Blog Archives

Tucker Carlson. Seriously?

4/28/2021

When it comes to Fox News’ top-rated entertainer Tucker Carlson, logic, reason and facts no longer exist, if they ever did, during his many hours on-air five nights a week.

He must spend his non-on-air-time coming up with nutty conspiracy theories and other lies. I can’t imagine these dangerous comments just spew forth without forethought.

For example:

He thinks that if you see a parent outside with a child wearing a face mask, you should call children’s’ services to lodge a complaint of child abuse against that parent.
He thinks immigration, legal and illegal, is an attempt by Democrats to increase their number of registered voters to win elections.
He believes the jurors in the Derek Chauvin murder trial voted guilty because they were afraid Black Lives Matter would riot against any other verdict.
He doesn’t believe white supremacists had a role in the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol.

In short Tucker Carlson is nuts.

Now I list all the above having not ever even once watched any (can I be any more redundant?) of his shows. But his crazy comments are covered by the media as if he is a real policy expert commenting on real issues. He isn’t. He’s making it up as he goes along. He wants and need eyeballs watching to justify the big bucks he is paid.

In a simpler time he may as well be Pinky Lee (look him up, his catch phrase was “ohh you make me so mad”) doing his TV show. The difference was Pinky didn't get the added audience boost of getting big media coverage.

Just like Pinky, Tucker is in it for the ratings. The moolah. That’s television. TV's goal hasn’t changed in decades.

Tucker’s not alone in his crazy right-wing-conspiracy-I-want-attention-mania though.

I’m sure you’ve read about Sidney Powell, former Donald Trump attorney, who claimed in a nationwide media tour that the 2020 election was rigged, including by a voting machine manufacturer whose machines were programmed to switch votes. After a billion-dollar suit was filed against her by that manufacturer, Powell said “no reasonable person” would have believed her claims of a fraudulent election. Uh, right except for those millions who did and do.

Then there’s Richard Barnett, that fellow sitting with his feet up on a desk in Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi’s office suite on Jan. 6 and ransacking papers on the desk, even stealing one. Barnett has been charged in connection with the insurrection.

Barnett also left a note in the Speaker’s office that read, “Hey Nancy Bigo was here b----.” His defense attorneys now argue that the final word in his note wasn’t “bitch.” Rather, it said, “Hey Nancy Bigo was here biatd.” (not a comma to be found in his note).

I guess he figures “biatd” lets him off the hook.

But wait, there’s more. Brendan Hunt, a vocal supporter of the former president, is on trial in New York on charges of making death threats to top Democratic leaders before and after the Jan. 6 insurrection. In court, Hunt now argues that his messages were not to be taken seriously.

When he testified yesterday, he blamed his threats on pandemic-induced boredom and depression. According to the Washington Post report, Hunt also was “confronted by prosecutors with violent, racist and anti-Semitic statements that he argued did not reflect his beliefs.”

Sounds like various Trump supporters are now arguing that what they say is not what they believe. I guess the “biatd” made them do it.

Hunt claimed he was “lonely and isolated” during the pandemic quarantine and turned to marijuana and alcohol use. This all led him, he claimed in a video, to demand that “patriots…put some bullets” in the heads of members of Congress. Specifically he called for the executions of then-Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer, Pelosi and liberal New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

So, these violent demonstrators at the Jan. 6 riots/insurrections/rebellion were just out of their minds when they broke the law. They were just venting from pandemic-induced loneliness. They weren’t to be taken seriously.

Just like Tucker Carlson.

2 Comments

Tucker Carlson. Seriously?

4/28/2021

0 Comments

He thinks that if you see a parent outside with a child wearing a face mask, you should call children’s’ services to lodge a complaint of child abuse against that parent.
He thinks immigration, legal and illegal, is an attempt by Democrats to increase their number of registered voters to win elections.
He believes the jurors in the Derek Chauvin murder trial voted guilty because they were afraid Black Lives Matter would riot against any other verdict.
He doesn’t believe white supremacists had a role in the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol.

In short Tucker Carlson is nuts.

Now I list all the above having not ever even once watched any (can I be any more redundant?) of his shows. But his crazy comments are covered by the media as if he is a real policy expert commenting on real issues. He isn’t. He’s making it up as he goes along. He wants and need eyeballs watching to justify the big bucks he is paid.

In a simpler time he may as well be Pinky Lee (look him up, his catch phrase was “ohh you make me so mad”) doing his TV show.The difference was Pinky didn't get the added audience boost of getting big media coverage. a

Just like Pinky, Tucker is in it for the ratings. The moolah. That’s television. TV's goal hasn’t changed in decades.

Tucker’s not alone in his crazy right-wing-conspiracy-I-want-attention-mania though.

I’m sure you’ve read about Sidney Powell, former Donald Trump attorney, who claimed in a nationwide media tour that the 2020 election was rigged, including by a voting machine manufacturer whose machines were programmed to switch votes. After a billion-dollar suit was filed against her by that manufacturer, Powell said “no reasonable person” would have believed her claims of a fraudulent election. Uh, right except for those millions who did and do.

Then there’s Richard Barnett, that fellow sitting with his feet up on a desk in Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi’s office suite on Jan. 6 and ransacking papers on the desk, even stealing one. Barnett has been charged in connection with the insurrection.

Barnett also left a note in the Speaker’s office that read, “Hey Nancy Bigo was here b----.” His defense attorneys now argue that the final word in his note wasn’t “bitch.” Rather, it said, “Hey Nancy Bigo was here biatd.” (not a comma to be found in his note).

I guess he figures “biatd” lets him off the hook.

But wait, there’s more. Brendan Hunt, a vocal supporter of the former president, is on trial in New York on charges of making death threats to top Democratic leaders before and after the Jan. 6 insurrection. In court, Hunt now argues that his messages were not to be taken seriously.

When he testified yesterday, he blamed his threats on pandemic-induced boredom and depression. According to the Washington Post report, Hunt also was “confronted by prosecutors with violent, racist and anti-Semitic statements that he argued did not reflect his beliefs.”

Sounds like various Trump supporters are now arguing that what they say is not what they believe. I guess the “biatd” made them do it.

Hunt claimed he was “lonely and isolated” during the pandemic quarantine and turned to marijuana and alcohol use. This all led him, he claimed in a video, to demand that “patriots…put some bullets” in the heads of members of Congress. Specifically he called for the executions of then-Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer, Pelosi and liberal New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

So, these violent demonstrators at the Jan. 6 riots/insurrections/rebellion were just out of their minds when they broke the law. They were just venting from pandemic-induced loneliness. They weren’t to be taken seriously.

Just like Tucker Carlson.

0 Comments

Justice today...and tomorrow?

4/21/2021

0 Comments

Just as the Derek Chauvin case seemed open and closed to millions of us around the world – thanks to Darnella Frazier’s video of the murder – it apparently was just as open and closed to the jury. Thanks, no doubt, to Ms Frazier’s video, as well.

The verdict was reassuring, finally, that a successful case can be put together against an arrogant cop whose view is that he is the judge and jury. Chauvin will go to prison for many years, an ex-cop who killed a Black man in a population of men who won’t be very accepting of him, to say the least.

The jury considered three complicated charges in fewer than 10 hours, indicating there wasn’t much, if any, debate about Chauvin’s guilt. And that, too, is reassuring, I hope, to a black and brown population in America who aren’t used to coming out with justice in such cases.

People tend to give cops the benefit of the doubt when someone dies at their hands. This case was different, though. We all watched as Chauvin pressed his knee into George Floyd’s neck – for nearly 10 minutes -- until Mr. Floyd stopped breathing.

Chris Stewart, an attorney for the family of George Floyd, said, “Days like this don’t happen” as he pointed out the obvious –- it shouldn’t be so difficult to convict the perpetrator of this crime.

Apparently it wasn’t. And that is thanks to not only a strong case put on by the prosecution but also the key piece of evidence – a 9-minute-29 -second video recorded by Ms Frazier, the 17-year-old witness to the murder and brave young lady who recorded the piece of video viewed ‘round the world.

The verdict not only provides justice for the Floyd family -- though is there any justice when a family member is murdered? -- it also should put in the head of any other bad cops, one hopes, a second thought whenever they are responsible for anyone in their custody, especially black or brown people. When you are taken into custody by law enforcement the last thing you should worry about is whether you will die from the experience, but that is the world black and brown people live in every day.

That’s why those parents have to have “the talk” with their children to not give any cop a reason to be violent with you -- putting the responsibility for courteousness on their children rather than on the cops, and understandably so.

As an attorney who typically represents policemen said, “Without that video, this may have all turned out very differently.” Truer words were never spoken. Especially since the original version of the incident put out by police was far different than the truth.

A nation on the brink of another night of violence and brutality instead enjoyed a night of celebration and joy. Justice indeed was done, for a change.

Chauvin’s lawyer argued that it was a raucous crowd that distracted Chauvin, putting his focus on the crowd rather than on his knee on Floyd’s neck. That raucous crowd Chauvin’s lawyer imagined was a dozen or so people who never threatened law enforcement that day. There is video of them too.

They did beg Chauvin to get off Floyd’s neck. They called for reason and logic.

And, they recorded Chauvin choking the life out of George Floyd. Floyd wasn’t a threat. He was handcuffed and compliant except for that moment the police tried to force him into a squad car and he fought out of fear and anxiety over being in such a small place. As the defense did argue, Floyd indeed was a big man. But he was a big man who was compliant. Who never swore at the officers. Who thrashed out of anxiety when they tried to push him into the car.

He never swore, he only begged.

But whatever imagined “super human” strength Chauvin’s lawyer claimed, apparently wasn’t sufficient to push Chauvin off of Floyd as he lay there dying in the street. Why? Because Floyd had no superhuman strength. Yes he was a big man but he was about as compliant as a suspect could be in police custody. We saw that on the tape too.

The hope is the verdict is a major step in the evolution of social justice. That is the hope. The verdict and findings of the jury give supporters of social justice a big argument in their favor. In normal times (meaning pre- the last 20 years or so) maybe that would lead to significant changes to our laws and mores. With each incident we've lived through, we have always though that though.

Unfortunately it isn’t likely to be a swift change despite a President who wants to see that change and for a huge chunk of the country who agrees with him.

Justice definitely existed yesterday. The question is, will it exist equally tomorrow?

0 Comments

Customer Service. Um hmm

4/10/2021

0 Comments

Ok, yes, some places have excellent customer service. Recently I was at my car dealer and they always have not only excellent customer service but also thoughtful and considerate service.

But the two places I have most engaged with customer service in recent months are Amazon (I do love the convenience of Amazon) and Sirius radio (I do love the no commercial, music-I-like aspects of Sirius).

But my issue with Amazon is the streaming music service you get along with your Prime membership. I listen to it every morning when I’m reading the papers (classical), during the day (folk, classic rock, Broadway) and at dinner (usually jazz or classic rock). So I use it quite a bit. I’ll try to make this as brief as possible even though over the past few months it’s taken up hours of my time:

I wasn’t paying the extra money to get “Unlimited” music because the range I already got with my Prime membership was more than sufficient. But I seem to recall it played for longer than an hour at a time without stopping. Then, it stopped doing that.

I began with the online chat version of customer service. I got various answers on different days from: “that’s odd” to “reboot your device, unplug it” to “the problem is on our end, we’re working on it.” A few days after I got that response, it actually started playing for more than an hour at a time! But then it stopped again.

Once, the online chat help person said he’d have to “bump you up” to a higher, more technical level of service. This happened several times. Each time they gave me something to do that I should try for a few days and they’d call me back to check out if it worked. It never worked. And they never called me back.

I told each one that another of their cohort told me the problem was on your end, not mine. But that didn’t seem to matter.

This issue was getting to me so much (let it be the worst problem I ever have) that my wife said I was obsessing about it. I told her “no, I’m not!” As in most things, though, she was right. It was an obsession not so much that I couldn’t listen for more than an hour without making another request of Alexa (not exactly a heavy lift), but because I couldn’t believe there was no answer to why this was happening.

I checked forums online to see if others had the same problem. Hundreds did. Hundreds also got the run around from Amazon. A few kept saying, “This is their marketing plan to get you to sign up for Unlimited.” I thought, Amazon has so much money – almost as much as their owner – that they wouldn’t stoop to that despicable tactic.

Finally, I got a nice young woman who seemed to honestly be trying to help. She gave me something to try for a few days. It didn’t work. And, she actually called me back!

She did not, though, bump me to that mysterious “higher level” of technical support. She said she’d track it down and call me back. And…she did! Finally, after months of time spent online and on the phone, I got the definitive answer: Alexa only plays music for more than an hour at a time if you pay for Unlimited.

I thanked her for telling me that and said I wished the others I’d spoken with were as honest as you. Disappointing but…mystery solved! Obsession ended!

I eventually did sign up for that “one device, $3.99 a month” deal, a deal I’d never heard about before. I really only use one device to play it that long anyway.

Still I’m guessing it took me 17 phone calls to get an honest, simple answer.

Now, Sirius. All of a sudden the radio in my car gets “no signal” or cuts out repeatedly on the same roads I’ve driven for four years without problem. This would be a small irritant but Sirius isn't cheap and I wanted it to play regularly. (Again let this be the worst problem I ever have. There is regular radio, after all.)

I started with the chat line. They’d tell me “refresh your radio” which I have done 18 times in the last few weeks. It never worked.

One fellow bumped me to the “higher level of technical support” who could help me. Once, I actually got through, explained my issue. that fellow put me on hold, came back and said, there that should fix it. I asked what did you do, but he was gone.

It didn’t fix it.

So, I’d wait a few days because some days were better reception than others. In fact, I’d go to the grocery store, about two miles away, and would get “no signal” the whole way there. But, on my return home, the radio worked flawlessly. On the same, local, two-lane road.

I drove to my car dealer which is about 16 miles away and it worked perfectly. On the way back too. And, the next day … it worked flawlessly again! I figured maybe the trip warmed it up and it was cured.

But nope. The next day, same problem. It would get no signal on my way out of my street (a dead end) but when I returned it would play fine on that same piece of road.

Then, the next day, no signal again on my road. And, I’d drive the two miles to the grocery store, all the way with it not working. But, on my return trip, over the same road, it worked perfectly.

Once again to the chat line. Again, they said refresh your radio. I said that doesn’t help. He bumped me to a higher level (one time I was texting with a friend and she was trying to get through to Delta customer service. Would wait literally hours on hold. Got a call back at 12:30 a.m. But after she got out the first two words, Delta’s system went down, ending the call. She also told me she was bumped to a “higher level” once and figured the businesses we were trying to reach used the same answering service. She also experienced, as did I, each place, while we were on hold, telling us we “are special to them….your business is important to us.” Um hmm.)

Then there’s that other thing. The horrible “music” you get on hold stops for a second and you think someone is coming on the line but nope. It just continues playing that godawful music. Or I figure my call has been dropped so I hang up and call again, only to be even further back in line.

Back to Sirius. I was bumped up to “the higher level.” The chat online person said he put a note in my file so I wouldn’t have to explain my issue for the 321st time.

I’ve now tried that “higher level of service” number 15 times and wait on hold for 45 minutes, listening to that godawful music, and hang up in frustration.

Meanwhile my radio does the same thing. In and out. I guess this is to be continued because my radio issue remains.

Have a nice day.

You’re very important to me.

0 Comments

Tucker Carlson. Seriously?

Tucker Carlson. Seriously?

Justice today...and tomorrow?

Customer Service. Um hmm

Archives

B. Jay Cooper

powered by bjaycooper.com