TonyPalmeri.Com Update For November 27, 2005
Well, it's been almost two months since the last TonyPalmeri.Com Update. I appreciate the emails from people asking if I'm okay! Yes, I am okay (well, as much as it's possible to be okay these days I guess). The major "problem" I've had is with the classes I'm teaching at UW Oshkosh. I'm using new textbooks for each class I am teaching and did not get a chance to read them closely during the summer. So, class preparation takes up a good chunk of my time these days (although the television show Eye on Oshkosh, Radio Commentary, and maintaining the daily website take up quite some time too). I will say, however, that the "Rhetoric of Rock Music" has turned out to be one of the most enjoyable classes I've ever taught. This week we start final student presentations in that class, but this site has lots of good links to what we have done up to this point: http://www.tonypalmeri.com/428songs.htm
If you're really into music, be sure to visit "The Sound Opinion," a blog produced by my former student and now good friend Matt Beringer. He's currently soliciting entries for his third annual "Top Ten Albums of the Year" lists: http://soundopinion.blogdrive.com/
1. New Baby Greens: Because the United States has a rigged electoral process, and because too many self-proclaimed intelligent people would rather vote their fears instead of their hopes (while accusing the third parties of spoiling the misery), it's very difficult to grow a third party. So in Winnebago County, some Greens have decided they will literally produce new members! Anabel May Mitchell was born to Mandy and Justin on November 12th: http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/5903/1734/1600/VoteRaeBella.jpg
Five days later, Jedediah Malcolm Irving Larson-Poeschl entered the world as the first child of Jenna and Bob http://www.tonypalmeri.com/jedediah.htm
2. The 2005 TONY Awards: My December Media Rants column gives out the 4th annual TONY (Palmeri) Awards. This year's awards are dedicated to the late founder of Amnesty International, Peter Benenson: http://www.tonypalmeri.com/mediarants45.htm
3. How To Reduce Stupidity: The November Media Rant was inspired by "Values Czar" Bill Bennett: http://www.tonypalmeri.com/mediarants44.htm
4. James Howard Kunstler on Special Wild Eyed Radio/Radio Commentary: On Friday, December 2, from 5-6 p.m. (CST) on WRST 90.3 FM Bob Knudsen and I will interview highly regarded author James Howard Kunstler. Author of The Long Emergency (2005), The Geography of Nowhere (1994) and many books and articles in between, Kunstler is the most provocative working writer on topics related to urban sprawl and consequences of cheap oil dependency. He maintains a blog here: http://www.kunstler.com/ You can listen to the interview live via web stream from the WRST web page: http://www.uwosh.edu/wrst/
Some recent Radio Commentary Interviews are available online:
Additional radio materials can be found in the audio file:http://www.tonypalmeri.com/palmeriaudiofile.htm
5. Jessica McBride on Radio Commentary: Also on December 2, during the regular Radio Commentary time of 6:20 - 7:00 p.m., we will be talking to Milwaukee based conservative blogger Jessica McBride. Jessica was a reporter for 10 years for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and other publications. Her blog "McBride's Media Matters" is here: http://mcbridemediamatters.blogspot.com/
If you have questions for Kunstler or McBride, please email to me tony@tonypalmeri.com
6. Larry Graham on Eye on Oshkosh: For those of you who get Oshkosh cable television, Oshkosh Northwestern Assistant Sports Editor Larry Graham is the guest on Eye on Oshkosh this coming week (Monday 7 p.m., Thursday 1 p.m., Saturday 6 p.m.). Here's Larry's latest column: http://www.thenorthwestern.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051123/OSH07/511230354/1193/OSHnews
7. Nixon Nostalgia: Recordings of former President Nixon's phone conversations have been available for some time now, but I've only recently had a chance to listen to some of them on the C-Span site: http://www.c-span.org/apa/nixon.asp?Cat=Series&Code=APA&ShowVidNum=6&Rot_Cat_CD=APA&Rot_HT=205&Rot_WD=
These recordings are nothing short of extraordinary, revealing Nixon to be every bit as paranoid, nasty, and, well, nuts as his critics has been claiming for decades. Henry Kissinger on the tapes is revealed to be the worst kind of ass sucking sycophant, while Nixon tells Haldeman that the cabinet members are "sons of bitches" and "none of 'em worth a shit." One part I got a kick out of is after George Wallace was shot, Nixon is talking to his wife Pat and she asks if he knows who did it. Nixon blames it on "the liberals" and "the leftists." (note: Arthur Bremer, the man who shot Wallace, wrote a book in which he claimed that he was not opposed to Wallace's politics but only was craving attention--the Travis Bickle character played by Robert DeNiro in Taxi Driver was based on Bremer).
8. Colin Crowley Blogging in Afghanistan and Pakistan: Oshkosh native Colin Crowley, a really great guy, is blogging from Afghanistan and Pakistan: http://colinsjourney.blogspot.com/
9. Methodist Bishops: Better Late Than Never: A large group of Methodist Bishops have admitted to complicity in creating the conditions that led to the invasion and occupation of Iraq http://www.commondreams.org/headlines05/1111-08.htm
10. Model Cyber Activism in Shorewood: If every city in America had a citizen running a website like Geoff Davidian's in Shorewood, Wisconsin we would all be better off. Davidian is a long time investigative journalist and muckraker. Here's his site: http://www.shorewoodvillage.com/
11. Murtha Resolution v. Straw Man Republican Resolution: Take a look at the Congressional resolution that hawkish Democrat John Murtha proposed vs. the one that the Republicans allowed to be voted on: http://www.tonypalmeri.com/murtha.htm
12. Tomlinson Broke Law in Attempt to Demonstrate Liberal Bias: Former Corporation for Public Broadcasting Chair Ken Tomlinson broke the law to combat what he saw as a liberal bias on public television: http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/15/business/media/16cnd-broadcast.html?ex=1289710800&en=62dadb030485acc8&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss
Here's the entire report: http://www.cpb.org/oig/reports/602_cpb_ig_reportofreview.pdf
13. Bloechl May Run For State Assembly--as a Democrat: A discussion of this is on the Oshblog http://www.wals.lib.wi.us/ocnn/blogs/oshblog/archives/2005/11/bloechl_may_run.html
