Jay Kersting's Blog

Last week, Barack Obama and his campaign announced that he would make the announcement of his choice for Vice President via text message to his supporters BEFORE telling the media.

The big news is not the fact that a newer technology will be adopted by a political campaign.  Some think that is the big story.

Nope.  The big story?  Someone can see a little daylight between Obama supporters and the media.

My guess is that Mrs. Alan Greenspan will get the first text message. Then the daylight closes.

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For those who do not know the Mrs. Greenspan reference....that is WHY I put in links.

Anyhow, she is the one who puked out the Obama campaign talking point on "Meet The Press" about McCain having a chance to prepare for Rick Warren's questions on Saturday.  Did she check this story out?  Of course not, that would involve work and responsibility.  And NBC News can't be held to that standard.  

I mean really, Tim Russert died in June.  There is no call for stuff like that any more.

As for it happening, Rick Warren said it couldn't have happened during an appearance on Tom Sullivan's show yesterday afternoon.  He acknowledged that a TV was in the green room, but the feed to it was disconnected.  Warren said, had he turned it on, he would have only seen static.

I guess they haven't upgraded to digital yet at the Saddleback Church. 

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Back to the Olympics.  Have you see Team Handball?  Why this sport is not more popular here in the United States is beyond me.  

Think basketball, hockey without sticks, or soccer with hands.  It is really cool.

It is quite physical. Lots of contact, lots of shoving, lots of falling.  You could even add a little bit of football into the mix when describing this sport.

I hope that Team Handball is the Curling of this years games.  Meaning that I hope people are curious about it and the talk about this sport takes off.  This could be another great sport that could make its way into college athletics via Title IX.  And that could open the door for the men's game.

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Nice sweep in the 400m for the American men!!! Angelo Taylor with the Gold, Kerron Clement with Silver and Bershawn Jackson got the Bronze.  Times were 47.25, 47.98 and 48.06 respectively.

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By the way, I want to thank everyone who took the time to chat with me on my whirlwind tour of Knoxville on Friday.  Due to the nature of the trip, I did not have a lot of time so nothing was planned in advance.  I stopped by the Citadel - Knoxville studios, then met my good friend Lori Snyder for lunch.  After that, it was down to the University of Tennessee campus.  I ducked in to Dan Reilly's office at the SEE Center.  I have known Dan since my days in Warrensburg.  We chatted for a little while, then it was off to Kathy's old hangout, the McKenzie-Lawson Center.

I chatted with Bob Kesling for quite a while as well.  For those who don't know Bob, he is the broadcasting guru (not his official title) at UT.  Then it was down the hall to make several people double-take.  While in Tiffany Carpenter's office, my old classmate Kassidie Blackstock ducked in and out before she realized who was in Tiffany's office.  

After that, I went upstairs to see the folks in the development office.  Again, most of them did a double take as I walked in.  And, of course, they ALL asked about Kathy and how she was doing.

Finally, I went over to the football office to see Mary Jo Fox.  As I walked down the hall, Phillip Fulmer was looking at me with a little disbelief.  He quickly extended a hand and we chatted for a couple of minutes.  I asked how the team was looking and told him that we'd be watching from afar again this season.  Then, I met with Mary Jo and her broken desk.

Had to leave campus at that point, Kathy wanted her iced lemon cookies.  So, it was off to Ham 'N Goody's before they closed. 

Then, back in the familiar role of Friday afternoon traffic on I-40 West.  After conquering that, I didn't let the rubberneckers examining the Eastbound wreck at West Hills mess me up, I made it to Aubrey's on Cedar Bluff to see Tom Miller, Cindy Arnold and others at a remote for THEIR version of the "True Oldies Channel" (which is what Cumulus carries on Cool 97.5 here in Mid-MO).  A nice time there, but then I had to duck out to get to my next stop.  But first, a change of shirts due to the sweat.  So back to the awful motel room.  Dad was probably bored, but he understood that I couldn't go to Knoxville without seeing my friends.

Anyhow, next was a visit with some of my oldest friends at Silver Spoon Cafe.  There I got to chat with Julian Moglione, Greg Moates and Tony Smith for a couple of hours over dinner and dessert.  (Yesterday, I shared a story from Tony as you may recall.) 

Then it was back to the motel for a night of sleep before we drove back on Saturday morning.

Thanks to all who took time out of their busy days to chat with me for a little bit.  But most of all, thanks to Dad for your understanding.  I do appreciate that.

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Have a great day. 

Posted by Jay Kersting at 06:29 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I have been watching more Olympics this year than I ever thought that I would.  I watched next to nothing during the 2000, 2002 and 2004 games.  I did watch a lot of the hockey, bobsled, luge and skeleton during the 2006 games.

This year, I have been watching Michael Phelps.  Who hasn't been? What has really impressed me is how well his teammates have been building him up when he almost wants to shy away from it.  They must sincerely like the guy.  He sure seems real likable. 

I enjoyed watching Dara Torres, but only wish that she could have pulled off the gold.  Don't get me wrong, a couple of silver medals at 41 years old is an amazing feat....and she SHOULD get a LOT of credit for that and better be on a Wheaties box if not a BUNCH of other endorsements for it.  It is only American pride that makes me want to see her with more.   

The amazing thing was the 100 meters on the men's side.  I watched it even though I already knew who won.  (I had forgotten which Jamacian it was by the time of the replay.)  But Usain Bolt was true to his nickname of Lightning.  If he could learn how to get a better start out of the blocks (he was about 5th of 8 in the start) and have someone push him down the stretch, Bolt could break 9.60.  He was amazing.

It is hard for me to say, but I am actually enjoying the games.  Despite the coverage from NBC.....even they can't ruin it.

And they certainly try.

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I did not watch the Rick Warren "look at me" fest on Saturday.  Sorry, the build up to it seemed be a bit more about him and his megachurch than it was about the future of our nation.  Using politicians to build your following is fine, but make it about the issues first.  Trust me, I will be doing THAT this election season.

Anyhow, I am not impressed with much that has come out of the event on Saturday night.

I will look further into the transcripts of the event.  Maybe I can find a jem.

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Have you heard of the internet "virus" known as "Rick Rolling"???

It is not a harmful virus and it is just outright silly.  It is not even a real virus...just an annoyance.

So, what is "Rick Rolling"?????

It involves sending an e-mail, or some other medium (more on that in a second), to your friends that indicates it is something that they really, really, really want.....only to be a video of Rick Astley's "Never Gonna Give You Up" instead.

Last week, I had a link on this site of a video called "Barack Roll" which was the Astley video with Barack Obama edited to be "singing" the song and dancing to the music.

Rick Astley was interviewed about the "Rick Rolling" activities.  All he could say was that he hoped it wouldn't embarrass his daughter too much.  (Probably no more than actually BEING Rick Astley's daugher.)

Now, the other medium "Rick Rolling" examples include a TV reporter who had her news story "Rick Rolled" on April Fools Day.  Numerous people have gotten "Rick Roll" phone calls.

But one of my favorites is one that my friend Tony Smith told me about on Friday night.  Tony's daughter Chelsea was in North Carolina for a colorguard competition.  The public address announcer was making personalized announcements for a buck or two a piece to raise money for the event.  Tony decided to buy one.  It was....

"Never gonna give you up, never gonna let you down, never gonna run around and desert you.  Never gonna make you cry, never say goodbye, never gonna tell a lie and hurt you.  - Dad and Ben"

About a quarter of the crowd got it and were laughing out loud.

Now, if anyone was to call the show at 573-632-1240 or 866-632-1240 and "Rick Roll" me, I will laugh too.  Not that I am encouraging it.

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Have a great week!! 

Posted by Jay Kersting at 04:43 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

For those who were looking for an entry this morning and Friday morning, sorry.  I am currently on the road to get help my dad get his pickup track back from Knoxville.  Will be back on Saturday and will have an entry on Monday as is normal.  (That is NOT to say that there couldn't be a special entry depending on what may happen in the world.)

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Russians are the bad guys here.  Simple and to the point, they are the aggressors and they are the ones who need to be held in contempt by everyone.  (Contrary to the initial words of one of the Presidential candidates....who later changed his postion.  Hmm...who knew?)

The situation scares the hell out of me.  And it reinforces once again that Richard Nixon was right in his book "Seize the Moment" when he warned against cashing in a so-called peace dividend at the end of the Cold War.

Well, the chill between the Russians and us is back.  If we had that more intimidating force, I doubt that Putin would have pushed against one of our allies.

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Hillary Clinton will have her name up for nomination at the Democratic National Convention.  The start of the throwing of Barack Obama under the bus?  Dick Morris thinks so.

I don't know.  But to quote John Blutarsky, "Over?  Did somebody say over?  Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor?  Hell NO!  And it ain't over now.  Nothing is over until we decide it is."

Stand by for more moves.  Is Bill rallying the troops for his wife?  

With that man, I don't doubt it.

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Have a great Friday and a Great Weekend!! 

Posted by Jay Kersting at 08:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Benjamin Daniel Kersting is 11 years old today!!  Happy Birthday Big Ben!!

Now that Ben is getting closer to his teen years, we are going to get him gifts that lead him in that direction.  I will not say what we are giving him this year exactly, but it is something that he says that he wants.

Today, we are going over to the Memorial Park Aquatic Center....the water park like pools here in Jefferson City...to have a little fun this afternoon.  

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Yesterday, I had a little trouble with the webpage software that I used.  It crashed AFTER I had finished my entry and was saving the page.  So, I had to go back an do a re-write and I left some things out about the Olympic Games. 

So, here is what you missed.

I have complained about NBC's coverage of the games.  I praised the use of multiple channels.  I am really happy with what DirecTV has done with putting the channels together so it is easy to find.  (The normals channels are in their regular place, but a second copy is put at channels 750-756.)  And since I am at work early, I like getting a variety of live sports to watch while I am here in studio.

All that said, why does NBC have to limit things to just one channel during prime time?  Why can't they have more programming of the more obscure sports on at the same time?

I say that because I do not enjoy "sports" like gymnastics, synchronized swimming, diving and any other event that has human judges scoring.  Same goes for figure skating during the Winter Games.  In fact, figure skating is the best illustration of why I don't like these events.  Remember the judges who cheated during the 2002 Games in Salt Lake City, when they issued two gold medals.  Or how about the 2004 gymnastics scoring error that gave Paul Hamm the gold medal.  An error that could not be corrected.

These "sports" are corrupt by their very dependence on human judges.  I think they are athletic competitions and the participants are great athletes.  But so are ballet dancers.  

If you can't score in a way where everyone knows what is happening, sorry but it just isn't a sport in my book.  Again, ballet dancers are great athletes.

Touch 'em all, put it through the hoop, cross into the end zone, break the tape, throw it the furthest or put it in the net.  

Just my opinion.  I know MANY of you will disagree.  

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Michael Phelps has five gold this year.  Three more to go.  Nothing is guaranteed, so he has to keep fighting to get it done and I don't think he is taking ANYTHING easy at this point.  

BUT, he does have something that cannot be taken away unless a drug test comes back positive.  He now has more gold medals than any other athlete in the 112 year history of the Olympic Games.  

Congratulations Mr. Phelps.  Apparently, you have accepted your mission.  And accomplished a big part of it.

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At the time of my writing of this blog entry, Russia is taking on Georgia in Beach Volleyball.  Russia won the first set, Georgia won the second set.  You can probably guess who I am pulling for.

In case you didn't know, the Georgian team is composed of Brazil natives.  I don't care.  Beat the damned Ruskies!!!  Didn't think I'd be saying that 15 years ago, nor even 15 days ago.

(UPDATE: Georgia won, 2 sets to 1!!)  

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Russian tanks are still on the move in Georgia.  Yesterday, I heard the Georgian Ambassador answer a question that compared the events to Hungary in 1956.  The ambassador went further.  He said Hungary, Czechoslovakia in 1968, Nazi Germany into Poland and Soviet Union in to Afghanistan.

He is right.

Russian aggression is something that needs to be kept in check.   

Vladimir Putin wants a new Russian Empire or a revival of the Soviet Union.  George W. Bush underestimated him, possibly from a view of American arrogance, back when they first met. 

Will Bush or his successor have the willingness and ability to stand up to him?  Bush, we will wait and see.  As for his successor, I know that one of the two gets it.  The other seems willing to let us lose the Cold War that we won 20 years ago.  His Socialist tendancies prove that for me.

These events in Georgia worry me more than any other series of events in the world that have happened since 2001.   

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Have a great Ben's Birthday Wednesday!! 

Posted by Jay Kersting at 05:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The situation in Georgia is getting worse.  Who is looking most Presidential here in the USA?  I'll give you a hint, not George W. Bush.  Not yet.

Not Barack Obama.  Acting way too passively.

So far, I have to give credit to John McCain.  Especially with his referencing of history.  Who heard of Sarajevo back on 27 June 1914?  Who heard of Pearl Harbor on 6 December 1941?  I could go on, but those examples show that the perspective McCain has on the significance, or potential significance, of these events is probably on the mark.  Add that to his continued concern over what Vladimir Putin is trying to do.  And the fears he has about this man.

South Ossetia is a place that I heard of, in passing.  I remember that Eduard Sheverdnadze canceling his visit to Los Angeles in 1992 (where he was to speak at my brother's college graduation from USC) due to civil unrest.  I thought, at the time, this was due to the riots in Los Angeles following the Rodney King cop trial.  I was wrong, it was due to unrest in the newly independent Republic of Georgia.  And that unrest dated back to 1989.  And an elected predecessor of Sheverdnadze was killed in a bloody coup d'etat shortly after gaining independence from the Soviet Union.

Say what you will about Vlad Putin, he is not stupid.  Very calculating, to say the least.  The world was distracted with the opening of the Beijing Olympic Games.  Including the aforementioned George W. Bush.  (To be fair, we do not know what he was doing that we did not see.  Appearances, like during Katrina, were poor.)  We know that Putin had been planning the attack and invasion of Georgia for sometime.  Putin was using the media, which he controls, to ratchet up support for his attack.  Russians believe that the Georgians were committing genocide in South Ossetia.

Here is where is may get complicated and how the United States has some obligation here.  In 2005, President Bush assured the Georgians, when speaking in Tblisi AND having a hand grenade thrown at him, that the United States would stand beside the Georgians.  

Overnight, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev had the troops stop their advances.  What will happen next?  Good question that I can only answer with another question.  Does Vlad Putin want to go down in history along side other names from the last 200 years like Napoleon, Hitler and Stalin?  Right now, he has yet to hit the level of Saddam Hussein, Idi Amin or Robert Mugabe. 

Will he be held there?  Or will be he be the Devil who went down to Georgia?

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Something a little lighter for your enjoyment.  Amazing what you can do with a lot of time on your hands. Good thing that it only takes a minute and a half to watch it.

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Mark Spitz got snubbed. 

I think he should be in Beijing to support Michael Phelps.  He has said repeatedly that he supports Phelps in his quest to break his 36 year old record of seven gold medals in a single Olympic Games. 

How cool would it be to have Spitz present the seventh or eighth gold medal to Phelps?

Won't happen.  Too bad.

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I had a much better entry written earlier....but the software crashed AS I was saving it.  So, this is the second and inferior run.  Sorry. 

Have a GREAT Tuesday.   

Posted by Jay Kersting at 05:57 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)