CBS Radio News slips in an editorial comment (again!)

This morning, during a regular, top-of-the-hour, newscast, CBS Radio did a piece on the Jack Abramoff scandal. For those who are unfamiliar with the brouhaha, here's a link to an article about the situation. For those that don't want to or can't read the article, "former Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff has plead guilty to fraud, public corruption and tax evasion in connection with dealings related to his American Indian clients, of whom he and former associate Michael Scanlon are accused of defrauding millions in fees. Scanlon was charged in November by the Justice Department with conspiracy to corrupt a U.S. lawmaker and is now cooperating with federal investigators. Abramoff, in exchange for his plea, could face up to ten years in prison while also setting the stage for investigators to use him as a witness against his former colleagues and political allies".

This morning's news piece by CBS Radio News was an update on the Abramhoff investigation, which would be accepted by me as part of the news de jour, but for the label CBS put on Abramoff, a "Republican lobbyist".

Jack Abramhoff lobbied for American Indian clients, who - by and large - have supported Democrats and/or Democrat-supported measures. Abramoff lobbied for Republicans, as well. His shenanigans were brought to light via questionable contributions involving a Republican lawmaker. Republicans jumped the Abmraoff ship in droves, giving back the money raised by him. Many Democrats who benefited by Abramoff contributions, however, chose not to give back the money he raised for them. My local senator, Patty Murray (D - Washington), went so far as to say that giving the money back would be "unfair" to native Americans. Given the left-bias the national media has all-but-admitted to in the past few years, if a justification like Sen. Murray's had been given by a Republican lawmaker, the national media would have had a field-day with it.

Now, if Abramoff had lobbied to Republican lawmakers or Democrat lawmakers exclusively, I wouldn't be posting this. He allegedly did something wrong, and lawmakers got cought with their hands in the cookie jar. I'm not even beefed with the lame excuses made by lawmakers who won't give back the money Abramoff garnered for them.

My frustration is with CBS Radio News, who has yet to tell the public in their newscasts that Democrats are just as guilty of accepting Abramoff's money as Republicans, there are more Democrats than Republicans who have decided to keep the money, and that Abramoff is labelled by CBS Radio News as a "Republican lobbyist", thereby inferring that Republicans are exclusively obtaining questionable contributions.

If Abramoff is found guilty of illegal lobbying, then both parties are guilty of obtaining questionable contributions, and what CBS Radio News is (once again) showing their left-leaning bias, without an admission that they favor the minority party in the Senate. To this discerning news junky, it sends a message that CBS is trying to slip in an editorial (opinion, anti-Administration, anti-Bush, anti-Republican) element into what should be a "just read the facts" news report.

The story aired by CBS Radio News lasted less than 1 minute. "Radioguy? Why are you so uptight about it?", you might ask... It's because CBS Radio News, and other news media outlets, have slipped-in such comments during their newscasts, seemingly banking on either voter apathy, a collective short-term memory malfunction by their listeners, or the idea that whatever they say will be considered gospel truth by the public.

Seattle Kennel Club Show

Wifey and the WonderPups (Ranma and Baron) competed over the weekend in the annual Seattle Kennel Club Dog Show, held this year at Qwest Field (home of the Seattle Seahawks). The Seattle Kennel Club is the largest AKC (American Kennel Club) group in the state of Washington, and their show is the largest show in the state. As the pictures will show, it was a great weekend for Wifey and the dogs.

Here are the results of the two-day event, as conveyed to me by Wifey:

Ranma - Saturday - new title Excellent Standard - AX & 1st place
- 2nd qualifying run towards her Masters Jumpers title - MXJ & 2 points.
- Sunday - nothing

Baron - Saturday - Double Q #8 & 11 MACH points.
- Sunday - 1 jumpers Q - zero points

The dogs are my radio station’s mascots, and the staff was bursting with pride for what was accomplished over the weekend. I’m very proud of them, too!

WA State Budget moves in the legislature

Democrats (the majority party) in the Washington State Senate and House of Representatives recently unveiled their sullplemental budget proposals, and - on Monday - they announced a "compromise" on the budget they plan to send to the governor for her approval. The Associated Press has the following to say about it:

State lawmakers have released some details of the one-point-three (b) billion dollar supplemental budget they expect to approve before Thursday's end-of-session deadline.

It includes a teacher salary increase of one-half percent and additional spending to help students with math, science and the WASL assessment test.

The budget also would boost pay for community college instructors and allow universities to increase enrollments.

The spending plan expands the state's basic health insurance program by 65-hundred clients to a total of nearly 107-thousand. Extra money is added to prepare for a flu outbreak. The proposal also adds money for mental health and nursing homes.

The spending is on top of the 26 (b) billion dollar two-year budget approved last year.

The supplemental would provide 50 (m) million dollars in business tax cuts and put 935 (m) million into savings for next year's budget, earmarked for education, health care and pensions.

I've aired my concerns about the House and Senate budget proposals here, and the fiscal attitude of lawmakers in Olympia here. Each of the Democrat budget proposals, despite a modicum of "savings", equated to the largest spending increase in state history. Interviews conducted by me with members of the minority party infer that the "compromise" budget is, in fact, an overlapping/combination of the two budget proposals, with a higher spending level than either of the two proposals, individually. Governor Gregoire, a Democrat, has already voiced dissapointment with the amount of spending suggested by the "compromise" budget.

I'm not going to complain, I'm not going to rail against high state spending. I've already done so. I've got some strong opinions about the budget proposals, but I'm not going to go over them again here. Read my previous posts, if you're interested. regardless of how you feel about state spending, I encourage anyone interested in learning more about how the state may be spending your money, contact your local lawmaker.

How Far Can One Modify An Electric Bass?

Try this one - one I did many years back...

This is an Ibanez copy of a Fender Jazz Bass that I heavily modified - I re-sculpted and refinished the body neck of the instrument (handmade, burgundy oil finish on the body), replaced the cheapo Ibanez bridge with a heavy Badass brand bridge, and completely overhauled the electronics.

The original instrument had two pickups, two tone knobs and a volume knob. I wanted to see how far I could go with it, so I replaced the bass pickups with panning ones, added two hum bucking guitar pickups (typically used in jazz guitars), and swapped the electronics so each pair of pickups had it's own set of volume and tone knobs.

I also added phase shifting switches for each pair of pickups, and configured the entire electronics package to run in either mono or stereo. That modification meant that, in the studio or with two amplifiers, two strings would play on the left, while the others would play on the right... all with the flick of a switch. Very cool with the slapping/popping style I used.

I ended up adjusting the bridge for use with piccolo strings (one octave higher than on a standard bass). The tone of that instrument is so close to that of a semi-hollow body jazz guitar it's scary. And, just for fun, I crafted the instrument's pick guard out of an old road sign that blew down outside of the shop after a storm...

Radioguy Did Country Music

A few years ago... well, a lot of years ago, yours-truly was in a country band called Echo Canyon. We obtained a modicum of popularity in the northwest, and opened for a handful of major country artists during our short-lived stint. Here's a picture of the band that I recently unearthed...

The photo is about 10-12 years old. Last I had heard, the lead singer was working in one of the leading puppet troupes in the country, the guitar player had taken over his father's automotive repair/repainting business in Montana, the keyboard player was playing in a punk band in Seattle, and the drummer was working at a music store in central Washington. Me? Well, I'm just Radioguy... Funny how a band can spiral away in so many different directions...

Am I bitchy? Sure seems like it...

Looking back at many of my posts over the past couple of months, I've been a real complainer, and for that, I apologize. The last thing a blog viewer would want to see is a lot of complaining (unless you're really into that sort of thing). Not to make an excuse, but there have been a lot of issues and circumstances of late that have really gotten my goat, and I expressed my frustration in the most accessible manner at hand - the blog. I made a New Year's resolution to post more positive stuff, and (so far) I haven't held to that resolution. I promise to do better in the future.