Wednesday, August 25, 2010

When Fanning the Flames, You Must Make Certain That You Don't Accidentally Set Fire to YOURSELF!!!

Because of an early morning film audtion for the role of a "Loopy Sheriff" in a family feature film tomorrow, I was going to concentrate on the studying and memorization of my lines and write this week's blog sometime tomorrow afternoon or evening.

But because of all this Muslim related stuff I've had access to during the last couple of days, I know that I'm not going to be able to seriously concentrate on my lines until I get some of this other stuff out of my system, so for better or worse, here goes...

Yesterday, I sent 440 of my regular readers copies of something that was sent to me. It was from a guy who was telling the story about members of his family and friends of his family who had experienced the early days of Nazi Germany.

He told about how all of his family and friends were peace loving people and how they regarded the early beginnings of the Nazi movement as simply being a bunch of wacko's who didn't need to be taken seriously.

After finding themselves in concentration camps or dead, they realized, too late, that their "silence" was the biggest mistake they ever made.

What the Hitler led Nazi troopers, scientists and executioners ended up doing is a matter of public record. And they were given a "free ride" by the peace loving Germans who simply stayed out of their way instead of standing up and saying, "What the hell are you people UP to?" In hindsight, might that have gotten some of the peace loving Germans killed?

Yeah, it might have, probably would have, but if there were a lot of peace loving Germans willing to stand up and challenge what was going on, the Nazi thing might never have gotten off the ground.

Okay...I read the first person account of what happened and how it began to happen 70 or so years ago in Germany and I couldn't help but think about the Peace Loving MUSLIMS we keep hearing about, NOW!

Bear with me now because I'm gonna write some things that people on both sides of the current "Muslim" argument won't like.

Allah and God.

Hold on! I know that Muslims refer to Allah as God of Islam. We in America and other parts of the world refer to God as...God. In both cases, Allah and God are referred to as a "supreme being".

And both of these Gods are used as rallying cries when wars are involved.

Because I know I have at least two readers in Egypt who are Muslims along with a lot of American non-Muslims, let me pose this question to both sides of the "God equation". Do you really think that a "supreme being" is going to take sides in a war or wars that involves the killing of millions of people? And if so, what kind of peace loving religion ascribes to THAT?!?

Just askin'. And I'm just gettin' started.

We here in America are currently debating the merits of having a Muslim Mosque built near what is known as "Ground Zero" in New York City. That's where the infamous 9/11 murders took place. No doubt about the religion of all the murderers. Muslims. And I think that all but one of them were from Saudi Arabia. If we felt like we needed to attack someone, I've often wondered why it wasn't Saudi Arabia. But instead, for reasons unknown to anyone who thinks clearly, we attacked Iraq.

Since then, we've been hearing from Muslim apologists that the reason Muslims were behind 9/11 and other terrible incidents after 9/11 is because we started killing Muslims first.

No, 9/11 was first in the current argument and while I thought we had no business going to Iraq, I did and do support operations in and around Pakistan and Afghanistan for the purpose of hunting for, capturing and or killing Osama bin Laden.

Okay...We're now up to date. And a new word has been invented; "Islamaphobia"!

And we are told that isn't fair because the vast majority of Muslims are peace loving Muslims.

And 70 or so years ago, the vast majority of Germans were peace loving Germans.

Do you see where I'm going here?

Very recently, in New York, a passenger asked a cab driver if he was/is a Muslim. When the cab driver said, "Yes!", the passenger stabbed him several times. The passenger is now in jail and the cab driver, an American citizen, is alive.

"Islamaphobia"!

WHY?!?

Well, here's one good reason. Everytime we hear something said from one of the Muslim terrorists, it's always about bad Americans, murderous Americans, Muslim hating Americans, etc., etc. and they speak proudly when they refer to having killed and or tortured Americans.

And over and over, we hear from a few Muslims and their American supporters who say (in essence) that the vast majority of Muslims are peace loving Muslims.

70 or so years ago, we are told that the vast majority of Germans were peace loving Germans but when the Nazi crowd took over, it was too late for the peace loving Germans to do anything to stop them.

YO! Peace Loving MUSLIMS!! Do You Want To Wait Until The Possibility Of The Beginning of World War III?!? Do You Want To Keep Your Mouths Shut Like The Peace Loving Germans Did?

If this vast majority of peace loving Muslims is a truism and not a fantasy, for the love of GOD....YOU'RE God and MY God, would you PLEASE, pretty please with a cherry on top, STAND UP and say it loud because your proud and let the WORLD hear that these Taliban Muslims ain't YOUR Muslims!!!

And don't say it ONCE! I mean, unless you're stupid, you have to know that we're getting too damn close to being in what would be known as a HOLY WAR, a war that would go down in the history books as World War III.

And let me please define what that HOLY WAR would REALLY represent. It would have NOTHING to do with GOD involvements. THIS war would be "holy", all right, but this would be a battle between forces representing THE DEVIL!!!

Thoughts and or comments about what you just read? Write to me at scottstjames@sbcglobal.net and I'll respond to you as quickly as possible. Don't write to the blog because there's no way for me to know your email address so I wouldn't be able to respond to you.

OTHER QUICK STUFF:

More and more people are thinking that President Obama is a Muslim? Really? And that's because....?

Stem cell research involving human embryonic stem cells has been stopped by a Judge? Wow! Does this Judge know that Nancy Reagan is in favor of this research. As am I. And so many other people who haven't allowed their judgment to be clouded by people who use their beliefs as opposed to science to direct their thinking.

ENTERTAINMENT STUFF:

I saw "Piranha 3-D" last Friday. This film has gotten a lot of favorable reviews and I was entertained, but I didn't think it was great. Among others, Richard Dreyfuss, Elizabeth Shue and Jerry O'Connell are in this film along with Steven McQueen, the grandson of the famous actor, Steve McQueen. Young Mr. McQueen was quite good in the role he played but the role of the person who picked the bikinis was quite good too because of how easy it was for them to be removed.

Four films that I saw on cable...

"The Juror", a 1996 film that's currently on the Encore circuit. It stars Demi Moore, Alec Baldwin and a fine supporting performance from Anne Heche. Good film, folks. If you saw it before, it's worth seeing again.

"Donnie Brasco", a 1997 film that's currently on the Encore circuit. Al Pacino, Johnny Depp, Michael Madsen and another fine supporting performance from Anne Heche. Riveting film and most definitely worth seeing again or for the first time.

"The Informant" is a film based on a true story that was released not too long ago and I don't think it did well at the box office. It stars Matt Damon. After about 15 minutes, I was ready to give up on this film, but I changed my mind and I'm glad I did. A good friend of mine didn't like this film at all, but I ended up liking it a lot.

"Doubt". WOW! It's currently on the Starz circuit and I don't know why I waited so long to see this. Meryl Streep, Amy Adams and Philip Hoffman are outstanding. And as usual, in no matter what kind of film it is, Philip Hoffman is the best reason to see this film. Heavy, heavy story about a priest and his possible relationship with a young boy. I wholeheartedly recommend this film.

QUESTIONS AND OR COMMENTS? Write to me at scottstjames@sbcglobal.net and I'll respond to you as quickly as possible. Don't write to the blog because there's no way for me to know your email address so I won't be able to send you a response. All "Anonymous" emails are ignored.

THE NEXT BLOG? Barring unforseen circumstances, Wednesday night, August 25 or early Thursday morning, August 26.

Come on, you peace loving Muslims! Make yourselves heard! Over and over again! Remember how Nazi Germany BECAME Nazi Germany!

Meanwhile, I hope that all of you have a great rest of the week and if you get a chance, check me out on CRN with network owner Mike Horn, this Friday afternoon from 4-5 Pacific Time. www.CRNTalk.com or if you need information, www.CRNi.net We'll be talking about some of the things you see in this blog.

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

This Dr. Laura Business Is....!?!?

First of all, I've been having a lot of fun on CRN with owner Mike Horn the last few days. Between 4 and 5 in the afternoon (Pacific Time), we've been talking about lots of things you read in this blog, last Friday, this past Monday and today. I'll be on with actor-director-producer, Harold Sylvester this Friday, 4-5 pm, Pacific Time. CRN can be heard anywhere in the world and if you would like to know how you can hear it where you are, click on to www.CRNi.net and if for some strange reason you can't find the information you need, you can call, 818-352-7152.

Among other things, Harold and I will be talking about his wonderful acting career and we'll also be talking about some new films, Dr. Laura, all the troops that are leaving Iraq, an interesting business that might be built next to the Mosque in New York City that everyone's talking about and whatever the other hot stories of the day are.

Before going to the topic of Dr. Laura, let's share with you a bumper sticker that was sent to me by long time Illinois blog reader, Dave Acocks;

FIGHT ORGANIZED CRIME!! RE-ELECT NO ONE!!

Okay...Dr. Laura.

If you care, you know that some people think she put her foot in her mouth during an on-air conversation she had with an African American woman who is married to a white guy and she wanted some advice from Dr. Laura about some of her (the caller's) husband's friends who were making the caller uncomfortable because of some of the things they said that were racial related. This happened last week. I didn't hear the show, but I heard that Dr. Laura used the "N" word several times during this conversation (11, actually), but I chalked it off to a risky and bad idea because this sounded to me like a conversation that should have taken place behind closed doors.

I thought that way until this past weekend when I read the unedited transcript of what was almost a 7-minute conversation and then when I heard the unedited audio of the conversation, I knew that Dr. Laura had "blown it" and I'm not surprised to hear that when her contract ends at the end of this year, her broadcasting career will apparently end.

As we used to say in the South, "I don't have a dog in the hunt", buuut....this on-air conversation wouldn't have had the end result it had/has if she was as smart as most of her listeners think she is. Because of what ended up happening, she is proven to be not only not very smart, but a legitimate question can be asked regarding the possibility of what's really in her heart having been "exposed".

As a guy who has hosted a lot of talk shows and in fact, recently, been co-hosting some more, I will now tell you how this should have played out and the different "end" reaction we'd be hearing from everyone who heard the show or who talked about what someone told them about that show.

The topic was a great talk show kind of topic. A black woman who is married to a white man wants advice about things that are said by her husband's white friends that are making her uncomfortable, because of the racial slant being taken by her husband's friends.

Trust me, folks. For a talk show host who knows what they're doing, this is whacha call "Gold".

What the experienced talk show host knows is that with a potentially controversial topic/on-air conversation like this one, the talk show host lets-encourages the caller to be the "driver" of this conversation. The talk show host takes the position of being a "traffic cop" while the caller "vents". And as long as the caller "stays on topic", this is the kind of call you can keep on the air for as long as Dr. Laura did and even longer. And if the experienced talk show host handles a controversial call-topic like that, what everybody would be talking about later would be, "Did you hear that great call on Dr. Laura's show about the lady in a mixed marriage?"

Short Commentary: Dr. Laura, I thought you were smarter than that. I remember when you and I were hired by the Gene Autry people to work on KMPC here in 1980 and I filled in for you a couple of times. We all had you pegged to do very well for yourself and you made prophets out of all of us. But what happened a few days ago, showed us one of two things; You either never learned the "let the caller be the driver" rule or somewhere along the way, you decided you were/are omnipotent.

IRAQ and AFGHANISTAN:

As you probably know, just about all of our combat troops have left or are leaving Iraq. In addition to some soldiers staying to help with security issues, we are also providing private contracters, which is not always a good thing, but apparently President Obama didn't learn that while watching what happened during the Bush administration.

Before General David Petraeus took over as commander of our Afghanistan adventure, he assured President Obama that he could accomplish what needed to be accomplished in 18 months. But now that Petraeus is there, he is publicly opposing a rapid pullout. As one columnist wrote, "It kinda makes you wonder who's in charge, doesn't it?"

Here's what I'm wondering....

YO, ALL YOU WAR HAWKS!!! Yeah, YOU!!! The ones who want us to continue with these stupid wars out of one side of your mouths and are demanding that we rein in government spending and quit adding to our "deficit" out of the other side of your mouths!

Do you hawks know that the cost of these wars is adding to the deficit? If you don't want that war money to be added to the deficit, but you DO want these WARS, why aren't you advocating a TAX INCREASE to PAY for these wars?!?

I've said it before and I'll say it again....If these wars are so damn important, reinstate the military draft so that more American citizens are forced to participate in what we are supposed to believe is critical to our national security. And then let the American people know that taxes have to be raised to (finally) PAY for these wars!

Let the American people know that you're about to do these two things and then we'll find out if the American people agree with what the Pentagon and weapons manufacturers believe is so important for our national security.

THE POSSIBLE/PROBABLE MUSLIM MOSQUE NEAR GROUND ZERO:

I understand the concerns of those who lost loved ones on 9/11. And yes, there's no doubt about who those criminals in those airplanes were; Muslims.

Do we believe that all Muslims are bad and that they shouldn't have the right to build houses of worship for themselves? I don't believe that we do, but I do believe we tend to be suspicious of Muslims and we won't stop being suspicious until they stop trying to kill us.

Here's an interesting development that's taking place if indeed this Mosque is finally built where they want it built. Another group of people are trying to get all the legal stuff taken care of so that they can build a business establishment right next to that Mosque. It would be a Gay Bar, designed to appeal to gay Islamic men.

ENTERTAINMENT STUFF:

"Thumbs Up" from me regarding two new films.

"The Expendables". I got a real kick out of this film. Sly Stallone wrote, directed and starred in a film that uses up a lot of ammunition while blowing up a lot of stuff and along the way, some pretty good lines are spoken, specifically by Stallone in a remark about California's Governor and in a fun conversation between Stallone and Jason Statham near the end of the film. There is no hidden mystery about what kind of film this is. A lot of older action stars are showing us they still have "the moves" and if you're ready to suspend belief and enjoy your popcorn, you will have a very fun experience at the Cineplex you see this film in.

"Eat, Pray, Love". This is Julia Roberts' new film. It's based on a best selling book. It's 2 hours and 20 minutes long and it is worth every minute of your time in the Cineplex. In addition to Roberts, James Franco, Viola Davis, Richard Jenkins, Billy Crudup and Javier Bardem flat out shine in this film. A film that figures to get some Oscar nominations. Besides Roberts getting a best actress nomination, I'm going to guess that Viola Davis, Jenkins and Franco will get serious best supporting actress and actor considerations.

QUESTIONS AND OR COMMENTS?

Write to me at scottstjames@sbcglobal.net and I will respond as quickly as I can. Don't write to the blog because there's no way for me to know what your email address is so I won't be able to respond. Again... scottstjames@sbcglobal.net and I will happily respond ASAP. All anonymous emails are ignored.

THE NEXT BLOG?

Barring unforseen circumstances, the next blog will be posted late Wednesday night, August 25 or early Thursday morning, August 26.

Now...Please remember our upcoming election slogan:

FIGHT ORGANIZED CRIME!! RE-ELECT NO ONE!!

Don't forget...If you'd like to hear the radio show I'll be doing on CRN this Friday afternoon between 4 and 5 Pacific Time, click on www.CRNi.net to find out how you can listen to the show. If for some reason you don't get the information you're looking for, call 818-352-7152.

I hope that all of you have a great weekend!



Thursday, August 12, 2010

Will Hillary Clinton Replace Joe Biden?!?

Because of a couple of radio things and other show business related obligations, this little labor of love known as "The Jammer with the Hammer" is a day late and as usual (at least) a dollar short.

I have the feeling this week's blog will be considerably shorter than last week's, but we shall see what we shall see beginning right now.

Hillary Clinton-Joe Biden!!!

Have you heard the buzz surrounding those two? That when (or if) Barack Obama announces his intention to run for reelection, that his running mate will be Hillary Clinton instead of Joe Biden?!? We're told that Mrs. Clinton would be "on board" with the idea and that Joe Biden would be offered Clinton's current position as Secretary of State. No one seems to know what Biden's response would be because no one seems to know if Biden has been asked or told anything about this by the only person who could tell him and that would be President Obama.

The First Lady's Vacation Trip To Spain!

I agree with those who say it's bad timing. Almost all of what I'll refer to as "Breitbart-like tax payer numbers and or accusations" are as accurate as his edited video was. She brought one of her daughters and four friends with her and some of their children. Mrs. Obama paid her own expenses and her friends paid their own expenses. Yes, taxpayers picked up the cost of the plane, food and lodging for the flight crew and Secret Service Agents and yes, (again) the timing of this trip sucked.

A Military "Birther Believer" Has Put His Military Career And His FREEDOM On The Line To Try To Prove That President Obama Is A FRAUDULENT Commander in Chief!!!

Have you heard about this? I'm not going to mention his name because I have sympathy for those who I think are insane, but here's the deal...A U.S. Military Lieutenant Colonel was given orders to deploy to one of our two main war zones. He has refused this direct order and he says he wants to be given a Court Martial (that's a military trial) because he believes that his Commander in Chief (President Obama) wasn't born in this country and therefore, he, (the Lieutenant Colonel) was being ordered to deploy by a fraudulent Commander in Chief. The Lieutenant Colonel also believes that for him to be found guilty, his Commander in Chief (Obama) would have to produce a birth certificate at the trial showing that he (Obama) really was born here. The Lieutenant Colonel believes that Obama would be unable to do that and that would result in the Lieutenant Colonel being found "not guilty" and I guess he's assuming that President Obama would then be hauled off to jail.

Short Commentary: Good luck with that, Colonel and I hope when this has ended, you are given a very comfortable bed and that you are given access to the finest mental health professionals our country can offer you.

Buuuuut....If the multi-Trillion to one shot you're playing proves you to be right, I would still advise you getting help from the finest mental health professionals our country can offer you because of the overwhelming weight of new celebrity-hood that you'll be experiencing.

Short Commentary 2: Folks, in my lifetime, I've never heard of a president of ours being challenged about where he was born until this Obama business came up about the time somebody said, "He's a BLACK guy?!?" and I've also never heard of a sitting president (or a former president) being asked or ordered to testify in a criminal proceeding in which the alleged criminal was demanding that the President of the United States give testimony that could result in the acquittal of said alleged criminal.

I believe I have some of the smartest and well read people in the world who read this little weekly blog of mine and if any of you have heard of a president testifying in a case like I'm describing, please tell me in an email at scottstjames@sbcglobal.net

POP QUIZ:

Do you like puzzles, quizzes, that sort of thing?

Yes? Here's one for you.

Regarding citizenship, the United States of America is the ONLY country that...what?

CLOSE YOUR EYES AND DON'T LOOK FURTHER DOWN UNTIL YOU'RE READY

TO ANSWER OR YOU'VE GIVEN UP!!!






The United States of America is the only country that gives birthright citizenship to the babies of tourists and illegal aliens.

Does that make you feel like a proud American?

The Citizenship Clause:

It is the citizenship clause of the 14th Amendment that needs to be amended, revised, whatever because we simply can't afford what this is costing us as a nation. And some pretty influential politicians are getting on board with this. I wish them well.

Flight Attendant, Steve Slater:

We've all heard about this guy, right? The flight attendant who had it "up to here" with an abusive passenger? And he ended up cussing her out over the plane's intercom and then with a beer in his hand made a dramatic exit from the plane.

My first reaction was (apparently) like the reaction of most folks who heard about this. We cheered and in my case, I saluted the guy.

But upon reflection.....I'm inclined to agree with blog reader Patrick Gallagher who says that Jet Blue should notify the passenger that her business isn't welcome anymore and that Steve Slater should be made to understand that his career with airplanes has ended because that "sliding down" stunt could have gotten someone killed.

UNEMPLOYMENT:

Are you looking for a job? Tough out there, isn't it? And this new study that's been released is butt-ugly awful. The unemployment figures don't include the people who, after years of being rejected, have given up. 9 or 10% are unemployed??? Bullshit! Counting those who have "given up" but who would work in a heartbeat if given the opportunity, the real unemployment number is close to 15% if not higher. We're told that what we're now experiencing is worse than anything that's been seen since the 1930's.

ARIZONA's NEW IMMIGRATION LAW GETS CHALLENGED AND IS IMMEDIATELY RESPONDED TO (big time) BY ARIZONA GOVERNOR, JAN BREWER!!!

First of all, my sincere thanks to long time blog reader Bill Mouzis for sending me this.

A man named Robert Sarver owns the Phoenix Suns basketball team. He recently made it very clear that he opposes Arizona's new immigration laws. When Arizona Governor, Jan Brewer read his comments, she responded to Sarver. Immediately. And here's what she said;

"What if the owner of the Suns discovered that hordes of people were sneaking into games without paying? What if they had a good idea who the gate-crashers are, but the ushers and security personnel were not allowed to ask these folks to produce their ticket stubs, thus non-paying attendees couldn't be ejected? Furthermore, what if Suns' ownership was expected to provide those who sneaked in with complimentary eats and drink? And what if, on those days when a gate-crasher became ill or injured, the Suns had to provide free medical care and shelter?"

Short Commentary:

Is that not the mother of all responses we've heard from someone in quite a while? It certainly is for me and to Governor Brewer, I say, "You GO, girl! Uh, uh....I mean, Governor... Madam Governor!"

ENTERTAINMENT STUFF:

Will she or won't she? I'm referring to Jennifer Lopez. Will she or won't she be a new judge on "American Idol". A day or two ago, a story came out saying she's no longer being considered, but now we've learned that's simply whacha call part of "the negotiation process". As a fan of the show, I hope this happens. I think she'd be a great addition to "American Idol". And as I've stated before, I hope she makes another movie with George Clooney.

Films I've seen recently:

Yesterday, "The Other Guys". The new Will Ferrell-Mark Wahlberg film. I thought there was some funny moments in this film, but no where near as many as some folks were saying. But in addition to Ferrell and Wahlberg, there are a number of other fine actors in this film and I ended up being very interested in "the story". Bottom line? I think it's worth the price of admission, folks.

I'm now going to mention two films I recently saw on cable.

"Killshot", a 2009 film that's currently on the Showtime circuit. It has a terrific cast that includes Diane Lane, Mickey Rourke, Joseph Gordon Levitt and Thomas Jane. Long time readers know what I think of Diane Lane's work and the long time "film crush" I've had of/on her.

She does good work with what she has to work with and that can be said of all the actors in this film. Bottom line? There's a reason the theatrical release for this film was only 5 theatres and thank you Patrick Goldstein (LA Times) for giving me that information. This is a so-so film. Translation? Not so bad, not so good.

"The Private Lives of Pippa Lee". Another film that's on the Showtime circuit. A film that was released not long ago, but for whatever reason, I didn't hear anything about it. That's a shame, because this is a good film that features an all-star cast. Among this great cast, you'll see, Keanu Reeves (sounding like Clint Eastwood), Alan Arkin, Maria Bello, Monica Bellucci, Winona Ryder, Blake Lively (as the young Pippa Lee) and the gorgeous and very talented Robin Wright Penn as the adult Pippa Lee. She's now calling herself Robin Wright because her divorce from Sean Penn is now official, but here's something else that's official; This very beautiful woman figures to be a great "catch" for some very lucky guy and this very talented actress flat struts her acting chops in this film that you, like me, probably have or had never heard of. Check it out.

Back to Blake Lively for a second. As some of you know, she stars in the teen show, "Gossip Girl", but this young woman is making a name for herself as a serious film star. She'll soon be seen in a new Ben Affleck film in which she's gotten some early raves for.

THOUGHTS AND OR COMMENTS? Please write to me at scottstjames@sbcglobal.net and I will respond to you as quickly as possible. Don't write to the blog because there's no way for me to know your email address so there's no way for me to respond to you. Again...write to me at scottstjames@sbcglobal.net and I will happily respond to you ASAP. All "anonymous" emails are ignored.

The Next Blog? Barring unforseen circumstances, six days from now or seven. Wednesday night (late) August 18, early Thursday morning, August 19 or early afternoon.

Meanwhile, I hope that all of you have a great rest of the week and weekend!!!






Wednesday, August 11, 2010

New blog will be posted by no later than noon, Pacific Time, Thursday, August 12!!!

Hi Everybody,

The topics in the new blog will include:

A possible new job for Hillary Clinton?

Only one country in the world gives birthright citizenship to babies of tourists and illegal immigrants.

A Lieutenant Colonel has refused his ordered deployment to a war zone because he believes he's been given an illegal order from President Obama because Obama is not a legal citizen. This lieutenant colonel wants a Court-Martial so that (in his view) Obama would have to produce a valid birth certificate at the trial for the lieutenant colonel to be convicted of disobeying a direct order.

Michelle Obama's trip to Spain.

A classic response from Arizona Governor Jan Brewer to a basketball team owner who doesn't like Arizona's new anti-illegal immigrant law.

The above topics and more along with my thoughts about three films in the new blog that will be posted by noon, August 12.

Thursday, August 05, 2010

"The Times, They Are A-Changin'", But first, a response statement, from me, the writer of this here blog!

A lot of stuff going on, gang.

Conversations about the possible repeal of the 14th Amendment and why.

The California Gay Marriage ruling.

The possible Mosque being built near Ground Zero.

Our upcoming departure from Iraq.

Shaquille O'Neal now with the Celtics.

Brett Favre is going to....Well who really knows what Brett Favre will do besides providing more drama?!?

A review of a film that it took me more than 26 years to finally see!

A list of mind boggling "How much The Times Are A-Changin'".

How you can get a new book titled, "I Love Radio".

And speaking of RADIO...

Here comes that response statement I alluded to in the above headline, but first, a little background...

As long time readers of this blog know, what we mostly write about here are political topics. And these topics are read and commented on (to me) by readers all over the country. And in different parts of the world. In fact, the vast majority of you readers don't live where this blog is written which is in the Los Angeles, California area. We also write a little about entertainment stuff because a lot of people have some interest in that as well. Once in a while I might tell a story about that occasional new show business job I was lucky enough to get and very rarely, I will write about something I happen to know a lot about. And that is anything having to with radio.

During my long career in radio coupled with more than a decade's worth of television experience doing (in no particular order) Major Market Top-40 Drive Time work, Major Market General Information Talk, Drive Time work, and Major Market Sports Talk and Television Anchor work, not to mention numerous radio and television "specials" and the television chat shows I hosted and co-hosted, I learned a few things.

And I learned these things from the very best in the business. Some have said to me that they believe I have worked side by side with more Radio Hall of Famers and Pulitzer Prize winners than anyone. Not in the same building(s). Side by side.

And I have worked for the very best in the business. Whether they were "talent" or "bosses", they all had one thing in common. They were hard-asses to their core. There was one way to do things. The "right way". And your number one priority was to always "Protect the Show". And yeah, you better get all the commercials on, too.

Before I go any further with this, let me be crystal clear about something; I'm NOT in the Radio Hall of Fame. I would have to buy a ticket to get into the building. Same deal with the Pulitzer Prize. Full disclosure....Okay....I am a member of two city Halls of Fame, but when I was given those honors, I believed they couldn't find anyone else to show up for the ceremony and in those days, I was known as a guy who would attend envelope openings. You know, like what KRTH's Shotgun Tom here in L.A. does.

But I digress.

What prompts this little story telling I'm doing is the reaction I've gotten to a small story about KABC radio and the Dodgers that I wrote in this blog on July 14. One person from those organizations wrote some comments to me about that story, but the only reason he knew about the story was because I sent it to him.

A couple of days ago, my good friend and LARadio.com Publisher/Owner, Don Barrett printed a copy of that story for his readers. I didn't know he was going to do that, but Don doesn't need my permission to do that.

This 3-weeks old story has resulted in Don's assistants having to do extra work so they can fit in all of the outraged KABC and Dodger supporters who are out there. I mean, it's the radio version of the Tea Party crowd and as Democrats have learned, you don't want to get those Tea Party people riled up atcha. The next thing you know, Sarah Palin will be here doing her Momma Grizzly Bear act and the guy she's gonna be lookin' to bite, is ME!!!

Lord have mercy!

Now I'm going to pause for a second and with an "I'm guilty" smile say, is this the longest lead-in to what this is really about that you've ever read?

Did I hear someone say, "Cut to the CHASE!!!"?!?

I'm not going to do a word for word regurgitation of what Don Barret printed a couple of days ago and what I wrote in this blog on July 14. Feel free to find the story here or you can go to LARadio.com, read the story and then read the comments from all those people who are mad at me.

A couple of months ago, I wrote my first story about a problem I heard on a Dodgers broadcast. In both stories, I focused on one individual because of the "title" he has. It's a title that if not ceremonial in nature, is a title that gives him the responsibility and authority to implement measures that would limit the possibilities of the mistakes that were made. Or to immediately correct those mistakes. And if the man with the title would like to know how to do that, I'd be happy to tell him if he calls me. And you know what? I would never tell anyone he did call me. My word is "golden" and no one knows how "golden" my word is better than a guy who I currently get information from over there. It's an easy, guaranteed to work solution for a mistake and it can be a preventive measure for a possible mistake.

I'm hearing a lot about how what I wrote was, "no big deal, etc."

Look, I know that things are different now compared to when I was working in that business. Salaries are being cut multiple times in a year, more and more work is being required, none of it is fair and now you gotta hear from somebody that a loudmouth blog writer who used to be a loudmouth radio and television guy is bad-mouthing you.

You and your friends say, in unison, "It ain't FAIR!!!"

And my response to that is, "You're RIGHT!"

But ya know what? Things weren't fair when I was flyin' high, either. But as I stated at the beginning of this piece, the legends I learned from were all hard-asses, job wise. And I became one of those guys. Still am. A hard-ass, job wise. And when I see it or hear it, I give no slack to mediocrity.

And now we go to the stuff we USUALLY write about!

LIKE THIS:

The 14th Amendment as it pertains to automatic U.S. citizenship for children who are born here to parents who are illegal immigrants. Arizona Senator Jon Kyl is the latest to get on board with the idea of eliminating that guarantee from the 14th Amendment and I sincerely hope it happens. You long time readers know that I've been griping about this forever. Allowing children who are born here to parents who are illegal immigrants gives those illegal immigrants a gigantic "sympathy card" to play when they are arrested and about to be deported.

CALIFORNIA's GAY MARRIAGE RULING!

A Federal Judge named Vaughn Walker overturned the ban on same-sex marriage, which was Proposition 8 yesterday.

That means that gay and lesbian couples can legally get married.

Yes, I know that this ruling could be overturned by the Supreme Court.

But just for the sake of argument, what if it isn't overturned?

I will admit that when I was much younger, the idea of what we used to call "Queer" folks getting married to each other, was to me, flat out disgusting. Hell, the idea of them being behind closed doors, was disgusting enough! But those queers gettin' married to each other? Good God, almighty! The world is comin' to an end!

I don't feel that way anymore.

I don't understand (for example) how a guy is attracted sexually to another guy, but you know what? I don't have to understand it because I just happen to not be "wired" that way.

And please don't give me the argument that "Gay" is something you can "catch". It ain't a disease, folks. It's just the way some folks were born. And for those who choose to throw religion into the mix while objecting to folks who are gay? If we are to believe there is an almighty being (God) who's our maker, can't we accept the fact that he or she made gay folks, too?

THE MOSQUE IN NEW YORK!!!

Man, oh man, oh man.

Look, I believe in religious freedom, etc., etc. I really do. But the idea of putting a Mosque at "Ground Zero" where all those people died because of Muslim murderers is something that causes one word to come out of my mouth; YUCK!!!

Yeah, two other words come to mind, too; HELL, NO!!!

IRAQ!!!

Ah, yes. The country that had absolutely nothing to do with 9/11. The country that we invaded, got Saddam Hussein executed and promised Iraqi citizens a new and better life because of nation building and new elections.

Less than a month from now, we will have all of our troops out of there except for 50,000, who will be staying there to act as peace keepers, I guess. But there is no elected Iraqi government in place and nation building? What nation building?

Hmmmm.....We went there based on lies....The first wave of troops were fitted with bulletproof vests that were in fact vests that were very receptive to bullets and armored vehicles that provided protection to no one. Recently we've learned that our bean counters lost track of the billions we were supposed to get from oil money to help pay for some of what we did there.

All in all, a very successful operation, huh?

TWO SPORTS ITEMS!!!

Shaquille O'Neal is now a member of the Boston Celtics. 2-year deal, worth about 3 million.

Brett Favre? He's pretty much the NFL's Drama Queen, isn't he? "I'm retiring, I'm un-retiring, I might show up in September, blah, blah, blah!"

Long time blog reader Patrick Gallagher told me it would be like this. The Vikings will continue to kiss Favre's ass because they need him on the field so they can get a new stadium. And Favre is milking this in a way that is making farmers everywhere, envious.

ENTERTAINMENT STUFF:

If Jennifer Lopez is really going to be a new judge on American Idol, that is suhhh-ch a great hire!!! Still gorgeous, still very talented and she has charisma with a CAPITOL "C"!!!

I'm still hoping that one day she'll make another movie with George Clooney.

A film I waited 26 years to see:

When "Once Upon A Time In America" came out in 1984, I didn't see it in a theatre, but I did buy the 229 minutes version.

I'm told that three versions were made. A much shorter version that bombed at the box office, a longer version and the 229 minutes version which everyone says is the best version.

I don't know why I never ripped the cellophane off the cover and watched this film before a few days ago, but the bottom line is, I'm very glad I saw it.

This was directed by Sergio Leone, a man who became famous making Westerns, but Western, "Once Upon A Time In America", isn't.

It is a story about struggles. Lots of struggles. And the performances of Robert DeNiro, James Woods, Tuesday Weld and Elizabeth McGovern are off the charts terrific. As is the young version of the Elizabeth McGovern character that was Jennifer Connelly's first big screen role.

Yeah, this film is 229 minutes long. But near the end of the film, to myself I said, "I'm really glad I watched this!"

If you've never seen it and have the opportunity to buy or rent "Once Upon A Time In America", I strongly recommend that you do. You will thank me for recommending this film.

A PLUG FOR A COUPLE OF FRIENDS OF MINE.
MIKE HORN AND CLAUDE HALL!!!

Mike Horn is the owner of CRN which stands for Cable Radio Network. You can hear it all over the world. The operation is based in beautiful Sunland, California.

In addition to owning CRN, Mike Horn also does a couple of air-shifts on CRN. File that under the category, "Once a ham, always a ham".

Mike and I have often talked about possibly doing something together there, but the timing has never been right. But this past Monday, on an impulse, Mike asked if I would like to join him on his 4 o'clock show that afternoon. It's a talk show. No topics are off limits and with a smile, my answer was, "Sure!"

This was the first time I had ever been in a studio with Mike and for me, this turned out to be an absolute blast. We talked about the 14th Amendment, Lindsay Lohan, Charlie Sheen, Iraq, the Dodgers, the Angels, he asked me to make predictions on who would be in the next World Series and a whole bunch of other stuff. It was the fastest hour of radio I've ever been a part of. Oh...The World Series predictions? I gave myself an "out" by saying I might change my mind in a few days, but right then, while admitting I was hoping for a miracle performed by the Dodgers, I picked Atlanta and Texas to play in the next World Series.

There's a lot of good programming on CRN. My friend, the actor Robert Conrad has a show as do a number of other friends of mine. If you would like to know more about CRN and how you can listen to this great station, click onto www.crntalk.com

CLAUDE HALL!!!

I've written about Claude in a previous blog. He is a long time friend of mine who did me a big favor more than 30 years ago and he probably doesn't remember because he has done lots of favors for radio people. And you know what, I'm not going to tell him what the favor was. He doesn't need to remember it, but I'll never forget it.

Claude Hall was a champion-er of up and coming radio people for the many years he was at Billboard Magazine. During those years he wrote a radio column that was called, "Vox Jox" that was read by everyone in the radio business. The second most read radio columnist couldn't be found on a map.

Once again, I'll use my made up word, "champion-er" and tell you that he spotted Don Imus as a radio star when the I-Man was working in Stockton, California. I think that was the I-Man's first radio job.

Over the years, Claude Hall celebrated the successes of many and predicted the successes of many others while asking for nothing in return. He currently writes a weekly column for Radio Daily News which can be found at www.rdn.com

The friendships Claude Hall has in the radio business is a veritable "Who's Who" of broadcasters.

Claude Hall has written a new book, "I Love Radio". I mean, that is sooo the "perfect" title for a book written by a man who has had a love affair with radio and the people in radio for more than 50 years.

If you would like to get a copy of Claude Hall's book, all you have to do is click onto www.claudehallonline.com and you'll see easy directions on how to get a book that I'm looking forward to reading tonight. Is it expensive? Not at all.

Final item:

My thanks to Newsweek Magazine for coming up with a list showing, "Exactly How Much Are The Times A-Changin'?"

In the year 2000, there were 12,000 active blogs. In 2010, there are 141 million, including this one.

In the year 2000, there were 100 million daily google searches. In 2010, there are 2 billion.

In the year 2000, there were 4 Reality-TV Shows. In 2010, there are 320.

In the year 2000, there were 0 (zero) Itunes downloads. In 2010, there are 10 billion.

In the year 2000, time spent online was 2.7 hours per week. In 2010, 18 hours a week.

In the year 2000, there were 400,000 text messages. In 2010, 4.5 billion.

And finally...

In the year 2000, there were 12 billion daily e-mails. In 2010, 247 billion.

QUESTIONS AND OR COMMENTS? Please write to me at scottstjames@sbcglobal.net and I will respond as quickly as possible. Don't write to the blog because there's no way for me to know your email address and that means I won't be able to respond to you. Again...Please write to me at scottstjames@sbcglobal.net and I will be happy to respond to you as fast as I can.

THE NEXT BLOG?

Wellll....Lately, because of other projects, I've had to push it back a day or so, but...barring unforseen circumstances, I hope to have the next blog posted late Wednesday night, August 11 or early Thursday morning, August 12.

I hope that you ALL have a great rest of the week and a fun weekend!


Wednesday, August 04, 2010

Because Of Show Business Obligations, The New Blog Will Be Posted On Thursday, August 5, During The Day!!!

And among the topics we'll be covering are...

The 14th Amendment. To repeal or not to repeal.

The Gay Marriage ruling by a Federal Judge in San Francisco.

The upcoming Iraq departure by American troops even though there's been no new elections and or nation building that the Iraqi people were promised.

A very pleasant experience I had on a national radio show recently.

And a 26-year old movie that I finally saw for the first time. A film that has not been outdated because of the passage of time and in fact, it is a film that is flat out terrific.

The above topics and some eye opening "The Times They Are A Changin'" examples that in some cases, might knock your socks off.

And who knows what else we might cover.

I hope to have this blog posted by no later than 3 in the afternoon, Pacific time, which translates to 5, Central time and 6, Eastern time.

Thank you very much for your patience.