Wyatt's Rant

Merry Christmas

2008-12-26T02:03:00Z

If anyone's interested:
From a couple of weeks ago (12/16/08)

From Christmas night....

How can I miss you if you don’t go away

2008-12-10T17:17:00Z

How can I miss you if you don’t go away

Ely - Listeners are sad to hear that Bill O’Reilly is hanging up his headphones to devote all his attention to his Fox Television show and his web site.

To be honest, so am I.

I wasn’t expecting the former Inside Edition host to be such a good, solid radio host. I was expecting strident, partisan, boring radio.

You know, Sean Hannity radio.

But I was thoroughly surprised that O’Reilly’s “Radio Factor” was indeed, fair and balanced. Much more to the middle than Fox News, though light years to the right still of the Mainstream Media.

In fact, I think he comes across much better on radio than he does on TV. But, the money is in TV.

Who can blame someone for wanting to follow the money?

Still, I’ll miss him in the morning.

We have an interesting line-up here on the radio.

Dennis Miller has thoroughly surprised me with the exceptional quality of his show. He’s not afraid to show his conservatism but doesn’t lecture. He genuinely appears to have a good time with his daily three hours along with his liberal sidekick Sal. Together you get what I think is the most fun and entertaining talk show on the air today.

Lou Dobbs is, well, Lou Dobbs. That is not a bad thing. His “independent nation” continues to be frustrated by the strident partisanship of the Republicans and Democrats. The show filled with exceptional content highlighted by Dobbs’ ongoing frustration with the total disregard by both parties of constitutional and humanitarian propriety.

Bruce Williams is, well, Bruce Williams. He continues to be the logical Uncle on the radio. These days, though, Bruce isn’t just dispensing consumer advice, he’s also discussing political viewpoints, and not all the expected ones, either.

Former Rock Jock Joey Reynolds has what is perhaps the most fun show I’ve heard on the air for a very long time. I view his late night program from New York City as much less a show than a party. It’s truly fun listening.

Then there’s Hannity.

I’m sorry, but the strident partisanship of his show really annoys me.

His show has one basic position. All Republicans are right, and all Democrats are the devil.

That is wrong.

There are good Democrats (see Marcy Kaptur), and there ARE bad Republicans (See Duke Cunningham).

Unfortunately, Mr. Hannity doesn’t see it that way. That’s his right. But it isn’t right.

Our esteemed publisher, while very conservative, has a well developed sense of right and wrong. He calls out both parties equally when they screw up, which these days is most of the time.

Hannity isn’t a very good host or a very good entertainer. But I put up with him.

Wow.

The state’s in really deep trouble.

The sad part is, no one is very clear as to how bad the situation really is.

Our local school discrict is already planning to cut administration staff by 40%. And they are assured that isn’t going to be anywhere near enough.

They are anticipating a million dollar shortfall.

One of the ways that the district could raise more money is the same way that the city and White Pine County could become healthier is to broaden the economic base with the construction of the two “clean coal” power plants and the accompanying light industry that the plants would attract.

Instead, Harry Reid is trying to get the Great Basin National Park reclassified as a Class I Environmental park. That would shut down most industry in this county.

...and destroy what’s left of the state’s budget.

Funny, I always thought it would be California that would go bankrupt first. Now it may be neck and neck between Cali and Nevada.

Thanks Harry. Go back to Searchlight.

The latest from my Indian correspondent Sunaina is that Pakistan is apparently only paying lip service to working with India on the attacks. Here are excerpt from her dispatches on the subject.

“Pakistan has arrested chief of the militant outfit Jaish e Mohamed, Masood Azhar. US secretary of state calls this a positive step. However Pakistan will not hand over Azhar to India and there is also no talk of executing him. He has only been placed under house arrest. The JEM was founded in 1994. This is the group that was responsible for the terror attack at the Indian Parliament on Dec 13 2001.”
“India on Tuesday raised the Mumbai terror attack at the United Nations and demanded that the world body ban Pakistan-based Jamaat-ud-Dawa, the front organization of Lashkar-e-Toiba(LeT) blamed for the carnage, and other such organisations and impose effective sanctions against them. Stressing that India has been target of terrorist attacks sponsored from across the border for the last two decades, India asserted that when terrorist groups are used to serve the political interest of States, a deadly combination emerges and a terror machine is created.”
“Pakistan Defence Minister has confirmed the arrest of LeT commander Zaki-ur Rehman Lakhvi, the alleged mastermind of Mumbai attacks. However Pakistan refuses to hand over the commander, stating that he will be tried in Pakistan, under the country's laws.”

More and more, it sure looks like Pakistan isn’t India’s friend. Nor is Pakistan our friend. I wonder if they have anyone else in Pakistan that we need to be watching out for....

Wyatt Cox

Inside India’s “9-11”

2008-12-10T17:09:00Z

Inside India’s “9-11”
<Note: this story is edited from the version that was published in the December 4th Penny Press to add additional information and clarify information>
The violence that overtook Mumbai last week was not an isolated incident.
In fact, it was just the latest in a series of events that have taken place in India over the last year.
Much of the violence was obscured by our focusing on the Presidential circus.
But according to an online acquaintance I’ve gotten a lot of information from inside India that the news media didn’t and won’t report. And while it appears that the Indian government seems a bit adrift, the resolution of the people there are strong.

Sunaina is a well educated, late 20’s professional Muslim woman living in India. I cannot provide any further identifying information out of fear of reprisals from radical Muslims and radical Hindu alike. She has provided a number of reports for our radio program on what is going on inside India from the perspectives of those living there. Here are some of her dispatches as I received them. These dispatches have not been edited.

“26/11/08- Mumbai (aka Bombay) saw 10 seperate terror attacks on Wednesday night. 104 killed including 6 foreign nationals. Over 300 injured. The attacks occured at 2 five star hotels, a popular tourist restaurant, a crowded railway station, South Mumbai police headqtrs and a hospital among others. 25 terrorists came to Mumbai by sea(from Pakistan) armed with AK-47s, Kalshnikovs & hand grenades. They stormed theTaj and Oberoi/Trident hotels and opened fire. They also set off several bomb blasts in these hotels. The trend of attacking hospitals closest to the terror site continues.. Its like they want to be doubly sure that the wounded die without help!”

“The hotel guests had locked themselves inside their rooms after they rcd warning phonecalls from the management. some of them used sheets and curtains to escape from the windows. the others kept in touch with family and friends through cell phones.the staff of the Taj mahal hotel were outstanding and had amazing presence of mind. some guests who had stepped out for the night, were called up, briefed about the situation and asked not to return. several of the staff lost their lives while helping the guests to escape.”

“Some of our most renowned TV journalists stayed up for upto 48 hrs.. reporting the incident without rest or sleep. Burkha Dutt was visibly choked and this is a woman who has witnessed and reported on the Kargil war in Kashmir!a woman trapped inside her room kept in touch with her husband thru cell phone text msgs. the husband was outside the hotel with the press reporters. in her last text, she wrote 'the terrorists are inside my bathroom. i'm hiding under the bed'. that was her last msg.. and her husband knew that she had been killed!”

“This is not just about the 200-300 killed. It is the audacity of it all which has stunned the nation. these men managed to withstand the national security guard for over 50 hrs, surviving on just almonds and very little water. when the hostages asked the terrorist if he was not hungry, he said 'Allah will feed me in paradise'!! I was reading the interviews of 3 apprehended terrorists who were responsible for the 5 bomb blasts in Delhi (Sep '08), which killed 30 and injured over 100. one of them said "Allah willing, i will bomb the market where my mother buys her vegetables. She will become a martyr and Allah will grant her paradise"!!! The delhi attacks were perpetuated by Indian students”

“Spirit of Mumbai
The General Manager of the Taj Mahal Palace hotel lost his entire family that wednesday. he lost his wife and his two sons aged 14 and 15. But when Ratan Tata, the owner of the hotel went up to him and told him how sorry he was, this brave man said "Sir, we are going to beat this. We will build back the Taj to what it was". This man is determined to rebuild the Taj as a tribute to his dead family, to let the terrorists know that they had not won. THIS is the spirit of mumbai. an indian man's resilience is legendary. Wyatt, i hope you have a LOT of listeners bcoz I really want America to hear this!”

“Kamlesh is a wedding photographer who was hired to record a wedding reception at the Taj on 26th night. Kamlesh was rescued 16 hrs later. The waiter who rescued him was later shot dead by the terrorists. On 29th Nov, Kamlesh is now at a different wedding. He was booked a month ago, and he is keeping his committment. Life has to go on..!”

“The only terrorist caught alive has admitted to being a Pakistani, being trained by Pak based Lashkar-e-toiba and retired officials of the Pakistan army. He has been singing like a canary under police custody!! The 'Deccan Mujahideen' was probably just a cover or possibly an alias. It is not possible that a small or unknown group could have carried out an operation of this magnitude. The terrorists had been instructed to 'Kill till the last breath'. The idea was to create a sensation, strike terror and make waves in the international community by targetting foreign nationals.”

“The Indian foreign minister has NOT RULED OUT military strikes against Pakistan. He has said that every nation has a right to self-defence and protecting its territory. And that it isimpossible to carry on the peace process under these circumstances. ps: It is now being reported that the terrorists had been maintaining their high levels of energy (and mania!) by using cocaine and LSD”

“Several people from all over India have been tarvelling to Mumbai to visit and pay homage to the site of the attacks. There is a newmovement in the country via 'sms text msgs', urging people to gather in a peaceful and leaderless protest at the Gateway of India, Mumbai at 6pm on the 3rd of Dec, to protest against the attacks and fight for the security and protection of the common man.”

“If the Indian Govt does decide to go ahead with military strikes against Pakistan, needless to say, this would be an extremely volatile and dangerous situation. India and Pakistan are BOTH nuclear countries and until now, war was NOT an option for us. However the recent developments have changed the equation between both countries. Meanwhile the Pakistani Govt denies any direct involvement and promises to take action WHEN India provides concrete evidence of the Lashkar's involvement.”

“Pakistan has herself suffered at the hands of Islamic extremism when the JW Marriot hotel was bombed in Islamabad in September 2008. This attack killed 54 (including 15 foreign nationals) and injured over 250. The JW Marriot hotel in S.Jakarta, Indonesia was also bombed in August 2003 (killing 12 and injuring 150) , and the Al-Qaeda connection was well-established back then. As u can see, the HOTEL bombings are getting progressively more fatal.”

“In the meanwhile, political heads continue to roll in India. India's home minister Shivraj Patil has been fired by the ruling party. The Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister of Maharastra ( Mumbai is the capital of the state Maharastra ) have also been fired. Your previous report on media personel interfering in the action of police and security guards, and endangering their lives is indeed true. The terrorists could watch the police and commando action on TV from inside the hotel and were thus informed of the points of entry!”

“The Muslim Council of Mumbai released a press statement on Nov 30, on its decision to refuse burial of the bodies of the 9 terrorists killed during the Mumbai seige in the Mumbai Marine Lines Bada Cemetry. The council said it was trying to send a message to all cemeteries in India that none of the bodies should be buried in ANY cemetry on Indian soil. The influential Muslim Jama Masjid Trust, which runs the 7.5-acre graveyard, said it would not bury the gunmen because they were not true followers of Islam.”

“During the attacks one militant said that the gunmen had been sent to avenge the abuses committed against Muslims in Gujrat, India and Indian-controlled Kashmir. According to leaked details of the interrogation, he said that he and his fellow the terrorists were indoctrinated by being shown images of "atrocities on Muslims in India". There are seven other Muslim graveyards in Mumbai, but the Jama Masjid's influence means none of the others are likely to accept the bodies.”

“The entire nation is on guard. This is war now. Its my birthday this saturday and I was hoping to go out and party. But now my family wants me to stay indoors, since ANY city in India might be 'next on list' for these b*stards.”

“I had a quiet b'day. Boss got me a cake and gifts(YES, i work on saturdays too lol). There is a lot of anger among all Indians today. Most blame our politicians. I think the problem is more than just our politicians but with our system itself..”

“If u remember.. I had told u about how a lot of our cops were shot dead despite their 'bullet proof' jackets. Our firemen are brave and selfless but the fire dept could not collect enough water till 2 hours after the fire broke out in Taj(after the bomb blast). The cops at Mumbai's CST train station took on the terrorists and their AK-56s with their outdated World War II pistols!”

“This is'nt the first time that we have had a terror attack in our country (if u have been reading my blogs). and mumbai has seen several terror attacks since 1993. These terror attacks are always sponsored by the Pakistani govt. And now they have been brainwashing OUR youth in the name of religion. For awhile now, there has been speculation that bin Laden is in Pakistan. This episode has some of al-Qaeda's signature moves.. and is reminiscent of the fidayeen attacks in kashmir in the 90s. U get the connection now?? we have pointed this out to your govt several times but your govt has never taken us seriously. and time and again we have heard george bush refering to pakistan as 'an important ally in our fight against terrorism' D-OH!”

“Several Indians collected in a peaceful rally in Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad and New Delhi at 6pm, Dec 3. Since more and more educated and elite Muslims from India and Pakistan have been enrolling into the Jehadi wave, a lot of my muslim friends were wondering aloud ..about the repurcussions of these attacks. We wonder why anybody would give us a job now? Why would anyone rent us a place to stay?”

“However at the 6 pm rallies,Hindus and Muslims have come together holding various placards reading signs like 'Our politicians had divided us.These terrorists have now united us'. The Govt has been profiling Muslims, no doubt.I recently had to provide a 'proof of residence' and a xerox of my passport. But there has been no bullying or intimidation. These protest rallies were the idea of ONE blogger.. His friends sent out a chain of text msgs.. and the chain was carried thru various parts of India”

“I have five friends from Mumbai. Everyone has lost someone they know. 1 friend has lost several friends..people she grew up with. 1 of my boss's friends LIVES near the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel and could hear the bomb blasts from where she was. While they were on the phone, my boss heard one blast in the background.. and secs later,it was on the news!”

“I wanted to say.. since some 15 foreigners were killed.. and since these men were specifically targetting americans, british and israelis.. i hope the world will now take our problems seriously. these men were highly intelligent, well-planned, well-trained, highly motivated, had a lot of money.. and absolutely FEARLESS! When a bunch of men are unafraid to die, believe that they are morally correct and this is their way to paradise.. it is impossible to control them”

“Our phenomenal growth and prosperity in the last 10 years seems to have made our enemies very envious. Mumbai is the financial capital of India and represents cosmopoliton India. 125 people are now dead and 24 hrs later, there are several who are still being held hostage. This is a picture of one of the suspected terrorists. Notice the Versace t-shirt?? More and more educated and wealthy Indian and Pakistani muslims are being brainwashed into the Jehadi terror wave. This is an alarming and disturbing trend. My boss did not want me to blog about this bcoz she fears that as an educated Indian muslim with computer skills and family in the middle-east, my blogs and mails might be supervised as well! OH GRRRREAT!!!”

“A fellow doctor and a good friend of mine called me today from Manipal, India. He happens to be a muslim. He got a phone call from the police at 7am today, asking him to show up at the station. He has no idea how they got his number or if this was a joke. When he got there, there were almost a 100 medical and engineering students from the colleges there- ALL muslims!! The police were polite and told everyone not to panic. But they took down everybody's address and phone numbers. And told them to be back tomorrow to get their pictures taken. "Just routine..", they reassured everyone.
AND SO IT BEGINS..............“

Her courage in simply corresponding with me being outweighted by her desire to inform America what is truly going on in India. Her love of country is unquestionable, and I only hope that her fervor is not outweighed by the fact that she is Muslim. That would be racism of the highest order.

Wyatt Cox

Auto dealers begging for help from Congress, media

2008-11-19T14:54:00Z

Auto dealers begging for help from Congress, media

While GM, Chrysler, and Ford were on Capital Hill, hat in hand, asking for a $25 billion bridge loan to keep them afloat, they are hedging their bets.

Like any good Political Action Committee, they are trying to stir up support among the general public.

Jeff Haley, president of the Radio Advertising Bureau, wrote in the online Radio Sales Today publication on Monday:

Dear Radio Colleagues:

As you know it is a challenging time for the auto industry. One of our great partners, General Motors, has reached out and asked for our help.

Below, please find a letter from Betsy Lazar, Executive Director, Advertising and Media Operations, General Motors.

I appreciate your giving this matter your attention.

Sincerely,

Jeff Haley
President and C.E.O., Radio Advertising Bureau

Dear Colleagues,

As an important partner of General Motors, you are probably well aware that the auto industry is at a crossroads. Companies that support millions of workers and families across the U.S. have been slammed by the worst economic downturn in 75 years. Particularly frustrating is that this crisis struck just at a time when these companies were successfully restructuring themselves and creating a new generation of cleaner, more efficient vehicles.

This progress, and the very existence of the U.S.-based auto industry, is threatened.

Discussions are now underway in Washington D.C. about government support for this vital industry through this downturn. We are asking for your support, too.

The U.S auto industry has been hit at every level by the global financial crisis. Carmakers can't get loans to complete their restructuring and put advanced technology vehicles into production. Customers can't get credit for new cars, and consumer confidence has plunged to an all-time low. Suppliers and dealers can't get loans for routine business needs.

This crisis caught the U.S. auto industry in the midst of a successful restructuring. Domestic carmakers have closed the productivity gap with their global competitors, and GM has closed the quality gap as well. New labor agreements are in place to make U.S. manufacturers' costs competitive with non-union transplant factories.

Since 2005, GM has taken a series of bold steps to restructure its business and reduce its structural cost. In fact, since 2005, GM has reduced structural cost in North America by over $9 billion. And more recently, GM has outlined plans to enhance its liquidity position by $20 billion through 2009. And, we've tightened our belt in hundreds of other ways, large and small – some of which you have felt too.

On the product front, we have introduced a series of award-winning products, including the Saturn Aura, Cadillac CTS, Chevy Malibu and Buick Enclave. Today, we have the most models that get an EPA-estimated 30 mpg or better on the highway, more vehicles capable of running on E85 ethanol than any other automaker and a wide variety of hybrids, one for every need. We are also testing the world's largest fleet of hydrogen-powered cars right now and are committed to building the Chevy Volt extended-range electric car in 2010.

However, faced with the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression and the worst car sales since World War II, this hasn't been enough.

This current crisis knows no geographic boundaries. What happens to the U.S. auto industry also had an immediate impact on Main Street. U.S.-based car makers have 105 plants in 20 states, including California, Texas, Kansas, Louisiana and Maryland. They support 14,000 dealers across the country, and these dealers in turn employ 740,000 people, with a total payroll of $35 billion a year. The companies buy $156 billion in parts and services from suppliers in every state. The auto companies provide pensions for 775,000 and health care benefit for 2 million.

Because carmakers are so tightly woven into the fabric of the U.S. economy, the collapse of this industry would reach far beyond Detroit. The Center for Automotive Research in Ann Arbor predicts that a collapse of U.S.-based carmakers would lead to widespread failures of supplier companies, already pushed to the brink by the downturn, and this in turn would shut down the transplant factories owned by Toyota, Honda and other non-U.S. companies. Shockwaves through the economy would quickly put nearly 3 million people out of work. In the first year alone, personal income would drop by $150 billion, and tax and social security receipts would fall by more than $45 billion.

Faced with these risks to the well-being of millions of Americans, and to the U.S. economy as a whole, it is clear to us that government support is a sound investment in an important industry, and in America itself.

The Aura, CTS, Malibu and Enclave show that GM can compete with the best. Our aggressive restructuring and rapid global growth shows our commitment to reinventing our company. And the Chevy Volt and other advanced technology vehicles show our passion for being a leader in reinventing the automobile.

Please share this information with all of your employees and other stakeholders. We hope you will ask your legislators and other political leaders to support the U.S. auto industry through this critical transformation. It's easy and turnkey. Please take a minute to go to http://gmfactsandfiction.com to show your support and let your voice be heard.

To give you more context and the facts, below are links to some industry talking points and the study recently released by industry analyst, David Cole, with the Center for Automotive Research (CAR), entitled: "The Impact of the U.S. Economy of a Major Contraction of the Detroit Three Automakers."

Thank you for your time and support.

Respectfully,

Betsy Lazar
Executive Director, Advertising and Media Operations General Motors Corporation

Among the GM talking points was this chilling figure:

The collapse of the U.S.-based auto industry would be devastating. In just

the first year:12

o Direct, indirect and spin off employment would drop by 2.95 million people

o Personal income would drop by $150.7 billion

o Government transfer payments would increase by $14.3 billion

o Social security receipts would drop by $21.1 billion

o Personal income tax paid would drop by $24.7 billion

When you look at those numbers, no one can dispute that if those numbers are even one-third accurate, it is much cheaper to loan the money and pray.

But, Pat Choate made some very good points in a radio appearance with Lou Dobbs on Tuesday:

1) Keep the jobs here

2) Keep the production here

3) Require concessions from the unions, who are so far digging in their heels and saying they will make no concessions to keep their jobs. (By the way, how many union workers who used to work on the strip are wishing they had their jobs back....)

While I am not a fan of government involvement in business, we've already invested over $300 billion in bailing out Treasury Secretary Hank Paulsen's best buddies in the banking industry with no real impact on the economy. $25 billion to save nearly 3 million jobs is a price we can afford.

And while I'm a friend of the car industry, I'm truly offended at the recent attempt by the National Automobile Dealers Association to wheedle free dealer advertising out of the radio industry in the guise of a Public Service Announcement.

In a fax sent to radio stations, the NADA said in Part,

Help Us Help You: NADA Produces PSA Campaign Promoting “Best Time To Buy”

As you know, the new-car dealers in your area are a major source of advertising revenue for

radio stations and contribute millions in tax revenue to your local, state and national

economies. But the economic crisis has hit the automobile industry hard, leaving your local

dealers facing unprecedented challenges. It’s in everyone’s interest to help get the auto

industry back on Its feet. The sooner auto sales pick up, the sooner the auto Industry will be

in a position to resume robust product advertising. . .

Attached you will find a :30 audio PSA from the National Automobile Association (NADA).

NADA, along with your local new-car dealers, are asking for assistance with the insertion of

the PSA. The purpose of the PSA is to help stimulate auto sales and, most importantly, inform

the public that auto credit is available. Your efforts and consideration are greatly appreciated.

Now, if the PSA was a “Help your dealer help the economy” spot, I'd be sympathetic. But here's what the “PSA” says:

“In today's economic climate, you might think it's impossible to get credit to buy a car. We have news for you. In fact, financing is available, and there's never been a better time to buy a car or truck. Your local dealer has access to multiple sources of credit, and will work with you to find financing that meets your needs. You can find interest rates as low as zero percent, end of year savings, and rebates. Vehicle quality and fuel efficiency are the highest ever. NOW is the time to buy. A message form the National Automobile Dealers Association.”

I'm sorry. That's not a PSA. That's a commercial.

And my opinion is apparently shared by other broadcasters. Bruce Dierking, who owns six radio stations scattered across the Kansas-Nebraska border, says, “Isn’t it ironic that the NADA could even find my contact information in their request for public service time for the automobile industry? They certainly couldn’t find us when the advertising dollars from the manufacturers and dealer buying groups were distributed to the daily newspapers, television stations and sports sponsorships. We haven’t even picked up any crumbs from the table. I hope that those parties have greater sympathy for the cause than we do.”

In the past, I've supported the various public service efforts of NADA in child car safety and keeping flood damaged vehicles off car lots. While I'm sympathetic, I have a hard time supporting this...

Hometown America began, still salutes Vets

2008-11-12T17:10:00Z

Hometown America began, still salutes Vets

ELY - Some people still bug me as to why I left the glamorous Las Vegas lifestyle and moved to teeny-tiny Ely, where the town pretty much rolls up the sidewalks at 6pm and is all but shuttered by 10pm.

There’s something to be said for the quality of life here. It fits me.

You see, I was actually born in the town that created Veterans Day.

Heck, it’s official. The Kansas Legislature said so in 2003, the fiftieth anniversary of the holiday.

Al King, who was not a shoe store owner as reported in so many places, but was in fact a cobbler -- a shoe maker and shoe fixer back in the days when shoes were worth beign repaired -- felt that the World War II veterans were being excluded from celebrations of the then-Armistice Day celebration that noted the end of World War I - “The War to end all Wars” and began a movement to “upgrade”, if you will, Armistice Day to “All Veterans Day”.

How popular was the idea in the town? It seems that 90% of merchants and the school board voted to close down for the first celebration in 1953. The War Dads, American Legion and the VFW all got behind King and, along with then congressman Ed Rees of Emporia, pushed legislation through and it was signed into law by President Eisenhower in May of 1954. According to newspaper reports, that first celebration included church prayer services for peace, essay contests, a USO show, a parade with an aerial flyover, luncheon events at the local VFW and American Legion halls, a program by Civil War re-enactors, exhibit of military equipment, and parties, dinners and dances.

Susan Rathke of the Emporia Chamber of Commerce, which coordinates the now week-long celebration, verified that King was a cobbler who passed away in 1960, and also verified something else: that until the 50th anniversary of “All Veterans Day” approached, no one in Emporia gave a second thought to being the birthplace of Veterans Day. According to Rathke, it was just soemthing the town did. When someone pointed out the town’s place in history, the anniversary celebration was brought about. These days, something like being the birthplace of ANYTHING significant can help your tourism profile.

Rathke told me that their parade on Tuesday was cancelled to to threatening weather and the celebrations moved indoors. Standing room only. Then it was over to the American Legion for the Ham and Bean Feed. Vets and friends alike chatted, remembered, and enjoyed the hot coffee, hot food, and warm friendship.

Just about 27-thousand people lived in Emporia in 2000, with 13 structures on the National Register of Historic Places. When you drive through the town, you get that feeling of home.

That’s what brought me to Ely.

When I visit Economy Drug, it’s Young’s Rexall all over again.

When we eat at the Silver State Restaurant, it’s the Transport Inn all over again.

When we shop at Andersons Foodtown, it’s Zieglers IGA all over again.

To paraphrase our former president, it’s the people, stupid. They make the town.

Or to be more precise, they make the town - your home.

It seems that a Secret Service sergeant was busted on Saturday. Seems he was driving his Secret Service vehicle and was in full uniform, stopped and negotiated a deal with a lady of the evening. Only she wasn’t a lady of the evening. She was an undercover DC cop. Secret Service has put the officer on paid administrative leave pending both the DC and internal investigations.

I suspect the sergeant had other aspirations. Perhaps he wants to be a congressman. Except he was starting out one consitutent at a time.

Apologies

2008-11-05T19:41:00Z

Quick note:

I've been buried in minutia for the past two months.

With luck, we'll be back to normal soon.

Election changes status of public debate

2008-11-05T19:38:00Z

What a night.

White Pine County took a good long time to bring in the vote on Tuesday night. Not because the voter turnout was overwhelming, but because they had a problem with one single federal ballot that no one working the polls had ever seen. Apparently the Secretary of State’s office didn’t hurt themselves trying to get back with the county and tell them how to register the ballot.

So what should have been an easy time took probably an hour longer to resolve than it should have.

Mr Miller, I want my hour back.

All the time to get and report the vote, get it on our air before the local newspaper and the FM station that doesn’t know what local news is, and what do I get?

A phone call from an angry parent that their 18 year-old son who was cited for petty larceny in connection with a shoplifting incident was mentioned on our police blotter.

You just can’t win.

The election of Barack Obama means that there’s a whole new order of things.

For starters, the race card is now invalid.

How in the world can anyone claim that America is inherently racist when a man of African heritage is the PRESIDENT?

But you watch.

Even though he’s been the darling of the African-American community, by the time that this term is over with, he’ll be painted by other African-Americans as "not one of them" because he’s well off.

Meanwhile you’ll see Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson becoming increasingly irrelevant in the African-American community. Why should they be relevant? The president is African-American and he’s in a much higher office than either of them.

Finally, this may be the last hurrah of the two big parties.

If the American people have any common sense, they’ll be sending both parties packing.

I think the new congress and President will have about nine months to do something to get the economy moving. If they’re not able to make things happen, the public in all likelihood will turn their backs on the Democrats, and won’t make the mistake of electing this set of Republicans again.

So what’s next?

If the economy doesn’t turn around, the American people may finally be ready for a new third party.

The question is who?

Ralph Nader couldn’t get a lick of mainstream press this time around and was relegated to guest appearances in podcasts and vlogs on the Internet.

Bob Barr made a big splash up front and then disappeared off the radar screen. I expected a much better campaign from him and from Russ Verney. But the, they were the Libertarians. I haven’t seen any kind of effective campaign run by that party ever.

The Independent American Party means well, but they’re far too far to the right to ever win an election.

Same for the Green Party. Way too far to the left. And any party that would nominate Cynthia McKinney….well….

Ross Perot is sadly too old to be able to run an effective campaign…which is sad.

Jesse Ventura is just too tied up in self promotion to be able to run an effective campaign. He doesn’t get good marks on the report card where it says "works well and plays well with others"…

Where’s Diogenes when you need him?

To my friends in Las Vegas: I wish you the best.

My wager is that the election of Barack Obama will not help your economy.

The desire of Obama to jump onto the "Global Warming" train will no doubt send fuel prices spiraling upward. Combine that with his desire to tax business to death and you’ll see how your incoming traffic is heading south faster than the undocumented immigrant population self-deporting since THEIR jobs are drying up, too!

Will the last one out turn out the lights? Soon, please???

Wyatt Cox

Apartments on the road to closure?

2008-08-12T09:31:00Z

Apartments on the road to closure?

Denial is not a river in Egypt...

But to the folks at CCC&R Holdings, who own Charleston Pines Apartments, they can't escape their own form of denial.

Two weeks ago in this space we told you about the ongoing problems at the complex on East Charleston near Nellis, not only from the media's perspective, but from those who live there. I only scratched the surface and was going to leave it at that...until a letter to the tenants came out last week following our article's publication.

Dear Tenant:

I am writing to let you know that we are planning to begin extensive renovations at Charleston Pines by the end of this month. These renovations will include an upgrade of the exterior of all buildings at the property.

Translation: they're painting the dump.

Many of you have expressed concern about rumors that the property will be shut down. These rumors are false.

Rumors? The complex has a deadline (believed to be September 1) to effect repairs to the sewer system on property. Once a month or more we wake up to the aroma of raw sewage and the sight of same strewn across the parking lot. The city's also not too happy that a burned out apartment still hasn't been rehabbed months after the fire, and that it took the sight of a videographer shooting on property to get the windows of that apartment boarded up and covers installed on the cable and telephone wiring outlets.

The owner will exercise any and all legal rights necessary to ensure that the residents of Charleston Pines do not lose their homes.

...if they would exercise the same energy on fixing the place....

Oh, and if the city shuts the complex down, the residents won't lose their homes, just where they're living currently. CCC&R Holdings would be obligated to relocate these people whose leases they have to honor.

In the meantime, the owner is working closely with the city to address any maintenance problems. If you would like to report a maintenance problem, then please stop by the management office to fill out a work order.

We did. It still took ten days to get water leaks addressed. They brought out a plumber once to address the issue, then when the problem reoccurred, the complex's own maintenance replaced a huge section of pipe. Oh, after they opened the wall, they took three weeks to repair one section of the wall -- and did a horrible job -- and still haven't repaired a section under the kitchen sink!

I appreciate your patience as my maintenance staff and I continue our efforts to improve Charleston Pines. Improving this property is important to me. Charleston Pines is not only my job, but also my home.

Sincerely,

Ricardo Morales

Property Manager.

I hope the folks at CCC&R Holdings have checked out the Strip Hotel. Similar problems occurred at this weekly rental property just north of Wyoming and the city shut it down!

Oh, the pools have finally been drained! I guess the inch of green slime on top of the water and the stench convinced the management to finally give up. I felt bad for the maintenance people who spent a day engaged in scraping, shoveling, and spraying to get the remnants out of the pool. I assume it was as pleasant for them to do as it was for us to watch.

In a way I'm thrilled to be out of this complex at the end of the month. And I'll hate to see the poorer working class folks who'll be out of a home. On the other hand, there are a number of people who've chosen to make my family's discomfort their pleasure. I'll miss them getting their walking papers. Living well indeed IS the best revenge.

Sleep. Love it.

Bubba Brown is finally out of school and enjoying his summer vacation.

All two weeks of it.

Moving from a year round school to a nine-month school will no doubt be a culture shock for the little man. But he sure does feel like school never ends, with two weeks off here and two weeks off there. Come to think of it, it's almost the same here.

I know there are kids everywhere who will make fun of a kid who's different. He was roundly chastised here because we raised him to be polite and friendly. The girls love him for that, but the boys hate him, particularly since the teachers keep making an example out of him as a good kid. He has been accosted once in school and twice on the apartment grounds. To their credit, the school principal did her part to put the kids on notice, but the apartment complex, well....

If you had told me six months ago that the newest world flashpoint would be the republic of Georgia, I would have said you were crazy. Color me wrong.

The president made the right move on Monday putting Russia on notice that it's actions were totally out of line in the 21st century. (I am concerned, though, how many people are going to come back to us and say, hey, what about Iraq?) Is it just me, or have we once again gone back to the future and the old Soviet Union is reincarnated in Vladimir Putin's Russia.

Watch for the shoe....

Wyatt Cox only wants the world to live in perfect harmony. But no Coke, only sweet tea. Indulge at rant.wyattcox.net

Paris Pwns McCain, Obama

2008-08-12T09:29:00Z

Paris Pwns McCain, Obama

The huge flap over John McCain's involvement of Brittany Spears and Paris Hilton in a campaign ad attacking Barack Obama over his celebrity has drawn fire from - get this - Paris Hilton!
In a video that appeared exclusively on the humor site funnyordie.com, Hilton shows that she is either an excellent actress or a pretty thoughtful person, depending on whether she actually wrote the script or was just reading someone else's words.

The video opens like the McCain ad with a view of a packed Capital mall and images of McCain, the Golden Girls, the Crypt Keeper, Larry King, and the Colonel Sanders logo from KFC. The announcer proclaims, “He's the oldest celebrity in the world. Like, super old. Old enough to remember when Dancing was a sin and beer was served in a bucket. But....is he ready to lead?”
Cut to Paris Hilton poolside in a chaise lounge reading a copy of Conte Nast Traveler.
“Hey, America. I'm Paris Hilton, and I'm a celebrity too. Only I'm not from the olden days, and I'm not promising change like that other guy. I'm just hot. But then that wrinkly white haired guy used me in his campaign ad, which I guess means I'm running for president. So thanks for the endorsement, white haired dude, and I want America to know that I'm, like, totally ready to lead. And now I want to present my energy policy program now...just as soon as I finish reading this article on where I can fly to get the best tan.”
Paris turns to read the magazine, and after ten seconds says, "Oh, Maui. Love it."
"So here's my energy policy. Barack wants to focus on new technologies to cut foreign oil dependency, and McCain wants offshore drilling. Well, why don't we do a hybrid of both candidate's ideas. We can do limited offshore drilling with strict environmental oversight, while creating tax incentives to get Detroit making hybrid and electric cars. That way the offshore drilling carries us until the new technologies kick in which will create new jobs and energy independence. Energy crisis solved."
"I'll see you at the debates, bitches. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm have to go pick out a vice president. I'm thinking Rhianna. I'll see you at the White House. Oh, and I might paint it pink. I hope that's cool with you guys. Bye! (blows kiss)"
That's followed by the typical closing shot of Paris (with her dog" trying to look all dignified and statesman-like and the voice over saying, "I'm Paris Hilton and I approved this message because it's totally hot."

Serious props to funnyordie.com for a funny piece of work. I only have two comments.
First, the piece marginalizes the campaigns of both McCain and Obama. The public perception of Paris Hilton as a vapid, shallow airhead being able to counter both campaigns so easily makes both camps look like the lunkheaded fools that they are.
Second, Paris (or whoever wrote her script) did something on a national stage that I never thought would happen. Bluntly, she stole my platform! For months I've advocated virtually the same thing -- limited drilling while pushing the hell out of alternative energy.
Now, thanks to Paris Hilton, the most logical energy program ever has the widest exposure it will ever have. Ironically, the espousing of the program by Paris may doom it to failure.
Or not.
After all, it is totally hot.
Wyatt Cox is only hot when it's 110 outside...and even then....
Totally hit him up, dude, at rant.wyattcox.net

Believe it, apartment complex worse than media reports

2008-07-30T07:42:00Z

In a recent column I commented on a KVBC report by Mitch Truswell entitled “Who's responsible for Las Vegas's worst slums?” At the time I restricted my commentary on the column to an “Attaboy” for a very strong piece.

Given that my family is leaving Las Vegas in the next 30 days, I think I can now tell, as Mr. Harvey says, “The Rest of the Story”....

My family moved into this complex in 2001 shortly after the birth of Bubba Brown. We did so because of the owner, who lived on property and seriously worked on making this a family property. To quote my wife, he “had done so much to improve and make this place a really wonderful place to call "home". He had kicked out all the pimps, prostitutes, dealers, junkies and gang-bangers that had made it a horror to live in.”

Someone came to him in 2004 with an offer he couldn't refuse. The Asian family, operating under the business name “CCC&R Holdings LLC”, has never, to our knowledge, ever set foot on the property.

Here's what she wrote in a posted review on apartmentreviews.net:

They took out the playground equipment and put up signs that said no bikes, rollerskates, in-line skates or skateboards were allowed when this is a family heavy complex. The grass was removed and cheap gravel put in instead.(Wyatt's note: It was an attempt to qualify for a xeriscape credit from the Southern Nevada Water Authority, but poorly done!) Constant flooding has attracted mold and bugs and caused constant infestation for both. Things break and do not get fixed, unless you threaten legal action and then it is fixed as cheaply as possible and then they act all surprised when it is broken again in no time. We have two swimming pools, but they aren't allowed to be open because the new owners won't put out the money to properly care for them. Neither of our laundry rooms are open and they won't give a reason why, just have them locked up tightly. Twice in the last 90 days the sewage system has, literally, exploded and the first time it was left to sit for several days before the health department was called. They were warned to replace the pipes, which are too small and cheaply made, or else they would be shut down because it is a health hazard! It exploded, for the second time, yesterday and the health department is threatening to shut this complex down...permanently! Our complex has been featured twice on the local news, once for health department violations for swimming pools (KLAS-8 7/5/08) and as an expose on slum lords (KVBC-3 5/12/08)! The only good manager we have had, since these owners took over, and they fired her because the news asked her about an apartment that burnt but had people still living in the apartment below...with small children. She told them she couldn't talk to them but told them to call the owners...they fired her for that and that is shady!

That's right. The best manager that was trying to keep the peace and make a difference gets fired for the bad business practices of the owners.

But wait, it gets worse.

Not a week goes by without Metro being on the property at least three days during the week. To say that the new owners haven't followed the standards set by the previous owner would be laughably minor. The mix of formerly middle-class families has been replaced by mostly minority and lower income individuals, many of which are of questionable legal status.

Prior to the writing of this column, our family has been harassed and threatened on numerous occasions by certain individuals in the complex who take a great deal of pleasure in annoying Caucasian persons. Honestly, if our move to Northern Nevada hadn't been put off until the end of school, we would have moved out of here months ago.

CCC&R Holdings thought they were getting a bargain when they dropped $8.65 million dollars on this property in 2004. They weren't counting on what still needed to be done to Charleston Pines. The massive sewer and water problems are rumored to have culminated in a September 1 deadline from the Health Department to cure the sewer problems or else. Now, unless they make major property improvements in the next few weeks, they may lose the only thing that keeps their property afloat: their tenants.

I sincerely hope that the health department hands Richard Hu and his family their ass in a sling and shows them what happens to slumlords in Las Vegas.

Hanging would be too good for him. He should be forced to live here. Funny how in the good apartment complexes, the owners many times do live there.

A note in the Ely Times about shortages at their local food bank prompted me to write this note.

We're all having problems making our paychecks go far enough these days. Think about those people who have been just scraping by but are having to make do with less because of higher prices or, worse, have been laid off by the slump in the gaming industry.

I've sent an extra $20 this week to the Salvation Army and Catholic Charitiesfor assistance. If you could do the same, or send money to others such as Deseret Industries, the Community Food Bank, or other organizations, they sure could use it about now.

We sure could use a little good Karma these days!

Wyatt Cox believes that Karma can come back to bite you in the ass unless you do the right thing. The right thing is to check out rant.wyattcox.net and find links to accompany the story!

Public hearings for CAT hard to define

2008-07-23T18:17:00Z

Public hearings for CAT hard to define

I'm so confused.

It seems the Regional Transportation Commission is holding a series of public hearings, ostensibly to get public comment on it's plans for service and fare modifications.
It's hard to figure out what the RTC is proposing, though.
I poked around the RTC's website for better than an hour and could only come up with this:

Fare Adjustment and Service Change Public Meetings

The Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada (RTC) will hold a series of public meetings in July to discuss proposed fare adjustments slated to go into effect in January 2009 and January 2010. The RTC will also consider proposed service changes for 2009.

The meetings will be held at the following locations on the date and time specified:

Thursday, July 24, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.,

CSN Cheyenne Campus, Room 1443

3200 E. Cheyenne, North Las Vegas, NV 89030

Friday, July 25, 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.,

Clark County Library, Large Conference Room

1401 E Flamingo Rd, Las Vegas, NV 89119

Saturday, July 26, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.,

Mirabelli Community Center

6200 Hargrove Avenue, Las Vegas, NV 89107

Tuesday, July 29, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.,

West Las Vegas Library, Conference Room A/B

951 West Lake Mead Blvd, Las Vegas, NV 89106

Comments will be accepted through Aug. 4, 2008, and can be e-mailed to bradfordd@rtcsnv.com, made online at rtcsnv.com, faxed to Doug Bradford at 676-1589, phoned into 676-1711, or mailed via USPS to:

RTC, 600 S. Grand Central Pkwy.,

Suite 350, Las Vegas, NV 89106,

Attention: Fare Policy Outreach.

The RTC is proposing an increase in a single ride from $1.25 to $1.75, and an increase in the daypass rate from $2.50 to $4.00. Monthly pass prices would increase from $40 to $55.

Passengers on the Deuce strip routes would see prices go up from a $2 single ride and $5 daypass to $3 and $7 respectively.

CAT will be adding a three-day full-fare pass on the Deuce for $20.

I can certainly understand the need for a fare hike to handle the huge runup in fuel prices, if nothing else. Kudos, by the way, for the RTC's addition of 60 Diesel-electric hybrid buses. Too bad the 90 double decker buses aren't hybrids, but they sure are comfortable.

The RTC has done it's part to hide this information, but they did walk me through the easiest way to access this new fare information. Go to the RTC website at rtcsnv.com, and in the search box at the top of the page, type in “fare adjustment” without the quotes. (Blog readers can go there directly by clicking here!) I pointed that out to the RTC rep that called me, and they said they would speak to their web people. I'm not holding my breath.

The truly sad part about CAT is that I really want to support them. But the RTC and contractor Veolia Transportation have done a very mediocre job of making the experience tolerable. Our past columns on document the worst of the worst, and sadly, the experience isn't getting much better. Unruly passengers, no air conditioning at temperatures outside over 100 and inside over 120, and discourteous drivers have made my last few weeks riding on a CAT bus such that I won't miss it.

Part of the problem is the pay scale of drivers would be excellent just about anywhere else in the country, but here in Las Vegas it's not so good. As an example, my wife was making nearly $15 an hour as a food service cashier at a non-union property. CAT drivers, who have far more responsibility and liability, make far less than that.

And, as we've documented, some deserve less!

Still, while fare increases won't necessarily go into the drivers pockets, they are needed just to keep the buses rolling.

Blame Congress for not letting oil companies drill in ANWAR and offshore!

Common sense finally prevailed as the Third Circuit Court threw out the FCC's fining of CBS over “Nipplegate”, the exposure of what purported to be the breast of Janet Jackson during the otherwise boring snoozefest that was the 2004 Superbowl XXXVIII halftime show. It was a show that no one should have been watching. It was just that bad.

As for Janet, I love her, but I've seen better...

Wyatt Cox knows his breasts, and visits the Colonel's place to indulge in one frequently. Visit him at rant.wyattcox.net

Employer encouraging activism misses the mark

2008-07-18T04:21:00Z

I had an interesting email forwarded to me this week from the desk of the head of a local gaming property who is encouraging their employees to contact their congressmen.

Rather than try to summarize, I think the whole document deserves a vetting.

--------------------------------------------------------------

Dear Staff,

Please print out the attached document and distribute to all employees. I encourage all interested employees to send this letter, (or their own version) to our elected officials immediately. We all need to come together and communicate our concern about rising energy costs to our representatives in the Senate and Congress.

It is imperative that we act, instead of talk, so that our elected officials will take action to help resolve this critical situation we are facing.

Sincerely,

Letter to Your Congressmen and Senators.

Gas prices are destroying our economy. It impacts us directly every day. Most products are made with an oil byproduct. Rising fuel costs are increasing transportation expenses and retail outlets, food, clothing, supplies have increased their prices to compensate and they will continue to do so.

It has impacted our hotel as well. Airlines have cut back thousands of seats and increased their prices on the remaining seats coming to Las Vegas. Our customers are choosing not to travel by air or car. This has severely impacted our revenues forcing us to reduce staffing and other expenses.

The only chance we have for change is to convince the politicians that they will not be re-elected if they do not develop and support an immediate energy plan. If they do this, it will send a clear message to all oil producing countries that we are no longer going to be dependant on their oil and the speculators will start dropping prices very quickly.

It is time for all of us to come together and let our elected politicians know that we have had enough. Either they take action immediately and vote accordingly or they will lose our support and votes.

Send a letter, e-mail or call your elected politicians NOW. Have all your friends and relatives do the same. We can make a difference if we pull together on these issues. The politicians will react. If they don’t, campaign and vote against them when they come up for re-election.

Following is a sample letter you may want to consider to send, or use as a basic format to send your own letter to our representatives in Washington.

SAMPLE LETTER OR E-MAIL:

Dear Congressman / Senator

I am tired of being gouged at the pump, watching prices escalate and jobs disappear. I am tired of hearing political rhetoric and bickering over the problems we face with no solutions or actions being agreed to by either party. I want you to take the steps to initiate immediate proposals and actions that will help get our state and our Nation out of this problem. I will be watching your actions and voting record carefully and if you do not support this type of an effort I will have no choice but to withdraw my support and vote for you in the next election. Please read the following energy plan and let me know how you intend to react.

Energy Plan;

1. Deplete the national strategic oil reserves by 50% and put this oil into the U.S. market immediately.

2. Start drilling NOW for off shore for oil, natural gas and coal.

3. Develop Nuclear energy plants.

4. Make a deal with the oil companies that they must start reinvesting in renewable energy, solar, wind generation NOW in order to get any drilling rights and sites for oil or natural gas today or in the future.

5. Also the oil companies must start building refineries for oil, natural gas and coal immediately.

6. Make the car manufactures develop products to convert current vehicles that are not gas efficient, and offer them at a reasonable price to the public ASAP. Not everyone can afford to go out and by a new car.

7. Open imports from Brazil and Columbia for sugar based ethanol fuel.

8. Develop domestic sugar based ethanol fuel and get away from using food products for ethanol.

9. Relax EPA standards until oil gets below $100 a barrel.

Sincerely Yours;

Their contact information immediately follows:

Congresswoman – Shelley Berkley

Address, 439 Cannon House Office Building, Washington DC 20515

E-mail, www.house.gov/berkley/con_email.html

Office #, (202) 225-5965 x1505

Congressman – Jon Porter

Address, 218 Cannon House Office Building, Washington DC 20515

E-mail, www.house.gov/porter/contact/

Office #, (202) 225-3252

Senator – Harry Reid

Address, 528 Hart Senate Office Building, Washington DC 20510

E-mail, reid.senate.gov/email_form.cfm

Office #, (202) 224-3542

Senator – John Ensign

Address, 119 Russell Senate Office Building, Washington DC 20510

E-mail, ensign.senate.gov/forms/email_form.cfm

Office #, (202) 224-6244

The memo, while well intended, misses a couple of serious points:

1) This crisis was caused not by the oil companies, but by speculators who, when they could no longer dabble in mortgage and banking speculation, moved back to commodity speculation. Their manipulations, and not the oil companies, drove the prices out of sight.

2) If the lessons of the 1973 and 1979 energy crises should have taught us anything, it was that our government cannot regulate an energy market any more than it can regulate a river or ocean. (Witness Katrina and New Orleans or, for that matter, the Mississippi River!) Spiking energy prices were capped, to be replaced with long gas lines.

3) There were a number of great alternative energy programs proposed in the 70’s but they vanished with the oil glut of the 80’s. If we make even a dent in the shortage, watch that the price of oil will "miraculously" begin to plummet. OPEC and Hugo Chavez want us to continue our oil addiction. We need to hold firm and come up with honest answers and then follow through, no matter what the pain.

4) There must be no compromise. Nuclear needs to be considered. Seriously. If the wimps in France can put up with it, then we can.

5) Finally, no solution will work overnight. It may take a decade for there to be any significant progress toward relief. If our politricksters had been brave in the 70’s, we wouldn’t be here today. Get with the program, deal with it, and don’t blink.

Together, we can achieve energy independence. But it’s up to you to demand your legislators do the right thing!

Wyatt Cox

Wyatt believes that honesty in government is possible…just like Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny. Believe with him at rant.wyattcox.net

Trading with the Goose and Gander alike

2008-07-09T22:18:00Z

This week, two stories regarding trade economies caught my eye.

Exports to part of the “evil empire” of Iran increased tenfold since President Bush took office. While the administration rants against the nuclear ambitions of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad have stirred calls to block imports, over half a billion dollars worth of products have been shipped to Iran since 2001, with nearly $146 million shipped in 2007 alone.
The good news is that the US shipped $158 million worth of cigarettes to Iran, more than any other product. How appropriate to send the country something that could kill them so slowly!
The Associated Press analysis showed shipments of bras, bull semen, musical instruments and military apparel.
The analysis showed in some detail that the government doesn't really have a handle on what is, and what is not, being shipped to Iran as well as other countries. Sloppy bookkeeping and slack regulation leaves many exporters operating on the honor system. Given that our government can screw up a two-car parade, I honestly believe that our government isn't paying sufficient attention to what goes out of our country and to whom.
What Iran would really like to import from the US is much of our technology, particularly for waging war. I'm hopeful that we won't have to worry about any one from this nation even trying to send them any assistance.

The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace reports that China's getting a bigger piece of the pie. In a study released by economist Albert Keidel, the economy of China will overtake that of the US by 2035 and be twice its size by 2050. Keidel says the growth is driven not so much by exports but by domestic demand. Really? How has this dollar-a-day economy creating this much demand for goods?
Considering, though, that we continue to close more factories and ship more jobs offshore, and that China is more than willing to pick up the slack, I'm not surprised.
By opening factories that don't comply to it's own countries lax environmental standards (never mind our countries standards), China is fast becoming the world's number one exporter of pollution. And if China ramps up it's consumption of fossil fuels at the same speed of ramping up it's economy, well, there's your Global Warming threat.

Finally, a study that backs up what I've been saying about CO2. According to Hans-Joachim Weigel of the Johann Heinrich von Thuenen Institute for rural areas, forestry and fisheries in the central German city of Brunswick, increasing exposure to carbon dioxide appears to boost crop yields. Barley, beets, and wheat yields increased about ten percent when they were subjected to higher levels of CO2.
All the concern about coal fired power plants convinces me we need to funnel this excess CO2 into plants...or flower fields.

One oilman has switched sides.
T. Boone Pickens is calling for more development in renewable energy sources like wind and to move from oil to natural gas as a transportation fuel.
While I think that much of our energy needs can be met from solar and wind, neither are consistent and dependable. There will need to be backup supplies either stored offline or available on demand.
Nuclear, anyone?

The Rasmussen Reports polling firm reports that the approval rating of Congress has fallen to a new all-time low ofjust nine percent. (And the president's approval rating was...)
More proof that all the present campaign has the potential to do is replace a “C” student with a “D” student and think it's an improvement...

Note to Clark County School District: Hire teachers, lay off administrators. Too damn many of them as it is...

To all those people who keep looking to the gubmint for help during the economic/energy/housing/jobs crisises: reflect on the truest words ever spoken into Rush Limbaugh's golden microphone.
Any time you hear someone from the government talking about helping you, susbtitute the word “screw” for “help”.
Then you have truth in gubmint.

Wyatt Cox believes in honesty and integrity in government. He also believes in Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny. Share your beliefs at rant.wyattcox.net.

Harry makes ME sick....

2008-07-01T21:54:00Z

Kudos to the Ausra company, which brought jobs to Las Vegas this week in the opening of it's reflector production line of its first North American manufacturing and distribution center in Las Vegas. Quoting the company's press release,“The 130,000-square-foot, highly automated manufacturing and distribution center will supply the reflectors, absorber tubes, and other key components of the company's solar thermal power plants to the rapidly growing Southwestern solar power industry”.
Among those attending Monday's ceremony was Senator Harry Reid, who had kind words for the alternative energy facility. "Nevada is poised to be a leader in the clean energy revolution," said Reid. "This facility will help position our state as the premiere place to invest in these new technologies. As the factory expands operations and we continue to invest in clean energy, we'll create thousands of good-paying jobs and keep our outdoors pristine for future generations."
But then Harry had to get his dig in at other traditional power facilities, saying “We talk about cost competitiveness, but the one thing we fail to talk about is (sic) those costs that you don't see on the bottom line, that is, coal makes us sick, oil makes us sick, it's global warming, it's ruining our country, it's ruining our world. You've got to stop using fossil fuel. We've for generations taken it out of the earth, carbon out of the earth, and put it in the atmosphere, and it's making us all sick, it's changing our world.”
Reid has been opposing the development of two coal-fired power plants in northern Nevada needed to supply Las Vegas with reasonably priced power that we need to continue the growth in the valley as well as bolster the economy in that economically-challenged area.
Harry has been drinking the Al Gore Global Warming Kool-Aid and ignoring the evidence from a number of scientists that while Man impacts the environment, Global Warming is part of a multi-century cycle that Man cannot control.
Among those challenging the accepted-yet-unproven UN Backed “Man-causes-Global-Warming” position is one John Coleman, founder of the Weather Channel, who joined a number of other scientists calling the hysteria a “fraud” and advocating suing carbon credit sellers, including Gore!
Make no mistake, I believe in being a good steward of the environment. I believe that the activities of companies like Ausra helps combat our dependence on foreign energy sources and helps keep our environment clean. But the radical position of those like Senator Reid show he has been co-opted by the radical left.
The Senator from Searchlight continues to do us no favors.

I wondered how long this would take.
Starbucks is closing 600 company owned stores due to the lagging economy. That's 19 percent of those stores opened in the last two years.
I guess the fact that a gallon of gasoline now costs more than a latte impacted their business model.
I never liked Starbucks. I prefer my caffeine in a different vein. Give me an old-fashioned southern Sweet Tea any day!
(BTW, I'm not going to McDonalds to try their junk!)

Can I tell you how disturbed I am that our government continues to be totally confused over the possible links between salmonella and tomatoes? According to FDA Food Safety Chief David Acheson they still aren't sure where these tomatoes are sourced from and where they've contracted the salmonella bacteria! So far, the outbreaks are continuing even though the FDA supposedly “found” the problem. Apparently not.
Meanwhile the tomato industry is suffering millions in losses since the FDA is “blaming” tomatoes for the problem...despite the fact that the FDA still can't pinpoint the source!
Our beloved government: still able to screw up a two-car parade.

John McCain supports free trade with Latin America.
Here we go again. Like I really want to rant about the single most destructive bit of foreign policy to come out of Washington in the past 20 years.
Suffice it to say I have no desire to support McCain over this single issue alone.

I do have to defend McCain over this single issue though: Why was it OK for Wesley Clark to tout his military record when he ran four years ago, but it's not OK for McCain?
I'm just asking.

Oh, be careful as you drive down the street. It hasn't happened here yet, but there are reports of people stealing manhole covers and selling it for scrap metal.
Well, at least they didn't steal the copper out of an air conditioner – or out of a still. That would be a fight I'd like to see..

The best part about Wyatt Cox's life right now is that he has so little to steal. Steal a glance at his columns at rant.wyattcox.net

People Stink!

2008-06-25T20:09:00Z

Human nature is a truly scary thing. Sometimes people do things you never really thought them capable.
Part of what I really detest about Las Vegas (and why I plan on moving to northern Nevada real soon now) is the total con-man nature of this town. Everyone's got damage, and the ones that aren't evil, mean, and nasty to you are patting you on the back with one hand while trying to find the spot for the knife with the other.
I had an experience this week with someone who seemed alright but seemed to have issues. They always struck me as being forthright and honorable.
They just lost their job. For stealing. On camera, yet.

I guess I shouldn't be too terribly surprised, though. My life has been full of disreputable people and people who weren't even honest to themselves. My first wife left me for another woman. My last relationship prior to my current marriage was little more than a platform for her to find her latest mark. She started fishing on line for an overseas husband she could pull an immigration scam with and make some money. In the process I got stuck for several hundred in long distance bills. Well, the money's gone and she hung the poor guy out to dry. He's been spinning in the wind for some time. You can read that whole debacle on our website at wyattcox.net.
Even with my wife, who came to rely too much on her best friend that totally screwed us out of several hundred dollars and ran up huge phone bills. She even stole the money for Bubba's crib.

That's why I was so happy that we spent a good two days in Ely.
It renewed my faith in people. Everyone there was so nice and treated us like family. Not a single grumpy person bothered us. The people who cleaned our hotel room were kind, the lifeguards at the old swimmin' hole were tremendous, and even the big-wigs were a pleasant surprise!
The weather was amazing. Twenty degrees cooler than Las Vegas in the daytime and forty degrees cooler at night. And we could breathe! Since coming back we've all been wheezing and coughing. Two days of clean air sure get your body used to expecting it.
So now we're back in the hot nasty weather with the hard to breathe air and the people looking to rip us off.
We're packing now. Come visit us if you want to really live.

The death of George Carlin was expected, but it took a lot of us by surprise.
I knew he wasn't doing well, but to go so fast was scary. Carlin had a reputation of being absolutely filthy on stage but before he became known for those "seven words", Carlin won acclaim for the spaced out "Al Sleet, the Hippy-Dippy weatherman". It was so wacky that one of the local weathermen back in Kansas lip-synced the routine on local television!
In his memory on Tuesday, I played the ultimate Top-40 Radio tribute, "Wonderful WINO". His parting shots reflect much of what Radio is about today.
"We've got the old tunes, the new tunes, the show tunes, the blue tunes, the greatest music in town. But we never play it!"

Ely's Coming

2008-06-21T05:24:00Z

Sorry, ran out of time to write a Penny Press column this week...

My wife's family and I spent three wonderful days in Ely Nevada and are planning our relocation to this pretty little town in the immediate future.

Come on up and ride the train!

Racism Not A One-Way Street

2008-06-12T03:07:00Z

The Arizona Daily Star out of Tucson recently published the most distasteful and dishonest editorialI have ever seen this week in what I can only classify as an attack against law abiding citizens and in support of criminal activity.

The unsigned opinion piece supported a DC based Hispanic organization’s boycott of CNN for allowing Lou Dobbs to be on their schedule.

The paper went further, to encourage a boycott of a local Tucson host, a direct competitor of the paper.

Far be it from me to need to support CNN, but in this case they are an inappropriate target.

The paper’s claims are false. Dobbs, Beck, O’Reilly and others, including myself, are not anti-immigrant. We are anti-illegal immigrant. Those who follow the script, follow the policies and the laws are welcome. Those who do not, regardless of their ethnicity, are not welcome.

A good friend of mine is such an immigrant. His father came here from Ecuador legally in the 60’s. He saved for years until he had the money put aside to bring the rest of the family here legally. It wasn’t cheap and it wasn’t easy. He’s now a citizen and furious. If they had been able to just waltz over the border and save the expense, it wouldn’t be right or legal!

America is a land of opportunity, but it is governed by the rule of law.

Honor it and respect it. Do the right thing and go home until you can move here legally like others have.

Speaking of the rule of law...

I was getting off a bus on Tuesday morning about 1:30 when I saw at the corner that I crossed at what appeared to be an active crime scene. Rather than walk through an active crime scene with someone splayed out on the sidewalk I crossed the street three car lengths form the corner. The officer had a conniption and threatened to arrest me. I told the officer I was just trying to avoid his crime scene. He said next time walk two blocks out of my way.

Right. Get over yourself. Next time I’ll just pull out the camera and walk through the scene taking pictures. Could be interesting.

The tomato crisis, while serious, amuses me.

The salmonella-tainted tomatoes came from "either" Florida or Mexico?

A no-brainer to me. Given the safety record of Mexican Agriculture(remember the strawberries and the tainted cheese) I would say the culprit is obvious.

Meanwhile, the huge delay deals yet another punishing blow to American Agriculture. If this keeps up, the only way to get domestic produce will be to grow your own...

I had a true blast from the past this week!

The annual meeting of the Cauliflower Alley Clubtook place at the Riviera, and I loved seeing all those people from my past. "Dr. Death" Steve Williams, Terry Funk, Paul and Luna Vachon, JJ Dillon and many more along with newer performers including Chris Masters.

It was wonderful to see these old friends getting together to remember old times. Many of the performers I was seeing in person for the first time in nearly forty years. I felt like a kid again.

Too bad many of today’s top stars won’t make it to the age of these classic performers.

Sad.

WYATT COX

Wyatt Cox loves his wrassling. Lock up with him at rant.wyattcox.net

Crisis Management Your Responsibility

2008-06-12T02:49:00Z

In past columns I’ve referenced a semi-natural event back in 1996 that blacked out ten western states and my own reaction to it. This last Sunday the Review-Journal published a piece by John Solomon entitled Americans Are Unprepared for natural disasters. (note:Link takes you to the original Washington Post piece.) In that piece Solomon quotes a Red Cross survey that 93 percent of Americans are unprepared for a natural disaster, a pandemic, or a terrorist attack.

I think that number, believe it or not, is low.

I believe that to be low because of the reaction to the 1996 power failure.

FLASHBACK: I was heading down Main Street on my way home (which now is the site of Steve Wynn’s employee parking garage) when I noticed radio stations dropping off the air...including mine! I hotfooted it to the station to find that I had left a disc in a drive and the on-air control computer wouldn’t boot. We also had satellite receiver failures, so I had to quickly assess the situation and throw on what programming I could find. Finally, I saw the first story trickle in over Bloomburg and (get this) the Xinhua news agency (that’s China, folks!) that there was a major power failure affecting the western US.

Not knowing the impact as to what was happening, and getting intermittent phone calls from people wanting to know as well, I went on the air and started taking phone calls, drawing on my years of experience in the Midwest on how to handle power failures due to tornadoes, floods, ice storms and the like. I stayed on the air talking with people and helping them through the failures.

It was hours later that the station owner, our esteemed publisher (who had been on a plane to Tulsa), called to find out what the new kid was doing to his station. Listeners were calling his toll free line and writing the station to thank us for what we did.

But really, it was no big deal. I was prepared.

Honestly, none of the other stations in Las Vegas knew what to tell people to do.

People were afraid for their food, their animals, their personal well being, and didn’t know to shut off their air conditioning and unplug their appliances until after the power came back on, lest all the neighborhood’s start up power at once blowing another transformer and keeping your neighborhood dark hours longer.

We had people listening for hours that night, and it sure gave me a good feeling knowing my information was appreciated.

I wasn’t surprised at all about the ignorance of the public, but had to really think as to where to send you to learn more about preparedness.

The fed’s ready.govis a good start, but I strongly suggest the Red Cross website for more detailed emergency information. They’ve been in the disaster recovery business a lot longer (and performed far better) than the gubmint.

One of the things you’ll need is a good source of self-powered lighting and communication. Battery operated equipment is OK, but batteries can become scarce in a severe situation and can deplete rapidly.

I first saw the Freeplayline of gear at the Consumer Electronics Show in 1997 and became a believer. Unlike other "crank" devices which use a Dynamo to charge a battery, the crank on a Freeplay device winds a spring which, as it unwinds, turns a small generator that creates immediate power.

I have two of the original units that I bought on eBay and would never part with them.

The Freeplay websiteoffers not only radios, but flashlights, lanterns, and alternative power sources for charging portable electronics.

In addition to the Freeplay sources, consider getting some of those flashlights you see on TV that you shake to charge.

Of course keeping some easy to prepare emergency foodon hand is a good idea, but how do you prepare it? Perhaps it might be a good excuse to buy a new propane gas grill– and don’t forget a manual can opener!

Do some research now, stock up now, and the next time the lights go

out, you’ll be prepared.

WYATT COX

Wyatt Cox wasn’t much of a Boy Scout, but he tries to be prepared. Check

out his writings at rant.wyattcox.net

Out of context quotes, incomplete sentences hurt campaigns, help media

2008-06-01T20:15:00Z

Out of context quotes, incomplete sentences hurt campaigns, help media

As much as some people would like me to, I could never run for political office.
With 33 years of broadcasting and three years of writing these columns for the Penny Press, there's just too much fodder out there for the jackals to grab onto and take out of the context of the entire program or column and attempt a hack job.
Witness the ministerial flaps in the presidential race.
I suspect that the Rev. Jeremiah Wright is a decent enough man, probably a fun person to break bread with. His misstatements, which he claims were taken out of the context of a sermon, certainly have done their damage to the Obama campaign. I can see, though, how in the context of a sermon, he could use the phrase, "God Damn America". Some of his other statements are a little harder to forgive.
The same could be said for Pastor Hagee, who has been accused of being virulently anti-Catholic. Some were offended by his comments from the pulpit that God used Hitler as a tool to deliver Jews to the promised land. Ignored by many is that this view is actually shared by some Jewish scholars.
Also consider endorser pastor Rod Parsley, whom ABC News reported he called Islam an "anti-Christ" religion and the Prophet Muhammad "the mouthpiece of a conspiracy of evil." A number of Christian pastors may actually back that view, but don't make a big deal out of it, lest their church come under assault from the Council on American Islamic Relations, who hammers anyone who shows any opposition to their religion.
But the flap doesn't end with pastors.
Take Geraldine Ferraro, the former vice-presidential candidate under presidential candidate Walter Mon-dull. At first she said that Obama was getting a lot of traction with statements and policies he was making simply because he was Black. Many people took offence to that statement in the Obama camp. Several African-Americans, including the founder of BET, agreed with Ferraro. To take the heat off of Clinton, she took herself out of the presidential campaign scene, but not before saying she wouldn't vote for Obama because she thought he was "sexist."
The bottom line is that we could sift through all the supporters of either candidate and find utterances that would offend someone.
But why?
Supporters don't make the candidate. The candidate does.
And all any of the major candidates make me want to do is sleep.

Watch out now, the mainstream media is in full swing to discredit the third parties.
First Ralph Nader's renewed candidacy that Liberals say will siphon off votes from the Democratic campaign.
Now Bob Barr is stepping up for the Libertarians in a move that Conservatives claim will take votes form John McCain.
They're both wrong.
The people who vote for both of these candidates would likely have NOT voted for either major party candidate. I know I wouldn't.
With both Barr and Nader in the race, I'll have a difficult decision to make. Both are better than our current crop of Republicrats.
And given the mainstream media bias against change, neither one will get anything approaching a fair shake.
And that's just wrong. Because that's not the true, honest American way.
If Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter can get elected, these two sure should be able to.
But then, I guess faux integrity is better than the real thing.

Wyatt Cox is 100% natural, no artificial ingredients. He is, however, unsafe for maintaining mainstream ideals. Read more at rant.wyattcox.net

Illegal employee pressure should shift to employer

2008-06-01T20:06:00Z

Illegal employee pressure should shift to employer

The horror stories coming from Postville, Iowa, where more than 350 employees of a kosher meat processing plant were arrested and hundreds more are in hiding from government employees, point out the failings in this administration's enforcement policies.
Affidavits from ICE, information from which was published by Spence S. Hsu in Sunday's Washington Post, reveal that Agriprocessors supervisors were not only aware of the questionable legal status of many of their employees, they actually took steps to facilitate their employment! Quoting, “The affidavit cited unnamed sources who alleged that some company supervisors employed 15-year-olds, helped cash checks for workers with fake documents, and pressured workers without documents to purchase vehicles and register them in other names.“
Agriprocessors has a lot of other problems on their plate as well. Consider:
l    A $600k settlement with the EPA over wastewater pollution
l    $182k in fines from the state over health safety and wastewater violations
l    USDA accusations of “inhumane slaughter” after one of those hidden camera videos came out from an animal rights group.
Given these ethical problems, no one should be surprised that this company was also knowingly hiring and encouraging illegal immigrants.
No matter how high we build the wall, the illegals will continue to come as long as employers are allowed to get away with this kind of activity.
The illegals are attracted to these jobs like moths to a flame. Put out the flame, and they'll stop coming. Moreover, shut down the jobs, fine a couple of employers out of existence for hiring illegals and not checking them out, and those still here will start heading home.
In my opinion, Agriprocessors deserves to be the poster child for illegal immigrant employment and should be shut down! Perhaps their CEO should visit the graybar hotel....

I'm getting so sick and tired of people blaming the oil companies and the farmers for driving prices up so high.
Our US dollar and our sinking economy, on the downtick since the late 90's, bears most of the responsibility for the high prices.
I spoke with my cousin two weeks ago, who is part of a farm family in South-central Kansas. She says their input costs have tripled this year due to extreme rises in fuel and fertilizer. The higher prices will just about cover their increased costs.
Don't blame the farmer...

A few weeks ago I found this press release about a home fuel distiller that the manufacturer claims will make 100% pure (200 proof) ethanol for your vehicle from sugar for about a dollar a gallon! The E-fuel 100 MicroFueler is about as large as a stackable washer-dryer, sells for just under $10k (part of which consumers could get back after gubmint incentives and tax credits) and will ship late this year.
It got me thinking about turning production of sugar back up. After all, Brazil has a thriving sugar ethanol industry and that country uses absolutely NO imported oil, but has year round E25 fuel (25% ethanol, 75% petroleum) mandated by the gubmint.
Seems to me, if little Brazil can do it, why can't we. Between Sugar Ethanol and Biodiesel, we could tell the middle east to piss up a rope and give itself a crude oil enema in no time.
If you want a real renewable fuels education, visit the Gas 2.0 website at gas2.org and see what's really out there. Everything from Biodiesel, Ethanol, Hybrids and yes, even wood burning vehicles!
Americans can still innovate when they need to!

Our thoughts and prayers are with the Kennedy family after the revelation on Tuesday that the family Patriarch, Senator Ted Kennedy, has a malignant brain tumor. The weekend seizures that were the talk of talk radio and late night monologues are suddenly not funny, as they were the keys to the diagnosis.
While the Senior senator from Massachusetts hasn't always been a friend to conservative America, we still wish him the best in this battle for his life.

Oh, two suburban Minneapolis high school students have been turned in and face charges and schoo punishment for defacing the portraits of three Minnesota governors, including Jesse Ventura. The total damages were estimated at around $175, so the charges will likely be misdemeanors, not felonies.
Now, in my day, the primary punishment would be determined by, and administered with, the Board of Education. Still should be, but that's just me....

Wyatt Cox is a firm believer in firm punishment. That's why he still watches the WWE...these days it's agonizing to watch. Punish yourself by reading his columns at rant.wyattcox.net