Because Of Other Projects, I Have To Put This Blog On Hiatus For A While!!!

Hi Gang!!!

Personal note time to those of you who have taken the time to read what I write. And have been writing since March of 2007.

I spend a lot of time on this blog. Reading, talking to people, checking facts, etc., etc. Because of some interesting people I know, I've been able to give you information and educated guesses about a few things you haven't read elsewhere until after it was published here.

And yes, you get a lot of opinion here.

For a while, I've been involved with two other projects. I've now reached the stage where one of these projects needs my undivided attention until a final decision has been reached. No, not by me. By other people.

I'm anticipating a decision to "go forward" or to "give it up" will be made within a month or so.

Meanwhile, we have a Supreme Court nominee to think about. A nominee who we don't know a lot about except that she has "A Good Story".

We also have a big time General saying we might be staying in Iraq for (at least) another ten years!

And while I must focus totally on my own private projects right now, I can't help but wonder about our new President of the United States and what he really stands for.

Thanks very much for your support, it's a pleasure of the first order for me when I get feedback from you and I hope you wish me luck on what it is that requires me to stop writing for a while.


In the meantime, here is a link to a new music vide,o PRESS ONE FOR ENGLISH, sent to me by a friend, you may enjoy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sEJfS1v-fU0

From their website: http://www.rivolirevue.com/

INTERNATIONAL RECORDING ARTISTS and YOUTUBE SENSATIONS - Ron and Kay Rivoli travel all across the United States and Canada performing their music as “The Rivoli Revue". Ron, a New York native, and Kay, a native of Kentucky, are singer/songwriters who perform a unique style of music they call Amerimobilly. Music about America and our love of the roads and the places, people and things they lead us to. Songs about life and living in America. Funny, witty and touching songs, most with a story that hits close to home. Songs about the things people care about - Family, God and Country.



Scott St. James

We're Involved In Two (or is it three) Wars! Our Troops Are Exhausted! IS IT LONG PAST TIME FOR WE, THE CITIZENS, TO GET INVOLVED?!?

Ya know...When one tries to keep track of these wars we're in, it's hard to get our facts straight. And maybe that's one of the reasons most of us seem to not give a damn.

When's the last time you and your friends had a serious conversation about the military conflicts we're involved in?

When's the last time you and your friends had a serious conversation about our economy? ALL the time, right? Shoot, who among us doesn't know people who have lost their jobs or who have been forced to take paycuts to keep their jobs and then end up losing those jobs anyway. "Thanks for being a good soldier and taking the paycuts, but despite your great loyalty, we're going to have to fire you because of our bad economy."

One of my very best friends has accepted 72% in paycuts during the last year or so. And he's not alone.

If we're lucky enough to have a job, one of our responsibilities seems to be the willingness to "bend over" on a daily basis to make it easier for our employer to "stick it to us".

Okay. Our economy is in the toilet. The reason given is that employers are short on money which means the employees are making less money and we all get hurt even more while we watch gas prices continue to skyrocket AGAIN!

I hear you when you're (now) saying, "Okay Scott, but what does that have to do with the wars we're involved in?"

I'm like most of you when I ask the question, "What came first? Was it Afghanistan or was it Iraq?" Those are our so-called "legal wars". Because we're not doing anything in Pakistan, wink, wink. Just like we weren't doing anything in places like Laos during that long ago war mistake in the 60's. Looking back, anyone want to tell me what "benefit" this country got from all of those years we spent losing lives and ruining lives of our soldiers? I'm serious. I'd love for someone to tell me how that made us a better country. I'm reminded of something once said by Muhammad Ali when he said, "I ain't got no quarrel with no Viet Cong!".

A lot of military contractors got rich in the 60's. As have a lot of military contractors now.

I know that most of you heard about that Army Sergeant who shot and killed five American soldiers a week or so ago in Iraq. This was at some kind of stress facility where soldiers go to get help and it's the last place you figure to see gunfire.

He was on his 3rd tour and he didn't have a lot of "down time" in between tours.

He will now be tried for murder. His life is over because he will get the death penalty or spend the rest of his life in prison or in a mental institution.

And we, the citizens, will pay for this.

Why are we in Afghanistan? Does anyone really know? Was it (perhaps) originally to go in there to get Osama bin Laden or is the reason much deeper than that? If you know, please tell me and also tell me how this is benefitting us!

Is there any doubt in your mind(s) about how all the money we're spending on our involvement in Afghanistan is hurting our economy?

Why are we still in Iraq? We know why we went there in the first place! Somebody in "The Decider's" White House cooked the "intelligence" books and an idiot (both sides of) Congress did a blind eye "Yeah, boss!" sound of approval and we sent troops to Iraq to get those "Weapons of Mass Destruction".

Over the years, we have learned that a lot of smart Senators and Representatives never read the reports or tried to ask questions about the reports regarding those mythical WMD's.

We have known these reports were bogus for a long time, soooo...Why are we still in Iraq?

Is there any doubt in any of your mind(s) about how all the money we're spending on our involvement in Iraq is hurting our economy?

Pakistan? Hey, I've been writing and saying for years that Pakistan, to me, is no ally of ours. Not really. I guess we kiss their asses because of their nuclear capabilities, but wouldn't an easier solution be to just go in there and take that capability away from them? I mean, if we can go to Iraq on a lie, can't we come up with a lie to take care of the Pakistan situation. Of course, maybe that's why we're really there now. Oh...That's right. We're not really there doing anything!

Back to the wars we know we're in and the stress these wars have on our brave soldiers and the stress these wars have on our economy.

To help alleviate the stress on our brave soldiers, we need MORE soldiers!!!

Military recruiting is down. Wayyy down! So we can't get more soldiers that way.

By continuing these wars, and yes, President Obama is indeed responsible for us continuing these wars, in order to get more troops, ISN'T IT TIME TO REINSTITUTE THE MILITARY DRAFT?!?

ISN'T IT LONG PAST TIME FOR WE, THE AMERICAN CITIZENS TO LET OUR VOICES BE HEARD REGARDING OUR INTEREST IN CONTINUING THESE WARS?!?

THIS IS OUR MONEY THAT IS BEING SPENT IN THESE HORRIBLE PLACES!!! THESE ARE OUR LIVES THAT ARE BEING SACRIFICED AND RUINED IN THESE HORRIBLE PLACES!!!

BUUUUT....IF THESE WARS ARE DEFINITELY IN OUR BEST INTERESTS, WE NEED TO HAVE MORE OF OUR CITIZENS INVOLVED IN THESE WAR EFFORTS!!!

YO, PRESIDENT OBAMA!!! I SUPPORTED YOUR NOMINATION AND YOUR ELECTION!!! I THINK YOU ARE HEAD AND SHOULDERS ABOVE WHAT WE HAD AS A "LEADER" THE PAST EIGHT YEARS!!!

YOU SIR, CLAIM TO BE A PEOPLE PERSON! ISN'T IT TIME FOR YOU TO RELIEVE SOME OF THE STRESS THESE WARS CAUSE OUR VOLUNTARY MILITARY TO SUFFER THROUGH BECAUSE OF CONSTANT REDEPLOYMENTS?!?

SIR, ISN'T IT LONG PAST TIME TO REINSTITUTE THE MILITARY DRAFT BECAUSE IF OUR CITIZENS IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA BELIEVE (AS YOU APPARENTLY DO) THAT THESE WARS ARE NECESSARY FOR OUR OVERALL WELL BEING, THEN GETTING A MANDATORY MILITARY DRAFT PUSHED THROUGH CONGRESS SHOULD BE A CAKEWALK!!!

Shouldn't it?

Are Texas College Students About To Be Packing Concealed Heat?

Did you hear about THIS? The Texas Senate has given preliminary approval to allow college students to carry concealed handguns on campus.

WOW!!!

As my long time friend and agent Sid Levin said to me, "Now when students don't like the grade the professor gives them, they can simply blow the professor's head off!"

For the record, Mr. Levin voted for John McCain.

The first thought that came to my mind was a pissed off male Texas college student who's mad at another Texas college student for stealing his girlfriend away from him.

The New American Idol Is...

For those of you who watch the show, that was quite a surprise, wasn't it? Kris was the winner over Adam? And did you hear one of the first things Kris said right after he was told he was/is the new American Idol? Quote: "Adam deserves this!"

Well, I thought Adam deserved it and so did a lot of other folks, but I don't think anyone has to worry about Adam's future. By getting on the show and proving week after week what kind of a talent he is, a whole lot of entertainment decision makers saw him perform and many of those decision makers will be hiring him.

Did you like all those guest performers on the more than 2-hour American Idol show? I did. I mean, some monster named performers showed up.

Speaking Of 2-Hour Season Finales...

I had the pleasure of watching the 2-hour season finale for "24" this past Monday at Glenn Morshower's home. Glenn plays the role of Agent Pierce and he's been playing that role ever since "24" began.

It was standing room only at Glenn's home and people who got there late filled up a second room that had televisions so people could watch what I thought was the best season finale of all the season finale's this season. I've seen every episode of "24" and until this season, I thought season 5 was their best season. If you saw the show, you know that Jack Bauer is in a coma, but you also know you have nothing to worry about unless Jack's alter ego ends up going to jail for head-butting a guy. There were some other things we're not so clear about, but one thing we learned at Glenn's home was that Morshower has agreed to play the Chief of Police in a new network tv show and if the show is "picked up" in the next few days, Agent Pierce's days on "24" will have ended. If that's the case, he left "24" on a night he was a major performer! Congratulations, my friend!

Other Showbiz Stuff...

The announcements for the new television season were made a few days ago and here's what jumped out at me. I'm happy to hear that "Castle" and "Southland" will be coming back but I'm sorry to hear that "The Unusuals" won't be coming back.

Did you watch "Glee" on Fox after American Idol this past Tuesday? I taped it and plan to watch it later this afternoon. This show is generating a lot of buzz! I mean, a lot of buzz. And it will be on Fox's regular schedule when the new season begins.

Other season enders? I loved "House", "Castle", "Desperate Housewives" and "Brothers & Sisters", a show I still think is the best show on television.

I have some films I'd like to tell you about that are on the current cable circuit, but they'll still be there next week so I'll stop writing because I'm late enough with this posting.

GO LAKERS!!!

Thoughts And Or Comments?

Please write to me at scottstjames@sbcglobal.net. If you write to the blog, there's no way for me to know your email address so I'm unable to respond to you. All emails sent to me at scottstjames@sbcglobal.net are answered by me.

The Next Blog?

Barring unforseen circumstances (like today), the next blog will be posted late Wednesday night, May 27 or early Thursday morning, May 28.

Rush Limbaugh! Wanda Sykes! LARadio.com! Manny Ramirez! Illegal Immigrants!

But firrrst...Now there are two! Danny was eliminated on American Idol tonight. That means the two remaining contestants are Kris and Adam. A classic battle between what appear to be two opposites talent wise and perhaps otherwise. Except when he sang an off the wall version of the Country classic, "Ring of Fire" during Country Week, I've been a huge fan of Adam's and I know I'm not alone. But Kris has his large number of fans as well so next Tuesday should be fun and full of tension.

RUSH LIMBAUGH and WANDA SYKES!!!

I'm sure you're all familiar with what Wanda Sykes said about Rush Limbaugh at the big function in Washington a few days ago.

She made a joke about Rush possibly being the mysterious 9/11 twentieth highjacker (a highjacker who didn't show up for some reason) and Sykes said it might have been because Rush was too high on OxyContin. She also said she hoped that Rush's kidneys failed.

Okay...The criticism Sykes got was for making a joke about 9/11 and 9/11 isn't something anyone should joke about and she was criticized for picking on a man who had a disease (drug addiction), when she made the OxyContin comment.

As far as her remark about Rush's kidneys, Sean "Little Lord Fauntlery" Hannity did a lot of screaming about Sykes wishing death on Rush and if anyone had dared say that about some left wing figure, there would have been all sorts of outrage expressed.

Here's MY take on the criticisms and how I took what Wanda Sykes meant.

"I hope his kidneys fail! What do you think about that!" Was in direct response to Limbaugh constantly saying, "I hope he (Obama) fails!

Tit for tat. Something we all do at one time or another after we or someone we like has been insulted. Conclusion? Gripers, grow the bleep up!

The 9/11 joke associating Limbaugh and OxyContin.

I laugh everytime I hear the joke. The argument that she shouldn't have been having fun at the expense of someone who has the disease of drug addiction?

I'm an alcoholic! I quit in March of 1991. Haven't had a drink since. Yes, I have the disease of alcoholism. Buuuut...I have never said anything about people who drink too much or that people who are illegal drug users should go to jail. UNLESS...They kill someone or injure someone while in a vehicle when they're drunk or high on drugs.

Before Rush Limbaugh was discovered to be a drug addict, he often said on his radio show that he believed that all illegal drug users should go to jail. He started saying that after he was making fun of and severely criticizing illegal drug users in a way that came across as being racist. He stopped saying the things that made him sound that way and very clearly stated (often) that he believed all illegal drug users, white-collar, whatever, should go to jail. Illegal drug users also includes people who get drugs by "drug shopping" meaning they're getting more than what their primary doctors are prescribing.

Rush Limbaugh was and is a hypocrite about drugs and I've always believed it's "open season" on hypocrites.

Making a joke about Rush and 9/11 and that (according to the Rush enablers) is out of line?

Well, let's simply throw back what Rush uses as an excuse everytime HE says something hurtful, mean, racist in nature, etc., etc. Rush's argument is, "I'm not being mean or being a racist! I'M an ENTERTAINER!!!"

Wellll...Guess what, gang? SO is Wanda Sykes!!!

LARadio.com!!!

The founder, publisher and editor of LARadio.com is Don Barrett who is a good friend of mine. We are a mutual support society. He has supported me in my various radio and film ventures and I support him as a long time subscriber and other things he's involved with. I've also tried to embarrass people into buying a subscription to LARadio.com when I find out they're illegally getting a subscription to LARadio.com. Don and I have a number of things in common including the fact that both of us play too much poker and we are both alcoholics. And Don is a highly regarded and highly sought out counselor of alcoholics.

He is also a regular reader of this blog.

In last week's blog, one of the things I wrote about was why I think "The Right" owns talk radio. Don liked what I wrote and wanted to print some of what I wrote in LARadio.com on Tuesday, the 11th of May. I said it was fine by me, but I expressed the concern about being taken out of context. Sooo...When he printed it, he told his readers (in writing) that there was more to my "conclusion" than what he was printing and he gave his readers a link to my blog.

Well, most folks won't take a second step if you've got 'em riled up enough about a "first impression" or if they're happy enough with a "first impression". I mention this because I haven't read the complaints, but I can't help but smile. You see, if I can help my good friend Don Barrett by giving him something that will allow his readers to feel better by complaining about someone besides HIM, well, I figure I've done my good deed for the day or days because there might be more complaints about me tomorrow and the next day.

MANNY RAMIREZ!!!

Big story here in the Los Angeles area about Dodgers left fielder, Manny Ramirez. Last Thursday he was suspended for 50 games by Major League Baseball because he tested positive for a substance that is banned by Major League Baseball. Ramirez says what he took was a drug designed to help him in the bedroom and it was prescribed by a doctor. No one disputes the fact that this drug WAS prescribed by a doctor, but where Ramirez screwed up was by not going to Major League Baseball and getting a "waiver" for using the substance that was in the pills he was taking.

ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS!!!

This month, officials in Los Angeles County will begin checking the immigration status of all inmates booked into its jails. The purpose is to identify and deport illegal immigrants with criminal records.

My first question is probably the same as your first question unless you think people who come to this country illegally are people we should leave alone because we need to have more lawbreakers among us.

My first question is...Why is this something that L.A. County HASN'T been doing?!?

Deport illegal immigrants if they have CRIMINAL RECORDS?!? Does that mean what I think it means? That illegal immigrants who don't have criminal records should be left alone?!? I mean, being here illegally is not considered to BE a crime?!?

We here in Los Angeles really are living in a "sanctuary city", aren't we?

GAS PRICES!!!

I can't help but think about that old song, "Up, Up and Away" that was sung by The 5th Dimension. Up, up and away is what have been happening to gas prices lately. Another 15 cents a gallon this past week.

THOUGHTS AND OR COMMENTS? Please write to me at scottstjames@sbcglobal.net. If you write to the blog, there's no way for me to know what your email address is, so I can't respond to you. Every email that is sent to scottstjames@sbcglobal.net is responded to by me.

THE NEXT BLOG? Barring unforseen circumstances, the next blog will be posted late Wednesday night, May 20 or early Thursday morning, May 21.

Why The "Right" OWNS Talk Radio, I Get "Personal" With You, Gas Prices Up Again and Tears On American Idol!!!

But first, let's get some other things out of the way...

American Talk Show Host Kicked Out Of A COUNTRY!!!

Talk show host Michael Savage has been banned from England?!? Conclusion: It's long past time for a purveyor of hate to be called on the carpet for it and dealt with accordingly. Yes, I know that he has a lot of listeners in this country. Some of whom read this blog. But while Michael Savage is bitching and moaning about England "calling" him on being what they know he is, Savage better pray to the heavens that people in this country don't discover what some of his most interesting "past" has been all about.

American Banks Need More Money From The Government!!!

You've probably heard about this, but in case you haven't, our major banks need more billions from us, the taxpayers. That means their customers will be hit with more fees and higher interest rates. Time to do what I did, gang. Get your money out of these banks and put it into credit unions.

Who Will Replace Supreme Court Justice, David Souter???

We are led to believe that President Obama might make his choice known by the end of this week. Most folks think he'll choose a woman. Before he chose Hillary Clinton to be his Secretary of State, a lot of people thought she would be President Obama's first choice to be a Supreme Court justice when an opening was created. I think that's still a possibility if Clinton wants the job. Otherwise...There's a Stanford University Law Professor named Pamela Karlan who's highly thought of as is a certain Senator from California who used to be the Mayor of San Francisco. But if you'd prefer another guy to take Souter's place, Does Congressman Ron Paul strike your fancy? What would be interesting about Paul (at least to me) would be I don't think anyone would ever know for sure which way he might vote on some things.

A Lot Of Talk About The Estate Tax!!!

This will surprise some of you long time readers of this blog, but I think the Estate Tax should be eliminated.

Pakistan And Afghanistan Are PROBLEMS???

Long time readers of this blog know the feeling here is that to think Pakistan was/is a true "ally" of ours is wishful thinking of the very first order. Annnnd....Because of all the casualties the Russians suffered while trying to do something in Afghanistan, what makes us think we'll do any better in that godforsaken hellhole of a country?!?

And Now The Stories In This Blog's Headlines!!!

Gas Prices!!!

I live in the San Fernando Valley part of Los Angeles County here in California and on Wednesday, May 6, gas prices went up 8 cents a gallon. That's a total of 14 cents a gallon in less than a week.

Tears On American Idol!!!

Tuesday night on American Idol was a lot of fun. It was Rock 'n Roll night for the four remaining performers who were mentored by rock guitar legend, Slash. Adam Lambert was the first performer and rocked the house with his version of a Led Zeppelin rock classic. It was pure Adam which for those of you have watched this season know that it was fun because that's what this guy is all about. None of the other three performers came close to Adam performance wise. American Idol producers put in something new on Tuesday when they had the four performers do duets. Adam sang with Allison Iraheta and their version of the rock classic, "Slow Ride" was so much fun to watch, tears of joy from viewers were understandable.

A different story on Wednesday. Judgment night. Yes, someone had to be eliminated, but I was sorry to see that it was Allison. I agreed with what Simon said Tuesday night when he offered the opinion that her duet performance with Adam probably "saved" her from being eliminated.

Well, it didn't and you could see the tears in this 17-year old's eyes while she was singing her swan song, "Cry, Baby"!

Oh...If you were watching, did you enjoy Paula Abdul's singing performance? I did. I was tapping my right foot through the whole song. I think she has another hit. A hit that would be her first singing hit in quite a while.

Why The "Right" OWNS Talk Radio!!!

Because of my past experience in radio, I get asked this question a lot. I also get asked other questions from people who read this blog who also have heard me on different radio stations and or have seen me on television and those questions are more personal.

Let me first deal with the "right" radio talk hosts and why it is that they seem to "own" talk radio question.

We all know who these "right" radio talk hosts are, right? (no pun intended) The biggest in weight (cheap shot, Scott) and ratings is Rush Limbaugh. The second largest ratings getter is Sean Hannity. Or as I like to call him, Sean "Little Lord Fauntleroy" Hannity. Until he got kicked out of England, I didn't know that Michael Savage is the "right" radio talk host who is the third largest ratings getter.

I admit it. I listen to the big two. Mike, Laura, Ann, Dennis and whoever else is doing this kind of radio are people I'm clueless about. I heard them a few times and they've done nothing for this listener's ears.

But as I stated in the above paragraph, I have listened to the others besides the big two a "few" times.

People who complain about the dominance of talk radio by these "right" leaning entertainers will often howl to the moon about a "monopoly" of some kind, that there needs to be some sort of "fairness" legislation imposed or something, anything so that the other side of the political spectrum can be heard.

Look, I'm part of that "other side of the political spectrum" you complainers are referring to, but before I go any further, I'm going to explain something else about my views. Something I've explained in the past, but it bears repeating. I'm a long time Republican. When I was on the radio just before "The Decider's" reelection, I said, "I don't get THESE Republicans and I believe if Barry Goldwater were alive today, HE'D be a DEMOCRAT!"

And let me be very clear about this; I don't get the Limbaugh-Hannity Republicans, either. I agree with some of their postions like their stances on illegal immigration. I haven't heard their position on The Estate Tax, but we probably agree. But their insistence on Reagan economics is stupid. I used to buy into that philosophy but not anymore. It's wrong, wrong, wrong and when those economic principles are in force, they benefit only the rich. The financial disasters we're witnessing and living through right now are a living testament to how stupid and hurtful these outdated policies are.

I know. I know. If I'm right (again, no pun intended), why DOES the "right" own talk radio? There are a lot of hosts on other stations who are talking about many of the same things I write about in this blog.

Here's my answer. We have a station here in Los Angeles that features a lot of hosts who express views the exact opposite of the views posed by Limbaugh and Hannity. I've listened to them. And everytime I hear about a new host on that station being hired, I listen to that host.

Six or seven paragraphs ago, I wrote that I listen to Limbaugh and Hannity, but the rest of the "right" hosts are hosts I've listened to only a few times because they don't have the "it" factor that Limbaugh and Hannity do. But there was enough "there, there" to try those other "right" hosts more than once before giving up on 'em.

On the station here in Los Angeles that features hosts with views that are different than the views posed by Limbaugh and Hannity are hosts I have listened to ONCE! After the one time, I decided there was no reason to listen again. And that's been the case with EVERY host on that station. And this is coming from a RADIO guy!!!

CONCLUSION: Until the "other side" hires hosts who are as entertaining as the hosts on the "right", the "other side" will NEVER have an audience. Purely and simply, the hosts on the "other side" aren't compelling enough and the absolute bottom line is, they're not good enough.

THOUGHTS AND OR COMMENTS? Write to me at scottstjames@sbcglobal.net. If you write to the blog, I won't know your email address and I won't be able to respond. All thoughts and or comments sent to scottstjames@sbcglobal.net are answered by me.

THE NEXT BLOG? Barring unforseen circumstances, my next blog will be posted late Wednesday night, May 13 or early Thursday morning, May 14.