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Bye Bye Don
- Thread starter Embryodead
- Start date
Yes, but his obsession with sex gets a little old after a while. Sex may be an interesting topic, but there is no need to talk about it all the time. Stern is just as bad as Imus, or even worse. I have no use for either one of them. Good riddance to both as far as I'm concerned. While I'm on the subject, talk radio sucks anyway. This includes talk radio for liberals, conservatives, and everything in between. If I'm going to listen to a radio, I'd like to listen to music.
Oh GOD. I wish I could. There is just so much more talk out there than music. And what music stations we have, at least here, are slanted heavily to things I'd rather not hear. Generally in the same way I'd rather not hear a dentist's drill. I live in the fourth or fifth largest radio market in the country, and yet the corporate types who run things don't feel there is enough market demand for a jazz station, or a world-beat station, or an americana station, or...you get the idea. We do however, have several news/talk stations, several country stations, several ueban stations, two classic rock stations, and...I think that's it.
Fortunately there are college radio stations. I listen to them when they're on. It's the only decent radio in the area.
And as far as racism goes, let me share my philosophy: It's stupid to hate anyone based on the color of their skin. If you take the time to get to know them as a person, they will give you much better reasons to hate them.
That sums up my position on it nicely. Individuals will give you reasons to dislike them... legit reasons. Why go for the mindless one?
We've been listening to Dennis Miller, haven't we?
Nah... that revelation came to me as a child in the sixties.
My parents decided we'd be the first Black family in an all-White school back around 1964. I've been having fun with racism for a while now.
No telling what conclusions people will jump to from that simple statement.
I haven't listened to Stern since his move away from terrestrial radio. I agree with you about his obsession with sex and scatological humor. The Southern California terrestrial radio market is lousy in general. About the only music station that's listenable is 88.1 FM. Which is all Jazz. The "Classic Rock" stations are particularly crummy, they just keep playing the same hundred or so songs over and over and over and over, and about half of those are Led Zeppelin records.
Unfortunately many people are just itching to get bent outta shape about something and things like what Don Imus said are sure to make most of the simple-minded masses rise up and scream foul.
Many people also need to feel better about themselves and things like this Imus debacle supply a nice placebo for folks who otherwise feel pretty down about their lot in life.
Why? IMO it is because what Imus did is easy to grasp, has all of the appearance of something "important" and doesn't involve the need to actually understand complicated things like business, the Constitution, things that really matter, reality...
Someone says something stupid, meaningless and that has no impact whatsoever on anyone's reality EXCEPT his employer's - and all of a sudden everyone thinks they now have something to say. Ugh...
Toss an issue out there that has something to do with white-collar crime, complex corporate financial misdeeds, foreign/domestic policy issues and other things that actually have an impact on the world in a real way and everyone's eyes gloss over and they turn the channel - to where? Stern - Imus - American Idol - back to the easy stuff that really matters like bad words and fellatio.
Many people also need to feel better about themselves and things like this Imus debacle supply a nice placebo for folks who otherwise feel pretty down about their lot in life.
Why? IMO it is because what Imus did is easy to grasp, has all of the appearance of something "important" and doesn't involve the need to actually understand complicated things like business, the Constitution, things that really matter, reality...
Someone says something stupid, meaningless and that has no impact whatsoever on anyone's reality EXCEPT his employer's - and all of a sudden everyone thinks they now have something to say. Ugh...
Toss an issue out there that has something to do with white-collar crime, complex corporate financial misdeeds, foreign/domestic policy issues and other things that actually have an impact on the world in a real way and everyone's eyes gloss over and they turn the channel - to where? Stern - Imus - American Idol - back to the easy stuff that really matters like bad words and fellatio.
Well, people would rather talk about trivial matters than real issues any day of the week. Superficiality has become one of society's idols.
My first year there was the third grade. I immediately made several friends because of my sense of humor and I did very well in class. I honestly didn't have much in the way of problems in school, with the exception of things like this story I think I may have told here before:
My third grade teacher, Mrs. Wright, met my parents at the first PTA meeting that year. I had been pretty much acing test and finishing assignments early, very polite, blah blah blah... same thing I did at my other school. So I'm standing there with my mother and she pays me a very nice compliment (remember, this is in the early 1960's):
"Mrs. Johnson, Bradford is a credit to his race".
Beaming, I replied: "And you're a credit to yours!".
It took me a long time to figure out that look on her face.
When the dumb stuff starts, surreal is an excellent way to describe it. I remember around the sixth grade, a older kid who rode the same bus as me (we weren't "bussed", this was rural) decided to brag to his friends about how he beat me up. His name was Mike Fink and up until then we hadn't even had a conversation... so I'm thinking "What the heck is this fool talking about?". So he then tells me to confirm to his friends that he did beat me up. I said:
"Really? Do it now".
Time stood still. Seemed like an eternity later he muttered something and walked off.
My father had taught me that bragging, threats and the like were pointless... if you're in a situation that you can't walk away from, do what you gotta do. If that means picking up the nearest object and smacking the crap out of an aggresor, so be it. I think Mike saw that in my eyes.
I think I told this story here before too. Tech school after basic training in the USAF, Biloxi, Mississippi. 1977. The day I arrived a friend from basics (Bob Gallagher, a redhead from PA) and I went for a walk along the highway on the Gulf. A couple of guys pull up in a pickup truck, one has a gorilla mask on, gets out and starts mimicking a monkey. Bob and I looked at each other and commenced to laughing our asses off. The guy got back in the truck and rode off. I could be wrong but I think I was supposed to get angry.
That was also the first place I'd seen a drive-thru liquor store.
Speaking of Dennis Miller, my sig is a ripoff
My first year there was the third grade. I immediately made several friends because of my sense of humor and I did very well in class. I honestly didn't have much in the way of problems in school, with the exception of things like this story I think I may have told here before:
My third grade teacher, Mrs. Wright, met my parents at the first PTA meeting that year. I had been pretty much acing test and finishing assignments early, very polite, blah blah blah... same thing I did at my other school. So I'm standing there with my mother and she pays me a very nice compliment (remember, this is in the early 1960's):
"Mrs. Johnson, Bradford is a credit to his race".
Beaming, I replied: "And you're a credit to yours!".
It took me a long time to figure out that look on her face.
When the dumb stuff starts, surreal is an excellent way to describe it. I remember around the sixth grade, a older kid who rode the same bus as me (we weren't "bussed", this was rural) decided to brag to his friends about how he beat me up. His name was Mike Fink and up until then we hadn't even had a conversation... so I'm thinking "What the heck is this fool talking about?". So he then tells me to confirm to his friends that he did beat me up. I said:
"Really? Do it now".
Time stood still. Seemed like an eternity later he muttered something and walked off.
My father had taught me that bragging, threats and the like were pointless... if you're in a situation that you can't walk away from, do what you gotta do. If that means picking up the nearest object and smacking the crap out of an aggresor, so be it. I think Mike saw that in my eyes.
I think I told this story here before too. Tech school after basic training in the USAF, Biloxi, Mississippi. 1977. The day I arrived a friend from basics (Bob Gallagher, a redhead from PA) and I went for a walk along the highway on the Gulf. A couple of guys pull up in a pickup truck, one has a gorilla mask on, gets out and starts mimicking a monkey. Bob and I looked at each other and commenced to laughing our asses off. The guy got back in the truck and rode off. I could be wrong but I think I was supposed to get angry.
That was also the first place I'd seen a drive-thru liquor store.
Speaking of Dennis Miller, my sig is a ripoff
:scowl: :scowl: Can't even imagine. Did situations like that create any anxiety towards Whites later on?
- May 30, 2000
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- Creator of: iGigBook Sheet Music Manager
Why is it that whenever a white person either engages in either racist activity or speech the focus shifts to the people that are condemning them namely Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson? It's funny how these guys become the racists for condeming racist speech or actions. What's up with that?
I don't understand how a lot of you seem to be giving Imus a pass for calling a group of women ho's and nappy headed ones at that! How would you feel if someone referred to your mother or your sister or your daughter as a ho? You wouldn't like it at all and you'd be rallying behind any and everyone that would be condeming them. His comments were not only racists but also sexist.
The notion that Sharpton and/or Jackson speak for all black people is a racist notion in and of itself. When a David Duke does his thing every white person isn't asked to repudiate him, it isn't automatically assumed he speaks for every white person. Why is there a double standard?
Sharpton may be a bafoon to some and have weired hair, but I respect his willingness to speak out even in situations where it could cost him his life(he got stabbed at a howard beach march) which is a lot more than can be said about the lot of you that are condeming him.
I don't understand how a lot of you seem to be giving Imus a pass for calling a group of women ho's and nappy headed ones at that! How would you feel if someone referred to your mother or your sister or your daughter as a ho? You wouldn't like it at all and you'd be rallying behind any and everyone that would be condeming them. His comments were not only racists but also sexist.
The notion that Sharpton and/or Jackson speak for all black people is a racist notion in and of itself. When a David Duke does his thing every white person isn't asked to repudiate him, it isn't automatically assumed he speaks for every white person. Why is there a double standard?
Sharpton may be a bafoon to some and have weired hair
, but I respect his willingness to speak out even in situations where it could cost him his life(he got stabbed at a howard beach march) which is a lot more than can be said about the lot of you that are condeming him.
- May 30, 2000
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I think you are missing the point. Speech such as this isn't to be tolerated, that's the part you're missing. It doesn't matter who they beat playing basketball and there's nothing wrong with them feeling offended by offensive comments. If these comments were said to your mother, your sister or your daughter you'd have an entirely different feeling about it.
Do you know everbody in the African American Community? Are you speaking up whenever white people you know or don't know are making racist comments that you are aware of?
The problem with your analysis is that it lacks any kind of historical perspective. To me this is a consequence of buying into racist propaganda.
Racist speech such as this didn't begin with black people it was created by and perpetuated by white people. You have to dehumanize people so that you can enslave them and feel good about it. The effects of racial psychological propaganda isn't going to just dissappear especially if after you stop enslaving people you then continue to keep them in a less than equal status. The civil rights movement was less than 50 years ago and slavery ended long before that.
Indeed it does...
Just to be clear, Imus frequently called his wife a 'ho. More than frequently. While she was on the air with him. He dropped insulting words so often that, IMHO, they no longer insulted.
Others felt differently, including his employers.
How ignorant. You obviously never listen to his show if you think all he talks about is sex.
Imus is a racist tool Stern isn't. Plain and simple.
I think you missed an earlier post where Brad made a point about Italians calling each other "guinea" and stuff like that that I hadn't thought about, and I agreed that he was right and I was a bit off base. Go back a page or two.
As for am I speaking up about white racists, what the hell have I been doing on here? Granted, it's not like talking to Geraldo or Larry King, but Larry King's not itching to have me on his show. I've said many times in this thread that Imus is a despicable jerk that nobody likes who knows him and has a ton of stories of abominable behavior.
As for am I speaking up about white racists, what the hell have I been doing on here? Granted, it's not like talking to Geraldo or Larry King, but Larry King's not itching to have me on his show. I've said many times in this thread that Imus is a despicable jerk that nobody likes who knows him and has a ton of stories of abominable behavior.
- May 30, 2000
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- 256
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- Creator of: iGigBook Sheet Music Manager
I didn't miss your post, this is such a pervasive notion that it needs to be redundantly pointed out.
Brad's analogy is a good one but I think one that is even better are the things you can say to your siblings or loved ones that would under no circumstances be tolerated if uttered by someone outside that circle.
Well thanks for singling me out while actual racists in this thread get a pass.
Honestly, no...***WARNING: CLICHE AHEAD*** because some of my best friends are and were White. Heck, in 3rd grade ALL of my school friends were White.
Going to that school at an early age was great for me, and not for the reasons people might expect. This may sound arrogant or conceited but I was at the very top of my class at the all Black school I attended from grades 1 to 2. When I changed schools... I was at the top of my class there too. There was this perception that Black people weren't as intelligent as others and I got to see firsthand that that was a crock. I watched kids struggle with work that I breezed through. I helped alot of them understand things they had problems with. I'll admit it felt good. I was the guy who, even though he knew a term paper was due the entire semester, would wait until the night before and crank out 30 pages by hand and get an A. Procrastination became a sport
Seriously. I made friends in the 3rd grade and have done the same my entire life. I know people here have an impression of me but people who know me IRL who have the same conversations with me know otherwise.
I've never been hung up on it, probably because I was brought up not to dwell on it and do what I needed to do to succeed. I feel sorry for those who are hung up on it because you not only keep an enormous amount of interesting people out of your lives... it's a monumental waste of time.
I've always been a musical sponge so it tripped kids out when I started playing with a Rock band in high school and I was more familiar with the music than the other musicians. I listened to everything so I could go effortlessly from Rock and Pop to old school R&B and Funk and even knew a ton of Country, Bluegrass, Polka... just about anything that was on the airwaves. I'll admit I didn't spend any time playing Classical on electric bass but I was still familiar with it.
Anxiety isn't part of my nature. I'm a problem solver so when I run into adversity, I figure out a way to deal with it. That's help me raise a very well-adjusted son, watch less qualified people get ahead, not bury my ex-wife down by the river... and talk to some people here on TB.
