Bill-O'-Notes® » Media

Wretched Truth Will Out

Bill O'Neill — Thu, 23 Dec 2010 20:07:48 +0000

I just heard this while listening to Wretched Radio. Todd Friel reviews a rabbi’s perspective on the matter of truth and then presents audio from an episode of ER entitled Truth Will Out with guest star Hal Holbrook delivering a very convicting message on truth to a garden variety central casting post-modern helper. Here is the audio….

Relevant Christians?

Bill O'Neill — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 15:26:01 +0000

Johnson raises some great points in his blog article, not the least of which is it’s article’s title, “Chasing Cool and Becoming Lukewarm.”

Vermont not “OK” with cross

Bill O'Neill — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 04:18:35 +0000

Do you know what makes this “Vermont” story all that more interesting to me? I had to go to an “Oklahoma” news source to find it. Greetings from Vermont.
The battle is on between religious freedom and land use laws around the country. The Oklahoman reports in NewsOK that here in Vermont a couple of Roman Catholics wish to maintain an illuminated cross of substantial size, twenty four feet, at a chapel they built for their very large family and the general public. State and local authorities say “no.”

An Obama ‘hamina-hamina-hamina’ moment

Bill O'Neill — Sun, 15 Aug 2010 21:36:14 +0000

Here now, the first in a series of “homina homina homina” moments in the life of President Barack Obama: [video] President Obama backslid Friday night on the Ground Zero mosque when he said, “I was not commenting and I will not comment on the wisdom of making a decision to put a mosque there….” Gee, I wonder why. The de-facto victory mosque, to be named after the location of a prior victory location in Europe, is going to be a burden to the Obama administration and his party. President Obama does have a bully pulpit; the question is, who is the bully’s target?

Sounds from the Champlain Bridge demolition

Bill O'Neill — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 05:43:03 +0000

Download audio file (Champlain-Bridge-Reaction_1.mp3)

What's In a Motive?

Bill O'Neill — Fri, 06 Jul 2007 17:32:03 +0000

What is it about crime news stories where speculation regarding motive plays such a central role? Just scanning some news stories of the day, particularly in television news, there seems to be this pressing urgency to get to the WHY of the story before exhausting key elements. News organizations must devote more time and expertise in satisfactorily reporting the Who, the What, the Where & the When before earning the right to go deeper into the story and to seek the Why. Apologists for perpetrators of violent crime waste no time proffering excuses for the heinous act. Likewise, the media who highlight a basis for evil actions over the necessity to identify the next stop for the wheels of justice simply full-monty their liberal bias every time.

American Idol

Bill O'Neill — Thu, 18 Jan 2007 17:09:20 +0000

There has been a lot of discussion about the unfortunate treatment by the America Idol judges to the ‘cattle parade’ of contestants. Thirty five million people bear witness to what seems to be a rash of misdirected private citizens all vying for a drink at the trough of success, fame and fortune. Long before reality TV, there was reality (talk) radio. I considered callers to any talk show I was hosting over the years as a guest. Even if things went bad, as it were, I was the host and they were my guest, not fodder. I consistently felt somewhat responsible for that person who would now be off of the phone, left to deal with whatever was going on, now alone. (I know that sounds a bit over-ripe, but….) Likewise, broadcasters (remember those?) need to remember that the cattle parades that line up for reality TV are invited guests. And how we treat our guests says more about us than other measures of success or power.

What’s in a name?

Bill O'Neill — Tue, 05 Dec 2006 16:33:07 +0000

Glenn Beck just related a story from Denver that a school board out there is removing the term, “children-at-risk” from their vernacular and replacing with (wait for it….) “children-with-promise.” How far we have come from juvenile delinquency. How to best address the challenge of youth in our society today? Rename them.

Open Sores

Bill O'Neill — Mon, 16 Oct 2006 17:07:56 +0000

Today’s Lowell Sun www.lowellsun.com is reporting that “Radio personality” Christopher Lydon’s $12,500 monthly contract for his four (4) one hour shows per week, Open Source, which is produced entirely at WGBH, is being dropped by UMass Lowell at the end of the year. The SUN story notes that the $150,000 per year that Bay State taxpayers sent to Lydon did not include payroll and state benefits provided to four of his staff including his producer, Mary McGrath. Although the Lydon hour aired daily on WUML (91.5 Lowell) it originated and was distributed via WGBH radio in Boston to around 30 other stations. Throughout the contract, Lydon had no involvement with WUML at UMass Lowell. File under: Nice work if you can get it.

AOL Out-of-Line…

Bill O'Neill — Thu, 22 Jun 2006 00:33:13 +0000

From NBC10.com An incredible video from CNBC shows an AOL customer trying to cancel his account, but a phone rep won’t let him do it. What customer Vincent Ferrari got when he tried to cancel his account was a lot of frustration. It took him 15 minutes waiting on the phone just to reach a real, live person. And, what happened next was recorded by Ferrari on audio and lasted about four minutes: CLOCK READOUT – 00:00 AOL REPRESENTATIVE: Hi this is John at AOL… how may I help you today? VINCENT FERRARI: I wanted to cancel my account. AOL: Sorry to hear that. Let’s pull your account up here real quick. Can I have your name please? VINCENT: Vincent Ferrari. CLOCK READOUT – 00:30 AOL: You’ve had this account for a long time. VINCENT: Yup. AOL: Use this quite a bit. What was the cause of wanting to turn this off today? VINCENT: I just don’t use it anymore. AOL: Do you have a high speed connection, like the DSL or cable? VINCENT: Yup. AOL: How long have you had that… VINCENT: Years… AOL: …the high speed? VINCENT: …years. AOL: Well, actually I’m showing a lot of usage on Continue reading →

A Look at Rather

Bill O'Neill — Tue, 20 Jun 2006 20:22:16 +0000

Dan Rather is said to be on the way out at CBS. Some would say down and out. Media Research Center has this look back on the former CBS news anchor… “The new Republican majority in Congress took a big step today on its legislative agenda to demolish or damage government aid programs, many of them designed to help children and the poor.” — Leading off the March 16, 1995 CBS Evening News. “Republicans kill the bill to clean up sleazy political fundraising. The business of dirty campaign money will stay business as usual.” — CBS Evening News, February 26, 1998. “There was no doubt Republicans in the House had enough votes tonight to pass another key item in their agenda to rip up or re-write government programs going back to the Franklin Roosevelt era. It is a bill making it harder, much harder, to protect health, safety, and the environment.” — CBS Evening News, February 28, 1995. “On Capitol Hill, the Republican-controlled House voted mostly along party lines tonight to pass President Bush’s federal budget blueprint. This includes his big tax cut plan, partly bankrolled, critics say, through cuts in many federal aid programs for children and education.” — Continue reading →

WCAP Radio’s 55th Birthday & Reunion Bash Live Broadcast

Bill O'Neill — Mon, 15 May 2006 15:46:48 +0000

Event: WCAP Radio’s 55th Birthday & Reunion Bash Live Broadcast When: Saturday Evening, JUNE 10th from 6- 10 pm Where: Gary’s Ice Cream, 127 Merrimack, Street, Downtown Lowell Hosts: Bill O’Neill and Gary Francis Featuring Live Appearances by WCAP Alumni: Joe Corcoran, Dave Faneuf, Mary Blake, Bill Smith, Doug Barker, Chuck Jenest, Mark Adams, Joe Abrams, Gordon Hamilton, Don & Anita Hill, Fred Faust, along with Congressman Marty Meehan, State Senator Steve Panagiatakos, Lowell Mayor Bill Martin, and a host of others.