The View From the Outback
© 2001 Richard C. Rhodes
A great deal of what we read in newspapers, magazines, and books, and what we see in the movies and on TV is written and produced in New York City or Los Angeles. Much of the "political wisdom" comes from the PR machines of the White House, the Congress, and from the Washington media corps.
In short, one might conclude that all knowledge, wisdom, and wit are confined to those who inhabit New York City, Washington DC, or Hollywood.
As I creak gingerly toward nearly 70 years of life experience - which was gained in many cities in the U.S. and in about 30 foreign countries, I decided to put down some ongoing thoughts in a series I call "The View From the Outback." That experience has included the U.S. Marines, law school, the ATF, the CIA, Fortune 500 executive, writer, public speaker, educator, editor, and publisher - for openers. For over 20 years, I have written articles off and on for various magazines and newspapers. I've had an enormous number of letters published in major national publications. The Outback is the rural area in Northeast Texas where I have lived for the past 10 years. Each Friday I will attempt to post a new set of musings from the Outback.
Saturday, March 24, 2001
● Thoughts While Staring At The Ceiling Fan
● Florida Secretary of State Literally Begged Networks Not To Call Election Early
● Mike Wallace on 60 Minutes Apparently Awestruck By TIVO
● The Female Clark Kent In Gotham
● That Network Logo May Be Burning Itself Into Your TV Screen
● Environmental And Animal-Rights Terrorists
Thoughts While Staring At The Ceiling Fan
In the last column I mentioned the solicitations that look like bills or statements being sent out by TIME. I sent copies of the one I got to the Attorney General of Texas and the FTC in DC. I got written responses from both - and both were responsive to my specific inquiry. There are very few things that the government does well. Protecting consumers is one of their better efforts. Do contact your state AG and the FTC if you think a business is using a deceptive or illegal marketing tactic. If you think mail fraud might be involved, get in touch with the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. Check out the FTC, FCC, and Postal Service websites for the kinds of things over which they have jurisdiction. Get something useful for you tax money.
Obesity in the U.S. is a crisis. Here is a sobering thought. If you or any of your children drink just two 12 oz. portions of regular (not sugar-free) sodas a day beyond the normal calories-per-day that you need to maintain your weight, you will gain 31 pounds in a year! Now, add in a bag of chips, or a candy bar. Everything you like is fattening, most likely. A pound of fat contains 3500 calories. Look on the labels of your favorites and do the math. Have a nice day. Burp!
A lady was fired from her job because she was habitually late. It seems that she had an obsessive ritual of hair washing, etc., in the morning that made her late to work. She sued her employer on the grounds that they had violated her rights under the Americans With Disabilities Act. A court has ruled that her mental illness (obsessive compulsive disorder) is a disability under the Americans With Disabilities Act and that she be allowed to pursue her case. I guess it never dawned on her to get up earlier. There is no hope for our legal system. Without researching the debate on the Act when it was introduced in the Congress, I feel certain this was not the kind of "disability" the sponsors had in mind. When people complain about "judicial activism," this is the kind of case they envision. That is, judges making new laws, or expanding existing ones, from the bench, regardless of the legislative history of the bill. In the days of more judicial restraint, a judge might ask his clerks to research "the intent of the legislature." Now, too many judges decide cases on the basis of what they think the law should have been.
I mentioned in an earlier column several reasons not to watch CBS news. Newsmax.com has reported on a study of the Liberal Bias of Dan Rather at CBS news. Currently, he has had opponents of the Bush tax cut on the evening news in a 2:1 ratio to those in favor. The article then goes on to document "20 Years of Blatant Bias" by Dan Rather. Dan Rather may be proud of his Texas upbringing, but there are a lot of Texans not so proud of him. Please read this article, whichever way you lean politically. I feel so liberated since I quit watching the ABC, CBS, and NBC evening news. No longer do I feel compelled to scream at the TV set, "You lying bastards!"
Florida Secretary of State Literally Begged Networks Not to Call Election Early
The furor over the TV networks calling the election in Florida "early" appears to have died down. Too bad. I wrote a strongly worded letter to the CEOs (or president of the news division) of all the major networks and selected people in Congress. I also asked Katherine Harris, the Secretary of State in Florida, to send me a copy of her news release in which she asked the networks not to call the race in Florida early. Here is the text of her news release:
"October 30, 2000
Secretary of State Requests Patience in Predicting Winners of Races
Tallahassee, FL ---- Secretary of State Katherine Harris today requested the media to delay predictions of the outcome of elections until after 8 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. Florida has six counties in the Central Time zone and the Secretary wants all Floridian's votes to be cast prior to predictions on the winners of races.
With several races too close to call, full voter involvement is imperative for Floridians to participate in the electoral process. 'The last thing we need is to have our citizens in the Central Time zone think their vote doesn't count because it certainly does!'
Waiting until 8 p.m. Eastern Standard Time allows all Floridians the opportunity to decide the outcome of races within Florida."
So much for responsible journalism and the phony "the public has a right to know" argument by the media. It is not too late to write the networks and tell them what you think of exit polls and calling elections early. Actually, it would be more meaningful now, because it will show that the subject is still on your mind. Use the Media List to find the miscreants responsible for this insidious interference with our electoral process.
Here is one theme from my letter to the Network executives:
"Yes, my suggestions regarding exit polls and projections are viewed by most as unconstitutional. I think, however, that a good case can be made that exit polls 'interfere with the orderly conduct of elections,' and could be banned if Congress really set their mind to it. They have my vote. " (I suggested that exit polls and calling elections be outlawed.)
Mike Wallace On 60 Minutes Apparently Awestruck by TIVO
Mike Wallace did a piece on 60 Minutes about personal video recorders (PVRs) that use a hard drive, like TIVO. He seemed nearly awestruck by the technology that allows you to pause live programs and skip by commercials in fairly short bursts. He never mentioned that the technology has been around for years with DishNetwork, the satellite TV provider, or that DirecTV now has a receiver for satellite TV reception that incorporates a PVR. More amazingly, he made a big to-do about how the networks are very concerned that customers can "zap" the commercials in 15 or 30 second bursts.
For several years, VCRs have been available that completely skip commercials during playback. I have one. When you play back a recorded program, the VCR knows several signs that a commercial is coming up and inserts a "skip" signal in the tape. The entire commercial break, which often last four to five minutes, is fast-forwarded without you touching a button.
And what about people like me who mute every commercial during a broadcast? The most important button on the remote is MUTE. The networks are going to have to adjust to the fact that people have reached the saturation level with commercials. I have suggested before that I might be willing to pay a modest amount each month for "commercial-free" networks, just as we do for HBO. This possibility came up during the 60 Minutes segment. Something has to give. And Mike, you need to get out of the office more often.
The Female Clark Kent In Gotham
Mary Jo White, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York (Manhattan) has been told to investigate the propriety of all of the 147 last-minute Clinton pardons and commutations. I howl with delight when she is shown on a sound bite on TV. This tiny lady, who looks more like a research librarian than a crime fighter, is apparently extremely smart, thorough, and tough as nails. Go get em' May Jo. Incidentally, she is a Democratic holdover appointment from the Clinton administration. Although some question her zeal for investigating the man who appointed her, it should be very interesting to see where she takes the investigation.
For those of you Clinton apologists with short memories, he (through his Attorney General) summarily fired all the Republican-appointed U.S. Attorneys in the United States and told them to clean out their desks. This was very disruptive event for our Federal judicial system. Mr. Bush has not done that. He has been involved in an orderly transition to his own choices as U.S. Attorneys in the various cities. Mary Jo White is one of many Democrat appointees still on the job.
For sure, the Southern District of New York is probably the most powerful U.S. Attorney's office in the country. Not only is there a huge population there, but New York residents and corporate America in NYC account for a whole lot of crime. This is where the handbooks for fraud, corruption, and swindling are written. If Bill Clinton thinks Paula Jones, Monica Lewinsky, and Gennifer Flowers gave him problems, wait until he sees the tattoo that the diminutive Mary Jo White leaves on his forehead. What fun!
By the way, the change in U.S. Attorneys is not all ominous. The U.S. Attorneys have much discretion as to the types of cases they pursue. So, it makes sense to have people in those posts who agree with the political philosophy of the president. One small example is the prosecution of gun crime. The Clinton-appointed U.S. Attorneys did not vigorously pursue cases against those who violated Federal gun laws. Attorney General John Ashcroft and his U.S. Attorneys will no doubt be more active against those who violate the gun laws. The Democrats always want more gun laws. Yet, they tend not to enforce the ones we have on the books.
To those of us who investigated Federal gun-law violations, and have studied the subject for 30 years, the Democrats tend to pass gun laws for "symbolic reasons" and to make their constituents think they are doing some about crime. But, they generally don't follow up with enforcement. Very few prosecutions have resulted from violations of the Brady Bill, for example. I have several thousand pages of research and a library of books on the subject to back up my statements.
That Network Logo May Be Burning Itself Into Your TV Screen
In the early days of computers, if a static image was left on the screen for an extended period, you could see the image "burned into" screen, even when the screen was otherwise blank. Thus, grew up the massive "screen saver" craze. Although screen savers are not needed on most modern computer monitors - they persist. Now, in one online forum devoted to DBS (satellite) TV, users are complaining about TV network logos causing "burn in" on some very expensive TV sets, including some HDTV monitors. The problem is the colored logo which sits in the corner of the screen during an entire program. Fox News is the one that got the most complaints on the forum. Users have gone so far as to threaten lawsuits unless the logos are made "transparent." And Fox is not the only offender. Keep your eyes open and you will see many others, for example, The History Channel, TNT, Disney, Discovery, CNN, MSNBC, and on and on.
So, if you are watching a network that constantly displays a dark-hued color network, local station or program title, logo on the screen, drop them a note or an e-mail. Tell them to go "transparent" (as usually seen on NBC, ABC and CBS) or they will hear from your lawyer, or from the lawyer for the class-action lawsuit sure to ensue if the networks persist in keeping these garish, distracting, and destructive color logos onscreen for extended periods. Note, that the logo always goes away during a commercial. The advertisers no doubt demand that the only focus in on their ad.
Most viewers know which channel and network they are watching. This logo business is intrusive and insulting. Broadcast stations must identify themselves every so often with their call sign. It would be sufficient notice for those of us too dumb to know what network we are watching that the network logo appear for 15- 30 seconds after each commercial and then fade. If we are so forgetful about what network we are watching, we can always press the INFO or DISPLAY button on the remote.
Environmental and Animal-Rights Terrorists
Environmental terrorists burned down a huge cotton gin because it was processing genetically- engineered cotton. Animal-rights terrorists have set fires to and trashed several laboratories where animals were being used for medical and pharmaceutical research. Most of the animals are mice and rats. Do any of those animal-rights terrorists live in New York City, where the rat population is out of control? Would they shoot at city employees who are trying to exterminate the often disease-laden rats?
We all love deer, what with being brought up with "Bambi." But, the deer population in this country is out-of-control, largely because of the pressures from animal-rights groups. Recently, the news showed an airport in the East or Northeast where there were about 200 deer running around on an airport property. A bird ingested into a jet engine can wreck it. Smacking into a deer, or a herd of them on a runway, could cause a catastrophic accident.
So, somebody finally got some guts, and they are going to hire sharpshooters to kill the deer. The animal-rights nutcases better not try to interfere with the "thinning of the herd" at the airport. The exterminators will have rifles with telescopic sights and just might shoot an animal-rights protestor by accident. One could only hope. I understand the difference between well-meaning people who fight cruelty to animals with fund raisers and public-service announcements and those who operate outside the law as "terrorists." It is the "terrorists' for whom I would not shed a tear if they caught a stray bullet.
There is a time and place for wild animals. In backyards in a Boston suburb, or on an airport runway are not the proper places.
I trust that the Bush administration will aggressively enforce the law and arrest, indict and convict all those who commit crimes in the name of environmental or animal rights, such as arson, assault, destruction of property, et al. If no Federal crime is violated, the states need to start treating the environmental and animal-rights terrorists with the same firm hand that was used with the bombers of the Federal building in Oklahoma City or the World Trade Center.
The right to object does not carry with it the right to forcefully intimidate, assault, burn, steal, or to bomb places that are doing something that offends you.
FYI: Although I have deer on my property here in the Outback, I have never shot one, in season or out. They don't bother me and I love to watch them bounding through the back fields. Skunks are common carriers of Rabies. They are shot on sight on my property. Armadillos love to dig holes and undermine the foundation of your house, or dig a huge den hole in your yard that will break the axle on the lawn tractor if you are not watchful while mowing. Thus, Armadillos are persona-non-grata on my property and many have been sent summarily to Armadillo heaven. (I think it may be near Amarillo, TX, but that is only a guess.)
COPYRIGHT 2001 Richard C. Rhodes
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