Random stories.

Response to the Uranium special seems, so far, to be largely positive. I've heard we've had "a lot" of requests for hard copies of the story. Don't hold your breath for me to get a gold record or anything; it's probably just someone from the NRC, someone from an anti-nuke group, and some random other person. But if anyone's complained, I haven't heard of it -- which I'm a little surprised (and honestly a little disappointed!) by. Live and learn -- next time I'll be sure to call someone a dirty name -- within the bounds of FCC acceptability, of course.

A news anchor I deeply respect -- enough *not* to mention his name in this context -- just happened to be talking about that football playing prick from wherever down south tonight when he said "dogfarting charges" instead of "dogfighting charges". While I did indeed nearly choke to death laughing at this, it gives me some hope that I might get really good, myself -- and also warns me that no matter how good I get, on-air flubs *will* happen! And even an old burnt-out animal rights type person like myself can honestly say, under oath, "I never knew dogfarting was a crime".

I guess that's why I'm a reporter instead of a lawyer. :)

And since having a couple of ON AIR shifts myself, I've begun to truly *master* the art of "yelling at the radio". NPR had some hip-hop music review at the end of All Things Considered tonight which I ignored except to notice that the little 11 year old Brazillian girl or whatever it was that was singing REALLY JUST PLAIN OLD GOT ON MY NERVES. (I don't *know* what her politics are, but she sounds blonder than Monroe, making me wonder why we're wasting priceless national airtime on this -- to get a "younger" audience? At the bottom of the hour? Puhlease.) I only yelled at the radio once -- but it was perfectly synched with the broadcast delay. Basically I told her ENOUGH ALREADY and whaddaya know? She shut up. Then and there. The moral of this story? It pays to have an innate sense of timing. Or maybe, one's sense of timing is heightened by doing local weather reports. Who knows?

I love radio. That's all I know, and I'm stickin' to my story.

Meanwhile, back at EQNM (the out-of-state based organization masquerading as a grassroots in-state LGBT rights organization), I'm sent a mass email which includes the following choice phrases:

Thank you too all the amazing volunteers that collected Legislative cards at the 16th Annual Zia Rodeo.

If you our interested in joining our team please contact chris@eqnm.org (Italics, mine.)

Is it any wonder we don't have marriage equality in New Mexico? Might it be that our legislators just don't take us seriously when we demonstrate that we can't spell at a third-grade level even when communicating amongst ourselves? (Huh -- maybe "ho-mo-sex-eew-all-itty" *is* some sort of genetic "in-fan-til-eye-zay-shun".)

Is it any wonder EQNM goes back to the state legislature year after year fighting for less and less every time, even knowing that severely curtailed "states' civil unions" legislation will just open the way up for Representative Gloria Vaughn to push her redefinition of marriage into state law? They can't even bother to run their mass emails past someone in the office who can both read and write, even though they share office space with the ACLU, where I presume a fair number of lawyers may be present during office hours.

I shouldn't be surprised that they get so severely tunnelvisioned that they fail to see the context within which they're fighting for -- whatever it is they're fighting for. Less and less, as time passes, that's for sure. Thanks loads, but I can cry out "no, please don't!" against the rednecks throwing beer bottles at my head from pickup trucks without contributing funds or volunteer time to your effort to make yourself look good for doing the same, as though so doing somehow made you "radical".

Apparently they depend on spell check programs. Fine with me. Next time they want someone to walk precincts for them, they can depend on the "precinct check" program. I sure won't be there.

They got me to the roundhouse in 2004, and for that reason alone I won't ever stop listening to what they have to say. But it was basically them on the Thursday Morning's "Call In" show that got me up there. In the time that's ensued, I've come to see there's *much* more that happens at the roundhouse than the highly scripted nonprofit legislative morning theatre.

Arcie Chapa (spelling?) may indeed have occasional weak shows when she hasn't had the time to research an issue, but you know what? She's the reason I got involved. That means KUNM. Not EQNM. I know where my bread's buttered.

All the time and effort and passion and love and desperation that I give to KUNM could be EQNM's. But they've proven themselves unworthy. Astroturf activists for hire, in my eyes.

If it's not obvious by now I have a vested interest in the whole "marriage"/"civil unions" issue which has refused to die these last few years, and probably will not be covering it.