Afternoon Post

Greetings and good afternoon.
I apologize for the lack of updates to the site lately. I have been really busy with work the past few days. Then my wife and I moved this weekend and our new place does not have internet access. So I am stuck pounding out copy whenever I can get to it. I have been thinking about what I am going to do to keep the site viable. I am going to write my copy offline and when I get to a computer with the internet, I will post the entries. So check back often to see if the site has been updated. Fewer entries but longer entries. I think it is a good trade off. More later.

Afternoon Update

Good afternoon...Short update today.
I have been busy the past few days with work and other stuff. I may have another job coming up soon. It is a position that I really want and that I am excited about. I am also moving. So it has been hectic this time of the year.
The congress is going to pass this new intelligence reform bill and the president will sign it in a big ceremony shortly after. The news now is who is going to be the new intelligence big man. Rumors are going around with different names such as Porter Goss, the new CIA director, Gov Tom Kean,Rep Pete Hoekstra and a few others. I think an excellent choice would be Senator Joe Lieberman. This is a man who has integrity and respect from people on both sides of the aisle.
It was reported earlier today that Dick Clark has suffered a stroke. Best wishes for a full and speedy recovery and holiday wishes to him and his family. It just wouldn't be the New Year without Dick Clark in Times Square.
I saw something interesting today in Wal Mart. The third season of 24 is out now and the sticker on the box said that the fourth season premier is going to be two hours long. I am all over that next month.
More later.

Afternoon Update

Good afternoon. Welcome back to Joey’s Jots and the start of a whole new week. I apologize for the lack of updates the past few days. I was busy with work. I will try to make a better effort this week to pound out more copy. Which leads me to this weeks…
Up Front and Center
Two things to lead off the week; Steroids in baseball and the Salvation Army bell ringer controversy with Target. I have a very interesting view on both.
The Target stores have come under attack in the past week by banning the Salvation Army from placing its bell ringers and kettles in front of Target stores. Target’s position is that it doesn’t allow any solicitation in front of any of its stores and wouldn’t make an exception for the Salvation Army. This has drawn fire from many people calling for bans of Target and calling Target Scrooges.
This may surprise some of you, but I’m going to side with Target on this one. The Salvation Army is one of the best charity organizations out there. I know people who work for the Salvation Army and belong to the Salvation Army church. I always give to the kettle when the holidays come around because I am a soft touch. I will try to give something to the charities that stand out in front of stores, often to the chagrin of the people that I am with. With that said, Target should do what they think is right. If they don’t allow solicitation, then they shouldn’t allow the Salvation Army. If you let one in then you have to allow all of them in. For every Salvation Army or Red Cross, you get those “charities” that no one has ever heard of that harass you all over the parking lot and can even get nasty if you don’t give something.
If you want to give to the Salvation Army, fine. Give to the Salvation Army. The kettles will be at countless other stores this holiday season. And if you don’t want to shop at Target, also fine. There are numerous other places that sell the same items as Target. If you want to hurt Target, then vote with your pocketbook or wallet.
Then there is steroids in baseball. This story got on my nerves about 45 seconds after it broke. If Jason Giambi or Mark Mcguire or Barry Bonds have done steroids, fine. It doesn’t bother me at all. Should they be playing baseball now? Of course not. But that is the responsibility of Major League Baseball to clean up this mess. If it bothers you as a fan, then again you have to vote with your money. Don’t watch the games and don’t go out to the parks. Send the league a message that they have to clean up their act. This is the way to go, not through some legislative way. If we are upset with something in the world of sports, then we can deal with it on our own. We don’t need the government to step in and try to clean up every little mess for us. More later.

Afternoon Post

I come from a long line of Carolina fans. That’s the University of North Carolina Tar heels to you among the great unwashed. We in the Harris family bleed Carolina Blue. As the fight song indicates, I’m a Tar heel born, and a Tar heel bred, and when I die, I’ll be a Tar heel dead. It even caused a minor scandal when I married an N.C. State fan! I look at that as going behind enemy lines to get the real battle plans for my team.
So this is the best time of the year for me. John Bunting and the Carolina football team fought hard this year in the face of adversity. Hard fought wins at the ending of the season pulled a respectable 6-5 record and a birth to the Tire Bowl in Charlotte against future ACC school Boston College. Roy Williams and the Carolina basketball team are also doing very well this year. They have a tough game coming up tonight against Indiana in the ACC-Big 10 challenge.
For years many basketball fans that I know have railed against the commentating of Billy Packer. He is anti-Carolina or anti-Duke too much they say. I dismiss most of that as bias against a commentator that isn’t a cheerleader for your particular team 100% of the time. That isn’t Billy Packers, Dick Vitale, Dan Bonner, or any other network commentators job. If you want to hear a broadcast tilted toward a certain team, then dial in Woody Durham or Bob Harris or Tony Haynes. They all do wonderful jobs, even if their jobs are different than the network coverage.
Billy Packer isn’t bad, but I think his son Mark is one of the better radio hosts that I have ever heard. His daily “Primetime with the Packman” and weekly “Primetime in the A.C.C.” shows are entertaining and informative. He is tuned in to the pulse of sports around the area and knows his stuff. I had the time of my life listening to his show last night driving back home from my parents house.
With tonight being the last night of Tom Brokaw doing the evening news, the focus shifts to Brian Williams as he begins his tenure as NBC’s lead anchor tomorrow night. I like Williams a lot. I don’t think that he is that bad of an anchor. I used to watch his newscasts on CNBC and MSNBC before he switched over to the network to take Brokaw’s place. He may lean toward the liberal side, but no more than any of the other anchors. He will give the conservative viewpoint a chance from what I have seen of his newscasts. That’s more that what other anchors have done.
Which leads me to Dan Rather. Or more specifically, to his successor. CBS is still looking for the person to fill Rathers seat come next March. The latest news is that they may go to a rotating basis with a few different people. They would love to have someone like Tim Russert come in and take the chair. The problem with that is Russert signed with NBC through the 2012 election. So here I am to offer the ultimate solution to the problem. CBS should offer the job to…………me.
Seriously. I couldn’t do much worse in the job than what is being done now. CBS is already third in ratings and down in the dumps as far as viewer reliability. I will even renounce the top editor and producer job that comes with it. All of the reporters and producers can do their jobs and stories any way they see fit. I will announce the reports and let them dig themselves into a big hole or whatever else they see fit to do. All I ask is that when I am reporting the news of the day the people at the CBS news division allow me to write my own copy and report it my own way. That’s it. Think CBS will go for it? Hey CBS, you want the resume? All you have to do is email me. More later.

Early Evening Post

Good evening.
It seems as though Dick Ebersol’s younger son did not survive the crash on Sunday. This is a tragic event that happened. I don’t know the family but you wouldn’t want to see something like that happen to anyone.
I am happy to see the President appoint some minorities to high cabinet posts. It was also good to see the people appointed by their merits and not to fulfill some quota.
I don’t know how, but I managed to gain a pound over the weekend. I don’t know what I ate any different. But somehow the pound crept onto my body. My weight problem is an ongoing issue. It is also a lifelong issue. I will always be fighting the battle of the bulge. I do not want to lose weight any more. I have lost weight before. Somehow, that weight found its way back to me and brought several of its friends to the party. No more losing weight for me. I want to get rid of the weight.
I think I am starting to get a cold. My throat feels a little sore. I also have a wisdom tooth that is trying to come through and is making everything on the right side of my mouth sore. I have to get it pulled and soon. I hate having my wisdom teeth come in so late. I have to get dental insurance soon. I may have a job change coming up so that will help things out if it comes through. I have to learn to think positively. More later.

Afternoon Update

Up Front and Personal

I hope that everyone had a good weekend. The Christmas rush is here. I tried not to get out among all those people this weekend. With the start of another week comes the debut of one of the new features as part of the blog. The Up Front and Personal segment that I will debut on Mondays. On Monday’s I will write about different issues and give analysis and my take on those issues. This will be a space where I can set the tone for the week and also give you the reader food for thought as you go through the week.
Today’s UFandP came to me while I was reading Neal’s Nuze, the highly informative and entertaining program notes of Neal Boortz, talk show host and noted Libertarian. Neal posts his daily notes on his website, boortz.com. If Joey’s Jots is a tenth as good as Neal’s Nuze, then I will be happy.
Two issues today, that of medical marijuana and also the United Nations. Medical Marijuana is one issue that I have changed my mind on over the years. Mr. Boortz has something to do with that, along with my growing understanding of the issue of states rights.
I don’t go as far as some Libertarians in saying that we should just automatically do away with the war on drugs. I do believe that we should allow the use of medical marijuana. I look at the issue two different ways. First, it is a states rights issue. Several states have passed laws allowing the use of medical marijuana and I believe that the federal government should not usurp states rights in these situations. The federal government says that the use of medical marijuana violates its laws against illegal drugs. That is the issue before the Supreme Court today. Second, I don’t believe that I or anyone has the right to tell someone who’s loved one has a terminal illness that they can’t have something to ease the pain in their last few days without robbing them of their clarity as some other pain medications do. If your loved one was dying of cancer and you could make them comfortable in their last days, wouldn’t you do whatever it took? Of course you would. Anyone who was a clear thinking human would. I believe that is at the core of this issue. That, my friends, is true compassion.
Next, the United Nations. Is there a more vile and ruthless organization in the world? Kofi “The Hutt” Annan is a human being that doesn’t care about the welfare of any country, much less the United States. He has a personal disgust for the U.S. and our policies. He doesn’t believe that any country should be sovereign. We should just all bow down to the alter of the “organization” that he is the leader of. The oil for food program only lined the pockets of corrupt men while starving the people that needed the food the program was supplying. You can bet Kofi the Hutt was cursing the people of the U.S. after President Bush was reelected on Nov. 2nd. It’s time for us to leave the U.N. and for the U.N. to leave New York.
I saw National Treasure this weekend. I wholeheartedly recommend it. I was entertained for the entire two hours. Just a very good movie. It isn’t Shakespeare, but it isn’t supposed to be. It holds your attention and that is what a movie is supposed to do. This one is going to go into the DVD library when the disc comes out. More later.

Late Update

More changes will be coming next week. As always feedback is appreciated.

Evening Post

I hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving holiday. I know I did. I even disciplined myself and didn’t eat too much. I didn’t miss the pecan or sweet potato pie that much.
Today is Black Friday. I drove past Wal-Mart this morning on my way to work. You could not even get on the lot. This was at freaking 6 a.m.!! You couldn’t pay me enough to get up that early.
Went out tonight and bought a few Christmas gifts. I still have a lot to buy though. It seems like it gets more hectic year after year. People will charge themselves heavily into debt over the holidays and will end up paying far more for an item than it costs after putting it on the credit card.
I work all weekend. I may find time to bang out a couple of entries. Then on Monday, I will debut a new feature for Joey’s Jots. More later.

Afternoon Post

Sorry about the late update today, work takes precedence over the blog. Almost 33 million people are traveling this week. So if you are headed somewhere for the holiday, be careful out there
This is the first major holiday for me since starting on my low carb diet. I have to watch what I eat. Food has not been that big of a problem for me since I began the diet about a month ago. The temptation comes tomorrow night though.
I had to do something though. I am morbidly obese and have a family history of heart problems. That is not why I started the diet though. I just got tired of negative comments from people. Strangers I just ignore. But it is family and friends that really get on my nerves. The comments that they make. I’m sure that they mean well, but they make me feel like crap. It has gotten worse since my older sister went on the low carb diet and lost over a hundred pounds. Then the relatives start to look at you like "What’s the matter with you?"
I’ll give you an example. Recently, I had to be with family members at a group of funerals that came up in October. The relatives would come down the line and would see my younger sister and tell her how good she looked and that she was doing well. Then they would go down the line and see my older sister and really go crazy about her. Then they would turn and see me. You could see it on their faces. They would say "Joey, you look..".Like 10 pounds of crap in a five pound bag is what comes to mind. But they don’t say that, they compose themselves and finish, "just like your father." Then they bid a hasty retreat. You go through that about ten times and you start looking for the nearest exit. More later.

Latest News

Drudge Report has posted that Dan Rather will step down as anchor of CBS Evening News in March of 2005. Probably a series of things led to this.

• Memogate-Rather and CBS will disavow this but the memogate scandal has taken its toll on the organization. Rather had egg on his face. He did his best to discredit and embarrass the president of the United States and got caught at it.
• His age-Rather has been there 24 years. He is no longer a young man. He probably knew that the writing was on the wall when Brokaw announced that he was stepping down and Brian Williams was taking his place. The face of television is that of a younger face. Rather can no longer compete, leading to...
• Sagging ratings-The cable nets and the expansion of new media have eroded network evening news ratings. Rather, Brokaw, Jennings just do not put up the numbers that they used to. It is probably a wise idea that Rather is stepping down now.

So all of this is leading to the changing face of evening news. In the next four months, 2 of the 3 network anchors will be gone. Wonder whats going on in Jennings mind right now?

More later.

Morning Post

It's raining here this morning. Probably going to rain all day. I'm feeling okay today. It's good to have a couple of days off from work.
All I have been hit with the past few days is that Pacers-Pistons brawl a few nights ago. I have seen that footage about a hundred times. The NBA did the right thing by suspending the players for their actions. And the local authorities are doing the right thing by going after the fans who were throwing things and starting fights. Kudos to both the University of South Carolina and Clemson University for refusing to accept bowl bids after their football players had their little brawl Saturday. It's a shame that Lou Holtz may be leaving South Carolina with this being his last game.
I am going to be either travelling or working the next three days. It's a rough way to spend a holiday weekend. My wife and I are going to her mothers for Thanksgiving dinner since we are both working during the day on Thursday. Then I have to come back and work on Friday. At least I'm not working doubles or having to go back twice a day this week. Although it is nice to have that extra money with the holidays coming up. More later.

Late Update

Talked to the parents tonight. They saw on the evening news that an 8th grade teacher at the school I used to teach at found a list of teachers and students that said "to die" on it. This is why I'm not teaching. I found out very early on that teaching was not for me. It made my life much tougher giving up that job, but I had to do it. My sanity was at stake. I just couldn't take it anymore. I have to talk to my friend Brandy to see whats going on at that school. A death threat list. Wow. Who could imagine that a 13 year old kid could come up with such a thing? Then again I used to teach 13 year olds and I read their journal writings. Teenagers are maturing much faster than they used to.

Second Post

I'm starting to get the hang of this thing. Still not all of the way there yet but better than a few minutes ago. More later.

Welcome to my blog

Welcome to the first post from me. I'm new to this blogging thing so please be patient. Expect this site to change often. Feedback is appreciated. All for now. Be back later.