I don't profess to have a PhD or have been a member of some s**thole foundation....but I've traveled enough to note general circumstances. This is how to recognize your community, city or county has fallen, and can't get up:
1. A large segment of the local population think that the overall leadership is corrupted. Maybe not fifty-percent or more....but to the idea that one out of every three people think the authority in charge can't make ethical decisions anymore.
2. To accomplish s**thouse status, you really need a news media which refuses to address the problems. This usually means that murders are on page six...that no one ever discusses or writes a story about white-flight where folks leave a city or region....or that some corrupted city or state official was arrested on bribery charges.
3. Jobs tend to disappear. Companies start to add up the cost on security, or the problems in recruiting employees, or the decaying neighborhood around their headquarters or production center. Unemployment jumps above ten-percent, and stays above ten-percent.
4. Drug usage escales. People are disconnected from society and hope for the future. They need something to tranquilize them, and a couple hours of some decent high will help alleviate the frustration of living in a s**thole.
5. Robbery increases. It might be nickle-and-dime situations....some guy breaking into your garage. Some kid stealing your co-worker's car at the gas station. Maybe even some dynamic duo breaking into your business one night and just spray-painting the whole interior with some special theme-message.
6. Cops don't care. Rather than work on crime....they focus on public events, traffic tickets, and speeders. They know that the prosecution folks won't do much of anything, and the judges would prefer not to handle public cases.
7. Murders ramp up. Maybe your 150,000 residence city went through two decades with just a dozen murders a year, and that was the norm. Then something 'clicks', and you wake up to see the 20th murder by August, and the mayor talking about more cops.
8. You start to notice either in city parks or along the streets themselves....more folks just hanging out, and drinking from 10 AM on. It's not just twenty-odd folks anymore....but a hundred or two-hundred hanging out and sipping booze all day long.
9. You start to notice more graffiti on public streets.
10. People start talking about massive renovation to upgrade away from s**thole status, but then the money cost comes up and you realize that the tax base is no longer existing to fix the problems and you are simply climbing deeper into debt.
Friday, 12 January 2018
My Top S**thole Cities in the US
This is my list....other folks would have a different view.
1. Detroit. Up until the 1970s....it was a pretty good metropolitan area. Since the 1990s....it's a s**thole. There's entire neighborhoods of empty houses sitting there.
2. East St Louis. I've driven through the area once (needing to ship my car overseas). There's just not much you can say about the town. It's a s**thole.
3. Birmingham, Alabama. Back in the 1970s, you probably could have driven through and said it was a middle-class town. Cocaine came, incompetent city management, crime, murder, etc. It's a real s**thole today. It's a place where you don't leave the interstate unless it's a real emergency or you need to fly out of the airport.
4. Memphis. There are a couple of neighborhoods and areas of the city where it's still safe and reasonable. Most of the city though...is a s**thole.
5. Up until the 1990s, Atlanta was in this growth and boom period. Since the crime and mass urbanization period, most big organizations (including the Braves) are in the process of moving out of the city.
6. Baltimore. Based on the murder rate, and crime....you don't go anywhere other than the downtown harbor area where cops are out in force. They spent the last twenty years making this a major s**thole.
7. Stockton, CA. I traveled through the area back in the mid-1980s and kinda thought it was mostly a middle-class, working-class town. You go and look at murders and crime today....it's a four-star s**thole.
8. Cleveland. Basically, the city died in the 1970s. In 1950, they were near 915,000 residents....today, it's near 395,000 and shrinking. It'll probably hit 250,000 by 2025. By 2050, I think the city will actually reach 100,000 in population.
9. Buffalo. Businesses left the area in the 1970s and 1980s. There's just no reason to remain in the local area.
10. New Orleans. The curious thing here is that there is a mile-by-mile area in the party district of town where you might want to stop off and have a couple of drinks and enjoy the festive attitude of the area. But once you venture out of the protected area....this is mostly a s**thole.
1. Detroit. Up until the 1970s....it was a pretty good metropolitan area. Since the 1990s....it's a s**thole. There's entire neighborhoods of empty houses sitting there.
2. East St Louis. I've driven through the area once (needing to ship my car overseas). There's just not much you can say about the town. It's a s**thole.
3. Birmingham, Alabama. Back in the 1970s, you probably could have driven through and said it was a middle-class town. Cocaine came, incompetent city management, crime, murder, etc. It's a real s**thole today. It's a place where you don't leave the interstate unless it's a real emergency or you need to fly out of the airport.
4. Memphis. There are a couple of neighborhoods and areas of the city where it's still safe and reasonable. Most of the city though...is a s**thole.
5. Up until the 1990s, Atlanta was in this growth and boom period. Since the crime and mass urbanization period, most big organizations (including the Braves) are in the process of moving out of the city.
6. Baltimore. Based on the murder rate, and crime....you don't go anywhere other than the downtown harbor area where cops are out in force. They spent the last twenty years making this a major s**thole.
7. Stockton, CA. I traveled through the area back in the mid-1980s and kinda thought it was mostly a middle-class, working-class town. You go and look at murders and crime today....it's a four-star s**thole.
8. Cleveland. Basically, the city died in the 1970s. In 1950, they were near 915,000 residents....today, it's near 395,000 and shrinking. It'll probably hit 250,000 by 2025. By 2050, I think the city will actually reach 100,000 in population.
9. Buffalo. Businesses left the area in the 1970s and 1980s. There's just no reason to remain in the local area.
10. New Orleans. The curious thing here is that there is a mile-by-mile area in the party district of town where you might want to stop off and have a couple of drinks and enjoy the festive attitude of the area. But once you venture out of the protected area....this is mostly a s**thole.
Sh**hole Countries, Sh**hole Cities
After watching the news this morning and getting the hyped-up talk by the news media, I sat and paused over the President's words.....concerning sh**hole countries.
First, I've been to a couple of sh**hole countries in my life. These are typically places where you fly into the airport....get a taxi and go immediately to where you need to be, and you don't venture too much beyond the 'safe' zone. You drink only bottled water that you can trust. You avoid cops because they are heavily corrupted. You avoid the local beer or alcohol because they might not be pure or safe. You generally keep your shot-records current and worry about getting TB from these sh**hole countries (I already went through the TB medication process after getting TB from such a country).
Second, as much as people talk about sh**hole countries....I even talk about sh**hole cities. These are cities that you don't drive through after dark....stop at ATM machines....refuel your car at any gas station, and you tote a pistol within the car. You worry about your car being stolen as you pull up to refuel. You note the murder rates within the city and listen to the mayor talk about more police....then you watch as cops refuse to really do much to stop the killing.
Third, sh**hole countries are places that typically don't get big conferences, world fairs, or Olympic sport/World Cup situations.
Fourth, go ask about resort options at the local travel office for sh**hole countries. Watch the travel agent just grin, and ask if you been smoking any good weed.
Fifth, go ask about protected hotel compounds in sh**hole countries. I worked with a guy who got this great deal on a resort hotel....five-star rating, in a sh**hole country. He flew in....walked ten feet from the airport into a bus, which drove straight to the protected compound. Fantastic place. Great food. Free booze (cocktails and beer) were part of the deal for two weeks. Guards roamed the perimeter and ensured safety and no robberies. Never once did he venture beyond the protected area. Came back with great words over the hotel, the beaches, and the staff there. As long as you didn't venture beyond the protected area, it was fine.
Sixth, go and ask yourself....why do sh**hole countries exist? It's mostly because these folks never reach a crisis stage where revolution occurs. They never truly overthrow their regime or dictators. They just keep living on the edge of society, and accept it.
Seventh, go and ask journalists....why don't you go and report from sh**hole countries? Go and do on-the-scene interviews. Ask about garbage pick-up. Ask folks about the cops and safety. Go and ask about the hazards of life in the sh**hole country.
My advice for the journalists hyping this....if you had to go and pick something to jump down on Trump about and talk about forty-eight hours straight, boy....did you pick the wrong topic. Most Americans who've done military time and gone to the sh**hole countries will vouch for Trump's words. Such countries exist and they just aren't places that you'd desire to go and spend a week.
First, I've been to a couple of sh**hole countries in my life. These are typically places where you fly into the airport....get a taxi and go immediately to where you need to be, and you don't venture too much beyond the 'safe' zone. You drink only bottled water that you can trust. You avoid cops because they are heavily corrupted. You avoid the local beer or alcohol because they might not be pure or safe. You generally keep your shot-records current and worry about getting TB from these sh**hole countries (I already went through the TB medication process after getting TB from such a country).
Second, as much as people talk about sh**hole countries....I even talk about sh**hole cities. These are cities that you don't drive through after dark....stop at ATM machines....refuel your car at any gas station, and you tote a pistol within the car. You worry about your car being stolen as you pull up to refuel. You note the murder rates within the city and listen to the mayor talk about more police....then you watch as cops refuse to really do much to stop the killing.
Third, sh**hole countries are places that typically don't get big conferences, world fairs, or Olympic sport/World Cup situations.
Fourth, go ask about resort options at the local travel office for sh**hole countries. Watch the travel agent just grin, and ask if you been smoking any good weed.
Fifth, go ask about protected hotel compounds in sh**hole countries. I worked with a guy who got this great deal on a resort hotel....five-star rating, in a sh**hole country. He flew in....walked ten feet from the airport into a bus, which drove straight to the protected compound. Fantastic place. Great food. Free booze (cocktails and beer) were part of the deal for two weeks. Guards roamed the perimeter and ensured safety and no robberies. Never once did he venture beyond the protected area. Came back with great words over the hotel, the beaches, and the staff there. As long as you didn't venture beyond the protected area, it was fine.
Sixth, go and ask yourself....why do sh**hole countries exist? It's mostly because these folks never reach a crisis stage where revolution occurs. They never truly overthrow their regime or dictators. They just keep living on the edge of society, and accept it.
Seventh, go and ask journalists....why don't you go and report from sh**hole countries? Go and do on-the-scene interviews. Ask about garbage pick-up. Ask folks about the cops and safety. Go and ask about the hazards of life in the sh**hole country.
My advice for the journalists hyping this....if you had to go and pick something to jump down on Trump about and talk about forty-eight hours straight, boy....did you pick the wrong topic. Most Americans who've done military time and gone to the sh**hole countries will vouch for Trump's words. Such countries exist and they just aren't places that you'd desire to go and spend a week.
Wednesday, 3 January 2018
Three Observations
There's three things that I came to note this morning which lead me to pondering:
1. The Today Show finally announced Matt Lauer's replacement (since he had to leave in a hurry)....some gal by the name of Hoda Kotb. Around the studio, they seemed all excited. Now they can continue on.
I paused at this point and kinda wondered....what exactly will Hoda bring to the table to make this all exciting? Course, I asked that with Matt as well. It amazed me that they were always willing to pay Matt more than 2-million dollars a month for what he did.
I look at most of the morning shows on TV at 7 AM and grade the majority to be 'coffee-journalism'....rather light and geared for mostly housewife mentality folks.
2. This button-talk with Mr Kim of North Korea. Kim says he has finally acquired a nuke button. My immediate take on this.....where do you buy nuke-buttons or did he have some Kim-technician manufacture the button?
I'm guessing out there in the real world, there are engineers working hard each day to develop a 'cool' and professional nuke-button that would be eagerly bought by Trump, Kim, Macron, Putin, etc.
At some point in the Kim-talk....he noted his nuke-button was in the office. I'd be a bit worried on that issue because the cleaning lady could come through in the after-hours, and dust up around the button....then accidentally hit it. The 3,000 nuke-support folks would see this red-light come on and assume the real Mister Kim hit the button, and then run to launch their one-and-only nuke missile. Things go downhill at that point.
3. I kinda noticed in the news that this Joshua Boyle character....the guy held by the Taliban in Afghanistan for a couple of years with his wife.....had gotten himself arrested yesterday.
Boyle was all worried and stressed out in early statements after getting out of Taliban-control that the US would arrest him. The thing is.....he could never explain why.
The cops arresting him now? Well....it's Canadian cops. Yeah. The charges? Two charges of assault (no one says who he assaulted), one charge involving a death-threat (usually something taken serious), and some charge over giving the drug Trazodone to someone. Trazodone is usually for anxiety or stress issues, or to get you into a sleep rhyme. In simple terms....a downer. It's a prescription drug and I'm only guessing here that he had some pills and simply gave one to a friend. It's not a charge that would usually get you into big jail-time. But the assault charges? Well...that's a different story.
The thing about Boyle is that he and his wife were held as prisoners for five years. It's a miserable five years and I think he was extremely affected by the episode. As much as he was worried over getting arrested in the US....it's an odd aspect that the statement did come true but in Canada instead, and mostly through his own actions.
1. The Today Show finally announced Matt Lauer's replacement (since he had to leave in a hurry)....some gal by the name of Hoda Kotb. Around the studio, they seemed all excited. Now they can continue on.
I paused at this point and kinda wondered....what exactly will Hoda bring to the table to make this all exciting? Course, I asked that with Matt as well. It amazed me that they were always willing to pay Matt more than 2-million dollars a month for what he did.
I look at most of the morning shows on TV at 7 AM and grade the majority to be 'coffee-journalism'....rather light and geared for mostly housewife mentality folks.
2. This button-talk with Mr Kim of North Korea. Kim says he has finally acquired a nuke button. My immediate take on this.....where do you buy nuke-buttons or did he have some Kim-technician manufacture the button?
I'm guessing out there in the real world, there are engineers working hard each day to develop a 'cool' and professional nuke-button that would be eagerly bought by Trump, Kim, Macron, Putin, etc.
At some point in the Kim-talk....he noted his nuke-button was in the office. I'd be a bit worried on that issue because the cleaning lady could come through in the after-hours, and dust up around the button....then accidentally hit it. The 3,000 nuke-support folks would see this red-light come on and assume the real Mister Kim hit the button, and then run to launch their one-and-only nuke missile. Things go downhill at that point.
3. I kinda noticed in the news that this Joshua Boyle character....the guy held by the Taliban in Afghanistan for a couple of years with his wife.....had gotten himself arrested yesterday.
Boyle was all worried and stressed out in early statements after getting out of Taliban-control that the US would arrest him. The thing is.....he could never explain why.
The cops arresting him now? Well....it's Canadian cops. Yeah. The charges? Two charges of assault (no one says who he assaulted), one charge involving a death-threat (usually something taken serious), and some charge over giving the drug Trazodone to someone. Trazodone is usually for anxiety or stress issues, or to get you into a sleep rhyme. In simple terms....a downer. It's a prescription drug and I'm only guessing here that he had some pills and simply gave one to a friend. It's not a charge that would usually get you into big jail-time. But the assault charges? Well...that's a different story.
The thing about Boyle is that he and his wife were held as prisoners for five years. It's a miserable five years and I think he was extremely affected by the episode. As much as he was worried over getting arrested in the US....it's an odd aspect that the statement did come true but in Canada instead, and mostly through his own actions.
Thursday, 28 December 2017
Alabama Governor Topic
I tend to follow Alabama news a fair bit.
Today, it was noted via Al.com that things are lining up for the 2018 Governor's election.
The GOP folks?
1. Kay Ivey (present governor of the state). On the positive side, Kay hasn't screwed up since taking over. Kay doesn't have some boy-toy or part-time lover on the side. And Kay seems to avoid any kind of controversy. On the negative side, Kay is 73 years old.
2. Tommy Battle (Huntsville mayor). On the plus side, Battle has been a business guy for most of his life, and if you wrote down his entire resume....it'd be at least five pages (he's 62 years old). If you were looking for soap opera lifestyles.....he's about as boring as you can get. The other plus of Battle is that he's gone and created more than 10,000 jobs in the last decade of being mayor in Huntsville. In some ways, he is a mini-Trump-like character. The title that he likes to point out? He's won a few bar-b-q awards and apparently knows how to grill pork and beef.
3. Birmingham evangelist Scott Dawson. He's a mega-church kind of minister....a four-star public speaker....and likely will carry a fair number of the church-votes in the state. Beyond that? No real experience. We've never had a minister as a governor, so it might be a shock to most folks if he were to win the election.
4. Bill Hightower (state senator, Mobile). He's a businessman turned state senator. For four years, he's been around Montgomery and shaken a few hands. In the Mobile area....probably half the folks have heard of the guy and would recognize him. Beyond Mobile? He's unrecognizable.
5. Josh Jones. He's a health-care executive out of Birmingham and likely the most unknown individual of the five. Past political background? Zero.
For the Democrats?
1. Sue Bell Cobb. Former state Supreme Court Chief Justice. She is a graduate of the University of Alabama, and has done a fair amount of legal work. Age? Near 60. The problem in her case is name recognition. You can ask a hundred Alabama folks about the name, and maybe three would have remembered her being on the state Supreme Court.
2. Walt Maddox, current Tuscaloosa Mayor. He's 45 years old....mostly done work with the education sector, and been a political figure for about a decade. On the positive side....with the 2011 tornado episode that tore up the city, he's known for crisis management skills and is one of the folks you'd want in an emergency situation. His problem will be name recognition outside of the Tuscaloosa region.
3. Jason Childs. Trucker (Oxford). Well, he's the one odd character of the whole bunch. He admits right up front.....he is pro-marijuana, and pro-LGBT. He even says up front....both parties have failed the working-class folks in the state, and we need to bring back a fresh view of the common man. Name recognition? Near zero. The thing is....if someone just stood up with a web site and actively went to some campuses in the state..Childs could pick up 25,000 votes and interest a fair number of people. But that probably won't happen. To be honest as well....we've never had a trucker as a governor and that might be worth exploring.
4. Anthony White. Local black minister from Dothan. He's a local guy....former Army....been a small business owner, and got a degree in business. His issue will be name recognition.
5. James Fields. He's a black Methodist minister from Cullman. He's actually pushing this idea of a rapid-rail system in the state....connecting cities. Course, if you asked a hundred Alabama folks about something like this....they'd tend to rate this at the bottom of 10,000 things that you could do for the state. His problem will be name recognition.
Is that it? There might be two or three more jumping in by March, but I suspect this is the main group.
The odds here? I suspect that Kay Ivey will have a problem in the primary and Battle might actually be this Alabama-style Trump-figure, who gets the primary win. A second vote required? Well, here's the thing, this Dawson-character will be popular with church-voters and he might actually take 15-percent of the state vote....meaning that Ivey and Battle don't reach the 50-percent required in the first primary.
For the Democrats.....the Tuscaloosa mayor Maddox ought to win in the first primary. Childs is a wild-card because of his marijuana stance, and if this election was about making it legal....he might find 50-percent of the 18-to-50 year old voters in the state favoring him. It'd be a shocker if suddenly this whole election was about making marijuana legal in the state.
The likely winner? I think Battle wins in November.
Today, it was noted via Al.com that things are lining up for the 2018 Governor's election.
The GOP folks?
1. Kay Ivey (present governor of the state). On the positive side, Kay hasn't screwed up since taking over. Kay doesn't have some boy-toy or part-time lover on the side. And Kay seems to avoid any kind of controversy. On the negative side, Kay is 73 years old.
2. Tommy Battle (Huntsville mayor). On the plus side, Battle has been a business guy for most of his life, and if you wrote down his entire resume....it'd be at least five pages (he's 62 years old). If you were looking for soap opera lifestyles.....he's about as boring as you can get. The other plus of Battle is that he's gone and created more than 10,000 jobs in the last decade of being mayor in Huntsville. In some ways, he is a mini-Trump-like character. The title that he likes to point out? He's won a few bar-b-q awards and apparently knows how to grill pork and beef.
3. Birmingham evangelist Scott Dawson. He's a mega-church kind of minister....a four-star public speaker....and likely will carry a fair number of the church-votes in the state. Beyond that? No real experience. We've never had a minister as a governor, so it might be a shock to most folks if he were to win the election.
4. Bill Hightower (state senator, Mobile). He's a businessman turned state senator. For four years, he's been around Montgomery and shaken a few hands. In the Mobile area....probably half the folks have heard of the guy and would recognize him. Beyond Mobile? He's unrecognizable.
5. Josh Jones. He's a health-care executive out of Birmingham and likely the most unknown individual of the five. Past political background? Zero.
For the Democrats?
1. Sue Bell Cobb. Former state Supreme Court Chief Justice. She is a graduate of the University of Alabama, and has done a fair amount of legal work. Age? Near 60. The problem in her case is name recognition. You can ask a hundred Alabama folks about the name, and maybe three would have remembered her being on the state Supreme Court.
2. Walt Maddox, current Tuscaloosa Mayor. He's 45 years old....mostly done work with the education sector, and been a political figure for about a decade. On the positive side....with the 2011 tornado episode that tore up the city, he's known for crisis management skills and is one of the folks you'd want in an emergency situation. His problem will be name recognition outside of the Tuscaloosa region.
3. Jason Childs. Trucker (Oxford). Well, he's the one odd character of the whole bunch. He admits right up front.....he is pro-marijuana, and pro-LGBT. He even says up front....both parties have failed the working-class folks in the state, and we need to bring back a fresh view of the common man. Name recognition? Near zero. The thing is....if someone just stood up with a web site and actively went to some campuses in the state..Childs could pick up 25,000 votes and interest a fair number of people. But that probably won't happen. To be honest as well....we've never had a trucker as a governor and that might be worth exploring.
4. Anthony White. Local black minister from Dothan. He's a local guy....former Army....been a small business owner, and got a degree in business. His issue will be name recognition.
5. James Fields. He's a black Methodist minister from Cullman. He's actually pushing this idea of a rapid-rail system in the state....connecting cities. Course, if you asked a hundred Alabama folks about something like this....they'd tend to rate this at the bottom of 10,000 things that you could do for the state. His problem will be name recognition.
Is that it? There might be two or three more jumping in by March, but I suspect this is the main group.
The odds here? I suspect that Kay Ivey will have a problem in the primary and Battle might actually be this Alabama-style Trump-figure, who gets the primary win. A second vote required? Well, here's the thing, this Dawson-character will be popular with church-voters and he might actually take 15-percent of the state vote....meaning that Ivey and Battle don't reach the 50-percent required in the first primary.
For the Democrats.....the Tuscaloosa mayor Maddox ought to win in the first primary. Childs is a wild-card because of his marijuana stance, and if this election was about making it legal....he might find 50-percent of the 18-to-50 year old voters in the state favoring him. It'd be a shocker if suddenly this whole election was about making marijuana legal in the state.
The likely winner? I think Battle wins in November.
Monday, 25 December 2017
The Santa Story
I noticed this piece early this morning (25th)....that a Canadian government organization is saying that global warming has triggered Santa Claus to "pack-up" and move....taking his toy-making operation, the deer barn, and the Santa house....down to the South Pole.
This organization? The Policy Horizons Canada.
Part of the story going with this....that the 'international community' (apparently not the US)....were in agreement and there was some written document where Santa, and the global warming community signed this document.
Now....I sat and pondered upon this amusing story.
A smart 8-year old kid would have eventually got to this point and asked....so, Santa just lived on top of ice...not land, all this time? Where did these reindeer eat grass? Did Santa have to ship in grain and hay for the reindeer.....aboard aircraft, and thus trigger climate change himself?
This toy-making operation, with the thousands of elves....did they require constant heat, and thereby create climate change as well....with coal or oil heat?
If things are heating up at the North Pole....wouldn't the same heating-up or climate change exist at the South Pole?
Will the letters written and addressed to the North Pole.....get now to the South Pole? What if some kids don't get the message, will their letters just end up with some dead-end post office in the North Pole? Will Larry (the kind-hearted mail guy from the Canadian government who delivered mail to Santa for 40 years) still have a job?
Were the elves forced into this move? Or did the elves just accept this as being the only solution?
Can reindeer survive at the South Pole? Are there any there (no)?
What did Ms Santa say about all of this?
It simply begs questions. One has to hope that CNN will get to the bottom of this story.
This organization? The Policy Horizons Canada.
Part of the story going with this....that the 'international community' (apparently not the US)....were in agreement and there was some written document where Santa, and the global warming community signed this document.
Now....I sat and pondered upon this amusing story.
A smart 8-year old kid would have eventually got to this point and asked....so, Santa just lived on top of ice...not land, all this time? Where did these reindeer eat grass? Did Santa have to ship in grain and hay for the reindeer.....aboard aircraft, and thus trigger climate change himself?
This toy-making operation, with the thousands of elves....did they require constant heat, and thereby create climate change as well....with coal or oil heat?
If things are heating up at the North Pole....wouldn't the same heating-up or climate change exist at the South Pole?
Will the letters written and addressed to the North Pole.....get now to the South Pole? What if some kids don't get the message, will their letters just end up with some dead-end post office in the North Pole? Will Larry (the kind-hearted mail guy from the Canadian government who delivered mail to Santa for 40 years) still have a job?
Were the elves forced into this move? Or did the elves just accept this as being the only solution?
Can reindeer survive at the South Pole? Are there any there (no)?
What did Ms Santa say about all of this?
It simply begs questions. One has to hope that CNN will get to the bottom of this story.
Thursday, 14 December 2017
NPR 2.0 (My Version of a Reboot)
I can go back to the mid-1970s and remember the original content of NPR. You actually got classic music, some jazz, literature readings, poetry, and some occasional bluegrass music. Then, in the early 80s....they started off to some other trend. For me, if I were driving around at lunch....I might turn NPR on and listen to it, but they've lost me for the most part.
What I'd like to see?
6:00 A full hour of legislative matters in the House and Senate. Explain what bills are coming up and what bills failed.
7:00 Farm news hour. Anything of a rural nature, relating to farms and rural business situations. Bring in some PhD guys to talk about livestock, and crops. Bring in a brewery guy to talk about garage beer creations. Interview some bio-fruit people.
8:00 Medical hour. Hire up four medical experts and have a morning round-table to discuss reports, health issues, and new innovations. Bring on a nurse to talk about weird school health issues. Talk about cancers and treatments.
9:00 Jazz for an entire hour.
10:00 Great literature readings from the 1700/1800 era.
11:00 Business hour. Have another round-table of four Wall Street guys to talk about what's hot in the news.
12:00 National news hour.
13:00 Classical music hour.
14:00 History hour (have four PhD history guys line up and tell some story over history).
15:00 Opera music hour.
16:00 Bluegrass Hour.
17:00 National news hour.
18:00 Four random folks interviewed hour. Just go and pick out four random people (barbers, truckers, diesel mechanics, NCAA football refs, zoo-keepers, muffler-guys, etc) and ask them random questions.
19:00 1920s/1930s Radio Mystery hour.
20:00 More bluegrass.
21:00 Great literature readings from the 1900s.
22:00 Science Fiction Readings
23:00 Sign off
What I'd like to see?
6:00 A full hour of legislative matters in the House and Senate. Explain what bills are coming up and what bills failed.
7:00 Farm news hour. Anything of a rural nature, relating to farms and rural business situations. Bring in some PhD guys to talk about livestock, and crops. Bring in a brewery guy to talk about garage beer creations. Interview some bio-fruit people.
8:00 Medical hour. Hire up four medical experts and have a morning round-table to discuss reports, health issues, and new innovations. Bring on a nurse to talk about weird school health issues. Talk about cancers and treatments.
9:00 Jazz for an entire hour.
10:00 Great literature readings from the 1700/1800 era.
11:00 Business hour. Have another round-table of four Wall Street guys to talk about what's hot in the news.
12:00 National news hour.
13:00 Classical music hour.
14:00 History hour (have four PhD history guys line up and tell some story over history).
15:00 Opera music hour.
16:00 Bluegrass Hour.
17:00 National news hour.
18:00 Four random folks interviewed hour. Just go and pick out four random people (barbers, truckers, diesel mechanics, NCAA football refs, zoo-keepers, muffler-guys, etc) and ask them random questions.
19:00 1920s/1930s Radio Mystery hour.
20:00 More bluegrass.
21:00 Great literature readings from the 1900s.
22:00 Science Fiction Readings
23:00 Sign off
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