I have spent most of the summer on Treasure Island and have been keeping up with current events by listening to news/talk radio. That’s because the TV no longer works since we haven’t gone digital, we don’t take a newspaper, and there’s no computer. According to the Center for American Progress web site, I’m not alone when it comes to tuning in to news/talk radio. They estimate the weekly audience at 50 million, supporting 1700 commercial stations nationwide. Clearly the format is popular. Lately, however, I have been wondering if I and others have gone overboard in our allegiance to this mostly conservative medium. To answer that question, I devised a test.
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Monthly Archives: August 2009
Have You Gone Overboard on News/Talk Radio?
Posted in Current Events
Living Faith Choir
These kids are good
“They’ve only been together since Wednesday.” That’s what K. W., my nearby neighbor on Treasure Island, told me after the Living Faith Choir’s performance in her backyard yesterday in front of parents, friends, and curious islanders. In four days not only did they master eight songs, the group of about 20 teenagers also had a lot of fun on the island plus they survived a serious downpour one evening (the boys were camping in tents).
No question that the kids were talented musicians coming into this. They could all sing and several could play instruments—bass, keyboard, and drums. All appeared to be seasoned performers in front of an audience. But it’s late summer and they haven’t been together since the previous school year (at King’s School in Seattle). And some were new. Several of the songs took a lot of practice. There were a couple of duets and some other numbers where they acted and sang. I think they nailed the performance and are in mid-season form already.
Congressman Dicks’s Rationale
Last week I blogged that none of my congressional representatives replied when I asked if they would be holding a town hall meeting this month on health care. Since then I have heard from my congressman, Norm Dicks (D-Wash.). I will let you decide if his rationale for taking a pass is pure genius or just a clever dodge. Either way, the congressman didn’t say whether he would hold a town hall meeting when the House does have a complete bill.
“Thus far legislative proposals have been developed by key House and Senate Committees yet no complete version has been presented to the full membership of either house for a vote. I had hoped to be able to meet with constituents at home during the month August to explain the House version of a reform bill and to seek input from 6th District constituents, but the reform package has yet to be completed. In lieu of a specific legislative proposal, I wanted to take this opportunity to re-state my priorities in this important legislative effort…”
Posted in Government
Redress Not Address
I thought it was a typo. Hard to believe there would be one in an email sent to thousands of Alaska Airlines Insider subscribers. There wasn’t. They didn’t mean address, although address would have made some sense given the context. They actually meant redress, one of my favorite words in the Bill of Rights, which, among other things, gives us the right to “petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”
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Posted in Government, Travel
No Town Halls Near Here
You cannot turn on talk show radio these days without hearing endless and repetitive opinions about the congressional town hall meetings on health care. Conservative hosts are framing the issue as one in which some members of Congress are refusing to listen to the public before passing a bill that literally affects life and death for all Americans. Liberal hosts point out that the status quo is unacceptable, a lot of misinformation is being spread, and the current bills need some work but are the best approach to comprehensive health-care reform. To get some first-hand information on these opposing views, I contacted my congressional representatives about attending a local town hall meeting.
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Posted in Current Events, Government
My People’s Choice Award
1931 Twin Coach Bakery Van
The Port Orchard Cruz, held yesterday along the city’s waterfront, doesn’t have a people’s choice award. With nearly 500 vehicles this year and thousands of spectators, counting all of the ballots would take too long. That’s what I learned from a couple of members of the Saints Car Club, which does a superb job staging the show. So I decided to award my own people’s (person’s?) choice award (see photo).
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