Rant #2,723: Picture This

We live in a crazy world right now.
 
The world seems to be off its axis, and we are existing in some type of bizarro world, where everything that is right is now wrong, and everything that is wrong is now right.
 
I know, I know, I spoke about this yesterday with the Sirhan Sirhan situation, but it applies again for a story that I am going to tell you about in today’s Rant.
 
I hope that this does not become a weekly theme here, but something is not right with this world right now, and it goes far beyond the pandemic.
 
Shaquille Brewster, an NBC News and MSNBC correspondent, was doing a live shot on the after-effects of Hurricane Ida in a report from Gulfport, Mississippi.
 
As the reporter was doing the report, a man came out of a white pickup truck and ran toward the reporter. He shouted something at him, and no, he did not blow him love and kisses as the diatribe continued.
 
Brewster tried to move himself and the crew away from the irate man, but to no avail.
 
He told CNBC studio host Craig Melvin, “I am going to turn this way, because we deal with some people every once in while.”
 
The man continued the confrontation, continuing to get in the frame no matter where Brewster and his crew moved.
 
Brewster was finally confronted by the man face to face, and then the segment was cut, going back to the studio, where the show went on to other reports.
 
Evidently the irate man had had his say, and he went back to his truck and drove away. Melvin later told viewers that Brewster was fine after the incident finally ended.
 
He told viewers, “I do want to note here for a moment, you probably saw or heard a few moments ago a correspondent was disrupted by some whacky guy in his live shot there in Mississippi. Pleased to report that Shaquille Brewster is doing just fine. Shaq is okay.”
 
Happily, that was the end of that, but on top of everything else they have to do in the aftermath of Hurricane Ida, police will be looking into this incident, too.
 
Look, street reporters are out there from every station and news service, reporting from “Ground Zero” for every report they do.
 
They are out there, with their crews, bringing viewers reports from every imaginable location, and while us regular folks do often get in the shots in the background, it is usually just to wave and then to move on.
 
However, it seems that some people, for whatever reason, are beginning to think that these reports are their own stage for lunacy.
 
Just recently, I saw a report where a woman reporter was harassed by a passerby in what started out as pretty much an innocent meeting.
 
The reporter was preparing for her live shoot, and a passerby yelled to her off camera something to the effect, “You are a beautiful woman.”
 
The reporter actually said, “Thanks,” and then further prepared for her shoot, but the guy persisted screaming to her about her beauty, even though she tried to quiet him down.
 
It never got X-rated, but it certainly got a bit hairy for the reporter, that’s for sure.
 
And sometimes things to get way beyond hairy for street reporters, as happened a few years ago.
 
News reporter Alison Parker and photojournalist Adam Ward of CBS affiliate WDBJ in Roanoke, Virginia, were fatally shot on August 26, 2015, while conducting a live television interview near Smith Mountain Lake in Moneta.
 
They were interviewing Vicki Gardner, executive director of the local chamber of commerce, when all three were attacked by a gunman. Parker, age 24, and Ward, age 27, died at the scene, while Gardner survived.
 
Incredibly, the gunman was 41-year-old Vester Lee Flanagan II, who was also known by the professional pseudonym of Bryce Williams, a former reporter at WDBJ who had been fired in 2013 for “disruptive conduct.”
 
After a five-hour manhunt, Flanagan was found dead, having committed suicide.
 
So yes, these things do happen, and reporters and their crews have to be extra vigilant when they see things brewing.
 
And it is happening right here on our streets in the good old U.S.A., not in far-away places, although reporters and their crews who work in volatile overseas spots have to be careful, too.
 
On February 11, 2011, Lara Logan, an overseas reporter for CBS News, was covering a protest march in Cairo, Egypt, against outgoing Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak.
 
The scene became tense, and the protest became more of a mob, and Logan and her crew were attacked. Logan was sexually attacked during the melee, and when her crew tired to rescue her, they were also attacked.
 
It took several members of a security force to free her and her crew and get them to safety.
 
We think of television journalists as having a glorious job, as they are right there when things are happening.
 
But we rarely think about the fact that because they are “right there,” they are also “right there” for every loony that happens to be “right there” too.
 
Happily, in the latest incident, Brewster might have been shaken at worst, but what happened to journalists like Parker, Ward and Logan is incomprehensible.
 
Let’s let these reporters do their jobs without any interference.
 
I know it is kind of trite to say that, but what more can one say about people simply out there doing their jobs?

Rant #2,722: Bad to the Bone

We know that the world is off its axis now.
 
We seem to live in a bizarro world, where what is normally right is wrong and where what is normally wrong is right.
 
And this weekend, when I heard the news from out west, I was completely and totally outraged, but it confirmed my belief that we are living in a very, very strange world right now.
 
Sirhan Sirhan, the convicted murderer of Senator Robert F. Kennedy, was granted parole on Friday.
 
If this wasn’t bad enough, this murderer was granted parole because two of RFK’s  sons spoke in favor of such a release, and prosecutors would not argue that he should be kept in jail for the rest of his life.
 
Sirhan, now 77, could now be released, although it will be up to the governor of California, Gavin Newsom, to make that decision official after a review process of several months is completed.
 
I am sure many people looked at Sirhan’s 16th parole hearing as nothing more than a formality, that the convicted murderer would plead his case yet again that he should be released, and that once again, the two-person panel hearing the plea would strike him down yet again.
 
But this time, things were different.
 
Douglas Kennedy, who was two years old when his father was killed in 1968, spoke at the latest hearing, and he said he was “moved to tears” by Sirhan’s remorse and said he should be released if he’s not a threat to others.
 
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the senator’s eldest son, also stated that Sirhan should be released.
 
On June 5, 1968, RFK, the brother of John and Ted, gave a speech at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles following his victory in the Democratic primary in California.
 
As Kennedy walked through the hotel’s pantry, Sirhan shot him, with five other people around Kennedy also being shot.
 
Several major figures in RFK’s campaign, including athletes Rafter Johnson and Roosevelt Grier, tackled Sirhan, and he was led away.
 
RFK died the next day.
 
I believe that Sirhan, who was rapidly convicted of the crime, was originally given the death penalty, but when that was struck down in California, he was given life in prison, but he could appeal his sentence every few years.
 
Sirhan has most recently stated that he has absolutely no recollection of the event, stating that he was drinking and still does not remember shooting anybody,
 
News reports state that RFK’s other children oppose the release.
 
Look, this whole thing is crazy.
 
I remember the morning after RFK was shot.
 
I woke up, ready to go to school, and that school year was in its final days, so we should have all been in a joyous mood.
 
I certainly remembered JFK’s assassination, but I was much younger then—age six—then I was when RFK was shot—age 11—so when I heard what was happening on the radio as I ate my breakfast, I just knew that this event would permeate what should have been a nice, normal day at school.
 
And it did.
 
Everyone brought their transistor radios to school, and our teacher let us listen in on what was going on.
 
If anyone made a peep, someone else would tell them to shut up so they could hear the latest update on the radio.
 
I think we all kind of knew that RFK would not survive, but we needed to hear it from our radios, and when we did, there wasn’t a dry eye in the room.
 
Like JFK before him, RFK promised a better world to us.
 
In my mind, RFK was the last politician who connected so greatly with the general public, even though we know now that he and his brothers were not as squeaky clean as we thought they were.
 
He really connected with Baby Boomers, and I do believe that he would have won the election if this would have never happened, and perhaps the world would have been a different place because of his presidency.
 
But a bullet stopped that from happening, and who would have thought that this conversation would have even arisen more than 50 years ago when Sirhan—drunken or not, remembering it or not—pulled the trigger.
 
If he does get off, he will be deported to Jordan, as he is a Palestinian, and I do not think he will fade into obscurity, which makes his possible release even more cruel and revolting than it already is.
 
Whether he likes it or not, he will become a paragon of the Palestinians, a martyr who put a crimp into America’s way of life, and eventually got away with it.
 
I am sure that whether he likes it or not, he will be applauded by some as a hero, and that very thought repulses me at my very core.
 
Governor Newsom, please see to it that Sirhan Sirhan only leaves prison in a body bag, when the devil takes him from us naturally.
 
He ruined our country, ruined our world, and he does not deserve to get out of prison alive under any circumstances whatsoever,
 
Let him rot in the hell that he created for himself on that fateful evening all those years ago. 

Rant #2,721: "Signs" of the Times

Yes, it is hot outside.
 
It is about 90 degrees every day in my neck of the woods.
 
It is also humid, which makes things that much worse.
 
But it is summer … would I rather that there be a foot of snow on the ground at zero degrees?
 
No, I wouldn’t.
 
I just remember the summers of my youth, and somehow, I guess I could take the heat better than I can now.
 
I just went outside to the park, played ball, went to camp, did all the things you do in summer camp, and I looked forward to lunch, where I had my Hi-C.
 
Do they even make Hi-C in small cans anymore … or Hi-C at all?
 
In camp, we would go to the beaches and pools—beaches like Jones Beach and Rye Beach—and pools like Walcliff and Casino.
 
And the music was always going strong. You would hear the top hits of the time on transistor radios, coming out of jukeboxes, and in cars and buses.
 
Since it is so hot outside, let’s take a look at the top 10 songs of the week of August 28, 1971 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, and review what we were listening to 50 years ago.
 
Donny Osmond was one of the top teen idols of this period, and one of his biggest solo hits was a remake of the classic “Go Away Little Girl,” which came in at No. 10 this week. The original was done by Steve Lawrence and this newer version would eventually hit the top of the Hot 100..
 
At No. 9 was Aretha Franklin’s “Spanish Harlem.” This was another remake, as Ben E. King’s version came to the fore in 1960.
 
The Undisputed Truth followed the Temptations into the world of psychedelic soul with “Smiling Faces Sometimes,” which hit No. 8 this week. The Motown act had a few other charted songs in the 1970s, but this was their most successful record of all of them.
 
One of the most successful acts of the 1970s was Three Dog Night, and their “Liar” single hit No. 7 on the chart. They would go on to have numerous other hits through the decade.
 
Likewise, Creedence Clearwater Revival was as hot as could be at this moment in time 50 years ago, and “Sweet Hitch-Hiker” was at the No. 6 spot on this week’s chart. Soon, John Fogerty would leave the band, and CCR would crumble without him.
 
Jean Knight’s “Mr. Big Stuff” came in at No. 5 on this week’s chart. Although better known for its use in commercials, the song was the singer’s biggest hit.
 
Motown not only produced psychedelic soul at this time, but also socially-conscious songs from their cadre of artists. No other song typified this genre better than “Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)” by Marvin Gaye, which hit No. 4 this week.
 
Canada’s Five Man Electrical Band held the No. 3 spot with the since often-covered protest song “Signs.” The song was released on the very small Lionel Records label.
 
John Denver became a national phenomenon with “Take Me Home, Country Roads,” which hit the No. 2 spot on the chart this week. The singer/songwriter eventually became one of the top stars of the era.
 
And at No. 1 this week, was one of this long-standing act's biggest hits …
 
“How Can You Mend a Broken Heart” by the Bee Gees.
 
This song crossed all musical categories and genres way back when, and stood atop the Billboard Hot 100 chart for four weeks, this being the final week of that run.
 
The Highest Debut on the singles chart this week was “Make It Funky (Part 1)” by James Brown, which came into the chart at No. 65. Brown was literally releasing a single a month during this period, and perhaps the oversaturation of his music only got this song as high as No. 22 on the chart.
 
The Biggest Mover on the chart—the song that moved up the most places from the previous week’s listing to this week’s placement—was “Trapped By a Thing Called Love” by Denise LaSalle. It barely got into the Hot 100 the prior week at No. 99, but moved up 22 places to No. 77 this week. It eventually pushed all the way up to No. 13 a few weeks later.
 
So that was what the general public was listening to around this time 50 years ago.
 
I hope it brought back some memories for you, and maybe even got you to search through some of those old records on the shelf to listen to these songs again.
 
Have a great weekend, and I will speak to you again on Monday.

Rant #2,720: Jeremy

We do live in a very strange world.
 
What was OK to do just a year ago, or at least permissible, is not OK now.
 
It could be the slightest thing, like shaking someone’s hand.
 
You really can’t do that today because of the panic environment that has been created by the pandemic.
 
It even goes to more lascivious stuff, and you can’t even be a porn star anymore without people accusing you of sexual assault.
 
But that is exactly what is happening today to the so-called “King of Porn,” Ron Jeremy, who lived the so-called life of a porn star—even promoted through legit movies and him, with his becoming something of a cultural icon—but now, his world is clearly in danger of collapsing all over him.
 
The 67-year-old Jeremy--who starred in thousands of porn films over probably a nearly 50-year period, and who also appeared in a number of legit films too--has been indicted on more than 30 sexual assault counts involving 21 victims dating back to 1996, or a quarter-century ago.
 
The alleged victims were said to range in age from 15 to 51.
 
Yesterday, he pleased not guilty to the charges in a court in Los Angeles, but the charges are pretty virulent.
 
They include 12 counts of forcible rape; and several other heinous charges, including one count of committing a lewd act upon a child.
 
The porn star is due in court for a pretrial conference on Oct. 12, and he has not been able to post bail of $6.6 million, so he remains in jail.
 
How in the heck did perhaps the number-one male porn star in the world find himself in the position he is in now?
 
I can’t figure it out myself, but I have some thoughts on it.
 
In his world, everything seems to be permissible, as long as it is being filmed for mass consumption.
 
The men and women who work in this part of the entertainment business know full well what they are getting into when they agree to participate in these films, and whatever gratification it gives them—monetary or otherwise—they do what they have to do, and like the rest of us, when the workday is up, they go home, watch some TV, and go to sleep.
 
But I think that Jeremy probably got so enraptured by the porn star thing that in his world, probably fantasy and reality kind of got all mixed up, jumbled into one.
 
He made thousands of personal appearances around the country to promote his movies and to promote himself, and he kind of forgot that even in the porn trade, what goes on on screen and what goes on in real life are not one and the same.
 
I don’t know too much about the allegations against him, but I will bet that he used his porn star persona to “get to know” several women outside of the business, if you know what I mean, and, well, maybe he got to know them too well, again if you know what I mean.
 
And in today’s world, you can cry “foul!”—and worse words—10, 20, 30, 40, and even 50 and 60 years after the fact.
 
Just ask Bill Cosby about that. And while you do that, speak to Bob Dylan, too.
 
Perhaps Jeremy simply went too far with some women, and he should have known better, that the real world is not the porn world.
 
But like with the Cosby case(s) in particular, I think you also have to wonder why and how the women involved put themselves in such situations; aren’t they somewhat culpable, too, for their actions?
 
I mean, they had to have known that this guy was a porn star … what benefit would they have to get to know him so well, if you know what I mean? How did they think that situation would play out? What did they think they would get out of this?
 
And again, why did some not say a word for a quarter centaury?
 
The alleged situation with the child is another thing. How would a child of such a young age get so close to a porn star, and even know who he is?

 
I am not defending Jeremy in the least. He is a true questionable person to be honest with you, never setting any boundaries for himself off screen, which I think even people in his field have to do.

Why he put himself in such situations, and in particular, with a teenager, is beyond my comprehension.
 
And times have changed. You can’t even look at someone else without them getting hysterical, and evidently, Jeremy didn’t just look.

A while back, on a legitimate talk show, there were two women guests, both porn stars of some renown. They both said they did what they did on screen, but off screen, they did not like to be, let's say, put in awkward situations, and held those accountable for doing what they did off screen.

They went into more graphic detail, which I won't get into here, but I guess it went beyond handshakes.
 
Jeremy has had an interesting life, no doubt about that.
 
He started out as a New York City school teacher, and somehow got into another line of work that made him somewhat famous.
 
His attraction was that he was an everyday guy who was able to do what he did, and I think that attracted both men and women viewers to him, never feeling threatened by him but almost envious of what he could do.
 
And now he is in jail and facing charges for doing things and being in situations that he should have known better about.
 
I am sure he will get his, one way or the other, but his reputation has been sullied … as if he had any reputation at all to sully after 50 years doing what he did for a living.
 
Yes, this is a strange world we live in now, a very strange world indeed.