full strength vinegar before washing.
43 Freshen up the washing machine. Periodically, pour a cup of vinegar in the machine and let in run through a regular cycle (no clothes added). Will dissolve soap residue.
44 Brighten fabric colors. Add a 1/2 cup vinegar to the rinse cycle.
45 Take grease off suede. Dip a toothbrush in vinegar and gently brush over grease spot.
46 Remove tough stains. Gently rub on fruit, jam, mustard, coffee, tea. Then wash as usual.
47 Get smoke smell out of clothes. Add a cup of vinegar to a bath tub of hot water. Hang clothes above the steam.
48 Remove decals. Brush with a couple coats of vinegar. Allow to soak in. Wash off.
49 Clean eyeglasses. Wipe each lens with a drop of vinegar.
50 Freshen cut flowers. Add 2 tablespoons vinegar and 1 teaspoon sugar for each quart of water.
2 Kill weeds. Spray full strength on growth until plants have starved.
3 Increase soil acidity. In hard water: one gallon of tap water for watering rhododendrums, gardenias, or azaleas.
4 Deter ants. Spray vinegar around doors, appliances, and along other areas where ants are known.
5 Polish car chrome. Apply full strength.
6 Remove skunk odor from a dog. Rub fur with full strength vinegar; rinse.
7 Keep cats away. Sprinkle vinegar on areas you don't want the cat walking, sleeping, or scratching on.
8 Keep dogs from scratching his ears. Use a clean, soft cloth dipped in diluted vinegar.
9 Keep chickens from pecking each other. Put a little in their drinking water.
10 Tenderize meat. Soak in vinegar over night.
11 Freshen vegetables. Soak wilted vegetables in 2 cups of water and a tablespoon of vinegar.
12 Boil better eggs. Add 2 tablespoons water before boiling eggs. Keeps them from cracking.
13 Soothe a bee or jellyfish sting. Dot the irritation with vinegar and relieve itching.
14 Relieve sunburn. Lightly rub white vinegar; you may have to reapply.
15 Condition hair. Add a tablespoon of vinegar to dissolve sticky residue left by shampoo.
16 Relieve dry and itchy skin. Add 2 tablespoons to bath water.
17 Fight dandruff. After shampooing, rinse with vinegar and 2 cups of warm water.
18 Soothe a sore throat. Put a teaspoon of vinegar in a glass of water. Gargle, then swallow.
19 Treat sinus infections and chest colds. Add 1/4 cup or more vinegar to the vaporizer.
20 Feel good. A teaspoon of apple cider vinegar in a glass of water, with a bit of honey added for flavor, will take the edge off your appetite and give you an overall healthy feeling.
21 Deodorize the kitchen drain. Pour a cup down the drain once a week. Let stand 30 minutes and then flush with cold water.
22 Eliminate onion odor. Rub on your fingers before and after slicing.
23 Clean and disinfect wood cutting boards. Wipe with full strength vinegar.
24 Remove fruit stains from hands. Rub with vinegar.
25 Cut grease and odor on dishes. Add a tablespoon of vinegar to hot soapy water.
26 Clean a teapot. Boil a mixture of water and vinegar in the teapot. Wipe away the grime.
27 Freshen a lunchbox. Soak a piece of bread in vinegar and let it sit in the lunchbox over night.
28 Clean the refrigerator. Wash with a solution of equal parts water and vinegar.
29 Unclog a drain. Pour a handful of baking soda down the drain and add 1/2 cup of vinegar. Rinse with hot water.
30 Clean and deodorize the garbage disposal. Make vinegar ice cubes and feed them down the disposal. After grinding, run cold water through
31 Clean and deodorize jars. Rinse mayonnaise, peanut butter, and mustard jars with vinegar when empty.
32 Clean the dishwasher. Run a cup of vinegar through the whole cycle once a month to reduce soap build up on the inner mechanisms and on glassware.
33 Clean stainless steel. Wipe with a vinegar dampened cloth.
34 Clean china and fine glassware. Add a cup of vinegar to a sink of warm water. Gently dip the glass or china in the solution and let dry.
35 Get stains out of pots. Fill pot with a solution of 3 tablespoons of vinegar to a pint of water. Boil until stain loosens and can be washed away.
36 Clean the microwave. Boil a solution of 1/4 cup of vinegar and 1 cup of water in the microwave. Will loosen splattered on food and deodorize.
37 Dissolve rust from bolts and other metals. Soak in full strength vinegar.
38 Get rid of cooking smells. Let simmer a small pot of vinegar and water solution.
39 Unclog steam iron. Pour equal amounts of vinegar and water into the iron's water chamber. Turn to steam and leave the iron on for 5 minutes in an upright position. Then unplug and allow to cool. Any loose particles should come out when you empty the water.
40 Clean a scorched iron plate. Heat equal parts vinegar and salt in a small pan. Rub solution on the cooled iron surface to remove dark or burned stains.
41 Get rid of lint in clothes. Add 1/2 cup of vinegar to the rinse cycle.
42 Keep colors from running. Immerse clothes in full strength vinegar before washing.
43 Freshen up the washing machine. Periodically, pour a cup of vinegar in the machine and let in run through a regular cycle (no clothes added). Will dissolve soap residue.
44 Brighten fabric colors. Add a 1/2 cup vinegar to the rinse cycle.
45 Take grease off suede. Dip a toothbrush in vinegar and gently brush over grease spot.
46 Remove tough stains. Gently rub on fruit, jam, mustard, coffee, tea. Then wash as usual.
47 Get smoke smell out of clothes. Add a cup of vinegar to a bath tub of hot water. Hang clothes above the steam.
48 Remove decals. Brush with a couple coats of vinegar. Allow to soak in. Wash off.
49 Clean eyeglasses. Wipe each lens with a drop of vinegar.
50 Freshen cut flowers. Add 2 tablespoons vinegar and 1 teaspoon sugar for each quart of water.
Monday, November 28, 2005
Writers Guild Strike news
November 28, 2005
Writers Guild Strikes Back
Guerrilla Protests Only Start of Action on Reality, Product Placements
By James Hibberd
Storming high-profile industry events with shouting, flier-toting activists is only the beginning of the Writers Guild of America's plans to assail television's powers that be.
In the coming months WGA plans to disrupt more public functions, create Web sites mocking embedded advertising and take its complaints to key industry investors in its quest to establish a dialogue with networks on key WGA issues-namely, representation for reality storytellers and compensation and guidelines for writing product placement into programs.
"We're just getting started," said WGA west Executive Director David Young, the labor leader behind the guerrilla tactics. "We're going to put pressure on them in every way possible."
The moves so far have at a minimum drawn attention to the WGA's point of view. Mr. Young said he expects the guild's continuing campaign to ultimately effect real change in WGA's favor.
He said the radical protest efforts, which longtime industry observers say have not been used by any of the major entertainment guilds in recent decades, are the result of months of trying in vain to bring about discussions with producers.
"Being nice and asking politely for six months didn't get us anywhere," Mr. Young said. "We've respectfully asked for a dialogue, but haven't gotten one. Since we're not invited for a seat at the table, we're inviting ourselves."
Whether the tactics will sway the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, the guild negotiating arm of the industry, remains to be seen. But Mr. Young claims the efforts are already having an impact.
WGA west President Patric Verrone, Mr. Young said, has recently been invited to appear on three major industry panels, presumably to avoid having the party crashed by protesters.
"We have no reason to think that we would have been invited otherwise," Mr. Young said.
Also, five of the six networks represented at a recent International Radio and Television Society panel discussion crashed by protesters discussed the issue with Mr. Young after the event. Granted, the discussion mainly consisted of how unhappy the executives were with the WGA. "But they weren't calling us back before," Mr. Young said.
The AMPTP had no comment on the tactics. But one studio insider described the current WGA leadership as out of touch with reality.
"This industry has long-established forums to discuss these issues and they've been discussed during contract negotiations and during ongoing research studies," the insider said. "I don't think their tactics are all that unique. What's unique is that the radical fringe now seem to be in charge. They don't understand the business and fired all the level-headed professionals because they didn't get their own way."
Thus far the WGA has invited itself to three industry events, each resulting in a more contentious confrontation than the last.
The first was Sept. 27, at an Advertising Age Madison + Vine conference at New York University. The guild hired comedy troupe the Upright Citizens Brigade to stand outside the venue and impersonate Donald Trump and Martha Stewart, their body parts designated as advertising space, and slipped a plant into the audience to interrupt the talk.
The second was in October, during a panel on reality television (sponsored by TelevisionWeek) at the Four Seasons in Beverly Hills. About 20 WGA members walked into the panel to pass out leaflets and demanded to know why reality storytellers are denied overtime and health benefits.
The most recent was earlier this month at the IRTS breakfast at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York. About 20 WGA members stormed in, shouting and passing out fliers, and one protester took to the stage. The broadcast network executives on the panel-including Fox Entertainment President Peter Liguori, UPN President Dawn Ostroff and ABC Primetime Entertainment President Stephen McPherson-were visibly startled. The protesters were escorted out of the building.
Mr. Young's tactics appear to have the support of at least some high-profile WGA members.
"I think they're effective," said Jonathan Rintels, president of the Center for Creative Voices in Media and a WGA member. "Inevitably, it does annoy [executives]. But does that prevent both sides from then sitting down and trying to discuss the issues in a serious way? I don't think it does. It's not like they're setting fire to buildings and taking hostages."
The aggressive stance follows last year's contentious employer contract renegotiation, which led to widespread dissatisfaction with the current agreement within the writers' guild rank and file.
Instead of waiting until the next round of negotiations, set for 2007, in recent months the organization has tried to address gripes through alternative measures. The WGA filed two class-action lawsuits against reality producers and networks alleging sweatshop working conditions, and released a policy paper calling for a code of conduct regulating product placement on television programming.
In September the guild elected a new president, Mr. Verrone, whose campaign promised to end guild infighting and adopt a more assertive stance on key issues. Mr. Verrone fired WGA west Executive Director John McLean and promoted veteran labor organizer Mr. Young to his post. Mr. Young said his tactics were inspired by his 1990s work representing garment industry laborers who disrupted retail clothing events.
One longtime guild observer said the tactics are more the style of Teamsters than modern entertainment guilds.
"It's like old-time unionism," he said, "like when the projectionist guild members would throw smoke bombs into theaters. Not dangerous, not violent, but not always welcome."
A top broadcast network executive who was a panelist during a disrupted event said he took the protesters in stride.
"It's America. As long as nobody breaks a law, they are open to expressing what they want," he said. "It was a little rude, but no one got hurt. It is interesting that they are getting more militant."
(from TV Week)
Writers Guild Strikes Back
Guerrilla Protests Only Start of Action on Reality, Product Placements
By James Hibberd
Storming high-profile industry events with shouting, flier-toting activists is only the beginning of the Writers Guild of America's plans to assail television's powers that be.
In the coming months WGA plans to disrupt more public functions, create Web sites mocking embedded advertising and take its complaints to key industry investors in its quest to establish a dialogue with networks on key WGA issues-namely, representation for reality storytellers and compensation and guidelines for writing product placement into programs.
"We're just getting started," said WGA west Executive Director David Young, the labor leader behind the guerrilla tactics. "We're going to put pressure on them in every way possible."
The moves so far have at a minimum drawn attention to the WGA's point of view. Mr. Young said he expects the guild's continuing campaign to ultimately effect real change in WGA's favor.
He said the radical protest efforts, which longtime industry observers say have not been used by any of the major entertainment guilds in recent decades, are the result of months of trying in vain to bring about discussions with producers.
"Being nice and asking politely for six months didn't get us anywhere," Mr. Young said. "We've respectfully asked for a dialogue, but haven't gotten one. Since we're not invited for a seat at the table, we're inviting ourselves."
Whether the tactics will sway the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, the guild negotiating arm of the industry, remains to be seen. But Mr. Young claims the efforts are already having an impact.
WGA west President Patric Verrone, Mr. Young said, has recently been invited to appear on three major industry panels, presumably to avoid having the party crashed by protesters.
"We have no reason to think that we would have been invited otherwise," Mr. Young said.
Also, five of the six networks represented at a recent International Radio and Television Society panel discussion crashed by protesters discussed the issue with Mr. Young after the event. Granted, the discussion mainly consisted of how unhappy the executives were with the WGA. "But they weren't calling us back before," Mr. Young said.
The AMPTP had no comment on the tactics. But one studio insider described the current WGA leadership as out of touch with reality.
"This industry has long-established forums to discuss these issues and they've been discussed during contract negotiations and during ongoing research studies," the insider said. "I don't think their tactics are all that unique. What's unique is that the radical fringe now seem to be in charge. They don't understand the business and fired all the level-headed professionals because they didn't get their own way."
Thus far the WGA has invited itself to three industry events, each resulting in a more contentious confrontation than the last.
The first was Sept. 27, at an Advertising Age Madison + Vine conference at New York University. The guild hired comedy troupe the Upright Citizens Brigade to stand outside the venue and impersonate Donald Trump and Martha Stewart, their body parts designated as advertising space, and slipped a plant into the audience to interrupt the talk.
The second was in October, during a panel on reality television (sponsored by TelevisionWeek) at the Four Seasons in Beverly Hills. About 20 WGA members walked into the panel to pass out leaflets and demanded to know why reality storytellers are denied overtime and health benefits.
The most recent was earlier this month at the IRTS breakfast at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York. About 20 WGA members stormed in, shouting and passing out fliers, and one protester took to the stage. The broadcast network executives on the panel-including Fox Entertainment President Peter Liguori, UPN President Dawn Ostroff and ABC Primetime Entertainment President Stephen McPherson-were visibly startled. The protesters were escorted out of the building.
Mr. Young's tactics appear to have the support of at least some high-profile WGA members.
"I think they're effective," said Jonathan Rintels, president of the Center for Creative Voices in Media and a WGA member. "Inevitably, it does annoy [executives]. But does that prevent both sides from then sitting down and trying to discuss the issues in a serious way? I don't think it does. It's not like they're setting fire to buildings and taking hostages."
The aggressive stance follows last year's contentious employer contract renegotiation, which led to widespread dissatisfaction with the current agreement within the writers' guild rank and file.
Instead of waiting until the next round of negotiations, set for 2007, in recent months the organization has tried to address gripes through alternative measures. The WGA filed two class-action lawsuits against reality producers and networks alleging sweatshop working conditions, and released a policy paper calling for a code of conduct regulating product placement on television programming.
In September the guild elected a new president, Mr. Verrone, whose campaign promised to end guild infighting and adopt a more assertive stance on key issues. Mr. Verrone fired WGA west Executive Director John McLean and promoted veteran labor organizer Mr. Young to his post. Mr. Young said his tactics were inspired by his 1990s work representing garment industry laborers who disrupted retail clothing events.
One longtime guild observer said the tactics are more the style of Teamsters than modern entertainment guilds.
"It's like old-time unionism," he said, "like when the projectionist guild members would throw smoke bombs into theaters. Not dangerous, not violent, but not always welcome."
A top broadcast network executive who was a panelist during a disrupted event said he took the protesters in stride.
"It's America. As long as nobody breaks a law, they are open to expressing what they want," he said. "It was a little rude, but no one got hurt. It is interesting that they are getting more militant."
(from TV Week)
Good business
Stolen verbatem from an e-mail. Those of you working in the retail or service sector may find it at least interesting (and I gather some of you will disagree). For all except the first article, tou will have to register with BNET, but it's free.
BusinessWeek has a great interview/book review on the importance of details to customer service.
Author Michael Levine says that operational details, such as limited hours and dirty bathrooms send a message to customers about the general quality of a business.
These details have a more significant effect on customers than you might think:
"The consumer mind has a logical and emotional part, and if you don't speak to both, you will lose them, especially when they're hungry, tired, angry, or lonely.
"We're living in an age of anxiety. When people are not hungry, tired, angry, or lonely, the emotional side will win the debate with the logical part of the brain 80% of the time. When they're hungry, tired, angry, or lonely, emotion wins 100% of time. We are often hungry, tired, angry, or lonely, so it's exceedingly dangerous if you're a business to ignore the emotional part of the brain."
What do the details of your operation look like? If they could use a tune-up, these BNET resources will help you get started.
Best Practices in New-Customer Service
New customers are a delicate client sector virtually for any organization. Because they do not have a history with the company, they have no reason to be loyal-until, through excellent service, the company gives them one. Article discusses a study commissioned by Entergy, to learn how leading organizations define excellent customer service and achieve the high levels of service to new customers that lead to their retention. The scope of the study included discovering how "best-practice" organizations: optimize new customers' experiences, elevate first impressions, improve customer interface, provide beneficial new customer services, emphasize a focus on the customer, and follow up with new customers within six months to one year.
Perfect Customer Service: Bigger is NOT Better
The bigger the customer service department is the less efficient it is at serving customers. If management developed alternative solutions to customers' needs, some or all parts of the customer service department could be eliminated. Customer service departments would look very different than they do today if products showed up on time, employees did what was expected, orders were completed with precision and products rarely, if ever, failed.
Organizing for Customer-Centric Marketing
Marketing communications is shifting away from mass media toward an approach informed by deep audience knowledge. This places database marketing groups -- and the customer insight they have amassed -- into the organizational spotlight. But many of these groups play a service-focused role that hampers customer -centric communication. To help firms map out a vision, road map, and skills portfolio for customer-centric direct-to-consumer marketing, Forrester has developed a four -stage maturity model.
Differentiate Your Business Based On Outstanding Customer Service
Outstanding customer service requires several things: 1) a sincere and powerful commitment to serving customers and prospective customers at the highest possible level each and every time, 2) excellent people, 3) stringent expectations and policies regarding how customers are served along with a high level of accountability for enforcing those expectations and policies and 4) a discipline about serving customers consistently in manner that not only meets customer expectations, but often exceeds them. Achieving outstanding customer service means hard work and attention to detail as well.
Author Michael Levine says that operational details, such as limited hours and dirty bathrooms send a message to customers about the general quality of a business.
These details have a more significant effect on customers than you might think:
"The consumer mind has a logical and emotional part, and if you don't speak to both, you will lose them, especially when they're hungry, tired, angry, or lonely.
"We're living in an age of anxiety. When people are not hungry, tired, angry, or lonely, the emotional side will win the debate with the logical part of the brain 80% of the time. When they're hungry, tired, angry, or lonely, emotion wins 100% of time. We are often hungry, tired, angry, or lonely, so it's exceedingly dangerous if you're a business to ignore the emotional part of the brain."
What do the details of your operation look like? If they could use a tune-up, these BNET resources will help you get started.
New customers are a delicate client sector virtually for any organization. Because they do not have a history with the company, they have no reason to be loyal-until, through excellent service, the company gives them one. Article discusses a study commissioned by Entergy, to learn how leading organizations define excellent customer service and achieve the high levels of service to new customers that lead to their retention. The scope of the study included discovering how "best-practice" organizations: optimize new customers' experiences, elevate first impressions, improve customer interface, provide beneficial new customer services, emphasize a focus on the customer, and follow up with new customers within six months to one year.
The bigger the customer service department is the less efficient it is at serving customers. If management developed alternative solutions to customers' needs, some or all parts of the customer service department could be eliminated. Customer service departments would look very different than they do today if products showed up on time, employees did what was expected, orders were completed with precision and products rarely, if ever, failed.
Marketing communications is shifting away from mass media toward an approach informed by deep audience knowledge. This places database marketing groups -- and the customer insight they have amassed -- into the organizational spotlight. But many of these groups play a service-focused role that hampers customer -centric communication. To help firms map out a vision, road map, and skills portfolio for customer-centric direct-to-consumer marketing, Forrester has developed a four -stage maturity model.
Outstanding customer service requires several things: 1) a sincere and powerful commitment to serving customers and prospective customers at the highest possible level each and every time, 2) excellent people, 3) stringent expectations and policies regarding how customers are served along with a high level of accountability for enforcing those expectations and policies and 4) a discipline about serving customers consistently in manner that not only meets customer expectations, but often exceeds them. Achieving outstanding customer service means hard work and attention to detail as well.
Monday, October 24, 2005
RwR meter 9/27/05
-- Site Summary ---
Visits
Total ........................ 1,237
Average per Day ................. 42
Average Visit Length .......... 1:49
This Week ...................... 297
Page Views
Total ........................ 2,081
Average per Day ................. 64
Average per Visit .............. 1.5
This Week ...................... 448
--- Visits this Week ---
Hour 9/21 9/22 9/23 9/24 9/25 9/26 9/27 Total
---- ----- ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ -------
1 2 2 1 1 0 2 2 (10)
2 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1
3 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1
4 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 2
5 0 1 1 1 0 2 0 5
6 3 3 2 3 2 0 0 (13)
7 2 1 0 0 0 0 1 4
8 1 2 2 1 0 0 3 9
9 2 1 0 0 0 1 6 (10)
10 2 2 3 0 3 2 1 (13)
11 0 2 3 0 0 8 2 (15)
12 4 4 2 1 1 2 1 (15)
13 3 6 3 0 2 1 3 (18)
14 1 4 4 2 5 1 1 (18)
15 6 9 4 1 1 1 1 (23)
16 5 4 3 1 1 3 5 (22)
17 5 1 3 1 0 4 5 (19)
18 5 5 3 1 1 6 1 (22)
19 2 0 0 3 5 1 1 (12)
20 3 4 2 8 2 2 3 (24)
21 6 1 1 2 1 0 1 (12)
22 0 0 0 1 1 0 1 3
23 4 0 1 0 2 4 2 (13)
24 3 1 3 2 0 1 3 (13)
------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ -------
59- 53- 41- 30- 29- 41- 44- 297
--- Page Views this Week ---
Day
Hour 9/21 9/22 9/23 9/24 9/25 9/26 9/27 Total
---- ----- ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ -------
1 2 2 1 3 0 2 3 (13)
2 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1
3 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1
4 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 2
5 0 1 1 1 0 3 0 6
6 8 3 4 3 3 0 0 (21)
7 2 1 0 0 0 0 1 4
8 5 4 3 1 0 0 5 (18)
9 2 2 0 0 0 1 (10) (15)
10 2 5 5 0 3 3 1 (19)
11 0 2 5 0 0 (11) 12 (30)
12 4 5 2 1 1 2 2 (17)
13 3 6 4 0 2 1 4 (20)
14 1 7 6 2 (11) 1 1 (29)
15 (13) (10) 9 2 1 1 1 (37)
16 8 9 7 1 1 4 6 (36)
17 9 1 4 2 0 4 8 (28)
18 (14) (14) 4 1 1 (16) 5 (55)
19 2 0 0 3 5 1 1 (12)
20 3 6 2 9 2 2 4 (28)
21 7 2 1 3 1 0 1 (15)
22 0 0 0 3 2 0 2 7
23 5 0 2 0 2 6 2 (17)
24 3 1 5 3 0 2 3 (17)
------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ -------
93- 81- 65- 39- 37- 60- 73- 448
Visits
Total ........................ 1,237
Average per Day ................. 42
Average Visit Length .......... 1:49
This Week ...................... 297
Page Views
Total ........................ 2,081
Average per Day ................. 64
Average per Visit .............. 1.5
This Week ...................... 448
--- Visits this Week ---
Hour 9/21 9/22 9/23 9/24 9/25 9/26 9/27 Total
---- ----- ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ -------
1 2 2 1 1 0 2 2 (10)
2 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1
3 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1
4 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 2
5 0 1 1 1 0 2 0 5
6 3 3 2 3 2 0 0 (13)
7 2 1 0 0 0 0 1 4
8 1 2 2 1 0 0 3 9
9 2 1 0 0 0 1 6 (10)
10 2 2 3 0 3 2 1 (13)
11 0 2 3 0 0 8 2 (15)
12 4 4 2 1 1 2 1 (15)
13 3 6 3 0 2 1 3 (18)
14 1 4 4 2 5 1 1 (18)
15 6 9 4 1 1 1 1 (23)
16 5 4 3 1 1 3 5 (22)
17 5 1 3 1 0 4 5 (19)
18 5 5 3 1 1 6 1 (22)
19 2 0 0 3 5 1 1 (12)
20 3 4 2 8 2 2 3 (24)
21 6 1 1 2 1 0 1 (12)
22 0 0 0 1 1 0 1 3
23 4 0 1 0 2 4 2 (13)
24 3 1 3 2 0 1 3 (13)
------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ -------
59- 53- 41- 30- 29- 41- 44- 297
--- Page Views this Week ---
Day
Hour 9/21 9/22 9/23 9/24 9/25 9/26 9/27 Total
---- ----- ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ -------
1 2 2 1 3 0 2 3 (13)
2 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1
3 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1
4 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 2
5 0 1 1 1 0 3 0 6
6 8 3 4 3 3 0 0 (21)
7 2 1 0 0 0 0 1 4
8 5 4 3 1 0 0 5 (18)
9 2 2 0 0 0 1 (10) (15)
10 2 5 5 0 3 3 1 (19)
11 0 2 5 0 0 (11) 12 (30)
12 4 5 2 1 1 2 2 (17)
13 3 6 4 0 2 1 4 (20)
14 1 7 6 2 (11) 1 1 (29)
15 (13) (10) 9 2 1 1 1 (37)
16 8 9 7 1 1 4 6 (36)
17 9 1 4 2 0 4 8 (28)
18 (14) (14) 4 1 1 (16) 5 (55)
19 2 0 0 3 5 1 1 (12)
20 3 6 2 9 2 2 4 (28)
21 7 2 1 3 1 0 1 (15)
22 0 0 0 3 2 0 2 7
23 5 0 2 0 2 6 2 (17)
24 3 1 5 3 0 2 3 (17)
------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ -------
93- 81- 65- 39- 37- 60- 73- 448
BATTLE HYMN OF THE REPUBLICANS
Mine Eyes have seen the bungling of that stumbling moron Bush;
he has blathered all the drivel that the neo-cons can push;
he has lost sight of all reason 'cause his head is up his tush;
The Doofus marches on.
I have heard him butcher syntax like a kindergarten fool;
There is warranted suspicion that he never went to school;
Should we fault him for the policies - or is he just their tool?
The lies keep piling on.
Glory! Glory! How he'll Screw Ya'!
Glory! Glory! How he'll Screw Ya'!
Glory! Glory! How he'll Screw Ya'!
His wreckage will live on.
I have seen him cut the taxes of the billionaires' lone heir;
As he spends another zillion on an aircraft carrier;
Let the smokestacks keep polluting - do we really need clean air?
The surplus is now gone.
Glory! Glory! How he'll Screw Ya'!
Glory! Glory! How he'll Screw Ya'!
Glory! Glory! How he'll Screw Ya'!
Your safety net is gone!
Now he's got a mighty hankerin' to bomb a prostrate state;
Though the whole world knows its crazy - and the U.N. says to wait;
When he doesn't have the evidence, "We must prevaricate."
Diplomacy is done!
Oh, a trumped-up war is excellent; we have no moral bounds;
Should the reasons be disputed, we'll just make up other grounds;
Enraging several billions - to his brainlessness redounds; The Doofus marches on!
Glory! Glory! How he'll Screw Ya'!
Glory! Glory! How he'll Screw Ya'!
Glory! Glory! How he'll Screw Ya'!
THIS...DOO...FUS...MAR...CHES...ON
he has blathered all the drivel that the neo-cons can push;
he has lost sight of all reason 'cause his head is up his tush;
The Doofus marches on.
I have heard him butcher syntax like a kindergarten fool;
There is warranted suspicion that he never went to school;
Should we fault him for the policies - or is he just their tool?
The lies keep piling on.
Glory! Glory! How he'll Screw Ya'!
Glory! Glory! How he'll Screw Ya'!
Glory! Glory! How he'll Screw Ya'!
His wreckage will live on.
I have seen him cut the taxes of the billionaires' lone heir;
As he spends another zillion on an aircraft carrier;
Let the smokestacks keep polluting - do we really need clean air?
The surplus is now gone.
Glory! Glory! How he'll Screw Ya'!
Glory! Glory! How he'll Screw Ya'!
Glory! Glory! How he'll Screw Ya'!
Your safety net is gone!
Now he's got a mighty hankerin' to bomb a prostrate state;
Though the whole world knows its crazy - and the U.N. says to wait;
When he doesn't have the evidence, "We must prevaricate."
Diplomacy is done!
Oh, a trumped-up war is excellent; we have no moral bounds;
Should the reasons be disputed, we'll just make up other grounds;
Enraging several billions - to his brainlessness redounds; The Doofus marches on!
Glory! Glory! How he'll Screw Ya'!
Glory! Glory! How he'll Screw Ya'!
Glory! Glory! How he'll Screw Ya'!
THIS...DOO...FUS...MAR...CHES...ON
REVIEW: Dennis Kyne: All We Want Is The Truth!
By Keith Hannaleck, 10/1/2005
Besides rockin’ down the house, he gets his point across really well on this CD...
Artist: Dennis Kyne
Title: I’m Not Resisting
Genre: Rock
Label: Independent
What happens to a man that is in the Army for 15 years and he gets out five years before retirement, and then decides to start offering the truth about the military to those that will listen? If you can deal with it all the bullshit the military deals out for 20 years, you get to walk away from it and collect a paycheck for doing nothing the rest of your life. Well there has to be a damned good reason for a person to pack it all in with 75% of the commitment already fulfilled. Listen to this CD for the answers.
Dennis Kyne is one such person that turned his back on a fully benefited military retirement because his conscience would not allow him to see it through until the end. He needed to start again somewhere else, and start with the truth first. I believe in national security and our military but I do not support some of the senseless wars the U.S. has waged.
Kyne left behind 15 years of sacrifice to expose some of the awful truths about our military in a book called "Support The Truth," a play on words from the commonly used "support our troops" motto. And now we have a musical version of his story, well part of it, in I’m Not Resisting. He communicates his tale through some hearty rock tracks. Some of the subject matter obviously pertains to his protesting activities and ensuing arrests, depicted on the cover of this CD. Switching between the acoustic and electric guitar, Kyne makes his way through 11 tracks of emotional fist waving at our government and military. In a bit of irony, our government wants us to support our troops but does not think twice about putting our brothers and sisters in harms way, even using them as guinea pigs in some cases. Kyne sings about all of this and the tragedies of veterans coming home changed forever. Some are insane and living like dogs on the street. These are the realities of war and our government likes to turn its head to this heartbreak. Kyne is not going to let it slide; he wants everyone to know what the truth is.
Besides rockin’ down the house, he gets his point across really well on this CD. If he is playing an acoustic number like the opener "All We Want Is The Truth," sounding like Iggy Pop every step of the way, he has this high level of energy that bites like a pit bull and it hangs on without letting go. His message is so important that there is no time to waste in any song, and he makes the best use of his time. This is what you call optimizing your moment in the sun. Five of the tracks are crackling with spontaneity. They were recorded live at KZSU Stanford Live. The rest of the tracks sound live off the floor in the studio as well. The entire album has that feel, that gritty edge and undying tension that you would need in conveying such a message. This element turns out to be Kyne’s most reliable friend. He has a decent voice and his guitar playing is above average. It is a good thing because there is no way that this recording would have the meaning it does without the piss n’ vinegar of a hard-edged voice and some rockin’ six-string to drive it home.
He has some great support along the way from his comrades Shawn Packer (guitar), James Bradford (bass), Ryan Hoffman (drums), and Ward Reilly (percussion on track 1). You cannot make music this good without a little help and nobody knows better than Kyne.
Best tracks for my money are "All We Want Is The Truth," "Scratched Out In Soul" and "Whiskey." For me these are the songs that define Kyne’s purpose and meaning for making this CD in the first place. This CD is jam packed with powerful eye opening messages and good music to back it all up, when does it get any better or more in your face than that?
© Keith "MuzikMan" Hannaleck
September 30, 2005
Rating-8/10
01. All We Want is the Truth (3:44)
02. Curbside (3:26)
03. All In (4:22)
04. What's the Purpose? (3:21)
05. Playin' it Cool (3:20)
06. Corner (3:52)
07. Scratched Out in Soul (0:16)
08. Whiskey (4:44)
09. Cut Around Sally (4:09)
10. Sittin' In Tally (3:50)
11. Hangin' (2:38)
Monday, October 03, 2005
ABC News news
October 3, 2005
ABC News Closes in On Anchor Duo
Net Denies Decision Made By Michele Greppi, TV Week
While it is not finalized and could change, ABC News is moving toward naming Bob Woodruff and Elizabeth Vargas as the permanent co-anchors of "World News Tonight," succeeding the late Peter Jennings, according to informed sources.
Such a decision would be a blow to Charles Gibson, the current co-host of "Good Morning America," who has been filling in on "World News Tonight," and frequently acting as the face of ABC News on big breaking stories. Mr. Gibson, 62, is believed to want the "World News Tonight" anchor job which would cap a distinguished career that has earned him widespread respect within ABC News and beyond.
If he doesn't get the job, sources said Mr. Gibson would likely stay with "GMA" for another year and a half, and then might leave the network. ABC, a division of the Walt Disney Company, has been hesitant to move Mr. Gibson away from "GMA" at a time he and co-hosts Diane Sawyer and Robin Roberts have led a strong resurgence for the hugely profitable morning program which has moved it closer in the ratings to NBC's "Today Show" than it has been in a decade.
An ABC News spokesman on Friday told TelevisionWeek that no decisions about "World News Tonight" have been made and because things are going so well, there is no pressure to move quickly. "Your story is wrong," said Jeffrey W. Schneider, VP and spokesman for ABC News. "To be clear, no decision has been made. At best your sources are ill-informed gossips. At worst, your sources know they don't know what they are talking about. We are in no rush to make this decision. When we are prepared to make an announcement, we will make one."
However, well-connected sources inside ABC and other sources in the TV news circle say that ABC News hopes to beat CBS News to the punch by rolling out a younger-generation flagship newscast. Mr. Woodruff, who is 43, is seen as the epitome of that future. The ABC News spokesman said that what CBS does is not a factor in when ABC News will make its changes. Mr. Woodruff and Ms. Vargas have often anchored "World News Tonight," as has Mr. Gibson, since Peter Jennings announced he had been diagnosed with lung cancer in April. Mr. Jennings died in early August.
Inside ABC News, many regard Mr. Woodruff as a worthy successor to Mr. Jennings. He is a polished newsman who has reported from Iraq, New Orleans, the South Pacific tsunami or, as he did earlier this year, from inside North Korea.
Although Ms. Vargas, 42, who co-anchors "20/20" with John Stossel, has done several serious prime-time specials and reportedly has the enthusiastic backing of ABC News Senior VP Paul Slavin, she does not have the widespread rank-and-file support that Mr. Woodruff does. There is speculation that Mr. Woodruff often might be deployed in the field on big stories with Ms. Vargas at the anchor desk.
"World News Tonight" has been closing in on "NBC Nightly News" since last year, before Tom Brokaw turned the anchor desk over to Brian Williams, and "World News Tonight" edged "Nightly" in the 25-54 demographic for the just-concluded third quarter.
Meanwhile, there is speculation that pieces are falling into place for the next generation of "Nightline." Anchor Ted Koppel and executive producer Tom Bettag will leave the show and the network at the end of December. Informed sources said "primetime>live" correspondent and legal analyst Cynthia McFadden would take the anchor role held since 1979 by Mr. Koppel. Under this scenario, Terry Moran, who now covers the White House, would be a "Nightline" correspondent; and Jim Avila, the former NBC News correspondent who joined ABC News in 2004, and since has broken a number of big news stories, may succeed Mr. Moran on the White House beat.
Veteran investigative journalist Martin Bashir, who joined "20/20" in September, 2004, is also expected to be assigned as a "Nightline" correspondent.
The ABC News spokesman dismissed possible changes on "Nightline" as speculation.
Mr. Woodruff, who trained as a lawyer and is a veteran foreign correspondent, is currently also an anchor on ABC News' "World News Tonight Saturday." He moved to New York in 2002 after working for ABC in London.
Ms. Vargas joined Mr. Stossel as co-anchor of "20/20" in September, 2004. She has anchored numerous ABC News specials, including several one-hour "Vanished" reports and a "Child First Safety Special." She joined ABC from NBC News, where she was a correspondent and substitute anchor for "Dateline NBC" and "Today," and also a substitute anchor for NBC Nightly News' weekend editions.
ABC News Closes in On Anchor Duo
Net Denies Decision Made By Michele Greppi, TV Week
While it is not finalized and could change, ABC News is moving toward naming Bob Woodruff and Elizabeth Vargas as the permanent co-anchors of "World News Tonight," succeeding the late Peter Jennings, according to informed sources.
Such a decision would be a blow to Charles Gibson, the current co-host of "Good Morning America," who has been filling in on "World News Tonight," and frequently acting as the face of ABC News on big breaking stories. Mr. Gibson, 62, is believed to want the "World News Tonight" anchor job which would cap a distinguished career that has earned him widespread respect within ABC News and beyond.
If he doesn't get the job, sources said Mr. Gibson would likely stay with "GMA" for another year and a half, and then might leave the network. ABC, a division of the Walt Disney Company, has been hesitant to move Mr. Gibson away from "GMA" at a time he and co-hosts Diane Sawyer and Robin Roberts have led a strong resurgence for the hugely profitable morning program which has moved it closer in the ratings to NBC's "Today Show" than it has been in a decade.
An ABC News spokesman on Friday told TelevisionWeek that no decisions about "World News Tonight" have been made and because things are going so well, there is no pressure to move quickly. "Your story is wrong," said Jeffrey W. Schneider, VP and spokesman for ABC News. "To be clear, no decision has been made. At best your sources are ill-informed gossips. At worst, your sources know they don't know what they are talking about. We are in no rush to make this decision. When we are prepared to make an announcement, we will make one."
However, well-connected sources inside ABC and other sources in the TV news circle say that ABC News hopes to beat CBS News to the punch by rolling out a younger-generation flagship newscast. Mr. Woodruff, who is 43, is seen as the epitome of that future. The ABC News spokesman said that what CBS does is not a factor in when ABC News will make its changes. Mr. Woodruff and Ms. Vargas have often anchored "World News Tonight," as has Mr. Gibson, since Peter Jennings announced he had been diagnosed with lung cancer in April. Mr. Jennings died in early August.
Inside ABC News, many regard Mr. Woodruff as a worthy successor to Mr. Jennings. He is a polished newsman who has reported from Iraq, New Orleans, the South Pacific tsunami or, as he did earlier this year, from inside North Korea.
Although Ms. Vargas, 42, who co-anchors "20/20" with John Stossel, has done several serious prime-time specials and reportedly has the enthusiastic backing of ABC News Senior VP Paul Slavin, she does not have the widespread rank-and-file support that Mr. Woodruff does. There is speculation that Mr. Woodruff often might be deployed in the field on big stories with Ms. Vargas at the anchor desk.
"World News Tonight" has been closing in on "NBC Nightly News" since last year, before Tom Brokaw turned the anchor desk over to Brian Williams, and "World News Tonight" edged "Nightly" in the 25-54 demographic for the just-concluded third quarter.
Meanwhile, there is speculation that pieces are falling into place for the next generation of "Nightline." Anchor Ted Koppel and executive producer Tom Bettag will leave the show and the network at the end of December. Informed sources said "primetime>live" correspondent and legal analyst Cynthia McFadden would take the anchor role held since 1979 by Mr. Koppel. Under this scenario, Terry Moran, who now covers the White House, would be a "Nightline" correspondent; and Jim Avila, the former NBC News correspondent who joined ABC News in 2004, and since has broken a number of big news stories, may succeed Mr. Moran on the White House beat.
Veteran investigative journalist Martin Bashir, who joined "20/20" in September, 2004, is also expected to be assigned as a "Nightline" correspondent.
The ABC News spokesman dismissed possible changes on "Nightline" as speculation.
Mr. Woodruff, who trained as a lawyer and is a veteran foreign correspondent, is currently also an anchor on ABC News' "World News Tonight Saturday." He moved to New York in 2002 after working for ABC in London.
Ms. Vargas joined Mr. Stossel as co-anchor of "20/20" in September, 2004. She has anchored numerous ABC News specials, including several one-hour "Vanished" reports and a "Child First Safety Special." She joined ABC from NBC News, where she was a correspondent and substitute anchor for "Dateline NBC" and "Today," and also a substitute anchor for NBC Nightly News' weekend editions.
ABC Entertainment
ABC Early Leader in Demo; Fox, UPN Also Ahead of Last Season's Fall Pace
ABC, Fox and UPN have gotten off to a fast start this fall. (TV Week)
With strong premiere performances from its sophomore hits and the debuting sci-fi drama "Invasion," ABC-whose key demographic ratings perked up 16 percent over the course of last season-has emerged as the No. 1 network in the adults 18 to 49 demographic for the first days of the 2005-06 season, according to Nielsen Media Research.
Powered by "Lost," "Desperate Housewives" and "Grey's Anatomy," the network is enjoying double-digit increases in the demo over the same period a year ago. But eclipsing ABC in year-to-year growth are Fox and UPN, which have each benefited from strong opening ratings for new and returning shows.
In addition, for the first season in several years of a sitcom drought, two of the most promising broadcast network debuts are half-hour comedies-NBC's "My Name Is Earl" and UPN's "Everybody Hates Chris."
"After years and years of sitcoms not really resonating, perhaps now the comedy pendulum is swinging the other way," said Brad Adgate, senior VP of research for Horizon Media.
Last Tuesday at 9 p.m. (ET) NBC's "Earl" scored a 5.1 in the demo for its second airing, a decline of 23 percent from its debut number but still high enough to beat all of its network competition during the half-hour. Combined with the night's big demo winner, "Law & Order: SVU," at 10 p.m., "Earl" helped NBC win Tuesday in adults 18 to 49. An NBC spokesman declined to comment on the network's new-season ratings. Last Thursday at 8 p.m., UPN's "Everybody Hates Chris" declined 28 percent from its record-setting series premiere the previous week, tying the first half-hour of ABC's "Alias" for last place in the time period. Despite the week-to-week drop, "Chris" has improved the time period for UPN from last season by 85 percent in adults 18 to 49 and 68 percent in total viewers.
Like last season, 2005-06 looks like it will be another neck-and-neck competition between as many as four networks for the top spot in adults 18 to 49, Shari Anne Brill, VP and director of programming for Aegis Group's Carat, said. ABC is likely to do better than last year's third-place demo finish, she added. "I do expect that ABC has a much stronger chance to make second. They are looking very good now," Ms. Brill said.
ABC also looks like a potential winner to Mr. Adgate, who jokingly noted ABC's ratings success could finally lead to more substantial profits for the network.
"Certainly, there has been no sophomore jinx for 'Housewives' and 'Lost,'" he said. "Another hit or two and maybe next year they will ask for the big increases in the upfront."
On the second Wednesday of the season, an original episode of the mysterious drama "Lost" at 9 p.m. was the top-rated show for the night in the demo, scoring a 9.7, down 5 percent from its season premiere the previous week. "Lost" lead-out "Invasion" scored a 5.1, a 25 percent decline from its premiere, but was still the victor in the 10 p.m. time period. "Invasion" beat out the second episode of the season for NBC's historically dominant "Law & Order" (4.8) and the season premiere of CBS's "CSI: NY" (4.5).
But ABC's biggest success has come on Sundays, where "Housewives" debuted Sept. 25 at 9 p.m. with a 12.3 in the demo, easily winning the night and growing 38 percent from its series premiere last fall. At 10 p.m. "Anatomy" hit an 8.3 in adults 18 to 49, increasing 15 percent over its midseason premiere and growing 73 percent over the premiere of "Boston Legal" in the time period a year ago.
Last Tuesday ABC's highly promoted 9 p.m. debut of its presidential drama "Commander in Chief" was the most-watched show of the night with 16.4 million viewers but did little to increase the network's competitive time period performance in adults 18 to 49. "Commander" scored a 4.3 in the demo, improving by 5 percent the year-ago premiere average for "According to Jim" and "Rodney." That was only good enough for ABC to tie the first half of CBS's special two-hour "Amazing Race: Family Edition" and NBC's "Earl" and "The Office" comedy block. Late last week NBC gave "The Office" a full season pickup.
Fox, usually a fall ratings laggard until the beginning of postseason baseball in October, has enjoyed success, thanks to the continued strength of its new Monday 9 p.m. drama "Prison Break," which got an early debut Aug. 29. Last Monday "Prison Break's" rating in adults 18 to 49 grew 5 percent from its performance the previous week to a 4.0. Two days later Fox announced it was giving the show, along with the Sunday animated comedy "American Dad," a full season pickup.
"We're continuing to be happy with where we are, because we had a plan of getting our shows on early," Mr. Beckman said. "We're getting a much better sense of where we are after baseball."
The other bright spot for Fox was its new Tuesday lineup, which features the debuting procedural "Bones" at 8 p.m. and the returning sophomore medical series "House" at 9 p.m. Last Tuesday "House" won its time period in the demo with a 5.2 and tied NBC's "SVU" as the top-rated show for the night in adults 18 to 49.
The fact that Fox is performing early in the fall with series in their regular time slots is a good sign for the network, Mr. Beckman said.
"We're doing it with our schedule," he said, "not with stunts or anything."One of the more closely watched rescheduled time periods of the new season is CBS's Monday night comedy linchpin "Two and a Half Men" at 9 p.m., which scored a 4.8 last week, down 6 percent from its season premiere the previous week. With perennial 9 p.m. time period holder "Everybody Loves Raymond" no longer on the schedule, "Men," the former 9:30 p.m. show, has moved into the plum comedy spot for the night and become the network's most important sitcom. For the first two weeks, "Men"" was down 17 percent from "Raymond's" performance in the time period a year ago (5.0 versus 6.0).
"Men" is performing for the network, Kelly Kahl, senior executive VP of programming operations for CBS and UPN said. "Generally, we're pleased," Mr. Kahl said. "The competition in the hour has gotten much more difficult. We never expected it to do what 'Raymond' did."
An initial area of struggle for CBS was the time period premiere of the Wednesday 9 p.m. procedural "Criminal Minds," which scored a 3.3 in the demo, down 49 percent from its special Thursday debut the previous week and down 16 percent from the year-ago debuts of the time period's "King of Queens" and "Center of the Universe."
Not all Viacom networks had a disappointing 9 p.m. performance. UPN's "Veronica Mars" was down 24 percent to a 1.3 in the demo from last season's time period premiere of "Kevin Hill," but "Veronica" improved over its year-ago Tuesday premiere in a number of demos, including a 56 percent gain in women 18 to 34 (2.5) and more than doubling its female teen number (3.1).
"We did it a favor putting it behind '[America's Next] Top Model'; we didn't do it a favor putting it up against 'Lost.' Mr. Kahl said.
ABC, Fox and UPN have gotten off to a fast start this fall. (TV Week)
With strong premiere performances from its sophomore hits and the debuting sci-fi drama "Invasion," ABC-whose key demographic ratings perked up 16 percent over the course of last season-has emerged as the No. 1 network in the adults 18 to 49 demographic for the first days of the 2005-06 season, according to Nielsen Media Research.
Powered by "Lost," "Desperate Housewives" and "Grey's Anatomy," the network is enjoying double-digit increases in the demo over the same period a year ago. But eclipsing ABC in year-to-year growth are Fox and UPN, which have each benefited from strong opening ratings for new and returning shows.
In addition, for the first season in several years of a sitcom drought, two of the most promising broadcast network debuts are half-hour comedies-NBC's "My Name Is Earl" and UPN's "Everybody Hates Chris."
"After years and years of sitcoms not really resonating, perhaps now the comedy pendulum is swinging the other way," said Brad Adgate, senior VP of research for Horizon Media.
Last Tuesday at 9 p.m. (ET) NBC's "Earl" scored a 5.1 in the demo for its second airing, a decline of 23 percent from its debut number but still high enough to beat all of its network competition during the half-hour. Combined with the night's big demo winner, "Law & Order: SVU," at 10 p.m., "Earl" helped NBC win Tuesday in adults 18 to 49. An NBC spokesman declined to comment on the network's new-season ratings. Last Thursday at 8 p.m., UPN's "Everybody Hates Chris" declined 28 percent from its record-setting series premiere the previous week, tying the first half-hour of ABC's "Alias" for last place in the time period. Despite the week-to-week drop, "Chris" has improved the time period for UPN from last season by 85 percent in adults 18 to 49 and 68 percent in total viewers.
Like last season, 2005-06 looks like it will be another neck-and-neck competition between as many as four networks for the top spot in adults 18 to 49, Shari Anne Brill, VP and director of programming for Aegis Group's Carat, said. ABC is likely to do better than last year's third-place demo finish, she added. "I do expect that ABC has a much stronger chance to make second. They are looking very good now," Ms. Brill said.
ABC also looks like a potential winner to Mr. Adgate, who jokingly noted ABC's ratings success could finally lead to more substantial profits for the network.
"Certainly, there has been no sophomore jinx for 'Housewives' and 'Lost,'" he said. "Another hit or two and maybe next year they will ask for the big increases in the upfront."
On the second Wednesday of the season, an original episode of the mysterious drama "Lost" at 9 p.m. was the top-rated show for the night in the demo, scoring a 9.7, down 5 percent from its season premiere the previous week. "Lost" lead-out "Invasion" scored a 5.1, a 25 percent decline from its premiere, but was still the victor in the 10 p.m. time period. "Invasion" beat out the second episode of the season for NBC's historically dominant "Law & Order" (4.8) and the season premiere of CBS's "CSI: NY" (4.5).
But ABC's biggest success has come on Sundays, where "Housewives" debuted Sept. 25 at 9 p.m. with a 12.3 in the demo, easily winning the night and growing 38 percent from its series premiere last fall. At 10 p.m. "Anatomy" hit an 8.3 in adults 18 to 49, increasing 15 percent over its midseason premiere and growing 73 percent over the premiere of "Boston Legal" in the time period a year ago.
Last Tuesday ABC's highly promoted 9 p.m. debut of its presidential drama "Commander in Chief" was the most-watched show of the night with 16.4 million viewers but did little to increase the network's competitive time period performance in adults 18 to 49. "Commander" scored a 4.3 in the demo, improving by 5 percent the year-ago premiere average for "According to Jim" and "Rodney." That was only good enough for ABC to tie the first half of CBS's special two-hour "Amazing Race: Family Edition" and NBC's "Earl" and "The Office" comedy block. Late last week NBC gave "The Office" a full season pickup.
Fox, usually a fall ratings laggard until the beginning of postseason baseball in October, has enjoyed success, thanks to the continued strength of its new Monday 9 p.m. drama "Prison Break," which got an early debut Aug. 29. Last Monday "Prison Break's" rating in adults 18 to 49 grew 5 percent from its performance the previous week to a 4.0. Two days later Fox announced it was giving the show, along with the Sunday animated comedy "American Dad," a full season pickup.
"We're continuing to be happy with where we are, because we had a plan of getting our shows on early," Mr. Beckman said. "We're getting a much better sense of where we are after baseball."
The other bright spot for Fox was its new Tuesday lineup, which features the debuting procedural "Bones" at 8 p.m. and the returning sophomore medical series "House" at 9 p.m. Last Tuesday "House" won its time period in the demo with a 5.2 and tied NBC's "SVU" as the top-rated show for the night in adults 18 to 49.
The fact that Fox is performing early in the fall with series in their regular time slots is a good sign for the network, Mr. Beckman said.
"We're doing it with our schedule," he said, "not with stunts or anything."One of the more closely watched rescheduled time periods of the new season is CBS's Monday night comedy linchpin "Two and a Half Men" at 9 p.m., which scored a 4.8 last week, down 6 percent from its season premiere the previous week. With perennial 9 p.m. time period holder "Everybody Loves Raymond" no longer on the schedule, "Men," the former 9:30 p.m. show, has moved into the plum comedy spot for the night and become the network's most important sitcom. For the first two weeks, "Men"" was down 17 percent from "Raymond's" performance in the time period a year ago (5.0 versus 6.0).
"Men" is performing for the network, Kelly Kahl, senior executive VP of programming operations for CBS and UPN said. "Generally, we're pleased," Mr. Kahl said. "The competition in the hour has gotten much more difficult. We never expected it to do what 'Raymond' did."
An initial area of struggle for CBS was the time period premiere of the Wednesday 9 p.m. procedural "Criminal Minds," which scored a 3.3 in the demo, down 49 percent from its special Thursday debut the previous week and down 16 percent from the year-ago debuts of the time period's "King of Queens" and "Center of the Universe."
Not all Viacom networks had a disappointing 9 p.m. performance. UPN's "Veronica Mars" was down 24 percent to a 1.3 in the demo from last season's time period premiere of "Kevin Hill," but "Veronica" improved over its year-ago Tuesday premiere in a number of demos, including a 56 percent gain in women 18 to 34 (2.5) and more than doubling its female teen number (3.1).
"We did it a favor putting it behind '[America's Next] Top Model'; we didn't do it a favor putting it up against 'Lost.' Mr. Kahl said.
Monday, September 26, 2005
CPB cuts?
GOP Calls for End to CPB Funding
Study Group Seeks Ways to Fund Katrina Relief
By Doug Halonen- TV Week
Threatening to yank public broadcasting's federal purse strings, House Republicans last week proposed to eliminate federal funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting as part of an initiative to help the government pay for the mammoth recovery costs associated with Hurricane Katrina.
"Congress must ensure that a catastrophe of nature does not become a catastrophe of debt for our children and grandchildren," said Rep. Mike Pence, R-Ind., chairman of the House Republican Study Committee.
The committee, representing more than 100 conservative GOP lawmakers, recommended in a report last week that public broadcasters be required to pitch in for relief-by forgoing the $400 million federal appropriation that CPB is expecting to receive in fiscal 2006.
Permanently zeroing out CPB, which funnels federal funds to public radio and TV stations, would save the federal government more than $5.5 billion over the next 10 years, according to the GOP group.
The need for public broadcasting, however, is as evident as ever in the wake of the natural disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, however, said Michael Levy, a CPB spokesman.
"If there ever was a time that reinforces the extraordinary value and need for public television and radio, it is now," Mr. Levy said. "Public broadcasting again demonstrated its worth many times over by serving as a lifeline to those struggling to survive Katrina and rebuild their lives in its aftermath. Locally owned, locally controlled public broadcasters know their communities. And the public knows that in good times or bad, it can depend on public broadcasting to serve the public interest, whether through high-quality educational programming or with life-saving information."
The proposal came during a particularly good week for PBS in terms of awards. The network won 10 Primetime Emmys, including the award for outstanding miniseries. The broadcaster also won six News and Documentary Emmys, more than any other network for the fifth year in a row.
As of late last week, the committee's recommendation for CPB-included in a massive package of proposed cuts for dozens of federal programs-had not been publicly embraced by House Republican leaders. "We still haven't discussed any specific proposals," said a spokesman for House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas.
But the proposal comes at a particularly sensitive time for public broadcasting.
In the wake of a major on-air publicity campaign by public broadcast stations, the House earlier this year restored $100 million that had been proposed to be cut from CPB's $400 million budget next year, but declined to provide the more than $100 million public broadcasters wanted for other programs.
A Senate committee subsequently voted to leave the $400 million intact, and to provide much of the additional funding public broadcasters had been seeking, including $35 million for digital TV conversion and $40 million to beef up public broadcasting's interconnection system. In addition, the Senate committee also provided $25 million of the $32 million public broadcasters wanted to fund children's TV shows such as "Sesame Street" and "Postcards From Buster."
The full Senate has yet to vote on public broadcasting's appropriations. In addition, assuming Senate approval, the appropriations bill must still be approved by a conference committee of leaders in the Senate and the House. So the new search by House lawmakers to find ways to underwrite the massive recovery costs for Hurricane Katrina has undermined the security of public broadcasting's federal funding.
"We take it as a serious threat," said John Lawson, president and CEO of the Association of Public Television Stations.
"If there's an across-the-board cut to domestic programs, we will do our part," Mr. Lawson added. "But we will fight any attempt to target CPB funding for deep cuts or elimination."
In a speech to the Media Institute in Washington last week, Ken Tomlinson, CPB's outgoing chairman, insisted that the contribution that public broadcasting makes to educational programming makes the case for continued funding by government.
"There's ample justification for public broadcasting," Mr. Tomlinson said.
But his critics accuse Mr. Tomlinson of having undermined CPB's case with his Republican colleagues on Capitol Hill by blasting PBS and NPR as tax-supported bastions for liberal ideologues.
"The irony is that Tomlinson has made CPB a target for the budget ax," said Jeff Chester, executive director of the watchdog Center for Digital Democracy.
Demanded 'Balance'
In his swan song speech as CPB chairman last week, Mr. Tomlinson insisted that he had never tried to eliminate public broadcasting shows that he believes exhibit a liberal bias.
"I demanded political balance in public broadcasting, and there are people in this town who would see me pay for this sin," Mr. Tomlinson said.
"In the end, if I threatened the cozy atmosphere of public broadcasting over the failure to balance the liberal advocacy journalism of Bill Moyers, my answer is, so be it.
"This thing of balance is not rocket science, and that is why I had so little tolerance for public broadcasting's inability to achieve balance," he said. "Let the record show that, if I was frustrated, I gave as good as I got."
Mr. Tomlinson also said he thought that public broadcasting should focus on improving education-based programming for children.
"I am highly skeptical of so-called nonpartisanship in public broadcasting, because it seems to me that means the same old liberals making the same old decisions," he said. "But I do strongly believe in bipartisanship in public broadcasting, and Republicans and Democrats and conservatives and liberals should join together to support education-based children's programming."
In response to requests from leading Democratic lawmakers, CPB's inspector general is investigating the propriety of Mr. Tomlinson's efforts to study political bias and his hiring of lobbyists to influence legislation he opposed that would have forced CPB's board to include station representatives. In addition, the inspector general is investigating whether CPB inappropriately cut corners earlier this year to hire Patricia Harrison as CPB's president-the candidate that Mr. Tomlinson allegedly favored.
The inspector general's report had been expected to be released as early as this month, but sources said it now isn't expected to be released until early November.
***
CPB Expected to Pick Halpern
By Doug HalonenTV Week
Cheryl Halpern is expected to be named the successor to Kenneth Tomlinson as chairman of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting when the Republican-dominated board meets today.
Ms. Halpern, a CPB board member, is a longtime Republican activist and political donor who appears to share Mr. Tomlinson's belief that public broadcasting has a liberal bias that's in need of a fix. As a result, critics are asking what difference she will make.
"At her confirmation hearing [to become a CPB board member], she left the impression that she would like to have the authority to intervene directly in program content when she thought the program was not balanced," said Celia Wexler, VP of advocacy for Common Cause. "That's a real big concern."
"We don't have real high expectations," John Lawson, president and CEO of the Association of Public Television Stations.
Ms. Halpern has been on the CPB board since 2002 and chairs the Audit and Finance Committee. She previously was on the Broadcasting Board of Governors, which has oversight of Voice of America and other government broadcasters, and was a community activist. She lives in Livingston, N.J.
The other CPB board member who has been mentioned as a possible successor for Mr. Tomlinson is Gay Hart Gaines, who previously served as a chairman of GOPAC, a Republican fund-raising group headed at the time by former Rep. Newt Gingrich, R-Ga. GOPAC is credited with helping Republican candidates win a majority of the seats in the House in 1994.
Study Group Seeks Ways to Fund Katrina Relief
By Doug Halonen- TV Week
Threatening to yank public broadcasting's federal purse strings, House Republicans last week proposed to eliminate federal funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting as part of an initiative to help the government pay for the mammoth recovery costs associated with Hurricane Katrina.
"Congress must ensure that a catastrophe of nature does not become a catastrophe of debt for our children and grandchildren," said Rep. Mike Pence, R-Ind., chairman of the House Republican Study Committee.
The committee, representing more than 100 conservative GOP lawmakers, recommended in a report last week that public broadcasters be required to pitch in for relief-by forgoing the $400 million federal appropriation that CPB is expecting to receive in fiscal 2006.
Permanently zeroing out CPB, which funnels federal funds to public radio and TV stations, would save the federal government more than $5.5 billion over the next 10 years, according to the GOP group.
The need for public broadcasting, however, is as evident as ever in the wake of the natural disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, however, said Michael Levy, a CPB spokesman.
"If there ever was a time that reinforces the extraordinary value and need for public television and radio, it is now," Mr. Levy said. "Public broadcasting again demonstrated its worth many times over by serving as a lifeline to those struggling to survive Katrina and rebuild their lives in its aftermath. Locally owned, locally controlled public broadcasters know their communities. And the public knows that in good times or bad, it can depend on public broadcasting to serve the public interest, whether through high-quality educational programming or with life-saving information."
The proposal came during a particularly good week for PBS in terms of awards. The network won 10 Primetime Emmys, including the award for outstanding miniseries. The broadcaster also won six News and Documentary Emmys, more than any other network for the fifth year in a row.
As of late last week, the committee's recommendation for CPB-included in a massive package of proposed cuts for dozens of federal programs-had not been publicly embraced by House Republican leaders. "We still haven't discussed any specific proposals," said a spokesman for House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas.
But the proposal comes at a particularly sensitive time for public broadcasting.
In the wake of a major on-air publicity campaign by public broadcast stations, the House earlier this year restored $100 million that had been proposed to be cut from CPB's $400 million budget next year, but declined to provide the more than $100 million public broadcasters wanted for other programs.
A Senate committee subsequently voted to leave the $400 million intact, and to provide much of the additional funding public broadcasters had been seeking, including $35 million for digital TV conversion and $40 million to beef up public broadcasting's interconnection system. In addition, the Senate committee also provided $25 million of the $32 million public broadcasters wanted to fund children's TV shows such as "Sesame Street" and "Postcards From Buster."
The full Senate has yet to vote on public broadcasting's appropriations. In addition, assuming Senate approval, the appropriations bill must still be approved by a conference committee of leaders in the Senate and the House. So the new search by House lawmakers to find ways to underwrite the massive recovery costs for Hurricane Katrina has undermined the security of public broadcasting's federal funding.
"We take it as a serious threat," said John Lawson, president and CEO of the Association of Public Television Stations.
"If there's an across-the-board cut to domestic programs, we will do our part," Mr. Lawson added. "But we will fight any attempt to target CPB funding for deep cuts or elimination."
In a speech to the Media Institute in Washington last week, Ken Tomlinson, CPB's outgoing chairman, insisted that the contribution that public broadcasting makes to educational programming makes the case for continued funding by government.
"There's ample justification for public broadcasting," Mr. Tomlinson said.
But his critics accuse Mr. Tomlinson of having undermined CPB's case with his Republican colleagues on Capitol Hill by blasting PBS and NPR as tax-supported bastions for liberal ideologues.
"The irony is that Tomlinson has made CPB a target for the budget ax," said Jeff Chester, executive director of the watchdog Center for Digital Democracy.
Demanded 'Balance'
In his swan song speech as CPB chairman last week, Mr. Tomlinson insisted that he had never tried to eliminate public broadcasting shows that he believes exhibit a liberal bias.
"I demanded political balance in public broadcasting, and there are people in this town who would see me pay for this sin," Mr. Tomlinson said.
"In the end, if I threatened the cozy atmosphere of public broadcasting over the failure to balance the liberal advocacy journalism of Bill Moyers, my answer is, so be it.
"This thing of balance is not rocket science, and that is why I had so little tolerance for public broadcasting's inability to achieve balance," he said. "Let the record show that, if I was frustrated, I gave as good as I got."
Mr. Tomlinson also said he thought that public broadcasting should focus on improving education-based programming for children.
"I am highly skeptical of so-called nonpartisanship in public broadcasting, because it seems to me that means the same old liberals making the same old decisions," he said. "But I do strongly believe in bipartisanship in public broadcasting, and Republicans and Democrats and conservatives and liberals should join together to support education-based children's programming."
In response to requests from leading Democratic lawmakers, CPB's inspector general is investigating the propriety of Mr. Tomlinson's efforts to study political bias and his hiring of lobbyists to influence legislation he opposed that would have forced CPB's board to include station representatives. In addition, the inspector general is investigating whether CPB inappropriately cut corners earlier this year to hire Patricia Harrison as CPB's president-the candidate that Mr. Tomlinson allegedly favored.
The inspector general's report had been expected to be released as early as this month, but sources said it now isn't expected to be released until early November.
***
CPB Expected to Pick Halpern
By Doug HalonenTV Week
Cheryl Halpern is expected to be named the successor to Kenneth Tomlinson as chairman of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting when the Republican-dominated board meets today.
Ms. Halpern, a CPB board member, is a longtime Republican activist and political donor who appears to share Mr. Tomlinson's belief that public broadcasting has a liberal bias that's in need of a fix. As a result, critics are asking what difference she will make.
"At her confirmation hearing [to become a CPB board member], she left the impression that she would like to have the authority to intervene directly in program content when she thought the program was not balanced," said Celia Wexler, VP of advocacy for Common Cause. "That's a real big concern."
"We don't have real high expectations," John Lawson, president and CEO of the Association of Public Television Stations.
Ms. Halpern has been on the CPB board since 2002 and chairs the Audit and Finance Committee. She previously was on the Broadcasting Board of Governors, which has oversight of Voice of America and other government broadcasters, and was a community activist. She lives in Livingston, N.J.
The other CPB board member who has been mentioned as a possible successor for Mr. Tomlinson is Gay Hart Gaines, who previously served as a chairman of GOPAC, a Republican fund-raising group headed at the time by former Rep. Newt Gingrich, R-Ga. GOPAC is credited with helping Republican candidates win a majority of the seats in the House in 1994.
Jennings
Remembering Peter Jennings- By Michele Greppi TV Week
Not one of the 2,000 or so who attended last week's memorial service for Peter Jennings is likely to forget it, ever.
It served perfectly as a reflection of his life and the ways in which he touched the lives of so many others, from colleagues and competitors to the public, both powerful and powerless, and, of course, his loves.
The power brokers of Disney and ABC, electronic journalism and of New York City queued up on the sidewalk outside Carnegie Hall, where they attracted knots of lookie-loos.
The result, said ABC News alumnus Jeff Gralnick, now a consultant for NBC News, was "a perfect New York moment. A cop walks up to four 'barrier leaners' and wants to know if they are there 'for the show. If not, youse gotta move on, please.'"
Mr. Gralnick spoke for many when he said: "'The show.' It was one. And the right one."
Those who studied the loops of photos that played over the stage-adorned only by the architecture, the tools of the speakers and the musicians and two exuberant sprays of flowers that seemed fresh from a cottage garden-saw a man who seemed forever tanned, windblown and madly in love with his life.
Those invited to reflect on Mr. Jennings as they knew him did so intimately and modestly. There was no emotional one-upmanship as had happened at the memorial after the December 2002 death of Roone Arledge, the ABC Sports and News president who made Mr. Jennings and so many others stars.
Those who listened to the words and the music that filled Carnegie Hall-from Yo-Yo Ma doing Bach, Wynton Marsalis and Clark Terry doing jazz, Natalie MacMaster blending Celtic and bluegrass influences and Alison Krauss breaking hearts-were reminded how eclectic Mr. Jennings' passions were. People laughed. They cried. They marveled at the articulacy of his son Christopher and daughter Elizabeth. They envied the expression on their father's face in photos of the family as it played together. They grieved, still and silent, for Mr. Jennings' widow Kayce as Ms. Krauss sang "Slumber My Darling."
Then they gratefully pulled themselves together while the Gates of Praise Choir sang "He's Got the Whole World in His Hands."
They walked back into the sunshine resolved to lead a life that would warrant them even a piece of so fond a farewell and musing about possible figurative meanings of the words printed on the back of the program:
"I hate dirty hockey." Peter Jennings, Aug. 7, 2005
Once again, he left us with much to think of.
Not one of the 2,000 or so who attended last week's memorial service for Peter Jennings is likely to forget it, ever.
It served perfectly as a reflection of his life and the ways in which he touched the lives of so many others, from colleagues and competitors to the public, both powerful and powerless, and, of course, his loves.
The power brokers of Disney and ABC, electronic journalism and of New York City queued up on the sidewalk outside Carnegie Hall, where they attracted knots of lookie-loos.
The result, said ABC News alumnus Jeff Gralnick, now a consultant for NBC News, was "a perfect New York moment. A cop walks up to four 'barrier leaners' and wants to know if they are there 'for the show. If not, youse gotta move on, please.'"
Mr. Gralnick spoke for many when he said: "'The show.' It was one. And the right one."
Those who studied the loops of photos that played over the stage-adorned only by the architecture, the tools of the speakers and the musicians and two exuberant sprays of flowers that seemed fresh from a cottage garden-saw a man who seemed forever tanned, windblown and madly in love with his life.
Those invited to reflect on Mr. Jennings as they knew him did so intimately and modestly. There was no emotional one-upmanship as had happened at the memorial after the December 2002 death of Roone Arledge, the ABC Sports and News president who made Mr. Jennings and so many others stars.
Those who listened to the words and the music that filled Carnegie Hall-from Yo-Yo Ma doing Bach, Wynton Marsalis and Clark Terry doing jazz, Natalie MacMaster blending Celtic and bluegrass influences and Alison Krauss breaking hearts-were reminded how eclectic Mr. Jennings' passions were. People laughed. They cried. They marveled at the articulacy of his son Christopher and daughter Elizabeth. They envied the expression on their father's face in photos of the family as it played together. They grieved, still and silent, for Mr. Jennings' widow Kayce as Ms. Krauss sang "Slumber My Darling."
Then they gratefully pulled themselves together while the Gates of Praise Choir sang "He's Got the Whole World in His Hands."
They walked back into the sunshine resolved to lead a life that would warrant them even a piece of so fond a farewell and musing about possible figurative meanings of the words printed on the back of the program:
"I hate dirty hockey." Peter Jennings, Aug. 7, 2005
Once again, he left us with much to think of.
Thursday, September 22, 2005
RwR meter 9/20/05
Ramblin with Roger
-- Site Summary ---
Visits
Total .......................... 940
Average per Day ................. 40
Average Visit Length .......... 2:17
This Week ...................... 281
Page Views
Total ........................ 1,633
Average per Day ................. 66
Average per Visit .............. 1.6
This Week ...................... 463
--- Visits this Week ---
Day
Hour 9/14 9/15 9/16 9/17 9/18 9/19 9/20 Total
---- ----- ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ -------
1 2 3 0 0 0 2 0 7
2 0 1 0 1 0 0 2 4
3 0 1 3 3 0 0 0 7
4 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 2
5 0 0 0 1 2 0 0 3
6 2 2 1 1 0 1 0 7
7 1 2 0 3 0 4 1 [11]
8 3 1 1 1 0 1 1 8
9 0 4 0 0 2 0 0 6
10 1 2 3 1 1 4 3 [15]
11 4 7 0 0 0 2 4 [17]
12 4 3 3 1 1 4 3 [19]
13 3 4 2 1 0 2 2 [14]
14 1 5 5 0 3 2 5 [21]
15 2 4 4 1 2 1 3 [17]
16 5 3 0 0 1 0 1 [10]
17 8 2 3 2 2 3 3 [23]
18 6 2 7 1 0 2 4 [22]
19 3 1 2 1 0 2 0 9
20 1 2 0 1 2 4 3 [13]
21 0 1 0 2 2 2 3 [10]
22 1 2 1 2 1 0 0 7
23 6 1 2 0 1 2 1 [13]
24 3 4 4 0 2 3 0 [16]
------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ -------
56- 57- 41- 23- 24- 41- 39- 281
--- Page Views this Week ---
Day
Hour 9/14 9/15 9/16 9/17 9/18 9/19 9/20 Total
---- ----- ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ -------
1 2 3 0 0 0 2 0 7
2 0 1 0 1 0 0 2 4
3 0 2 5 3 0 0 0 [10]
4 0 0 0 0 4 0 0 4
5 0 0 0 1 5 0 0 6
6 6 4 3 1 0 1 0 [15]
7 1 2 0 8 0 4 1 [16]
8 3 1 1 1 0 2 2 [10]
9 0 5 0 0 2 0 0 7
10 5 2 [10] 3 1 5 4 [30]
11 5 [11] 2 0 0 7 4 [29]
12 8 5 4 1 1 [12] 3 [34]
13 4 [12] 4 1 0 5 2 [28]
14 1 8 9 0 4 6 7 [35]
15 2 4 8 1 2 1 3 [21]
16 [18] 4 [12] 0 1 0 1 [36]
17 [15] 3 4 3 4 3 3 [35]
18 9 5 [16] 1 0 2 7 [40]
19 5 1 2 2 0 2 0 [12]
20 1 9 0 1 2 6 3 [22]
21 0 1 0 3 2 2 5 [13]
22 1 2 1 3 1 0 0 8
23 11 1 2 0 1 2 1 [18]
24 5 8 5 0 2 3 0 [23]
------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ -------
102- 94- 88- 34- 32- 65- 48- 463
-- Site Summary ---
Visits
Total .......................... 940
Average per Day ................. 40
Average Visit Length .......... 2:17
This Week ...................... 281
Page Views
Total ........................ 1,633
Average per Day ................. 66
Average per Visit .............. 1.6
This Week ...................... 463
--- Visits this Week ---
Day
Hour 9/14 9/15 9/16 9/17 9/18 9/19 9/20 Total
---- ----- ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ -------
1 2 3 0 0 0 2 0 7
2 0 1 0 1 0 0 2 4
3 0 1 3 3 0 0 0 7
4 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 2
5 0 0 0 1 2 0 0 3
6 2 2 1 1 0 1 0 7
7 1 2 0 3 0 4 1 [11]
8 3 1 1 1 0 1 1 8
9 0 4 0 0 2 0 0 6
10 1 2 3 1 1 4 3 [15]
11 4 7 0 0 0 2 4 [17]
12 4 3 3 1 1 4 3 [19]
13 3 4 2 1 0 2 2 [14]
14 1 5 5 0 3 2 5 [21]
15 2 4 4 1 2 1 3 [17]
16 5 3 0 0 1 0 1 [10]
17 8 2 3 2 2 3 3 [23]
18 6 2 7 1 0 2 4 [22]
19 3 1 2 1 0 2 0 9
20 1 2 0 1 2 4 3 [13]
21 0 1 0 2 2 2 3 [10]
22 1 2 1 2 1 0 0 7
23 6 1 2 0 1 2 1 [13]
24 3 4 4 0 2 3 0 [16]
------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ -------
56- 57- 41- 23- 24- 41- 39- 281
--- Page Views this Week ---
Day
Hour 9/14 9/15 9/16 9/17 9/18 9/19 9/20 Total
---- ----- ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ -------
1 2 3 0 0 0 2 0 7
2 0 1 0 1 0 0 2 4
3 0 2 5 3 0 0 0 [10]
4 0 0 0 0 4 0 0 4
5 0 0 0 1 5 0 0 6
6 6 4 3 1 0 1 0 [15]
7 1 2 0 8 0 4 1 [16]
8 3 1 1 1 0 2 2 [10]
9 0 5 0 0 2 0 0 7
10 5 2 [10] 3 1 5 4 [30]
11 5 [11] 2 0 0 7 4 [29]
12 8 5 4 1 1 [12] 3 [34]
13 4 [12] 4 1 0 5 2 [28]
14 1 8 9 0 4 6 7 [35]
15 2 4 8 1 2 1 3 [21]
16 [18] 4 [12] 0 1 0 1 [36]
17 [15] 3 4 3 4 3 3 [35]
18 9 5 [16] 1 0 2 7 [40]
19 5 1 2 2 0 2 0 [12]
20 1 9 0 1 2 6 3 [22]
21 0 1 0 3 2 2 5 [13]
22 1 2 1 3 1 0 0 8
23 11 1 2 0 1 2 1 [18]
24 5 8 5 0 2 3 0 [23]
------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ -------
102- 94- 88- 34- 32- 65- 48- 463
RwR meter 9/13/05
Ramblin with Roger
-- Site Summary ---
Visits
Total .......................... 659
Average per Day ................. 47
Average Visit Length .......... 3:54
This Week ...................... 331
Page Views
Total ........................ 1,170
Average per Day ................. 90
Average per Visit .............. 1.9
This Week ...................... 627
http://s11.sitemeter.com/stats.asp?site=s11ersie
--- Visits this Week ---
Day
Hour 9/7 9/8 9/9 9/10 9/11 9/12 9/13 Total
---- ----- ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ -------
1 4 1 3 1 1 1 0 11
2 2 0 0 2 2 0 0 6
3 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 2
4 0 0 1 0 0 0 2 3
5 1 2 0 3 3 0 2 11
6 1 3 1 0 1 3 1 10
7 3 3 1 0 0 2 0 9
8 1 2 1 0 0 1 1 6
9 0 0 2 2 1 1 2 8
10 7 2 4 0 4 2 6 25
11 4 5 5 3 3 5 5 30
12 4 3 4 1 2 2 1 17
13 9 3 2 1 3 3 1 22
14 15 2 2 1 1 4 4 29
15 9 3 2 1 1 8 2 26
16 1 6 2 4 1 1 3 18
17 6 3 0 1 2 2 3 17
18 5 2 1 0 0 3 2 13
19 3 1 1 0 1 2 2 10
20 3 2 2 1 2 0 2 12
21 4 3 2 0 0 3 2 14
22 2 1 0 0 1 2 0 6
23 3 2 3 2 1 1 3 15
24 4 3 1 2 0 0 1 11
------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ -------
93- 52- 40- 25- 30- 46- 45- 331
--- Page Views this Week ---
Day
Hour 9/7 9/8 9/9 9/10 9/11 9/12 9/13 Total
---- ----- ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ -------
1 5 1 6 3 1 1 0 17
2 3 0 0 3 3 0 0 9
3 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 2
4 0 0 1 0 0 0 6 7
5 1 2 0 7 11 0 3 24
6 1 4 2 0 1 4 2 14
7 4 6 1 0 0 5 0 16
8 1 2 1 0 0 1 1 6
9 0 0 2 4 5 4 6 21
10 10 7 12 0 5 8 22 64
11 5 6 7 5 7 8 9 47
12 7 3 7 2 3 8 1 31
13 9 6 3 1 4 3 1 27
14 36 3 4 1 3 5 7 59
15 30 20 2 7 1 11 2 73
16 23 9 6 8 1 4 3 54
17 9 4 0 1 3 3 12 32
18 7 6 1 0 0 8 2 24
19 4 1 1 0 1 5 2 14
20 3 3 2 1 8 0 2 19
21 6 4 3 4 0 4 3 24
22 6 1 0 0 1 2 0 10
23 4 3 3 2 1 1 4 18
24 6 3 1 2 0 0 3 15
------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ -------
182- 94- 65- 51- 59- 85- 91- 627
-- Site Summary ---
Visits
Total .......................... 659
Average per Day ................. 47
Average Visit Length .......... 3:54
This Week ...................... 331
Page Views
Total ........................ 1,170
Average per Day ................. 90
Average per Visit .............. 1.9
This Week ...................... 627
http://s11.sitemeter.com/stats.asp?site=s11ersie
--- Visits this Week ---
Day
Hour 9/7 9/8 9/9 9/10 9/11 9/12 9/13 Total
---- ----- ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ -------
1 4 1 3 1 1 1 0 11
2 2 0 0 2 2 0 0 6
3 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 2
4 0 0 1 0 0 0 2 3
5 1 2 0 3 3 0 2 11
6 1 3 1 0 1 3 1 10
7 3 3 1 0 0 2 0 9
8 1 2 1 0 0 1 1 6
9 0 0 2 2 1 1 2 8
10 7 2 4 0 4 2 6 25
11 4 5 5 3 3 5 5 30
12 4 3 4 1 2 2 1 17
13 9 3 2 1 3 3 1 22
14 15 2 2 1 1 4 4 29
15 9 3 2 1 1 8 2 26
16 1 6 2 4 1 1 3 18
17 6 3 0 1 2 2 3 17
18 5 2 1 0 0 3 2 13
19 3 1 1 0 1 2 2 10
20 3 2 2 1 2 0 2 12
21 4 3 2 0 0 3 2 14
22 2 1 0 0 1 2 0 6
23 3 2 3 2 1 1 3 15
24 4 3 1 2 0 0 1 11
------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ -------
93- 52- 40- 25- 30- 46- 45- 331
--- Page Views this Week ---
Day
Hour 9/7 9/8 9/9 9/10 9/11 9/12 9/13 Total
---- ----- ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ -------
1 5 1 6 3 1 1 0 17
2 3 0 0 3 3 0 0 9
3 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 2
4 0 0 1 0 0 0 6 7
5 1 2 0 7 11 0 3 24
6 1 4 2 0 1 4 2 14
7 4 6 1 0 0 5 0 16
8 1 2 1 0 0 1 1 6
9 0 0 2 4 5 4 6 21
10 10 7 12 0 5 8 22 64
11 5 6 7 5 7 8 9 47
12 7 3 7 2 3 8 1 31
13 9 6 3 1 4 3 1 27
14 36 3 4 1 3 5 7 59
15 30 20 2 7 1 11 2 73
16 23 9 6 8 1 4 3 54
17 9 4 0 1 3 3 12 32
18 7 6 1 0 0 8 2 24
19 4 1 1 0 1 5 2 14
20 3 3 2 1 8 0 2 19
21 6 4 3 4 0 4 3 24
22 6 1 0 0 1 2 0 10
23 4 3 3 2 1 1 4 18
24 6 3 1 2 0 0 3 15
------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ -------
182- 94- 65- 51- 59- 85- 91- 627
RwR meter 8/26/05
Ramblin with Roger
-- Site Summary ---
Visits
Total ........................... 23
Average per Day ................. 12
Average Visit Length .......... 3:25
This Week ....................... 23
Page Views
Total ........................... 41
Average per Day ................. 21
Average per Visit .............. 1.8
This Week ....................... 41
http://s11.sitemeter.com/stats.asp?site=s11ersie
--- Visits this Week ---
Day
Hour 8/20 8/21 8/22 8/23 8/24 8/25 8/26 Total
---- ----- ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ -------
1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
7 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
8 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
9 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
10 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
11 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
12 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
13 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1
14 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 2
15 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 3
16 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 2
17 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 2
18 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 2
19 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1
20 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 2
21 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 3
22 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1
23 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 4
24 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ -------
0 0 0 0 0 0 23 23
--- Page Views this Week ---
Day
Hour 8/20 8/21 8/22 8/23 8/24 8/25 8/26 Total
---- ----- ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ -------
1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
7 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
8 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
9 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
10 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
11 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
12 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
13 0 0 0 0 0 0 10 10
14 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 6
15 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 4
16 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 2
17 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 3
18 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 3
19 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1
20 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 2
21 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 3
22 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1
23 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 6
24 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ -------
0 0 0 0 0 0 41 41
-- Site Summary ---
Visits
Total ........................... 23
Average per Day ................. 12
Average Visit Length .......... 3:25
This Week ....................... 23
Page Views
Total ........................... 41
Average per Day ................. 21
Average per Visit .............. 1.8
This Week ....................... 41
http://s11.sitemeter.com/stats.asp?site=s11ersie
--- Visits this Week ---
Day
Hour 8/20 8/21 8/22 8/23 8/24 8/25 8/26 Total
---- ----- ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ -------
1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
7 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
8 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
9 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
10 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
11 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
12 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
13 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1
14 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 2
15 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 3
16 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 2
17 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 2
18 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 2
19 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1
20 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 2
21 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 3
22 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1
23 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 4
24 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ -------
0 0 0 0 0 0 23 23
--- Page Views this Week ---
Day
Hour 8/20 8/21 8/22 8/23 8/24 8/25 8/26 Total
---- ----- ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ -------
1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
7 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
8 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
9 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
10 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
11 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
12 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
13 0 0 0 0 0 0 10 10
14 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 6
15 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 4
16 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 2
17 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 3
18 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 3
19 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1
20 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 2
21 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 3
22 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1
23 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 6
24 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ -------
0 0 0 0 0 0 41 41
Tuesday, September 20, 2005
The Beatles as Musicians I
The Beatles as Musicians: Volume I: The Quarry Men Through Rubber Soul By Walter Everett
A stream of consciousness review by Don Labriola
Just began reading the intro to Volume I and if this book walks the walk as well as it talks, it'll be a terrific read. According to the author, at least two years of college-level music theory are required to follow much of his discussion, but regardless of the readers' background in musicology, I think there will be a lot here that would be of interest to any serious Beatles fan.
The intro states that the book is the result of "the study of many thousands of audio, print, video, and multimedia sources, including the close consultation of uncounted audio recordings of the Beatles' compositional process, traced through tapes that are treated as the equivalents of compositional sketches and drafts. All available concert, broadcast, and demo recordings in both audio and video formats have been scoured for the broadest possible understanding of what the Beatles did musically... The reader will find particularly helpful both the thoroughness with which every recording is contextualized, both historically and musically, and the fact that aspects of the Beatles' choices of instruments, vocal production techniques, recording equipment, and studio procedures -- the essence of their recording practice -- are exposed here as in no other source."
As if that isn't enough, the book is meticulously indexed and includes huge reference and notes listings, as well as musical references for the reader whose musicology chops may be a bit rusty, such as a table of "chord functions", which describes how each chord form is typically used in the Beatles' music (one example: "III#: Aside from its implied role as V of VI, III# is known only as a surprising substitute for I6 on its way to IV in the reharmonizing codas of 'I Want to Hold Your Hand' and 'Yes It Is'.") There's also a lengthy appendix that describes in detail the instruments that the Beatles used, everything from the banjolele, which was the first instrument Lennon & McCartney played in the early 50s, through the Vox Continental MK 1 4-octave keyboard that the band used live ca. 1965-6. All in all, over 100 pages of reference material.
OK, maybe this sounds frighteningly anal, even for me. But as I've mentioned before, there's a plethora of material out there about the Beatles' personal lives, their drug use, sexual encounters, legal battles, and on and on ad nauseam. But very little has been written about the music itself, which I consider a heckuva lot more interesting than the blow-by-blows of Yoko's relationship with Paul or voyeuristic descriptions of Brian Epstein's sex life. What was it about the Beatles' music that made it sound so fresh 40 years ago? What did these four guys, none of whom could even read music, do that had never been done before? Why has the music remained far more popular than anything else produced back then (or since)? Here's a book that finally tries to explain why their compositions rose above the background noise.
Even if I only skim the denser sections, and don't take the time to explore all the author's examples, I think that this will be a fascinating read.
Volume II covers the period from Revolver through Anthology.
***
p.s. 9/22
One thing I just discovered is that reading this book requires that you also purchase the "Beatles: Complete Scores" book (published by Hal Leonard), which is an oversized 1100-page hardcover collection of full transcriptions of all known Beatles recordings. The BaM text refers constantly to measure markings in the Scores book (as well as timing positions in the EMI recordings), so without it, you're lost.
The good news is that you can find copies of "Scores" on Amazon for just under $51. That's not exactly pocket change, but it's pretty reasonable for a book that size. Just ordered my copy.
IAC, I have started to read BaM Vol One and I'm surprised by how thoroughly it discusses the 1950s Quarry Men-period Lennon-McCartney compositions. It goes through dozens of them (in chronological order) and includes a half-dozen score excerpts, even comparing versions heard on different home recordings. Did you know, for example, that McCartney wrote "When I'm 64"
(the music, not the lyrics) when he was 16 years old? It was one of his first compositions.
A stream of consciousness review by Don Labriola
Just began reading the intro to Volume I and if this book walks the walk as well as it talks, it'll be a terrific read. According to the author, at least two years of college-level music theory are required to follow much of his discussion, but regardless of the readers' background in musicology, I think there will be a lot here that would be of interest to any serious Beatles fan.
The intro states that the book is the result of "the study of many thousands of audio, print, video, and multimedia sources, including the close consultation of uncounted audio recordings of the Beatles' compositional process, traced through tapes that are treated as the equivalents of compositional sketches and drafts. All available concert, broadcast, and demo recordings in both audio and video formats have been scoured for the broadest possible understanding of what the Beatles did musically... The reader will find particularly helpful both the thoroughness with which every recording is contextualized, both historically and musically, and the fact that aspects of the Beatles' choices of instruments, vocal production techniques, recording equipment, and studio procedures -- the essence of their recording practice -- are exposed here as in no other source."
As if that isn't enough, the book is meticulously indexed and includes huge reference and notes listings, as well as musical references for the reader whose musicology chops may be a bit rusty, such as a table of "chord functions", which describes how each chord form is typically used in the Beatles' music (one example: "III#: Aside from its implied role as V of VI, III# is known only as a surprising substitute for I6 on its way to IV in the reharmonizing codas of 'I Want to Hold Your Hand' and 'Yes It Is'.") There's also a lengthy appendix that describes in detail the instruments that the Beatles used, everything from the banjolele, which was the first instrument Lennon & McCartney played in the early 50s, through the Vox Continental MK 1 4-octave keyboard that the band used live ca. 1965-6. All in all, over 100 pages of reference material.
OK, maybe this sounds frighteningly anal, even for me. But as I've mentioned before, there's a plethora of material out there about the Beatles' personal lives, their drug use, sexual encounters, legal battles, and on and on ad nauseam. But very little has been written about the music itself, which I consider a heckuva lot more interesting than the blow-by-blows of Yoko's relationship with Paul or voyeuristic descriptions of Brian Epstein's sex life. What was it about the Beatles' music that made it sound so fresh 40 years ago? What did these four guys, none of whom could even read music, do that had never been done before? Why has the music remained far more popular than anything else produced back then (or since)? Here's a book that finally tries to explain why their compositions rose above the background noise.
Even if I only skim the denser sections, and don't take the time to explore all the author's examples, I think that this will be a fascinating read.
Volume II covers the period from Revolver through Anthology.
***
p.s. 9/22
One thing I just discovered is that reading this book requires that you also purchase the "Beatles: Complete Scores" book (published by Hal Leonard), which is an oversized 1100-page hardcover collection of full transcriptions of all known Beatles recordings. The BaM text refers constantly to measure markings in the Scores book (as well as timing positions in the EMI recordings), so without it, you're lost.
The good news is that you can find copies of "Scores" on Amazon for just under $51. That's not exactly pocket change, but it's pretty reasonable for a book that size. Just ordered my copy.
IAC, I have started to read BaM Vol One and I'm surprised by how thoroughly it discusses the 1950s Quarry Men-period Lennon-McCartney compositions. It goes through dozens of them (in chronological order) and includes a half-dozen score excerpts, even comparing versions heard on different home recordings. Did you know, for example, that McCartney wrote "When I'm 64"
(the music, not the lyrics) when he was 16 years old? It was one of his first compositions.
Monday, September 19, 2005
Rethinking the Runoff, New York Times
By SAM ROBERTS
Published: September 18, 2005
Call it the run-on primary. The results of last week's election to
choose a Democratic challenger to Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg have
politicians, the public and good-government groups pondering whether a
process envisioned as a vehicle for electoral reform needs fixing or has
even run its course.
Runoffs were in store for Herman Badillo, center left in top photo, and
Abraham D. Beame in 1973, and for Edward I. Koch and Mario M. Cuomo,
center photo, in 1977. But Ruth W. Messinger avoided a runoff with Al
Sharpton in 1997.
For the fourth time in nine mayoral races, the preliminary returns
suggested that no candidate had reached the 40 percent threshold
required to avoid an automatic runoff between the top two vote-getters.
But this time, with Fernando Ferrer tottering only 250 votes shy of that
threshold, according to the earliest unofficial count, Representative
Anthony D. Weiner decided, in the interests of his party and his own
political future, to defer to Mr. Ferrer rather than mount the
potentially divisive runoff that Mr. Bloomberg's strategists had been
eagerly expecting. (While the latest count now shows Mr. Ferrer barely
over 40 percent, final results may not be known until Tuesday.)
Mr. Weiner's beau geste has flummoxed election officials who are
debating whether having a runoff is legally up to the voters or the
candidates. The decision will depend, in part, on the official vote
count, which politicians have been known to interpret flexibly in the
past for less noble purposes. That potential legal anomaly is prompting
a reassessment of the entire primary runoff process.
Runoffs were instituted in the 1970's in part to assure that a candidate
had wide support from the party before heading into a general election.
Otherwise, in a field of many Democratic candidates, a politician with a
relatively low number of votes could emerge as the party's nominee.
But for the Democrats in recent years, runoffs have increasingly bred
division - often along racial and ethnic fault lines. In fact, a runoff,
or the threat of one, contributed to the defeat of the candidate of the
city's Democratic majority by a Republican in the last two mayoral
elections.
It's arguable, meanwhile, whether runoffs have met their stated goal of
producing the most representative candidates.
Calls for a runoff were raised in 1965 after Abraham D. Beame won a
four-way mayoral primary with 327,934 votes, which, with 32 percent of
Democrats voting, meant that only about 14 percent of enrolled party
members voted for him. He was defeated that year by John V. Lindsay, a
liberal Republican congressman.
The real impetus for runoffs was the 1969 primary victory of Mario A.
Procaccino, who tapped into the rage of middle-class white voters
outside Manhattan who were rebelling against Mayor Lindsay's brand of
liberalism and perceived favoritism toward blacks and Hispanics.
Procaccino led a five-man field with 33 percent of the vote but was
anathema to many liberal and mainstream Democrats: "If you think my
record is that of a bigot, you're out of your mind, your cotton-picking
mind," he declared. He lost to Mr. Lindsay, the incumbent (he had been
defeated in his own Republican primary and won on the Liberal Party line).
After the recommendation of a bipartisan mayoral panel, whose members
included Herman Badillo, the former Bronx borough president, the
Legislature imposed a runoff, effective in 1973. Even before the
election, Mr. Procaccino challenged its constitutionality, arguing, "How
is a poor guy like myself to run in two elections?"
He lost the lawsuit and did not run again for mayor, but Mr. Badillo
did. In the 1973 primary, he finished second, with 29 percent, to Mr.
Beame's 34 percent. Mr. Badillo, like Mr. Ferrer a Puerto Rican, was
defeated after a raucous runoff (some Beame followers, masquerading as
fired-up Badillo supporters, brandished bongo drums in white
neighborhoods; then, when the diminutive Mr. Beame accused him of
racism, Mr. Badillo responded fatally, "You are a malicious little man").
Four years later, Edward I. Koch finished first in a seven-candidate
mayoral primary, with only 20 percent, and won a runoff against Mario M.
Cuomo, who had 19 percent. Mr. Koch went on to win that November. In
1989, Mr. Koch was defeated for the nomination by David N. Dinkins, who
was renominated without a runoff in 1993.
But it is only in recent elections that the runoff has actually
undermined Democrats, producing bitter feelings that endured and often
exposing searing racial divisions within the party and contributing to
their successive defeats in November general elections.
In 1997, Ruth W. Messinger was nearly plunged into a runoff against the
Rev. Al Sharpton (she got 39 percent in the preliminary count), but
eight days later absentee ballots helped her squeak past 40 percent. He
sued, claiming fraud. The lawsuit was dismissed, but the damage was
done. The long count weakened Ms. Messinger, and the charges by Mr.
Sharpton left black voters, in particular, disaffected. Whatever her
chances before the primary, she lost the general election to the
incumbent, Rudolph W. Giuliani, a Republican.
In 2001, Mr. Ferrer won the Democratic primary but lost an acrimonious
runoff to Mark Green. Lingering anger by Mr. Ferrer's supporters is
believed to have seriously damaged Mr. Green in the general election,
and he was defeated by Mr. Bloomberg, then a novice politician.
If some people think the system seems broken, there is no shortage of
solutions for fixing it.
Among the earliest suggestions in the 1960's was for a runoff if too
small a proportion of the electorate turned out. The present system has
not improved turnout, to be sure. Last week, Mr. Ferrer received 182,428
votes, with about 17 percent of Democrats voting, which means that about
7 percent of the city's Democrats actually voted for him.
Mr. Green has proposed having an earlier primary and runoff because a
late September runoff leaves too little time to raise money and campaign
effectively for a contested race in November. He and a number of
politicians would also impose an instant runoff, a form of preferential
balloting, in which voters can rank their choices in the primary. In
other states, that system has passed muster with federal voting rights
officials.
The runoff now also applies to the two other citywide offices,
comptroller and public advocate, but Jerry H. Goldfeder, a professor of
election law at Fordham Law School, would broaden it. Scott Stringer was
nominated for Manhattan borough president last week with 26 percent of
the 147,650 votes cast, or about 4 percent of Manhattan's voting-age
citizens.
Another stated reason for runoffs was that they might increase black and
Hispanic representation by encouraging multiethnic and racial
coalitions. That rationale was frequently challenged; Mr. Badillo
contends he might have won without a runoff in 1973 and testified in a
civil rights challenge that the process discriminated against candidates
with less money and encouraged negative campaigning (the money problem
has been mitigated by public campaign financing).
Mr. Badillo now favors the runoff. "It will require that you build up a
larger constituency to win the election rather than a particular group
you are appealing to," he said.
Mr. Sharpton, who was opposed to a runoff until he almost found himself
qualifying for one in 1997 against Ms. Messinger, these days opposes
runoffs. "It gives an advantage to the opposing party, and it only slows
down the process," he said.
In fact, leading black political officials and strategists are of mixed
mind as to whether runoffs help or hinder minority candidates,
particularly now that non-Hispanic white voters will be a minority for
the first time this year.
"The playing field has leveled," said Bill Lynch, an adviser to Mr.
Ferrer. "It's hard to say whether a runoff helps or hurts so-called
minorities. You're finding minority candidates very much players in the
regular election."
But Mr. Green argues that there is one compelling reason to keep runoffs
- the same one advanced two years ago when the mayor proposed to scrap
the primary system and replace it with nonpartisan elections, including
a runoff.
"The argument that you don't want a wacko unrepresentative candidate of
the party because he or she gets 21 percent far exceeds any competing
arguments, especially since it's not at all clear that the runoff system
is antiminority," he said. "Beame beat a minority, Green beat a
minority, Dinkins and Ferrer won outright. Of the four examples, it's
two to two."
Published: September 18, 2005
Call it the run-on primary. The results of last week's election to
choose a Democratic challenger to Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg have
politicians, the public and good-government groups pondering whether a
process envisioned as a vehicle for electoral reform needs fixing or has
even run its course.
Runoffs were in store for Herman Badillo, center left in top photo, and
Abraham D. Beame in 1973, and for Edward I. Koch and Mario M. Cuomo,
center photo, in 1977. But Ruth W. Messinger avoided a runoff with Al
Sharpton in 1997.
For the fourth time in nine mayoral races, the preliminary returns
suggested that no candidate had reached the 40 percent threshold
required to avoid an automatic runoff between the top two vote-getters.
But this time, with Fernando Ferrer tottering only 250 votes shy of that
threshold, according to the earliest unofficial count, Representative
Anthony D. Weiner decided, in the interests of his party and his own
political future, to defer to Mr. Ferrer rather than mount the
potentially divisive runoff that Mr. Bloomberg's strategists had been
eagerly expecting. (While the latest count now shows Mr. Ferrer barely
over 40 percent, final results may not be known until Tuesday.)
Mr. Weiner's beau geste has flummoxed election officials who are
debating whether having a runoff is legally up to the voters or the
candidates. The decision will depend, in part, on the official vote
count, which politicians have been known to interpret flexibly in the
past for less noble purposes. That potential legal anomaly is prompting
a reassessment of the entire primary runoff process.
Runoffs were instituted in the 1970's in part to assure that a candidate
had wide support from the party before heading into a general election.
Otherwise, in a field of many Democratic candidates, a politician with a
relatively low number of votes could emerge as the party's nominee.
But for the Democrats in recent years, runoffs have increasingly bred
division - often along racial and ethnic fault lines. In fact, a runoff,
or the threat of one, contributed to the defeat of the candidate of the
city's Democratic majority by a Republican in the last two mayoral
elections.
It's arguable, meanwhile, whether runoffs have met their stated goal of
producing the most representative candidates.
Calls for a runoff were raised in 1965 after Abraham D. Beame won a
four-way mayoral primary with 327,934 votes, which, with 32 percent of
Democrats voting, meant that only about 14 percent of enrolled party
members voted for him. He was defeated that year by John V. Lindsay, a
liberal Republican congressman.
The real impetus for runoffs was the 1969 primary victory of Mario A.
Procaccino, who tapped into the rage of middle-class white voters
outside Manhattan who were rebelling against Mayor Lindsay's brand of
liberalism and perceived favoritism toward blacks and Hispanics.
Procaccino led a five-man field with 33 percent of the vote but was
anathema to many liberal and mainstream Democrats: "If you think my
record is that of a bigot, you're out of your mind, your cotton-picking
mind," he declared. He lost to Mr. Lindsay, the incumbent (he had been
defeated in his own Republican primary and won on the Liberal Party line).
After the recommendation of a bipartisan mayoral panel, whose members
included Herman Badillo, the former Bronx borough president, the
Legislature imposed a runoff, effective in 1973. Even before the
election, Mr. Procaccino challenged its constitutionality, arguing, "How
is a poor guy like myself to run in two elections?"
He lost the lawsuit and did not run again for mayor, but Mr. Badillo
did. In the 1973 primary, he finished second, with 29 percent, to Mr.
Beame's 34 percent. Mr. Badillo, like Mr. Ferrer a Puerto Rican, was
defeated after a raucous runoff (some Beame followers, masquerading as
fired-up Badillo supporters, brandished bongo drums in white
neighborhoods; then, when the diminutive Mr. Beame accused him of
racism, Mr. Badillo responded fatally, "You are a malicious little man").
Four years later, Edward I. Koch finished first in a seven-candidate
mayoral primary, with only 20 percent, and won a runoff against Mario M.
Cuomo, who had 19 percent. Mr. Koch went on to win that November. In
1989, Mr. Koch was defeated for the nomination by David N. Dinkins, who
was renominated without a runoff in 1993.
But it is only in recent elections that the runoff has actually
undermined Democrats, producing bitter feelings that endured and often
exposing searing racial divisions within the party and contributing to
their successive defeats in November general elections.
In 1997, Ruth W. Messinger was nearly plunged into a runoff against the
Rev. Al Sharpton (she got 39 percent in the preliminary count), but
eight days later absentee ballots helped her squeak past 40 percent. He
sued, claiming fraud. The lawsuit was dismissed, but the damage was
done. The long count weakened Ms. Messinger, and the charges by Mr.
Sharpton left black voters, in particular, disaffected. Whatever her
chances before the primary, she lost the general election to the
incumbent, Rudolph W. Giuliani, a Republican.
In 2001, Mr. Ferrer won the Democratic primary but lost an acrimonious
runoff to Mark Green. Lingering anger by Mr. Ferrer's supporters is
believed to have seriously damaged Mr. Green in the general election,
and he was defeated by Mr. Bloomberg, then a novice politician.
If some people think the system seems broken, there is no shortage of
solutions for fixing it.
Among the earliest suggestions in the 1960's was for a runoff if too
small a proportion of the electorate turned out. The present system has
not improved turnout, to be sure. Last week, Mr. Ferrer received 182,428
votes, with about 17 percent of Democrats voting, which means that about
7 percent of the city's Democrats actually voted for him.
Mr. Green has proposed having an earlier primary and runoff because a
late September runoff leaves too little time to raise money and campaign
effectively for a contested race in November. He and a number of
politicians would also impose an instant runoff, a form of preferential
balloting, in which voters can rank their choices in the primary. In
other states, that system has passed muster with federal voting rights
officials.
The runoff now also applies to the two other citywide offices,
comptroller and public advocate, but Jerry H. Goldfeder, a professor of
election law at Fordham Law School, would broaden it. Scott Stringer was
nominated for Manhattan borough president last week with 26 percent of
the 147,650 votes cast, or about 4 percent of Manhattan's voting-age
citizens.
Another stated reason for runoffs was that they might increase black and
Hispanic representation by encouraging multiethnic and racial
coalitions. That rationale was frequently challenged; Mr. Badillo
contends he might have won without a runoff in 1973 and testified in a
civil rights challenge that the process discriminated against candidates
with less money and encouraged negative campaigning (the money problem
has been mitigated by public campaign financing).
Mr. Badillo now favors the runoff. "It will require that you build up a
larger constituency to win the election rather than a particular group
you are appealing to," he said.
Mr. Sharpton, who was opposed to a runoff until he almost found himself
qualifying for one in 1997 against Ms. Messinger, these days opposes
runoffs. "It gives an advantage to the opposing party, and it only slows
down the process," he said.
In fact, leading black political officials and strategists are of mixed
mind as to whether runoffs help or hinder minority candidates,
particularly now that non-Hispanic white voters will be a minority for
the first time this year.
"The playing field has leveled," said Bill Lynch, an adviser to Mr.
Ferrer. "It's hard to say whether a runoff helps or hurts so-called
minorities. You're finding minority candidates very much players in the
regular election."
But Mr. Green argues that there is one compelling reason to keep runoffs
- the same one advanced two years ago when the mayor proposed to scrap
the primary system and replace it with nonpartisan elections, including
a runoff.
"The argument that you don't want a wacko unrepresentative candidate of
the party because he or she gets 21 percent far exceeds any competing
arguments, especially since it's not at all clear that the runoff system
is antiminority," he said. "Beame beat a minority, Green beat a
minority, Dinkins and Ferrer won outright. Of the four examples, it's
two to two."
Wednesday, September 07, 2005
Scum victimize Katrina contributors
@ A new low in phishing
There are always people who will take advantage of tragic situations so it is no real surprise that we’re seeing spam and phishing making use of the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
We’ve seen various spam messages using keywords like New Orleans and Katrina in an attempt to by-pass filters. Some are fake news message. Others are ‘stock tips’ for companies that will supposedly benefit from the clean-up or rebuilding contracts.
A message arrived a short time ago that is a new low in scamming and so offends us that we’re sending this special warning.
It appears to be a message from Amazon suggesting that you make a donation to the American Red Cross for victims of Katrina. But the message does NOT come from Amazon at all.
The From: address is faked to make it seem to come from Amazon. The look of the message copies the style used by Amazon and the wording is mostly lifted from the real Amazon appeal on their web site.
But the link in the email isn’t to the Amazon site, instead it goes to another web site – though the link uses the Amazon web address in it to make the url look more legitimate. Tracing the link takes us to the details for the “ China Railway Telecommunications Center “ in Beijing which could be real or just a front.
As with other phishing scams, the link takes you to a site that looks legitimate and lures you into entering your account, password or credit card details.
We picked this particular message as spam because it was sent to an address that we don’t use with Amazon, otherwise it would not have immediately rung any alarm bells. Having seen the messages on the real Amazon site it looked sincere.
The moral of this story is to NEVER use links in email messages from banks, online stores etc. If an email prompts you to action, ignore the link in the email and enter the normal link amazon.com citibank.com paypal.com ebay.com etc in your browser. Anything you need should show up on the home page or after you login to your account yourself.
For example, there are many phishing scams pretending to come from Paypal. They usually say there’s some security or other problem which needs to be fixed with a bogus link. If you think any such message might be real (almost certainly it won’t be real) then go to Paypal.com and login to your account (ie ignore the link in the email, even if it looks OK). When logging into your account, the Paypal system will automatically tell you of anything you need to do or update on your account.
Sadly there’s no point in complaining to the company being spoofed – it’s not their fault and there’s little they can do to stop messages going out in their name. The authorities might close the web link being used but by the time they’ve done that, people have been tricked and the baddies are long gone.
@ Donations Welcome
Of course, we’re not suggesting that you do not donate to the various appeals for victims of recent events. But you do have to be careful about any email solicitation like this and scams generally.
Amazon were quick to respond with a scheme to donate using your normal account details direct to the American Red Cross. Go here for details.mMoney will go direct to the American Red Cross.
The Salvation Army is doing their usual amazing job.
There are always people who will take advantage of tragic situations so it is no real surprise that we’re seeing spam and phishing making use of the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
We’ve seen various spam messages using keywords like New Orleans and Katrina in an attempt to by-pass filters. Some are fake news message. Others are ‘stock tips’ for companies that will supposedly benefit from the clean-up or rebuilding contracts.
A message arrived a short time ago that is a new low in scamming and so offends us that we’re sending this special warning.
It appears to be a message from Amazon suggesting that you make a donation to the American Red Cross for victims of Katrina. But the message does NOT come from Amazon at all.
The From: address is faked to make it seem to come from Amazon. The look of the message copies the style used by Amazon and the wording is mostly lifted from the real Amazon appeal on their web site.
But the link in the email isn’t to the Amazon site, instead it goes to another web site – though the link uses the Amazon web address in it to make the url look more legitimate. Tracing the link takes us to the details for the “ China Railway Telecommunications Center “ in Beijing which could be real or just a front.
As with other phishing scams, the link takes you to a site that looks legitimate and lures you into entering your account, password or credit card details.
We picked this particular message as spam because it was sent to an address that we don’t use with Amazon, otherwise it would not have immediately rung any alarm bells. Having seen the messages on the real Amazon site it looked sincere.
The moral of this story is to NEVER use links in email messages from banks, online stores etc. If an email prompts you to action, ignore the link in the email and enter the normal link amazon.com citibank.com paypal.com ebay.com etc in your browser. Anything you need should show up on the home page or after you login to your account yourself.
For example, there are many phishing scams pretending to come from Paypal. They usually say there’s some security or other problem which needs to be fixed with a bogus link. If you think any such message might be real (almost certainly it won’t be real) then go to Paypal.com and login to your account (ie ignore the link in the email, even if it looks OK). When logging into your account, the Paypal system will automatically tell you of anything you need to do or update on your account.
Sadly there’s no point in complaining to the company being spoofed – it’s not their fault and there’s little they can do to stop messages going out in their name. The authorities might close the web link being used but by the time they’ve done that, people have been tricked and the baddies are long gone.
@ Donations Welcome
Of course, we’re not suggesting that you do not donate to the various appeals for victims of recent events. But you do have to be careful about any email solicitation like this and scams generally.
Amazon were quick to respond with a scheme to donate using your normal account details direct to the American Red Cross. Go here for details.mMoney will go direct to the American Red Cross.
The Salvation Army is doing their usual amazing job.
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