Brutally Honest Rant - 10/31/07 (Halloween Special)

Brutally Honest Audio Rant: The Worst Fears – Part 5
Audio Transcripts
10/31/07

[Start Program]

(Computer – Introduction)
(Music intro – “American Idiot Remix” – by Green Day and David Matthews 2)

Good evening and welcome to this week’s Brutally Honest Rant. I’m David Matthews 2, writer of the weekly online column Brutally Honest.

All this month I’ve been giving you “The Worst Fears”… a series of narratives that describe what some people are truly afraid of. The things that keep them up at night.

And what a time for going over this subject! This is, after all, the time of Halloween! A time of ghost stories and tales of things that go bump in the night! And tonight is certainly one of those stories.

For the past few years we have been led around by nothing BUT FEAR. We, as a nation, are collectively AFRAID. We are honestly AFRAID of a lot of things. And we are told that we simply CANNOT move on and move past that fear! No, we are actually browbeaten back into that FEAR. We are told that we cannot stand up to that fear. We are told that we have to let OTHERS do that for us.

And we learn that there is another group of people that we have to fear… and those are the fear-mongers. Because if we’re not genuinely afraid of what they tell us to be afraid of, then they will use the power they have to GIVE US a reason to fear THEM.

But what to THEY fear? THERE is the real mystery! What fears do the fear-mongers have? What would disturb their sound sleep?

Maybe it would involve the last fear of this series. The one that nobody would see coming.

(Lead-in music – “Heavy Price Paid” by Martin O’Donnell and Michael Salvatori)

Thomas sat on the bench across the street from the White House. It was a cloudy day. No rain yet, but no chance of the sun coming out either. It was an appropriate setting for what was happening at that moment.

He watched as the Marines started taking down the American Flag from atop the White House roof. No doubt this was something that they did not want to do, but something that they were ordered to do nonetheless. That would be a common problem today as their actions would be duplicated in federal buildings, schools, and businesses all across America.

The president would make the announcement at noontime, in just a few minutes, but Thomas knew exactly what would be said. He knew it because he had helped to write it before he quietly resigned from his White House position several weeks ago.

The announcement and the actions done afterwards would only be a formality. He knew that many people would object to what was going on, but they would have no idea that this was already a done deal.

The new administration came into some really dire straits left over from its predecessors. The economy was collapsing. Unemployment was at thirty percent and rising. There were more Americans living in bankruptcy and foreclosures than ever before. Inflation was in double-digits as well.

The cost of energy was crippling. There were already two winters where hundreds of Americans froze to death, and one summer where thousands of Americans suffered from heat strokes and heat exhaustion. The resources were simply not there.

Taxes were astronomically high, supposedly made as a parting political gift, but in truth it was to help pay off a certain longtime bill that had come due. It was a bill that the federal government did not want to publicly admit owing, because it would incite a riot if that fact ever came out. Almost every dollar that was coming in through taxes, tariffs, and other revenue had to go to help pay off that bill. That was money that couldn’t be spent on other essential government operations. Many federal agencies had to furlough their workers because they simply couldn’t afford to pay their salaries.

Internationally, things were a complete mess. The American military was spread out more than it had ever been in previous administrations. Every rogue country, every mad despot, every terrorist organization or renegade political faction seemed to sense trouble and come out to exploit it. And that only caused even more of a financial strain on the federal budget, because the government couldn’t even afford to pay the soldiers, never mind adequately arm and equip them. They made promises, but promises didn’t pay for bullets or fuel the planes.

And the delegates at the United Nations were more interested in bashing America than they were in doing something to step in and help with some of these international problems. They were quite content in letting American soldiers and American diplomacy try and fail miserably to save a world that clearly does not want to be saved.

Worse yet, nothing could be done to fix any of these problems. Every attempt to work out a new deal for oil or trade agreements seemed to either collapse or get held up. Congress was waylaid by the overwhelming influences of unnamed lobbying groups. Nothing seemed to work, and public opinion for the whole federal government was in the single digits.

That was when the deal was offered. A deal that would wipe away that staggering hidden debt that depleted most of the federal revenue. A deal that would give political support in the United Nations. A deal that would help free up failed trade agreements and failed oil deals. A deal that would essentially save America from self-destruction.

There was, of course, a catch. The catch was that the new benefactors would become the new owners of the United States of America. They had no plans on changing the current political system. Everyone in the federal government would still keep their same jobs and titles. But certain matters would have to go through the new benefactors first. Certain future agreements and arrangements would have to be rubber-stamped by the current administration; no questions asked.

And, of course, it all had to remain a secret. Not a word of this agreement would be able to go out until such time as they were ready to make it all official. And that, they claimed, may take years. A small price to pay, they said, in exchange for taking the credit of “saving” America from total collapse.

The arrangement was sold as a new trade agreement. It was spun as being “renewed friendship” and “a better understanding with our international partners”. It was quickly and unanimously rubber-stamped into ratification by Congress. Most of the members of Congress never even bothered to read the document. They never read anything put before them; they just vote in the way that they are told to vote by the party leaders. And for those who did bother to read the document, they found that most of the fine print was censored in the name of “national security”. The only people who would truly know the full details of the arrangement were the White House inner circle and the party leaders in the Congress. And they knew at this point that they had no choice but to go along with it.

For the first year-and-a-half, it was almost magical. It was like a light switch was flipped. The budget office announced a series of “corrections” that would give the government a budget surplus in two year’s time. There was plenty of available money for social programs, and they even managed to cut the taxes and curtail some of the tariffs and the draconian regulatory fines that were previously assessed.

The price of oil was eased. Quickly at first, but then it slowed its price decent until it was just under $100 a barrel. The price at the pump soon followed.

More jobs were available. Businesses stopped outsourcing and started re-investing in American workers. Inflation started going down with the stabilization of prices. More people could afford to buy homes again, and the banks were stable enough to loan them the money.

The troublemakers all around the world started calming down. UN resolutions suddenly were passed and international help was available. American forces started coming home, some for the first time in years.

Things were looking good. It was a strong recovery, almost miraculous in nature, and nobody except for a select few knew what was really behind it.

Then people started asking questions. They wanted to know why a certain country was buying out more and more businesses in America. They wanted to know why that certain country is able to get controlling interest in many of the major media outlets, from TV stations to radio stations to newspapers and Internet providers. They wanted to know why with this “new understanding” that the trade deficit with this certain country was still getting higher and higher. They wanted to know why quality control for goods and services coming from this one country was virtually non-existent. People were actually suffering and dying from either poor craftsmanship or from the toxic materials used in these products! And more importantly, they wanted to know how businesses controlled by this one country would end up with lucrative government contracts, including defense contracts, in violation of many protectionist laws imposed in the past few decades.

People started to figure it out. And they didn’t like it.

So the benefactors decided to make it official. This wasn’t a “hostile takeover”, as the media was starting to hype it to be. The takeover was already done, and it was far from hostile. Much of the world already knew this to be true. After all, many of them were in on the plan. Now it was time for the American people to be given the news.

Thomas knew that there would be many people who would object to the President’s announcement. They will want to fight. They will scream and shout and start protests and try to rally resistance. But it is really too late for them to do anything. This country isn’t theirs anymore. It was already bought and paid for and ratified by the very people they put in office.

In hindsight, Thomas said to himself, we should have seen it coming. Who else had the influence around the world to cause the world’s troublemakers to act up? Who had the power to stymie the United Nations? Who had the influence to manipulate global markets? And, more importantly, who was the principal country that was buying up all of the bonds used to pay for decades upon decades of our government’s reckless spending?

As the president made the announcement that Thomas had helped to write all those weeks ago, a new flag rose on top of the White House roof. It was the flag that belonged to the new owners of the country.

It was the flag of the People’s Republic of China.

Welcome… to the worst fear of the American people! The fear of losing our country without so much as a single shot ever being fired.

(Computer – fear)
(Fade Music In – “Mythodea” by Vangelis)

Okay, how many of you saw that one coming? I don’t think many of you could… and that’s the real secret behind this fear.

We’d like to think that if there was some great invasion against this country that we would be able to defend against it and that we would rally our brothers and sisters together so that we would be able to make a stand and fight it. But unfortunately, much like a nuclear war, you can’t defend against this kind of attack!

And look at where we are right now! Not too long ago we were about to turn the security of our ports over to the United Arab Emirates. And that monstrous debt I was talking about? That’s not ficational. That’s real! And China IS one of the principal financiers of the federal debt, which is running in the TRILLIONS. And of course you have been hearing about all of the product recalls that are coming from China.

The really scary part of this story is that it could very well happen tomorrow, and we wouldn’t know anything about it until it would be too late. What then, guys? What then?

That is what makes it the worst fear… because it is one of those situations that you have absolutely no control over whatsoever.

(Pause)

Brutally Honest is a Get Brutal production; all opinions expressed are those of the commentator, and may or may not be shared by the online provider. This is David Matthews 2 saying good night, Happy Halloween, and I’ll speak with you soon!

(Fade out)
(Computer – Ending/“End of Recording”)

[End of program]
------------------------------

Quick congrats!

I don't normally talk about sports, unless it's to trash it, but I want to say congrats to the Boston Red Sox for sweeping their second World Series win.

You earned it guys. Enjoy the moment.

Brutally Honest Rant - 10/24/07

Brutally Honest Audio Rant: The Worst Fears – Part 4
Audio Transcripts
10/24/07

[Start Program]

(Computer – Introduction)
(Music intro – “American Idiot Remix” – by Green Day and David Matthews 2)

Good evening and welcome to this week’s Brutally Honest Rant. I’m David Matthews 2, writer of the weekly online column Brutally Honest.

We’re almost finished with the month-long look at “The Worst Fears”… which will wrap up next week on Halloween Night. And it’s a good thing too, because I’ll be wrapping this one up with a story that will scare the CRAP out of you!

BUT of course we still have to get through tonight’s. So here we go…

(Lead-in music – “Heavy Price Paid” by Martin O’Donnell and Michael Salvatori)

His morning started early, as it always did.

Once upon a time that used to be an obligation so he could deal with all of the demands of his job, but of late that’s been more of a matter of habit than necessity.

He showed up at the studio early, but nobody bothered to say hello to him as he walked past the receptionist desk. They used to beam a super-friendly “Good Morning” to him when he would walk through the front door. Now they just glance up at him as if to say “Oh, yeah, it’s you, ho-hum”. He used to see a big poster of himself on the back wall… but that got replaced a few weeks back. No word why; they just did it. At least, he told himself, it wasn’t replaced by another superstar. That would have been a blow to his ego. Instead, it was replaced with some art deco mural.

He didn’t want to check his emails. He knew it wouldn’t be good. He got the usual talking points from his political friends. Nothing great. Nothing scandalous. He just had to sugarcoat it all, which was something that he was always good at doing.

His programming meeting wasn’t any better. There were really no more causes to triumph. Sure the liberals would make the usual whine about things, but they’ve always lacked the spine to do anything, and that was even WHEN they had both the power and the public support behind them. He knew that. That was why they would lose every single time, and he would be there, on the air, to gloat about it all.

But now all he CAN do is gloat. And it doesn’t feel very good anymore.

He started off his show with his usual good news about how great things were going, how the conservatives were still in charge and still calling the shots in government. He went on about how the liberals were pretty much nothing more than useless whiners about things and how much of a failure they were. All of it was pretty much the same diatribe that has made him so successful.

But then he looked at the phone lines to see who would react to his opening salvo… and he found there were no callers!

He was absolutely flabbergasted by that, but he didn’t let it show on the air. He just went to commercial and then had his producer check to make sure that the phone lines were working. Sure enough, they were working just fine.

He came back from break and calmly asked that people call in, then tackled some more news of the day. But with each article that he brought forward, and each way he spun those articles, he expected to get at least one or two people pissed off enough to call in, only to find his phone lines still dark.

At the end of the first hour, he had thoroughly exhausted the whole gambit of news articles for the day, and he still had two more hours of airtime to fill!

During the news break, he got a couple of disturbing phone calls. The first was from his publishing agent. The sales of his latest book were pretty much non-existent. Most of the major bookstores were remanding them to the bargain bins. The second call was from his attorney. The divorce of his latest wife has been finalized. Even though she was bound by a prenuptial agreement, it was written during much profitable days. Her two-million dollar settlement would take away two-thirds of his available money. And it was money that he obviously couldn’t make up through his book sales.

He started his second hour sounding a little desperate and annoyed. He was angry that this was happening to him at a time when everything is going so well for the conservatives. They dominate and control the government; they have effectively neutralized any kind of liberal resistance; they control the courts; they control the news media and the education systems; they essentially have EVERYTHING that they could ever want or need! This would be a time for him to be IDOLIZED for what he has helped to accomplish, and yet here he was struggling to just get people to call in.

He let his anger get the better of him on the air. Maybe that would generate a few callers. Get the politicians pissed at him. Get the political consultants worried.

Still… no callers.

He went into the half-hour break and then went after the politicians themselves, by name. He first he accused them of being not conservative ENOUGH, then he changed tactics and accused them of being TOO conservative. Hypocrisy is always worth a few callers! People just can’t wait to call a hypocrite out; especially when it’s someone like HIM!

Again, there were no takers on the phone.

He put his call screener on the air to verbally confirm that there have been NO callers whatsoever and to immediately send over ANY caller who calls in. Don’t screen them, just send them over!

Five minutes later he got his first caller… it was a telemarketer looking to sell him a new water heater. As soon as the telemarketer realized the mistake, he hung up before any pertinent questions could be asked.

Now he was pissed. Almost two hours had passed and the only person with the courage to call him was a lousy telemarketer with some screwed-up dialing program.

Finally he said what he believed was unthinkable… he actually speculated that the liberals may have been right all along!

Now THAT should generate quite a few phone calls, he believed.

Sure enough, one call came through. But as soon as he answered it, he realized that it was a plant. He recognized the caller as being one of the studio interns! They actually had to pull up an intern to call in!

This was something that he had PROMISED his people would NEVER, EVER have to do! He used to boast about that and accuse his competition of manufacturing callers, and now here his people now had to do the same thing.

And the intern wasn’t even any good in the conversation. The intern couldn’t handle any of the retorts and simply bounced from one distorted talking point to the next. The only thing the intern was able to do was kill time until the next news break.

And that’s when it happened.

As soon as the ON AIR sign went dark, the producer got a call from the station’s general manager. That call got immediately forwarded on to him. The conversation was short and to the point. The producer will be airing a repeat for the final hour, while he would meet with the people who sign his paychecks.

It was a meeting that he feared was coming. He had already lost so many sponsors. He didn’t even bother to look at the on-air ratings anymore. Things only had to go so far down before they invoked that little clause in his contract that would send him packing. They’d have a press release by the end of the week, but it was pretty much official at that point. He was done.

Welcome… to the worst fear… of a conservative talk show host! Of finally reaching a point when nobody would care what they would say.

(Computer – some timely things)
(Fade Music In – “Mythodea” by Vangelis)

I’ve said this a few weeks ago and it is worth repeating here… radio and television have primarily been set up not for education or information or even for entertainment… but for the sole purpose of airing ADVERTISING with really long periods of programming as intermission. Listeners or viewers are thereby translated into advertising dollars. And the same rules pretty much apply to newspapers as well.

The name of the game for conservative commentators is NOT to be right, but rather it is to get as many people to listen to your show or to read your newspaper or to read your book as possible. You do that by creating controversy. You piss people off and you get them to debate you or rebuke you or to even censor you, thus generating even MORE interest.

So YEAH, Ann Coulter and Rush Limbaugh and all of the other conservative commentators will say pretty much anything to get the attention, because they know the secret of the business… that controversy creates cash.

And this is why liberal commentators have pretty much thrived only on public-sponsored media… because that communications model is not designed around advertising.

So if you REALLY want to hurt a conservative commentator, then you don’t try to debate him or even try to shut him up… instead you simply don’t give them the attention that they crave. You ignore them, and you let them self-destruct on their own.

(Pause)

Brutally Honest is a Get Brutal production; all opinions expressed are those of the commentator, and may or may not be shared by the online provider. This is David Matthews 2 saying good night, and I’ll speak with you soon!

(Fade out)
(Computer – Ending/“End of Recording”)

[End of program]
------------------------------

Brutally Honest Rant - 10/17/07

Brutally Honest Audio Rant: The Worst Fears – Part 3
Audio Transcripts
10/17/07

[Start Program]

(Computer – Introduction)
(Music intro – “American Idiot Remix” – by Green Day and David Matthews 2)

Good evening and welcome to this week’s Brutally Honest Rant. I’m David Matthews 2, writer of the weekly online column Brutally Honest.

We’re continuing our month-long look at The Worst Fears, since this is the month of October, the time of ghost stories and things that scare the crap out of people.

Well this next one will hit close to home. This is something that people haven’t really thought about until recently. Sure it was mentioned, but nobody REALLY took it to the next level… at least until tonight.

And let’s get brutally honest here… this particular “Worst Fear” isn’t some FAR-future story… but rather it is a closer-than-you-damn-well-THINK story!

So here we go…

(Lead-in music – “Heavy Price Paid” by Martin O’Donnell and Michael Salvatori)

The roads were clear.

For the first time in countless years, there was absolutely NO traffic jams at the peak hours of travel.

Miles upon miles of asphalt and concrete, designed to handle THOUSANDS of cars every day, going virtually unused. Countless billions of dollars wasted. Oh they’re still used, but not frequently enough to justify maintaining them.

They tried to close the roads once, but it didn’t matter. They were still paved, so the few who remained would still use them, even with the cracks and the potholes and the streetlights that no longer worked.

The roads took people to exits that resembled huge ghost-towns. Abandoned buildings, closed-down businesses, standing side-by-side with unfinished construction projects. Open homes essentially free for anyone living who would want them, as long as they could tolerate the animals, the insects, and the lack of utilities.

The ground was a sickening combination of yellow and brown with the occasional tall patches of weeds. It was, in fact, one of the first victims of the crisis. Where once the ground was carefully maintained and trimmed, it has since died. It was almost an act of rebellion against its former lords and masters. Everyplace that was once obsessively made to look beautiful became ugly and putrid.

There are still enclaves of civilization here. The few people that still remain struggle to keep what little they have, and with very meager resources available. These enclaves used to be small towns before they were assimilated into the larger metropolitan community. Now necessity is forcing them to be even smaller towns all over again, having to rely on themselves and very little else. All of the mega-stores and super-stores that promised to be their new “best friends” during greener days had already forsaken them and moved out. The only people left are the ones who are too old or too stubborn to leave.

Going into the main city itself, you see slightly larger communities, but those are further dwarfed by the towering structures of metal and glass that stand empty and abandoned. Law firms, accounting companies, banks, and corporate headquarters once inhabited these towers. Now only the insects, animals, and human parasites dwell in them. Their occupants had long since abandoned the area when the needed and promised resources were cut off.

There is still a nightlife of sorts in the main city. The few people who remain still try to make their struggling existence livable. But they certainly couldn’t match the days when the city would light up at night. Nor were there any nightclubs, bars, or restaurants to enjoy. Those things required something that the city was sadly unable to reliably provide. The big stadiums and assembly halls that used to bring the city big dollars in concerts and trade shows and sporting events now only bring in bitter memories of days long past.

City leaders still live here, and they still cling to hope along with a few optimistic souls that things WILL once again right themselves. They just have to be strong and keep things going. Of course that’s harder and harder to do as the time continues to pass and more and more people continue to slowly move away. Hope doesn’t pay the bills. Hope doesn’t keep the lights running or keep the jobs from going away. But they promise to still be there to smugly welcome back all of the businesses and all of the residents who had abandoned them in their great time of need.

Of course this city is also the political center of the state, and every year the state leaders still get together to talk of dreams of resolving the great crisis that killed this once-great city. The crisis that everyone believes can STILL be resolved… simply by talking about it. And while they talk, they also consider possibly moving their great political center to another part of the state. Someplace greener and more vibrant. Someplace where the resources are more plentiful and the economy is much better. After all, who wants to visit a dying city?

Welcome to the worst fear… of the City of Atlanta! A city that is literally KILLED by a lack of water.

Now folks, just a quick word here… our federal government – specifically the Army Corps of Engineers – is MAKING that worst fear a reality. They are intentionally, deliberately, and systematically draining the Chattahoochee River – Atlanta’s water supply – to accommodate some asinine federal law to protect some freshwater seafood that should be served up with butter and washed down with beer and side of cole slaw.

The best estimates give the whole Atlanta area ninety days before the Corps drain Lake Lanier to the point where it can no longer provide water. And the people responsible for making that ultimate decision have not only REFUSED to do something to help the matter, but they have actually announced that they will further AGGRAVATE the situation by pumping out STILL MORE water from the river… simply because they’ve already drained all of the other locations.

So this worst fear isn’t something hypothetical. This could very well BE Atlanta’s future in a few months!

And I’m finding it hard to believe myself, but I’m starting to lean towards those who are calling for an Iraq-style REGIME CHANGE when it comes to the management of the Buford Dam, because OUR FEDERAL GOVERNMENT is heading for another FEMA-size disaster if something is not done about this and done SOON.

It is time for George W. Bush to step up and address this problem. It is time for the Congress to step up and address this problem. It is time for the legal system to step up and address this problem. THIS IS a federal matter, and the federal government NEEDS to deal with this, and deal with it SOON. And if they refuse to, then the people of Georgia WILL, and I promise you, the politicians and the bureaucrats WILL NOT like what happens at that point!

(Computer – something about being “fired’)
(Fade Music In – “Skylight” by Overseer)

There is plenty of gross incompetence and mismanagement when it comes to the State of Georgia’s resources, and this is something that has been going on for several years. You have folks on the federal, state, AND local levels that are guilty of contributing to this problem, and they ALL need to answer to that and be held personally accountable for it.

But when the problem becomes as serious as it is right now, you DO NOT let the problem continue to get worse! And you sure as hell don’t AGGRAVATE the situation and then pull the Nuremburg Defense of only “following orders”. If you’re not going to be part of the solution, fine, but making such dire matters even worse is downright CRIMINAL, and you should be treated accordingly.

(Pause)

Brutally Honest is a Get Brutal production; all opinions expressed are those of the commentator, and may or may not be shared by the online provider. This is David Matthews 2 saying good night, and I’ll speak with you soon!

(Fade out)
(Computer – Ending/“End of Recording”)

[End of program]
------------------------------

Brutally Honest Rant - 10/10/07

Brutally Honest Audio Rant: The Worst Fears – Part 2
Audio Transcripts
10/10/07

[Start Program]

(Computer – Introduction)
(Music intro – “American Idiot Remix” – by Green Day and David Matthews 2)

Good evening and welcome to this week’s Brutally Honest Rant. I’m David Matthews 2, writer of the weekly online column Brutally Honest.

We’re continuing our month-long look at The Worst Fears, since this is the month of October, the time of ghost stories and things that scare the crap out of people.

There are some things like terrorism that really scare the crap out of people. There’s a movie called “Right At Your Door” which shows what happens when a so-called “dirty bomb” goes off in Los Angeles and how it affects this one couple.

But it really doesn’t scare everyone! There are some folks who will look at that situation and just won’t lose any sleep over it. Not that they can’t envision it or think that it can’t happen, but simply because it’s just not the thing that scares the scrap out of them.

Hey, I know that pisses off the neo-cons but let’s get brutally honest here… just like you can only fool some of the people some of the time, you can only use the same things to scare some of the people some of the time, and you certainly can’t use it to scare ALL of the people ALL of the time.

So with that in mind… it’s time to tell another story about another person’s worst fear…

(Lead-in music – “Heavy Price Paid” by Martin O’Donnell and Michael Salvatori)

The message is everywhere!

That’s what Ed tells people.

He used to say it with pride. He used to BOAST about how he could get the message out there by any means necessary. Laws didn’t matter. Rules didn’t matter. All that mattered was that the message got out.

It doesn’t matter what the message is either! It could sell baby products. It could sell overhyped vehicles. It could be about a new church or the re-release of an old movie. The message is ANYTHING that needs to be said, hyped, or sold.

It has been Ed’s job to get the message out, and he and his friends did just that. And they would not stop coming up with ways to make sure that the message was EVERYWHERE… and getting paid quite well in the process.

The message appears in every print publication. It isn’t just in a corner or in its own separate page… it’s over the published articles, under it, even in between the spaces. It’s in mice-type and watermarks.

The message is in every televised broadcast. Every long pause, every momentary breath of air, every blank pause between scenes is filled with the message. The message appears in every corner of the broadcast, over the broadcast, under the broadcast, and even the products shown or referenced in the broadcast are all specifically and strategically placed to further hype the message.

The message appears on every vehicle, both new and used. It’s on the outside, on the inside, in the mirrors and the windshields, in the blinds and in the lights. It’s on the dashboard and the steering wheel. Every spin of the tires is another presentation of the message. Every start up and shut down sings another message.

But even that isn’t enough for Ed and his friends. The message has to be EVERYWHERE!

The message is on the roads, on billboards, on the face of buildings, on large rocks and mountainsides. It’s shown in the air and in space, displayed on clouds both natural and artificial. The artificial clouds were Ed’s favorite idea. He called them the world’s largest billboards. At least until they could come up with the suborbital ones.

The message is on the ground. It’s floating on the surface of ponds and lakes. It’s carved into the landscape and displayed on passageways. Every blank spot on a wall is filled with the message. Every staircase step has the message, every conveyor belt, every elevator, every office and in every office cubicle.

The message is even on animals. Pets and livestock have been previously untapped places for the message to get out, but Ed and his friends made sure that this was thoroughly exploited too.

The message is even on every human being. It’s on every blank space of exposed skin, every article of clothing, interwoven in hair styles. Every snap or buckle or zipper is a jingle waiting to be expressed. Every step made with boots or shoes express the message in lights and in sounds.

Every time someone blinks, there is a new message that is shown on the back of their eyelids. Every splash of water is a jingle being sung. The message is transmitted on ultrasonic frequencies, even broadcast to us while we sleep so that our dreams would be filled with the message.

The message really is EVERYWHERE!

And THAT was the problem!

While Ed and his friends were basking in the glory of their final accomplishment, they had no idea what the human reaction would be to having the message in their face at all times, both consciously and subconsciously. Some people had seizures. They would suffer from nervous breakdowns from having too much information in their faces. Ed and his friends would, of course, offer the usual medical solution for those rare instances. But they had no solution for what the rest of the civilized world would do.

When faced with overlapping and overwhelming messages… the rest of humanity simply learned to filter it all out.

Not just some of the message or the ones transmitted in certain methods. ALL of the messages. ALL of them! Everywhere!

People would hum certain messages subconsciously but they would have no idea what they were humming. They would jot down the message as idle doodling, but have no idea that they were writing anything, and wouldn’t even see what it was they were writing down. To them it was junk.

Ed and his friends tried EVERYTHING they could. They tried to make the message louder, brighter, more obvious. It didn’t matter. Nobody could recognize it. Nobody would accept that it existed.

The message WAS getting out there. But nobody was getting it.

Ed finally suggested the unthinkable… that perhaps they should simply STOP sending the message out, or at least to cut back on the various and overlapping methods of it being delivered. But his friends balked at that. Nobody wanted to have THEIR message cut out. And nobody wanted to cut down on the methods being delivered. After all, there was even the slightest of statistical chances that SOMEONE was making a purchase BECAUSE of the message, and THAT would supposedly make it worth the effort.

Welcome to the worst fear… of an advertising executive! Being stuck in an advertising-run world of their own creation, only to find that nobody can comprehend what is being advertised.

(Computer – some stuff that you have to listen to understand)
(Fade Music In – “Mythodea” by Vangelis)

Perhaps one the greatest fallacies that has been built up when it comes to advertising is that IT actually rules the world. Advertisers have effectively taken over all forms of communication, from newspaper to radio, radio to television, and television now to the Internet, and even from there into telephones. They have all spread this fallacy that all methods of communication are about one thing and one thing only… ADVERTISING.

Take a look at some of our personal nuisances in society: Spam mail, telemarketers, junk faxes. What are they? They’re all abusive forms of ADVERTISING! Guess who bitches the most about video recording devices like TiVO? Advertisers. Why? Because we’re skipping their ads!

Advertisers seem to forget that in the larger scheme of things that they’re just the middlemen. This is not an AD-driven society. They are not the END result. They are simply the MEANS to an end. This is a PEOPLE-driven society. This is about CONSUMERS... otherwise known as PEOPLE. PEOPLE are the end result.

At some point the advertisers will figure it out. Hopefully they’ll do it before their actions thoroughly cut off the hand that feeds them.

(Pause)

Brutally Honest is a Get Brutal production; all opinions expressed are those of the commentator, and may or may not be shared by the online provider. This is David Matthews 2 saying good night, and I’ll speak with you soon!

(Fade out)
(Computer – Ending/“End of Recording”)

[End of program]
------------------------------

Brutally Honest Rant - 10/03/07

Brutally Honest Audio Rant: The Worst Fears – Part 1
Audio Transcripts
10/03/07

[Start Program]

(Computer – Introduction)
(Music intro – “American Idiot Remix” – by Green Day and David Matthews 2)

Good evening and welcome to this week’s Brutally Honest Rant. I’m David Matthews 2, writer of the weekly online column Brutally Honest.

Well my friends it is OCTOBER! The weather is cooling off, the nights are getting longer… well unless you’re in the Southern Hemisphere… and people are thinking about HALLOWEEN! Yes, costumes, candy, horror movies, and a whole bunch of Christian Conservatives screaming bloody murder about Deists.

Oh and let’s not forget the new seasonal tradition from the politicians… scaring the crap out of you with terrorist threats that, in many instances, have thus far proven to be either unfounded or overly exaggerated.

And that bring us to a new mini-series here at the Brutally Honest Rants… a look at “The Worst Fears”.

Now when I talk about the “Worst Fears”, I’m not going to list them. I’m going to DESCRIBE them. I’m going to demonstrate WHY they are the “worst fears” for certain people.

And that’s the key thing here… these are the “worst fears” of CERTAIN groups of people. Because you have to wonder how they can do the things that they do and still sleep at night. They sleep quite well, because they know that their “worst fears” aren’t being realized.

Let’s get brutally honest here… I’m telling nothing but ghost stories this month! So turn down the lights, bring out the popcorn, and enjoy…

(Lead-in music – “Heavy Price Paid” by Martin O’Donnell and Michael Salvatori)

They knew that the bidding would be fierce. That’s why they imposed the strictest of rules for any auction house.

It was invitation only, closed only to auction house officials and the invited bidders. No proxies were allowed. No anonymous bidding allowed. The people invited had to be there in person. Payment had to be made in full and on the spot upon completion of the auction. There would be no exceptions.

Over one hundred of the best people in the business were there to bid on the most valuable item in the world.

The meager opening bid of 10 million was topped in a matter of seconds. The number reached 1 billion within the first minute. Within the hour, the highest bid broke the 50 billion mark, and there was still no sign of letting up.

When the highest bid broke 1 trillion, many of the bidders stopped. But they didn’t want to leave. They HAD to know who would win out.

Some of the bidders tried to form collective partnerships on the spot to pool their money and keep themselves in the game. It was allowed by the rules of the auction, and it kept the bidding going well past the 10 trillion mark. But the ad-hoc partnerships wouldn’t last as the new partners would disagree with how the prize would be used. They ALL wanted it for themselves. They all had great dreams for it. But they knew that only ONE of them would get it.

Fights started to break out after the 30 trillion mark. The people started accusing each other of not having enough money on the spot to cover their bids. Challenging the funding of the bidders was allowed, and it would put the bidding on hold until the challenge could be answered. This was, after all, the net worth of several countries being put on the line. Several of the bidders had to revoke their offers when they realized that they didn’t have the funds on the spot or couldn’t get them by sale. By the rules of the auction house, they had to immediately leave the room.

Pretty soon the bidding started to slow down. They would increase in increments of 100 just to keep the auction going. Calls frantically were being made. New funds needed to be collected and delivered quickly. One of the bidders was overheard yelling “SELL IT ALL! Go broke! Sell the family!” Needless to say, they didn’t stay in the bidding for very long.

Finally after several hours, there was one bid that couldn’t be matched. It was challenged twice and was found to have enough funds on the spot to make the sale.

Going once…

Going twice…

Going three times…

Sold.

The most sought-after prize in the whole world was sold to a pan-Asian conglomerate for 550 trillion 110-thousand… it was one square foot of carefully preserved topsoil and green grass.

As the conglomerate made their payment, the rest of the bidders sat there in shock and in utter remorse. This was it. This was the final frontier for them, and now it was gone.

For countless years, they helped to expand and grow the world that they live in. Every single place on the planet, over the planet, around the planet, under the planet, and even THROUGH the planet has been tapped, stripped, converted and transformed. Residential, commercial, industrial, business… it didn’t matter. It was all THEIRS to command and to control.

But through it all, they knew that there was that ONE place that they couldn’t touch. ONE place that was preserved and protected at all costs. Wars were even fought to make sure that it stayed untouched.

But over time, the costs of maintaining it and preserving it and protecting it from them and their grasp got more and more expensive. At first it was a whole acre. Then it became a half-acre. And then just a hundred square feet. Then eventually was negotiated down to just ONE square foot of topsoil and grass. Governments fell, institutions went bankrupt, public opinion changed… finally it really wasn’t worth protecting anymore.

The new owners of the last piece of original organic land announced their ultimate intentions. The carefully preserved prize would become the home to a microscopic mega-mall, which would be viewed and visited only by people using microscopic robot proxies. It certainly wouldn’t be the first of its kind, but it would be the last time they could do so to previously untouched ground.

As the artificial sun which represented light for the city began to set, and the lights from the upper levels of the outer ring were appearing as stars once did, the bidders realized that their time had also come and gone. Sure there were other planets to go to, but it really wouldn’t be the same. It wouldn’t have the same FEEL of raw, untouched soil being ripped up, graded, leveled, and transformed into mega-malls, strip malls, and prefabricated living quarters. The JOY of turning nature into something intrinsically human and making a huge stinking profit off it would no longer be there. Now they would simply have to scavenge off other creations… destroy other buildings so theirs can be built. They would have to feed off their creations of their friends and associates just to stay in the business. It was like cannibalizing your own family.

Welcome… to the worst fear of a real estate developer! Being stuck in a time when there is no more real estate left to rip up and develop for their own profit.

(Computer – some stuff)
(Fade Music In – “Mythodea” by Vangelis)

You know, guys, I’ll be honest with you… I know that I really don’t give developers a fair shake. It’s not personal… but rather it’s their professional attitude that does them in. They have adopted a “Field of Dreams” attitude about their profession and turned it into a genuine obsession… not to mention one that brings in tons of money. They firmly believe that if they “build it” that the buyers will just magically appear. It really is an obsession for them to take every patch of green grass and forest and transform it all into a Wal-Mart supercenter with a subdivision and a mini-mall gas station.

I live in a part of Georgia that is in constant states of growth and expansion. I’ve seen first hand how that unrestrained growth can have an effect on the area in terms of erosion, pollen, traffic, and how it all puts an incredible burden on local communities. And obviously it’s not something that should be stopped, because we DO need growth, but it certainly needs to be better managed, or the end result will be making that patch of green more valuable than gold.

(Pause)

Brutally Honest is a Get Brutal production; all opinions expressed are those of the commentator, and may or may not be shared by the online provider. This is David Matthews 2 saying good night, and I’ll speak with you soon!

(Fade out)
(Computer – Ending/“End of Recording”)

[End of program]
------------------------------