DOUGEFRESH

Check out the story today in the Providence Journal about the Rhode Island affiliate of the ACLU.  Actually it's more a story about it's executive director Stephen Brown.  The story title is "Mr. Unpopular", but I'm not sure if that feeling is shared by a majority of Rhode Islanders.  Stephen Brown, I believe, is a well respected individual.  Don't get me wrong, I might not be a big proponent of some of the opinions he argues, but I bet he probably doesn't agree with some of them either.  My point is, Brown is a protector of the United States Constitution.  Look, my knowledge of constitutional law could fit on the point of a pin, seriously, I know virtually nothing about the constitution.  I bet that could be said about many Rhode Islanders, that's why Stephen Brown is so important.  I think he is wrong at times, in fact, his suit against the City of Pawtucket about the Christmas nativity scene that he won was later reversed by the Supreme Court.  On the other hand, he has represented the the Rhode Island State Rifle and Revolver Association.  How much do you want to wager that Brown is pro stricter gun laws on a personal level.  Just a hunch.  So the point is, Brown just doesn't represent groups he agrees with, he represents the constitution.  Let's be glad that Brown does what he does in Rhode Island.

Posted by Racepicks at 06:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I read this story today by Terry Nau in The Pawtucket Times about sports talk radio.  Nau talks about how, although these shows are entertaining, they sometimes throw out some untrue statements.  He thinks that the printed media, and even television media, have someone to edit the information and ensure that the writer's facts are substantiated.  If they are not true, an editor will print a correction.  As far as television, they employ an ombudsman who will investigate claims of nonfactual reporting.  This all made me think about talk radio in general.  How many times am I listening to a talk radio program and the host makes, what I think is, an outrageous statement.  Maybe it's not outrageous, maybe it's a statement that I vehemently disagree with.  How angry I get, almost enough to call in and tell the host how much I disagree with him.  Then I realize that this is what it's all about, controversial!  Why are conservative talk show hosts so popular around this area?  Because the majority of listeners are liberal.  Conservative talk show hosts are more likely to hold an opinion far different than their listeners.  This drives two types of callers.  The first are the people who call to strongly disagree with the host's viewpoint on a particular issue.  The second type of caller are the ones who agree with the host, no matter what his viewpoint happens to be.  I guess my whole point is this.  Talk radio programs are fueled by advertising.  The more people who listen to a show drives the price a sponsor will pay the radio station to advertise on a particular shows time frame.  All this means that the more rude, obnoxious, and condescending the host happens to be, the more money the radio station makes. 

Posted by Racepicks at 10:56 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I saw on the news recently that the Mass State Police were going to step up their enforcement of Rt. 195, concentrating on aggressive driving.  I was happy to hear this news.  According to the report, serious accidents have increased on the stretch of highway between Fairhaven and Seekonk.  Since I drive this road often, I can attest to the fact that people drive like nuts on this highway.  I'm not just talking about speeding, I mean people driving 20 to 25 miles over the speed limit and weaving in and out of traffic like crazy.  Since I live in Rhode Island, I'm sorry to say that most of these idiots are driving vehicles registered in Rhode Island.  Not all mind you, but many are from RI.  The days immediately following the report, I witnessed a few vehicles stopped by State Police officers.  Over the last few weeks, the sightings are rare.  What happened?  You can't tell me it's a result of budget cuts.  This enforcement should pay for itself, and then some.  I'm willing to bet that if the State Police concentrated on stopping aggressive drivers, in a weeks time they would surely cite 100 people.  At $150.00 a pop, that would be $15,000.00 a week.  I'm not talking about pulling over the people who are going 5 to 10 miles over the speed limit either, I'm talking about issuing citations to 100 dangerous drivers a week.  I'm telling you, it would be like shooting fish in a barrel.

Posted by Racepicks at 01:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)