TELEVISION DRAMA

There is so much stuff going on right now, I don’t know where to start! 

Al Gore, former Vice President, is a happy camper.  He was the recipient of 20% of the take on a $500 million deal yesterday when Current TV was sold to Al-Jazeera.  Current TV, if you’re not familiar with it, is a liberal biased news station with a viewership of less than 50,000 during prime time.  It has been struggling along for seven years.  Glen Beck reportedly tried to buy the cable channel but his bid was rejected.  How this cable channel is going to do with so many other cable news channels out there is unknown. It will also have to overcome other obstacles such as Americans remembering Al Jazerra being the voice and image of Osama bin Laden after 9/11/01 and, even the name the channel was tentatively given –Al Jazeera America – sounds too foreign to most of us, too close to the government of Qatar who now owns it.

Time Warner Cable has not made a decision whether or not it is going to carry the station.  It was supposedly close to dropping the station due to its low ratings before this sale, which TW did not consent to  If it does continue to carry the station, it will be at a much lower rate than the twelve cents per subscriber per month Current TV was receiving.  To put this in perspective, CNN receives fifty-seven cents a month per subscriber and FOX News, eighty-nine cents.  Outfits like Dish Network, Comcast and Directv may be contractually stuck carrying Current TV or whatever they end up calling it.  I think I can do without my news being bent in still another direction.  How about you?

Another television news story comes from the New York Post.  It is suggested that CNN needs not an outstanding journalist like Ann Curry to bring people over to CNN for their prime time slot but an outstanding personality, Howard Stern.  The author of the article thinks Mr. Stern would be their new Larry King.  I imagine myself sitting there waiting for the first bleep of the evening, the first fight, etc.  How does he get his hair to look that way?

Thank you House of Representatives for re-electing John Boehner speaker of the House!  Now, get off your butts and do some real work to help the people who got you there!  Some of you need to pretend that you work for a living and that you can and will get fired if you piss off your boss.  If you drama queens have forgotten who your boss really is, you may be in for a shock.  We don’t want contrived reality tv.  We want reality.  Reality is, we the people can’t spend money we don’t have, so we don’t spend.  If we get too far into debt, we get in trouble.  We can’t make more money down in our basements and we can’t borrow money from China like you do.  So, lower the debt, stop spending and stay out of our state government unless you’re invited.  I know government is on a vastly larger scale than we the people are but, the same rules should apply.  We put you in charge of helping us maintain and protect our lives in a fashion according to The Constitution of the United States.  We did not elect you to tell us what to do differently.

Sharon

Update on Monday, January 7, 2013 at 10:03AM by Jerry

An update to the news regarding the purchase of Current TV by the Qatar owned Al Jazeera.

Eliot Spitzer, the former New York governor, cancelled his show Sunday.  Spitzer, a politician turned TV show host, announced that he had a relationship with Current's founders, Joel Hyatt and Al Gore -- not Al Jazeera. Spitzer took over VIEWPOINT last year when Keith Olbermann was fired from the show.

Time Warner Cable originally said that it would not carry the channel but now seems to be moving more toward the middle ground. We willl keep you updated. 

DON'T CLOSE THE BOX

            I held it in my arms, carefully aiming us both toward the stairs leading to the basement where all Christmas items would nestle until next winter.  The globe was heavy and awkward to hold, artificial snow falling with the slightest movement I made.  It had been positioned in the middle of the kitchen table since the day after Thanksgiving; the table designated as the “children’s table” during family get-togethers. For some reason, I decided to stop and set it down once more on the kitchen table, to take a final look at it before stowing it away.

            The sculpture shows Santa Claus in his workshop talking on a wall hanging telephone much like the ones you’d expect to find in old time country stores.  On the other side of the wall, a scene is revealed of a girl in her nightgown talking into a duplicate of Santa’s phone.  She is standing in front of a fireplace; her slippers off her feet and in front of the hearth.  A dog is on the mantle, sitting on its hind legs.  A Christmas tree unites both sides of the two scenes and the floor and wall are tilted much like an amusement ride ready to roll.  Wrapped presents and toys and decorated trees festoon the base from under which the key lies, that when wound, the tune “We Wish You a Merry Christmas" plays.”   

            I must admit that I have questions, such as why the girl took her slippers off to talk on the telephone and who lets their dog do tricks on their fireplace mantle?  Why is the scene set up to look like a Tilt-A-Whirl?  I’m getting the point now!  Put the decorations away and don’t think about it until, if I’m so blessed, next year. 

            Down comes the tree.  Ornaments are put away.  Special plates and linens are cleaned and wrapped and go back to a safe place until we need them again.  This year’s good tidings and joy – will they be put away as well?  Do we only “love our neighbor” when we exchange holiday cookies once a year or show an act of kindness to those who have had it a lot tougher than we have recently? 

            This has been a rough year for a lot of us and I for one am hoping for better things to come in 2013.  People say that the world is crumbling around us; civilization is being destroyed, both morally and financially.  Our country is being run by politicians and not by men and women with the strength and aptitude to govern responsibly.  Maybe they’re right.  Maybe we should give up and surrender to the dark side.  Complain another year of our lives away; grumble that nothing can be fixed.  Hunker down with like minded individuals who also grumble and complain. 

One way or another, life goes on.  We must continue to make things right in this country.  We must not forget what is right and that this is what we must continue to believe in and to teach the next generation.  We need to try to work together as a nation because division does not bring strength to any cause.  Working together involves caring for each other.  Caring for each other brings strength.  Strength brings unity.  Maybe we should put away the decorations and keep the good feelings that they give us outside the box where they belong, all the time. 

Happy New Year everyone!

Sharon

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO YOU ALL!

THE ENTIRE AHERN FAMILY WISHES YOU A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A NEW YEAR FULL OF HOPE AND JOY.  LET'S JOIN TOGETHER IN  REBUILDING AMERICA AS THE GREATEST NATION ON THIS PLANET.

A SMALL TOWN

For the last couple of days I’ve had John Mellencamp’s song “SMALL TOWN” going through my head. It starts,

“I was born in a small town

And I live in a small town.” 

I can’t say I was born in a small town, Chicago being my place of origin, but I have spent more than half my life in small towns and I probably will remain. 

Our local high school football team played in the state championships last week.  This may not sound too spectacular to some but, in order to understand this you need to know that this is a school that requires you to do well academically and finals were given to all students regardless of their athletic ability.  Besides the cramming for tests, another negative factor in their case was that their last chance at a championship game occurred thirty five years ago.

Saturday morning they received a huge send off from the local citizens, scored breakfast at a local eatery and were sent on their way to the Georgia Dome.  They were to play against last year’s winners – a big, tough group of young men who had had a perfect season. But, our local team were winners whatever the outcome of the game and they knew it.  They were wrapped in the arms of Jefferson, Georgia; their home town.

Not being a huge football fan unless my grandsons are on the field --I had places to go and things I wanted to do that afternoon -- I turned on the television to maybe just catch the opening.  It was the most exciting game I’ve every watched.  Jefferson won 31-14; their first state championship ever.

Another small town had an enormous tragedy last week.  Twenty tiny children murdered, six adults murdered and many unanswered questions as to why.  The residents of Newtown, Connecticut will endure suffering and pain for a long time to come.  Media coverage has been a mixed blessing.  There will always be some journalists who cross over the line with inappropriate questions and seemingly insensitive remarks. Most members of the press, on the other hand, have shown compassion and sympathy and have conducted themselves in a dignified manner. Seeing the faces of the members of this community and hearing their stories brings them close to our families and make us want to reach out to them in their need.

Through social media, whether television, Facebook, Twitter, etc., we all live in a small town.  Please, wrap your arms around this community; these families, these teachers, these people just like you and I, who need your love and support.

“No I cannot forget where it is that I come from

I cannot forget the people who love me”

All the best,

Sharon

ARE WE JUST TOO STUPID TO VOTE?

            As to the outcome of our recent national election, what can I say that most of you haven’t said already?  We had out chance and blew it but, take heed in the words of Thomas Jefferson, who said, “The good sense of the people will always be found to be the best army.  They may be led astray for a moment, but will soon correct themselves.”  Let us all hope that our political leadership can correct their path to be more in tune with today’s issues but still hold fast to the principles and guidelines of our forefathers. 

We just got too wrapped up in the Big Election to keep an eye on what was on the rest of the ballot.  You know what I’m talking about, the stuff that will eventually affect you and your family every day -- big city issues and little town issues within your state that had made it to the ballot for your approval or disapproval and needed to be decided upon.  But, it’s not easy to make a decision if you don’t bother to examine the pros and cons of that which you are privileged to vote on.

            Georgia, for example had a lot of interest in a vote concerning a constitutional amendment, a very confusingly stated amendment, allowing a state board to issue charters for private operators to run independent public schools.  We were bombarded with commercials showing young children extolling the virtues of their local charter school and how they no longer had to deal with gangs and lack of supplies and inadequate supervision.  We were made to feel like ogres if we did not agree to make schools like this available in our own community.  The Amendment passed 58 per cent yes to 41 per cent no.   Big win for the kids, right?  Wrong.  Big loss for local school boards and their communities.

            If voters had gone to Georgia’s Secretary of State’s website before election day, they would have found that more than 300 charter schools already exist right here. These schools came into being after local citizens approached their school board with concerns that this type of school may be necessary in their area.  After a period of discussion and laying out the pros and cons, a vote was taken as to the additional steps necessary.  You do understand that this is all being done at the local level with essentially neighbors talking to neighbors; all having a tie to each other within the same community.  If  the proposed school is given a go ahead, state and local funding will be used to support it.  If the school board rejects the idea and the community still wants to go ahead with the idea they can appeal to the state.  The school board members eventually will be at the mercy of the local voters come election time if they do not comply with the wishes of the majority.

            Under the new system that has been voted into place, the state will assemble a charter commission that will consider applications by operators to run these new charter schools.  Local school boards will not have any say over these applications.  Charter schools are financed with public money but, they are run by private organizations.  Many of these organizations and the people involved with them do not even reside in the state.

            We’re looking forward to seeing how or how much this constitutional amendment affects the state’s education system or,  is this just another attempt to take control over our local affairs by those who “know what’s right for us.”

            We’d like to hear your comments on any local election results in your areas that you feel were not as well researched as they should have been.  Also, what’s your take on same sex marriage, marijuana use and other such state’s rights issues in the news. 

All the best,

Sharon