Dear Cynthia McKinney & Floyd Landis:

Frankly, I’m glad you both lost. I don’t say that because I’m white and one of you is black. Or that I can’t bike more than an hour without passing out and one of you can bike 24/7 across Europe. I really wish you both could have won… given you had a completely different position on politics, race, competition and life in general. You see, America is desperately in need of positive role models right now. People who can demonstrate how to not only advance themselves in society, but can lead the way for others to follow them and do it ethically and successfully from poverty to a thriving, contributing place in society.

But back to you both… Just moments ago, you had the nation’s attention during the Capitol police attack and the Tour de France. Given the situation you both found yourselves in, the press portrayed you both as borderline criminals. This is true yes, but you only reinforced that image as you lash out and reacted in such a negative, pass-the-buck, its-not-my-fault, and in one case reverse-racism. I was truly hoping you would take those moments on the front stage to do something inspiring or constructive… you know, one of those Stan from Southpark “what did we learn today” speeches. But alas, you both only used those precious media moments to escalate attention for yourselves and to blame everyone else on the planet for your own situation vs. being a real leader and facing the truth head-on yourselves. You see, not only are you both bad role models for the black community, athletes, students, fans and constituents, you are both Anti-Role Models. From blaming the Whitehouse for 9-11 to blaming white people for your primary loss, to making excuses for drugs and lying, you both have done more damage than anything constructive. Instead, you’ve shown us how to use lies, race, drugs and physical violence to advance yourself towards success. Hopefully, you’ll both stay out of the public eye for some time to come while we continue to search for responsible, positive examples for all Americans to follow. Right now for me, it’s Stan  ¶ 10:26 AM (0) comments

  NPR Needs Better Music

I’m a big fan of several NPR radio shows: ‘Fresh Air’, ‘The World’, ‘The Treatment’, ‘All Things Considered’, etc. But while all these shows have great guests, information and basically pretty good hosts, the theme music for these shows fundamentally blows (and not just because they over-use the horn section). I mean, take ‘Fresh Air’ for example, the music for that show makes me feel like I’m in a stagnant, noisy traffic jam. The ‘Diane Rehm Show’ has equally grating music that seems to get worse the more I listen. “All Things Considered” did not obviously consider their theme music. But of course we always know some really sad story is coming when you hear the music played slowly, softly in a flat key. I know this seems like a small, pesty thing to bitch about, but having to hear excruciatingly bad executed music everyday brings it to the forefront. I mean, take the BBC’s ‘World Service’. Now that is some music that kicks ass! I even hum it when in the shower or in the car! It’s epic, catchy uplifting and powerful… It doesn’t sound like you downloaded it for free from Napster. But doesn’t the best music always seem to come from the U.K.? So why can’t NPR have some David Gray, Death Cab for Cutie track or perhaps some Nelly Furtado beats introducing a show? Better yet, NPR should have a contest for new theme music for each show! Then, I’d have nothing at all to complain about when it comes to NPR, other than that guy that sounds like he’s holding his nose whenever he says “… this is NPR… National Public Radio”… oh and the fact that they’re still too liberal.  ¶ 4:21 PM (0) comments