Godless..but smart about it!

     You may have spotted this story earlier in the day...who knows the most about religion? The non-believers, at least according to a Pew poll of Americans.
     What does that say about us?

MMMM # 112 Dear Pentagon P.R.

MEMO
To: Pentagon Public Affairs
From: The MMMM staff
(SP5 Tim Lennox, Ret.)
Re: the way things work
 I worked in a low level PR position in the military a few decades ago, so I know how slow processes can be to change. 1776 becomes 1900 so fast that sometimes it is hard to keep up. And here we are in the 2000's already! Amazing.

While I'm thinking about it, I can come back next week and record more of those "Army Hour" radio shows on LP vinyl to send to the troops. I have a feature story almost finished about French soldiers having some difficulty in Asia. Properly vetted, of course. Wouldn't want the wrong people getting information that is forbidden.

This memo was prompted by the fine work of the Pentagon information control apparatus in buying and destroying almost 10,000 copies of a bad book by a bad former soldier. Good job Public Affairs staff! It was a great use of precious resources! (Oh, I forgot, everywhere else there's a Great Recession going on, but military spending never slows down, does it?)  Anyway, good work!Those bad words written by the bad soldier will now go away, never to be seen again.

Also, we're sure the story about the book destruction will never get out, since you have such an airtight hold on all embarrasing internal information. I mean, it's not like our military personnel have access to magic machines in their pockets that bring them the world's information in a heartbeat.

If the Pentagon itself had such a magic box, it could have found lots of stories about incidents on college campuses just like the book destruction. Students who didn't like the bad words in college newspapers went and took all of the copies and destroyed them. And we never heard a word it.

Yes, Public Affairs staff, this was a truly wise operation, well carried out. A great example for the rest of the world's military to follow.

P.S. Please remember to send some combat artists to draw pictures of the Cavalry Troop training for the Indian Wars out West for next week's newsletter. And keep it quiet!
=================================================

[ALSO: Check out the cool new "fact check" organization. Bama Fact Check, started by The Anniston Star and other media outlets.]

[AND; in the Bishop Long story out of Atlanta, the NY Times notes "Media access to the services was tightly controlled Sunday. Reporters were required to check in with church officials and were led to a separate part of the church to view the service. The media was also told not to interview church members inside the sanctuary or on church property."]


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

Hyundai Recall

     A big Hyundai recall this afternoon...though it is not clear from the government announcement whether the vehicles being recalled were assembled in the Montgomery Alabama plant...but Reuters reports they are.
    The Washington Post and a lot of other papers have the story.
CBS 8 in Montgomery will have the complete story tonight at 10:00.

Come on down and eat!

       Kait and I will be judging some of the dishes at tonight's Taste of Montgomery event...and we would love to see you! It's a chance to sample great food from a couple of dozen restaurants and it benefits the Junior League of Montgomery's charities.

When: 6 to 9 p.m. Sunday (today!) 

Where: Renaissance Hotel & Spa at the Conven­tion Center

Tickets: $30 at the door

 

Since my alarm goes off way early, I'll have to leave early too, but come by before 6:45ish and I'll be there for sure. Kait will stay longer, since she's been filling in on other weather duties and will be off in the morning.

Teaching The War on the 150th

     A Washington Post blog reports on a change in the way the state of Virginia will commemorate the 150th Anniversary of the Civil War.
     It's a topic I've blogged and reported about before.
     Alabama is commemorating next year's anniversary by looking at a much bigger picture...the anniversary of the war along with the anniversary of the Indian Wars before it and the Civil Rights Era after it.
     I produced a report on the topic for WBHM in Birmingham which you can listen to online.

Free Museum Day

     Today is a promotional day for museums, and some 1,500 of them in the U.S. are offering free admission.
     That includes 15 in Alabama
     I like museums, but I'm not sure some of the ones on the Alabama list aren't already free.
     Whatever. From Guntsville to Mobile there will be open doors today. Go visit a museum. Learn something.

The BRAC move updated

     As you may know, the U.S. Army is moving more than a thousand poitions with the Materials Command to Huntsville as part of the Base Realignment Commission's decisions of a few years ago.this link to an updated story on the move, which is about halfway there.

     Welcome to those moving to Alabama...as you'll find out soon enough, living is cheap here. By the Army's calculation:

"your living expenses...decrease to include groceries (- 25%), utilities (-8%), healthcare (-38%) and housing (-62%)"

of course you'll pay through the nose for liquor and some other "sin" items, but all in all, you may enjoy the less traffic and the fresher air. Welcome!

Uh, School Sex Ed?

     What I want to know is this: did the four people who supposedly proofread this billboard actually attend the Indiana Pubic Schools? Can their diplomas be recalled? And should we install spell-check software on the boards from now on?

[Thank you J.C., the sharp-eyed TimLennox.Com editor for spotting the story! He's also found a few spelling errors here!]



Po (still)....but proud (still)!
 If you can believe their calculations Alabama is the poorest state in America.
  Hey, We're Number ONE again!

MMM # 111 --The drought is back!

     It has been three years since the Montgomery area was hit by severe drought conditions. We weren't alone in 2007...a lot of the Southeast was at the very least abnormally dry. Alabama's rainfall deficit was 25 inches! It was the story for many, many months.
      The Media was full of stories about planned new reservoirs, lawn watering restrictions, and plans for the future. Everywhere you turned there was video of boats in the mud and stranded docks.
     Then it ended in the Fall of 2009, and everyone, the media included, went back to the good old wet days.
     But now the drought is officially back.
     Rainfall is now11.6 inches below normal in Montgomery...by far the Alabama city with the largest rain deficit.
     Here's the state map from The U.S. Drought Monitor. The next update will be Thursday morning, but with about zero rain in the forecast there's not much hope for improvement.

     Of course this is not Alabama's first time to this particular dance. We always live with the threat of drought. In 2004 the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs (ADECA) developed a dought plan.

     One part called for an information center:

A Drought Information Center will be maintained with the most current information whenever one or more drought management regions of the state are in a watch, warning or emergency drought alert phase. Information about the status of drought conditions, impacts on the economy and other drought related concerns of the state will be collected and made available to state agencies, state officials, the news media, and other concerned interests.

     If ADECA did in fact create a "Drought Information Center" of some kind half a dozen years ago, I can't find it online anywhere.

     The problem with these cyclical events is that we Alabamians tend to forget all about them once they ease off. 

     NOAA's Drought Monitor, from which the map above was acquired, seems to be the closest thing, It does a great job of tracking the dry conditions in the state, but not much more.

    For the latest Montgomery area weather, go to CBS-8's weather page.

    There's also an interesting article about drought trends in Georgia and Alabama by a University of Georgia professor here. It appears to have been written in 2006.
     Fall begins this week, an October is a week away...usually the driest month of the year in Montgomery.

     The return  of the drought will also bring back news stories of lawn watering restrictions and plans for the future. Coming soon to a screen or front page near to you: the dry-docked boat. All to be forgotten the moment rainfall returns to normal.

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

What a Ring!

     I attended performances at Lincoln Center and The Met during high school, and some of it rubbed off, at least enough that I still enjoy classical performances (while leaving room for virtually every other genre too!)
     So the story of a new Met production of Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen (The Ring of the Nibelungs) that includes maybe their most expensive, most elaborate stage set ever caught my attention. Watch a video of the work-in-progress here. And there's word that the season's performances will be available in HD at 1,500 theaters around the world starting October 9th.
     Not sure if any of them are in striking distance of Alabama, though Atlanta would be a good bet.

Keep Kait out of jail!!!

     My way-too-early-in-the-morning air partner on CBS-8 This Morning---Kait Parker---needs help being bailed out of the MDA "jail". She's scheduled to begin serving her time at The Alley in Downtown Montgomery on Wednesday and needs to raise "bail" to stay out.

     Can you spare a touch of cash to keep her from having to wear one of those garish orange jumpsuits?

     Use the link above to donate! IF she isn't bailed out, yours truly will be doing the weather Thursday morning and remember...I am not a meteorologist (though I played one on TV)...while she is.

"To Kill..." Documentary to Premier

    

Hats off to blogger Wade (Kwon) on Birmingham for posting a contributor review of a documentary about To Kill A Mockingbird that premiers at the Sidewalk Film Festival in Birmingham on September 26th. Always interesting to learn even a  little more about one of Alabama's best known, yet little-known, authors!

Navy Vet who marched in Selma is honored.

     The Washington Post reports on the extraordinary experience of a black U.S. Navy Veteran who was washed up on shore in Newfoundland in 1942, and found comfort and care from white people...the last thing a native of The Deep South expected.

Lady Gaga & Senator Sessions. Honest.

Anytime you see the names Lady Gaga and Alabama U.S.Sen. Jeff Sessions in the same sentence, I'm ready to pay attention. Or stand at attention. Or something.

Post Debate

Memo to Mr. Sparks:

The Doesn't or Don't Rule is:

Doesn't, does not, or does is used with the third person singular--words like he, she, and it.
Don't, do not, or do is used for other subjects.
Incorrect: It don't matter anymore.
Correct: It doesn't matter anymore.
Incorrect: Grandfather don't see too well.
Correct: Grandfather doesn't see too well.
Correct: His glasses don't help him much.

Memo to Mr . Bentley:
The AEA has said it was going to sit out the race for Governor because both candidates support public education. Adding 10 years onto the retirement time for teachers---from 20 to 30 years--- probably isn't going to keep 'em on the sideline. Doesn't you think?

Men killing Women. We're #3!!!

     We here in The Deep South have this reputation of gentility, so it is hard to reconcile the new study that indicates Alabama is third in the nation for women killed by men.

     Do we treat female strangers with courtesy but murder those those we know? Awful.

To the ISS for lunch perhaps?

     Boeing is about to get into the space tourism business.
     The company is already the prime contractor for the International Space Station. Now, the NY Times reports, they'll offer some of the spare seats on the ship they're designing to transport astronauts to the ISS, to tourists. For an as yet unnamed price.
     I used to say I would sell everything I owned for a seat on the Shuttle (providing there was a smoking section...those were in my tobacco days). Now I've come to realize that wouldn't be quite enough for the fare, which will likely be in the tens of Millions of dollars.
     How about a national lottery for $1 tickets...win a trip (presuming you pass the physical)!

The French, they ARE different!

     Yes, that is exactly what it looks like. A woman in France filling up her wine bottle from a huge tank in a supermarket. And it's coming to the U.S. soon, I hear.

     You can bring pretty much whatever kind of container you want, from a used (preferably washed) milk carton to...to....a wine bottle.

     The wine connoisseur gets a discount on the price, of course.

     And where would the first one appear in Alabama? Maybe at a fraternity? With a EZ boy lounge chair parked in front for simple dispensing?

     Talk about it with the distributor, La Curve.

[Merci' to Grande Editeur J.C. pour le suggestion!]

"Morning Glory", the Movie

     If your first though after viewing this trailer for the Fall movie release "Morning Glory" is..gee that sounds like Tim working the morning show in Montgomery....I say anytime anyone wants to put me and Harrison Ford in the same boat, I'm all for it! His career hasn't exactly been a dud!
     I wonder if he had to get up at 2:00am to get into the spirit of morning TV? Nah.
    Coming on November 12th.

MMMM # 110    Reply ALL!

     We've all done it...hit the wrong reply button on an email and blasted out a reply to a lot of people who were not the intended targets. Sometimes a quick follow up explaining the error is all that's needed, but if the email contained some kind of private information, it can be downright embarrassing.
     A week ago, that's exactly what happened to a candidate for the Legislature. An aide emailed him, asking for advice about which reporters and bloggers she should include in her "Follow Friday" list on Twitter. The candidate replied that he was attaching his list....but, he wrote, the important ones were...and he named a half dozen reporters.
     The problem is, when he sent his reply, it went to just about every reporter on the planet...me included (and no, I was not included on his "important" list.)
     I emailed the aid asking if it was in fact a legitimate email exchange...just to make sure there wasn't a scam underway, but I got no reply.
     You would think that there would be a safeguard on the "reply all" button on email accounts...for once, a message people would be glad to get, asking "Do you really want to send this to everyone?"

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

Underground Car-road

     The Birmingham News reports today about a proposed burying of I-59/20 along the northern edge of Downtown. The paper includes this illustration showing what it might look like if the gazillions of dollars is found for financing:

Very impressive. But in the article itself, there's this reference:

 "A sunken interstate also would open up land for development."

     Not much "development" in the picture, is there...just nice grassy parkland with folks strolling. So which will it be? A Wal-mart or a park?

     And has anyone considered the irony that at the same time Birmingham is talking about burying the currently raised I-59/20, they're talking about raising Highway 280 on the South end of town.

   

  Make up your mind!

In today's New York Times;

....a physical, sometimes brutal, brand of football.

Perhaps a get-well and 'sorry for the brutality' card for the Penn State team?

One bloom for 2010

     This past week, I managed to capture one of this year's few  blooms on my night blooming cereus plants.  See! Leaving for work at 3:00am does have one advantage!...(-:
     Here's the best of the quick photos. It's been a tough year for lots of plants, with all of the heat and blazing sun. I suspect they'll be glad to be cut back and moved inside for the Winter soon!

A BIG book for BIG bucks

     The book is 2' x 3'...big by any publishing standard...and it is being auctioned, perhaps bringing the bigegst price ever for a book. As much as $9.2 Million.
     The Birds of America is rare, but not that rare. There are about 100 of the 1820's book by John James Audubon  in existance.
     Contact Sotheby's in London. And take your checkbook.

[Thanks J.C.!]

The Mosque IN the WTC

     Perhaps there has just been so much information about the events of 9-11 that this detail was lost to me, or perhaps I never read it anywhere. But I was surprised to read an article this morning about the presence of a Muslim prayer room IN the World Trade Center.

Northport Woman on A-N-T-M....

...that's a reality show...America's Next Top Model (though as far as I can tell, none of the winner actually are, or become, a true "top" model).     
     Birmingham blogger Wade Kwon has the details here about 24 year old Kendall Brown, who certainly could use the win, since she lists her occupation as "unemployed."
    

MMMM # 109 - Public Radio Changes

     Alabama State University licensed Public Radio station WVAS (90.7) in Montgomery will sponsor a Jazz on the Grass event today, starting at 11:00am on the Alabama Shakespeare Festival grounds. ASU is a predominantly black school, and I've always wondered if their young student body actually listens to their jazz format.
     Personally it is one of my favorite stations in the city, but I'm an older than college student aged white guy.
     Meanwhile Alabama Public Radio...a coalition of several stations that does not include WVAS, is increasing the amount of Classical Music they air...at the same time that global sales of classical music---like all genres---is continuing to fall. But classical is falling faster than the rest. Worldwide sales represent somewhere around 5% of all music sales, and my gut tells me the figures in Alabama have to be significantly smaller than that.

Here's how APR explains the decision to air classical music evenings from 8-10pm:

In an effort to pay attention to listener preferences and look for opportunities to improve our public service, Alabama Public Radio is changing its weekday evening and weekend schedule beginning Monday, September 6.
Monday - Thursday evenings, beginning at 8:00 p.m., listeners will hear full-length performances from some of the country's leading symphony orchestras, from the New York Philharmonic to the Chicago Symphony, as well as concerts recorded in the Concertgebouw, considered one of the finest concert halls in the world.
BBC World News will be more accessible when it starts airing at 10:00 p.m. seven nights a week.
Weekend programming changes will include adjusted times for APR's Sunday night local music line-up, with "Getting Sentimental Over You" starting at 5:00 p.m.

     Personally, I am one of the five or six people who are actually listening to the BBC at 3:00am...on APR's Selma-Montgomery frequency (88.3 FM) as I drive to work each morning. So it will actually be less accessible for me.(see note below)
     Announcements on the station say the program grid online has been updated, but that's not the case as of this Saturday Morning as I work on this MMMM for Monday. So I don't know about some other local music programs. I also don't know if the program changes will represent a financial savings for the stations...but those syndicated shows do not come free!
     NPR, the major source of programs for most public stations, does charge its member stations, and has managed to weather the Great Recession better than most media, perhaps thanks in part to that $200 Million grant from the widow of McDonald's founder Ray Kroc in 2003. With so little radio news left, their programs are truly a public service. Some local public stations have managed to increase their local news coverage too, despite the troubles economy.
     Read about Public Radio WABE in Atlanta, for example, on an Atlanta-Journal blog entry.
     WBHM in Birmingham added news and talk programs at the expense of Classical, and seems to have survived the experience.
     All media are struggling right now, trying to find the right combination of programs to hold onto an increasingly antsy audience.

      Here's Tim's Take: Public Broadcasting exists to offer choices that other media are not, so WVAS---perhaps swimming against the Rap and Hip-Hop wave of its student body---may be on track. And perhaps APR's offering of the diminishing Classical programs also serve that need.

     But I sure am going to miss my BBC Radio at 3:00am.

     When will someone invent a TiVo Radio? (See note below)

[ALSO: Anyone who thinks broadcast news mistakes don't come with a price needs to read the NY Times account of The London Times "oops" in incorrectly identifying a photo. How about---literally--- 99 lashes?]

[AND PLUS: The old argrument: should the Media report what people want to know, or what they should know. Technology is making the former much easier to determine.Is that a good thing?]

[NOTE: See the comment section for an update/correction regarding the BBC and the APR online program listings.]
[The Monday Morning Media Memo is a regular feature of this blog.]

Home $weet Home

     Here's the operative sentence in a Washington Post story this morning:

"the expectations of buyers and sellers are out of whack"

     Clearly something is out of wack. Home sales across the county are strangled...down 28% in Montgomery in July, for example. There's a big backup of homes on the market...a year's worth and growing claims the Post piece.

     So even if there is a sudden improvement in the unemployment rate, and people suddenly start buying and selling again, it will more than 12 months before the supply and demand shelf-life of the real estate market evens out a bit.

     Homeowners enjoyed seeing their homes increase in value...a true investment in "The American Dream" the Realtors told us. In reality, as our own homes increased in value, so did the homes we would theoretically buy to replace them when we moved. Sell for more, buy for more. Then, of course, the musical chairs stopped and the foreclosure signs sprouted up like crocus.

     Now homeowners who want to sell have a tough row to hoe...and since they are also the buyers, we're in a quandary.

    About the only people enjoying and profiting from all of this (other than foreclosure attorneys) are first time buyers with some cash to put down. Fifteen year fixed rate mortgages were at 3.83% last week, down from 3.86% the previous week and 4.54% a year ago. 3.83%!

    An historic low interest rate. Supply and demand at work. Few buyers and borrowers, so down go the prices of the homes and the cost of the money to buy 'em. And still the market is moribund,
    A column in the NY Times today suggests that the choice may be to save today's homeowners or tomorrow's...i.e., let the real estate market collapse without government intervention, if necessary, in order to create a fair buying and selling field for the future. Ouch.

    

K is the new 1st Grade

     So reports the Chicago Tribune today, in a feature story that suggests  an earlier than ever education is becoming the norm.
     I have one memory of my entire kindergarten experience. One.

     There are some large blocks of wood that the children are using to create stuff to stand on and climb on, and something happens and I fall..Or the blocks fall on me...or something like that. That's it. My memory tells me they were BIG blocks, that you could create a play house out of them, but perhaps they were smaller and looked like these.
     I know the kindergarten was held  at PS-109, the New York Public School down the street from where I lived....a building that is still there, and still a school. I don't know if there are kindergarten classes held there.

    

     Oh....one other thing: I met Steve there, who became my best friend through elementary school, and is still my friend! This is us as Laurel and Hardy at Halloween, probably around 1959 or 1960.

     So if the kids today are learning real stuff...like geography and math and writing in kindergarten, good for them!

     Personally it was a fall down and meet Steve experience.

[UPDATE: Steve emailed me about the blocks:  "The blocks were big, and dark green. We used to build forts with them." And NOW I can visualize them even better. Great times...I think?] 

Grandma Hyundai

     There's a TV commercial for Hyundai airing (in South Korea, not here) featuring a 69 year old woman who has exhibited extraordinary endurance and persistence in getting her drivers license. It took her 960 attempts.
     How many times have you given up after a first, or second attempt?
     Of course I'm not positive I want to be on the road with her.

Four Racing toward November 2nd

     Labor Day is supposedly the "official" start of the sprint to election day. The marathon started 18 months ago, and many who started that race are now sitting wounded on the sidelines.
     Four of the survivors will be guests on coming Sunday "On The Record" programs on CBS-8...the nominees for Lt. Governor and for Governor...and that series begins tomorrow with the Democratic Incumbent Lt. Gov, Jim Folsom, Jr.
     There will be numerous preemptions of OTR in the coming weeks because of golf and football.
     While it is a joy to occupy the broadcast real-estate right before 60-Minutes, it's also a hugely preemptable spot this time of year. If you want to keep this list or just jot down the dates...here are the Sundays when there will be an OTR and who will be the guest:

• Sunday, September 5, Democratic nominee for Lt. Gov. Jim Folsom, Jr.
• Sunday, October 3,  Republican nominee for Lt. Gov. Kay Ivey
• Sunday, October 17, Republican nominee for Governor Robert Bentley
• Sunday, October 31, Democratic nominee for Governor Ron Sparks

Tuesday November 2nd, Election Day.

Gone, REALLY...

...Gone With The Wind.
The child actress who played the child of Rhett and Scarlett has died. at 76.
I love the final quote in the article.

Prime Material

     My good friends at Prime Montgomery magazine included me in an article about senior bloggers and others using the net, and I appreciate being included! I even got two photos in it!
     The print version of Prime is available all across town, including at your local Publix Supermarket. Follow the link above to the article and it will give you access to the rest of the stories in the new issue as well as to archives of past issues too.

Government Savings

     Maybe that's what's behind the Republican Supreme Court Justices, two of them, donating money to the Democratic candidate who is opposing one of their fellow GOP Justices.
     The way it works is this: the atmosphere is so cold in the Judicial Building on Dexter Avenue that they can turn down the AC to save on the utility bill.
     Wouldn't you love to be a fly on the wall of the deliberations these days? Brrrrrrr
     There's nothing new about opposing forces serving on the same body...look at the Legislature and it's committees, for example. But here we have supposedly serious-minded legal professionals debating the fate of people's lives. (Oh wait, that's supposed to be the legislators too!)
     Is this another argument for ending the election of judges in Alabama? The Alabama Bar Association has pushed for years to move to an appointment process (via a committee, with safeguards) of state judges. And you don't have to look very far for more evidence...the dirty politics of the elections themselves, for example. And the fact that we have the most expensive Supreme Court races in the country. The best judicial system lobbyists money can buy, is one way to describe it.

Plant Identified!

     My post on 8/21 asking for help identifying a mystery plant in the backlyard prompted one nice note and a guess from a lady in Birmingham, but I decided to go to the authority.
    Libby Rich of Plant Odyssey fame came to the rescue with the following diagnosis!

The plant is a variety of coreopsis, common name "tickseed". Birds love to eat their seed and so you are correct that a bird did the distribution. This plant and others are the parents of our cultivated coreopsis. Next year, rather than allow it to grow so tall, cut it in half and it be strong, sturdy and produce lots more flowers.

Thanks Libby!!!!!!! Let me seriously recommend Plant Odyssey in Birmingham...a real community resource!

Speaking of Travel...

     A New York Times travel writer is going to be in Alabama this coming week, fresh from absorbing the culture in Louisiana and Mississippi. His post about that experience is a hoot!
     This is travel on the cheap! So don't expect to see him at the Montgomery Renaissance Hotel...but if someone called Seth Kugel shows up, treat him with all the Southern charm we can muster! He's a fool for rustic unique places....and here's my list of recommendations in Montgomery:

• Stop by the Southern Poverty Law Center's Civil Rights Memorial.
• Then drop down a block or two to stand in the spot where Jefferson Davis took the oath of office and where George Wallace pledged segregation now etc etc.(the upper and lower steps of the Capitol, respectively.
• Go into the Capital and walk through the old House Chamber where delegates decided to un-Unite with the U.S.
• All of that has been free, so splurge and enjoy the unexpected decor and the (somewhat expensive) taste of the cuisine at The Olive Room (down towards the other end of Dexter Avenue) is worth the visit.
• I know your mode of  transit is limited, but if you can go by The Alabama Shakespeare Festival, do so. It is another unexpected jewel.

Visitors? What have I left off?

Earlier? EARLIER????

Please note that the time of this post is just before 2:30am.

Headline: TV News for Early Risers (Or Late to Bedders

ARGH!!!!