iSpry Blog

I wanted to blog this list of propaganda rules because I find them very interesting and valid. Try and use it to point out examples of propaganda you may find appearing in various governmental and mass media releases.

1) The rule of orchestration: endlessly repeating the same messages in different variations and combinations.

2) The rule of simplification: reducing all data to a simple confrontation between ‘Good and Bad’, ‘Friend and Foe’.

3) The rule of disfiguration: discrediting the opposition by crude smears and parodies.

4) The rule of transfusion: manipulating the consensus values of the target audience for one’s own ends.

5) The rule of unanimity: presenting one’s viewpoint as if it were the unanimous opinion of all right-thinking people: draining the doubting individual into agreement by the appeal of star-performers, by social pressure, and by ‘psychological contagion’.

I don’t think I’ll be flying again for a long time. I enjoy travelling but I’m not interested in being subjected to intrusive searches and exposure to X-rays in the name of “security”. I also am not interested in being treated as guilty before being proven innocent. These procedures are a violation of my 4th amendment constitutional rights. Who do these TSA agents think they are? You give some people a little power and they go completely overboard. I’m sorry but people have to take a stand here. Boycott air travel until new procedures are put in place that will not sacrifice our liberties for a little temporary security. Otherwise the terrorists win. Get up, stand up – stand up for your rights!

I’m sick of the whole politically-correct movement. Everyone is being brainwashed by this politically-correct nonsense to be way too thin-skinned nowadays. If you ask the average Joe or Jane on the street, they’d tell you that this oversensitivity to every critique (and it’s getting ridiculous) is not doing anyone any good and only invites more of the same.

There’s pressure on Ron Howard to drop a joke in his new film, “The Dilemma” because, in one scene, Vince Vaughn’s character calls an electric car “gay”.  Ron Howard, to his credit, is refusing to, calling such an idea what it is – censorship.  It’s a joke…please!  Whatever happened to “sticks and stones will break my bones but words will never harm me?” Now, words have become so harmful in the past 20 or so years?  They’re only words!  C’mon people, grow a pair of whatever suits you, develop a sense of humor, and learn to roll with things.  Remember, a sense of humor goes a long way in this crazy existence.

One of my personal heroes, Clint Eastwood, laments the loss of old-fashioned humor in today’s society – saying that he should be able to tell harmless jokes about nationality without fear of people branding him a “racist.”  Clint agrees with me that modern culture has become humorless, and that people now spend too much time trying to avoid being offensive.

He says, “People have lost their sense of humor. In former times we constantly made jokes about different races. You can only tell them today with one hand over your mouth or you will be insulted as a racist.

“I find that ridiculous. In those earlier days every friendly clique had a ‘Sam the Jew’ or ‘Jose the Mexican’ – but we didn’t think anything of it or have a racist thought. It was just normal that we made jokes based on our nationality or ethnicity. That was never a problem. I don’t want to be politically correct. We’re all spending too much time and energy trying to be politically correct about everything.”

Amen, brother.

I was thinking this morning about how everyone rails against liberals, like it’s a dirty word. This started in the eighties with Reagan and Limbaugh, and continues today with Beck and other conservative pundits. I’d like to play Devil’s Advocate and mention some of the GOOD things liberals and liberal ideas have brought us. Here are just a few:

America declaring Independence from England, based on the
quintessentially liberal idea of the “Rule by Consent of the Governed”.
The Bill of Rights
The end of slavery
Women’s right to vote
The end of segregation
Civil rights for all
The 40-hour work week
Employment benefit packages
The end of child labor
Social Security
The end of workplace discrimination
Consumer protection laws against dangerous and fraudulent products

Not all bad now, is it? I disagree with the neo-cons and others that “liberal” is a dirty word. I’m a moderate, as were Eisenhower and Nixon, because in politics, as in life, there is no black and white, only shades of gray. Just a little perspective, folks.  Liberal ideas differ from the liberal establishment and lefty radicalism.  Also, liberal ideas differ from liberal government-up-my-ass policies.  I love my freedoms, including the right to bear arms.  As long as I’m not harming others, leave me alone to be who I am. Enough said – Spry out.

First off, a disclaimer – this blog isn’t directed at anyone, specifically. OK, it comes down to this – I’m extremely tired of people making excuses about their behavior and not taking responsibility for their actions, for one. You know, if you screw up (and we all do) just admit it and move on. Don’t try to lay your blame game trip on me, sister or brother. And while you’re at it, do us all a favor and stop wallowing in self-pity…DO something about it!

Where have real guts gone, anyway? Anyone who has any guts, whatsoever is chastised nowadays as some kind of loon. Most everyone, it seems to me, is getting a little soft in the middle. I know, I know, there are people who actually need help, and it’s never wrong to ask for help if you need it.  But what I like about the Brits is that they tighten their belts and keep a stiff-upper lip in the face of adversity. Americans are ubersoft by comparison. We medicate in the face of adversity.  I wonder if we could have survived the sheer onslaught of bombs that were dropped on London during WWII. We were damn lucky that we were a continent away at the time. And that generation was a lot tougher than this one!

I just think we’ve become too soft and lazy, and are afraid of tapping our true potential. If everyone woke up one day, still hungover from their “pity parties” of the previous evening, and really buckled down and got to work, doing whatever they truly enjoy, they would surprise themselves with what they’d be able to accomplish. So, in conclusion, two words – “Man up” (and yes that applies to women too). Let’s all grow a pair and be all we can freaking be!

I figured I’d weigh in on this subject. First off, I like kids. I don’t have any, but I like ‘em. I don’t however, like ‘em screaming and crying while I’m out trying to eat a nice meal. There used to be an established protocol to prevent this. The parent, either the father or mother, would usher the child away when he or she started misbehaving. This doesn’t seem to be the case anymore. I’m not sure why, maybe people aren’t taught manners or maybe they’re just too lazy to get up out of their seat. Either way, it’s just plain annoying. Restaurant managers, afraid of alienating these rude people, just leave them alone to annoy the rest of their patrons. It’s one reason I’ll never return to the Melting Pot, a fondue restaurant not far from where I live. I just think a little courtesy goes a long way.

Lately, I’ve been thinking about the upcoming plan of a Gainesville so-called “Pastor” to burn Qurans on September 11th. The first thought I had was how un-Christian and un-American an act this is. In my opinion, this is simply something Jesus would NOT do. My second thought was how this disgraces the memory of the 32 moderate (repeat MODERATE) Muslim innocents who died that day. They were just living their lives to the best of their abilities, as we all are, and now this “Pastor” is planning to desecrate their memory and figuratively plunge a knife into the hearts of their families. It really saddens and angers me. My third thought was how this reminds me of Nazi Germany in 1934, when the Germans started by burning books and ended by burning bodies. Germany was one of the most enlightened and culturally advanced societies at the time. My hope is that this guy is only doing this for publicity and money, and will not go through with it. We need to respect each others faiths, and show some civility That’s one of the bedrocks this country was built on – beginning with the Pilgrims fleeing religious persecution in the 17th Century (remember that from your history books?). We don’t have to befriend each other, or even like each other – how about simply some TOLERATION and a “live-and-let-live” attitude? That’s the way I was raised, and I make no apologies for it.

President Bush was on-the-mark when he said “We respect Islam. But we will protect our people from those who pervert Islam to sow death and destruction,” Bush said. “Our goal is to help you build a more tolerant and hopeful society that honors people of ALL faiths and promotes the peace.” That point needs to be stressed – that the people who committed the egregious act against our fellow Americans 9 years ago were perverting Islam as extremists, and we as Americans are a better people than to simply stereotype and lump all Muslim people into one category. That happened in Germany in the 1930s and ended with the deaths of millions of innocent Jews, along with millions of Christians. This “Pastor” is sowing the seeds of death and destruction by way of his egomania and ignorance.

We cannot and should not allow our country to fall into the same patterns of disregarding the rights of others to live in peace among us. It’s time for all of us to speak out against the promoters of intolerance no matter what their race or religion is.

Well folks, thanks for visiting our new “Spry Show” site!  This show is a dream come true for me, and I just want to thank everyone involved in the process of making it happen, including Tammalicious, Sugar Shane, Tim, Carl and Carmine with WEUS, Val Silver, and my buddy Al Ford, a great guy and someone who I hope will be rejoining us on the show at some point. It definitely takes a lot of work building a show from scratch…and we enjoy a good challenge!  Radio has always been where I wanted to be, ever since I was 8 years old.  After 12 years in the business, it’s nice to be able to explore my creative side in a show that I feel is sorely needed.  Radio needs to be fun, but AM talk, for the most part, takes itself a bit too seriously sometimes…so here we are – the antidote!

Please keep checking back on the site as well, as we’ll have many more fun, exciting additions to it.  And be sure to listen in every Saturday morning at 10 on the Big 810 AM and Mondays at 10AM on 1490 WWPR…I promise each new show will be even better than the last…