Evel Knievel (1938-2007)

The iconic daredevil Evel Knievel died today here in Florida (Clearwater) at the age of 69.

I always feel a little misty when an important figure from my youth passes from the scene. I had all of the Evel Knievel accessories: the motorcycle, the dirt bike, even the fold-out camper/RV (known as the “Scramble Van”) and the Snake River Canyon rocket. Of course, the ramps and jumping equipment were foremost, as many of my Matchbox and Hot Wheels cars served as easy pickin’s for the Next Great Jump.

Thanks for the memories, Evel.

Burning the Midnight Oil

This is teh cool:

For 25 years Peter Garrett [(right)] was the frontman of Midnight Oil, an Australian rock band known for its raucously loud music and protest songs about social and environmental issues. Then the bald 6ft 6in singer hung up his microphone, disbanded the group and exchanged his rock star clothes for the sombre suits of a politician.

After a meteoric rise through the ranks of Australia’s Labor party, he was yesterday named environment minister in the newly elected government. The 54-year-old said he was “excited and humbled” by the opportunity.

Apparently it hasn’t been all glorious for Garrett as a politician, as he’s had a few “gaffes” like “when he appeared unsure about the issues surrounding the Kyoto Protocol and when he reportedly told a radio talkshow host off the record that Labor would change some of its campaign promises once elected.”

On the other hand, not only is Midnight Oil a great band, but Garrett is putting his lyrics of activism into action. Good on ya, mate.

Coming soon: Anthony Kiedis as secretary of education?

For Ron Paul, the fundraising starts here

By “here,” I mean America’s Wang™. Yes, the online fundraising frenzy for Ron Paul’s narrow-minded campaign to win the hearts and minds of Americans unable to think for themselves has its roots in south Florida, specifically South Beach. (And don’t tell me you didn’t see that coming …)

37-year-old music promoter Trevor Lyman of Miami Beach has spearheaded multi-million-dollar Internet fundraising drives for Paul, motivated largely by his feeling that the Democrats in Congress “betrayed” him by failing to get our troops out of Iraq.

“Nobody took him seriously until we brought money to the campaign. It’s a sad state of affairs,” Lyman said in a telephone interview from New Hampshire, where he’s rounding up support for his candidate before the first-in-the-nation primary (Iowa holds a caucus before New Hampshire votes.). “This [fundraising drive] was pretty spur of the moment, so we’ll see how it goes.”

If it fails, Paul runs the risk of being dismissed as a one-hit wonder, especially since his online popularity has barely surfaced in the polls. On the eve of Wednesday’s debate in St. Petersburg, his support in Florida was smaller than the CNN poll’s margin of error.

GOP donor Mark Guzzetta, who helped organize a $2,300-per-person reception in Coral Gables on Thursday for the more-established candidate Mitt Romney, said the Internet can’t and won’t replace traditional fundraisers.

“People want to meet the candidate — shake his or her hand, test his mettle, watch his speech,” Guzzetta said. “Having said that, I do think all of us can learn a thing or two from someone who has maximized the Internet.”

It all started when Lyman was noodling online in October and came across speeches by Paul, an anti-tax, pro-gun, non-interventionalist who touts home schooling and above all, the Constitution.

“It was a betrayal,” Lyman said of the promises by Democrats in Congress to bring the troops home. “So in the midst of a betrayal, when you find someone who’s been consistent, you know that’s your guy.”

Consistent? Yeah, consistently crazy, maybe …

Here’s what I still don’t understand about the Ron Paul phenomenon (and I use that term loosely, given his paper-thin, albeit vocal, support): There are, you know, other consistently anti-war candidates — like Dennis Kucinich, for example — whose other positions aren’t noxious, as Paul’s are. Even John Edwards may not have been consistent if you go back to his vote in favor of the AUMF, but as a candidate he’s been consistent in his retraction of that vote.

Why are Paul supporters, especially those who are or have been disaffected Democrats, so quick to rush to a candidate whose campaign is based entirely on the “I’ve got mine, screw you” mentality and who rejects the basic tenets of what progressives believe? Have these people suddenly become anti-choice (as Paul is) and anti-health care (among other things), or worse yet, are they willing to ignore Paul’s crazier positions in order to celebrate the single issue of his opposition to the war in Iraq?

See, that’s what has caused me to decide that Ron Paul supporters, by and large, are just goofy. They are hypocritical at worst, inconsistent at best, even while trumpeting the alleged “consistency” of their knight in shining armor. The only comfort I take in watching the Paul phenomenon run its course is the knowledge that his candidacy will be over soon, probably after Iowa and New Hampshire.

UPDATE (1:13 pm 11/30/07): Of course, among the batshit crazy Paul supporters are the Stormfront neo-Nazi gang of racist brownshirt fucks. I almost forgot about them.

Yeah, go ahead and sign on with Ron Paul, kids. That swastika will look great on your Hollister and Abercrombie gear.

Shine on, you crazy Wang™

Florida tourism officials to offended minorities: “Suck. On. This.”

Well, no, not really. But the state tourism office, known as Visit Florida, seems to have a limited historical memory, at least when it comes to racist epithets.

A national television campaign, set to launch in a few months, targets Hispanic and black vacationers with the one-word slogan, “Shine.”

State officials say the word, which is also considered a racial slur denigrating blacks, won’t cause controversy.

“It plays on the fact that Florida is the Sunshine State,” said Visit Florida spokeswoman Karen Kirksey.

A general version of the ad and two separate versions for blacks and Hispanics, were previewed for the media at a conference in Boca Raton in August. Local news accounts described beach scenes, smiling faces and lazy hammocks with the word “Shine” morphing into “The Sunshine State.”

The ads tested well before a mixed-race, 300-member focus group in Atlanta. None of the focus group members, all older than 25, complained, Kirksey said.

Well, older than 25, fine. But what if you’re older than, say, 40?

Charles Evans of Tallahassee, the 62-year-old president of the local chapter of the NAACP, knows the term all too well.

“For many persons in the African-American community, that term definitely has a negative connotation,” Evans said. “The younger people, younger than 30, might not be familiar with it, but we will educate them about it.”

Visit Florida is a quasi-governmental organization. Kirksey declined to say how much the state is spending on the campaign, saying the figure is “proprietary.”

The term may linger in some dictionaries, but modern usage has passed it by, said Dale Brill, who was recently appointed to head the governor’s Office of Tourism, Trade and Economic Development. The campaign was developed while Brill was an official with Visit Florida. A member of the marketing team suggested it could be a problem, Brill said, but research proved it wasn’t

“That’s an archaic term,” Brill said. “They said that this can’t possibly be an issue for contemporary African-Americans.”

Rep. Curtis Richardson, D-Tallahassee and a veteran member of the black caucus, agreed.

“I’m 51 years old and I’ve never heard that used as a racial slur before,” Richardson said. “It just doesn’t do anything to me at all.”

Okay, so some are offended, some aren’t. I guess the real answer is the same as when Bob Dole was asked the boxers-or-briefs question: Depends.

But from a marketing standpoint, isn’t it better to avoid the appearance of impropriety altogether? Even if “Shine” isn’t perceived to be a slur by 90% of the populace, is it worth offending the other 10% and causing a big furor when reasonable alternatives (such as, say, “We’re America’s Wang™!”) exist? And, moreover, the slogan “Shine!” is directed at least in part to the very people most likely to be offended.

I really don’t get this.

Comment allez-vous?

To paraphrase Eric Cartman, Haloscan is being a dildo. Commenting appears to be down.

Please keep trying and it’ll come back up … eventually. I hope. (How’s that for confidence?)

You can’t keep a bad man down

Radio hatemonger Don Imus, whose racist remarks about the Rutgers University women’s basketball team last spring got him fired, is coming back up like last night’s pizza and beer.

He’ll be premiering next Monday on WABC in New York. As we learned from Spocko on Blast Off! Radio Monday evening, this is notable because WABC is owned by Citadel Broadcasting, which also owns the noxious KSFO in San Francisco. Remember KSFO? Spocko took them on about a year ago and made national news by exposing that station for the cretins they are. So it’s fitting, really, that Imus would get picked up by a company that makes its profits on spewing hate and filth on the radio.

Monday evening, Spocko suggested that rather than boycotting advertisers, it was more effective to remind them what kind of heinous, hateful talk they were supporting. With regard to Imus, then, we can start with New Jersey’s Hackensack University Medical Center.

It’s unclear how many sponsors the new Don Imus morning radio show will have when it debuts Dec. 3 on Citadel Broadcasting’s WABC in New York. But one advertiser, Hackensack University Medical Center, has made a preemptive bid to be the first sponsor on the program, confirmed Jerry Della Femina, CEO of the client’s agency, Della Femina Rothschild Jeary and Partners.

Della Femina, who declined to say how much the client paid to be first, believes the audience for the early part of the program on day one will be huge because it will combine Imus’ regular fan base with those that are curious to hear what he has to say on the air for the first time since being axed by CBS-owned WFAN radio for comments he made in April about the Rutgers University women’s basketball team. “They’re assured of a very big audience,” he said of his client.

[...]

Imus and the medical center have a long-standing relationship that includes an annual radio-thon that has raised millions of dollars over the years for the center’s efforts to combat cancer in children.

But if, like me, you’re in America’s Wang™, you might be interested to know that there’s a Florida connection to this story, too:

Separately, a second advertiser, West Palm Beach, Fla.-based drug rehabilitation facility Hanley Center, has also confirmed it will air a campaign throughout the first week of the new Imus show, which in addition to WABC, will also air on Citadel Boston outlet, WTKK. The campaign is called “Second Chances,” and as part of it, Imus will do will do a live read about the center, where he was treated in 1988. Other spots, created by Hanley ad agency, Woburn, Mass.-based Psynchronous Communications, will point to Imus as an example of how the center’s program can help the addicted.

“The idea of ‘Second Chances’ is an important one that we’ll no doubt hear more of during Don Imus’ return,” notes Psynchronous Founding Partner, Kevin Zundl. “We had a unique opportunity to show his strength of character through his 20 clean and sober years after getting help at Hanley Center. It is an important story to tell in inspiring others towards recovery and we are grateful to Imus for lending himself to this campaign.”

Don Imus’ recovery from substance abuse, like that of so many other individuals, indeed is inspirational and he ought to be commended for it. However noble Hanley Center’s activities are, though, they deserve nothing but condemnation for enabling an addict to get his fix. No, I’m not referring to substance abuse, but rather to the verbal abuse Imus dishes out to people of color and others who aren’t like him (i.e., white, male, and rich).

Curiously, no other advertisers are mentioned in the article. Are we to believe that Imus is having trouble finding people to pay for his obnoxious rants, and that only two customers have pitched in with a mere five days before the show starts? We can only hope …

Surviving the Wingnut Family

It’s taken me about three days here in my Undisclosed Location to recover from traveling, etc., enough to blog again. And it’s also taken me that long to detox following the holiday with my wingnut family.

Actually, it wasn’t so bad this time. It’s not like a few years ago, when my stepfather loudly called me a “flaming liberal” in front of the entire family. Naturally, I wore the badge proudly … but this year I did well, other than one minor bump in the road.

Indeed, the secret to co-existing with your wingnut family members is quite simple: don’t discuss politics. I did quite well with that, even though I was very open (as always) with my progressive predilections. But avoiding the topic was really the best policy … at least until my ultra-wingnutty aunt and uncle arrived. Apparently they only have limited cable at their place (on an island in Lake Erie) or something, but one comment really stuck with me, as my aunt exclaimed, “Boy, am I glad to have Fox News back! We had to put up with CNN for …” That’s when I interrupted (I know, but I couldn’t help myself!) and said, “Hah … CNN is almost as right-wing as Fox News. They’re all run by right-wing corporations now.”

Before my aunt could respond, I managed to find something to do in the kitchen. Dodging the subject? Perhaps, but for the sake of family harmony, I think it’s justifiable.

Do you have wingnut family members? How do you handle them? And is peaceful co-existence even possible?

Random Thought

Why don’t sheep get smaller when it rains?

Not all barbershoppers are gay

Only the Republican Senator ones.

(L-R) Sen. Trent Lott (R-Miss.), former Sen. Larry Craig (R-Idaho), former Attorney General and Sen. John Ashcroft (R-Mo.)

Yesterday, the internets were buzzing about the allegations (broken on Big Head DC) that Sen. Trent Lott (R-Miss.) patronized a male escort, leading to his surprising announcement that he will resign by the end of the year, in the middle of his term. So far, there’s been no real corroboration of the Lott-is-gaiii allegations, but the escort, Benjamin Nicholas, issued the following statement late yesterday afternoon:

“Here’s my public comment, on-the-record: Sen. Lott and I have no current affiliation with one another. I’m sure he would appreciate no further scrutiny.”

I don’t want to read too much into the fact that Nicholas said “no current affiliation,” but left unanswered whether or not they had a past affiliation. It would, of course, be irresponsible not to speculate.

But, as a former barbershop singer, I strenuously object to any insinuation that singing barbershop music leads to teh gaiii. The correlation between barbershopping and teh gaiii is tenuous at best. However, the correlation between teh gaiii and hypocritical GOP Senators is undeniable: 4% is getting close to a pattern, no? (And I’m not even counting Mitch McConnell and Lindsey Graham …)

So far, Larry Flynt has been somewhat silent on the matter:

HUSTLER Magazine has received numerous inquiries regarding the involvement of Larry Flynt and HUSTLER in the resignation of Trent Lott. Senator Lott has been the target of an ongoing HUSTLER investigation for some time now, due to confidential information that we have received.

Contrary to Big Head DC’s crowing, I don’t think this constitutes confirmation of the allegations. But stay tuned … this one’s going to be fun!

Uncivil!

I had all kinds of good intentions to write some substantive posts tonight, but I had other things to do … like buy ties, which I seem to have forgotten at home in Teh Glans™. So, I’ll try again tomorrow. Consider it the last day of my week off from blogging.

In the meantime, this video makes me laugh, so watch it. Or Dick Cheney will eat your kittens.