Another Manual Type-Writer

     Having just finished a story for WBHM Radio in Birmingham about three Alabamians who still use manual typewriters, I was interested to read a N.Y. Times story on the same theme...though it focuses on one well-known writer who has pretty much worn out an Ollivetti.
     It's Cormac McCarthy, who's books have been read by millions and turned into movies like "No Country For Old Men". The old, worn  machine is being auctioned off.
   And there's an idea for longtime Birmingham News sportswriter Clyde Bolton, one of the three men in my story. An auction Clyde! An auction! Once you're done with it, of course.

2 Big Gambles - 1,700 miles, and many political ages apart

     Investors in brand-new gaming ventures in locations many miles apart will open their doors tomorrow...one in the Sin City of Las Vegas, Nevada...the other in the Bible Belt town of Dothan, Alabama.
     In Vegas, the $8.5 Billion,  67 acre "City Center" complex will open, complete with  hotels (5,900 room's worth!), restaurants and one solitary casino.
     In Dothan, the $70 Million, 500 acre Country music star fueled "Country Crossing" entertainment complex will open for business on the same day, with a bed & breakfast, restaurants, retail shops, a 10,000 seat amphitheater and a thousand or so electronic Bingo machines.

     Las Vegas's heart is in gambling, and a complex that hired more than 100,000 workers in the middle of The Great Recession has been welcomed with open arms, casino and all.

     Alabama's money may be in gaming (check the license tags at the Mississippi casinos), but Governor Bob Riley has been leading a charge against electronic Bingo, an effort that resulted in a State Supreme Court ruling that set up a six-part test to determine if a machine is legal bingo or illegal electronic gambling. The last of the six parts says the winner must literally have to shout out "Bingo" to win.

     There's an excellent story on Riley's fight against bingo (including the feud between him and Attorney General Troy King) in the Southern Political Report.

     In dueling editorials, The Birmingham News argues for the Governor to go shut down Country Crossing, while the Dothan Eagle invites him to come by and explain his rationale in trying to stifle development and the 500 immediate jobs the facility will create.
     Will Riley's gambling task force show up with court orders against Country Crossing tomorrow morning? Will the much bigger gamble in Las Vegas pay off?
     Remember: never bet against the house.

Loss of an Icon

     An iconic building in Alabama has been destroyed.

     The Hotel Taisi in Tallassee was destroyed by fire early this morning. The fire started in a small consignment shop behind the old brick hotel, which became well-known for serving a a traditional Sunday buffet dinner.     
     Mayor George McCain says the owners of the consignment shop say only their computer was turned on overnight. The State Fire Marshal's office will investigate.
The destruction of the hotel means a drop in tax income for the city during an already difficult economy, and a loss of jobs for the dozens of people employed there.
     The hotel was built in 1924...it had been purchased by new owners just a month ago. Wylie Troupe, Dawn Bodenburg, Patti Elliott, Nancy Bahr, Gwen Holley, Patti Harrelson, and Karen Newman became partner/owners on October 14th.

     In Janary of 2006 another historic building in that city was destroyed...the old Tallassee Mill warehouse, which used to store military equipment all the way back to the Spanish-American War.

[UPDATE: CBS-8 reports a juvenile suspect is in custody...the fire may have been intentionally set.]

MMMM # 71 - The Swiss Cheesy Image

      LBJ had his mushroom cloud/daisy/little girl commercial. Then there are the more recent graphic "Hope"poster for Barack Obama as a candidate. And let's not forget the Abu Ghraib prisoner photos.
     There is no denying the power of  images to influence people.
     But I thought it was just in America where an image + a dumb argument for or against something actually worked to convince citizens how to vote.

     Enter Switzerland, where a xenophobic poster helped sway a majority of the voters in that usually tolerant country to ban the towers often constructed with Muslim mosques. The shape of the minaret's were perfect for the right-winger anti-immigrant forces, who made posters showing minaret missiles. Allow the minarets, and Switzerland would quickly be governed by sharia law they argued. Really.
      If you think the anti-immigrent battles in the U.S.have been fierce, you haven't see what's happening in a lot of Europe.
     Here in the U.S., we are, after all, a nation of immigrants (except for the Native Americans), so fighting againt the latest wave of newcomers is an old game.

 Europeans are new at it, since, till recently, they lived in pretty insular communities. The Irish lived in Ireland. The English lived in England (except when they decided to live in Ireland too, starving the Irish to the extent those who managed to survive suddenly wanted to live somewhere else too). The Germans lived in Germany (except during two World Wars when they wanted to live somewheer else.Same for the Japanese). Anyway, you get the idea. This whole xenophobia thing is relatively new to a lot of Europe.

     Here in the good old USA, most of us are used to "foreign" people living among us. And the rest of us are those foreign people.

[The Monday Morning Media Memo is a regular feature of this blog.]

365 Days, Mr. President

     One year from today, the United States will match the Soviet Union in the number of days it sacrificed its young in Afghanistan. The Soviets pulled out after a long and bloody nine years, one month and 23 days.
   The next day, November 30, 2010 (presuming we are still there!), we'll hold the modern record.
     Yay team.
     The anniversary date comes as President Obama is set to disclose his plan to succeed in, and then depart from, Afghanistan.
     Mr. Obama is a thoughful man, not given to impulse "gut" decisions, so unlike his predecessor. The slowness of his decision about Afghanistan has been fodder (like everything else) for GOP critique, but I would rather he truly give this, especially this, as much consideration as he feels necessary.
     The President will address the country from West Point Tuesday night.
     I'm not sure, and really nobody can be, whether success is possible. Do we define victory as helping to create a country where human rights are respected, a place where the people have the power to define their futures? Or will it be enough for them to just stop providing shelter for anti-American terrorists? And if the fighting in Afghanistan is really just a proxy war between India and Pakistan, can we convince them to send their own young people there to die?
     The Soviet goal was to defeat the Islamist Mujahedeen Resistance and maintain a Marxist (i.e., friendly to them) state. That's why our CIA was helping the "rebels".

     Now it seems The President just wants us to "finish" and go home, hopefully leaving one less threat against our own security. We want the Talliban gone, and we want a government that is friendly to us in power. We've seen what Sharia law can inspire, and would just as soon keep the government in friendlier hands.

     The Russians certainly poured blood and money into their effort, but in the end, left in defeat.     

     Now one man who should know is advising President Obama to avoid a similer fate by starting to withdraw troops, instead of adding tens of thousands more. Mikhail Gorbachev tells Bloomburg News there is no chance for an American military victory. And he had 3, 342 days, 15,000 deaths and 35,000 wounds from which to learn his lesson.

     America's military has been there 2,976 days already. 928 military men and women have died, 4,434 have been wounded.

     Other than increasing those sobering numbers, what difference will another year make?

[PLUS: Editorial against sending more troops.]

Alabama County Has Among Highest Food Stamp Usage

     Perry County is on the list of the top fifteen counties in America when it comes to residents receiving food stamps, according to a story about food stamps in The New York Times. An interactive map included with the story shows several other Alabama Black Belt counties also having high rates.

     According to the Times story, Perry County has 10,550 people receiving food stamps...41% of the population, a 7% increase over the past two years.

     Perry County has been in the news this year because hundreds of tons of coal ash from the TVA spill at the Kingston Power Plant in Tennessee is being carried by rail to a huge commercial landfill in Uniontown.

     Supporters of that project say it has provided employment, and fees paid by the landfill owners have helped offset proration of the Alabama Education Budget.

     Even the 41% figure for Perry County may be low. A recent study found Alabama providing food stamps to just 65% of the resident who are eligible. That put the state about mid-way on the list of states.

Spelunking.

     An incident over the holidays in Spanish Fork, Utah reminds me of one of those horrible accidents you drive past and you can't not look.
     A young medical student, a father one one about to become a father of two, a skilled cave explorer. And tragedy. Worst yet, the story only got sadder as the holiday weekend progressed.

• He became stuck in a tight 10" x 18" passage in a cave.
• A rescue team worked for a day to free him.
• At one point they succeeded, but he fell back to the trap.
• There was nothing else they could do.
• He died

     And somehow even all of that wasn't enough of a tregedy. The latest development came this morning. The New York Times has the story.

[Note: the photo shows my High School classmate Tom Padovano. Our class went cave exploring in upstate New York, near Ellenville, numerous times. I remember squeezing through some very narrow passageways. Sucking in our already pretty skinny guts was part of the process.]

The Facial Beauty Test

Are you beautiful? How's that for a question just in time for Saturday night? I came across a site that allows you to upload a photo of your face, zoom in so it fills the frame, click to leave marks on 17 certain places (like the top and bottom of your ears) and then have the program calculate your beauty score.

The program is called Anaface, and here's the link: http://anaface.com/

The results are on a ten scale. And no, I'm not telling you mine, but I will say the computer thought my ears are too long. (-:

I used the photo on the left for the test. Hmmm. My ears DO look long....!

Give it a try!

Funny Democrats!

     Maybe they had so much fun at last night's White House State Dinner that they've discovered a sense of humor!
     The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is offering a "Cheat Sheet" download with "the facts" to counter any trash your Thanksgiving Day guests bring up, saying they heard Rush or Glen or Sarah say.....
     You can download it here.

Black Friday

     "Traditionally the biggest shopping day of the year"...how many times have I heard, written or used that phrase on-air over the years! Usually it is a make or break time for businesses. Those who do well may have enough profit to survive the lean months ahead. Those that don't...
     I don't have the statistics to back it up, but I suspect there are more wounded, weak retailers and other businesses around right now because of the Great Recession. A bad start to the all-important Christmas Season could just finish them off.
     The Huntsville Times ran an announcement on http://www.al.com/ this afternoon about their Thanksgiving Day edition:

===============================================

By Jon Busdeker
November 25, 2009, 11:54AM

     This year's largest, heaviest edition of The Huntsville Times will be available tonight at 9 p.m.
     Because of Black Friday and the holiday season, the Thanksgiving edition of The Times is packed with coupons, advertisements and other holiday deals. The paper is said to weigh three-and-a-half pounds.
     If you want an early copy of the paper, be at The Times building, located at 2317 Memorial Parkway, at 9 p.m. We'll have curb-side service with easy-in, easy-out access.
     The Thanksgiving edition of the paper is $1.50.
==============================================
  
     Certainly newspapers and other media are among the wounded businesses anxious for a good Black Friday...and I would guess a 3.5 pound paper is a positive sign? I don't know what last year's Times weighed, so it is hard to make a comparison. I did find it interesting that he used the phrase "is said to weigh", like if you don't know, who does?
     I also wonder how heavy tomorrow's Birmingham News and The Press-Register will be.
     Perhaps some of the reporters don't like running "stories" that are really promotional items, but I fear that train is long gone from the station.

     And the biggest bankruptcy risk in the land is also teetering on the edge this Black Friday...Jefferson County. Almost 50,000 residents of that county work in retail, and pay taxes based on those jobs. If the businesses don't do well...
     Good luck to the counties, the newspapers, the rest of the media, and the business community at large. And Happy Thanksgiving to all of you stoping by.
     If ever there was a make-or-break Black Friday, this is probably it.

Po, but....

     Alabama ranks 29th in the country on a list of states ranked by what percentage of potential food-stamp recipients they serve...65% in Alabama's case. The story quotes a memo from the Feds criticising the application process.
     But is it  really the process...or a reluctance on the part of Alabamians to take a handout?

Look Who's (NOT) Coming to Dinner

Katie Couric of CBS and Thomas Friedman of The N.Y. Times will be at the very first Obama Administration State Dinner at the White House tonight, so will a lot of big-D elected officials. And at first I thought there were no big-R elected officials on the guest list, then I spotted this:

The Honorable (Governor) Bobby Jindal, Governor of Louisiana

 Mrs. Supriya Jindal, First Lady of Louisiana

     I'm not sure why the (R) is missing after his name, cause he's surely a Republican. His parents were Indian, making his invitation a  natural, of course, since the dinner is in honor of The Indian Prime Minister.
     Nobody from the Alabama Congressional Delegation that I could see...nobody currently living in Alabama for that matter. Press Secretary Gibbs is on the list, and he's from Auburn...and that's about as close as I could get to an Alabama presence in the place everyone wants to be tonight.
     I'm sure they would have invited me, but The President probably knows I get up at O'Dark O'Clock for "CBS 8 This Morning". Robert Gibbs probably told him.

An Honest Politician!

Really! Consider this quote from a Birmingham City Councilman, posted this afternoon on The Birmingham News website:

"What a person says and what they do are two different things," he said in an interview this afternoon. "You can't promise a committee to two different folks. It's a quid pro quo. It's something for something."

     The quote is from Councilman Steven Hoyt, who changed his vote at the last minute, dropping his support of Carole Smitherman for the position of Interim Mayor (The Magic City lost its mayor---Larry Langford---to a jail cell, when he accepted bribes).  

     She's crying foul, saying he promised he would vote for her. He says he found out she was promising to name someone else to a committee chair position he wanted.

     Anyway...what do you say? Should he be applauded for laying it all out in the open? But isn't quid pro quo---something for something--exactly what put Langford behind bars?

     You gotta love Birmingham politics.

More Coal News

Just a link to an article identifying one of the state's power plants in Jefferson County as a big emmiter of carbon dioxide. A few days ago we blogged about another of the problems with coal-burning plants in the state...sulpher dioxide...and the EPA's new, stricter regulations.

Which State is Hatin' More?

     The FBI is out with the 2008 Hate Crimes report, and Alabama and our neighbors to the East and West have among the fewest in America, in the single digits! Isn't that amazing? Just to our north, there were 255 hate crimes in Tennessee. 255!
     I know all the arguments against hate crimes....isn't the person just as injured or dead regardless of the motivation? True enough...but let's be fair. We set aside the death penalty for certain crimes for the very same reason...we hope the penalty will deter crimes. Do you also want to eliminate the death penalty since, after all, the person is just as dead?
     Tennessee was the birthplace of the Klan, so does that make it, in 2008, a place with so much more hate than here in Alabama, birthplace of Bull Conner et 'al?
     I suspect there's not a lot of interest by law enforcement in reporting hate crimes in Alabama...and victims may not be all that willing to open that particular can of worms either. Ironic, since the state is home to the Southern Poverty Law Center.

MMMM # 70 - Broadcast

     I've had more than my share of conversations this week about the future of over-the-air broadcasting, a field with which I have a more-than-passing relationship. I met with one longtime broadcaster who told me he sees little future for radio, which like virtually all traditional media, has seen declining ratings. Radio now faces an even more difficult future with competition from Internet Radio in cars.
     As I blogged about earlier, my meeting with students at Trentholm Tech was instructive, at least for me, if not for them. They don't read newspapers, of course...unless there happens to be one sitting around that someone else paid for, and maybe not even then. Not sure if I specifically asked about radio, but I'm confident they are not big users. And network TV isn't much on their radar either. Which beings us to The Media section of The N.Y. Times, which last week included a rather pessimistic story about the future of broadcast TV. The story is tied to O's announcement that she is starting her own cable channel.
     A dozen or so years ago I suggested that the day will come when some little boy will ask his Dad what all those big  metal sticks are on top of Red Mountain in Birmingham, and Dad will say they have cell phone antennas attached and they used to carry TV signals. That was before cable penetration got so high it became more expensive than it was worth to actaully broadcast TV over the air to the tiny non-cable audience.

[The Monday Morning Media Memo is a regular feature of this blog.]

Christmas in Prattville

Prattville Mayor Jim Bayard will be with us during CBS 8 This Morning on Monday to discuss the upcoming Christmas Tree Lighting in the city.

In addition to the tree lighting on December 3rd at 5:00pm, Santa and his elves will be handing out candy-canes for the children at the fountain in Heritage Park overlooking the river. Prattville is just north of Montgomery, Alabama.

Two years of TLO&O

     The second anniversary of this blog passed in recent weeks! If you go back and look at the first postings in November of '07, you'll quickly see there wasn't much direction in the beginning!
     I used it to post photos mostly...still a function here, but much less important. Then it became a way of discussing FTR guests and topics.
     The number of postings has varied greatly, depending on what else has been going on in my life. As anyone who has blogged can attest, these things take a great deal of time, and since this is an advertising-free venture, I have to give preference to the profitable activities in my life (-:

     Thanks to those of you who visit here, daily or just now and then. If you have a chance, pass along this address to other folks in your digital life...an invitation to them to make this blog one of the places they stop online. I'd appreciate it!

Tim

Country (BINGO!!!) Crossing

     As developers of Country Crossing get ready to open their doors next week, the fight over one feature of the entertainment complex---electronic Bingo machines---looms large. The Press-Register has a good piece by George Altman on the controversy this morning.

     You can either credit Bob Riley for sticking to his beliefs, even if it means going up against the Country Music crowd, or criticize him for being stubborn and refusing to work toward changing state law (if that's what it takes) to let the tens or hundreds of thousands of Alabamians entertain themselves the way they want to at a time when unemployment is at historic highs.
     The almost all-GOP Alabama Supreme Court ruled against a much less grandiose facility last week, finding that the electronic games at the White Hall Entertainment Center violate state law. It's closed down, at least temporarily, while the dust settles. The Guv says the court decision means all electronic bingo is out. The developers of Country Crossing and others disagree.

[PLUS: The Montgomery Advertiser's Sebastian Kitchen has a report on the differences of opinion about the Alabama Supreme Court ruling.
Dana Beyerle writes about the conflict in the NY Times Regional Newspapers, quoting a Riley spokesman as saying the machines at Milton McGreggor's Victoryland are illegal.
And The Dothan Eagle issues an editorial challenge to Riley to come explain himself to their editorial board as to why he hasn't raided Victoryland but has been fighting Country Crossing.]

The Long-Awaited Perry County Coal Ash Suit...

...has been filed, according to The Birmingham News online...alleging the Arrowhead Landfill does not have the proper permit because it is allowed to dispose of solid waste, but there is leachate from the landfill that ends up in a tributary of the Cahaba River. The suit asks the court to halt the shipment of coal ash from Tennessee immediately.

     Perry County officials have been divided on the coal ash shipments. The local D.A. had told me a lawsuit was forthcoming, but the County Commissioners support the landfill because it pays millions in fees. That money has helped the county overcome the effects of proration on the education budget.

     The landfill owners have refused reporters permission to see the processes underway behind the Uniontown police-guarded gates, but insist the leachate is blocked by a combination of a thick EPA- approved liner, and a pumping system that removes any liquids before they can reach the water table.

8 Hours of Giving Update

The folks I met at the WAKA fundraiser for the Family Sunshine Center and the Brantwood Children's home were wonderful...and you have a couple of hours left to stop by this afternoon. (till 7:00pm at Eastdale Mall in Montgomery), You donate a dollar or two or more and there's a drawing for some great gifts...a nice bike from Regions Bank, a $500 gift certificate to the Mall stores...great stuff!

Here are CBS 8 Meteorologists Kait Parker and Matt Tanner plotting weather strategy at the Mall. Maybe they're doing the calculations for snowfall for Christmas. (-:

TGF-LSU

The KKK is going to march at tomorrow's Old Miss game against LSU. Sorry, but better LSU than Alabama, or Auburn, or any team from this state. We're still trying to scrape the remannts of the klan off our boots here...last thing we need is a weekend (i.e. slow news day) event to splatter the intials KKK with the name Alabama all over the place.

8 Hours of Giving 2009

CBS 8 is proudly sponsoring Brantwood Children's Home and the Family Sunshine Center for this year's 8 Hours of Giving. Last year the CBS 8 family raised over $4,000 and would like to top that this year!

Come by Eastdale Mall in  Montgomery and say hi! I'll be there with Kait Parker of CBS 8 This Morning this afternoon from 1:00 till 3:00 or so....but the event lasts...ta da...for eight hours...till 7:00pm. And many of the other CBS 8 news, sports, and weather anchors will be there as well.
We need your help, please stop by your local Regions Bank and make a donation to the CBS 8 Hours of Giving fund or stop by CBS 8 November 16-20th to drop of donations of cleaning supplies or hygiene items.

Thank you for helping us Give Our Best.

The Multi-Platform Reporters of Tomorrow

I spent 90 minutes with a class of "broadcast" students at Trentholm State Technical College in Montgomery last night, after Instructor Chris Roquemore invited me over.

     That's Chris sitting on the desk on the left in this photo.We used to work together at APT.

     We talked a lot about what the nature of their careers will be a decade from now following this time of such tumult in the media.

     Will be they low-paid "One-man-band" type reporters? Roaming everywhere to find, write, produce and edit stories for print, on-air, and online? Business owners like those positions, obviously, because they allow them to spend less money on personnel. Why hire a reporter and a photographer when you can have one person do both?

     I suggested they all consider medicine or law instead, but I think it fell one deaf ears. When you have a desire to be a writer or a reporter, on-air or off, being in a courtroom or an operating room just won't do, even if the pay and job security is better.

SO2 Clampdown

The EPA has announced it will try to tighten control over sulpher dioxode (SO2) emissions...a decision that will set up another round of battles between coal-fired power plant owners and the Feds.
Just a few years ago, Alabama Power paid $200-Million to settle a lawsuit involving SO2 and other emissions from it's Miller Steam plant. Perhaps that investment will make it easier now for the utility to meet the new prorposed EPA limits. But the EPA announcement also comes on the heels of a report identifying Birmingham as one of the cities with the dirtiest air in the country. And the Miller plant contributes to that problem.

Poverty: The Great Equalizer

The New York Times reports on a suburban Georgia county where the Great Recession has become an equalizing force between black and white residents, with whites using a larger share of public assistance programs, and at least there, created a less hostile atmosphere in the process. Too bad it took a recession to do it.

I have to think the same effect is being felt in Alabama, and I wonder whether politicians running in 2010 will recognize it. Some white and black candidates may have to rethink their strategy. Who needs food stamps? Who needs help with the utilities? Who needs some kind of affordable health insurance? Who needs tax and constitutional reform? Who indeed.

In 1901, the "framers" of the current Alabama constitution shafted poor blacks and  poor whites by setting up the tax system we by and large live with today. But that was then. Now there's the internet and a much broader flow of information to and from the people. Will voters hold candidates feet to the fire? Or will it be even easier to slip by voters who are concentrating more on saving their homes and feeding their families?

A POI Reminder

A terrible story out of North Carolina, where searchers found the body of a missing five year old girl today. Yesterday they arrested a 30 year old man named Clarence Coe, who has a police record that includes assault on a female.

Read the arrest story here.

Now for the update. Today they've dropped the charges against Coe. Arrested someone else entirely.

Coe was actually charged by police with first degree kidnapping...was behind bars as police searched for the little girl....facing a quarter-century in prison.

It is a reminder of why there should be a presumption of innocence in the media.

Riley's Gambling Gauntlet

Figuratively waving the Alabama Supreme Court decision against elctronic Bingo Machines, The Riley Administration has warned gaming commisions in other states not to allow the shipment of the machines to Alabama. Here the content of the news release form the Govenror's office: 

Governor Riley to Gambling Commissions: Make Sure Slot Machine Manufacturers Cease All Illegal Activity in Alabama



MONTGOMERY - With an Alabama Supreme Court ruling defining bingo in hand, Governor Bob Riley has contacted gambling commissions throughout the country notifying them of the court’s decision and urging the commissions to make sure the gambling machine manufacturers they regulate cease all illegal activity in Alabama.
“The Supreme Court’s ruling is crystal clear. All these so-called electronic bingo machines are illegal in Alabama and it’s time for them to go,” said Governor Riley. “We warned the gambling commissions and the slot machine manufacturers almost a year ago that these machines are illegal, so the Supreme Court’s ruling can’t be a surprise to them. It certainly isn’t to us.
“This ruling has statewide authority. It references every bingo amendment in Alabama and provides a clear and precise definition of bingo that applies to every county,” the Governor said. “What we’ve told the commissions is they need to make sure the manufacturers that operate under their jurisdiction are complying with the law in Alabama. For our part, we intend to prosecute violations of our law to the fullest extent.”
A copy of Governor Riley’s letter to the gambling commissions of Nevada, New Jersey, Michigan, Colorado, Mississippi, Louisiana and Arizona can be viewed by clicking here.

     Riley's line-in-the-casino floor is something of a double-edged sword, coming as it does on the heels of former Riley campaign aide Bill Johnson's claim that Riley took money from Mississippi Native American tribes as they tried to block competing gaming establishments from growing in Alabama.
     Riley denies the charges and says all of their campaign money is accounted for in filings. But Alabama's permissive PAC to PAC transfers make it impossible to prove or disprove that.
Also, the reason all of those electronic gambling places exist is because people like 'em...and candidates who support Riley's ham fisted opposition may be on the receiving end of some voter backlash.
    
[NOTE: I've never been to an electronic Bingo place (or the other non-electronic kind either!), nor to any of the state's other gaming facilities. I don't gamble. But if other folks want to, who am I to say no? Especially if the places are properly taxed.]

[UPDATE: Birmingham News reports Country Crossing development going full speed ahead, despite Riley edict. Does he really want to go to war with the country music crowd too?]

MMMM # 69* - Last Words

     The job of writing obituaries in newspapers (remember them?) used to be the lowest of the low positions in the newsroom. The interns, or the youngest cub reporters around, would be tasked with the job, or, sometimes, reporters at the other end of the career bell-curve.
     And yet. What could be more important?
     I got thinking about all this because a) I'm not 20 anymore and b) I read this headline in the New York Times last week:  David Lloyd, 75, Dies; Wrote ‘Chuckles’ Episode.
     There are probably some people who have no idea who "Chuckles" was, and therefore completely miss the fact of Mr. Lloyd's life that folks at the Times (and elsewhere) found compelling: he had written the script for one of the best-known episodes of The Mary Tyler Moore Show, the funeral of "Chuckles The Clown".
     There are, of course, much worse headlines to have on your obit:

Jeffrey Dahmer, killed and ate victims

or

Richard Nixon, 81, disgraced President

 (I finally watched Frost/Nixon on cable Friday night.) Of all the things Mr. Lloyd did in 75 years, it was Chuckles that made the headline. Who among us have not wondered at one time or another what few words will be used to sum of our lives?

     If you've led a public life, those words will not be left up to the junior journalist writing the actual obit, but to another newspaper functionary...the headline writer du' jour. Pray he or she had a good night's sleep, and that you never did anything personally to anger them. Also, in this time of the Internet, there are a million bloggers out there who will choose their own headline. Then there's TV...what will the first sentence..the lead..say?  "THE WOMAN (MAN) WHO......" Which aspect of your life will make the cut? Here are three obit headlines from the front page of the online N.Y. Times on Sunday:

James R. Lilley, 81, Envoy in Tiananmen Era, Dies


Earl Cooley Is Dead at 98; Fought Fires as Original Smoke Jumper

Amir Pnueli, Pioneer of Temporal Logic, Dies at 68

     At 75, David Lloyd probably presumed that his life's work would be summed up by the clown who's life he ended with such great humor. But like the rest of us, he never knew for sure what his media epitaph was. Because he was gone, as will be we.
[*The Monday Morning Media Memo is a regular feature of this blog.]

Battle Over. Rebels Win.

The reenactment of a skirmish near Tallassee today was interesting...several of the photos are posted here. Organizers say there was a larger number of people for the three days of the event than ever before.

The (very quiet) Civil War

A beautiful day for the reenactment in Tallassee, and I managed to get some decent photos, but the new memory card for my audio recorder failed...soooo. Fortunately, unlike the real war, they've scheduled a second reenactment for tomorrow, so I'll replace the card and try again on Sunday. Folks from the Travel aand Tourism department were there shooting some of the, er, shooting, too. Here what is looked like, in part, today:

See you at The Armory?

     I'm headed back in time today, not literally though. I'll be at today's reenactment of the Battle For The Armory in Tallassee for a story I'm working on.

     I've always wondered about reeenactments, and why it is that there are no Vietnam War or Korean War reenactments. And why---so far as I know---the reenactments are the product of people who were not actually involved in the fighting (obviously there are no living CW vets).

    Oops. Googled Vietnam War Reenactment and there ya go. There are some. Though this short story doesn't indicate there are any actual vets of that war involved.
     One web site in Australia that discusses reenactments makes it clear there will be at least one major difference between the Vietnam reenactments and the real thing (other than injury and death, that is):

In Vietnam War Reenactments... drinking during combat scenarios is not allowed, and drug use is not allowed at any time.

    If you happen to be in Tallassee, look for me. I'll be the guy with microphones and cameras and tripods and stuff hanging off me.

The New London Lesson For Alabama

Early this week, Pfizer announced it will close down the research facility the company had built in 2000 for almost $300-Million in New London, Connecticut. City fathers cited the Pfizer facility in arguing for the use of eminent domain to clear nearby property of private homes for a huge development Pfizer was to be part of. A few years ago, the U.S. Supreme Court approved condemnation for that commercial project (as opposed to a highway or sewer plant). Homeowners had begun the legal battle, not wanting to give up their homes.
There aren't too many Alabama elected officials who will get into a public battle over condemning someone's home for a shopping mall (yes, I remember Alabaster and Wal-Mart in 2003), so that's not the lesson from what happened to New London. The lesson for Alabama is not to trust developers. Companies exist for one purpose. It is not to provide taxes to the local municipalities. It is not to give people  jobs. It is to make a profit.

Pfizer is closing the big new building just as the ten year tax abatement they received as an incentive ends. If the city and state officials signing that contract knew Pfizer would end up merging with another company and abandoning the new HQ, would they have signed? The lesson is to presume companies will do whatever is in their self-interest.

We love to throw cash and other incentives at companies that promise to locate in the state. Elected officials love it because it's mostly not their money, and they can brag about all the development they brought in when they run for reelection. But we must be sure to make those incentives have lots of taxpayer strings attached. If the comapny closes, or if their employment falls below a certain level (as is happening to Pfizer in another area), they have to make compensation. The lure of winning a new plant could make it tempting to be less than dilligent about that part of a contract. Let's make sure they remember New London.  

Sparks on The Public option

     In a previous post I wondered if Ron Sparks would want Alabama to "opt out" of the health care Public Option -- Medicare for all --, even though he had said he favored President Obama's health care reform. Here's the answer in a Huntsville Times story.
     Sparks says he does support the public option, making even clearer the difference between him and Rep. Artur Davis, who joined the rest of the Alabama delegation to the U.S. House in opposing the president's legislation. Based on his vote, we can only presume that Rep. Davis would encourage the Alabama Legislature to pass "opt out" legislation, and that would sign it, if  the final health care measure includes one and if he is elected.

Phonescams

My favorite technology/gadget writer is David Pogue in the NY Times. Not too long ago he started a campaign against the phone companies for eating up cell minutes with needlessly long recorded prequel messages in voice mail..."If you would like to page this person, press 65457...". In his column today he writes about Verizon doubling its cancellation fee...and about another of that company's annoying cell phone practices. They intentionally build their phones so you'll accidentally start a connection to the Internet, and then charge you $1.99 each time.

I have a friend in West Virginia who has been stuck with Verizon as the only carrier in the area. He has been trying to get them to correct his bill, eliminating a $60+ charge that shows up every month. Each month he calls and they eliminate it, only for it to show up again the next month. Another company, Frontier, is buying Verizon's landline business in that state. Does Frontier know something we don't? People and deep-sixing landlines all over the place.

Here's my pet peeve: if I try to connect to the net using my ATandT service, and it won't connect, I STILL get charged for a certain amount of data transmitted. Uh, how can you justify that? Did the little company 1's and 0's work hard to fail to make the connection?

OK, and while I'm in a complaining mode....this new Blogger editing program lacks spell check. What't that all abut. (-:
Plus: why can't I use an "and" sign in this blogger program?
And tell me, what did they do with the "cents" sign on keyboards?
Over and out.

The Times on BINGO

This morning's New York Times includes a report on BINGO in Alabama.

The Times gets on the bandwaggon

     I've recommended a lot of New York Times links on this blog, so let me point out that this one is old news to readers of this blog. We pointed out here, On October the 25th, that it is the state opt-out (or in) option in health care reform that's going to create sparks for candidates for Governor.
     On the Alabama Democratic Primary side, it appears that the public option has become a major issue separating Sparks, who favors it, and Davis, who opposes it. I have not heard any of the Republican candidates embrace a public option, and since the House measure passed with only a single GOP vote, I don't really expect to. But we'll see.
 

15 Years After Wedowee, Another Alabama Prom Battle

     Fifteen years after The Randolph County school system in East Alabama made international headlines for refusing to let an interracial couple attend a High School Prom, a Franklin County system in West Alabama is attracting attention to refusing to let a lesbian student bring her girlfriend to next Spring's Prom. [*see update below]

     In 1994, Prinicipal Hulond Humphries refused the interracial couple in Wedowee, starting a battle that prompted the cancellation of the prom, an arson fire that destroyed the school, criminal charges and multiple lawsuits.

     Now it's in Russellville where the Prom is the subject of an ACLU complaint and potential lawsuits. The school Board has cancelled the prom.
     The Franklin County Times is the local newspaper, but here's nothing in it so far about the controversy. They publish on Wednesday and Saturday, so perhaps in tomorrow's papers there will be a local story. The closest Daily is The Times Daily, but nada there either.
[*UPDATE: The Times Daily reports there's been a reversal. The couple WILL be allowed to attend.

Unsafe on any Base?

     The services at Ft. Hood Texas are about to begin. The President and First Lady have arrived. And hundreds, if not thousands, of military personnel have gathered to remember the 13 murdered by the traitor Major.

     The military has positioned walls made of trailer-truck sized shipping containers around the open area where the service is being held. Think about that. This is in the middle of a United States Military base in Texas, and the United States Military thinks it is necessary to build giant steel walls, to create a big bunker to protect the President and others at the service?
     Do they know something we don't? Since when does the most powerful military in the world, on one of its own huge pieces of property, need to do that for security?

Chickens Coming Home?

The very conservative business group "The U.S. Chamber of Commerce" has issued a report card on the states that gives Alabama miserable grades.
The BEST the state gets is a "B" for hiring and evaluation.
Could there be a connection with the recent report showing Alabamian businesses and individuals paying the lowest taxes in America? We do a poor job of funding education to start with, and now the Great Recession has us slicing away at that rate. Imagine what the grades will be if we stay at this level of funding for a few years.

Hey YOU!!! YEA YOU!

     Taking cheap shots in newspaper "after the story" forums might not be so cheap anymore. A case that's being watched by privacy experts is tyring to pry the actual identity of a poster in a Chicago paper. Just how brave will "John Doe" be when he has to accept public ownership of his comments?

     Readers of this blog know I detest anonymous comments in the papers (or elsewhere), and I've applauded the changes instituted at The Birmingham News to eliminate some of the racist and otherwise offensive language and messages.
     Yes, we all have the right to say what we want. I just object to the newspapers acting as their shield.
     Let 'em start a blog, or better yet, a newspaper!

Ida Update -Monday Afternoon

Not that you need me to act as your weather source..(-:... but here's the latest on Ida with landfall on or near the Alabama Coast expected overnight:


...SUMMARY OF 300 PM CST INFORMATION...


LOCATION...28.4N 88.5W

MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS...70 MPH

PRESENT MOVEMENT...NORTH OR 355 DEGREES AT 18 MPH

MINIMUM CENTRAL PRESSURE...991 MB

MMMM # 68 - The Reporter on ABC's V

The ABC-TV Drama "V" premiered  this past week. It's a remake of an original 1980's series about aliens arriving very suddenly in huge spaceships above all of the world's largest cities promising PEACE! ALWAYS! And bearing GIFTS!. One of the main characters is....drum roll please...a reporter.

     Actor Scott Wolf is perfect for the part of the TV reporter...great fluffy hair, a winning smile, and willing to ignore all ethical concerns for a scoop. He's been given an exclusive live interview with the leader of the aliens. But two minutes before it begins, she announces "This interview is over" when he balks at her demand that he ask only friendly questions. "That's not the way it works", he lamely explains. But she's not budging. His hesitation doesn't last long. Given the choice between a worldwide exclusive and an empty chair with some explaining to do (as well as finding a new job), Scott rolls over and goes along. But we can see it's bothering him ("Gee, something not quite right about what I did there...") Duh.
    The exchange reminded me of  my 1999 visit to Germany as a RIAS Fellow. The elected officials there  expect all of the interview questions provided in advance.
     I always find it interesting to see how journalists--especially TV reporters--are portrayed on the big and little screens. When viewers are introduced to Chad Decker, he's in a throng of reporters who are, naturally, all shouting questions at The Alien Leader...I mean this is the story of the millennium! So Cool Chad baby shouts down his fellow reporters...tells them to be nice... and asks the really important question: "Are all of you so beautiful? he coos with his winning smile.
Gee, if only he had been covering the Larry Langford trial! He could have asked the convicted Langford what hair gel he uses. (Then again Chad wasn't needed there. Birmingham TV provided it's own version.)

     In the original "V", there was also a reporter-character--Mike Donovan--...but actor Marc Singer was no pretty boy throwing softballs. Donovan was a war correspondent, and he quickly figured out what's behind the alien beauty. My kinda reporter.

     Actor Wolf told MSNBC there's a certain ambivilence to the character he's playing:

I don’t think Chad Decker knows who he will turn out to be. It’s fun when an audience doesn’t quite know where a character is coming from and going, and it’s even more interesting to play a character that doesn’t know that himself.

     Far be it from me to advise a fictional reporter on a TV show, but sorry Chad, your character isn't 12 years old. Your gut almost always tells you what's the right thing to do. Let Ms. Reptile in beauty queen clothing get up from the chair, and then you explain to your audience what happened and why. Then get the resumes ready. And start a blog:   IalmostinterviewedtheAilen.com

[ADDENDUM: Interesting critique of the Social Media and the Ft. Hood shootings in this blog titled "Citizen Journalists Can't Handle The Truth".]

[The Monday Morning Media Memo is a regular feature of this blog.]

IDA - Monday Morning 3:00am update

Y'all living near the Gulf Coast keep an eye on the progress of Ida...Meteorologist Kait Parker and I will have all of the latest Monday morning 6-7, on CBS-8 This Morning, and throughout the day on WAKA.
[UPDATE: 3:00pm Sunday Note: Hurricane Watch covers all of the Alabama Gulf area. States of emergency declared in LA....Baldwin County Alabama considering school closings and evacuations.]

...SUMMARY OF 300 AM CST INFORMATION...


LOCATION...25.1N 87.9W

MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS...90 MPH

PRESENT MOVEMENT...NORTH-NORTHWEST OR 335 DEGREES AT 16 MPH

MINIMUM CENTRAL PRESSURE...988 MB