Congress May Make Automakers Keep AM Radio

Ever since Rush Limbaugh passed away on February 17, 2021, I have not listened to anything on AM radio. Despite that, if I were to buy a new car, I would not want a radio in it that doesn't include the AM band.

AM radio is a vital source for news, weather reports and emergencies. 

But some automakers are dropping the AM band on new EV and some fossil fuel vehicles. This is prompting a, surprisingly, bipartisan response in congress.

From NOLA.com:

WASHINGTON – Reception was scratchy until the AM knob was tuned precisely, but for truckers all over the country in the 1970s and 1980s, WWL’s Charlie Douglas kept them company throughout the night from New Orleans.

The soundtrack for workers on oil rigs off Louisiana’s shore came out of KLEB in Golden Meadow.

Terrestrial radio communication based on "amplitude modulation" was the first national media and came into wide use at the same time as the light bulb. As technology improved, AM evolved to become the primary player of rock and roll, country music and the blues in the 1950s and 1960s.

The latest evolution towards internet streaming and satellite technology poses a fatal risk to AM, and broadcasters are looking for a congressional solution.

Some makers of electric vehicles have stopped including AM radio. A bunch of other manufacturers plan to remove in-dash AM access, even in fossil fuel cars.

WWL and other radio stations around the nation are asking listeners to “take two minutes” to inform Congress of their support for AM radio. Broadcasters this month are on Capitol Hill lobbying for the “AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act of 2023,” or S.1169, which would require installation of AM broadcast radio in cars without cost to the consumer.

Even in a fractured Congress, the bill by Sen. Ed Markey, a Massachusetts Democrat, has found common ground among usual ideological foes from Texas Sen. Ted Cruz to Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders.

To read more, go here. 

The Drudge Report: I'm Not The Only One Who Noticed

Above, a Drudge headline before it went to the Dark Side.

Last month, I mentioned that the Drudge Report has gone over to "The Dark Side" recently and posted some alternative news aggregation sites for people who are fed up with Drudge.

Apparently, I am not the only one who noticed that the Drudge Report has gone over to "The Dark Side".

PJ Media posted:

"What happened to Drudge?"A lot of people have been asking that question lately. If you talk to conservatives these days, you'll hear that Matt Drudge's eponymous news aggregation site has gone over to the dark side—that Matt's joined the anti-Trump resistance. And now, Rasmussen Reports, an arguably reputable polling operation, is calling Drudge out on Twitter, even suggesting that the site has been sold. 

The whole kerfuffle appears to have begun at the end of November, when the Bongino Report, touted as a Trump-friendly alternative to Drudge, launched.

To read more, go here. 

One America News Network

The other day, I mentioned The Liberty Daily, which bills itself as "the conservative alternative to the Drudge Report."

Thanks to a tip, I took a look at another alternative to the Drudge Report, which seems to have gone over to the "Dark Side" and is now spewing fake news. One would think that the Counterfeit News Network (CNN) took it over.

It is the One America News Network. At first, the name didn't ring a bell. Then, when I took a look, it rang a bell. I have seen their postings on Facebook.

Here's a general look of it:

To access One America News Network, go here.

The Liberty Daily, The Alternative To Drudge Report

It used to be that The Drudge Report was a reasonably reliable source for news.

Not anymore.

It became glaringly obvious that owner/operator Matt Drudge has become a "never Trumper" and is catering more to the lunatic left by spewing fake news. Drudge has gone over to "The Dark Side".

The "straw that broke the camel's back" was his headlines over Ambassador Gordon Sondland's testimony before the impeachment "inquiry" of "pencilneck" Rep. Adam Schiff the other day.

Drudge's headlines relied solely on the beginning part of Sondland's testmony and totally ignored his statements that Trump "wanted nothing" and wanted the new Ukraine president to "do the right thing" as he promised during his election campaign.

I emailed Matt Drudge the following:

Matt: 

You need to change your headlines. Sondland did not tie aid to Ukraine to investigations. NO quid pro quo! You have it wrong based on fake news media jumping the gun. 

Armand Vaquer

No changes and no response came from Drudge.

So now I am using the "conservative alternative to the Drudge Report", The Liberty Daily.

It uses a similar format to the Drudge Report in its layout, so finding news stories of interest will be easy.

I recommend dropping the Drudge Report as a news source and get your news instead from The Liberty Daily.

To access The Liberty Daily, go here. 

40 Years Ago This Week

Above, Memphis newspapers announcing Elvis Presley's
 death on display at Sun Studio. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Tuesday, August 16, 1977 was a relatively quiet summer day. It was warm, but humid out as there was a monsoon flow coming up from Mexico into the Los Angeles area.

But the day would turn out to be one of those days where a news event causes people to remember exactly where they were at and what they were doing when the news hit.

I was at home in Hawthorne watching a James Cagney comedy movie, One, Two, Three (1961) that was directed by Billy Wilder. It would be a couple of hours later that I would have to go to work in Redondo Beach. My mother was outside working in the yard.

Above, Graceland mansion. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

A news bulletin interrupted the movie. It was announced that singer Elvis Presley had been found unresponsive at his Graceland mansion on Elvis Presley Blvd. in Memphis, Tennessee and was rushed by ambulance to Baptist Memorial Hospital, where efforts to revive him failed and he was pronounced dead.

After hearing the bulletin, I rushed outside to tell my mother, who was a big Elvis fan.

Later, when I went to work, it began to rain. It was strangely appropriate. It was a strange day all around.

This all occurred 40 years ago.

Above, Elvis Presley's grave. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Currently, this year's Elvis Week in Memphis is commemorating the 40th anniversary of Elvis Presley's passing.

Haruo Nakajima's Passing Noted Around The World

Above, Haruo Nakajima with his "Mangled Skyscraper Award" in 2008. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Although it is sad that Haruo Nakajima passed away today, it is heartwarming to know that he is being honored and recognized for his work around the world.

Several major news outlets in the U.S. are reporting the news of his passing.

They include Variety, TMZ and Huffington Post.

News outlets from several countries are also reporting the news of Nakajima's passing. They include the United Kingdom, France, Italy, Poland, Australia, Mexico and Chile.

Now We Know What CNN Stands For

Well, they earned it!

Russia Prepping For War?

It is hard to tell if the so-called Russian war-mongering talk is real or something trumped up by the Democrats (like Wag The Dog) to divert attention from the WikiLeaks revelations on the Clinton campaign.

The latest is from AOL News:

Russia could be prepping for a new "global war" and has reportedly ordered all the relatives of officials abroad home to Russia, according to a new report. 

"This is all part of the package of measures to prepare elites to some 'big war,'" Stanislav Belkovsky, a Russia analyst, is quoted by the Daily Star as saying. 

"If you want a confrontation, you'll get one. But it won't be a confrontation that doesn't harm the interests of the United States. You want a confrontation, you'll get one everywhere," said retired Russian Lt. Gen. Evgeny Buzhinsky. 

"As [Russian President Vladimir] Putin sees it, it is full-scale confrontation on all fronts," Buzhinsky said.

If there is such preparation, it would more likely have been caused by the ineptness of the Obama Administration. Along with that, we've been hearing Hillary Clinton blaming Russia for the WikiLeaks on her and her campaign.

As Perry White once said, "Crazy. Just crazy."

I asked Asya (who is now in St. Petersburg) if she's heard anything and sent her the link below. She said:

Hmm you are the 3 Rd person sending me these links :(
Doesn't look good to me

To read more, go here. 

Yellowstone Making News...Again

Above, a mother black bear and cub at Yellowstone. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

It seems that Yellowstone National Park is making a lot of news over the past few weeks. Amber and I visited the park last summer.

First, a baby bison had to be euthanized because some tourists took it and put it in their car to take it to park officials as it was separated from its mother.

Next, a 23-year-old man slipped and fell into a hot spring at Norris Geyser Basin after leaving the safety walkway. The hot spring was over 400 degrees Fahrenheit and acidic. His body was literally dissolved.

Now, a video has been uploaded of a bear opening a tourist's car door, terrifying the occupants inside.

To see the video, go here.

Brian Williams Going "On Leave"

There's an old saying:

Confession may be good for the soul, but it's very bad for my reputation.

Such is the case of embattled NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams, who confessed that he made up the story that the helicopter he was flying in Iraq was under fire.

Williams has announced that he is taking a leave of absence from his duties as news anchor for an unspecified number of days.

According to the Hollywood Reporter:

Brian Williams is stepping away from NBC Nightly News for a number of days. 

The anchor sent a note to the show's staff, announcing that Lester Holt is replacing him for an unspecified amount of time. The news comes as Williams is embroiled in a scandal surrounding his story about being a passenger in a helicopter that took fire in Iraq in 2003.

Frankly, I can't see how he can survive this scandal without having to resign or be fired from his positions as news anchor and managing editor of the NBC Nightly News. His credibility is in tatters.

Along with the Iraq story, people are questioning his claim that he saw a body floating face down in New Orleans when Hurricane Katrina hit. The area where Williams was at the time was not flooded, according to news sources. That and other claims Williams has made are being investigated.

Jokes about Williams are being widely circulated on the Internet such as the one pictured at top.

To read more, go here.

Brian Williams Should Resign or Be Fired

It is hard to see how NBC News anchor Brian Williams can survive in the network's anchor chair since the revelations that he lied about being in a helicopter in Iraq that was under fire in 2003. His credibility is totally in tatters since his admission that the tale he had been telling was untrue.

According to the New York Times:

For years, Brian Williams had been telling a story that wasn’t true. On Wednesday night, he took to his anchor chair on “NBC Nightly News” to apologize for misleading the public. 

On Thursday, his real problems started. 

A host of military veterans and pundits came forward on television and social media, challenging Mr. Williams’s assertion that he had simply made a mistake when he spoke, on several occasions, about having been in a United States military helicopter forced down by enemy fire in Iraq in 2003. Some went so far as to call for his resignation. 

In his apology, Mr. Williams said that he had been on a different helicopter, behind the one that had sustained fire, and that he had inadvertently “conflated” the two. The explanation earned him not only widespread criticism on radio and TV talk shows, but widespread ridicule on Twitter, under the hashtag “#BrianWilliamsMisremembers.”

This kind of reminds me of the problems that faced former CBS News anchor Dan Rather when he dragged his feet to admit documents about President George W. Bush were fake. He was jettisoned as news anchor as a result.

Now, other news stories that Williams reported on are under intense scrutiny.

Funny thing, my late mother did not like Brian Williams for some reason. Maybe she sensed something about him that this scandal only scratches the surface.

If NBC News is to regain any sort of trust and credibility, they have to fire Williams.

To read more, go here.

BBC Record - London Picks Up Monster Japan Travelguide News

The news release on the clearance sale of The Monster Movie Fan's Guide To Japan is starting to hit different media outlets. The first one is the BBC Record - London. This is the first I've ever heard of this news organization (it doesn't seem to be a part of the British Broadcasting System (BBC) and it apparently has origins in Pakistan).

It does seem odd that they don't include banner or any other kinds of headlines for their article postings. But, I'll take it!

To view the site, go here.

Lost In Translation (Or Something)

The news coming from the Japanese authorities on the number of casualties from the eruption of Mount Ontake has been confusing. 

Different outlets report 27 dead, while others report four. It seems different outlets are reporting differing numbers which is not unusual during the early stages of a story. However, this story has been going on for about two days.

But, the oddest thing of all has been this story at Kyodo News and other outlets:

Eight climbers presumed dead following the weekend eruption of Mt. Ontake in central Japan were transported by rescuers to the foot of the mountain on Monday. 

As roughly 550 police, firefighters and Self-Defense Forces personnel resumed their rescue operations, halted the previous day due to toxic gas near the peak, rescuers took the bodies of five men and three women down the 3,067-meter volcano.

"Presumed dead"?! Don't they know if the eight "bodies" brought down are dead or not? Doesn't the Kyodo News have reliable government sources to tell them whether or not the "bodies" brought down Mount Ontake are dead?

What kind of reporting will be next?

"The body, presumed dead, was cremated yesterday." 

Superman News Release Beginning To Hit

Above, (left to right) Bob Shayne, Noel Neill, Jack Larson and George Reeves.

The press release on the August 16 Adventures of Superman plaque dedication in Tarzana, California is hitting as several news websites have begun to post it.

Fans of the show are coming to the dedication from all over the country. One is even coming in from Australia.

The BWW TV World is running the news release. They have it posted here.

The Superman Super Site is running it. They have it posted here.

The Superman Homepage has it posted as well, here.

News On Japan's New Look

On occasion, a website will do a whole make-over and change the look of their sites and pages. Sometimes they work, sometimes they don't. Many times I prefer the old layouts over the new.

The latest website I usually peruse (most of them I subscribe to and receive email notices) that did a complete revamp was News On Japan, a Japanese news website. I primarily read their travel and entertainment pages.

I didn't much care for their old look, but when I went to their website the other night, I was pleasantly surprised over their changeover.

This one works! I like it! It is easy to read, with subject categories that are easy to navigate.

At top of this blog post is a snapshot of their main page. To read News On Japan, go here.

Got News Wire Picks Up Monster Japan Travel Guide News

The news release on the pre-vacation season sale of The Monster Movie Fan's Guide to Japan that the press release service I use is beginning to hit at different websites.

The most prominent, so far, is Got News Wire. Along with picking up the news release, it also indicates that is one of the "most popular" with their readers.

To read more, go here.

The Tokyo Reporter Reports On Japan's Sleazy Underbelly

Every country has its sleazy underbelly, Japan is no different.

The country is generally strict in regards to vice and crime, but sometimes they seem to be lax about enforcement of their laws.

There is one news website that specializes in reporting Japan's criminal and vice news, and that is The Tokyo Reporter.  News subjects range from prostitution, yakuza (Japanese mafia), adult video, love hotels, murder, police raids, white collar crime and more.  They also cover "standard" news that conventional news sites cover.

I don't go there too often, but occasionally they will put up an eye-catching headline.  Their motto is, "All The News That's Fit To Squint."

Here's a sample of what The Tokyo Reporter looks like with one of their headlines:

To read The Tokyo Reporter, go here.

Osama bin Gamera

This would be funny if it actually showed up on the nightly network news: