Alleged hit-man murder caught on camera, shown on TV; Martian Invasion causes panic! October 30, 2009

A MARTIAN INVASION!!!!

In the United States lately, there has been a discussion regarding the amount of violence being shown on TV.  Some groups allege that, in particular, images of violence against women have increased on prime-time tv shows.  The fear is that it may create a more violent society or cause kids to become more violent.  It’s an old argument.  30 years ago when I was in Journalism school at the University of Texas, that was one of the topics covered.  I recall a “true false” question asking if a child was exposed to violence on TV was he more likley to become a violent person.  I never studied for that class.  I don’t think I even came to class except for the tests.  Well, they’ve taken things a bit farther.  The murder of an alleged gangster in Italy, shot dead at point blank range, was captured on video cameras and the footage was shown on TV.  Wonder how that would suit anti-violence groups in the states?  The cops in Italy say they released the video in hopes of catching the shooter.  Imagine what a field day the cable networks would have with that in the US?  Would it create pandemonium on the streets?

Orson Welles did On This Date In History:

A Vicious Invader?

The Martians Invaded on this date in 1938…at least that’s what millions of Americans thought. A young 23 year old radio man named Orson Welles presented a show on CBS radio. He began by saying it was an adaptation of H.G. Wells’ War of the Worlds. It began at 8 pm. But a whole bunch of people were listening to Edgar Bergen and his dummy, Charlie McCarthy on NBC. Bergen’s routine ended at 8:12 and many switched to CBS. By then the radio-play was already going so they missed the opening disclaimer. Welles’ production had some sort of regular sounding broadcast with a weather report followed by some cheesy music that went on for some time before a reporter broke in with a report (I don’t think they called it “breaking news” then) and he said there were explosions on Mars. Then more music followed by another break in with a hysterical “reporter” describing ugly Martians getting into large machines that rose out of the ground with long tentacles. It reported that the machines fired heat rays and destroyed a national guard unit, dropped deadly gas bombs and they were destroying everything.

People thought it was real. Some went bananas and jammed the highways looking to get out of

Orson So Good He Caused Mayhem

town. CBS had Welles break in and remind everyone it was fiction, but no one listened. The panic was on. Reports of suicides came in but there was no confirmation. Congress naturally had to investigate and found nothing was wrong. Welles thought his career was over. Instead, he got a cinematic contract which led to his production of Citizen Kane which has regularly topped the list as the best movie ever made.

Like Welles, sometimes we create the worst in our mind when, in fact, the best is just around the corner. If you are discouraged or feeling that you’ve made a terrible mistake, keep your head up. You don’t know what the future holds and today’s set back may just be the foundation for tomorrow’s success.

HPC calls for about 1.37" of rain

Weather Bottom Line:  I will dispense with the details.  Rain holds off until tonight. The amount is whatever its gonna be. I’m thinking about an inch, give or take a quarter inch. The HPC says about 1 and a third inches of rain.  We have windy and warm conditions prior to the slow-poke front’s arrival.  As I had explained previously, the main conversion zone is well to our south in the lower Mississippi Valley where they’ve had heavy rain and a few tornadoes.  With the abundant moisture, it seems likely that we will get a fair amount of rain Friday night through probably at least late morning on Saturday. This system is so slow as the parent low to the north winds down, that I might suggest that rain may still be in the area toward midday.  But, it should be dry and cooler for the afternoon and the UL game. Maybe a bit breezy as well.  The kids on Halloween should be dry but with temps in the lower 50′s, it will probably be a bit chilly for the ghosts and goblins…so give them another sheet.

Did Bill Ayers Write Obama’s Book? Is Palin Really a Tax Raiser? Did Mars Attack? October 30, 2008

A MARTIAN INVASION!!!!

The weather turned out as expected. The winds were sufficient to keep the mercury from falling too far on Wednesday morning. The low in Louisville at the airport was 34 and the NWS office was 32. Other areas were similar with many around the freezing mark, a few in the uper 20′s and the cooperative observer at Bradfordsville in the extreme Southeastern part of the viewing area getting down to 24, which seems rather odd but other nearby places around Campbellsviille being 26. I guess the wind wasn’t as strong there. A frosty start Thursday will mark the end of the chilly conditions. We’ll have an inversion over us on Thursday afternoon so the highs will be in the low 60′s but we jump to the upper 60′s and low 70′s for Halloween and that type of regime will continue through the weekend. No rain in sight until the middle of next week.

Louisville's Christina Fougnie Stars in Clancy

Shot In Metro Louisville

Local Movie of Note: Snow White and I had dinner with Jefferson and Kelly Moore the other night. Jefferson Moore is a local actor who, with his wife, have formed a production company. They have made two films that have done quite well world-wide on video and it was adapted into a tv series. It’s called The Perfect Stranger and the two movies are available in Blockbuster or directly from Kellyfilmworks. The movies and series were shot in the Louisville Metro Area with much of the cast being local talent. Coming next is Clancy which is a very heartwarming story. It too was filmed in the Louisville Metro Area and you may recognize some of the cast, including the star, 12-year-old Christina Fougnie. They are working on distribution and it may be in a theatre near you or on TV in the near future. But, if you CLICK HERE you can get a sneak preview. It’s a good flick for the whole family and, while it is quite uplifting, it’s not something that will send the community into hair-raising pandemonium like

Orson Welles did On This Date In History:

A Vicious Invader?

The Martians Invaded on this date in 1938…at least that’s what millions of Americans thought. A young 23 year old radio man named Orson Welles presented a show on CBS radio. He began by saying it was an adaptation of H.G. Wells’ War of the Worlds. It began at 8 pm. But a whole bunch of people were listening to Edgar Bergen and his dummy, Charlie McCarthy on NBC. Bergen’s routine ended at 8:12 and many switched to CBS. By then the radio-play was already going so they missed the opening disclaimer. Welles’ production had some sort of regular sounding broadcast with a weather report followed by some cheesy music that went on for some time before a reporter broke in with a report (I don’t think they called it “breaking news” then) and he said there were explosions on Mars. Then more music followed by another break in with a hysterical “reporter” describing ugly Martians getting into large machines that rose out of the ground with long tentacles. It reported that the machines fired heat rays and destroyed a national guard unit, dropped deadly gas bombs and they were destroying everything.

People thought it was real. Some went bananas and jammed the highways looking to get out of

Orson So Good He Caused Mayhem

town. CBS had Welles break in and remind everyone it was fiction, but no one listened. The panic was on. Reports of suicides came in but there was no confirmation. Congress naturally had to investigate and found nothing was wrong. Welles thought his career was over. Instead, he got a cinematic contract which led to his production of Citizen Kane which has regularly topped the list as the best movie ever made.

Like Welles, sometimes we create the worst in our mind when, in fact, the best is just around the corner. If you are discouraged or feeling that you’ve made a terrible mistake, keep your head up. You don’t know what the future holds and today’s set back may just be the foundation for tomorrow’s success.

Political Tidbits worth reading:

Used a Ghost Writer?

The weather is quiet so I’m taking the opportunity to bring up a couple of questions posed by some writers of such things. Just some items to consider.

Senator Obama wrote a memoir Dreams From My Father. It has been well received by critics. However, this writer raises the question of who wrote Dreams From My Father? He presents evidence and a point of view that Senator Obama could not have written it and suggests that none other than Bill Ayers wrote it.

Here is the article-decide if the writer Jack Cashill makes his case.

Governor Sarah Palin has run on a record of standing up to the oil companies. She is

Raised Taxes and Cut Hockey?

running on a platform of cutting taxes. The top part of her ticket, Senator McCain, has been charged with wanting to cut corporate taxes. Yet, Governor Palin raised taxes on oil production in her state. This writer raises the question is Sarah Palin a tax cutter? The article suggests that not only did she raise taxes, but did so when the state was running a budget surplus of over a billion dollars and that, in spite of the budget surplus and projected overwhelming growth of tax revenue, she cut some programs…including funding for a local hockey association…by a “hockey mom.”

Here is the article by Alison Fitzgerald-decide if she made her case

I put these types of things in here from time to time because it seems to me that we hear all of these things on TV in commercials and speeches but really don’t get the details or in depth analysis. It makes it difficult to figure out what is truth, what is spin and what is total fabrication. I short, it is my view that the media has done a poor job in providing information to the public concerning this election. These two articles just seem to touch on some issues that may provide some things to consider.