Something good on the radio(and the debates too)

I made a wonderful discovery this week. Air America is on Wisconsin radio. The lucky station is 92.1FM WXXM in Sun Prairie/Madison. I was surprised to learn that 33 stations nationwide carry Air America, as do both satellite radio providers (CM and Sirius). I found out about WXXM carrying Air America while watching Al Franken on the Sundance channel. He mentioned his scheduled show in Madison on October 6th. That's right. The great Franken is coming to the Great Hall of the Memorial Union on the UW-Madison campus next week. Doors open at 10 A.M. and admission is free. There should be a good crowd there. If you plan to go, get there early.

I have spent a large amount of time listening to Air America over the last couple of days. It is refreshing to hear unabashed liberal talk on the radio. In addition to the legend that is Al Franken, there are three other big name draws on the network. Janeane Garofalo co-hosts The Majority Report in the early evenings. Also, musician Steve Earle hosts a show on Sunday evenings named The Revolution Starts Now, after his powerful new album. Unfortunately, I have to work Sunday evenings. It would be great if someone could send me one of his shows. Another notable personality on Air America is Randi Rhodes who used to be a D.J. on the old 93QFM station in Milwaukee, if my depleted brain cells do not deceive me. In the days of my youth, 93.3 used to be one of the best rock stations in the country, not the smooth jazz format they have now. Ms. Rhodes has made a name for herself in liberal radio over the last few years, especially when causing Oliver North to walk off her show (ala Bill O'Rielly) when she informed him that he broke the law during the Iran-Contra affair. I enjoy listening to my new favorite station. Let's hope Milwaukee gets an outlet for Air America soon.

I also enjoyed the recent presidential and senatorial debates. I...um...well…um…thought that President Bush looked nervous and frustrated throughout the entire debate. Kerry was thoughtful, forceful, and articulate throughout. Watching the Feingold/Michels debate made me wonder why Michels is running at all. Michels offered nothing more than the same old right wing rhetoric and kept repeating the same things over and over. We counted no less then five times that he mentioned spending twelve years in the military. He also stated seven times that there has not been a terrorist attack in America for three years. Senator Feingold was razor sharp and convincing. My worries about him being re-elected are gone now. Just make sure YOU vote on November 2nd!

Do You See Where They're Going With This? Part I

Bush Administration Accomplishments: Conservation & Environment

• removed protections for marine wildlife
  
• pulled the United States out of the Kyoto treaty to reduce global warming
  
• weakened the Clean Air Act
  
• closed the office dedicated to protecting the Everglades
  
• overturned mining regulations
  
• weakened rules on wetlands development
  
• weakened rules on industrial pollution
  
• blocked water cleanup rules
  
• suppressed an EPA report on global warming
  
• reopened mining on a proposed national monument
  
• reduced the protected habitats of endangered species
  
• shut down a federal program to build more fuel-efficient cars
  
• changed rules making it easier for timber companies to plunder national forests
  
• reversed the snowmobile ban in Yellowstone Park
  
• attacked logging rules under the guise of fire prevention
  
• attacked environmental protections of our oceans
  
• sabotaged court cases against polluters
  
• cut funds to clean up the environment
  
• tried to remove Yellowstone from a United Nations list protecting it
  
• changed rules so that lands can no longer gain wilderness protections without an act of Congress
  
• exempted oil and gas industries from clean water regulations
  
• opened the Tongass National Forest to logging
  
• delayed an EPA report on the dangers of mercury
  
• weakened "dolphin-safe tuna" regulations
  
• opened protected lands to road building
  
• overturned limits on mining waste sites
  
• reversed the 25-year-old policy of not selling lands polluted by PCBs
  
• withdrew the EPA's authority to regulate auto emissions
  
• cut the Energy Star program
  
• despite a campaign pledge to the contrary, decided not to make American factories reduce carbon dioxide emissions
  

Jim

CBS Withholding Story of Forged Documents

CBS News has new information about those forged documents. No, not the ones about Bush screwing up in the National Guard. We already knew all about that long before the questioned memos. No, these are the other forged documents. The ones upon which President Bush based his false accusations that Iraq was trying to buy uranium from Niger.

The new story is being delayed by CBS as "inappropriate" to air until after the election.

Is it really inappropriate to provide Americans with information that could help them cast a more educated vote? Or, could it be that the folks at CBS have been so completely and utterly discredited by airing the National Guard memo story that they no longer have the courage to report any story that might anger the Bush administration?

How is it that CBS News, after putting out a single report based on questionable documents, can be almost destroyed over it, whereas, President Bush can make serious yet false accusations to the world community based on questionable documents and not even have to blink an eye? Do we now not hold our nation's President to even the same standards that we expect from a network journalist?

Jim