The President's teleprompter is stolen

I know, this sounds like a joke. It's not. It's true. To be fair, it wasn't just a teleprompter, it was a truck which contained sound equipment, podiums and yes, a teleprompter. The truck was later found in a hotel parking lot several miles away.

This happened about 1/2 mile from the Hampton Inn where I stay when I go to Richmond. I promise, I was no where near where the incident occurred. As for other comments, on the advice of counsel, I have no additional comments at this time.

Click here for the story from Richmond Times Dispatch.

Jet Packs for LA Police

At dinner Friday night, one of my friends told me this story. Seems the LA Police has ordered jet packs for their police to a tune of about $1BILLION. Seems a little strange, but hey, this is talking about California, land of fruits and nuts. The left coast.

We thought of a lot of problems, those things don't last that long, what happens if you go up for 30 seconds and then run out of jet fuel, the criminals are all on the ground, what good does it do to be up in the air, they can't afford to pay teachers, yet they spend this kind of money (when you live with a teacher, every subject turns to education) etc.

I looked for information about the story this morning and found this item. Seems the story is FALSE. First reported by the Weekly World News (we all know that's a reliable source), then picked up by Fox News. The Fox anchors said they doubted the story, to which I have a question - WHY DID YOU REPORT IT? This doesn't help your credibility at all. Oh, sure, you said it was questionable, but a lot of the folks watching didn't hear that part.

Fox knows the audience and knows that conservatives love stories like this. It's a great chance to make fun of those from "the other side". But this just makes Fox look just as bad as the other networks. I thought Fox wanted to try for a higher standard? I guess I was mistaken.

Michael Jackson takes on the world

I've decided that Osama Bin Laden was right, America is a paper tiger. For the last several days, America has been focused on the death of Michael Jackson. All this while we have an economy that needs attention, a president engaging in foreign policy with (IMHO) our number 1 enemy (Russia), a continuing war in Afghanistan and Iraq, etc. etc.

Some would blame the news media for this fiasco. I don't. Personally, I don't believe the media is in conspiracy to destroy the US. I think the media is as capitalistic as they come, they will put in the news whatever they think the consumers want.

Instead, I blame you and me. We need to turn off Entertainment Tonight and get our news from legitimate news sources, not tabloids. We need to tell the newscasters were more interested in the price of tea in China (literally) than in who is shacking up with Brittney Spears.

The media attention around the Michael Jackson mess amazes me.

Email to the Today Show

This morning I sent the following email to the Today Show. I'll offer it here without additional comments unless you, my readers, comment. If I get any reply, I'll put it in another post.

I've always been a fan of NBC news. During the election my son (age 18 and a new voter) commented on how much he trusted Brian Williams and I responded that this spoke to his credibility. The today show with Matt Lauer, Meredith Viera, Al Roker and Ann Curry is my favorite part of the day. I don't get to watch it every day, but when I start the day with news, its NBC news and the Today Show.

I also like the local NBC affiliate's news team. Michael Cogdill has the same kind of credibility as Brian Williams, Gordon Dill's recent weight loss experience put a face on this story, I've heard Carol Goldsmith speak locally and I've seen Geoff Hart and John Cessarich at the local college football games. The team works to build their image both on and off the air.

But it's NBC's Today Show that is the focal point of my attention in this note. My loyalty to NBC's Today goes back a long way. I remember Bryant Gumbel and Katie Couric as two of my favorite ex-hosts.

However, this past Saturday morning, January 3 I turned the Today Show off. On that day, Dr. Nancy Snyderman was talking about the changes she was expecting in 2009. In the past I've admired her medical knowledge, but on this day she chose to introduce politics into her discussion. She talked about medical insurance and how "everyone knows that it's broken". This kind of comment seems devoid of any facts and pure opinion. She went on to say that she thought the new president would create an executive order to "end this ridiculous stem cell research ban." Even the most liberal senator and soon to be president would admit there are struggles on this issue, but Dr. Snyderman simply calls it ridiculous and asks for an immediate change. And all of this is done on a news show. It should be clearly labeled as commentary. (the quotes are from my memory and may not be exact).

I will probably continue to watch NBC News and the Today show. I may even watch Dr. Snyderman again. But please let her and your editorial staff know that if she begins to talk about politics instead of medicine I will turn the TV off again.

I’ve copied the local NBC affiliate (WYFF4) on this note. I couldn’t find a single email address for them, so I copied the three anchors I mentioned above.