The Jammer With The Hammer

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

2009-05-27T22:08:00.000-07:00

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?!?

2009-05-21T08:20:00.000-07:00

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!

2009-05-13T22:11:00.000-07:00

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!!!

2009-05-06T23:14:00.000-07:00

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.

Obama's First 100 Days, Sean Hannity Puts His Foot In His Mouth, Executive Pay and Thanks For The Pig Flu, Mexico!!!

2009-04-29T22:19:00.000-07:00

But first of all, if you're one of the almost 30-million people who watched American Idol tonight, you know that Adam Lambert darn near got eliminated. If that had happened, my headline was going to be, "Because Of What Happened Tonight, I'm DONE with American Idol For This Season!!!"

I know. There were only 5 contestants left, so somebody had to be eliminated and it turned out to be the poor guy who was "saved" by the judges a couple of weeks ago, but still...

Why do I even care about American Idol and who might win? The same reason the rest of the almost 60-million people who watch it each week do. For those of you who don't watch, I come up with the almost 60-million viewers number because A.I. is on twice a week.

And if you've been watching, you know that these 5 remaining contestants have been delivering their "A" games these last couple of weeks.

And now there are 4! Several weeks ago when Adam Lambert (in my opinion) butchered the Johnny Cash classic country song, "Ring of Fire", I wrote about it and wondered if he might have become too cocky for his own good. But ever since then, the opinion here has been, Adam Lambert has become THE REASON to watch American Idol this season. I mean, you never know what this guy is gonna do! I think he has a future as a film actor, a singer and or a Broadway performer because he's not afraid to take risks. And he's very prepared when he does take risks!

WHEW!!!

Okay...On to the serious stuff!

PIG FLU!

Otherwise known as, Swine Flu. A disease that has been imported to us from Mexico.

Hmmmm!!! Illegal immigrants.....Hmmmm!!!

President Obama's First 100 Days!

Did you watch his press conference tonight? He knows how to work a room, doesn't he? And do you know what I really love about this President? He's not afraid to give long answers. Answers that (in most cases) give us a better chance to understand the problems we're facing.

An opinion (from me) regarding his first 100 days? I don't have one other than the fact (to quote a line from a song) "He's workin' HARD for the money!" that we, the citizens are paying him.

Sudden thought: During the previous 8-years, did you ever feel that President Bush was workin' hard for the money? I mean, he used about ONE of those 8 years as vacation time, didn't he?

Bank Of America!

In last week's blog, I told you about new and surprising (to me) high fees that had been attached to accounts I have with Bank of America. I also told you about a conversation I had with a Bank of America official who told me why I (and millions of others) have been hit with these new fees. And he told me this is happening at all the other banks, too. Since then, I've been hit with more fees which caused me to end my relationship with B of A and to put what little money I have into a Credit Union here in the Los Angeles area.

Wellll...Earlier today, (April 29) I learned that B of A Chairman, Kenneth Lewis was ousted by shareholders, but he's been allowed to stay with B of A as a member of their Board of Directors. I'm sure this demotion of Lewis will result in him having very little to do with decision making there, but ALL guys (and gals) like him should be FIRED! I mean, the chairman or chairwoman of EVERY bank or any other kind of company that needs billions on top of billions of our tax dollars to STAY IN BUSINESS, is being LED by a chairman or chairwoman who is obviously INCOMPETENT, so why the hell are they allowed to stay on the premises in ANY kind of capacity?!?

Here's what's really galling about these clowns! They screw up their companies, take OUR billions and billions to get propped back up and then THEY DO THE SAME THING (AGAIN) THAT HELPED CAUSE THEM TO GO BROKE IN THE FIRST PLACE!!!

And that's the REWARDING OF HIGHER THAN HIGH PAY ALONG WITH OUTRAGEOUSLY HIGH BONUSES TO THE INCOMPENTENT BOZOS THAT HELPED THESE COMPANIES GO BROKE.

Loudmouth talk show hosts like Limbaugh, Hannity and the guy with the voice that sounds like fingernails on a chalkboard (yes, you, Mark Levin) get on their soap boxes about higher than high Executive Pay being some kind of "right" that shouldn't be messed with which shows us once again something that even their most rabid followers are beginning to figure out and that is....(1) These guys are either bought and paid for or are clueless, annnd (2) No one objects to an executive making lots (and lots) of money as long as it isn't OUR MONEY, money that the company needs to survive, BECAUSE THE GREEDY BASTARDS RUNNING THESE COMPANIES RAPED THEM (financially) to the point when they needed OUR money to avoid going belly-up!

And we're supposed to sit back and watch these MF-ers continue to be paid the kind of money (in a year) that the rest of us will never see IN OUR LIFETIMES?!?

And Speaking Of Sean Hannity!

Or as I like to call him, Sean "Little Lord Fauntleroy" Hannity. He put his foot in his mouth (again) the other day. He was having a discussion with a guest of his about waterboarding. Hannity was taking the position that waterboarding isn't torture. His guest took the position that waterboarding is torture. To prove it, Hannity offered to BE waterboarded for charity. MSNBC's Keith Olbermann decided to find out if Hannity was serious and offered $1,000 to the families of U.S. troops for EVERY SECOND Hannity was waterboarded before he screamed for mercy and then ADMITTED that waterboarding is torture.

Of course it's torture. The only thing(s) Hannity really knows is what happens in ivory towers or when to run like a panting lapdog. And THAT'S whenever he hears the voices of Newt Gingrich or Karl Rove.

Actually...The more I think about it... I've gotta give "Little Lord" a little more credit than that. His "trust me" demeanor plays real well on radio and television and he gets good ratings in both venues. But you know something? There's another guy I'm thinking of who would have gotten good ratings if HE had decided to become a radio and or television host INSTEAD of deciding to do what he DID decide to do. Fellow by the name of Bernie Madoff.

ENTERTAINMENT STUFF!

And how topical is THIS! Gordon Gekko is returning to the big screen!

When the film "Wall Street" came out in 1987, the vast majority of us had no idea things that film told us were things that were really happening. 20th Century Fox hopes to have "Wall Street 2" in production early this summer. And yes, Michael Douglas will (again) play Gordon Gekko and Oliver Stone will (again) be the director. They hope to have Shia LaBeouf play an updated version of the character Charlie Sheen played in the first "Wall Street".

There's another film that's currently on the cable circuit I'd like to recommend to you.

A 1999 film titled, "Stir of Echoes" is now playing on The Movie Channel(s). It's a thriller and it stars Kevin Bacon, Kathryn Erbe, Illeana Douglas, the always very good Kevin Dunn and Jennifer Morrison as Samantha Kozac, a dead person who a little boy talks to. Annnd the Kevin Bacon character begins seeing Kozac after being hypnotized by the Illeana Douglas character. If this sounds complicated, let me make it as simple as I can. "Stir of Echoes" is a bit of an I see dead people kind of film that becomes a murder mystery that darn near drives the Kevin Bacon character insane. Good, good film.

And yes, Jennifer Morrison is the same Jennifer Morrison who has (from the beginning) been a regular performer on the very popular Fox television show, "House".

QUESTIONS AND OR COMMENTS? Write to me at scottstjames@sbcglobal.net. If you write to the blog, I won't know your email address so I won't be able to write you back. All emails sent to me at scottstjames@sbcglobal.net are answered by me.

THE NEXT BLOG? Barring unforseen circumstances, the next blog will be written and posted late Wednesday night, May 6 or early Thursday morning, May 7.

Is The Obama Administration The Reason All The Banks Are Charging You And Me These Multiple New FEES That We've Been HIT With?!?

2009-04-22T23:00:00.000-07:00

If you're like me and you don't look at your bank statements every month, you might not even know about the new fees you're being charged.

If you're like me and you don't look at your bank statements for four months or so, you're in for an unpleasant surprise when you do look!

When I saw I had a new $20 monthly fee for something in one of my Bank of America accounts, an account that has always been a "no fee" account, I called Bank of America and had quite a conversation with the man who answered the phone.

This B of A account manager told me I had been getting charged this new $20 fee for four months. He was kind enough to return $40 of the $80 I had been charged and he advised me to transfer the money in that account to another kind of account, an account that would include a monthly fee of (only) about $6, no matter how much money I had in the account.

I used to not be charged fees on any of my accounts and the only way I could be charged a fee would be if I wrote a check that was for more money than was in my account, which is something that has never happened.

This nice B of A account manager told me that all the banks are charging new and higher fees and that they're being encouraged to do this by members of the Obama administration. Why would the Obama administration loosen regulations so that banks can do this to us, the taxpayers? I mean these billions of "stimulus"dollars that the banks have been getting, is taxpayer money!!! When I asked the B of A account manager that question, he said the reason was so that the banks would be able to pay back the money we gave them, faster.

Pay back OUR money FASTER?!? But in order to do that, they're being allowed to SCREW US?!?

And speaking of the Obama Administration...

Like millions of others, I voted for Obama. Isn't one of the reasons we (who voted for him) did so was because we believed he would get us out of Iraq?

Why the hell are we still IN Iraq?!?

And now we're spending additional billions in AFGHANISTAN?!?

HEL-LOOOO!!! We have millions and millions of people out of work, millions of new Americans are homeless, people can't afford health care, because of all the money we owe to China, we are this close to becoming a suburb of China and we're wasting billions on top of billions (if not trillions) in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan?!?

And if you want to know why the Republicans lost this last election, know this; The only thing any of their so-called "leaders" ever say is, "NO!" They're good at yelling, screaming and pointing fingers. But not ONE of these so-called Republican"leaders" has a constructive IDEA!!! But boy, do they know how to yell, scream, point fingers and say, "NO!!!"

Other Politically Related Stuff:

Condi Rice was President Bush's National Security Advisor in 2002. We're being told that she (in some way) approved torture for enemy prisoners?!?

A lot of talk about the torture issue these days. Because we have so many other "IMPORTANT" things we have to take care of, I think all this torture conversation is a "distraction" we don't need.

If the decision is made to put people on trial for provable atrocities of some kind, fine. Gather the evidence and do your thing. But meanwhile, let's focus on making America a better place to live for all of us.

How's that trailer park crowd in Alaska doing these days?

If you're a fan of carnival barkers, have you seen Glenn Beck's television show yet?

Are you one of the growing number of Americans who thinks that Marijuana should be legalized, or do you think that's a politically incorrect thing to propose? Proponents claim that legalization of pot would generate billions of dollars in tax money for our cash-poor country.

SHOW BIZ STUFF:

Two more American Idol finalists have been eliminated. Only five finalists left. I don't think I'm the only one who looks forward to seeing and hearing what Adam is going to do each week. Is there anyone else you care about?

There are two new television shows I think are worth your time if you haven't seen them yet. They've both been on the air for three weeks.

"The Unusuals", Wednesday nights at 10 (9 Central time) on ABC. Amber Tamblyn is the main star.

"Southland", Thursday nights at 10 (9 Central time) on NBC. Benjamin McKenzie is the main star.

Rumor, rumor, rumor!!!

Anybody who pays attention to this kind of stuff knows that Lindsay Lohan has been having trouble finding work as an actress. She's only 22, beautiful, sexy and she can act, but because of her past behavior on-set, producers are whacha call "leery" of her.

Here's the "rumor". Warren Beatty wants Lohan to play his daughter in a film he plans to star in and direct. To solve the problem of her previous behavior which included showing up late or not at all, Beatty wants her to move into his mansion until the film is completed so he "can keep an eye on her". No word on how Beatty's wife Annette Bening feels about this, but if this "rumor" turns out to have "legs", I think it's brilliant on Beatty's part and I believe that Annette Bening thinks so as well.

Films I Saw While I Was Injured:

During the last few weeks, I've had a lot of time to watch television. Here are some films I saw on the various cable channels that you might want to look for if you haven't seen them.

In no particular order...

A 1996 film on the Showtime circuit. "Hard Eight". It stars John C. Reilly, Philip Baker Hall, Gwyneth Paltrow, Samuel L. Jackson and in what might have been his first film role, Phillip Seymour Hoffman.

"The Talented Mr. Ripley". An all-star cast, but this is Matt Damon's film. He's Mr. Ripley and he's a smooth talking con man, psychopath. And what an ending!!!

A 2007 film on the HBO circuit. "Fracture". Anthony Hopkins and Ryan Gosling in a fun to watch cat and mouse caper.

Another 2007 film on the HBO circuit. "Death Sentence". It stars Kevin Bacon, Kelly Preston, Aisha Tyler and there is one scene that John Goodman is in that darn near steals the film. And when you think the film is over, it isn't.

Another 2007 film on the HBO circuit. "Rendition". It stars Reese Witherspoon, Jake Gyllenhaal, Peter Sarsgaard and Meryl Streep as a very mean government official.

CLINT EASTWOOD AND A "DIRTY HARRY" STORY:

This is my final item.

Can you imagine anyone else besides Clint Eastwood playing the character of Harry Callahan, otherwise known to filmgoers as, "Dirty Harry"?

Don Siegel was the director for "Dirty Harry" and he had directed Eastwood in other projects, but his first choice for the role of "Dirty Harry" was not Clint Eastwood.

It is believed by some that Frank Sinatra was Siegel's first choice and that is stated as fact in some places on the internet.

Frank Sinatra was Don Siegel's second choice to play "Dirty Harry" and Sinatra was supposedly too busy at the time.

In a 2007 book written by Sonny West, West mentions that Siegel had directed another guy who he hired to star in a film titled, "Flaming Star". And because of the actor's performance in that film, Siegel saw something that made him believe that actor was the perfect choice to play "Dirty Harry". Like he did when he turned down Barbara Streisand's offer to star in "A Star Is Born", this actor also said no to Don Siegel's offer to star in "Dirty Harry" as "Harry".

You might have heard of him. An actor named Elvis Presley.

THOUGHTS 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 won't be able to respond. I respond to everyone who writes to scottstjames@sbcglobal.net

THE NEXT BLOG? Unless something unexpected comes up, our next blog will be written late Wednesday night, April 29 and posted early the next morning, April 30.

It Looks Like I'll Probably Be Able To Resume Writing Late Wednesday Night, April 22nd!!!

2009-04-15T23:02:00.000-07:00

Hi everybody! Even if you owe money (I do), I hope you filed your tax return. I did. If you don't file, that's when the BIG trouble begins!

As those of you regular readers know, I haven't written a full blog for several weeks because of an injury that has been the strangest injury I've ever had!

It has caused severe pain on the upper right side of my back, a pain that has required four to five Vicodin tablets daily for pain relief.

The diagnosis is, Thoracic Sprain. Something that is caused by too many hours sitting at the computer and NOT SITTING PROPERLY.

These last few weeks, while sitting at my computer, I have been able to write only a few sentences before getting a tingling sensation in my right armpit which has been followed by severe pain.

It is now much better, my Vicodin dosage has been reduced and unless I suffer a setback, I believe I'll be able to resume writing after two singers have been eliminated on American Idol, Wednesday night, April 22nd.

And speaking of American Idol, if Adam Lambert (somehow) isn't the next American Idol, does anyone honestly think that any of the remaining singers but Adam has an honest shot at being successful in some aspect of show business? Yeah, maybe the 16-year old, but Adam looks like "star" material.

If I am able to resume writing a full blog late next Wednesday (April 22), among other things I'll have stories about ARE...

Who film director Don Siegel's REAL first choice to play "Dirty Harry" was. This figures to blow your mind.

Who Lindsay Lohan might move in with while starring in a new film that will be directed by the person she'd be moving in with. If this happens, one can only imagine what this director's famous wife might think about this possible "arrangement".

I'll also have some thoughts about...

RELIGION...

The U.S. Senator who tried to warn people about the economic mess we were inviting for ourselves because of things that were beginning to be considered in 1994 and then were allowed by legislation to proceed in 1999...

LEGALIZING MARIJUANA...

Glenn Beck...

The fact that no one is talking about Iraq anymore...

ANNNND...Some films on the cable circuit I've been watching (while healing) that I'd like to recommend to you!!!

Have a great week everybody!

Scott St. James

This Annoying Injury Is Still Being Annoying!!!

2009-04-08T23:10:00.000-07:00

Hi and my sincere thanks to those of you who have written very nice "get well" notes.

I visited with an Orthopedic Surgeon today and he told me that my injury isn't at all uncommon and that it was probably caused by working too much at my computer and not sitting properly.

He is hopeful that it will be cleared up enough by NEXT Wednesday and that I'll be able to write this blog again.

If it isn't, I will go to a therapist the doctor is recommending. A therapist who will give me exercises to do, etc.

The good news is that the pain I'm experiencing isn't any close to being as bad as it was!

There's a lot to write about and I'm very much looking forward to writing again. Hopefully that will be late Wednesday night, April 15 which is also "Tax Day".

Scott St. James

An Injury Has Me Sitting On The Sidelines!!!

2009-04-01T22:38:00.000-07:00

Because of an injury to the back part of my right shoulder, I'm unable to do any writing other than a couple of sentences without having to take a break.

Hopefully, healing will take place quickly.

And hopefully, I'll be able to write a new blog next Wednesday, April 8.

Scott St. James

A DELAY ON THE WRITING OF THE NEXT BLOG!!!

2009-03-25T22:40:00.000-07:00

Hi everybody! Due to circumstances beyond my control, I'm hoping that the next blog will be posted late tomorrow night (Thursday, March 26) or early Friday morning.

If I'm still unavoidably "tied up", the next blog would then be written and posted late on April Fool's Day/Night, which would be next Wednesday night.

Sorry, but as we all know, "stuff happens".

Scott St. James

AIG, Bernie Madoff, President Bush, President Obama, American Idol, A Psychic Cat and Movies!!!

2009-03-18T22:15:00.000-07:00

It is late in the evening on Wednesday, March 18. American Idol ended almost a half hour ago. Earlier today, our (yours and my) loud bitching about bonuses seems to have gotten the attention of all those AIG incompetents and failures who received the bonuses, and as of now, we're told they plan to return some (if not all) of the bonuses.

Again...that's as of now. If these greedy incomptent failures decide to change their minds, we won't be surprised, will we?

I mean folks are sooo pissed off about this bonus business. Off the charts pissed off! Our country might be in a depression and the people who helped put us IN THIS MESS think they're deserving of BONUSES?!?"

And then there's Bernie Madoff! Somebody wanna tell me how this guy is still ALIVE?!?

There were no howls of protest when Iowa Senator Charles Grassley said that AIG executives should consider killing themselves like some people in Japan have done when/after they've done something that's very dishonorable. Personally, I'm not advocating that, but I'm sympathetic to the thought because of what we're all facing during this terrible economic time.

But Bernie Madoff? What a smooth talker this piece of human garbage must be. A lot of smart people gave Madoff a lot of money because they believed he was an honorable man who was very good with money that you wanted to invest. Money that would allow you to live a wonderful life when you decided to retire.

Wellll...it turned out to be money that ended up allowing Mr. and Mrs. Madoff a wonderful life before THEY decided to retire. And ya know what? If all the deregulation and complete lack of oversight hadn't joined forces to show us all how stupid we all were by not demanding accountability which resulted in us almost totally collapsing economically, Madoff would probably still be free! WHY? Because no one asked Madoff to "cash out" until the proverbial economic shit "hit the fan".

Because what Madoff did DESTROYED so many people, I can't help but wonder why he's still alive. I know I'm not the only one wondering this and I have to believe that Mr. Madoff might end up being the most protected prisoner in our prison penal history.

PRESIDENT BUSH:

Did you hear about the new book President Bush plans to have in the book stores next year? He says it will be a book that will (among other things) deal with 10-12 decisions he made and why he made them. Because of what his former Press Secretary Ari Fleischer said on MSNBC's Hardball show recently, I will be very curious to read what President Bush writes about the decision he made to go to war in Iraq. Fleischer is still insisting that Saddam Hussein was behind 9/11. My first reaction is to get a megaphone and yell, "Earth to Fleischer! Earth to Fleischer!" , but if we read in President Bush's new book that HE believes that?....?

PRESIDENT OBAMA:

Look, none of our economic problems are President Obama's fault. In fact, he won't begin his 3rd month as President until March 20 and this economic mess was under a full head of steam before he got elected! Buuuut...isn't it time we started asking some serious questions about some of these people he has given high level jobs to? I mean it was bad enough when it seemed like everyone he was nominating or appointing had tax problems of one kind or another. I don't know about you, but if the guy you're picking to be Treasury Secretary has tax problems, the first thing I'M thinking is, "Is THIS the guy who should be responsible for the MONEY in this country?"

I had actually allowed myself to get past that appointment until I read about President Obama's new National Intelligence head honcho, Dennis Blair. He's a retired 4-star Navy Admiral who's also an Oxford guy, which is all good. He made a couple of decisions that raised some eyebrows, but a very recent decision made by Admiral Blair has everyone's attention. He appointed John Deutch, a former CIA director to a sensitive position. Blair's in charge of National Intelligence, Deutch is a former CIA director and at first glance, this looks like a good and sensible decision. UNTIL...we find out why Deutch resigned as CIA director in 1996, that his high level security clearances were stripped from him and that he felt he needed (and got) a Presidential Pardon from Bill Clinton. This new job he has requires an off the charts top-security clearance and Missouri Senator Kit Bond (for one) thinks this is outrageous and that this security clearance Deutch has been given "Should be reversed immediately!"

I won't bore you with the details as to why Deutch had his clearances taken away from him and why he resigned in 1996, but I will say that what he was guilty of had nothing to do with agents losing their lives, Deutch being a traitor or anything like that.

John Deutch simply seems to be a guy who (as the late baseball general manager, Al Campanis once said) "doesn't have the necessities!"

I happen to know Senator Kit Bond. I haven't seen him in a lot of years, I don't agree with him politically on most things, but I DO agree with Senator Bond about THIS! John Deutch should be removed and President Obama needs to figure out a way to quit hiring people who have question marks tattooed on them. When President Obama hires people who are "clean", he also needs to know that these people aren't inclined to hire subordinates who have question marks tattooed on them.

Bottom line? ENOUGH WITH THE QUESTION MARKS, MR. PRESIDENT!!!

Television:

If you saw American Idol, you know that Alexis was eliminated. American Idol has a new rule this year. The four judges can "save" the singer who has the lowest number of votes that week. Last week, two singers were eliminated and then they were required to sing. That's always been a requirement, a requirement that I think is a form of torture.

Tonight (Wednesday, March 18), Alexis was told the judges were thinking about "saving" her and it would depend on how she sang. RIGHT NOW!!!

My first thought is that the American Idol people who are coming up with stuff like this are people who will easily find a new job when American Idol finally goes off the air. And that new job will be in the film business writing new torture ideas for the "Saw" franchise. For those of you not familiar with the "Saw" franchise, there have been 5 or 6 "Saw" films made, they've been big hits and the "Saw" films are classified as torture-porn.

When Alexis sang, you could tell she was "rattled". Maybe she wasn't good enough. But under those conditions, she never had a chance.

One more American Idol observation...Tuesday night when all the A.I. singers sang, it was Country Music night. The great Randy Travis was their "coach". One of the singers decided to sing a Country Classic in a way that Travis didn't agree with at all. Travis was also taken aback by the fact that the male singer was wearing black nail polish.

I'm referring to Adam Lambert. And ya know what? I honestly thought that Lambert would get the lowest number of votes and I also thought that the judges would probably "save" him because of his "stage presence" and the fact that he really can sing.

But what Adam Lambert did to Johnny Cash's Country Classic, "Ring of Fire", was insulting. It was insulting to the memory of Cash and it was insulting to people who love Country Music.

Adam Lambert is a very talented performer and is a serious candidate to be the next American Idol. He is also a serious candidate to do something very stupid that will get his cocky ass eliminated.

AND SPEAKING OF TELEVISION...

Did you happen to see the new episode of "House" on Fox this past Monday night. "House" is on just before "24" on Mondays.

Except for "American Idol", "House" is the highest rated television show on Fox.

Anywayyyy...Monday night's "House" centered around what appeared to be a "psychic cat". I'm not making this up. An adorable, slightly mysterious and uber-cool charcoal cat. Gang, I'm a dog kind of guy. I LOVE dogs! But Monday night, when "House" ended, I was in love with that cat. Terrific, terrific episode!!!

THE LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT:

In 1972, I was in St. Louis and I saw a new film directed by a new director named Wes Craven. "Last House On The Left". The only thing I really remember about that film was that it scared the hell out of me and a notice that was attached to the ads for the film which said (I think) "Remember, it's only a MOVIE!"

A new version of Last House On The Left was released last Friday and I saw it a couple of days ago. Wes Craven isn't the director, but he is the producer.

It cost only 11 million dollars to make and it made more than 14 million this past weekend.

I don't think this version is anywhere near as scary as the original version, but there are certainly some terrible things that happen in this film. For what it is, I thought the writing was good, the film moved crisply and I was interested in what the outcome would be. And for me, that's pretty much what I require as a viewer.

MOVIES ON THE CABLE CIRCUIT:

For those of you who have read this blog when I'm writing about illegal immigrants, you know that I tend to think that illegal immigration is a bigger problem than most of our public officials do. A much bigger problem. Having said that, I'm always willing to listen to someone else's views on the subject. Yes, there are situations (rare) that I can be sympathetic about, but overall, if the criminal aspect of that behavior isn't acknowledged, I will usually have a problem being sympathetic.

There is a film that's currently being shown on the Starz channels that I highly recommend. It was released last year, but I don't think it was seen by many people. "The Visitor" stars Richard Jenkins and some other actors I'm not familiar with, but all the actors are good and Jenkins is always good. He plays a college professor in Connecticut who has an apartment he rarely uses in New York. He shows up unexpectedly at his apartment and discovers that a friend of his was letting two other people use it. A young man and a young woman. Foreigners. Illegals. But at that point of the film, we don't know that yet. The young man ends up teaching the Jenkins character how to play a tribal drum of some kind, they all like each other, the young man's mother shows up because the young man has been jailed for being an illegal, the Jenkins character tries to help, he ends up also liking the mother, etc., etc. and all of a sudden I'm watching a film I can't take my eyes off of. And yeah, it has a sad ending. Check it out. "The Visitor" on the Starz channels.

"Next". Did you see "Next" when it came out in 2007? I didn't. "Next" is also on the Starz channels now. It stars Nicolas Cage, Julianne Moore and Jessica Biel. Cage plays a guy who can "see the future", but only about 2 minutes or so of the future except when it involves the Biel character. Julianne Moore plays an FBI agent who knows about a terrorist attack that's in the works, but she doesn't the where or the when and she tries to recruit the very reluctant Cage character. "Next" is a fun thrill ride if you don't mind buying into a little science fiction, an area that Nic Cage seems to like to explore. While watching "Next", I was happy to explore it with Nicolas Cage.

"The Dead Girl". Did you see "The Dead Girl" when it came out in 2006? I didn't and "The Dead Girl" is currently on the Showtime channels. "The Dead Girl" was directed by Karen Moncrieff and five stories are told in this film about the murder of "The Dead Girl". The 5th and last story is the story in which we meet "The Dead Girl" just before she is/was murdered.

Nothing dead about the cast of "The Dead Girl". Check this cast list out. Yes, all of these people are in "The Dead Girl" and all of these people are major contributors. Alphabetically they are...Josh Brolin, Rose Byrne (currently one of the stars on "Damages"), Toni Collette (currently the star of "The United States Of Tara"), Bruce Davison, James Franco, Marcia Gay Harden, Mary Beth Hurt, Piper Laurie, Brittany Murphy (as "The Dead Girl") Giovani Ribisi, Nick Searcy, Mary Steenburgen and Kerry Washington. A healthy number of Oscars and Oscar nominations in this group of actors and "The Dead Girl" is a film I think you'll enjoy watching.

QUESTIONS 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 won't be able to respond. Everyone who writes to scottstjames@sbcglobal.net gets a written response from me.

THE NEXT BLOG? Barring unforseen circumstances, the next blog will be posted late next Wednesday night (March 25) or very early Thursday morning (March 26).

Am I The ONLY One Who Is SICK Of "Octomom"?!?

2009-03-11T22:37:00.000-07:00

"Octomom"! Nadya Suleman! The idiot who had no husband, no job and 6 young kids when she decided to have 8 more kids!

And now she's a national celebrity?!?

And people are saying because of some "work" she had done, she looks like ANGELINA JOLIE?!?

Puh-leeze!!!

There is no way I could EVER be drunk enough to walk into a bar, see her and want to pick her up because I thought she looked like Angelina Jolie.

Nadya Suleman is a bow-wow freak show who should probably be in a hospital getting therapy, but instead, when television stations here in Los Angeles (because this is where this freak show lives) get the word that freak show Suleman is passing gas somewhere, ten television trucks show up to measure what she has done to the air and what she ate to cause the gas eruption.

Okay...I made that up. That hasn't happened. YET! But what has happened is ridiculous! I mean, the country is going broke, people are losing their jobs, their homes, we're involved in two stupid wars that are costing a ton of money, we got a city (here) full of illegal immigrants and television stations are spending all their time covering THIS bozo?!? Yi, Yi, Yi, Yi, Yi!!!

A NEW AND FRIGHTENING HEALTH CARE REPORT...

Have you ever heard of an organization called, "Business Roundtable"? You'll be reading about this organization in all the newspapers tomorrow, Thursday, March 12. CEOs of major U.S companies are "Business Roundtable" and in a new report they tell us that we Americans spend at least two and a half times more per person on health care than any other advanced country. Five of our biggest economic competitors are Canada, France, Germany, Japan and the United Kingdom. They are all ahead of us when it comes to health care. Way ahead of us when you realize that they cover all their citizens, they spend less on health care than we do and their workers are healthier than our workers. Again...This is a new report from "Business Roundtable", an organization consisting of American CEOs. You'd think that some of 'em figure to be Republicans, right? Rich Republicans. The kind of people El Rushbo Limbaugh and Sean "Little Lord Fauntleroy" Hannity are always speaking on behalf of, right?

Or are they?

HAVE YOU READ THE COVER STORY IN THE NEW MARCH 16 ISSUE OF NEWSWEEK?!?

The headline of the story is, "Why Rush Is Wrong For The Right".

This story was written by David Frum, a man whose conservative bona fides are impeccable and beyond reproach. But he's being attacked by bought and paid for attack dogs like Mark Levin, Little Lord and El Rushbo even though they know better.

A lot of polling has been done on Limbaugh recently because of his "I hope Obama fails" line that has gotten a lot of publicity. More on that in a minute, but back to the polling issue. 46% of those polled recently gave Limbaugh an "unfavorable" rating. President Obama's "unfavorable" rating is 22%. Nancy Pelosi's "unfavorable" rating isn't as good as President Obama's rating is, but even her "unfavorable" rating is better than Limbaugh's.

David Frum is very concerned about Rush Limbaugh being perceived as a "leader" of the Republican Party. He thinks (and so do I) that focusing on Reagan is sooo "yesterday", because the problems then were totally different than the problems now!

Again...All this recent publicity that Limbaugh has gotten is the direct result of Rush saying, "I hope he fails.", when he was talking about (then) President-elect Obama. What you will read next are three paragraphs that David Frum wrote in this new Newsweek cover story about the history of the "I hope he fails" statement.

All of this began even before Obama took office. In his broadcast on January 16, Limbaugh told listeners he had been asked by a major publication for a 400-word statement about his hopes for the new administration: "I'm thinking of replying to the guy, 'Okay, I'll send you a response, but I don't need 400 words. I need four: I hope he fails.' See, here's the point: everybody thinks it's outrageous to say, look even my staff: 'Oh, you can't do that.' Why not? Why is it any different, what's new, what is unfair about my saying I hope liberalism fails? Liberalism is our problem. Liberalism is what's gotten us dangerously close to the precipice here...I would be honored if the Drive-By Media headlined me all day long: 'Limbaugh: I Hope Obama Fails.' Somebody's gotta say it!"

Frum then writes: Notice that Limbaugh did not say: "I hope the administration's liberal plans fail." Or (better): "I know the administration's liberal plans will fail." Or (best): "I fear that this administration's liberal plans will fail, as liberal plans usually do." If it had been phrased that way, nobody could have used Limbaugh's words to misrepresent conservatives as clueless, indifferent or gleeful in the face of the most painful economic crisis in a generation. But then, if it had been phrased that way, nobody would have quoted his words at all---and as Limbaugh himself said, being "headlined" was the point of the exercise. If it had been phrased that way, Limbaugh's face would not now be adorning the covers of magazines. He phrased his hope in a way that drew maximum attention to himself, offered maximum benefit to the administration and did maximum harm to the party he claims to support.

Right after the words you just read, Frum writes about Limbaugh's appearance on Sean Hannity's television show five days later when Limbaugh (in essence) played the "race card".

I'm going to give you part of Frum's next to last paragraph in his Newsweek story about Limbaugh and then I encourage you buy or borrow a copy of the new Newsweek and read the whole story.

In his next to last paragraph, Frum writes about emails he has gotten from people who are defending Rush and here are Frum's words:

"Most of these e-mails say some version of the same thing: if you don't agree with Rush, quit calling yourself a conservative and get out of the Republican Party. There's the perfect culmination of the outlook Rush Limbaugh has taught his fans and followers: we want to transform the party of Lincoln, Eisenhower and Reagan into a party of unanimous dittoheads--and we don't care how much the party has to shrink to do it. That's not the language of politics. It's the language of a cult."

Heck of a commentary, gang. I heartily recommend that you get the new Newsweek and read the whole commentary!

ENTERTAINMENT STUFF:

Goodbye Jasmine Murray and Jorge Nunez. They were eliminated from American Idol tonight. They have made some changes on A.I. this year and I think the changes (so far) have all been good. One thing they didn't change is something that makes ME (as a viewer) cringe! And that's the "torture" element they use. I've written about this before, but when Jasmine (she was the first one eliminated) was told she was "toast", she was then told she had to sing.

I know. They've always done it this way. But I think it's absolute TORTURE! Your dreams have been crushed and Ryan Seacrest is telling you to SING?

I'm tellin' ya gang, I am praying for the day when one person who has been eliminated and gets the order to sing says, "Yo, Ryan! Sing THIS!!!" and walks (or runs) off the stage.

THE END OF "THE L WORD"!

Showtime's "The L Word" ended a very successful 6-year run Sunday night. Prior to the series finale, an hour special about how the show was cast, comments from people about the ground breaking nature of the show and some stories about things that happened behind the scenes was fun to watch. "The L Word" was a show I thought I wouldn't like, but I got hooked and ended up seeing every episode. The final episode left some questions unanswered including a big question about the murder of one of the main characters and which main character committed the murder? Does that mean we'll get that answer (and others) in a "The L Word" film that will be shot for Showtime?

AND SPEAKING OF FILMS...

The biggest film out there right now is "Watchmen". It opened on March 6 and I saw it two days ago.

The theatre I saw it in was almost full. The movie is long. 2 hours and 43 minutes long. Because it takes quite a while for this film to get going, I wasn't surprised when I saw people walking out of the theatre. And to tell you the truth, I thought about walking out myself.

Once it finally got going, it had my attention, but when it finally ended, my first thought was, "Is that all there IS?!?"

Strange movie. I'll be surprised if they get back the reported 150+ million it cost to make "Watchmen".

QUESTIONS AND OR COMMENTS? Please write to me at scottstjames@sbcglobal.net. If you write to the blog, I won't know what your email address is, so I won't be able to respond to you. I write back to everyone who writes to me at scottstjames@sbcglobal.net

THE NEXT BLOG? Barring unforseen circumstances, the next blog will be posted Wednesday, March 18 in the early or late evening.

If You're Confused, Scared and or Pissed Off (and who isn't?), In This Blog, A Financial Crisis Explanation In SIMPLE Terms!!!

2009-03-04T20:08:00.000-08:00

Before I give you the "Explanation", because of some new show business obligations I have that I told you about in the last blog, this blog (except for the "Explanation") figures to be short.

The "Explanation" will be our final item in this blog.

TALK SHOW WHINERS WHO OFFER NO SOLUTIONS!!!

Hello Rush "El Rushbo" Limbaugh and Sean "Little Lord Fauntleroy" Hannity!

I know that you two aren't the only ones guilty of what you do, but you two are the ones with the largest audiences and you're the only two (who do what you do) that I listen to.

Both of you whine, whine, whine about how everything that President Obama is trying to do is wrong, wrong, wrong! Both of you say (in essence) that if we (as a country) go back to the way Ronald Reagan did things, we'd be back on the right track.

The problem with that kind of thinking is that once you take the blinders off and really examine what it was that Reagan proposed and supported economics wise, has now been proven to be what the first President Bush said when he ran against Reagan. Do you remember what Bush 41 said about Reagan's economic proposals before Bush became Reagan's Vice President?

He called those proposals "Voodoo economics" and he was right! And it has taken this long to find out how right he was!

Back to the professional "whiners"...

While El Rushbo (when he's not trying to run the Republican party) and Little Lord (when he doesn't have his lips close to El Rushbo's tush) whine and complain about what President Obama is trying to do, neither one of these guys (or any other professionial complainer) has said what we should do instead of what President Obama is trying to do.

This shouldn't be a newsflash to these guys, but in case it is....We are an eyelash away from Great Depression Two because of "zero regulation" policies that benefitted NO ONE except people who were RICH and these policies made them wealthier than wealthy while everyone else (you and me) GOT SCREWED!!!

Now...Does that mean I believe that what President Obama is trying do will result in the SOLUTIONS we now need? I don't know. But here's what I DO KNOW! We HAVE to try something DIFFERENT from the "voodoo" policies that got us INTO this mess!

EXAMPLES OF THINGS THAT HAVE TO BE CHANGED:

Another bailout for AIG?!? Isn't it way past time for every executive in that company to be fired and or jailed? AIG...$62+BILLION dollars lost in the last quarter reported. Largest quarterly loss in history for any kind of business.

IndyMac Bancorp. So-called Federal Regulators knew about problems that outfit was having for at least TWO YEARS before they went belly-up and a lot of innocent people lost hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Have you ever heard of a guy named Darrel Dochow? People who ended up being financially ruined because of him wish THEY had never heard of Darrel Dochow! After helping Lincoln Savings & Loan go broke, this loser Dochow was given another big job at another bank and (with his leadership) helped THAT bank go broke. As the L.A. Times sarcastically noted, "Did Dochow leave Lincoln OFF his resume? And is this loser part of the so called 'limited talent pool' that the old-boys network would have us believe are the only ones CAPABLE of running major corporations?"

Yes, "old-boys network" guys that El Rushbo and Little Lord tell us should be "left alone".

We've all heard of Citigroup, right? About 2 years or so ago, Citigroup was worth more than 270 billion dollars. As of February 27, Citigroup was worth 8.2 billion or so. That's not a misprint. More than 260 billion dollars lost by Citigroup in what appears to be 2 years or so.

Oh, yeah. What WE need to do is go back to policies that GOT us here! (sarcasm intended)

A REAL RADIO LEGEND HAS "LEFT THE BUILDING"...

Paul Harvey...

Never met him. But I feel like I knew him because he was that good. I worked on an ABC station that carried Paul Harvey during the shift I hosted 5 days a week. Probably the most day in and day out BEST radio entertainer I've ever heard. R.I.P., Mr. Harvey!!!

ENTERTAINMENT STUFF...

Did you see the 2-hour episode of "Brothers & Sisters" this past Sunday night? I've said it before and I'll say it again...That show, to me, is the BEST show on television and what they did for 2 hours this past Sunday, reinforced my opinion of that show. I mean, during commercials, I was constantly wiping my eyes and blowing my nose.

Did you see the 2-hour episode of "24" this past Monday night? Wow, wow and triple wow! A first rate thrill ride. "24", for me, got off to a shaky start this season, but they have (again) found their "mojo" and have again become "appointment television".

Speaking of "appointment television"...After a slow beginning this season, "American Idol" is BACK!!! They're doing things a little differently this season and these different things (in my view) are positive different things.

AND NOW THE FINANCIAL CRISIS EXPLANATION I PROMISED IN THE HEADLINE AND AT THE BEGINNING OF THIS BLOG!

Charlie O'Donnell is a long time friend of mine and he's also the long time off stage announcer for "Wheel of Fortune". Earlier this evening, the guy we all call "Charlie O", sent me a written piece titled, "The financial crisis explained in simple terms:"

Word for word, here it is:

Heidi is the proprietor of a bar in Berlin. In order to increase sales, she decides to allow her loyal customers (most of whom are unemployed alcoholics) to drink now but pay later. She keeps track of the drinks consumed on a ledger, thereby granting the customers loans.

Word gets around and as a result, increasing numbers of customers flood into Heidi's bar.

Taking advantage of her customers' freedom from immediate payment constraints, Heidi increases her prices for wine and beer, the most consumed beverages. Her sales volume increases massively.

A young and dynamic customer service consultant at the local bank recognizes these customer debts as valuable future assets and increases Heidi's borrowing limit.

He sees no reason for undue concern since he has the debts of the alcoholics as collateral.

At the bank's corporate headquarters, expert bankers transform these customer assets into DRINKBONDS, ALKBONDS and PUKEBONDS. These securities are then traded on markets worldwide. No one really understands what these abbreviations mean and how the securities are guaranteed. Nevertheless, as their prices continuously climb, the securities become top-selling items.

One day, although the prices are still climbing, a risk manager of the bank(subsequently fired because of his negativity) decides that (finally) the time has come to demand payment of the debts incurred by the drinkers at Heidi's bar.

However, they are unable pay back the debts.

Heidi cannot fulfill her loan obligations and declares bankruptcy.

DRINKBOND and ALKBOND drop in price by 95%. PUKEBOND performs better, stabilizing in price after falling by 80%.

The suppliers of Heidi's bar, having granted her generous payment due dates and having invested in the securities, are faced with a new situation. Her wine supplier claims bankruptcy and her beer supplier is taken over by a competitor.

The bank is saved by the Government following dramatic round-the-clock consultations by leaders from the governing political parties.

The funds required for this purpose are obtained by a tax levied on the NON-drinkers.

The end.

Charlie O'Donnell actually ends this with, "Finally! An explanation I understand."

Gang, I highly recommend that you read this again and send it to your friends.

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

THE NEXT BLOG?

Well, this one ended up being longer than I thought it would be, but I do have current show business obligations to attend to. Unless I'm "tied up", the next blog will be posted next Wednesday, March 11, in the early or late evening. Hopefully, we'll have better economic news to report.

Rush Limbaugh's Pathetic Letter To President Obama!!!

2009-02-25T19:16:00.000-08:00

The headline got your attention, didn't it?

Confession: I wrote one hell of a commentary about Rush and his letter to President Obama and why he wrote this letter.

I mean, it was probably one of the best commentaries I've EVER written, buuuut...

After I read it, I decided to delete it. This might be my last blog for a while (more on that in a minute) and I don't want to end with what might appear to be a "kicking a guy while he's down" editorial.

So I'll simply say the following about Limbaugh's letter to President Obama.

In case you hadn't heard, Limbaugh let everyone know that he wrote a letter to President Obama that (in essence) was asking President Obama to assure him (Rush) that President Obama wasn't/isn't going to pursue or support a new "Fairness Doctrine" or something new that would be like the old "Fairness Doctrine".

Translation? Rush doesn't want to be fair, his act has never been about being fair and he doesn't want to be told he has to be fair.

But here's all we have to know about this letter. President Obama didn't respond to it.

I mean, it was a few weeks ago when some Congressman begged to come on Rush's show so he could kiss the Rush body part that Rush wanted kissing while pleading with Rush to please FORGIVE HIM!!!

But the President of the United States IGNORED Rush Limbaugh!

THAT, my friends, is CHANGE!!!

PRESIDENT OBAMA'S SPEECH TO CONGRESS!

Did you watch or listen to any of the speech last night? (Tuesday, February 25)

We're all mad at the banks, right? They get all this bailout money and too much of it seems to be going to bonuses, etc., etc.!!! I know it ticks ME off! Bill Maher wrote a terrific Op-Ed column about what bankers have been getting away with in last Friday's L.A. Times. The column was headlined, "Make 'em Pay". He wrote about how China handles people like this and in China, death IS an option. Maher's recommendation was that two bankers should be selected for death and once all the bankers saw those guys die, they'd start behaving themselves. But Maher went on to say he knew that wouldn't happen here because we're not China, we're just owned by China and that because we have more than a million lawyers here in America, doesn't ONE of them know how to put a banker in JAIL?!?

Amen to that, Brother Bill!!!

In his speech last night, President Obama addressed the anger we have about bankers and after saying he knows how we feel, he said, "We cannot, afford to govern out of anger."

And to that I say, yes sir, Mr. President, but every once in a while, making decisions based on anger does make us feel good. But yes, Mr. President, it's only a temporary feeling. But stillll....

Did you hear or read what President Obama said about Iraq? Are we really gonna be pretty much done with that mess in 19 months? If so, wouldn't it be nice if we could also get our asses out of Afghanistan as well?

AFTER PRESIDENT OBAMA'S SPEECH?

Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal gave the Republican response to President Obama's speech. A lot of people think that Governor Jindal is presidential material and he is often talked about as being the Republican who will be the candidate against Obama a little less than four years from now.

Of course, the same people who say that also looked at Governor Palin like she was some kind of political savior as opposed to the bimbo she is who just happens to look good in a skirt.

Anyway, here are the words Democrats AND Republicans used to describe Jindal's response speech. "Childish!" "Disaster!" "Insane!"

Bottom line? Governor Jindal, that was the bad news. Here's the good news. You have more than 3 years to correct what appear to 3 major concerns that folks now have about you.

TWO SPORTS ITEMS!

In his first exhibition game since his steroids use was made public, Alex Rodriguez (A-Rod) hit a home run.

Manny Ramirez was offered a 2-year contract by the Dodgers today. First year, 25 million. Second year, 20 million, but Ramirez could choose to reject that second year if he wants to. Basically, what that means is this; If (for example) Ramirez has a lousy year this year, he might want to take that 20 million for 2010. But if he has a great year this year, he can refuse the 20 million and force the Dodgers to give him more. To me, this is a win-win deal for Manny.

THE OSCARS SHOW!

Did you watch the Oscars telecast this past Sunday? I did.

The new producers did some things differently and some folks didn't like the changes that were made.

On the Barbara Walters show that was taped BEFORE the Oscars show was aired, Oscar host Hugh Jackman told Barbara that while the Oscars show is a show about show business, the emphasis this year would be MORE about "show" and LESS about "business".

Was it ever!!!

And I LOVED it!!!

No, everything didn't work. Ben Stiller, Bill Maher, couple of other things.

But I loved the singing stuff Jackman was involved with. The first song that included what appeared to be a surprised Anne Hathaway, but the way she ended her singing tells us that she knew she was going to be performing. I mean, who knew she could sing like THAT? Especially the way she dragged out her last note! WOW!!!

I liked his second number with Beyonce (and others) as well. Was it long? Yeah, but it was also a showcase for the "show"!

And how about Queen Latifah? And the singing SHE did while show business people who died this past year were remembered! Yowzuh, Yowzuh, Yowzuh!!!

Were you as suprised as I was that Jerry Lewis didn't say or do more than he did? But what he DID do was deliver a very classy and short acceptance speech.

Now here's what I loved MOST about this year's Oscars show. When the five previous Oscar winners came on stage to each talk about one of the five nominees for Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best Actor and Best Actress.

Twenty former Oscar winners telling the twenty Oscar nominees and the whole world why these Oscar winners thought these Oscar nominees DESERVED to have been nominated and in fact, deserve(d) to WIN the Oscar!

Sure, all twenty of those performers wanted to win. Sixteen of them didn't. But what those previous Oscar winners said to the sixteen who didn't win, was a "cushion" those nominees could use to replace some of the disappointment.

I hope this is something the Oscars show does EVERY year!

AND SPEAKING OF SHOW BUSINESS...

I have been asked do some work on a brand new play that will open here in Los Angeles in a few weeks. It will require a lot of studying and rehearsing because my character is the LEAD character.

I also need to spend time going to festivals where a new film I have a starring role in is being shown. We're trying to get a distributor. Schmooze, schmooze, kiss, kiss, etc., etc.

And sometime after this Friday night, I will find out if I'm going to be one of the main characters in a video project that will be set in the year 2450 and will require all actors to be wearing Star Trek kind of makeup.

Bottom line?

I don't know if I'll have time to write a new blog every Wednesday until all this stuff calms down. Believe me, I'm not complaining. I wish I had these problems more often.

THOUGHTS OR COMMENTS? Please write to me directly at scottstjames@sbcglobal.net. If you write to the blog, I have no way of knowing what your email address is and that means I have no way of responding to you. All emails sent to me at scottstjames@sbcglobal.net are answered by me. No exceptions.

THE NEXT BLOG? Please look for it next Wednesday evening or Thursday morning. If it isn't there, it'll be because I'm tied up with all these other things. If that happens, please try again the following Wednesday evening or Thursday morning, etc., etc. In the words of Ahnold..."AHL be BAHK!!!"

Why Oh Why Are We At War In Afghanistan?!?

2009-02-19T02:28:00.000-08:00

Unless I'm missing something, this war in Afghanistan that we're involved in is more leftover b.s. begun by the most incompetent of incompetents and that would be the recently "relieved of duty" I'M THE DECIDER Bush administration.

The war in Iraq? Unconscionable!!! All that wasted U.S. MONEY!!! OUR money!!! All those wasted U.S. LIVES!!! And for WHAT?!?

This war in AFGHANISTAN?!? Billions MORE U.S. dollars being spent! Thousands MORE U.S. troops killed and or suffering from devasting life altering injuries. And our U.S. commander there, General David McKiernan says that 55,000 of our troops figure to STAY in Afghanistan for up to FIVE YEARS!!! And again I ask, FOR WHAT?!?

Richard Holbrooke, the U.S. envoy to Pakistan and Afghanistan was asked about victory in Afghanistan and his answer was/is, "First of all, the victory, as defined in purely military terms, is not achievable, and I cannot stress that too highly."

Ya gotta appreciate his honesty, but my initial response is, "SAY, WHAT?!?"

And have these military and diplomatic bozos forgotten what happened to Russia when THEY decided to be unwanted military policemen there? The Russians got their clocks cleaned and they finally got the hell out of there!

Ever since I started this blog almost 2 years or so ago, I have advocated a military mission in Pakistan because that is where Osama bin Laden has been allowed to hide from us.

The incompetents in the Bush administration kept insisting that Pakistan is an "ally" of ours and in essence, we need to be very careful about possibly making those people mad at us.

What a load of horse manure! If they really WERE an ally of ours, they would have helped us smoke bin Laden out of whatever cave he's in so he can be killed or punished for all the 9/11 murders of our citizens he was responsible for.

Are we now to believe that the Obama administration thinks that Pakistan is an ally of ours? If so, that's frightening.

Something else I've been writing about since the time this blog began is about how the feeling here was that we were facing an economic mess, that if not corrected, could lead to Great Depression Two! And if a dumb guy like ME could see that...And if a dumb guy like ME could see that Pakistan is not a real ally of ours...And if a dumb guy like ME could see the financial destruction caused by these wars while not taking care of business HERE at HOME...I mean, no wonder that darn near everyone in America is scared to death. No, we're not scared to death because of the people in Iraq or Afghanistan. We're scared to death of what is going to happen HERE!!! Day after day we know friends and relatives of ours who have lost their jobs, watched their 401k's become virtually worthless, watched banks jack up our interest rates on our credit cards to levels in the upper 20% rates just because we were late for one payment or because THEY JUST FELT LIKE IT!!!

AND SPEAKING OF BANKS...

These banks have recently gotten billions of dollars of bailout money. Do you know who they got it from? US!!! YOU AND ME!!! THE TAXPAYERS!!!

And now these sorry son of a bitch bank bastards THANK you and me, the taxpayers, by royally screwing ALL us with these outrageous interest rates on our credit cards because they CAN!!!

Well, here's something WE can do! Seeing as how these banks are a big reason we're in the financial mess we're in, maybe it's time we tell our elected officials that we want to NATIONALIZE these banks! Have the government run them!

Just a thought.

THE OSCARS!!!

This Sunday, the 81st Academy Awards ceremony will be held at Hollywood's Kodak Theatre with host Hugh Jackman. You can watch it on ABC.

I'm not going to tell you who I think should or will win the major awards, but I will tell you who I would really LIKE to win the major awards.

First of all, I'm very disappointed that Clint Eastwood wasn't nominated for Best Actor, or Best Director, or Best Film for his "Gran Torino" movie.

Having said that, I would really like it if Marisa Tomei won the Supporting Actress Oscar and that Josh Brolin won the Supporting Actor Oscar. I would really like it if Angelina Jolie won the Best Actress Oscar and that Brad Pitt won the Best Actor Oscar.

I don't CARE who wins the Best Director Oscar and I don't CARE which film wins the Best Picture Oscar.

PERSONAL ENTERTAINMENT RELATED ITEM...

I'm currently starring in a little film that's on the festival circuit. We're hoping to land a distributor for a film that's titled, "Manos Partidas" (Split Hands") that was shot near the Mexican border. In the recently completed Beverly Hills Film Festival, 56 films competed, 3 prizes were awarded and our film was awarded 3rd place.

Our next festival appearance will be at the 11th Annual Sarasota Film Festival, March 27 through April 5.

Our film will also be at the 9th Annual Phoenix Film Festival, April 2 through April 9.

We're also being shown in other venues, but you get the idea.

My role was that of a "vigilant" border patrol agent who's on a mission because his wife was killed by an illegal immigrant. Unbeknownst to my character, his son is dating an illegal immigrant which adds to the "family dynamic".

The first time you see me on the screen is when I drive to a dusty area where my son is drunk inside a trailer. A close-up of the bumper sticker on my Border Patrol truck shows the audience these words; "Putting the panic back in Hispanic".

THOUGHTS AND OR COMMENTS? Please write to me at scottstjames@sbcglobal.net. If you write to the blog, I don't have any way of knowing what your email address is, so I can't write back to you with a response. A emails sent to scottstjames@sbcglobal.net are responded to by me.

THE NEXT BLOG? Unless something unforseen comes up, our next blog will be written and posted next Wednesday, February 25 in the early or late evening. THIS BLOG was a little late because I didn't start writing until a little after midnight on Thursday, February 19.

According to the headline in the new Newsweek, "WE ARE ALL SOCIALISTS NOW" But guess who STARTED us down this road?!?

2009-02-11T19:41:00.000-08:00

Ah, yes! As someone much smarter than me once said, "The devil's in the details!"

And let me say this for the record; I don't think "The Fairness Doctrine" will return anytime soon, but even if it does, I hope it doesn't affect the employment of people like 'El Rushbo", Sean "Little Lord Fauntleroy" Hannity or any of their wild-eyed copycat clones.

When you listen to them lie or (because of ignorance) give out partial bits of truth combined with "supposition" that is (I'm being kind) absurd, yes, when you (we) know better, it can drive us crazy, but there's one thing they say that I'll ALWAYS agree with and that is, "Hey, we're ENTERTAINERS!!!"

"Entertainers" who are scared to death of the possibility of the return of "The Fairness Doctrine" because they don't know how to have real conversations with people who have views different than their views. Oh, they know (especially "Little Lord" and the squeaky voiced so-called "Great One") how to YELL at and attempt to INTIMIDATE callers who express different views, but to try that with someone they had to LOOK AT? It wouldn't happen, because a "pro", would sit there until they were out of breath and then say something like, (while chuckling) "Are you finished?" What would happen next would be embarrassing because they would then hear their pious nonsense being ripped to (verbal) shreds.

I know this because before switching to sports, acting and writing, I was a talk show host on some major radio stations when we HAD "The Fairness Doctrine". I was very opinionated (I know, it's shocking) and I LOVED having someone on who disagreed with me.

Okay...Back to this Socialism business I mentioned in the "headline" of this week's blog.

The cover headline of the February 16 issue of Newsweek is, "WE ARE ALL SOCIALISTS NOW".

If you've listened to the talk hosts I referred to, you know that they have mentioned this Newsweek headline and story. Especially the egotistical "Little Lord" because his name is mentioned in this story, but the MAIN reason they have mentioned this story goes straight to what I wrote about regarding the "partial bits of truth" they are so good at exploiting.

They have immediately pointed to what they've claimed to be a big concern of their "blowhard selves" and that's the belief the new Obama administration is RESPONSIBLE for taking America down this "Socialism" road.

And now we get to THE DEVIL'S IN THE DETAILS part of this story!!!

As this Newsweek story makes very clear (and truthfully), "The architect of this new era of big government is George W. Bush."

For those of you who are saying, "Whaaat?!?", I simply say it ain't that complicated, folks. George W. Bush became the "architect" of our current foray into "Socialism" when he made the move to bail out the financial sector with $700 billion a few months ago.

If and or when you read the whole story in Newsweek, you will learn that the opinions are that we (the USA) will not become a Socialist country permanently, nor are we one now. We're simply using some of those kinds of ideas to help get us out of the horrible mess caused by ill advised economic principles going back to the Reagan years. Principles that have now come back to bite us all in the ass! Big time!

Deregulation benefits THE RICH!!! Deregulation benefits ONLY the RICH!!!

Trickle down, my ass! The FIRST President Bush was RIGHT when, while running for President AGAINST Reagan, referred to Reagan's economic ideas as VOODOO ECONOMICS!!!

Full Disclosure time...

Just before President Reagan was still "Candidate" Reagan, I had the opportunity to have a terrific conversation with Reagan prior to him participating in a 7-hour radio special I was producing and narrating about Gene Autry. And we had this conversation while every major newsperson in America was waiting outside for Reagan to be in what was a major pre-election news conference.

A couple of years later, President Reagan did another major favor for me!

I will always be grateful to President Ronald Reagan. While Reagan was President, I was making good money as a television sports anchor here in Los Angeles and I thought his economic principles were terrific.

Looking back, I realize that the economic principles he preached are principles that benefit very few of us while the rest of us are left "wanting".

Because our economy was very strong, what Reagan and his administration pushed through and what subsequent administrations continued to push through (yes, even the Clinton administration), it took quite a while for what we're facing now to rear it's ugly head.

We became a nation of borrowers, folks. When credit cards made you feel like they were giving you/us "free money" with cash advances, we loved it. We took that "free money" and spent it on stuff we didn't need, houses we couldn't afford or gambled it away. When did this "free money" cash advance business BEGIN? During the Reagan administration. I remember the first time I went to a bank with a credit card because I had heard about this cash advance business. I sat down with someone at the bank and I remembering saying to her, "That's IT?!? This is ALL I have to do?" She said (with a smile), "That's it!"

And I walked out of the bank with several thousand dollars that I didn't need.

More and more deregulation followed. In the radio and television business it was "consolidation" that turned those businesses into businesses that are (now) doing nothing but firing thousands of people a week, while losing millions of dollars, on top of millions, on top of millions.

And every business you can think of is in the same sorry boat.

Deregulation. Voodoo Economics.

Yes, gang. The chickens HAVE come home to roost!

ONE MORE NEW NEWSWEEK MAGAZINE ITEM...

Again...This is the February 16 issue and it's at your favorite supermarket, favorite 7-11 store or wherever you buy magazines. On pages 24, 25, 26 and 27 you will see an easy to read section titled, "Booms and Busts" that takes us on a fascinating tour of the good and bad economic times our great country has experienced since the year 1791 and WHY they were good or bad times! No bought and paid for "spin". Just some simple facts. Like who it is who BEGAN the Socialism ways that we're now using to try to keep us from becoming part of what would probably be called, "GREAT DEPRESSION TWO"!!!

ENTERTAINMENT STUFF...

There's a new film out right now that sold a lot of tickets immediately. "He's Just Not That Into You". I liked this film a lot! It has an all-star cast of actors and I think they all used their screen time well. The audience I sat with (mostly women) reacted often to what was happening on the screen and that gave me (a guy) an additional bit of a fun film watching experience. Near the end of this film is a bona fide "tear jerking" moment. There were several women sitting behind me who were sniffling and telling each other about the tears they were shedding. And while I heard them whispering to each other, I was wiping MY OWN EYES!!

Television news and observations...

I'm liking "24" again. I'm still liking "Desperate Housewives", "Brothers & Sisters", "United States of Tara" and "The L Word".

We are told that sometime near the end of this season, "Desperate Housewives" will be saying goodbye to Nicollette Sheridan. She'll apparently be killed in a car crash.

We are told that sometime near the end of this season, "Grey's Anatomy" will say goodbye to TWO of THEIR lead characters. T.R. Knight and Katherine Heigl who have already had their television careers killed because of their Big and ungrateful MOUTHS!!!

Baseball items...

It's beginning to look like "A-Rod" might BE "A-Fraud", huh? 104 names on a "confidential list" of baseball players who flunked drug tests in 2003 and A-Rod's name is the ONLY name that got LEAKED?!?

Today (February 11) Miguel Tejada stood before a judge and admitted he had lied about steroid use?

Do most of us even CARE about this?!?

I don't. Not really. I'm like most of you in the sense that I read the stories about these characters, but the fact of the matter is, if baseball officials, the union and owners hadn't quietly SANCTIONED this, it could have been stopped IMMEDIATELY!!!

WHY wasn't it stopped? Because what was happening was GOOD FOR BUSINESS!!!

THOUGHTS AND OR COMMENTS? Please write to me at scottstjames@sbcglobal.net
If you write to my blog, I won't know what your email address is so I won't be able to respond to you. ALL emails sent to scottstjames@sbcglobal.net are responded to by me.

By the way...Thank you very much for your reaction to the Limbaugh essay that was written by Beau Weaver. I was going to print a response I sent to an angry guy who thought that I wrote the Limbaugh essay, but a number of the points I made to him were (in essence) made at the beginning of this blog when I was commenting on the Newsweek story.

THE NEXT BLOG? Unless something unexpected comes up, next Wednesday, February 18, early or late evening.

Rush Limbaugh: A Comprehensive Perspective!!!

2009-02-04T14:41:00.000-08:00

The Rush Limbaugh "perspective" will be our final story!

I'd like to remind you again about the brand new song, "Born Again American" that's available on this blogsite. This is a song that is six minutes and 15 seconds long, but when you watch and hear it, you will not get the sense it's long at all. It IS, in my view, simply sensational! If you would like to listen and watch something that will tap into your soul (unless you are soul-less), simply look to the right of this blog where the "Links" section is. Scroll all the way down to the last link which will say, Born Again American. Click it, watch it, listen and enjoy!

And now we'll comment on some things that YOU have been talking about!!!

Pretty good Super Bowl, huh? It was the highest rated Super Bowl (television ratings wise) in history! This game was also (arguably) the worst REFEREED game in Super Bowl history!

Despite that, the game was entertaining!

SPEAKING OF ENTERTAINMENT...

Yesterday, I saw the new film, "Taken", starring Liam Neeson, Famke Janssen, Maggie Grace and a whole bunch of bad guys.

WOW, WOW, DOUBLE AND TRIPLE WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The film "Taken" takes you on a thrill ride that's virtually a major adrenaline rush! Liam Neeson plays an ex-CIA agent who has retired so he can be closer to his daughter who is played by Maggie Grace, who plays "adorable" as well as I've EVER seen anyone play "adorable". Famke Janssen plays Grace's mom and Neeson's ex-wife. Janssen is an actress I've had a major crush on forever and she's also an actress who "delivers" when she's given a role and for the life of me, I don't understand why she hasn't had the opportunity to do bigger things, but that's another subject for another time.

Anyway...The Maggie Grace character gets kidnapped after she has taken a trip to Paris. She's on the phone with her father when it happens. It is a kidnapping that the people who are responsible for, will live (then die) to regret it because this Neeson character is one bad hombre.
Again...The film is called "Taken" and you should take yourself to your favorite theatre and SEE this fun thrill ride!

Does anyone ELSE on President Obama's team have TAX problems?!?

Three truer words were never spoken than the three words spoken by President Obama yesterday when he said, "I screwed UP!!!"

There are two things we can take away from what has happened regarding people who have tax problems.

(1) If you're being asked to accept a job working for the President of the United States, you need to let him know immediately if there's any kind of problem with your taxes, because if you don't, someone else will tell him in one of two ways. If it's a friend of this administration, the message will be given privately. If it's an enemy of this administration, the information will be given to someone like Drudge, Limbaugh, Hannity or anyone else who wants to publicly embarrass President Obama.

(2) It is long past time to SIMPLIFY the tax code! I mean, REALLY simplify it! Right now, when people are trying to figure out their taxes (especially RICH people), they spend so much time trying to BEAT the tax system that they often unintentionally miss something that they obviously will have to pay a tax for.

I have been in favor of a "Flat Tax" for a LONG time!!! Do you know who is deathly AFRAID of a "Flat Tax"? Rich people, the tax preparing industry (H&R Block, etc.) and pointy-headed people who should know better.

Former presidential candidate Mike Huckabee was ON to something when HE was advocating a "Flat Tax". Once he brought that proposal up, did you notice who were the FIRST group of his "supporters" who ran for the hills and QUIT supporting Huckabee? RICH RELIGIOUS LEADERS!!!

When are these BANKS going to quit spending bailout money like it's THEIRS?!?

I mean, when is some federal official (maybe with a badge) going to tell these banks who are in financial trouble that if they (the banks) use any MORE bailout money from US, the TAXPAYERS, for bonuses or fancy parties, the person or persons RESPONSIBLE for using our money in that fashion IS GOING TO JAIL!!!

Sudden thought: Because so MANY banks and other bailout recipient types are guilty of believing they can act like it's "business as usual" with all this government money they've been getting, it occurs to me that a nationwide overcrowding jail problem might make it difficult TO put all these people in jail.

Wellll...Because I like to consider myself to be part of the solution as opposed to being part of the problem, please be advised that those private torture prisons that the Bush administration was using figure to have lots of vacancies now. Just a thought.

OTHER STUFF AND THEN THE RUSH LIMBAUGH COMPREHENSIVE PERSPECTIVE...

Are Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens going to end up in PRISON?!?

Here in the Los Angeles area, there has been a lot of conversation about a woman who has no husband (nor does she want one), she lives with her mother and she recently had 8 kids. Yes, she gave birth to 8 kids. All at once. She requested and was given fertitility treatments. She was given these fertility treatments in spite of the fact she already HAD/HAS six other kids, the oldest being seven years old.

How does she plan to SUPPORT these 14 children? Ahhh, details , details. Right now, those details are whacha call, sketchy. As in, there aren't any. We are told that she would like to "SELL" her story for $2 million. Wouldn't we ALL?!? We're told she wants to talk to Oprah Winfrey and Diane Sawyer. Apparently someone hasn't told this mother of 14 that getting money out of either of those two media moguls will be like trying to get blood from a stone, but if this mother of 14 was a rocket scientist, she wouldn't have had all these babies, but that's another story.

Let's go back to what she says she wants to do. Sell her story. For $2 million. Hmmm...A book deal, perhaps? Because there doesn't seem to be much "there, there" as far as a fascinating or compelling story to TELL about this mother of 14, she will need an eye-catching TITLE for her book. Hmmmm...Got it!!! I AM THE DUMBEST PERSON IN THE WORLD!

I can see THAT title front and center at MY favorite book store right now. And I would probably buy the darn thing.

TWO MORE "LOUSY ECONOMY" ITEMS...

Our economy sucks! You know it and I know it. You and I both FEEL it!!! Every damn day!!!

It ain't just here, folks. I'm in regular contact with several successful women in Russia. From what THEY tell me, it sounds like they've got it worse than we do. A LOT worse!

But they seem to have one thing in common with us. Over the last number of years, a small group of Russian people have gotten very rich. And now, the whole country is in deep doo-doo.

Here in America, over the last number of years, a small (population wise) number of American people got very rich. And now, OUR whole country is in deep doo-doo. We hear know-nothing de-regulation apologists like Sean "Little Lord Fauntleroy" Hannity holler about how President Obama's proposals will result in a massive "redistribution of wealth"!

No, "Little Lord", the "redistribution of wealth" is what has gotten us INTO the economic mess we're in right now. America and Russia. If we're not walking around with our rulers trying to show each other who has the biggest bomb, we're busy showing each other how we can ruin our standard(s) of living. Some people just never get out of high school, do they?

Speaking of people who have redefined the word, "Simplistic", it's now time for the "Rush Limbaugh" essay.

Yesterday (February 3rd), my good friend and LARadio.com publisher Don Barrett printed an essay about Rush Limbaugh that was written by Beau Weaver. A lot of you readers have probably never heard of Beau Weaver, but trust me when I tell you that you HAVE HEARD HIM because he has done thousands of radio commercials and hundreds of movie trailers. You know, the guy who's doing the talking while you're watching a preview of coming events before the film "Taken" starts. Because I spent a lot of time as a radio guy, I was very much aware of Beau Weaver, who before becoming a big time voiceover guy, was a successful radio personality. What I DIDN'T know about Beau Weaver (until yesterday) was his interest in politics, the human condition and Rush Limbaugh. What you are about to read is Beau Weaver's essay about Rush that will also include some references to himself. And it will give those of you who are interested in radio in general, a little history lesson about how things are done, how they used to be done and how dangerous it can be if you forget who you REALLY are!
I hope you find this to be as fascinating as I did and do.

And it starts NOW!

Rush Limbaugh is getting a lot of promotional help these days, though he does not need it, from the preposterous suggestion that he is the new head of the Republican party. This makes about as much sense as suggesting that Kiefer Sutherland should head the CIA. You do know that Jack Bauer is just a character on a television show, right? Just as Rush Limbaugh is a character invented by a radio deejay who had to reinvent himself as a talk show host many years ago.

Mistaking Limbaugh for an actual political authority is not much different from thinking Stephen Colbert is actually a conservative talk show host. You see? The media fun house mirror has distorted our perceptions beyond belief. And, in this confusion, former top forty deejay Limbaugh is in a real way responsible for the complete breakdown of civic discourse is America.

In the early 70's, I had the pleasure of working in the hallowed halls of some of America's big time pop music radio stations in major markets like San Francisco and Los Angeles. Top Forty is a genre that no longer exists. Rush Limbaugh was a radio jock trying to get there too. He used the air name 'Jeff Christy', and was...well, just not really major market material. At one point, he got out of radio entirely for a sports marketing job. But radio was in his blood, and he found his way back into broadcasting as a talk show host in Sacramento.

Though Rush Limbaugh is his real name, the "conservative blowhard" persona was a character he created, largely to play against his expectations of "liberal Northern California". Contrary to popular myth, California is not a liberal monolith; the Golden State gave birth to Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan and the John Birch Society, for crying out loud! Confounding the expectations of most media observers, the Bombastic Right Wing act worked. However, in time, El Rushbo forgot that it was just a character. He became it. Or, it became him.

Radio personalities understand this all too well. Just ask Howard Stern's ex-wife, Alison. Radio performers often use their own name, and the on air persona they create is, in fact, based on their own personality, but writ large, with some new fictional elements, and other parts of their actual life edited out. Even though "that radio guy" has the same name as your own, and is similar to you in many ways, it is in every sense a character you have written and developed over time. It is a role which you play on the air every day, but which is most definitely not you.

An actor in a play or a film knows very well where the character ends and he, the actor begins. He takes off the makeup and costume and resumes the use of his own name. For the radio personality, the line is blurred. Soon, the vast majority of the world you live in relates to you as this character. He is the one who gets the accolades and praises if you are successful. He is not you, but, who would blame you for preferring to be him?

In the early 80's, I was an on air talent in Houston. The once dominant but now declining AM station that employed me assigned me to experiment with reinventing the call in talk show format at night. The ratings were so low, there was nothing to lose. At that time, talk shows were mind-numbingly boring, all public affairs-ish and shades of grey. My program director charged me with applying all of the tricks and techniques of radio showmanship to this moribund genre to see if we couldn't make something happen. I achieved a small measure of success.

But I observed something curious. People assumed that since I had a talk show, that I must "be something". At that time, the few talk shows around were hosted by actual experts in some field. But I was shocked at how often I was mistaken for being someone whose opinions might actually matter. I would get a call from someone who identified themselves as, say, the director of the Rice University International Symposium on Middle Eastern Affairs. She would be inviting me to be a guest speaker at their big annual event featuring Ph.D's and Foreign Policy experts. "Well, er, okay", I said. "But do you guys know who I am? You guys know I am just a disc jockey, right? And that my hair is down to my ass, and I am typically wearing a Foghat tee shirt and cut-off jeans?" "Oh, Mr. Weaver, you are just being modest", they would say. No, I wasn't. "Look, I'm telling you the truth here, I'm just a disc jockey, who dropped out of college when he no longer needed the draft deferment." They were not having any of it. "But, Mr. Weaver, we listen to your program all the time, and we greatly respect your keen insights. We realize that the self deprecation is just part of your charm, which is why we would value your participation so very much." Yikes. They were buying my act!

That is exactly what happened to Jeff Christy, er, I mean...Limbaugh. His audience thought he was really that guy. And pretty soon, he forgot that he wasn't. While I was doing talk radio, I also discovered that thoughtful consideration of both sides of the issue did not make for compelling radio. The middle road may be the most reasonable approach to a particular idea, but it does not make the phones ring. I discovered that when I would extend the logical extreme of a viewpoint and exaggerate it for the sake of irony, the phones would explode. The audience did not perceive the irony. Phil Hendrie built a career around this observation. It made for entertaining radio. But when the audience does not understand that you are doing parody, you have a dilemma. Either you go back to the bland, or you start building credibility for something that you know is not truthful. What's more, the more extreme I became the more free media publicity my show would get. A dozen television and newspaper feature stories were done on me. And then the station manager started lobbying for me to make my parody bits into a full time format.

On a march larger scale, this is what happened to Limbaugh. I will give the devil his due however; as a broadcaster, Rush Limbaugh is a master showman, using all the tricks of the radio man's art. But Rush's success has almost completely destroyed our ability to have a constructive national dialogue about policy.

The rhetorical techniques Rush uses are primarily hyperbole and mischaracterization. You simply take your opponent's ideas, then caricature them until they are a complete misrepresentation of their actual views. You insist always, that your opponent actually represents the most extreme fringe faction of people who hold their beliefs, then demonize them as being the personification of evil. Not just wrong, but evil. And the root of all evil. Then you stick with that position, repeat it relentlessly and never, ever waver. Never back down. Never apologize. You are always 100% confident that your opponent is wrong, and self consciously evil.

This makes sense for a radio man, trying to create a consistent share of mind for his "brand". His position must be absolute, and without nuance. Just like the radio station whose slogan was "All News All The Time", Rush had to be "All Conservative Blowhard All The Time". The radio consultants told him he had to repeat his core branding position every 7 minutes, because that is how often the audience turned over. This is a great way to position a brand, but a bad way to have a serious discussion about important national issues, which are always full of nuance.

This is the problem we are struggling with as a nation trying to make sense of some extremely complex problems. As Rush became hugely successful in national syndication, radio consultants reduced his act to formula which was imposed on almost all other talk hosts around the country. And, when Cable News Networks had a bunch of hours to fill, they simply imitated the Rush Limbaugh format on television. Over a dozen or more years, this has changed the way we discuss issues, and it does not serve us. What was once constructive deliberation, now resembles the WWE.

The Republicans demonize the Democrats as being Socialists, when they are the ones who vastly increased the size of government and federal power. They accuse the Democrats of being the "Tax and Spend" party, even though they are the ones who put an unnecessary trillion dollar war on the national credit card, and passed out billions to Wall Street with no strings attached. But by repeating the old argument ad infinitum, it persists. You see, this is the top forty dictum of "Play the Hits" that they learned by imitating Limbaugh. Those arguments won for them in the past, so the strategy is to simply keep repeating them over and over, like the Classic Rock stations keep playing Stairway to Heaven over and over.

Limbaugh has taught the Republicans to continue to call the Democrats "the party of big government". Actually, the truth is, the conservatives won that argument many years ago. Even progressives don't want the government to be big; they just want it to be effective. But the Right learned Rush's deejay lessons well. When you have a hit record, you just keep playing it, over and over again. And of course, it must be added that it is not only the Right that has reflexively used these rhetorical blunt instruments. The Limbaugh scorched earth style of engagement has infected and demeaned the entire national conversation, including, sometimes, that emanating from center left. This has to change.

We are in a worldwide financial emergency. For survival's sake, we have to stop looking at everything in terms of the political chess game. We have some really big national problems to grapple with. Like it or not, our elected representatives are going to have to find a way to reinvent the way capitalism works. Our political and economic system is not ideologically pure; It is a hybrid of individualistic and collective elements. The tension between the two will always be with us, and is in fact the genius of American politics. Continuing to demonize the other side as being evil extremists is simply not going to fix anything. The solutions we end up with will be somewhere between the 40-yard lines. We cannot expect our short term emergency solutions to be ideologically pure.

Rush Limbaugh is a compelling radio character. His pig-headed consistency is a brilliant example of effective radio branding. But you have to stop taking the things he says seriously. He is a cartoon! An entertainer! And we as a nation must learn to have a national dialogue about public policy that involves listening, cooperation, collegiality and compromise.

I can't help but wonder what would have happened if Jeff Christy had made it to WLS or KFRC, undoubtedly his dream stations, back in the mid 70's. The world we live in might well be a much more civilized place.

THOUGHTS and or COMMENTS? Please write to me at scottstjames@sbcglobal.net. If you write to the blog, I won't know your email address so I won't be able to respond to you. All letters written to me at scottstjames@sbcglobal.net are answered by me.

THE NEXT BLOG? Barring unforseen circumstances, the next blog will be written Wednesday, February 11 and will be posted early or late that evening.

I Like The Underdog In Sunday's Super Bowl!!!

2009-01-28T09:02:00.000-08:00

THIS IS A LATE ADDITION TO THIS BLOG WHICH WAS POSTED WEDNESDAY MORNING, JANUARY 28!!!

I WANT TO CALL YOUR ATTENTION TO A WONDERFUL SONG THAT'S TITLED, "BORN AGAIN AMERICAN"! IT IS 6 MINUTES AND 15 SECONDS WORTH OF UNADULTERATED JOY!!! IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO HEAR IT, LOOK TO THE RIGHT OF THIS BLOG WHERE THE LINKS SECTION IS. SCROLL DOWN TO THE LAST LINK AND YOU CAN HEAR THIS SONG. AFTER YOU HEAR IT, IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO "THANK" ME, SEND AN EMAIL TO ME AT scottstjames@sbcglobal.net

OKAY, WHAT COMES NOW IS THE BLOG AS IT WAS WRITTEN YESTERDAY ,Wednesday morning, January 28!!!

I know...Rush Limbaugh, dieing to become relevant again, is trying to pick a fight with President Obama.

I know...Sean "Little Lord Fauntleroy" Hannity, still thinks somebody (anybody) cares about Bill Ayres which proves how irrelevant the "Little Lord Fauntleroy" show is.

I know...Rush and "Little Lord's" rich pals are taking all the "bailout" money they can get so they can (seemingly) use much too much of it to pay bonuses to people who made the decisions that led to the necessity to cry for "bailout" money. In other words, bonuses to be paid to professional FAILURES!!!

I know...The New York Attorney General might be considering criminal charges to be leveled at the former Merrill Lynch & Company Chief Executive John Thain and Bank of America Corporation's chief administration officer, J. Steele Alphin because of all the suspicious business regarding what seems to have involved playing fast and loose with taxpayer money. Money that wasn't supposed to be for bonuses to be paid for professional failures at Merrill Lynch just before they got sold TO Bank of America, but that is indeed what happened.

Yes, I am aware of all of these things. Things that are dreadful. Things that (if there was any justice at all) would result in prison time for these greedy bastard professional failures, greedy bastard professional failures that professional charlatans like Limbaugh and Hannity worship at the alter/feet of.

Yes, I am also aware of the pain so many of our brothers and sisters are experiencing every day because of pay cuts on top of pay cuts and that's if they still are lucky enough to have a job in which a cut in pay could be mandated.

But ya know what? YOU deserve a BREAK!!! I deserve a break!!! WE deserve a break!!!

And that's why our headline this week is about this Sunday's SUPER BOWL!!!

The mighty Pittsburgh Steelers are playing the....

ARIZONA CARDINALS?!?!?

Bill Bidwell is the owner of that team. He and Donald Sterling (owner of the Los Angeles Clippers) are considered to be the two WORST owners in ALL of sports!

Sterling has never had his basketball team within smelling distance of the NBA finals and that's saying something seeing as how his team plays their home games in the same arena the Lakers play in.

Bidwell owned the Cardinals when they were in St. Louis. I was working on the radio station in St. Louis that carried that pathetic Cardinals team and I had the honor of being thrown out of their office building by none other than Bill Bidwell, his ownself. My crime? I was waiting to do an interview with one of his star players (at the time), Conrad Dobler.

Bill Bidwell was a HORRIBLE owner then and when he decided to move his team to Arizona, the city of St. Louis was ready to give him a police escort so he wouldn't have any traffic problems and was able to leave town quickly.

It didn't take long for the good citizens of Arizona to find out HOW horrible an owner Bidwell was, but sometime recently, he turned over the decision making to his son Michael, who then hired some football professionals. Michael Bidwell turned over most of the decision making TO their new football professionals and NOW, wonder of wonders (and Kurt Warner), the CARDINALS are in this Sunday's SUPER BOWL!!!

UNBLEEPING BELIEVABLE!!!

And I have this funny feeling that the Cardinals have one more surprise to spring on us. I haven't bet on a football game in more than 20 years, but once upon a time, I was considered to be a pretty good handicapper. During the early 80's I hosted a handicapping show on the radio here in Los Angeles and people who listened to us and bet with us, made a little money.

The Pittsburgh Steelers are favored by 7 points. If the Cardinals lose the game, I think they'll lose it by less than 7 points which means that people betting on the Cardinals would win their bet if I'm right.

My friends at The Gold Sheet think the Cardinals will WIN the game! Not just win the BET!
Win the GAME! 27-24!!!

I don't have a final score in mind, but I think they'll win the game (outright) as well.

But remember, I don't have any "skin in this game", so I won't lose a dime if I'm wrong.

So here's the deal, gang! The economy sucks, many of us are hanging on by the tips of our fingers, but we really DO deserve a "break" and that's what this coming Sunday is all about. Super Bowl Sunday is an unofficial National Holiday.

So...Let's set the "worry beads" aside, enjoy the game, enjoy the food and wake up Monday ready to face reality again.

And this little bit of wisdom (free of charge) from me to you about radio talk show charlatans who DO NOT have your best interests in mind. Limbaugh, Hannity, Coulter and their "copycats" have had their economic theories EXPOSED, so everything else that comes out of their mouths is conversation. WORTHLESS conversation!!!

MOVIES!!!

In 2006, Sylvester Stallone wrote another "Rocky" script. It was called, "Rocky Balboa" and the film did well at the box office. The fact that it didn't cost much to make helped the "bottom line", but because I had seen all the other "Rocky" films, I had no interest in seeing this one.

But I kept hearing the same words about this film. "It's actually pretty good, Scott!"

"Rocky Balboa" is now being shown a lot on The Movie Channel which is one of those premium channels you have to pay extra for. I saw it a couple of nights ago.

WOW!!! I thought "Rocky Balboa" was a sweet, sweet film! Were there some improbable or hardly believable elements? No doubt about it, but you know what? I didn't CARE!! If you haven't seen it yet, do yourself a favor and rent it or watch it on The Movie Channel. In fact, it'll be on tonight, Wednesday, January 28. And a special tip of the cap to my long time friend Jim Lampley who did a terrific job being the boxing announcer for the big fight in this film. Lamps was there along with the guys who are always with him when he announces the big fights for HBO and ring announcer Michael Buffer was in the film as well. By having those guys there, it almost seemed "real".

Do you like HORROR films?

There's a new one out that I saw yesterday. "My Bloody Valentine". This film is about a very annoyed coal miner who takes out his frustrations on people with a pickaxe. All horror films have at least one scene in which a barely clad or naked beautiful woman has a problem with the villain, a problem that usually results in her being dead. In "My Bloody Valentine", you will see a totally naked beautiful woman who has a lot of dialogue while trying to get away from this mad miner. Truth be known, a lot of guys probably bought tickets when they found out about this one (very long) scene.

I've had the pleasure of acting in a few horror films that went straight to video and then went straight to the bargain basement bin in places that rent films. Yes, the films were that bad.

"My Bloody Valentine" actually has a story you can "stay with", I certainly did and I walked out of the theatre feeling I had gotten my money's worth.

THOUGHTS AND OR COMMENTS? Please write to me at scottstjames@sbcglobal.net. If you write to the blog, I won't know what your email address is so I won't be able to respond to you. I write back to everyone who writes to me at scottstjames@sbcglobal.net

THE NEXT BLOG? This blog is being posted at an unusually early time and that doesn't figure to be the case NEXT Wednesday when my new blog figures to be posted sometime next Wednesday evening.

GO CARDINALS!!!

"MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!!!"

2009-01-21T18:33:00.000-08:00

How many years ago was it when we saw "Mission Accomplished" on that boat George W. Bush flew onto? Well, he didn't accomplish that "mission", but he did (successfully) accomplish the mission of leaving Washington yesterday.

And we the people, successfully accomplished the mission of getting a refreshing new leader as our President of the United States, something that became official a little after noon, Eastern time, yesterday.

I agree with those who said that President Obama's Inaugural Address wasn't the best speech he's ever given, because it didn't have that magical "something" in the way it was delivered.

But what President Obama DID SAY, was REAL!!! Real as in, President Bush left a pile of very deep doo-doo that needs to get cleaned up and TO get it cleaned up, will require a lot of work and sacrifice for ALL of us!

In other words, no phony baloney about how easy it will be now that we have our new "HOPE" President!

Short Commentary: And it's about TIME that we were told some REALITY about the sorry condition our United States condition is IN!!!

Does Rush Limbaugh have a CLUE, or has he LOST all sense of reality?!?

First of all, I call your attention to an excellent column written by James Rainey in today's Los Angeles Times that's headlined, "He's already Rushed to judgment". Rainey cites several examples of spoiled baloney that Rush is feeding his hypnotized flock about things that give new meaning to the word ABSURD!!!

And I have my own example for why I turned Rush off and haven't listened since. Before Obama WON the election, Rush and that other idiot, Hannity, were howling to the moon about how this recession doesn't/didn't even EXIST!!! But NOW, these clowns (who really should be circus acts) not only say that this recession really DOES exist, but it's OBAMA'S FAULT!!!

The LOGIC behind this lunacy? Rush and Hannity don't have to deal with logic. The recession has been going on for more than a year. Bush's White House ADMITTED that in DECEMBER!!! But Rush and Hannity count on people who will believe ANYTHING they say! And to be fair, that's been a LARGE group of people. But here's a newsflash for both of these jerks. A number of their loyal listeners are beginning to realize that THEY are hurting and HAVE been hurting for quite a while and Rush and Hannity, by not acknowledging that, are exposing themselves as charlatans who are mouthing what their rich masters are telling them to say or they're exposing themselves as BEING TOTALLY OUT OF TOUCH!!!

It won't happen overnight, but sooner, rather than later, the old Don Meredith song that used to be sung on Monday Night Football will apply to Rush, Hannity and others of their ilk: "Turn out the liiiights...The party's over!!!"

BACK TO YESTERDAY'S INAUGURATION!!!

The Inauguration ended yesterday with a Benediction that was written and delivered by the Reverend Joseph Lowery. The whole message was quite lyrical and while it was good and nice, it didn't really grab me until the final paragraph and that paragraph REALLY grabbed me!

And here it is..."Lord, in the memory of all the saints who from their labors rest, and in the joy of a new beginning, we ask you to help us work for that day when black will not be asked to get in back...
When brown can stick around...
When yellow will be mellow...
When the red man can get ahead, man...
And when white will embrace what is right.

Let all those who do justice and love mercy say amen.
Say amen.
And amen!"

ECONOMIC NEWS!!!

In the last little more than 3 weeks, gas prices have gone up 32 cents a gallon in this part of the Los Angeles area.

Because I spent a lot of years in the radio business, my heartfelt concern goes out to HUGE numbers of radio professionals who have lost their jobs in the last couple of days and also to those who haven't lost their jobs (yet), but who are suffering through multiple pay cuts.

Our major banks are asking for more bailout money. They first got clobbered by the housing mess which they helped create, but after getting bailout money for that, they now need more bailout money due to all the people who have filed for bankruptcy because of bank credit card debt people can't pay.

ENTERTAINMENT STUFF:

Have you watched any of the episodes of the new season of "24"? I have seen every episode of "24" since they came on the air. Here's a question for you. Do you think that "24" has become a bore? I mean, am I the only one who thinks this show has given a new definition for the word "predictable"?

This past Sunday, the cable network Showtime presented the first episode of the final season of "The L Word" and the first episode of a new show called, "United States of Tara".

The "United States of Tara" is a Steven Spielberg production that stars Toni Collette as a woman with multiple personalities. And she's surrounded by a terrific cast of supporting players who play her husband, sister, son and very beautiful daughter. I liked the show a lot!

"The L Word" is a show I thought I wouldn't like when it first came on the air, but I got hooked on it and have loved it ever since. Sunday night's episode lived up to their high standards and I will miss this show when it comes to an end.

Did you see "Desperate Housewives" this past Sunday? It was their 100th episode. A special number and they made this a special show. It was all about a handyman played by Beau Bridges who dies while fixing something for one of the neighbors on Wisteria Lane. You saw him die at the beginning of the show. The rest of the show was about how the handyman had a memorable encounter with all the women on the show and we saw each woman remember that encounter.

This was an absolutely WONDERFUL episode and if Beau Bridges doesn't get an Emmy nomination for this, then the Emmy's aren't WORTH getting nominated for!!!

THOUGHTS AND OR COMMENTS? Please write to me at scottstjames@sbcglobal.net. If you write to the blog, I won't see an email address from you so I won't be able to write you back.
When you write to scottstjames@sbcglobal.net, you will definitely get a response from me.

THE NEXT BLOG? Barring unforseen circumstances, the next blog will be written next Wednesday, January 28 and figures to be posted sometime that evening.

People Will Tell You About Other Oscar Contenders, But "Gran Torino" Is The Best Film I'VE Seen!!!

2009-01-15T10:03:00.000-08:00

First of all, I pride myself on never being late for anything, but I'm a day late regarding the publication of this week's blog and I apologize for that. Other things requiring my attention took longer than expected.

OSCAR NOMINATIONS!!!

The Best Film, Best Actor, Best Actress or Best Director Oscar nominations haven't been announced yet, but THREE of those nominations should go to Clint Eastwood.

If you haven't seen "Gran Torino" yet, do yourself a favor, spend the money and see this film.

The film lasts about 2 hours, but it will seem like you haven't been seated anywhere near that length of time. You will never take your eyes off the screen, you will be surprised at what appears to be the dramatic ending, you will smile at what appears to really be the ending and you will sit through the credits while watching the actual ending.

"Gran Torino" is THAT GOOD!!!

Yes, I've heard that some thin-skinned folks are "bothered" by the way the Eastwood character talks, but he talks "openly" the way a lot of people used to talk openly. It was different time, gang. Sit down, place yourself in that time and here's what will happen; You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll almost die. "Gran Torino" is THAT good!!! And yes, I stole that "laugh, cry, die" line from a line I stated (as an actor) in the Ron Howard film, "Edtv".

AND SPEAKING OF ENTERTAINMENT...

Did you see the film, "Bug" when it was released? If not, neither did I. It's being shown on the Showtime cable channels now, and I heartily recommend it. It stars Ashley Judd and this is a big time intense film. But a film you can't take your eyes off of.

There's been a lot of publicity for the second season of "Damages" on FX. I saw every episode of "Damages" last season and I was a big fan of the show. Episode one of the new season aired last Wednesday and I thought it was a disappointment.

ONE OTHER ENTERTAINMENT NOTE...

In my last blog, I mentioned that I have recently performed (in acting workshops) a monologue titled, "If I Was A Terrorist" and I printed the monologue in my last blog. Thanks very much to all of you who have commented on this monologue and my very special thanks to CLAUDE HALL who gave my monologue and this blog a nice plug in that terrific column Mr. Hall writes. Mr. Hall is a guy who everyone in radio used to read when he was the most influential radio columnist in the world while writing for Billboard Magazine. Mr. Hall now writes for Radio Daily News, which (like this blog) is easily found on your computer.

AND NOW THE DEPRESSING NEWS...

Where I live, the price of gasoline has gone up 24 cents a gallon in a little more than 2 weeks.

Where I live, it used to be next to impossible to find an apartment to rent. I walk (at least) 3 miles a day as part of my daily exercise routine. I walk past a lot of apartment buildings and every one of them (now) has "Apartment for rent" or "Apartment for lease" signs outside their buildings. For this to be happening, one of two other things have to have HAPPENED!

(1) A lot of people have decided to move to a cheaper state to live.

(2) And (or) a lot of people (because of this lousy economy) have become homeless.

Short Commentary: Yi, yi, yi!!!

FOR THOSE STILL LUCKY ENOUGH TO HAVE A JOB...

I know. You're suffering through pay cuts on top of pay cuts, no health insurance, et cetera (etc.) on top of more lousy et cetera (etc.)

Did you hear about what Gannett, the largest newspaper publisher is doing? They're forcing their employees to take mandatory one week "vacations" without pay.

I know. Some of you are already taking one, two and three week vacations without pay. And you're doing that (along with other lousy things) to keep your job!

WHY ISN'T BERNIE MADOFF IN JAIL WITHOUT BAIL?!?

I'm sure you've heard about this creep! Smooth talking creep-a-zoid who has managed to destroy lives because of his ability to get people to "trust him" with their money.

And he's admitted it! Or at least enough of what he's been accused of to guarantee a sentence in prison that won't in any way, shape or form be enough to pay for the harm he has done to so many people and companies.

While on bail, Bernie Madoff has 24-hour a day armed guards that watch his every move and are paid for by Madoff's wife. The lawyers Madoff has are paid for by Madoff's wife. Transportation to and from court is paid for by Madoff's wife. A bulletproof vest that Madoff wears when he steps outside was paid for by Madoff's wife.

Where does the money come from that Madoff's wife uses to PAY for all these things? IT IS MONEY THAT MADOFF GOT FROM THE (now) POOR PEOPLE HE STOLE FROM!!!

I'm tellin' ya, folks...There are times when I find myself in favor of hanging someone by their thumbs in a public square and this is definitely ONE of those times!!!

Changes that are COMING and changes that SHOULD be coming!!!

Next Tuesday, we will have a new President of the United States. Our (then) former President of the United States figures to eventually (and officially) be remembered as our WORST President of the United States in our HISTORY!!!

Meanwhile, here in the Los Angeles, California area, WE are stuck with an illegal immigrant supporter/protector MAYOR, who is the WORST Mayor in our history annnd...We are stuck with an illegal immigrant supporter/protector along with being a pedophile priest protector who is somehow considered to be a law abiding man of God while having an official title that declares him to be the boss of all Catholics in this area. Yes, I'm referring to Cardinal Mahony who, for the life of me, I don't understand why he's never been indicted.

THOUGHTS AND OR COMMENTS?

Please write to me directly at scottstjames@sbcglobal.net. If you write to the blog, there's no record of your email address, so I can't write back to you. I write back to every email that is sent directly to me at scottstjames@sbcglobal.net

THE NEXT BLOG?

Assuming I'm not late again, or that something unexpected comes up, the next blog will be written the day after Inauguration Day, which will be Wednesday, January 21st. The blog figures to be posted by sometime that evening.

Now That The "R" Word Has Been Burned Into Your Brain, It's Time To Think About The "D" Word!!!

2009-01-07T16:10:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year, everyone! This is our first blog in 2009 and our first blog since December 3rd, 2008.

A lot of things have happened in the little more than a month that I've been on "hiatus", so in no particular order, I'll mention some of those things.

RECESSION?!? What about DEPRESSION?!?

For more than a year, you readers of this blog know that I've been telling you we've been in a recession long before this Administration acknowledged this truth which was finally acknowledged about the time this blog went on hiatus.

You readers also know that I've been telling you we need to be concerned about a possible Great Depression II, unless we drastically change the way we're doing things, economically.

Do you know who Paul Krugman is? He recently won a Nobel Prize in economics. That means he knows a lot about economic stuff that most of us don't have a clue about. On January 4th (three days before this blog is being written), Paul Krugman, writing about the state of our economy, got a lot of people's attention with, "Let's not mince words. This looks an awful lot like the beginning of a second Great Depression."

Words of caution to ponder, gang. I know it's rough out there. It's rough here, too. We've all been tightening our belts, but it might be advisable to put another hole in that belt of yours so you can tighten it some more. Will that make your waist hurt? Well, I just put another hole in MY belt and yes, it HURTS!!!

Thank you, thank you, thank you, you zero-regulation, bought and paid for champions of letting the foxes into the economic hen houses and letting the rich get richer than rich while the rest of us, trying desperately to keep our jobs and to pay our bills, are saying, "What the bleep HAPPENED?!?"

Speaking of the bought and paid for crowd, Yo, R. Rush!!! How Do You Like Donovan McNabb, NOW?!?

What does the R. before Rush stand for? Let that be our quiz for the day, gang.

ONE MORE FOOTBALL RELATED ITEM!!!

Did you watch the Fiesta Bowl game on Fox? Ohio State against Texas? Good game, huh? Too bad the game was brought down by the guy doing the announcing. I never heard his name and I know I wouldn't recognize it if I did hear it because I'm aware of all the good sports announcers. But this play by play announcer of Monday's Fiesta Bowl on Fox was the worst play by play announcer I've heard in a long time, if not ever!!!

ONE MORE ATHLETIC RELATED ITEM!!!

How about the arm on that guy who threw the shoes at President Bush?

Of course no one has seen the show thrower since he was thrown into a jail cell, so one wonders if he still HAS the arm he used to throw the two shoes. "Justice" in that part of the world ain't anywhere near the same as it is here. Don't a lot of judges in that part of the world order the cutting off of hands of people who are convicted of stealing something? Am I the only one who wonders what a judge in that part of the world would order to be cut off if someone is found guilty of the crime of masturbation?

MORE ECONOMIC BAD NEWS!!!

Uh, oh! Have you noticed what's been happening at the gas pump lately? Where I live, gas prices have gone UP 12 cents a gallon in less than a WEEK!

And there's talk of additional gas TAXES on top of the increases of the price of gas!

Did you hear about this proposal in Oregon and other places? A MILEAGE tax? Something about some kind of gizmo that would be ordered to be installed in your car so that the amount of miles you drive would be tracked by satellite and everytime you go to a gas station, you would automatically be charged an additional amount based on the number of miles you had driven since the LAST time you were at a gas station.

More Big Brother, a possible second Great Depression, running out of places on our belts to punch new holes in....

And now THIS!!! The Associated Press reports that, "Untold thousands of illegal immigrants live in public housing at a time when hundreds of thousands of American citizens and American LEGAL residents are stuck waiting YEARS for a spot."

Gang, there is one word for this situation; OUTRAGEOUS!!! Here's another word; UNACCEPTABLE!!!

The economy sucks and is getting sucky-er...We legal Americans are going through belt tightening the likes of which we've never experienced unless we're close to being a hundred years old...And we're being forced to pay higher taxes to give FREE MEDICAL and WELFARE SERVICES to MILLIONS of ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS?!? ANNND...
PUBLIC HOUSING?!?

WHY, OH WHY AREN'T WE STANDING UP LIKE HOWARD BEALE AND SHOUTING TO THE HEAVENS, "I'M MAD AS HELL AND I'M NOT GONNA TAKE THIS CRAP ANYMORE!!!"???

Okay...Let's all pause and take a deep breath.

During the more than a month I've been on a blog writing hiatus, I've been busy with other things.

The Beverly Hills Film Festival ran from December 26th to January 4th. 56 films were in the competition, a competition for first, second and third place cash prizes.

A film I'm in, "Manos Partidas" ("Split Hands"), was shown January 3rd and finished in third place in the overall competition. I play a ferocious border patrol agent who's on a mission because my wife was killed by an illegal immigrant. Unbeknownst to me, my son is dating an illegal.

I also had some fun performing a monologue at a few venues, a monologue titled, "If I Was A Terrorist".

And here it is...

If I was a terrorist and I wanted to destroy the American way of life, I wouldn't use planes and bombs to kill folks.

Hell's bells, that's too risky. You might get caught or killed or both!

Realtors get results, and then they lay the blame where it can't be found!

So here's what I would do if I was a terrorist.

I would foreclose on millions of homes, kick folks out of their houses.

I would devalue the dollar so the price of everything would go up!

I would outsource their jobs so they couldn't find work. I would move the factories to foreign countries, you know all the good paying factory jobs.

I would make education unaffordable. Terrorists don't like having educated people around.

I would make health care difficult to get and let the insurance companies just get away with murder!

I would listen to their telephone calls, monitor their e-mails and use that information to really stick it to them. Then...I would get myself a big ol' tax cut, sit back in luxury, and watch them fight over the crumbs!

But you know what? We live in the United States of America, thank you, Jesus! And the people who represent us would never ever let them get away with that, would they?

Would they???

Again...The title of this piece is, "If I Was A Terrorist". Do any of the described situations sound familiar to YOU? All of them, perhaps? We don't have to stand still for this, gang. We really don't.

FINAL THOUGHT...

How about that trailer park trash gang in Alaska, huh? From the future mother in law who's a drug dealer, to the high school dropout son, to the know nothing presidential candidate?

You betcha!!!

THE NEXT BLOG?

Barring unforseen circumstances, next Wednesday, January 14, early evening.

THOUGHTS AND OR COMMENTS?

If you write to the blog, I can't respond to you. So please write to me at scottstjames@sbcglobal.net I write back to everyone.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Happy Hanukkah, Merry Christmas & HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!

2008-12-03T18:09:00.000-08:00

The next blog will be written and posted on the evening of January 7, 2009!!!

THANKS VERY MUCH FOR YOUR LOYAL READERSHIP, I WISH YOU THE HAPPIEST OF HOLIDAYS AND FOR A 2009 THAT'LL BE A HELL OF A LOT BETTER THAN 2008 WAS!!!

And aren't you glad to know we're now being told (by the Bush Administration) that this awful recession we're in actually started a year ago!

We've been telling you this for at least that length of time.

Do you remember what some of your high priced right wing talk show hosts have been telling you? If we had a "Fairness Doctrine", they would have been required to hear the truth, but they don't want that. Does that mean they're AFRAID of the truth?

Something to think about between now and January 7th.

Have a Happy, Merry & Happy!!!

GOBBLE-GOBBLE, MEMORIES OF WHAT I'M THANKFUL FOR, VIN SCULLY and IT'S TIME TO ELIMINATE THE ELECTORAL COLLEGE!!!

2008-11-26T16:13:00.000-08:00

THANKSGIVING!!!

VIN SCULLY!!!

And somehow, I hope to sensibly tie the two together and make it personal!

This is being written late in the afternoon on November 26, 2008. This will be posted sometime this evening just before I'll be making a guest appearance on Wayne Powers' radio show which is broadcast on 1110/WBT, an AM 50,000 watt clear channel blowtorch in Charlotte, North Carolina which is heard up and down the East Coast at night. I'm scheduled to be on for 10-15 minutes around 7:30 or so, Pacific time. If you live outside their listening range, you can hear it on your computer at http://www.wbt.com/

By the time some of you begin to read this blog, it will probably BE Thanksgiving and with that in mind, I hope that you and yours have a very HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

Does anything YOU'RE thankful for, come to mind?

Has anything happened ON or NEAR a Thanksgiving that you're especially thankful for?

Seeing Vin Scully this past Friday and thinking about Thanksgiving which would be six days later, made me think about the story I'm about to tell. I'll get to the Scully angle in a minute.

I arrived in Los Angeles on Friday, the day AFTER Thanksgiving in 1979. I had left my "dream job" as the afternoon talk show host on KMOX in St. Louis to join Gene Autry's legendary KMPC here as a talk host. In addition to having a stable of stars on their airwaves (Radio Hall of Famers Robert W. Morgan, Gary Owens, etc.), KMPC also carried the L.A. Rams, the Angels, and UCLA football and basketball. I was there to be a part of KMPC's sports team.

Again...This was the day after Thanksgiving, 1979. Less than 2 months later, the Rams were playing against Pittsburgh's Steelers in Super Bowl 14 at the Rose Bowl. Terry Bradshaw would end up being the game's MVP as the Steelers won their 4th Super Bowl.

I was assigned to do the radio half time show of that game. Before I went on the air, a surprise guest stuck his head in the door and said, "Hi, Scott! I'm Vin Scully! Welcome! I've been listening to you! You're going to do very well here!"

You have to understand something. For a young broadcaster like me who was a raw rookie in L.A., to hear THOSE words...Coming from THAT man was like getting a blessing from GOD!!!

WELLLL....In addition to being of deity status, Mr. Scully turned out to be a little bit of a prophet regarding me. I've had my ups and downs like anyone else, but while here, I've shared microphones with multiple radio, television and sports Hall of Famers, I've had the pleasure of spending many years as a television sports anchor, fill-in television morning show host, I've had small and substantial acting roles on television, small roles on major films, starring roles on films that became bargain basement films on VHS and DVD before anyone even know they had been made and yes, along the way, I wondered if I would ever work again, but that's true with all of us, isn't it?

Overall, I've been a very lucky guy who has a LOT to be thankful for as we think about Thanksgiving and that brings me back to Vin Scully.

I'm a member of an organization called, "PACIFIC PIONEER BROADCASTERS". This past Friday (the 21st), our President, Chuck Southcott threw a standing room only luncheon at The (very famous) Sportsmen's Lodge in Studio City, California and presented Vin Scully with our organization's highest honor.

After a number of distinguished guests spoke, Scully spoke and proved once again what a "WORD MAGICIAN" he is!!!

When the event had ended, I went to the dais and spoke briefly with Scully for the first time in quite a number of years. When I told him I have never forgotten the "welcome" he had given me those many years ago, he finished my sentence for me by telling me where and when it was.

How does a guy who knows you (only) casually remember something that happened 30 YEARS AGO?!? I asked that question to Entertainment Tonight's long time producer/director Kevin Gershan and he said, "THAT's why he's VIN SCULLY!!!"

Here's the deal, gang. The economy sucks, a lot of people are having to take pay cuts, in some cases, multiple pay cuts, and that's if you're lucky enough to even have a job, but if you're blessed with good health and aren't too lazy or scared to try to get work, as a rule, things will work out for you and like me, you'll have a LOT to be thankful for.

I know. There are some days, weeks, months and YEARS when you might question that, but as long as you keep "pumping", reasons to smile are just around the corner.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING, EVERYBODY!!!

AND NOW, SOME OTHER STUFF:

GAS PRICES!

In the San Fernando Valley, where I live, unleaded regular's lowest price is $1.99 a gallon. And the oil companies are STILL making a fortune!!!

BAILOUTS!!!

Isn't it time to simply let some of these terribly run companies go bankrupt and start over? I mean, how much money are we going to continue to print so these companies can go back to doing business as usual? You know who ends up paying for this, don't you?

YOU AND I DO, THAT'S WHO!!!

TIME MAGAZINE's FIVE POSSIBLE TITLES FOR PRESIDENT BUSH'S MEMOIR:

(1) STANDING TALL AND TALKING GOOD

(2) CHICKEN SOUP FOR THE UNILATERAL SOUL

(3) THE GEORGE W. BUSH AUTOBIOGRAPHY (by Karl Rove)

(4) TWO TERMS OF ENDEARMENT

(5) MY YEARS AS GOVERNOR

WHY DO WE STILL HAVE THE ELECTORAL COLLEGE?!?

Wasn't what happened in 2000 bad enough? Al Gore got the most votes, but because of the Electoral College (and the Supreme Court), George W. Bush was handed the presidency.

Do I think that Al Gore would have been a GOOD President of the United States?

No I don't think that. But I KNOW that President George W. Bush has been a HORRIBLE President of the United States.

We like to tell everyone that "every vote counts!"

OH, YEAH?!?

If we eliminate the Electoral College, every vote WILL count!!!

THOUGHTS and or COMMENTS? Please write to me at scottstjames@sbcglobal.net. I write back to everyone. If you write to the blog, I won't see your email address so I CAN'T write back to you!

LIKE THE EMAIL THAT WAS WRITTEN TO THIS BLOG FROM "ANONYMOUS" WHO TOOK SOME CRITICAL SHOTS AT ME!!!

Yo, "Anonymous"! I don't mind "shots" from readers. This is an "opinion" blog that I write. I welcome views that differ from mine. And I have ongoing dialogues with readers. In some cases, dialogues that have been going on since I began writing this blog in March of 2007.

In addition to talking the talk, I do walk the walk when it comes to (my) listening to views that are different from mine. I was that way as a talk show host and I'm that way with this blog.

That's why I KNOW that the whining done by Rush, Hannity and others about the (boo-hoo) FAIRNESS DOCTRINE is bogus!

Anyone who is worried about the "Fairness Doctrine" is (to me) a cult leader wannabe. A communicator with a one and ONLY "one point of view" agenda, is a person who deep down is espousing a dictatorial society.

BACK TO THE EMAIL FROM "ANONYMOUS"...

As most readers know, all of my previous blogs are easy to access. "Anonymous" sent me comments about stuff I wrote on June 25, 2008 in a blog that was headlined, "NO PARTICULAR PLACE TO GO!"

In that blog, I wrote (among other things) about what I wrote in the above paragraphs regarding some of our current talk hosts. But what I just NOW wrote is a little stronger than what I wrote in May.

In his email, "Anonymous" accuses me of being "a vacuous liberal" who wants the government to do what I (and my so-called "ilk") can't do on their own.

"Anonymous", first of all, I'm a lifetime Republican. A Goldwater Republican, if you will. Still am. Yeah, I voted for Obama. But before that, I voted for the current President Bush, who to me, has surrounded himself with a group of "Republicans" that THIS lifetime Republican doesn't "get" AT ALL!!!

Write to ME, "Anonymous". Who knows? Maybe you'll change my mind.

On the other hand, maybe I'll change YOUR mind!

After I post this blog, I will post the email from "Anonymous" right under the June 25, 2008 blog. The email is not a long email.

THE NEXT BLOG?

Up in the air right now. I might write another one next Wednesday which means it would be posted late that afternoon or early/late Wednesday evening.

IF NOT? Then my next blog would be written on New Year's Eve or New Year's Day.

But for now, HAPPY THANKSGIVING, EVERYBODY!!!!!!

Gas Prices, The nerve of the Big 3 Automakers and X-Mas gift ideas for Rush & Sean!!!

2008-11-19T19:04:00.000-08:00

This is being written on the evening of November 19, 2008. I have just returned from auditioning for a role of "The Boss" in what will be a Web theatrical release titled, "When Ninjas Attack"!

I mention this because I'm still smiling from waiting for my name to be called while looking at a large number of very beautiful and scantily dressed women who were also there auditioning for roles in this film. And while smiling, I said to myself, "Self...PLEASE be told that your character is gonna be the boss of THESE beautiful creatures and that they will be required to do whatever you TELL them to do!!!"

A man can dream, can't he?

And Speaking OF Dreaming...

Did you hear about the CEOs of the Big Three auto companies who showed up in Washington today begging for taxpayer bailout money? And they're not asking for whacha call "Chump Change"!!! No, these CEOs are asking for Billions of dollars of our money because they say the auto companies will have to go bankrupt if they DON'T get the money!

Okay...A lot of people have had their "hands out" ever since our government BEGAN to give bailout money to companies. Nothing unusual about that, but what BOTHERED some lawmakers about THESE three characters is that all three of them FLEW PRIVATE JETS to get to Washington to DO their begging!

To the lawmakers, this looked like that what these CEOs were saying was, "We're in big trouble, we're about to go broke, in addition to hurting US, it will cause tremendous pain to the American people, but after you give us a few billion to bail us out, you don't expect us to quit using private planes, do you?!?"

Well, yeah! The lawmakers were thinking that giving up private planes should be a reasonable part of the reality check of admitting that the way the CEOs of the Big Three auto companies HAVE been running things are ways that need to be CORRECTED!!!

As the great boxing promoter Don King might say, "Only in America!!!"

SPEAKING OF AUTOMOBILES...

How about these gas prices? I live in the Los Angeles area and the lowest price I've seen for unleaded regular is $2.39. I'm told that my friends in St. Louis are paying $1.69. It wasn't that long ago when gasoline was right at $5.00+ a gallon here in Southern California. And it was (at least) well over $4 a gallon everywhere else.

Because of this lousy economy, most of us don't have the disposable income we used to have so driving to places we don't HAVE to drive to ain't happenin' and when the oil companies see what IS happenin', the price for gas comes DOWN!!! I guess that's whacha call a small silver lining in an otherwise very ugly cloud!

ENTERTAINMENT STUFF:

I want to tell you about two films I recently saw on cable.

"HEARTBREAK KID" came out more than a year ago. It didn't do well, but I found it to be entertaining enough to watch it to the end of the film. Ben Stiller stars as a charming, but sometimes annoying "cad" kind of guy who gets married to a woman played by Malin Ackerman who (after being charming at first) turns out to be off the charts annoying for pretty much the whole rest of the film. What (to me) SAVES this film is the very charming work done by Michelle Monaghan.

"SEX, LIES & VIDEOTAPE" came out more than 20 years ago, but I saw it for the first time on The Movie Channel a few days ago. This was and is a movie for adults. No car chases, "Saw" type characters, bad dialogue or anything like that. James Spader, Peter Gallagher, Andie MacDowell and Laura San Giacomo are sensational in a film that was very smartly directed by Steven Soderbergh. It's about a guy played by Spader who tapes conversations with women about sex. It's also about a guy played by Gallagher who's married to the MacDowell character while having an affair with the San Giacomo character who is playing MacDowell's sister.

Terrific, terrific, terrific film!

A NEW FILM THAT'S GETTING LOTS OF BUZZ:

"TWILIGHT"!!!!!!

My good friend Kevin Gershan at Entertainment Tonight is singing this film's praises to me, long time blog reader Pat Gallagher is singing this film's praises to me as are The L.A. Times, Rolling Stone, Variety, Hollywood Reporter, etc, etc. It looks like you might have to stand in long lines the first few days that "TWILIGHT" is being shown at your favorite cineplex.

THE HOLIDAY SEASON IS ALMOST UPON US!!!

Thanksgiving is next Thursday and Christmas is exactly 4 weeks after that.

Have you thought about nice gifts and or nice cards for your relatives and friends?

Have you thought about gifts for....Oh, I dunno. Your favorite radio entertainers? Here's what might be a thoughtful and meaningful gift combination for Rush and Sean. A beautiful and washable pair of wardrobe items that would be easy to pack. A robe and a....Hmmm....Whadda ya think would be a nice robe accessory?

THOUGHTS AND OR COMMENTS? Please write to me at scottstjames@sbcglobal.net. I write back to everyone. When you write to the blog, I don't see an email address, so I can't write back!

THE NEXT BLOG? Unless something unexpected comes up, a week from today. As a rule, a new blog is posted every Wednesday afternoon (late) or (early/late) Wednesday evening.

Attention Sean Hannity: Ronald Reagan Is Dead!!!

2008-11-12T19:09:00.000-08:00

This is being written on the evening of November 12, 2008, eight days after Barack Obama was elected to be the 44th President of the United States, a job that he will begin on January 20, 2009.

The fact that Obama was elected has right wing talk hosts like Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh placing blame on Republican voters and politicians they think have "Lost their way!!!", but they've wasted no time at all placing blame for our economic mess at the feet of Barack Obama!!!

In Hannity's case, the name of Ronald Reagan is mentioned often, but this is nothing new for Hannity, a guy who chooses to long for the 1980's when we had a President (Reagan) who talked a lot about "values of the 50's", values that never really existed, but we didn't have 24/7 gossip internet columns and cable television shows in those days so people were allowed to pretend that "messy stuff" never happened.

Hannity also talks a lot about how we (America) need to go back to the way things were during Reagan's administration and that if we did or do, our economic problems will be solved.

Deregulation is the cause of most of our economic problems and it was beginning to be adopted during the Reagan administration. Our deficit went way UP during the Reagan administration because of all of Reagan's spending, spending that continued (not on as grand of a scale) under the first President Bush, same deal with President Clinton, but under this President Bush, wasteful spending was done at the level of the MOTHER of ALL grand scales. And the continuing deregulation under President Clinton and the current President Bush have resulted in a financial bite to all of our asses that will take a lot of time to fix.

When you've listened to Hannity and Limbaugh during the few days after the election, you know they're trying to make you believe this economic mess is Barack Obama's fault. And here's what's especially pathetic about that. SOME of their head nodding listeners BELIEVE them!!!
The silver lining in this dark cloud is that there's no evidence that either guy intends to ever invite their listeners to a mountain top where their listeners would be asked to drink this great tasting Kool Aid that will be served.

I hate to break it to you Sean, but Reagan is dead! And so are his policies! When Barack Obama becomes President of the United States, it will be 2009 and what we'll need are 2009 ideas to get us out of this economic mess that took a long time to explode. The 80's are over. And the 50's, (as often described) never existed.

CHANGE!!! That's what we elected Barack Obama for. Hopefully, he'll be able to deliver.

BAIL-OUTS!!!

What the heck kind of company is going to be bailed out NEXT?!? I mean, are you FOLLOWING this?!? It seems like every morning when we wake up, we hear on the news that some OTHER company will be bailed out by our government. As I'm sure you know, SOME companies who GOT previous bail out money have asked for and are getting MORE bail out money even after it was discovered they used a lot of the PREVIOUS bail out money for MILLIONS to be given as BONUSES for EXECUTIVES who were partly responsible for the company LOSING all the money the company lost.

No, Sean and Rush. It's not the Obama administration that's doing this. It's the Bush administration.

OTHER STUFF...

At Barack Obama's press conference, I loved his, "A mutt like me" line...

Rush Limbaugh's constantly referring to Barack Obama as being a Creeeepy CREATURE"
is in itself, off the charts creepy! I know your ratings are going down Rush, but is this the STRATEGY you think will get your listeners BACK?!? Rush, your problem is the same problem we have with our economy. You gotta start thinkin' 2009 instead of the '80's....

Have you heard the new recorded show opener Sean Hannity uses at the beginning of each hour? I mean, you talk about Creeeepy!!! It's almost 2009, Sean. You need modern material to get YOUR ratings up.....

THE FAIRNESS DOCTRINE:

If you listen to a radio show that features a talk host complaining about the possibility of the Fairness Doctrine coming back to radio, here's what they're REALLY worried about. They're not capable of having intelligent dialogue with someone who has an opposing view. There are others besides Limbaugh and Hannity, but because they're the two who are the most popular, I use them as examples.

Rush Limbaugh strikes me as someone who could (if he wanted to) have a reasonably intelligent conversation with someone representing an opposing view and in some cases I think Limbaugh might be able to score big points in a conversation like that and even change the other person's mind.

Hannity? NOT A BLEEPIN' CHANCE!!! UNLESS.....What Hannity shows us on the air is a well crafted "act" that can change to a different "act" immediately if he's required to. Over and over and over again what we HEAR from Hannity when he's having a "conversation" with a person representing an opposing view is BULLYING!!!

If it IS brought back, the Fairness Doctrine is not something that will be a problem for talented and good broadcasters. But for now, it does give them something to bitch about on the air which is another example of folks participating in America's REAL national pastime. BITCHING!!!

ENTERTAINMENT STUFF:

I mentioned RADIO ratings that have been going down? So have TELEVISION ratings! Across the board, meaning it's likely that YOUR favorite television show has seen better days, ratings wise.

Modern technology, man! So many other choices out there. People who take the time to read this BLOG of mine are probably people who (in previous years) would be watching television or listening to the radio.

Hey, I spend a lot of time on the internet, too. Probably TOO much time, but I guess it's safe to say that surfing the net has become America's SECOND favorite pastime!

Speaking of television, I just want to give a shout-out to a few shows I'm watching regularly. Yeah, I used to watch more than these, but because of the internet...

BOSTON LEGAL...This is the final season for this show and I'm gonna miss it a lot. The James Spader/William Shatner dynamic along with first class writing and terrific guest stars make this must-see television for me.

BROTHERS & SISTERS...The hands down BEST show on televison for me! Once you start watching, it's impossible to not fall in love with the Walker family! I guarantee you'll see someone on that show that reminds you of one of YOUR family members!

DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES...A major "comeback" season for this show. The writing's better, everything's better.

DIRTY SEXY MONEY...For me, this show has turned into a super cool night time Soap Opera. If you haven't seen it, it's a continuing story about the very rich Darling Family, a family that ain't whacha call "darling" AT ALL!

ENTOURAGE...Four Hollywood friends and an agency they're attached to. This is a very believable and very addictive HBO show and on Sunday nights it's followed by...

TRUE BLOOD....An Alan Ball continuing tale about a small town inhabited by humans and vampires who come across as VERY human until they get THIRSTY!!!

DEXTER....THIS Sunday night Showtime show just gets better and better. Better than last season which was better than the previous season, etc. Dexter features a terrific regular cast of characters and this season's Special Guest Star is Jimmy Smits who plays a guy who's NOTHING like that nice Bobby Simone character who was on NYPD Blue. And somehow you get the feeling that something will end up going very "wrong" with the best bud friendship he has WITH Dexter!

THOUGHTS OR COMMENTS? Please write to me at scottstjames@sbcglobal.net. I write back to everyone. If you write directly to my blog, I won't see an email address of yours so I won't be ABLE to write back to you.

Unless something unexpected comes up, a new blog will be written a week from today. As a rule, it's posted every Wednesday afternoon (late) or (early/late) Wednesday evening.