dimland radio 8-27-16 show notes

Disingenuous In 1964, Disingenuous In 2016

A tale of two political ads was discussed at the top of the show. I wasn't as concerned about the messages of the two ads as I was about the presentation.

 

In 1964, President Lyndon Johnson was running for election against the conservative Republican Senator Barry Goldwater. A TV ad ran, perhaps only once, with the title 'Confessions of a Republican' for the Johnson campaign. It featured a Republican man, white about 35 or 40, talking about his deep concerns about Goldwater. He even mentions that the KKK support Goldwater.

 

There seemed to be quite a few parallels to today's Republican candidate, so the old ad went viral, as the kids say. And the Hillary Clinton campaign has made an updated version of that ad using the same "Republican" voicing his concerns about Donald Trump.

 

I have problems with both ads. Neither ad tells the viewer that the Republican is an actor. Bill Bogert is his name. You've seen Mr. Bogert on TV plenty of times over the past few decades. He's been in commercials, he's been on Law & Order several times, and he had a regular role on the justifiably short-lived Small Wonder sit-com. Believe me, if you're at least my age, you will recognize the man.

 

However, in 1964, TV audiences weren't familiar with him. His first professional acting credit on IMBD.com was in 1966. It's safe to say his was an unknown face, so voters would likely believe he really was a Republican and not an actor playing a part.

 

Bogert was a Republican early on, but in a recent interview in which he talks about the ad, he says that as a part he would have said whatever the script called for, unless they were going to use his actual name in the ad. If that was the case, Bogert would insist that his "confession" be true to his convictions. His name does not appear, but the man stands by what he said in the ad.

Not a terrible complaint, but he's an actor and that fact should have been acknowledged in the ad.

 

In 2016, the Hillary Clinton campaign revised the ad and brought back Bill Bogert. Again the ad is titled 'Confessions of a Republican'. Again his name is not mentioned. And, as in the 1964 ad, Bogert starts off by telling us that he voted for Eisenhower and Nixon.

 

Eisenhower and Nixon?! Do you know how long it's been since Eisenhower and Nixon ran for the Presidency? Hint: Eisenhower - 1954. Nixon - 1972. Now it made sense to say that in 1964 (Nixon made an unsuccessful bid in the 1960 election, when he lost to John Kennedy), but in 2016?

Dude! There have been seven Republican candidates for President since Nixon! Why don't you mention voting for any of them? How much of a Republican are you?

 

Even though his name wasn't used, the Clinton campaign must have followed Bogert's wishes in not having him make statements against his convictions or, I'm guessing, his actual voting record. Bogert had stated in another recent interview that he hadn't voted Republican since he voted for John Lindsay, who hasn't held office since 1973. (Lindsay died in December, 2000.)

 

Sure, nobody should vote for Donald Trump and, anyway, Hillary Clinton is going to be our next President, but the updated ad feels phony to me. At least Bogert does start out saying in the updated version, "I was a Republican." [Emphasis mine.]

Dimland Radio Science Hero: Susan Gerbic

Susan Gerbic

Some of my talk about Susan Gerbic included the topics of polio and its extremely successful vaccine, and of alternative medicine and its creeping into actual medical clinics.

 

Now Gerbic could be a Science Hero for her work on her project Guerilla Skepticism on Wikipedia (GSoW) alone. Through GSoW, she trains skeptics how to do proper edits within the guidelines set by the online encyclopedia. GSoW's main focus is on science and skepticism. GSoW wants science represented well and properly. Especially on pages filled with extraordinary claims.

 

I was prompted to give her Science Hero status for her quick actions in the recent cupping craze.

 

She was watching the Rio Olympics and became aware that cupping was being used by many of the elite athletes at this elite world sporting event. She saw the credulous coverage of the nonsense therapy and knew that the general public was going to be curious and would turn to Wikipedia to learn more.

 

Gerbic jumped into action and saw that the cupping page was woefully lacking in science content and updated the page. She made sure the fact that the findings of medical science do not support any of the alt med claims for cupping. She made all the proper annotations and links available so that readers would easily learn that cupping is bullshit. And she got it all updated in the nick of time, as the page views had quickly ballooned after all the uncritical coverage on cupping hit the airwaves.

 

For that and all she does at GSoW, Susan Gerbic is a Dimland Radio Science Hero.

How Not Science Is Done 

 

In 2007, Mark Holley, underwater archaeology professor at Northwestern Michigan College, was commissioned to do a survey of the bottom of Lake Michigan. While doing that survey, an area of stones appearing to be purposefully placed in a Stonehenge-like arrangement was spotted. During a dive to investigate this very unlikely to be man-made structure, an image was taken of a nearby stone that appeared to have a carving of a mastodon on it.

 

A little too credulous friend of mine, was a little too ready to believe there is a man-made "stonehenge" and a human carved rock at the bottom of Lake Michigan. He shared this article on Facebook. The site doesn't look like its science acumen is very high. That was the first red flag for this humble skeptic.

 

Other red flags include: It's been nearly ten years and nothing more definitive has been learned about the origins of these artifacts or if they are, in fact, man-made. The location of the find is undisclosed and that makes it impossible to know if where the site is located was ever dry in the distant past, especially when mastodons still existed. Or was this "stonehenge" built underwater? The images of the carving on the "mastodon" stone do not include any clear unenhanced views. In a video taken for the show Ancient Aliens featuring this area of the great lake, there are a couple quick shots of the "mastodon" stone without the dots having been connected. Blink and you'll miss the fact that there are a lot of cracks, fissures, lines, etc. on that rock. It's seems pareidolia is a far more likely explanation. There are photos and video footage of the "mastodon" stone taken by divers, why are there none for the "stonehenge" structure? Why is this story being carrying almost exclusively on fringe websites? The only news site I could find covering this mystery was a local TV news station. And, finally, in case you didn't catch it: ANCIENT ALIENS! That program is all about sound science, right?

Too many red flags on this one. Until better evidence is presented, I'm going to remain skeptical.

Movie Recommendation (Netflix streaming edition): Stranger Things (2016)

 

Netflix Original Series

It's not by Stephen King but it sure seems like it is. This Netflix origin series was created by the Duffer Brothers and it stars Winona Ryder, David Harbour, and Matthew Modine. It also has a cast of young actors who are all very good and all look the ages they are playing.

 

Something bad is happening in the small town of Hawkins, Indiana. People are disappearing and a girl with incredible abilities has appeared. A group of 12 year-old boys, a couple highschoolers, and two adults are trying to get to the bottom of these disappearances. And it appears the government has been up to some bad business. Very bad.

 

You can stream the eight episode season on Netflix.

 

 

Music heard on the show...
 

Dimland Radio opening theme song: 'Ram' by The Yoleus 
First ad break bumpers: 'Desperately' by Don Williams & 'I Generate A Feeling' by Pete Shelley

Second ad break bumpers: 'Civic Hall' by The Vapors & 'Know Your Rights' by The Clash

Closing song: 'Angler's Treble Hook' by $5 Fiddle

That's it! See you next Saturday night for Dimland Radio 11 Central, midnight Eastern on www.ztalkradio.com you can also download my show from the z talk show archives page. You can email your questions and comments to drdim@dimland.com
 
You can also go to my CafePress store and buy stuff with my artwork on it and have me do a portrait for you if you like. Find out more here and here.

dimland radio 8-20-16 show notes

Christmas' War On Rest Of The Year

People have complained about Christmas advertising on TV showing up earlier and earlier each year. Well, it was my turn to complain. On Tuesday August 16th, sometime after 11pm, I saw an ad touting a new and awesome way to light up your Christmas tree.

It's the middle of August! What the hell?!

It's as if that holiday wants to usurp the rest of the year. It's had control of Thanksgiving for practically forever, but it's not content with that. Oh, no. It's been hounding Halloween (the year's best holiday) for sometime, as well. Now it's the middle of August. Christmas wants Labor Day and Back-to-School, too!

Mark my words. Next it will be turning the old "Christmas in July" sales to ads for the coming Christmas aired in July. Where will it end? The day after the day after Christmas?

There ought to be a law. No Christmas ads on radio and television, no Christmas products in stores, and no Christmas music played until after Halloween at the very earliest. And no Salvation Army bell ringers outside any stores or on any corners ever. (That bit is just for me.)

I blame Bill O'Reilly.

An Albino Squirrel, A Parakeet, And Gunshots?

Some unusual occurrences happened this past Thursday. One was downright disturbing. The other two were delightful.

When I returned home from the day job an albino squirrel and a parakeet were hanging around our bird feeder. I'd seen the squirrel around the neighborhood before, but I think this was the first time seeing it in our yard.

The parakeet was strange to see. They ain't indigenous to Minnesota, dontcha knOHw. Obviously, a neighbor had their bird escape or they let it out on purpose. Either way, it was a surprising sight.

But, around 10:30 that night I was watching World At War on the DVD when I heard a man talking somewhat loudly outside. I didn't do much more investigating than to pause the war and listen. I couldn't tell what he was saying or even if he was mad or just talking loudly. Then came the noise of a fast moving car and a series of quick popping sounds. Gunshots? Firecrackers?

I wasn't sure. I waited a moment or two and went out to investigate. One neighbor was outside. He didn't know what happened, but he thought it sounded like gunshots. Well, there were no shell casing, no shot out car or house windows, no people with bullet holes in them, and no police came. In fact, other than the one neighbor, there was nobody around.

I didn't call the police. I should have, but I wouldn't have been able to tell them much.

As happenstance would have it, I was able to ask a police officer about the event the next day. He told me there had been no calls about gunshots in that area the night before. He asked if I have called it in. I felt shame as I explained that I hadn't. He told me that I should have called it in even if I didn't have a lot of information. They would have checked it out.

I told him I would if I ever heard something like that again. He pepper-sprayed me, tazed me, beat the crap out of me, wished me a good evening, and went on his way. (Not all of the actions of the preceding sentence actually happened.)

Coast-to-Coast Rant

Coast-to-Coast is a syndicated overnight radio show filled with paranormal, pseudoscience, and all kinds of strange claims. Or so I've heard. Because, whenever I would try to listen to the show, either with the original host Art Bell or with George Noory, I would get so frustrated. Not because of the content of the show, but rather the lack of any content at all. I would tune in and there was barely any of an hour's worth of the show with the actual show. Each hour, I seemed to me, was more than half-filled with ads, many of which read by the host, and news breaks for local and national updates. I swear the show wouldn't start until 10 or 15 minutes after it supposedly went on the air.

Very frustrating. 

Of Moles And Feet

I have lots of moles on me. Fortunately, the ones people can see aren't located anywhere that would be too distracting. On the tip of my nose would be a bad location. As would being on my lip. Look I ain't no Cindy Crawford.

Anyway, my regular doctor thought I should have a dermatologist take an expert look at my moles, so an appointment was set. Turns out it was a woman dermatologist. I have nothing against women doctors, at all. She was just going to be the first woman doctor to have ever seen me with most of my clothes off.

This was a new experience for me. Not many people, women especially, have seen me with any clothes off, let alone most of them or, no god/s forbid, no clothes at all. But she was a professional just as I expected her to be. She didn't even laugh at my painted toenails.

Oh, yeah. My painted toenails. I'm not sure if I had ever brought it up on the show before, but I have painted toenails. Sometimes I just like to feel pretty. No, that's just a joke.

I've often annoyed my wife with my mentioning I have good looking feet. They are. I've been told that about twenty years ago by a friend's now ex-wife. My wife has said she like to have a talk with that woman and admonish her from saying such a ting to me. Because she's got to keep listening to me say how nice looking are my feet.

But that's not why there is nail polish on them. No, it is a grand tradition in my house. Each Fourth of July my wife paints my toenails. It's not to cover up nasty toenails or whatever. It was just a lark and it has stuck as a way to celebrate our nation's birth. This long standing tradition goes all the way back to about three or four Fourth of Julys  (or is that Fourths of July or Fourths of Julys?) ago.  

I do turn it into a kind of observational experiment to see how long it takes for all the nail polish to disappear, either by wearing off or growing off. Each year it has taken until January for the last remnants to disappear.

So, I decided to pose nude on the internet and expose my good looking feet. This as naked as you'll ever see me. Enjoy:

Can you say foot model? Yep, that's what's left of the Fourth of July polish.

It's Not True: Moon Affecting People & Hillary Clinton's Seizure

I've been through this before with the full moon not really making emergency rooms busier or people more active. It's just confirmation bias kicking in. It happens to be a crazy night and there's a full moon, so people blame the moon. But they forget all those crazy nights when the moon wasn't full.

Ed McMahon thought it was because the full moon's gravitational pull was greater than that of non-full moons.

Uh, Ed, the moon is always full.

And Hillary Clinton is not having a seizure in this video:

She is joking with reporters by overreacted to three reporters all asking questions to her at the same time. It's not a seizure. She's going to be President. Get used to the idea.

Movie Recommendation: Sing Street (2016)

The Weinstein Company

Written and directed by John Carey, who brought us the wonderful music oriented film Once in 2006, is this sweet romantic film about a 15 year-old Irish boy in Dublin who starts a band to get the girl. It's set in 1985, at the height of the best of the alternative/new wave music scene in the 80s. Ferdia Walsh-Peelo plays the lyrically gifted young man. His older brother (Jack Reyner) may be unambitious and defeated in life, but he knows music and he provides the kind of advice all smitten, lyrically gifted, 15 year-old boys who want to start a band should receive.

If you're a fan of Duran Duran, The Jam, and The Cure, you might like this one a lot! 

Music heard on the show...
 

Dimland Radio opening theme song: 'Ram' by The Yoleus 
First ad break bumpers: 'Bonzo Goes To Bitburg' by Ramones & 'Unfinished Business' by Au Pairs

Second ad break bumpers: 'No More Lonely Nights' by Paul McCartney & 'Keep On Working' by Pete Townshend

Closing song: 'Angler's Treble Hook' by $5 Fiddle

That's it! See you next Saturday night for Dimland Radio 11 Central, midnight Eastern on www.ztalkradio.com you can also download my show from the z talk show archives page. You can email your questions and comments to drdim@dimland.com
 
You can also go to my CafePress store and buy stuff with my artwork on it and have me do a portrait for you if you like. Find out more here and here.

dimland radio 8-13-16 show notes

Pedantic Moment: Bison Not Buffalo

I started off by acknowledging that I had been taken to task for saying buffalo instead of bison when I talked about my family's trip to South Dakota. It's true that technically buffalo are found in Asia and Africa, but not in North America. So, I'm sorry I wasn't pedantic enough.

 

But, since buffalo has become so ubiquitous in its use over the last few centuries or so, how wrong is it? Doesn't language evolve with how it is used over time? The old Western showman was called Buffalo Bill, after all. Should we change his name?

 

Wouldn't it be better if we were a little more flexible on this?

 

Oh, but I better remember that the next time someone asks me if I would like to have black or red licorice.

 

Licorice is black!

How Dare She Say That?!

This bit wasn't as topical as it could have been if I had talked about it a couple of weeks ago, but I wanted to address the reaction to the part of Michelle Obama's DNC speech in which she mentioned the White House was built by slaves. In the context of her remarks, that bit was meant to indicate how far we've come as a country, but there are some on the far right who only see nefarious intentions when it comes to the Obamas. They thought she was race baiting.

 

The website Top Right News had an article by Brooke Bosca in which they attempted to say there was one HUGE problem with Mrs Obama's speech. According to the headline, it was a huge problem, but in the article itself, it was downgraded to a big problem. They attempted to claim that slaves were only minimally involved in the building of the White House. They even went so far as to state that the slaves were paid and they pointed out one in particular named Philip Reid. He received direct payment.

 

The article provided two link to let their readers know where they had gotten their info about what the slaves did in the building of Washington DC.

 

Here are those links: The White House Historical Association and Politifact.

 

Those links refute Top Right News' assertions. The first link confirms that African-Americans, free and slave, provided the "bulk" of the labor, while Politifact does let us know that one slave was paid directly. The other pay for slave labor was given by our government to the slave-owners, not the slaves. It was a kind of a rent-a-slave initiative.

You can read Top Right News' attempt to mislead and race-bait their readers here.

Cupping? Really?!

Athletes are a superstitious lot and a gullible one. In the 2012 summer Olympics the bogus device or treatment was Kinesio tape. There were several athletes sporting that silly tape any which way all over themselves. At this year's summer Olympics, there's less of the tape, but there's plenty of hickeys.

 

These not so critical thinkers are going for the quack practice of cupping. And the media coverage has been what it almost always seems to be when covering pseudoscience: Completely noncritical. Hey, what's the harm? It works for the athletes, right? Michael Phelps has dozens of gold medals, right? It's all in good fun.

 

Tell that to Li Lin. He was having his back cupped in the same seven spots every day for several weeks. Now he has seven gnarly scars of his back.

 

YEESH!

Cupping is nonsense. It doesn't provide anything more than the placebo effect. It does lighten wallets and has the potential to damage the skin and cause infection. Just ask Li Lin.

 

Cupping - It's hickeys without the fun!

 

Pedantic Moment: Kelly Clarkson's Tweet

 

I attempted, on Facebook, a Pedantic Moment relating to the above Twitter exchange, but people didn't get it. 

 

My remark was, "Pretty certain the slaves who built the White House are all dead now. So, they wouldn't have heard anything."

 

And that confused the hell out of everybody. Everybody except one FB friend who is a writer and caught my joke right away.

 

But for the rest of the FB folks, I tried to explain what I was getting at. I said, "If I am correct in the timing of the comments, Clarkson is saying that the slaves who built the White House didn't like HEARING that part either. I'm pointing out that those slaves are dead now, so they couldn't hear anything said recently about slaves building the White House."

 

The second "it" in Clarkson's tweet is referring to the subject of Gage's tweet. The subject of Gage's tweet is "the part where she [Obama] said the Whitehouse [sic] was built by slaves." So, when Clarkson says the slaves didn't like it either, grammatically, she saying the slaves didn't like that part of Obama's speech.

 

Get it?!

 

Dimland Radio ARGH!: Answers Dot Com

I understand what "clickbait" is and I'll still explore some of it because it might be interesting. But, I will never, ever, ever, EVER falls for any clickbait offered by Answers dot com. (I don't even want to link to it here.)

 

What Answers does is get you interested in a story headline and picture, so you click. That's when the dance begin. To get the full story, you have to click through several pages revealing one line of text for the story per page. They often have the same picture for several pages before switching to a new one for the next several pages.

 

This is the worst kind of clickbait and I refuse to ever click on Answers dot com again.

 

Movie Recommendation: Frailty (2002)

 

Lions Gate Films

 

Directed and starring Bill Paxton and featuring Matthew McConaughey and Powers Booth, this film is about a widower father and his two sons and the father's mention from God to destroy demons. The father starts killing people he believes to be demons and his oldest son believes him to be crazy.

 

 

Music heard on the show...

Dimland Radio opening theme song: 'Ram' by The Yoleus 
First ad break bumpers: 'Super Trooper' by ABBA & 'He'd Send In The Army' by Gang of Four

Second ad break bumpers: 'I Don't Know' by Naked Raygun & 'This Ain't No Picnic' by Minutemen

Closing song: 'Angler's Treble Hook' by $5 Fiddle

That's it! See you next Saturday night for Dimland Radio 11 Central, midnight Eastern on www.ztalkradio.com you can also download my show from the z talk show archives page. You can email your questions and comments to drdim@dimland.com
 
You can also go to my CafePress store and buy stuff with my artwork on it and have me do a portrait for you if you like. Find out more here and here.

dimland radio 8-6-16 show notes

I Took Time Off

I took the last two weeks off from the show, because two weeks ago it was too hot and humid to think about doing a show. I know, I'm such a wimp. And one week ago I took the family on a long weekend trip to South Dakota and Wyoming.

My Jackie Vernon Impression

Old time comedian Jackie Vernon (the voice of Frosty in the original Frosty the Snowman holiday special) would do a routine in which he would pretend to be showing the audience slides from his vacation. It was played for laughs. My recounting our trip probably didn't have as many laughs.

So, I spent most of the show talking about our trip: The Badlands, our cabin, watching movies in our cabin, Mount Rushmore, alternate route 16 through the Black Hills, Custer State Park, being surrounded by buffaloes (yes, I know, they're called bison), prairie dogs, Needles Highway, Museum of Geology, Deadwood, Devil's Tower, a crazed hay bale hauling trucker, and my first ever speeding ticket.

There. That was quicker to tell here than on the show.

Now There's Something Wrong With Men's Pants

I don't know what it is, but the hip hugging style of pants for men these days looks just wrong. Especially on a fellow with a bit of a gut. I noticed this when watching the Netflix series Daredevil. The character Foggy Nelson, played by Eldon Henson, who is a little chubby, just doesn't look comfortable in his clothes. Maybe that's part of the character, but I don't like the look.

I've seen it elsewhere. For instance, in this excellent video from Australia on bullshit health remedies carried by pharmacies. The male presenter is wearing the hip-hugger pants and they look wrong. They look as though they will drop at any moment. 

 

 

The video has a great message, but the presenter's pants make me uncomfortable.

Movie Recommendation: None

Ran out of time. You are on your own this week.

Music heard on the show...

Dimland Radio opening theme song: 'Ram' by The Yoleus 
First ad break bumpers: 'Jason And The Argonauts' by XTC & 'A Fire Burns' by The Church

Second ad break bumpers: 'Johnny Hit And Run Pauline' by X & 'Freak' by Bruce Foxton

Closing song: 'Angler's Treble Hook' by $5 Fiddle

That's it! See you next Saturday night for Dimland Radio 11 Central, midnight Eastern on www.ztalkradio.com you can also download my show from the z talk show archives page. You can email your questions and comments to drdim@dimland.com
 
You can also go to my CafePress store and buy stuff with my artwork on it and have me do a portrait for you if you like. Find out more here and here.