(e:Terry) - I really do have to be honest here. I am constantly impressed by what you write. You are fair-minded and level-headed, and don't descend into the kind of fire breathing and other theatrics that I've seen out of so many people lately. In fact, I don't disagree with much of what you've written when it comes to media consolidation and corporate control. To answer your question about starting a company - yes it is very easy. If you can read/write and have the money to pay the fees, that is.

I guess I'm one of the few people here who doesn't think that an organization making profits is something to fight against so energetically. If we had any kind of private sector AT ALL in our city, we would be far better off economically than we are. They pay taxes and provide us with jobs! I don't have anything against people making money for the most part. Someday I would like to make more money myself, so I can afford to purchase a house and support a family reasonably well. Anyway back to the issue - you make very good points about the dangers of putting $$ ahead of your role as an organization to provide the public with the best goods and services possible, as well as news organizations using greed to determine what is said and heard. Sensationalism sells! You are absolutely right about that, Terry. For this reason I don't disagree with you in that non-corporate media should be more available to us.

Let me say one thing about independent media that I didn't get to before when everyone hopped on me for daring to criticize them. There is less accountability for what they say (where is the independent media watchdog?), they are at least as biased as corporate media (if not more so), and they too are guilty of filtering out information. If there is an independent media outlet that you know of which just gives me the FACTS, the information, all of it, and not the biased doo-doo, please let me know and I will be a very loyal subscriber. From what I've seen so far, they are no more or less worthy of my attention than the corporate media, but they have the best chance at becoming something that may never happen in corporate media. For this reason I support them having a greater voice (market share! ha!) among all media. My only fear is that they are going to allow their own interests and agenda to continue to pollute their own information. Let's hope they are able to do the right thing.

Without a doubt, I'm 100% on board with you in that the airwaves are ours. And I'm equally disgusted by the methods of control and censorship that the government seems to exhibit. I am AGAINST media consolidation, and I am AGAINST the constant filtration of information. I have said on more than one occasion that all voices should be available for all people to digest. The government should not be able to tell us what is or is not appropriate to watch or hear. I think we are more than able to make that decision for ourselves, don't you? I don't have satellite or digital cable, but from what I understand there is technology in the works that allows the user to filter out channels, language and such. This is not insignificant, because it allows ME to make the important choices about my entertainment and news. It reduces the importance of government bureaucrats to practical irrelevancy, and it reduces the need for government to "look out for us" in that manner. Of course people with power don't like to be without that power, so who knows what it will take to get our airwaves back. If you guys have any suggestions or sources of information I would appreciate it.

When I talk about the left and right duking it out, I don't mean to say that that's all we should be hearing is a bunch of biased garbage. I'm just saying that if we have X number of news organizations, all of them biased (and they are), then I want to have access to them all
. But wouldn't you guys want to hear a local debate program outlining different
sides of local and national issues? I definitely would tune in. If one exists already, please let me know. I agree about the need to make sure people don't have to be media science students to be able to wade through all the nonsense and get to the facts. I have more to say about that as well but don't have any more time right now to do so. I also have a lot to say about (e:paul) and his excellent post about how people are trying to do to the internet what they've already done to other outlets of communication. Kudos to you, Paul. Anyway I have actual shit to do right now so I'd better stop here.

Your friendly neighborhood Righty,
Jason

PS - I will check out the stuff you recommended, Terry. Thanks a ton.

And by YOU I mean of course people on the left. I think it would be cool to have a local radio station with the, ahem, "national" radio talk shows and whatnot, along with local leftists hosting their own shows. Kind of like a Liberal version of AM 930. Certainly Buffalo is a liberal hotbed, right? There should be enough demand in our market for something like this, right? So then why is there not a leftist talk radio station in Buffalo, NY? Please no excuses or conspiracy theories, as that has been pretty damn played out in the past week. I would tune in and listen, and I''m sure you all would as well. I want more diverse opinions in all forms of media in Buffalo. More conservative print media, more liberal radio. Hell, wouldn't it be cool if someone even hosted some kind of local debate show on the cable access TV channels? Make the bomb throwers in the alternative media accountable for what they say (god forbid), same for local politicians and hosts in conservative media. Of course that would require having a leftist in Buffalo who could even stand to be in the same room as a rightist. It could break down into a near fist fight every week. Who wouldn't want to see that? I guess I'm just sick of not being able to have more options. I like more options. Especially now on the national level, and with our city having been in an economic crisis for a while, I think it's important to get all the opinions on the table NOW and start working on fixing this area NOW instead of constantly spinning our wheels.

Jason

"Secondly: when are we going to see a reduction in the Administration's manpower? Companies layoff people when they're losing money; why don't the city & county?"

My man - I almost fell out of my chair when I read this. I'm rubbing my eyes and pinching myself! :) Yes! City, County and State government are too big! There is no such thing as making priorities, making cuts, making reforms, or reducing government. At least not here. As far as I'm concerned, we should fire every elected official in New York State and start over from scratch. We obviously suck terribly at government. I'm on board with you - time for a showdown.

Jason

I saw the loveliest woman ever at UB Micro today.....I was rendered unable to talk - that doesn't happen a lot! Ahhbuhbadabuhbadabuhbada.....I doubt that's English.

Jason

Well today my Everquest 2 DVD comes in. I can't wait to try this game. It's not just a bunch of text - it seems to me that you are really immersed into the "world" much more than that. It will take up my spare time until the sun comes out sometime in April. It's not like I have anything better to do with my time. Yeah, I'm a nerd, and I don't care because I would rather enjoy what I enjoy than let someone else's opinion of it make me not enjoy those things. I'm a geek, baby! Yar!

Jason

Jesse, you can have a conversation with me any time you wish. I'm here and fairly active. I like to read what is going on with the people on this site. Even though I know none of you (other than meeting Chamille and Rachel one day), I like checking out how people are feeling, what people are doing, so on and so forth. I love this site. I have a bunch of very diverse interests, just like many of you do, yet one aspect of a person relegates them to "not worth knowing" status. All you can do is accept it and move on. Seriously Jesse - we can talk about anything you want, politics or not, sports, love, life, happiness....whatever you want. Regardless of how you may feel about my politics I am not an asshole or a bad guy, any more or less than anyone else here.

About Protestwarrior - when I first saw that site I laughed really, really hard. I think what they do is funny as hell. How they present it is funny as hell. They antagonize and use trumped up rhetoric because they want to piss people off. They make fools of the leftists who are most susceptible to it. This kind of thing happens all the time in various media outlets, and nobody is innocent from either side. But I think if you wade through the harsh language and imagery, and think about the message rather than the delivery, you may find something you can say "well, that's a good point" about if you have an open mind. Believe me, in the last week on this very site that is exactly what I've been doing. And every single week when I take a deep breath and open up a copy of Artvoice, or click on Buffalo Indymedia, that is exactly the process I end up going through. I am still the only person on this site to say, hey, I don't have all the answers, I don't think my way is the only way, America is too diverse for that, I have an open mind, let's cut the shit and get to working on things that will make America better for everyone. I have not insulted or disrespected anyone's religious or political beliefs here because I realize that you don't answer intolerance with more intolerance, or answer hatred with more hatred.

I've babbled long enough, but I'm glad that you are at least contemplating why you can't bring yourself to see someone else's point of view. You've made a step that most people just can't. Congrats to you. But seriously, chat with me about anything anytime. Life is more than left or right, or what's going on in the media. Take it easy.

Jason

Do we really have classical music fans here too? Damn, I didn't know y'all were so civilized. Kudos to you guys. Miles Davis, then classical.....I am beginning to *heart* Elmwood Radio in a major way. It is supplanting Accuradio Brit Rock as my station of choice at work.

Also! I have a DVD burner now. I want to begin burning some DVD's - does anybody know what software is the best to use? I saw a great deal on newegg.com for a spool of 100 DVD-R's for $50. Not bad - about half what you would pay at Best Buy.

Jason

Obviously, the library situation is a tragedy. Actually tragedy doesn't even begin to describe how I feel about it, especially after hanging out with my coworker's little brother this weekend - a 10 year old boy who is BRILLIANT, has a thirst for knowledge and does all of his learning at the library. I swear this kid's IQ is no less than 800. If he can't go to the library what will he do? Well, I'm going to fix up a Pentium 3 PC that I am not using, and I'm going to give it to this boy because I don't see why government incompetence should get in the way of his potential. I was going to give it to a friend of mine but this young guy needs it more.

Jason

Damn. I'm feeling pretty liberal today (one day only). So I'll join you all in letting out my left-wing anger and frustration.

I posted a while ago about the parking lot next to Globe and how the lot suddenly became a "Customer Only Lot During Business Hours". Well I finally got a FIFTY DOLLAR TICKET for parking there overnight! My ticket was written at 1:30 AM. Tell me something people, what businesses on the 700 block are open at 1:30 AM during a weeknight? Anyone? My neighbors also got ticketed - one of them at 2:30 AM.

My neighbors and I have had enough and we have to make the businesses on the block understand that they aren't the only ones who are here. They say that they want their customers to be able to park in the lot during business hours. Fine. Then make them NOT park on the street, and make them NOT park all the damn way up Cleveland Avenue during business hours. They have stupidly and arrogantly taken away a parking option for residents of the neighborhood who already have a notoriously tough time of it already. When I come home from work I shouldn't have to drive around the block for 60 minutes because someone wants to pack an extra $20 into the lot. Elmwood is more than a commercial district, and I hate being treated like utter SHIT by the local businesses that I have supported financially.

In fact, my neighbor "D" who used to go to Spot three times a day (wow!) now has decided that Caffe Aroma's coffee is a better option for him. The rest of my neighbors on the block are deciding that, damn, maybe Globe and Brodo aren't such good places to eat after all. Kuni's will be just fine, thanks, and so will the rest of the places to eat on the street that give a shit about the neighborhood and its residents. Rest assured, 700 block businesses, we are organizing and you are going to hear from us very soon.

I don't know if this is truth or just sour grapes or whatever, but I've spoken to Spot employees and Globe employees who tell me that the culprit is BRODO and their quest to turn Elmwood into Amherst South. I already held a grudge against Brodo for making my birthday dinner an insulting, aggravating, unwelcome experience. I don't think they appreciate the sense of community on Elmwood. I don't know what to believe at this point but we are going to speak with all of them and tell them that the $50 ticket (that I'm not going to pay anyway) means that there is going to be a hell of a lot less money going to them, and a hell of a lot more money going to businesses elsewhere on the street. A bunch of young, single professional males have lots of money to spend, and we like to impress our dates by taking them to cool places on Elmwood. Consider that money gone unless you let us simply park our cars. That's all the 700 block residents are asking for.

• end left wing anger and resume programming*

Jason

So, we have some Jazz fans on here? I was blessed enough to be able to play in a variety of musical groups. Orchestras, Jazz Groups, Classical Groups, Cover Bands, you name it I likely have done it. I am classically trained as a trumpet player. Thus my own Jazz hero is Miles Davis. A non-trumpet player knows that Miles is amazing, but a player knows more intimately how amazing he is because NOBODY sounds like Miles. He could play through a garden hose and sound awesome.

Anyway I have an enormous collection of Jazz music in my library. If anyone iis interested in asking me about what Jazz I own, please do. I'm more than willing to share as I downloaded almost all of it legally anyway.

Jason