Up The Mainstream

Our KZFR crew made it back to Chico from the National Federation of Community Broadcasters (NFCB) conference in Atlanta without incident. Actually, I accidentally left a flashlight at the hotel, and somewhere in the Atlanta airport my Klean Kanteen is waiting, and waiting and waiting. I hope someone decides it's too cool of a thing, stainless steel and all, to be sent to the landfill.

By the way, the conference was great, the Sheraton was great, but I don't much care if I ever see Atlanta again. Food and beverage are much too expensive, even by California standards, and the panhandlers on the street won't leave you alone. Oh, and the pikers want $8 for crappy wireless internet in the airport. That was the last straw for me. Internet access should be free in an airport, especially the "snail's pace" available in the Atlanta airport.

Right now, I'm in the Sacramento Airport (again) heading toward a video shoot in SoCal for the California Water Board. Stayed at the Vagabond Old Town last night. I love the location of this place and have stayed there several times, but my wife is right, it is really noisy there. I generally don't have issues with that sort of thing, but between the garbage trucks, sirens, trains and traffic, even I was annoyed.

I'll be in the Hyatt in Long Beach tonight...please God, let them have free wireless internet!

Posted by Dan Carter at 07:17 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I'm back in my room at the Sheraton in downtown Atlanta. My roomie Jason, the KZFR Operations Coordinator and I are just into a couple of Jamesons, although he commits the blasphemy of mixing it with Coca Cola...it's okay, he's definitely earned it. His brain is full too.

After three sessions yesterday, our group went out to dinner at a sushi place, which was a bit ironic, considering we came from California. Mine was a little under cooked (just kidding) I actually had a delicious Thai Chicken dish which was just spicy enough to suit my taste. After dinner we stopped off at the Hard Rock Cafe for souvenirs then we stumbled into an Irish Pub and watched Xavier beat Weat Virginia. There is a tasty local microbrew here called Sweetwater, their brown ale was good but not as good as Sierra Nevada's brown ale.

This morning I went to an early (7:30) session that was a roundtable discussion of legal issues associated with communty radio. Very interesting. Next I attended a session devoted to building audience, followed by a session about trends in radio audiences. After lunch I learned about interviewing for radio and the last session was about volunteer training programs.

In between the second and third paragraphs of this entry, we took a cab ride over to Glady's Night's Waffles and Chicken. It was damn good...now I have been to Atlanta.

Posted by Dan Carter at 03:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I'm in Atlanta GA for the National Federation of Community Broadcaster's Conference. We arrived last night and today (it's nearly 6pm here right now) was the first full day.

I started out a bit bleary-eyed from jet lag this morning, thinking I had developed some kind of immunity to caffein. I nearly overslept and was late to the welcome and conference open. Stayed up too late because I wasn't sleepy, then couldn't get my sorry self out of bed in time to do anything but shower and wolf down some under done scrambled eggs for breakfast.

After the opening session my next stop was devoted to Financial Management and Budgeting for New Managers. Although I am not, and do not expect to be a manager, new or otherwise, I learned some things that will certainly help me be a nuisance as the KZFR budget committee begins meetings next week. Yes!

There was a fine lunch and I had a delightful conversation with a man from South Carolina who manages a Cool Jazz station, sponsored entirely by the B'hai Faith. What a great gig he has, great music, a positive message for listeners and no need to raise money. Vey nice man.

After lunch I attended a session devoted to updating the Corporation for Public Broadcasting's (CPB) latest activities. KZFR received its first CPB grant last year, and I found a great deal of the information very enlightening and encouraging at this session.

In the last session of the day I found myself the moderator. It was billed as a Solution's Center for Board Members and I think the people who attended thought that I might have some solutions to offer. They were nice enough to stick around for more of a comisserating session when they discovered that no oracle was included. It was very enjoyable connnecting with some board members from other stations.

Right now I'm waiting to gather with my Zephyr cohorts to share our respective days at the conference and to get some dinner. I'll share more tomorrow.

Posted by Dan Carter at 02:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I want to be a committed delegate for Barack Obama at the Democratic National Convention in Denver in August. In order for this to take place I have to get as many registered Democrats as I can to show up at a yet to be named location on Sunday April 13th at 3pm to vote for me. Here is why I feel I am qualified:

I have been an activist on progressive political, environmental and social issues in Chico and Butte County for about 25 years.

I have worked on the campaigns and provided financial support to each of the five progressive members of the City Council as well as the two Chico representatives on the Butte County Board of Supervisors.

I am a financial and philosophical supporter of the Butte Environmental Council, the Sacramento River Preservation Trust, The Nature Conservancy and the Peace and Social Justice Center.

I have been an active member of the Board of Directors of KZFR Community Radio for nearly four years and am currently the Chair of the Board of Directors.

I have been an adult leader for Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts for the past 11 years and my youngest son is on the verge of becoming an Eagle Scout.

I have had the honor of having numerous letters to the editor printed in the Chico ER, the Chico News and Review, the Chico Examiner and the Chico Beat since about 1995.

I have sustained a progressive political philosophy for the past 30 years and I believe that Barack Obama has the potential of substantially improving the direction of this nation if we can get him elected president.

If you have questions for me or would like to learn more about supporting me to become a delegate, please contact me at demdantodenver08@yahoo.com Thank you!

Posted by Dan Carter at 09:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Recently I announced my candidacy to be a delegate for Barack Obama at the Democratic National Convention in Denver in August. If your are a registered Democrat or are willing to change your registration to Democrat at the caucus in April, I am asking for you to vote for me. If you want more information about the caucus on April 13 or me and why I feel I am the most qualified male candidate on the ballot, please send me an email at demdantodenver08@yahoo.com and I will be pleased to respond to you. Many thanks! dfc

Posted by Dan Carter at 09:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I always listen to the radio when I'm driving. On a recent morning, as I was dropping my son off at school I caught a story on NPR's Morning Edition that was trying to draw contrasts between Clinton and Obama. Featured in this story were two Youngstown Ohio women. A 21-year-old college co-ed and a 40-something social studies teacher. The college woman was a staunch Obama supporter and the social studies teacher was just as dedicated to Clinton. In a way it was a microcosm of the race, the young idealistic person in favor of the charismatic Obama and the experienced older person favoring the experienced Clinton.

The social studies teacher was very articulate and able to readily identify the qualities in Clinton at the foundation of her support. The young person was not readily able to recite talking points and expressed herself more in relation to her emotions. Had this been a debate, the younger woman would have fared poorly against her elder.

As I think about it, I question NPR's judgement in pitting these two together for contrast with the younger person being so obviously out of her depth. At the same time I see legitimacy in it because it does represent, accurately I think, large segments of the two candidates respective supporters.

Continue reading "An Inflatable Suit" »

Posted by Dan Carter at 07:06 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

It seems like it has been forever since I've posted and I still owe part three of my "Why do Conservatives Under Value our Freedom" series. In all honesty my work and other personal, professional, political and community involvements have me struggling to keep up. Oh, and I've had that lousy upper respiratory crud that has been going around. I have been thinking about the blog quite a bit however, and I look forward in the future to sharing some of the adventures upon which I am embarking.

One of my top priorities of late has been working with my 17 year old son on organizing his Eagle Scout Project so that he can earn Boy Scouts' highest rank of Eagle before his birthday in May. He'll be making 40 Barn Owl Boxes for the Nature Conservancy. I'll be writing much more about this in the very near future. Maybe YOU would like to sponsor a barn owl box? It's a great project!

I am also a member of the Board of Directors of KZFR 90.1 Community Radio. Next month I will have the privilege of attending the National Federation of Community Broadcasters convention in Atlanta GA. I am a relatively new convert to community radio and I look forward to learning a lot and returning even more enthusiastic and motivated than I am. I also plan to blog here about the conference as well. KZFR's Spring Membership Drive is coming very soon...tune in and give us money!

Another exciting thing is the Democratic contest for the presidential nomination. I was very impressed with the way the Obama organization came together before the California Primary and I've become an Obama believer in that process. It is my intention to throw my hat in the ring to become an Obama delegate from the 2nd Congressional District, so I'll be writing more about that as the time for action draws near.

There's definitely more to come...thanks for checking out my blog.

Posted by Dan Carter at 05:28 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Much of the following supports some of the points I've been trying to make in my "Why do Conservatives..." series. It's from the Center for American Progress and available at:

http://www.americanprogressaction.org/progressreport?elq=C8C4D61144F94A7AB2F40EB5E52120A7

Playing The Fear Card Again

In late 2005, President Bush acknowledged that his administration had authorized a secret warrantless domestic surveillance program. The administration's program operated in violation of the Constitution's Fourth Amendment restriction against "unreasonable searches" without a warrant. It also violated of federal law -- the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) -- which makes it a crime to conduct electronic surveillance, except as "authorized by and conducted pursuant to a search warrant or court order." For the past two years, Congress has sought to rein in Bush's reckless disregard of the Constitution and the law. In early Aug. 2007, Congress unwisely passed a temporary expansion of FISA, called the Protect America Act (PAA), which provided virtually unchecked power to the administration to spy on American communications without warrants. Tomorrow, the unnecessary and dangerous powers given to the administration by Congress six months ago are set to expire.

Continue reading "Playing The Fear Card Again" »

Posted by Dan Carter at 09:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This was interesting reading to me, so I thought I'd share....

Poetic justice: Limbaugh tries to tear GOP apart
By Eric Boehlert
Created Feb 13 2008 - 10:54am

Rush Limbaugh, the marauding Frankenstein's monster of the Republican Party, is on the loose again, causing all kinds of political damage with his signature off-balance swings. But as has become his custom recently, the pain from Limbaugh's rampage is being felt by his creators -- his enablers -- inside the GOP.

Continue reading "Poetic justice: Limbaugh tries to tear GOP apart" »

Posted by Dan Carter at 02:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

While writing this I was seated in Dr. Kenneth Lange’s waiting room while my son was having his teeth cleaned. Dr. Lange is definitely part of the local conservative establishment and his wife Sheryl, was once appointed to the Chico City Council to finish the term of a conservative council person, Bill Johnston who passed away in office. I bring this up as an example of how our lives in this community tend to be intertwined, and how fate seems to toss us together irrespective of our political views no matter how staunch they may be. I could recount numerous examples.

By the way, Dr. Lange is the best dentist I’ve ever known and I am grateful for his professionalism and skill when he plies his trade in my toothy orifice. We’ve never discussed politics, local or otherwise, but I’d be very surprised if we saw eye to eye on very many things.

I was flattered by the comment of Rainman in response to the first installment of this series. He was correct in his accusation that I was painting all conservatives with the same brush and I appreciate that he did not take my comments personally. I was reminded of discussions I have had with my two brothers, both of whom I would characterize as conservatives. My older brother tends to dismiss me as being “misguided.” My younger brother mostly parrots Rush Limbaugh. They both remind me of something Bush said in 2001 when he was asked to explain himself, “I know what I believe and I believe what I believe is right.”

Continue reading "Why do conservatives hate our freedom? (Part Two)" »

Posted by Dan Carter at 09:48 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)