NevadaBrad

As reported several weeks ago, there is indeed a new news talk station in the Reno market. Shamrock Communications launched 107.3 KNEWS last week and the lineup looks pretty good.

Here’s the official lineup (courtesy of our friend “Ben”): Glenn Beck, Mike Huckabee, Michael Smerconish, Sean Patrick, Rusty Humphries, Clark Howard, Neal Boortz and Overnight America.

So, I’m excited out of my gourd over the return of Glenn Beck. People who have emailed me wondering about the whereabouts of Sean Patrick will love to see his return opposite Bill Manders and Dan Mason.

I don’t see a web page or anything on Facebook yet, so make sure you listen to the station and tell your friends. If you have a business, make sure you throw some advertising dollars their way. It will be interesting to have three right-leaning stations in Reno. Best of luck to the new station!

The election is less than a week away and it’s time that we address the abominable Harry Reid. There are a few reasons this is necessary.

First, Gregory A. Prince wrote an article in which he bragged about how little he knows about Mormonism. One of his claims is that Romney has somehow “sullied” Mormonism. When Reid was asked about this comment he just had to agree. I’m not sure why Reid thinks he’s any kind of authority on Mormonism. This is the same Harry Reid who bore false witness against Romney at least twice (God should make a law against that or something). He is now lying about Romney and claiming some kind of technicality to make himself feel better about. This is clearly a man who has sold his soul for a fleeting moment of earthly power.

Second, there was a rash of blog articles and news stories several weeks back that proclaimed, “I’m Democrat because I’m a Mormon, not in spite of it!” Go ahead, say whatever you have to to make yourself feel better.

Third, I’ve had several friends from church come out in open support of Obama. Let’s say you take away the obvious things like Obama’s sociopathic lying and despicable stance on abortion (“I don’t want them punished with a baby!”). You are indeed supporting these positions when you vote for the O, but can you make the case that supporting Obama makes you more compassionate? That voting for welfare and “insurance” for all outweighs everything else?

The answer is easy: no.

In a philosophical sense, this is where people like Gregory A. Prince (Ph.D.!) stumble. He states that we have a “sacred obligation to assist the less able.” In the next sentence, he almost touches on a key tenet of the church, which is this: “Work is a guiding principle in the Church’s welfare program.” Our president views government welfare as a vote-harvesting system instead of as a hand-up.

Even this misses the more important point. Welfare is not the responsibility of the government! As Prince brags about the church’s welfare system he conveniently forgets about another tenet of the church: self-reliance and preparedness. We should be prepared for circumstances that might place us in need. Should you not have sufficient resources, then you turn to your family. Should your family have insufficient resources then you turn to church welfare. Should the church not be able to take care of you, then turn to the community. The federal government should provide a safety net as a last resort.

Some may disagree and that’s okay. But consider this:

• When giving to the government, it is estimated only about .30 of every dollar is used for its intended purpose
• When donating to LDS Charities, 100% of your donation goes to the cause
• Most other reputable charities keep their operating costs below 10%

Why would you want to trust a bloated federal bureaucracy when people are in need? What’s more, shouldn’t you have a say in how your money is used?

Mormons believe that for each of God’s “institutions”, there is likely a sinister knock-off. This particular issue is a great example. God has a system to provide for His people, but the government provides an alternate system that replaces God with the government. This does not mean that the government programs are inherently evil. It does not mean that those who implement the programs are ill-intentioned. In the case of government welfare it seems clear that it’s being used to obtain power. This is certainly evil. Either way, it cannot ever work as well as God’s program.

Theologically, this is where the argument falls apart for well-intentioned Mormons voting for Obama. A great read concerning this is Marion G. Romney’s conference talk titled “Socialism and the United Order Compared“.

I believe that Mitt Romney understands the plan. I believe that most Americans understand the plan. Your government seeks to enslave you through taxes, which will be collected with a gun to your head if you don’t comply. The government enslaves the welfare recipients by giving them handouts in exchange for votes. God’s plan allows us to choose for ourselves. As George Albert Smith said, “… I believe our Heavenly Father is giving us our opportunity for development. … We will discover now whether the love the Savior said should be in our hearts is among us.”

So, will you make government your god? If you’re Harry Reid then that’s an easy answer: yes.

So, as I abandon local talk radio that’s when things start to become interesting. KOH, the previously uncontested champion, has been slowly slipping away. The acquisition by Cumulus did little to stanch the bleeding. In fact, Cumulus may be exacerbating the situation. Or they might even have caused the situation.

99.1 FM Talk was doing well, but after a while they started to look like someone in the dark waving their arms around looking for a light switch. The vision for the station seemed to dim. Then again, I’m still bitter that they stopped playing Glenn Beck.

Speaking of… rumor has it that Glenn Beck will be making a comeback to Reno radio as soon as next week! Details are slim, but he will be appearing on a new station located at 107.3 on the dial. For those who have inquired about Sean Patrick’s whereabouts, I understand he may also be part of the lineup. An official annoucement is said to be forthcoming.

So, how does this affect the ailing KKOH? Or the station that you want to love but you’re never sure you’re being loved back? I’m all for competition, but in this market it’s clear that all the stations need to step up their game. This is definitely something that I can get excited about…

Congratulations, Harry Reid. You’ve gone from being a lawyer to being a politician to being a really bad politician to being veritable scum of the earth.

Interestingly, Harry Reid recently decided that, as self-elected mouthpiece for the Mormon church, he has the obligation to spread lies and bear false witness against Mitt Romney. He also has declared that his understanding of the Gospel is superior to Mitt Romney’s understanding. According to Reid, Romney has “sullied the religion.”

This coming from the man involved in real estate and other scandals. Plus, remember when the voting machines in Southern Nevada already had his name checked as people were voting? And then the unions used questionable tactics to boost the vote in Reid’s favor on election day?

Harry Reid is a bad person and is fundamentally disconnected from the people he is supposed to represent. Why do we keep electing him?

What’s more, where is the scandal with Mitt Romney? His scandals are all manufactured, unless you count the “47%” gaffe. His big scandal is that he dared to tell the truth? Surely an unpardonable sin in Washington. Reid knows he is lying when he continues to slander Romney, who is a decent man. Reid’s actions are disgusting.

Now that I’ve gotten the ranting off my chest, I would like to attempt to explain what Mormons really believe. I believe a convincing argument can be made in favor of Romney’s politics. The same argument will be damning to Reid’s tired old politics.

I’ve been trying to put some thoughts together on this topic for quite a while and Reid’s ongoing tantrum gives me an excuse. Watch for part II…

Ever wonder why Obama made the now infamous “you didn’t build that” comment? It seemed weird at the time, but I figured it out. If you are not responsible for your successes then Obama is not responsible for his failures. For example, consider this potential exchange:

Fictitious and Unlikely Reporter: “Mr President. Don’t you feel responsible for increasing the debt by 5.4 trillion dollars since you took office?”

Barack Obama: “I didn’t build that.”

Reporter: “Surely you see that your policies have led to increased unemployment and out of control abuse of the welfare system, don’t you?”

Obama: “I didn’t build that.”

This is, of course, keeping in line with his core belief that “the buck stops with you.”

Arbitron released the Spring 2012 market ratings a while back, but the information is becoming increasingly uninteresting. In summary, KKOH continues to drop like a rock. They posted 8.5, which means that they could easily be surpassed by one of the music stations in the near future. This is their fourth consecutive drop and the lowest share during the time I’ve been tracking their numbers.

According to a friendly at KKFT, Arbitron no longer lists non-subscribing stations. This means that an unintelligent and uninformed layperson like myself does not have access to KKFT’s current data. We only know that they are part of the roughly 30% of unidentified share.

KJFK is enjoying a record share of 2.4 and KBZZ is stagnant at 1.3.

I would like to say there were some exciting surprises, but alas this is not so.

A few months ago I half-heartedly proclaimed my independence from traditional radio. Considering this proclamation I’m not sure that I have any business commenting on the ups and down of radio. With KOH continuing their downward spiral and KKFT no longer appearing on the map, I think it’s time to move on to other matters. I suppose this will be the last time I have much to say about the state of Reno radio for a while…

What more can be said about the Supreme Court’s abominable decision last week regarding ObamaTax? Don’t worry, I’ll find something to say whether it’s worthwhile or not.

Two things occurred to me as I’ve been listening to the discussion. First, I realized just how close-minded those on the left are. Those on the right can completely understand why others want ObamaTax to stand. “Free” health care would be great. Not having to worry about pre-existing conditions would be awesome. It sounds dreamy and we get it. I doubt there are many on the right that do not understand why some people are so excited about the prospect of socialized medicine.

Now, should we take bets on whether any of the lefties understand why people are opposed to ObamaTax? I’d bet that it’s not many. I’d be surprised if they thought it was because we fear an enormous government. Or because we distrust our government becoming so intimately involved in one of the most private and important aspects of our lives. Or because we’re saddling ourselves with unthinkable debt when we’re already nearly $16t in the hole. Or because we believe that in a free country we should not be taxed and/or penalized for not doing something. Instead, consider the comments of Gene Jeffress where he suggests that those who oppose ObamaCare are racist.

Speaking of racism, why is it that black Americans are not outraged? Why is it that they continue to support this president? I’m not very good with math, but I’m going to do my best here. Currently, almost 9 million of the nearly 40 million black Americans are on food stamps. That’s about 22% of blacks compared to about 6% of whites on food stamps. Additionally, almost twice as many black Americans are below the poverty level as white Americans (25.8% vs. 12.3%). The unemployment rate for black Americans is hovering just below 14%, which is almost double the national average. All this with a black president in the White House!

The progressives, including our supreme leader, President Barack Obama (mmm, mmm, mmm), seek to enslave black Americans by making them dependent on government programs like food stamps and health care. Many people are fighting this tyrannical government, but far too many are willingly allowing the government to enslave them. A Pew Research Center poll from March shows that 83% of black Americans approve of ObamaTax while only 9% disapprove. After all the blood that was shed so that slaves could be free, why would their descendents willingly replace the shackles? Obama is not your friend. ObamaTax enslaves all Americans. The sooner we understand that and find a way to escape the better.

As the messages and comments continue to come in, it’s clear that Bill Manders continues to be a hot topic. Admittedly, I didn’t listen to Manders much when he was on KOH. Then again, I didn’t listen to KOH much at all. I’ve listened to Manders more since he came over to 99.1 FM Talk and I’m a little curious about where the vitriol toward him comes from. He has a wide range of topics and he discusses the topics intelligently. Whatever he may have been when I wasn’t listening, he doesn’t seem to fit the bill now. I think Manders provides a unique program and will be benefit to the station.

Now that I’ve said that, let me backtrack a bit. I’ve been a big fan and advocate of 99.1 for many years. I fell in love about seven years ago when they were KPTL-AM 1300. Sadly, I think I’ve fallen out of love with 99.1. If I had to identify the turning point, I would definitely say that dropping Glenn Beck was it.

I have a limited amount of time that I can listen to the radio on any given day. Work and family commitments dictate what I can listen to and when. When I listen I’m not listening to simply fill time or have background noise. I want to hear programming that I enjoy listening to. I think that the concept of DVR has changed the way we look for information and entertainment. Instead of surfing for something to watch, we record our favorite shows and tune everything else out. Although a bit behind the curve, radio is starting to offer a similar choice.

The spring radio ratings will be available in a little more than a month; the review period ends in a few days. Although the battle of the talks is very interesting, I wonder how many people are like me. There’s too much programming I don’t like and the programming I like is not on when I can listen to it. So, I turn off the radio and plug in to exactly what I want.

If you’re a Beck addict like me, send me a message. I’m curious to know if I’m the only one that essentially dumped 99.1 when they dumped Beck.

Also, I think that 99.1 is full of Ron Paul supporters.

Republicans tend to get flustered when it comes to picking a candidate. It seems to be a much easier task for Democrats (“Would a dead person vote for this candidate?”). I admit that I struggle a bit myself; however, it usually doesn’t take long before the choice is apparent.

Consider the crybabies (hereafter referred to as Gingrich and Santorum) that we had in the race. Their campaigns amounted to little more than complaining that the Romney campaign wasn’t playing fair. Because, as we all know, it will be a clean fight once our supreme leader, President Barack Obama (mmm, mmm, mmm), gets involved. I hate the dirt and vitriol in politics. I wish we could have a clean debate. The fact of the matter is that the left cannot win a fair debate and they have to resort to throwing sand in the eyes and then kicking the groin. It’s dirty but it wins elections.

Romney seems to be the only candidate that is willing to go head-to-head with Obama. What’s more, I believe he can do it without sacrificing ethics or principle. He may have hit hard in the primaries but I never heard anything that was fallacious. On the other hand, Newt built his campaign almost exclusively on fallacy. Newt was the Republican candidate most like Obama. He is smart, he portrayed himself as something he is not and he fought a dirty fight. I expect that Romney’s campaign style will be equally effective against Obama.

If the promise of a good fight isn’t enough to convince you that Romney is the man, then consider the whining and bellyaching that came from the presumptive losers. Both Santorum and Gingrich looked like children at the store that didn’t get the toy they wanted. The only thing that was missing was the footstomp and the refusal to cooperate until they got their way. Their concessions told us immediately that we made the right decision. I never liked Gingrich, but I wanted to give Santorum a chance. Unfortunately, it became obvious far too quickly that Santorum was not the one to put against Obama. It won’t be long before we know for sure whether that person is Romney.

On another note, I finally realized what Ron Paul’s supporters have in common: they’re all crazier than he is. If that’s possible.

I’ve always been a big fan of Glenn Beck and the wares that he peddles. TheBlaze.com is one of the products that I’ve loved since it was first launched.

Several weeks ago the site introduced annoying pop-up ads that jump out when you click anything on the page. They aren’t even good ads. They are generally those terrible ads with the dancing silhouette that loops over and over. I think it’s for insurance or something. (You know it’s good when you don’t even know what the ad is for.) The problem was solved easily enough by using Adblock Plus. But seriously, who still uses pop-up ads?! It’s a sure sign that you run a seedy site.

On Saturday I brought up the site and received a message that Windows Antivirus 2012 was trying to install. For those who have been hibernating for the past several years, this product is much closer to a virus that an antivirus. I contacted the support team at TheBlaze.com and received a message that included an apology and the following message:

We understand how serious this issue is. We have confirmed this is not coming from our site, but a third party site.

I’m not sure they realize that their site is responsible for all the content, including that of advertisers. The people over at The Blaze need to take a look in the mirror and do some soul-searching. I understand that this is a for-profit venture, but the product is being lost. A good idea is about to go up in smoke because of poor decisions.