joethenerd's Open Salon Blog

Yo Ed, Who’s Team You Playin’ On?

Thu, 9 Jun 2011 11:06:35 -0400

Ed Shultz has been ranting all week about Anthony Weiner and how he should resign.

He comes on at 10 pm with the rolled shoulders ready to pounce on a guy who is already down.

The impassioned pleas and how pure the Progressive Movement is and how he’s just sorry about Weiner’s issue.

Here is the link on the whiney rant: (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/30012522#43334201)

I could only watch for a couple of minutes before thinking:

“Who does this guy think he is?”

“Didn’t he just get off a suspension for what, again?”

I flipped around and fell asleep.

_________________________________________

I was in a dream on a football field where I had a whistle around my neck and a blue baseball cap.

I watched a scrawny running back hit the line, stumble and fumble the ball. (That’s not good I thought, it’s a boneheaded move that happens in the game, but I could live with that.)

Then I saw one of the overweight offensive linemen with rolled shoulders pick up the live ball and hand it to the red team.

The stunned defensive back looked at the lineman with the expression of “Sure, I’ll take that…” and started running the other way. To make matters worse – the lineman jumped on the scrawny running back so he couldn’t get up to at least catch the new ballcarrier.

I used to coach all sorts of sports, but after the red team’s touchdown I lost it on the offensive lineman. I was never this out of control as I grabbed the offensive lineman’s facemask so that I could make sure I could see what wheels aren’t spinning in his head.

“What the #$%$ are you doing?”

“He couldn’t keep his act together – he sucks as a running back.”

“Why did you give the red team the ball?”

“Because I know we’re better than them. We have to put a better team out there.”

“Why did you jump on the running back?”

“So he won’t be able to get back in the game.”

“OK Genius, now that you took your teammate down – who’s running that ball now?”

“I dunno.”

“Ok Champ - you want to say you play for the Progressive Team – here is your job – you only have to do one thing.

Block for your teammates. You are not fast enough to run the ball. Given your responses here, I wonder why you even signed up to play. We have enough problems with the red team, the blue team doesn’t need you ripping on them from their own side of the field.

Politics is the only team sport that means anything.

When your man goes down you help him up.

If he drops the ball you pick it up and give it to him.

You do not bad mouth your own guys.

So let me ask you, how do you think your teammates see you?”

“I’m Big ED – they should be happy they ‘Got ED’”

_________________________________________

At that I awoke to a commercial about a prescription to cure a condition called E-D.

Glenn Beck Deconstructed on Right Wing Radio

Fri, 4 Feb 2011 09:02:33 -0500

Right Wing Radio station, WPHT 1210 AM, in Philly (the new big fat greek talker, or whatever they are calling themselves now) is Michael Smerconish' flagship. The station went through a purge such that the only talker not fully Right Wing and over the edge is Smerconish.

The funny thing is - he may be their biggest money maker. (Accenting this fact make be the way to really bring down Right Wing Talk Radio.)

Thursday, Michael Smerconish played audio clip after audio clip of Glenn Beck's Doomsday Predictions one after the other. He started with Beck's take on Egypt. It morphed into a full critique of Beck.

Then he opened the phone lines and challenged his listeners to defend Beck.

Smerconish walked away unscathed. He took callers with venom who tried to talk down to him and attempted to admonish him as an unruly child. One caller he flicked away, Anna, was upset that she thought by her defending Beck's racist tag line about the President hating white people she was somehow being lumped in with other, more common, racists and not regular Glenn Beck supporters. She got on the air a second time and made the claim she was not a racist, and prays for everyone.

A number of Tampa callers (Beck's radio proving ground) related that Beck was an entertainer. But some were split on how much he should be watched or taken seriously. Smerconish even made a bet with one of the callers that at some point in the future Beck will be hawking a new, different Doomsday scenario.

Smerconish' thesis is - Beck is entertaining with facts that are inaccurate. Beck also has a cyclic, ramp-it-up quality to get people to tune in the following day for more Beck "wisdom". Beck has gone so far over the top there is no ceiling left.

Callers reinforced the entertainer motif, combining it with hucksterism that Beck is pushing Gold, Survival Rations, and buying land with water rights. (I wanted to build a fallout shelter after listening to the guy.)

It is not a new position given Jon Stewart's outrageous takes on Beck, but it is who is saying it.

Smerconish used to be a froth-at-the-mouth Right Wing host. Time and events has moved him to the middle. He is also making the point that no one on the Left can fully take on Beck - not Media Matters or Maddow or Schultz or The Keith.

He is essentially saying, because all these folks are on the opposite side of the battle, The Left Blue Army, nothing they say can be taken seriously.

The only way to call Beck out is from either behind the lines of the Right Red Army, or from a sniper post from the middle.

Smerconish has now moved across the lines to a new radio form in no man's land. He is the ONLY purveyor of Moderate Talk Radio. He is the sniper.

(Yes, I realize the media is not a warscape. But it almost seems like a military analogy is proper, if not politically incorrect.)

Because he can attract thinking people to his show - from both sides - he is getting traction.

Look for Smerconish to end up with an hour show on either CNN or MSNBC. When one of the prime time shows eventually fail (they always do), it will be hard to keep this guy off the air. He is ready for prime time.

Jack LaLanne Truisms

Mon, 24 Jan 2011 00:01:52 -0500

♦ Even while dead - Jack LaLanne can still kick the tar out of Chuck Norris.No disrespect to Mr. Norris.

♦ LaLanne is the one who taught Chuck Norris how to count to infintiy.
LaLanne did it backwards too!
(BTW, if Infinity tried to count towards Jack - he would say enough and it would stop.)

♦ Chuck Norris may have been able to chew nails. Jack LaLanne could digest them.

♦ Chuck Norris would bend people into Pretzels.
Jack LaLAnne could straighten them out.

♦ Jack LaLanne gave Chuck Norris one of his outgrown jock straps.

Chuck is still trying to fill it.

♦ King Kong thanks Jack LaLanne.
Kong was a 99 pound chimp when he started.

♦ Superman was faster than a speeding bullet; but not by much.

Jack LaLanne was the guy who threw it.

♦ no - duh
Jack LaLanne taught Superman how to be more powerful than a locomotive.

♦ Jack LaLanne used to joke with Superman by picking up the tall buildings as Superman was leaping them.

Face splat - 86th floor.

Really funny

Last one -

The sun learned how to shine brighter because Jack LaLanne showed it how.

RIP. Big Guy!

You earned it.

Change the Tone - Change the People

Tue, 11 Jan 2011 21:01:20 -0500

How do you change the tone when those speaking are tone deaf? Today, 3 days after the Tucson Massacre, the local RW radio host in the morning was busy taking self-absolution of any responsibility for the environment. His term for people who use the Daily Kos was Daily Kooks.

So much for: "disagreeing without being disagreeable". That is now one of the slogans of this particular radio station.

I am trying to get a gig on a RW Radio Station. This RW Radio Station - WPHT in Philly. They are in a state of flux. They currently schedule UFO Abduction Programming aka George Nory from 2am to 6am Eastern Time (11pm to 3am PST). I can do better and with your help, we can make a profit for everyone.

Actually, this station has already proven that being respectful to callers and people you don't agree with is profitable. This station is Michael Smerconish' flagship station. He is moving to the PM Drive Time so, theoretically, he can do more national stuff without having his head explode from warped scheduling.

It is a canard that ONLY Right Wingers can make a profit on talk radio. Michael Smerconish has proven this. Look at the common sense of it. If you don't insult people, they will stay and listen if you provide interesting and coherent content (my game plan). If you insult people they will get angry and go elsewhere (what is happening now).

Aren't you tired of the insults?

I need your help.

I am burning up my Facebook Account asking people to make a phone call for me. There are people associated with causes that ask us to make calls to Congresspeople all the time. We call Congresspeople because they are the ones that make the decisions.

I am asking you to call Mr. Andy Bloom, Operations Manager at WPHT 610-668-5800. This is the gentleman who makes the decisions about the tone and timbre of WPHT's product line. (People are telling me they have gotten busy signals, please keep trying. Please melt his answering machine.) I am enlisting as many people as I can find.

Even if it doesn't happen we are putting the person in charge on the spot. This is the guy who gets to make the call as to who gets on and when. Since WPHT streams live to the internet, everyone is a potential customer.

Yes, I said customer. When you listen to a radio station, you are a potential customer of the sponsors. (Boycotting doesn't work because there is a big enough piece of the pie out there from the other side to make the operation viable.)

By putting a product out there that is more inclusive (non-insulting) it is possible to expand the demographic and charge more for ad revenue. It would expose the Right Wing only model as not making ENOUGH money. Defending it makes current Right Wing Radio a charity case. It puts the model at risk.

Beyond politics - it is about money. My last Huffington Post article was pushed hard for this reason; it was about Political Money (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/joe-the-nerd-ferraro/democracy-is-about-repres_1_b_804206.html - it got over 250 likes). This is a related article and a different facet of the cash.

The media is about making money first. The media is a business. Politics is a business. How well you convince people of your ideas equates to how profitable and successful you will be.

Want to change the tone? Change the people.

I got no problem going from 2am to 6am Eastern Time. West Coast Owls with East Coast Owls and early risers. It would be a blast. I am a night owl (Temple '84). A schedule like this would let me finish seeing my kids playing sports through high school.

Here is my vitae stocked full of articles from the Huffington Post: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/joe-the-nerd-ferraro.

What kind of program is this going to be?

1 - It is about respectful discourse.

We are neighbors. Let's talk like it and act like it.

I don't agree with everything my wife says, why do I expect more from you? I would never call her names when we disagree, why would I do that to you? (I am not going to marry you, but you get the idea.)

2 - Activism and Civics

Too many of us don't understand the American system we love. How does an election really work? What do you have to do to get involved? How to attend a meeting to get your point across properly? We plan to ask people to stay up past their bedtimes or get up early to help up with this.

3 - Round table talks

Guests take phone calls. People listening always make great points and have great questions. We'll try to get 2 or 3 talking at once. (I like a little bit of chaos.)

4 - Throw-in Stuff

We'll have local music as background - i mean staving musicians looking for gigs playing. We'll play comedy bits from the 50's, 60's, 70's. (I am a sucker for Dr. Demento.)

This will make money. If you are a business owner, don't you like to do business with nice folks.

Let's change the tone.

Leave a message for:

Andy Bloom Operations Manager

WPHT - CBS Radio

610-668-5800

or email him: andy.bloom@cbsradio.com

Tell him you want Nerd Radio that isn't insulting that is kind of funny and really informative.

Tell him you want Joe the Nerd on the Air.

(if you don't want to do that you can tell him what you think about having Rush Limbaugh on the station)

Thanks, I hope to talk to you soon!

Joe

Here is my FB Page:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Yeah-Im-a-Fan-of-Joe-the-Nerd-but-he-doesnt-pay-me-for-this-gig/113723438656310

Why $250,000 as the Cutoff? or WWJD with that Cash?

Thu, 2 Dec 2010 22:12:09 -0500

The big fiscal legislative issue of the lame duck session is the extension of the Bush Tax Cuts. Everyone gets something? Nobody gets anything? Do we go in the middle with some number picked out of the air?

I guess the $250,000 number was a campaign promise from 2008 that needs to be honored.

But, seriously you can't make it on $250,000 PER YEAR?

People actually have the unmitigated gall to complain about this?

Part of the reasoning of the rich and greedy was, "We need to extend the Bush Tax Cuts to keep the Economy Productive!"

If the Bush Tax Cuts were supposed to spur jobs; where are they? We should be up to our ears in job openings right now.

If those who benefited from the Bush Tax Cuts were going to create jobs, they would have by now. They haven't; therefore, we need to make the cuts go away for at least those making more than $250k per year. I don't what to hear the "fairness" whining from the BMW crowd.

The reasoning behind the whining is that you can't raise taxes during:

A recession

A depression

A flush economy

A snowstorm

A year starting with a "2"

All of these seem to be really valid reasons to stop raising taxes. (Read this as sardonic)

I know I have a hard time wrapping my small wallet around that $250k number. I am sure most of you reading this may feel the same way. But I am not going to make this a class-warfare argument to extend the cuts for those under $250k, but not over the magic number.

I am going to make it a competency issue.

Let's take as a given we live in a capitalist system. That system only works properly when there is a free flow of cash. Money brought into the system is then sent out again in the form of reinvestment. If we stop reinvesting in the system we get a clogged system (kinda like your home plumbing). Yeah some stuff may get through, but we will have an eventual large and smelly problem.

Those people who are making more than $250k per year and are not reinvesting it are the problem. They are the clog. We tarp'ed them; we stimulated them; and still nothing. They are either greedy or incompetent. If they are greedy, tax the hell out of them! None of us have any sympathy for them.

If they are incompetent we need to use the tax laws to make them competent. If you are bringing in that kind of coin and can't figure out how to shelter it to get it under $250K, I don't think you can handle that kind of cash.

Sorry, you need to flush it back into the system. Create a small business entity that will hire somebody to do something. There are plenty of people who would love the opportunity to do something. There are a lot of hard luck cases right now that you can hire. Would you rather a tax bill go to the government or a neighbor down the street who needs a job?

The tax laws are such that you can do this. Incorporate yourself, pay yourself a salary out of the corporation and set the corporation to do other stuff. Talk to an accountant. Get you number under $250k and start producing for the economy. You want to make money - invest it in our people. I want you to make money. Really, I do! The more people you hire the quicker we get the economy back.

Otherwise, if you don't do this, then you don't deserve to have that much money.

This is no different than the Parable of the Talents from the Gospel (Matthew 25:14-30).

If you are unfamiliar with this particular story it is the one where 3 guys walk in to a bar (a rabbi, a priest and a duck) and...

Oh, no, sorry - different parable...

3 guys are given various sums of talents (or cash) by their master. The master goes away and leaves these guys to their own devices. 2 of the guys push the limits with their cash and double their investments. The third guy buries on the cash and didn't get anything for it.

The master comes back and gives big atta-boys to the two guys who tried. The master looks at the third guy and gives him the "What-the-hell-did-you-do-nothing-for" speech.

Moral of the story: Take your Talents (read:Cash) and make them multiply. Bury them and you should get ripped a new one from Jesus Christ (and the IRS).