My Call with Lynn Doyle

I called in to the CN8 program "It's your call with Lynn Doyle." I would consider an accurate description of the show to be the small blog that appears when you hit the info button on your remote, which reads, "A viewer call in show dealing with national news issues that impact local residents." I had even watched the show once or twice before when I was flipping through the channels, but never in its entirety. For this episode I had planned several possible questions involving the Clinton-Obama primary and the use of super delegates, who will most likely be deciding the outcome. I figured the election would have to be a topic that was discussed at some point in the hour long show, which runs from 9-10 pm. All my planning was thrown off however, when to celebrate Lynn Doyle's 11th anniversary episode the show decided to run a special entitled "50 and Fabulous." The entire episode was dedicated to viewers 50 years of age and older calling in to receive tips on how to look younger. The special guest of the evening was Charla Krupp, author of the book, "How not to look old." Clearly, my super delegate questions would have to be substituted in order to get my call taken and have a chance to appear on the air, live. My mom happens to be over 50 and she has a birthday coming up in a month, so I decided to try and get some advice on a gift I could give her to make her feel younger and happier. The number to call in is 1-877-CN8-Live. My first 4 calls all received a busy signal, but on the 5th, my call went through, which happened to be exactly when the show went to commercial. The number is displayed on the bottom of the screen during the broadcast and then disappears when the show goes to commercial, which probably means the volume of calls is drastically reduced and thus on my 5th try my call was picked up on the 2nd ring. I talked to a young sounding female who immediately asked me to hold. After only 3 minutes however, she was back and began to ask for my personal information. First she asked for my name, first and last. Next she asked where I was from. Finally she asked for my phone number. After taking down all this information she asked me what my question was. I told her I was looking for some advice on a gift for my mother who is over 50. I specifically wanted to know something I could give her for her birthday which would be unique and probably something she didn't already have that would also help her feel and look younger. The young woman on the phone thanked me for my question and said they had a screening producer who she would run the question by and then they would call me back if they were interested. Now to put the show into perspective, every caller was an older woman, with questions ranging from what to do with thinning hair, to what shoes to wear to not show your age (the woman had arthritis which affected how she walked). Clearly, I was already at a disadvantage, considering I doubt there were very many males calling in with questions about how to be 50 and fabulous. I thought perhaps it could work in my favor and maybe in order to gain some variety in the questions they would take a call from someone other than their base of 50 year old plus women. This was, however, not the case. I instead suffered through the hour listening to call after call about how to lessen the affects of wrinkles or properly pick out an outfit without overmatching, while my cell phone remained silent. I had been snubbed by the screening producer. Although I wasn't overly surprised my question wasn't considered, in the back of my mind I was thinking the producer might give me a shot. If anything just to switch things up, plus it would even demonstrate that their base reaches out to more viewers than just elderly women. Either way, although I was disappointed, I was at least able to gain some great tips to share with my mom, which should have her feeling and looking younger in no time!

Virginia Tech lawsuit settlement leads to controversy

A story today in the Times talks about how families of the victim's of the horrific Virginia Tech massacre were offered a settlement of $100,000. According to the article the story became public when an unhappy family decided not to keep the talks private and went to the A.P. The idea behind offering money to compensate a human life is definitely not anything new, however I still cringe every time I think about putting a dollar amount on a human life. Many people who commented on the story also felt the same way I do and made similar remarks. Other people thought the families should take the money if they needed it or start a foundation in their children's names. Another issue that many people brought up is if the school is even responsible at all. Overall, everyone agrees on the devastating degree of the tragedy, but as usual in our country when money is on the line matters become complicated and self interest takes precedence over anything and everything else.

The Irony of Spitzer

The recent sex scandal of New York Governor Eliot Spitzer is quite embarrassing. The married democratic apologized for his role and is obviously humiliated both publicly and privately; I can't imagine his wife being too happy. Just check out her picture on yesterday's NY Times homepage as her husband gives a press conference if you don't believe me, her facial expression tells you everything you need to know. However to add ultimate embarrassment to the scandal is the fact that human rights groups give credit to the disgraced Spitzer as being responsible for passing one of the toughest anti-sex trade laws in the country. Talk about irony. Perhaps next time the Governor proposes legislation he'll keep in mind his own personal life and maybe even think twice about keeping the two separate; especially nowadays with sex scandals being all the rage. At least to his credit he used a hotel. (Take a note Senator Craig).

Obama Loses!

Barack Obama has lost! Not the primary, just a single state, but however the fact remains he lost. The Illinois Senator had won 12 states in a row, prior to Senator Clinton winning Ohio, which she won by a pretty comfortable margin as well. The question then must be asked, what does this mean? Unfortunately the results of Texas are still pending at this late hour, but regardless of who wins because of the closeness of the race, Senator Clinton most likely will not be dropping out of the race. Personally, I was hoping for another Obama sweep which would have forced Clinton to give up as she really would have had no realistic chance to win the nomination. Instead, the race for the democratic nomination will probably go on for a long while more, and meanwhile the Republicans have secured their candidate in Mr. McCain. This gives the Republicans an advantage as they can freely bash democrats, without much of a response, due to the fact Clinton and Obama will still be busy duking it out with each other trying to determine a winner.

5 Letters to the Editor

One of my favorite letters to the editor was written in 1793 and is featured on page 27 of our Letters to the Editor text. It is titled "The Rights of Fish." The article goes to argue against the cruelty of fishing and angling. If the article was written in present times I wouldn't have given it a second thought, considering the large amounts of vegetarians and vegans nowadays who have eliminated meat from their diet and protest for the rights of animals on a regular basis. But considering this letter was written over 200 years ago, it is significant to note there were citizens who thought about the rights of animals and more specifically fish, which are not normally mentioned by animal rights activists even today. Instead most of the focus seems to be concerned with cattle and other livestock, which would be considered more conventional forms of food.
Another letter I found fascinating was from 1881 and was signed "Local Gossip." It is featured on page 54 in our text and the letter refers to a sleigh ride in which a Miss McKay was taken into custody by an ex-sheriff. The letter is very vague and, in my opinion, almost mysterious in the manner with which the lady is described; almost as a side story to the main point in the letter that the sleighing is excellent and everyone made it home safe on their ride. Everyone, apparently except for Miss McKay who was at first detained but then managed to outwit this "ex-sheriff" and escape. Many points in the story are unclear, leaving a lot for the reader to think about, which is one of the main reasons I found the letter so appealing.
A third favorite letter of mine is from page 44 and was written in 1848. It features a pretty extraordinary story about a failed panther attack on a small boy in the author's hometown. The panther was either very desperate or very brave and chased the boy all the way to his house, even charging at the door as the boy ran inside. Stories like these usually get embellished and often become greatly exaggerated, however they still make great reads and I am not alone in thinking so, as clearly the letter was chosen to be published for a reason.
Another letter I have to comment on for its utter ridiculousness is the letter on pages 138-139 about president Thomas Jefferson. The author of the letter claims Jefferson is plotting against the U.S. and than, to top everything, claims he mistook his nose for an apple dumpling and bit it off! The absurdness of this letter makes it remarkable that it was ever printed, regardless if it was 1807 or today.
Another letter I found to be quite hilarious also comes from the presidents section and was written about George Bush in 1992. The letter is on page 147. The author of the letter appears to be writing in a serious manner, especially considering he claims to be 85 years old. However, he seems to be making fun of the president claiming his family had to lay off some maids and chauffeur during the Great Depression and what a hardship this must have been for the family. This clearly seems like a playful jab at the then current president. If however, the author was not writing in jest, than in my opinion it just serves to make the letter that much more laughable.

Obama off to a good start tonight

Senator Obama has been predicted as the winner in Vermont, along with Senator McCain. McCain's victory comes as no surprise as he is also the predicted winner in Ohio and is expected to win the Republican nomination tonight. It is about time that the race is officially declared over because McCain has been expected to win the nomination for quite a while now. The Obama/Clinton race on the other-hand is still a deadlock as both candidates are still campaigning hard in a tight race, which could come to an end tonight if the Illinois Senator can pull out another sweep and carry the "delegate rich" states of Ohio and especially Texas. Mr. Obama has been holding the slight advantage due to his rolling momentum that has carried him since super Tuesday, and hopefully will be able to carry him again tonight.