Brutally Honest on ShockNet - 04/26/08 Show Notes

What does this scene....

... have to do with my show this week?

Well you'll just have to tune in and find out! But once you hear it, I think you'll understand how it all fits in.

PLUS... two news stores "Off the Wire", including one with a twist that you probably haven't heard too much about, and another that deals with a subject that I'm sure most of you have a hard time grasping... but should make perfect sense after you hear tonight's show. And by the way, it affects what you're doing right now, so you REALLY need to pay attention to it!

This week's show is just chock full of stuff! So much so that I can't even keep it within a 30-minute timeframe anymore! This week's show will be about 40 minutes long, so unless Lauren Floyd over at Freethought Radio expands their simulcast window to the full hour, you Freethought listeners may not get everything! Just think of it as the warm-up for when I take the show to the FULL-HOUR format next week.

So tune in this SATURDAY at 7pm Eastern on ShockNet Radio, Freethought Radio, or now on the radio at iTunes (look for ShockNet Radio in the "Talk/Spoken Word" category) and then come over to the Brutally Honest Blog and let me know what you think of the show!

It's time to get Brutally Honest... AGAIN!

Brutally Honest... on ITUNES!

Here's a great late-breaking update, folks...

You can now hear Brutally Honest on ITUNES!

Yes, that's right, ShockNet Radio is now being simulcast on iTunes!

Okay, it's not Digital Radio yet, but it IS listed on one of the more popular audio forums around the world.

For those of you who have iTunes, you can go to the Radio section (NOT the iTunes store) and look under the News and Talk category for ShockNet Radio.

The bad news... there's no guarantee that it'll work right now. But hopefully that's just some fine-tuning because the service just started tonight, so sometime soon you SHOULD be able to listen to ShockNet Radio via iTunes just as clearly as you would directly from ShockNet or through Freethought Radio.

Brutally Honest on ShockNet - 04/19/08 Show Notes

This week we look at the BITTER truth about life in certain parts of the United States. You can probably guess which part of the country I'm talking about and WHY I'm bringing this subject up, but what do I have to say about it? I think you'll be surprised.

PLUS: Gas prices suck! Airline travel sucks! We know this! So what needs to be done that hasn't been done yet? If you don't know, you will when you hear my comments on them.

And the Pope's in the USA! Why am I not impressed by what he has to say about a certain little "problem"? Find out!

All this and some news on ShockNet programming coming up this SATURDAY at 7pm Eastern on ShockNet Radio and simulcast on Freethought Radio!

And don't forget to come back here afterwards and leave your thoughts in the comments. I also have an online poll going that I want your input on over in the right-hand column.

It's time to get Brutally Honest... AGAIN!

The Worst Debate EVER!

That's what the bloggers are saying about this week's debate between Clinton and Obama.

THE WORST EVER!


They are NOT happy with how it turned out, and that comes from both Clinton and Obama supporters.

My thoughts:

1. Why was the former White House political adviser to Bill and Hillary Clinton even there to begin with if not to serve as Hillary's personal attack dog? And yes, I would be just as annoyed if Tony Snow was asking questions for the Republicans. That's a built-in conflict of interest charge right there.

2. What the hell were these people thinking when they tried to connect Obama to Bill Ayers, when Obama was a CHILD when the two of them lived int he same neighborhood? What sort of BS is that? Even Rick Ayers, the guy's brother, said that this was a cheap, pathetic McCarthyist/Karl Rove swift-boat attack.

BITTER politics indeed.

I'm sorry but it needs to be said... that wasn't a debate. That was a political lynch mob, with sponsors to boot! Even the crowd was disgusted by the pure horsecrap. They were actually BOOING the moderator!

Look, I'm not saying that debates should be flowers and hand-holding, but when you waste almost an HOUR on pure Rovian horsecrap that is better flushed than discussed, and NOT on the SERIOUS ISSUES that the American people are looking for, then you really have no business making that debate.

I'm still waiting for the revelation that Charles Gibson and George Stephonoppolis were really knocked out and tied up in the back and the two hosts of this political lynch mob were really Bill O'Reilly and Sean Hannity in disguise.

Brutally Honest on ShockNet - 04/12/08 Show Notes

This week's show will certainly be TAXING on people... in more ways than one!

This is, after all, the weekend before the tax deadline, and I have plenty to talk about concerning TAXES. This week we wrap up Tax Season with a few TRUTHS about taxes, including how much we are taxed, how we are taxed, and some of the asinine excuses used to prevent the changing of the tax system to one that works for all Americans.

Plus an extra-long "Off the Wire" segment, including a special comment on a recent news story that the media has been gushing about, and we look at the list of groups and government agencies that receive this year's Jefferson Muzzle Award, and one recipient that gets a distinct dishonor that hasn't been given in almost ten years. Which group is it and what does it have to do with Brutally Honest? You'll just have to listen to the show to find out!

All of that is THIS SATURDAY at 7pm Eastern on ShockNet Radio and simulcast on Freethought Radio!

Oh, and by the way, this week's show will be LONGER than usual, so unless the folks at Freethought Radio take that into account, Freethought listeners may have to move over to ShockNet to hear everything.

And in case you missed out on the re-broadcast of last week's show on Monday (because the ShockNet computers screwed up last Saturday), the April 5th show will be available in the Radio Archives this weekend.

And as always, please feel free to come back here and leave your thoughts in the show notes. I also have an ultra-quick poll up there for you to take part in.

It's time to get Brutally Honest... AGAIN!

New poll

I have put up a new poll on the page concerning the Radio Archives. It's located on the right-hand sidebar under the radio show links. Please take a second to vote.

BUSTED!

This is our former Attorney General...



JACKASS!

A BETTER alternative

Well if you're looking at the presidential race and asking yourself if there's anyone else...



I'm still iffy on him on some issues. He was one of the original Republican Revolution politicians back when he was a solid conservative, and the GOP pledged to sanitize the Internet "for the sake of the children" as part of their Contract With America program. (Yes, I have the original version!) Yes he's now a libertarian. Yes he speaks strongly about freedom and he IS a member of the ACLU, but would he still support outlawing Playboy from the Internet?

Fighting online censorship is my pet project, along with fighting moralism, so I'm curious to see if the former Congressman would treat the freedom of speech like the National Rifle Association treats the Second Amendment.

By the way, he was my neighbor for a few months when I lived in Cobb County (aka "The Fallujah of Georgia") and he was just running for Congress.

Here we go again...

Well unbeknown to myself and RJ Evans, the ShockNet Radio computers decided to play a belated "April Fool's Day" joke on you the listeners and it cued up last week's show.

RJ apologizes profusely for this happening (again), and so do I...

So to make up for this, there will be a SPECIAL broadcast this coming MONDAY (04/07) at 7pm Eastern. Everything that I originally wanted to talk about for this weekend will still be there... and if you missed last week's show, don't worry, because I'll have that up in the radio archives by Monday.

So if you never heard my show before and you sorta-kinda have a life (you lucky devils) this is a prime opportunity to hear what you're missing.

It's time to get Brutally Honest... AGAIN!

The TRUTH behind unemployment

I’m going to let you in on a little secret about unemployment numbers… the numbers you’re hearing both from the media and from the White House about how strong the job market is… are fudged.

When you hear about unemployment claims being below 5%, you’re really not seeing the TRUE numbers of people out of work. All you’re seeing are the number of people applying for unemployment benefits. That’s the only way that our government can measure unemployment. They measure it by those signing up for government benefits and the companies that report the people who are hired (which they have to in order to pay the taxes on them).

But here’s the catch: unemployment benefits are not eternal! If you’re out of work and you file a claim for unemployment benefits, then you have a finite period of time before those benefits disappear, and you have to PROVE that you’re out there every day looking for work! You can’t just say “I’m unemployed” and get a check. You have to WORK to find WORK!

So what happens if you go through the finite period of time and you still can’t find work, no matter how hard you try? Well then you’re OFF the dole. You’re cut off from the money AND you’re off the unemployment roles.

In other words, the government PRESUMES that you are working, even though you aren’t!

So when you have enough people who can’t find a job get removed from the dole, the “unemployment” number goes DOWN, and politicians pat themselves on the back and take credit for “IMPROVING” the economy, when, in fact, nothing has really been improved!

Don’t surf away yet! It gets better!

The people who claim unemployment benefits may not be NEWLY unemployed! They could have lost their jobs several weeks, months, or even a YEAR or two previously and have been living off severance pay or early retirement packages. They could have been on disability and ended up losing their jobs because of it. The money ran out, and now they need to get help from the government.

So when the media claims that “more companies are laying off people” simply because the unemployment numbers are going UP, that’s really not the TRUTH. Likewise, when politicians claim that “the economy is going well” simply because unemployment numbers are going DOWN, that’s not really the TRUTH either.

In short, people, you can’t really count on the unemployment numbers to be a measurement of the strength of the economy! All you’re counting there are government payouts.

A more accurate measurement would be the number of layoffs, plant closings, plant opening, and new hires. Anytime a company outsources its services, you’re talking layoffs. Anytime a company relocates to a new area, the old place will experience layoffs and the new place will experience new hires.

But then again, that takes a valuable source of PR power AWAY from the politicians, and they don’t like having that happen, do they?

First Freedom First Simulcast now availible

If you didn't get a chance to check out the special event hosted by the First Freedom First group, here's your chance to watch it!

Click HERE to watch the video.

This was a great show filled with information, education, celebrities, and music too!

(And I never knew Kevin Bacon actually had some talent in something other than in being in movies! SERIOUSLY!)

Brutally Honest on ShockNet - 04/05/08 Show Notes

Hey guys... it's been a hell of a week for me. Normally I would have a ton of thing to talk about for my show, but instead I'm just going to let this image explain what is on tap for this week's show...

So I'll be talking about that, plus all the news that is "Off the Wire", including one news story that is a personal longtime pet peeve of mine. In fact, it is the kind of story that originally fired me up and got me going as a commentator.

All of that, this Saturday at 7pm Eastern on ShockNet Radio and simulcast on Freethought Radio!

And don't forget to stop by here afterwards and leave me a comment about what you think of this week's show.

It's time to get Brutally Honest... AGAIN!

12 Years and lasting longer than the Energizer Bunny!

It’s been HOW long?

12 years!

April 1^st, 1996, the ORIGINAL Brutally Honest column hit the Internet. The original website is still there, although I am in the long and slow and arduous process of moving all of the articles since then over to their new home.

Twelve years!

Seriously. No joking around.

I’m surprised that it’s been that long. It seems like only yesterday I was busy bashing Democrats and Republicans. I’ve heard all of the arguments then and still I hear them today, even when folks like me are proven to be right and the naysayers are proven to be liars and crooks.

I wish I could say that I’ve been the same since, but I think I’ve gotten to be a little more bitter, a little angrier, and a little more frustrated over the years. I’m watching criminals get away with their crimes, and I don’t mean the street punks and the chemical drug pushers. I mean the REAL criminals. The ones with titles by their names like “Senator” and “Congressman” and “Assemblyman” and “Councilman”. Or they’re friends of those people and they go by titles of “Doctor” or “Reverend” or “Chairman”. The ones who cause the most damage to society are not the ones on skid row. They’re the ones sitting in positions of power or are heavily connected to them. And every year they come up with more ways to criminalize OUR actions and steal OUR rights and OUR freedoms and OUR property. And every year they get away with outright CRIMINAL actions because it’s easier for them to do that than to EVER admit that GOVERNMENT COULD BE WRONG about ANYTHING!

No, I’m not bitter about that…. Yeah, like hell I’m not!

But I’m still here, and that’s the important part! The column is still going strong. The blog sites are still going strong. The audio shows had their ups and downs and ups. Talk Liberty sort of imploded, but I still kept the fire going on my own for a couple of years. Now I’m with ShockNet Radio and being simulcast on Freethought Radio and things are looking good.

For those who have been with it from day one, thank you immensely for your support. For those who have just heard about me, stick around, because I think you’ll like what’s coming.

And with that… here comes Lucky Year Thirteen!