Jay Kersting's Blog

Odd License Plate

Had the lighting been better, I would have snapped a photo with my camera phone.  It was in the city parking garage here in Jefferson City this afternoon.

KY NEWS

Slick, huh?

WISE up, folks. The biggest threats to our planet come from OUTSIDE the atmosphere.

By now, most people realize that global warming is real, but the argument is the cause of it.  And recent revelations show what I have known since Albert Arnold Gore, Junior, and his lack of science education, first spouted off his warnings about how humans were destroying the planet.  Those who supported Gore in the biggest propaganda campaign since Joe Goebbels, knew what I know….it was all crap.

Global warming is real and it is caused by….wait…..wait….here is comes…….the SUN!!!  Big, yellow, burning and glowing, it is the center of our solar system.  If it goes away, eight minutes later the planet is dark everywhere.  And then our sustainability comes to an quick end.

OK, so here is my point this morning.  While billions of ignorant people, and you may be among them, think that humans are the cause of global warming, there are much bigger and more dangerous threats to our planet.

NASA launched WISE a few days back.  WISE stands for Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer.  WISE will examine space and document asteroids, comets, possible planets and even search for evidence of life.  While not the intent, WISE will also note the movement of these heavenly bodies.

From the LA Times:

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-sci-wise15-2009dec15,0,1778788.story

So, if any of these are heading our way, we will have warning.  WISE will have some application to the Near Earth Object program.

To put this in pop culture terms, this is the stuff that the 1998 movies “Deep Impact” and “Armaggedon” gave us a little warning about. 

Currently, we don’t have a Harry Stamper to save the day.

Unfortunately, we have Albert Arnold Gore, Junior, out there playing rope-a-dope with many by keeping people looking INWARD at our planet and not OUTWARD toward space.

Let me scare you in a way much worse that Albert the fear-monger ever could.  Sure, there is a remote possibility that humans could damage their own ecosystem worse than all of the volcanoes in the world could.  But it is remote.  Even if I give in and believe it, but since Venus and Mars are also warming, I doubt it, there is a thing called a Gamma-Ray burst that could hit our Big Blue Marble and destroy everything.

Take care of your environment, but do it for the right reasons.  Don’t do it by surrendering your liberties.  Do it because it is the right thing to do for you, your family, your community and your planet. 

When you see governmental resources being directed for this cause, ask that they be redirected to look outward.

We don’t need as much protection from ourselves as we need from the unknown. 

And from the zealots, who are seeking to build their own power base and are not really looking out for you.

Are you a fan of French food? Think again….

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE5BE52420091215

I thought snails and frog legs were bad enough.

“Tell the chef this is high grade dog food….”

Wednesday, Anything Can Happen Day…..

Those of you who listened to the radio show know this, but you may not know where I stole this from.

The original 1950′s Mickey Mouse Club had their days of the week.  Wednesday was “Anything Can Happen Day” and I liked it so I stole it.  But I always give credit to the source….when asked.

How does a guy born in 1970 know this?  Well, when I was in Kindergarten and First Grade in Kansas City one of the local TV stations showed the reruns of The Mickey Mouse Club.  Probably as a teaser for the 1970′s version of the show.  But I watched it, so this stuck with me.

As for today, well….Anything Can Happen.

Boeing happy with 787 Dreamliner maiden flight

The good news is that the 787 Dreamliner had a very successful first flight. No luggage was lost.

OK, just kidding. Here is the story from the Wall Street Journal.

http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20091215-715073.html

Again, this is a radical change in commercial aircraft design. Could mean big things in the future of commercial aviation. If they can still afford to fly.

From the old radio archives….

Editorializing with Music – March 2007

Bad Taste?? – February 2007

Journalist/Author Bernie Goldberg

Fun with audio – Day in History – January 24, 2007

Author/Political Analyst Angela McGlowan on her book “Bamboozled” in May 2007

From Fox Sports Radio – A pregame report on the Cal Bears at Tennessee Volunteers game in 2006

Former MO Lt. Gov. Bill Phelps on the Fair Tax – February 2008

How financially responsible is your School District?

Back when I was working in radio, my listeners knew that I could be and would be an outspoken advocate for the right issues. One incident illustrated this better than the rest and that was when I threw my support behind the casino movement in Jefferson City.

The issue was defeated, but I offered reasonable suggestions to my audience why they could support the idea of a casino in Jefferson City. At the same time, I did lock horns with a group that chose to use the word “Integrity” in their name while acting without integrity. I pointed out their hypocrisy and they got very angry.

In any case, I did learn something from this experience. You can’t beat hypocrites unless you stoop to being a hypocrite yourself.

And that leads me to another issue that I took on at the urging of my listeners. It was an issue that hit close to home, special education cuts.

Here was the situation. Jefferson City Public School Superintendant Dr. Bert Kimble asked that the individual school principals to be sure that special education personnel were being used in the most efficient ways possible. Specifically, if para-professionals could be shared by two or more students, then do so, so long as the students do not suffer.

This was brought to my attention and I schedule Dr. Kimble to come on the show to discuss this and other financial issues facing the district at that time.

Because I am the father of a special needs child, many expected me to go on the attack and to be offended by Dr. Kimble’s actions.

Didn’t happen.

Why? Because the bigger issue was not how things were being handled for special education students, it was how things could be made more financially responsible. Dr. Kimble came on and said that the negative reaction was being amped up by some people who were not clear as to his request. Dr. Kimble’s request, as it turns out, opened with the statement that the needs to the special needs students came first, BUT if there were ways to make things more efficient please do so.

The other big issue at the time was the money being spent at Adkins Stadium. It had to be done due to an insurance issue and by doing the improvements and expansions, the district hoped to repay the costs more rapidly. Oh, and a lot of the money to fund the work was donated.

OK, so what prompted this was when I saw a news story from Columbia, Missouri, about cuts being made to the budget of Columbia Public Schools. Add to that the fact that I work for a company who serves over fifty school districts in the state, with our goal being to help them keep as much money in the classroom while still providing the students a good use of computers and technology.

Well, I know that Columbia Public Schools does not follow a reasonable practice. That practice being to do as much business with local and locally owned companies as they could. If they did that, they would keep more money in the community. That would have the impact on the Columbia Public Schools tax base by increasing it.

Simple tax policy lesson here. There are two ways in increase tax revenues. One, is to raise tax rates. The other is to increase the tax base.

And it is the second school of thought that explains why tax cuts increases tax revenues in both the short and long term more effectively than the former. And this works at all levels.

So, if Columbia Public Schools had worked with a local I.T. company, maybe Midwest CompuTech, or anybody else with an office in Columbia, rather than with vendors out of St. Louis, Columbia Public Schools would have a fraction more money than they do now.

Extrapolate that model beyond I.T. to other areas in spending, and the budget problem may still exist, but the discussion today would be about much smaller figures.

I personally think that, overall, Jefferson City Public Schools does a good job with our tax dollars. Are their areas of improvement? Of course, but what organization cannot say the same?

Answers to what I have been asked the past few months

In the past several months, whether as part of my new job with Midwest CompuTech or when I am out as a Chamber of Commerce Ambassador….or maybe just out on my own business, I get asked a lot of the same questions. 

Some people apologize for asking, but I try to assure them that they do not need to.

So, here are the questions and the answers that go along with them.

First – Do you miss working in radio? 

Yes and no.  I miss the on-air part of being in radio.  I really miss the interaction with the listeners, whether on the shows or out in the public.  I do NOT miss getting up at 4:00 am.  And I do not miss all of the stupid and petty crap that Cumulus made me do here in Jefferson City.  To be honest, the best way to answer this is to say that I miss doing radio the way we did it in Knoxville and the on-air part of what I did, what I did…NOT what my employer did, here in Jefferson City.

Second – Do you think you will ever go back in to radio? 

Yes, but at what level I do not know.  Nor do I know when.  The problem is with ownership in radio these days.  Consolidation, starting with the Telecommunications Act of 1996, led to the ownership in broadcasting to be held by very few hands.  When that happened, a lot of “best-practices” were eliminated from the business.  Why?  Because accountants and investment brokers were running radio and TV stations and not broadcasters. 

Think about this.  How often did you see a radio station advertisement on television or a billboard prior to 1996?  And now?

When radio promoted itself on other media, radio flourished.  When radio stopped promoting itself and tried to stand on its own, it failed.  It did take time, but the lack of responsible practices caused radio to fail.

If the big conglomerates split up, whether under the force of their own weight or by regulatory means, and stations or clusters end up with local owners again, then it will again be an attractive industry to work in. 

Until then, I am probably on the sidelines.

I will admit that I made an offer to go back to my oldtime slot, but not as a full-time job.  I would do it, for the right arrangement, so long as I am able to keep my position at Midwest CompuTech as my primary career focus.

Third – Are you staying in Jefferson City? 

Now that I have a job here in Jefferson City, yes, we will be staying.  For how long?  That always depends on our ability to succeed here.  Same reason why we left Knoxville, it was a better (perceived) opportunity for our family.

I like it here.  I enjoy being involved in the community.  I really have enjoyed being an Ambassador with the Jefferson City Area Chamber of Commerce.

Fourth – Was it an act?  The stuff on the radio…was it?

Short answer, no, it was NOT an act.  If I said it, I believed it.  Sometimes I did use hyperbole and sometimes I feigned outrage.  But overall, it was sincere. 

Sure, I amped things up when I thought the additional impact was needed.  But I never said anything, unless it was obviously in jest, that I didn’t believe. 

Fifth – Did you really vote for Barack Obama?

Yes, I did.  This is my John Kerry moment.  I voted for Barack Obama, before I voted against him.

In the 2008 Missouri Democrat Primary, I did indeed vote for Barack Obama.  I admitted this on the radio.  At the time, I felt that a race between Barack Obama and John McCain would bring out the best in America.

Boy was I wrong.  Later, we all learned that Barack Obama is a misogynist and authoritarian.  The man actually said that he was ready to RULE. 

RULE??!!??  We do NOT have rulers in the United States of America, Mr. Obama. 

I was initially motivated by my desire to vote against Hillary Clinton.  (But I do love my Hillary Pen.)  But I really thought Barack Obama was a different kind of politician.

I was wrong.  He is like many other politicians.  Need proof, look at the people he surrounds himself with.  Bad, bad people…starting with Rahm Emanuel, continuing through David Axelrod.  But look at his choice of people throughout his life.

My parents warned me that I would be judged by the people I surround myself with.  I tried to be careful after getting that advice.

Too bad many other people didn’t get that same advice.  And worse yet than some who have given that advice, don’t use it themselves.

Sixth – Why in the computer biz?

The short answer, because they offered me the job.  The longer answer, it is a return to my professional roots.

History…..back in March 1992, while shopping for a new computer printer, I drove by where a new CompUSA store was being built.  I walked in and asked when they were hiring.  They told me to come back the next morning.  The next morning I was met by a couple of the managers and they interviewed me immediately.  I was asked to give them some urine and a couple of days later I was an employee of CompUSA. 

During my time with CompUSA, I opened five stores and worked in a total of seven.  I held positions in retail management and operations management before I moved to the Corporate Sales Division.  It was in Corporate Sales where I spent most of my time.

Midwest CompuTech needed someone in Jefferson City who knew a lot of people to help grow the Jefferson City office.  My background in radio added to my background in technology sales just seemed to fit together for them.

It is a great company to work for and I really do enjoy what I do. 

Those are the questions that I have been getting.  If you have others, drop me a line and I will give you the honest answers that you have come to expect from me.