I Don't Have Cable-

or any other TV programing, actually, but I do remember arguing with some of Fox News' stuff when I did; still, they tended to be open about what biases they had, and seemed to try to be fair, or at very least offer the "other" side if one side was being shown in all other places. So, I'm really not surprised that Fox News is having great ratings, especially compared to CNN. And *really* not surprised to hear the same old "everyone listening to Fox is an angry bigot!" saw. Ooh! Insulting the folks who didn't choose you! That's a SURE way to to get them to watch your station! /sarc

Now, seven months after Barack Obama's victory, CNN's ratings have gone down the drain. From May of last year to May of this year, CNN lost 22% of its total primetime audience. MSNBC was down 2%, while FoxNews was up 24%. In the key advertising demographic (25-54), Fox was up 31%, CNN was down 37% and MSNBC was down 26%. In hard numbers, Fox had 109,000 more viewers than last year while CNN lost 113,000. CNN averaged fewer than 200,000 25-54 viewers in primetime. Even MSNBC averaged more viewers than that.

Might have something to do with this; it's a link to Rasmussen's "Daily Presidential Tracking Poll." It lists the difference between "strongly approve" and "strongly disapprove." Hit zero on the fifth. Last hit double digets at the end of March, excepting the 29th and 31st of May-- shortly after Sotomayor's nomination; I haven't found any other possible good things, unless folks were interested in the Middle East trip, or maybe the initial "cool!" response to the date night. (Before the jobs report, and the sheer price of the date, became public.)

I'm Trying-

to come up with a less silly reason for this, and I'm trying to keep in mind that I don't read French, and it's only one paper whose rep I don't know, but I'm giggling too hard.....

When the World's Biggest Celebrity and his wife had their glam-date in Paris, part of their Family Dream Weekend in Paris, their food taster was on hand, ready to die for his president. I don't blame the The One for it. Lord knows the American oppression of France has been severe, and the black and Muslim immigrant communities have been hit the hardest. I suppose there is Secret Service agent assigned this duty.

"As any fool knows-

-the freedom of the press is, in the end, the freedom of the chap who owns the press. Much the same may be said of blogs." It's a hook to hock his dad book, but a good bit of truth there, no?

USCIS Has No Idea What A Can They've Opened

My name is Arthur W. Bell. My Wife is Airyn R. Bell. We have been Married over (3) Years now and have a (2) Year old Daughter who was born in Las Vegas, Nevada. My Wife is Philippine. In December 2006 she was given a CR1 Visa which was processed by the American Embassy in Manila, Philippines. We arrived in Las Vegas Dec 26, 2006. In Oct 2008 (Oct 10th, 2008) we sent USCIS a I-751 with evidence of our Marriage and the fee ($545.00). My Wife went to Las Vegas and did the Bio-Metric. We were given case Number WAC0900851515. In early January 2009 we received a notice from the California service center to send MORE evidence. Within a few days we responded with much more evidence, it was RECEIVED by USCIS on Jan 15th 2009 (See POSTAL RECEIPTS - click for enlargement). Then in early March we received a notice that USCIS had not received our additional evidence and moreover that there was NO appeal and it was case CLOSED! So of course I called USCIS and they told me to send the evidence that they in fact received our package in a timely fashion which I did. They returned a letter saying they were sorry and had sent us the wrong form response and that we should send them $575.00.00. That was all they requested, so that's all we sent. At this point we had already sent $545.00 (which was cashed) with the original application and I thought even though this sounded wrong, what the heck, rather than argue with USCIS I just sent the money. They returned the check saying it was incomplete, but that was all they had asked for, most of the responses from USCIS seemed to refer to other cases, not ours, but I was tired of fighting. In both sets of evidence we included: - Our Marriage License - Our Daughter's Birth Certif. - Our JOINT bank accounts (2) - Health insurance - Joint car registration - My Last Will (With my Wife and Daughter as receiving sole benefits) - Social Security paperwork for all of us. - Pictures (Trips we have taken etc.) - The (2) homes I own in Nevada, payed in full - (2) signed (Notarized) statements from friends attesting that our marriage is indeed in good faith - Many additional documents proving it is a real Marriage entered to in good faith and still healthy Then we had to return to the Philippines because of Family concerns and property there. Prior to leaving we went to USCIS in Las Vegas and had my Wife's Passport stamped because her Conditional green Card had expired at the end of December 2008. They stamped it for another Year, they told us it was OK to travel, just be sure to get her Passport stamped. So, we are now in the Philippines with this horrible mess behind us. We will be here until we get the Family issues resolved and decide what to do with the property we own (A Condo) here in Manila. We left the U.S. on March 10, 2009. I think of myself as a good American, however I do not feel as though I have been treated as one. Can you possibly help out in trying to untangle some of this mess? I have no idea what my Wife's status is currently and no idea what steps to take next. I have called the USCIS, I have faxed them, I have sent return receipt required letters, all with no response, or with a response that does not relate to our case. We have now been told my Wife can not return to the U.S. Please see response from USCIS. This was the FINAL step before they were to issue her 10 Year GREEN CARD, now they want us to start a two Year process ALL OVER AGAIN BECAUSE OF THEIR MISTAKE. THIS IS JUST WRONG. Please help us, it may take direct legislative action because the following was received following a letter sent by a congressional aide: ======================================= Thank you for contacting the Congressional Liaison Team within the California Service Center. Since the applicant is out of the country after the case was denied. The petitioner will need to start from filing the I-130 petition again for the beneficiary. The reason for the denial was explained in the denial notice that your constituent received. The evidence was not received. The applicant's status has been terminated at this point, and she will not be able to return to the United States using the stamps in her passport. Sincerely, Yining Wu Adjudication Officer Congressional Unit DHS/USCIS/CSC ======================================= As you can see, they say they did not receive the evidence, but in fact THEY DID. Does the truth even matter? Yours Truly, Arthur W. Bell & Airyn R. Bell

Who is Arthur Bell? Well, he's AKA Art Bell. If you listen to late night talk radio, you know him-- Coast to Coast AM. Y'all know I hate wiki, but they seem accurate enough in their Coast to Coast page. More in-depth is The Book of THoTH (Paranormal Wiki):

Coast to Coast was created by veteran broadcaster Art Bell in the mid 1980s. Originally called West Coast AM, it aired on Las Vegas, Nevada radio station KDWN 720. Bell hosted the program each weeknight from 1:00 AM to 5:00 AM Pacific Time, live from the KDWN studios in the Plaza Hotel in downtown Las Vegas. In addition to his show, Bell did radio commercials and other voiceover work for the station.

CtCAM's own "about" page describes it thus:

Coast to Coast AM airs on more than 500 stations in the U.S., as well as Canada, Mexico and Guam, and is heard by nearly three million weekly listeners. Broadcasting live Monday thru Sunday from 1 - 5 a.m. ET, it is the most listened to overnight radio program in North America.

Coast to Coast has a lot of odd topics, but it also has a lot of simply off-beat stuff-- and the listeners include the same folks who will spend years filing freedom of information acts based off of a possible UFO sighting a caller to the show mentioned. Me? I love the off-beat topics, and the murmur of conversation is wonderful when you're having trouble sleeping. Oh, and their newsfeed has lots of neat stuff.

65 Years.

I Am Highly Sick-

and tired of Christians who, in response to ANYTHING that they see as action against something even vaguely Christian, just throw their hands in the air and say "oh, Jesus said we'd be hated, we shouldn't do anything to try to turn things back. Just deal with it." ...Some how, I don't think that the same Jesus who raised Cain among the money changers (to make a horribly twisted bit or word-play) would say "oh, don't bother to speak up for my Church, don't bother to try to fight evil-- just accept your governments going to Hell in a hand basket." Intellectual pacifism? Fail.....

Can I Get An Amen?

I am pleading with the Republican Party to resolutely reject the postmodern philosophical premises that are the foundation of such defective thinking. Why can't the Republican Party once again be the party of the individual? Why should we pander to all these identity groups? WE ARE ALL AMERICANS and that is all that matters--or should matter. Screw the Hispanic vote. Screw the Black vote. Screw the White vote or Women's vote. Forget the LGBT. And speak to people as individuals. GO FOR THE INTELLIGENT VOTE. GO AFTER THE SANE VOTE. SPEAK TO THOSE OF US WHO DON'T GIVE A FLYING F*** WHAT COLOR OR CREED OR ETHIC ORIGIN A PERSON HAPPENS TO BE. Appeal to the BEST within each person. Stand for their individual liberty and make their pusuit of freedom your goal.

Like I said: can I get an AMEN? amen, origin: bef. 1000; ME, OE < LL < Gk < Heb āmēn certainty, certainly

Wallpaper Meme-

from many, many places on LJ:

01. Anyone who looks at this entry has to can post this meme and their current wallpaper at their LiveJournal blog. 02. Explain in five sentences why you're using that wallpaper! 03. Don't change your wallpaper before doing this! The point is to see what you had on!

I just recently changed my wallpaper to this painting by Tim Jones: You can find more of his paintings here. I chose it because he had it at his blog, Old World Swine, and I thought it was lovely. Someday, when I've got some disposable income, Elf and I are going to get some good paintings-- we've got two from Korea (a blue night scene and a rose sun-set) that we can't wait to have a real place to put. I'd love for my kid(s) to grow up around real art-- stuff that is nice to look at and well done.

"Did you know that you were supposed to be aborted?"

My earth stopped and I was in some kind of a vacuum. What? What did she say? "Yes," she went on, "your dad only wanted one child, so when he found out I was pregnant with you, he wanted to have you aborted, but I said no." She went on to say that there was a doctor who was in agreement. Supposedly there was a sonogram showing me as having no arms or legs - just a torso and head. This was used to try to convince her that an abortion was a good idea.

Go read the rest, please. (Forgot to give credit!! From CMR's comment box, on this also-disterbing post.)

This Is Cool-

Hulu has a bunch of Mail Call eps! You know the Host, even if you don't know it!

Golden Globe nominee and Boston Society of Film Critics Award Winner for Best Supporting Actor in director Stanley Kubrick's Full Metal Jacket, R. Lee Ermey, after more than 25 years in the business, is one of the most successful and talented actors in film and television today. His numerous roles in feature film include: Switchback, starring opposite Dennis Quaid and Danny Glover, Dead Man Walking, Seven, Leaving Las Vegas, Murder In The First, Life, The Frighteners and Sommersby, as well as his critically acclaimed role opposite Jared Leto in Prefontaine. He continues doing numerous voiceover roles which span from The Simpsons to Toy Story("1" and "2"). Ermey served 11 years active duty with the U.S. Marine Corps. He rose to the rank of staff NCO, served two years as a drill instructor and a tour of duty in Viet Nam. Medically retired in 1971, he used his G.I. Bill benefits, and enrolled at the University of Manila in the Philippines where he studied drama. Francis Ford Coppola was filming Apocalypse Now in the area and cast Ermey in a featured role. He has since gone on to star or appear in approximately sixty films.

This is the guy who runs it past the USMC each time he takes a role; isn't that cool?

Great Article-

on abortion; shockingly, it's mostly in response to a pro-abort being rational. The Abortion Issue as Pressure Without an Outlet; Darwin Catholic at The American Catholic. Teaser:

I think that McArdle rightly identifies why abortion has remained such a toxic issue for so long — Roe used judicial fiat to create an abortion regime significantly more liberal than that of any country in Western Europe, and did so in such a way as to put the issue effectively beyond the democratic process. In doing so, it closed the pressure valve that democratic action usually provides to out polity. If you feel passionately about a topic, you can campaign to have the law changed. Except that around abortion, our ability to do that is signficantly reduced because we either need to flip the Supreme Court majority (and even so get only a potentially temporary victory) or pass a constitutional ammendment, which requires a massive super-majority of national support. This removes the ability to compromise, and when the ability to compromise is taken away, it necessarily empowers the extremists

KT-

has a great story about a charter school that works, without any affirmative action BS:

At American Indian, the largest ethnic group is Asian, followed by Latinos and African Americans. Some of the schools' critics contend that high-scoring Asian Americans are driving the test scores, but blacks and Latinos do roughly as well -- in fact, better on some tests.

UPDATE: Dean at Demo is in on it, too. My favorite paragraph of the story?

It would be easy to dismiss American Indian as one of the nuttier offshoots of the fast-growing charter school movement, which allows schools to receive public funding but operate outside of day-to-day district oversight. But the schools command attention for one very simple reason: By standard measures, they are among the very best in California.