Saturday, October 23, 2010

Heh



I like NPR, unlike a lot of folks on the right side of the political spectrum.  Like the woman in the picture, NPR was a drive-time staple of mine in the way-back.  I don't listen as much these days since the only commuting I do is out to the base or Wally-World, and the drive is too short for much of anything except a few jams.  That said, I had NPR on my radio for nearly the entire drive out to the East Coast and back this past July.  I take their political shit with a ton of salt but otherwise?  Smart and interesting programming with no screaming shock jocks or "classic rock" songs you've heard ad nauseam.  Ya can't say the same for their management, tho.  What WERE they thinking?

And now... back to football.

17 comments:

  1. Back to football, indeed!

    I can not comment on NPR, because to be honest I have probably only listened to fourteen minutes of it total in my life.

    I know that we have it, but it's way down there low somewhere on the FM dial, and I'm not a subscriber to the "how low can you go?" deal. I normally stop somewhere around 93.7...pretty good urban rap...and the ads are true entertainment.

    Good 'toon, though. Ol' Juan is likely to have company pretty soon from what I read. But, Mara will not fare so well as Juan. Juan blinks occasionally, and is obviously not a mannequin.

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  2. I just can't make myself do it.

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  3. ...it's way down there low somewhere on the FM dial...

    It took me a while to figger this out, but it seems like ALL NPR stations are at the bottom of the dial. Knowing that came in handy when one station's signal faded and it was time to seek out the next station during that road trip I referenced.

    Apropos of nuthin'... I like Mara, too.

    Moogie: You're missing some pretty good stuff.

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  4. Buck,
    I too listen to NPR and I listen a lot. And like you I take their Leftist political slant on everything with a ton and 1/2 of salt. Knowing they lean in that direction helps with the BS detector. But, Morning Edition and All Things Considered are great shows. I also like the show Fresh Air (which is locally produced by the way out of WHYY in Philly) whose main commentator is the best interviewer in the business bar none. Her name is Terry Gross and you can tell that she reads the books of the author she is grilling or she is up to speed on background on any guest she is talking too, it is really great to listen too her at work. My biggest complaint is the raw number of Gay related shows that they do, it mus account for 20% of all their programming.

    On the matter of Juan Williams, I first listened to Juan Williams when he started on NPR as weekly host of Science Friday's, another well produced show that discussed Technology and Science issues of the day. Juan was the first host of that show and he got me addicted. You could never tell in all the Science Friday show's he hosted that he was a Liberal, that only came out when he went off to be a "commentator/pundit" or whatever it is they call them.

    I think it was only a matter of time before they pulled the plug on him. And I fear Mara's time is limited too.

    BT: Jimmy T sends.

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  5. Sorry, Buck, I can't stomach NPR. Mrs. BR listens to it, but I get tired of what I perceive as there left wing agenda. That, and the fact that it seems that every time it's on, I hear Barry Bahama's voice.

    If somebody got wise and stopped funding it with my tax dollars, I bet it would sink in a heartbeat. (I can dream can't I?)

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  6. Toby is a big NPR fan, so I listen occasionally too. I don't know much about the Juan to-do, but firing him seemed to be part of their agenda to keep employees to the far left.

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  7. If somebody got wise and stopped funding it with my tax dollars, I bet it would sink in a heartbeat. (I can dream can't I?)

    Like most dreams... yours has no basis in reality. From The Wiki:

    In 2009, member stations derived 6% of their revenue from local funding and 10% of their revenue from the federal funding in the form of Corporation for Public Broadcasting grants.[14][15] NPR receives no direct funding from the federal government.[16] About 1.5% of NPR's revenues come directly from Corporation for Public Broadcasting grants.

    The CPB got $400 million in federal funds last year, a drop in the proverbial budget bucket. The CPB provides funding... in small amounts... to both NPR and PBS, both of which add immense value to our culture. Google "NPR funding sources" for additional info.

    Jimmy: I first started listening to NPR when I cam back from England in '85. I've been a fan ever since. They have some shows I like and some I don't, like all the other networks I watch.

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  8. I wasn't ignoring ya, Lou... it's just this danged moderation thing. I hadn't checked to see if there were any new comments since BR weighed in. That said... I don't think NPR is FAR left. They ARE generally Lefties and Obama suck-ups, to be sure, but I think Williams, as a moderate-left kinda guy, fit their mold. NPR's management just hates the fact any of their people are associated with Fox.

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  9. I wondered if that speculative point might come back to bite me. The news media go to great lengths to indicate otherwise.

    I still can't stomach NPR.

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  10. Not sure I agree with the "immense value" part. I agree to disagree.

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  11. I agree to disagree.

    OK, me too. Which is what reasonable people do. ;-)

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  12. Buck, I researched the public funding angle awhile ago due to a different issue. I found you can't take paragraphs seriously like the one you quoted because the money passes through a whole lot of layers that are there to disguise what's really going on. The ACLU, you know, also claims not to receive significant funding through the public coffers and it's an obvious fib.

    The question that needs to go off in people's heads is, if NPR only relies on CPB funding to the tune of 1.5%, why not entirely move off it?

    Nothing against the programming, but I just can't see the point to public radio. Why do it at all. If the framers of the Constitution could anticipate radio, there would be a clause against establishment of a state radio right alongside the First Amendment proscription against state religion. It would be every bit as cut-and-dried, and it would be there for precisely the same reason.

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  13. If the framers of the Constitution could anticipate radio...

    Precisely the sort of statement that leads me to believe Liberals are one helluva lot more fun than conservatives. I'd go back to the other side if it weren't for the boatload of other, more serious issues I have with Libs. I like the National Endowment for the Arts, too. And PBS. So shoot me.

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  14. With all respect, if someone has a problem with the Boy Scouts receiving United Way funding but no problem whatsoever with NPR receiving their endowments, I really couldn't care less if they're a yuk a minute. I can find fun in lots of other places and so can you.

    I'm pretty sure some of your issues with libs are the same as mine, and this is precisely what is highlighted by the imbroglio here. They pretend to tolerate diverse points of view, to be all about forming opinions based on hard evidence rather than the other way around.

    The truth is, Whoopi and Joy typified the lib mindset when they walked offstage. So it doesn't matter how much how fun a liberal can be. They're only that way until they bump into an opinion they dislike and then they turn into beasts that make Genghis Kahn look like Gilbert Gottfried.

    But I'm not going to argue with you about NPR's content. If they keep a few drivers from falling asleep behind the wheel, then bless 'em. Here's a toast to the day when they're completely off the public dole...and can then censor statements of fact they find disagreeable, to their heart's content.

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  15. The truth is, Whoopi and Joy typified the lib mindset when they walked offstage. So it doesn't matter how much how fun a liberal can be. They're only that way until they bump into an opinion they dislike and then they turn into beasts that make Genghis Kahn look like Gilbert Gottfried.

    Wherein you become guilty of assuming ALL liberals/left-wingers think like the fringe elements you cite. And I could add others, like Hamsher, that freakin' sock-puppet Greenwald from Salon, and hundreds of others. But you, my friend, are the proverbial pot calling the kettle black. Your stock in trade consists of denigrating libruls, rightly or wrongly. I find both classes of pundits wearisome.

    I also find the minimal amount of seed money the feds provide to CPB and the National Endowment for the Arts to be just fine and peachy with me. There are many more egregious and deserving targets of your ire against federal funding excess rather than CPB, which, in the end, is just another right-wing extremist's stalking horse.

    You freakin' well KNOW I'm right (heh) about that point.

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  16. Morgan: Just to clarify, I meant this literally: "But you, my friend..." You ARE my friend. My strident, outspoken, knee-jerk, right-wing, proto-fascist, beer drinkin' friend. <=== Emphasis on the last word in this sentence.

    We shall agree to disagree yet again. Viva El Diez Porciento!

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  17. Agreed on that one, friend.

    And for the record, I never did use the word "all." What I'm doing is generalizing; and generalizations are fine, so long as one keeps in mind that generalizing is what he is doing. "Generally, this is true..."

    To say this is not okay, would be to say all generalizations are bad. And once one says that, one becomes the very thing one deplores. Which, might I add, is precisely the way NPR has sinned in this particular situation. If Juan Williams had opined on Fox News "You know Bill, when I see teabaggers on a plane I get nervous..." he'd probably have received a promotion out of the deal.

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Just be polite... that's all I ask.