The Op Ed Page

Updated Further: WCBS-FM A to Z - not quite

2008-07-06T22:10:00.000-04:00

Someone at WCBS-FM radio (101.1 FM in New York City or wcbsfm.com), we don't know who, had a great idea: Play every song in the WCBS-FM library, from A to Z.

Great idea, as listeners finally get to hear more than just the small subset of songs the station keeps otherwise playing. Sadly, however, a lot of songs are missing.

Here is just a very small sampling of some songs that were and were not played:

Played	Not Played

Love Me Tender - Elvis Presley	Love Me - Elvis Presley
	Loving You - Elvis Presley

Stay - Maurice Williams & the Zodiacs	Stay - 4 Seasons
	Stay - Jackson Browne

Little Darlin' - Diamonds	Little Darlin' - Gladiolas (Maurice Williams)

Silhouettes - Herman's Hermits	Silhouettes - Rays

Sukiyaki - A Taste of Honey	Sukiyaki - Kyu Sakamoto

	Soon - 4 Seasons

Alone - Heart	Alone - 4 Seaons

	Bye Bye Baby - 4 Seasons

Could It Be Magic - Barry Manilow	Could This Be Magic - Dubs

Leader of the Pack - Shangri-Las	Leader of the Laundromat - Detergents

Gloria - Shadows of Night	Gloria - Cadillacs
Gloria - Them	Gloria - The Passions
Gloria - Laura Branigan

Crying in the Chapel - Elvis Presley	Cry - Johnny Ray

Do You Wanna Dance? - Beach Boys	Do You Wanna Dance? - Bobby Freeman
Do You Want to Dance? - Bette Midler

	Daddy's Home - Shep & The Limelites

Ain't That A Shame - Fats Domino	Ain't That A Shame - 4 Seasons
	Ain't That A Shame - Pat Boone

Baby Blue - Badfinger	Baby Blue - Echoes

	Everybody Loves Somebody Sometime - Dean Martin

Go Away Little Girl - Happenings	Go Away Little Girl - Steve Lawrence
Go Away Little Girl - Donny Osmond

	I Feel Fine - Beatles

	Chances Are - Johnny Mathis

	It's Not For Me To Say - Johnny Mathis

Love Potion Number Nine - Searchers	Love Potion Number Nine - Clovers

Surfer Girl - Beach Boys	Surf City - Jan & Dean
Surfin' Bird - Trashmen
Surfin' U.S.A. - Beach Boys

In The Still of the Night - Five Satins	Tonite Tonite - Mello-Kings

(Just added the last item above - They played "In the Still of the Night" but not "Tonite Tonite", and the latter was glaringly missing while Norm N. Nite was on the air broadcasting from the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame! Why didn't he say something or just make sure it got played?)

The order of a number of songs is totally illogical. Sometimes a song beginning with "The" fell into the letter of the next word, and others fell into the "The" section of the survey. Same for song titles beginning with "A" or "I". Very strange and confusing.

Although lots of other great songs from the 50's through the 80's were played, many great songs are missing. Instead, some never heard of before (and hopefully never to be heard again) songs got airplay. I can't even tell you the names of the really bad non-hit songs that got played, because I never heard them before and no one ever said what was played. (Perhaps the DJs were just too embarrassed to tell us.)

So while this was a great idea, the claim by the station that they are playing everything in their library is clearly not quite accurate, because the real WCBS-FM would have played the songs listed above and the many, many, more that have been skipped along the way. It is hard to figure out the logic of the choices, as many singles were excluded, but a number of album-only songs got played. I hope they do this again -- and next time really play ALL the music from A-Z from the 1950's through the 1980's.

As I've pointed out in previous articles, there would be no rock & roll of the 60's, 70's or 80's without the rock & roll of the 50's.

Richard Kuper
The Op Ed Page
http://TheOpEdPage.com

Public Transportion in NYC Getting Worse

2008-07-04T10:25:00.002-04:00

Every time the fares go up, the service goes down. This seems to be a recurrent theme whenever the transit services raise their fares.

Several months ago, the fares on the NYC subway system went up. So did the fares on the PATH trains. Travel on both of these services, and transferring from one to the other, have since gotten much worse.

On the subways, for example, the E and F trains in Queens now run slower than ever during rush hour, and there are regular mishaps. The local R and V service actually sometimes get from Continental Avenue to Queens Plaza faster than the E express. Audio announcements are fewer and are again at times unintelligible.

The PATH trains have had many many delays and mishaps since the fare increase.

The transfer between the two services at the World Trade Center location is a story unto itself. The underground transfer between the E, for example, and the PATH train survived the 9/11 attack but was clearly in need of some repairs as there were constant water leaks. So PATH built a new entrance and closed down the old one. But no one at the MTA/NYC Transit or at PATH seemed to have thought the changes through very well. On day one several months ago, shortly after the fare increases, the old entrances that could accommodate the hundreds of thousands of commuters transferring between the two services or simply entering or leaving the World Trade Center area, were closed. Instead, these hundreds of thousands of commuters were directed to/from the E train via one (yes I said one) very narrow staircase that could barely accommodate one way commuter traffic, let alone two-way for hundreds of thousands of commuters. Then, all who were going toward the PATH train or toward the subway (opposite directions) were relegated to one enclosed street where construction was also going on, to get to/from the E and the PATH. What a nightmare.

The folks in charge of the MTA, NYC Transit, and PATH should all be replaced with people who think ahead and look at the ramifications of changes and then fix the problems before they become problems. And the poor service on both systems clearly do not warrant the fare increases already imposed or those threatened to be imposed in the near future. Instead, fares should be rolled back and a thorough investigation launched into the clear mismanagement of both services. Where is all that fare money going? It clearly isn't going into service improvements or to people with common sense to avoid such nightmares. And where has the asleep-at-the-wheel press been? I haven't seen any articles about this.

Richard Kuper
The Op Ed Page
http://TheOpEdPage.com

Unfair Fares

2007-12-22T10:21:00.000-05:00

In New York City and vicinity, the Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) ignored the voice of the people and voted this week to raise the fares on the majority of commuters. On the very day that the vote took place, service on the subways was worse than usual. On top of that, it was reported recently that the MTA was swimming in a huge surplus. Yet service is down, station maintenance is down, and the homeless are moving back into the stations. On the roads, tolls continue to be collected and raised when the purpose of those tolls, especially for bridges and tunnels, was to recoup the original cost of building them. The tolls were never meant to be indefinite or to be used for other means.

The increases in fares and tolls hurt the middle and lower classes of society, which make up the majority of society. There should be no tolls on any roads or bridges or tunnels, and public transportation should be free. General taxes should be used to pay for the providing of these public services. There should be certified and vetted persons managing and maintaining the roads and rails and buses and they should be answerable to the public. A public, annually reviewed audit should occur showing exactly where and how money is being spent.

Richard Kuper
The Op Ed Page
http://TheOpEdPage.com

Gonzales is Gone, But the Disease Remains

2007-08-28T17:48:00.001-04:00

I was thinking about writing an article about the resignation of Alberto Gonzales and how that, along with the prior resignation of Karl Rove, does nothing to correct the problems created by the current administration.

Then I saw this article by Steven Brant. Hard to top it, so I won't even try. Go read Steven's article titled "Gonzales is Gone, But the Disease Remains". In addition to that article and all the valuable links in the article, you might also find "The Myth of The Rule of Law", written a number of years ago by an Associate Professor at Georgetown University, interesting as well.

Richard Kuper
The Op Ed Page
http://TheOpEdPage.com

Corporate Cost Cuts Have A High Price

2007-08-23T23:24:00.000-04:00

According to this article, " The recent health and safety scares that led to major toy and food recalls highlight the pressures facing companies that export their manufacturing, and just how quickly a corporate image can become tarnished." However, the article, in this writers' opinion, misses the larger point. This is just the latest display of how shipping work and jobs out of the US has been a disaster for the the citizens of the USA. The press has done a very poor job of reporting on all the people in this country who have lost their jobs and have either never found work or had to take lower paying jobs if they could find any in order to support themselves and their families. And of course none of the government statistics address this. For example, the reported unemployment rate is not anywhere close to reality. At best it only counts those who are currently collecting unemployment. It does not count those whose benefits have run out or who were never entitled to benefits in the first place.

There is a serious but under-reported crisis in this country. Hopefully some of the media will wake up and start reporting regularly on the true state of unemployment and corporate greed and how off-shore outsourcing of jobs and other factors have contributed to this sorry state of affairs.

Richard Kuper
The Op Ed Page
http://TheOpEdPage.com

Second Impression: WCBS-FM

2007-07-22T00:44:00.000-04:00

A week ago I posted my first impressions of the return of WCBS-FM. It appears what I wrote was read by the management of WCBS-FM because they appear to have addressed the issues I raised:

That obnoxious jingle telling us where "Jack" went (no one cares and it was ticking everyone off) is gone (or at least it wasn't played during any time I tuned in this past week).

They seem to have discovered that there are more songs over a 30+ year spread than can be played within 48 hours, and although there still are some repeats, each time I've tuned in over the past week I heard songs I had not heard played since the relaunch.

And most importantly, WCBS-FM is playing songs from the 1950's and early (pre-1964) sixties. As I stated in the previous article, "there would be no Rock & Roll of the 1960's, the 1970's or beyond without the Rock & Roll of the 1950's."

Richard Kuper
The Op Ed Page
http://TheOpEdPage.com

First Impressions: The Return of WCBS-FM

2007-07-15T01:15:00.000-04:00

First Impressions: The Return of WCBS-FM

Here in NYC, WCBS-FM has been an institution since the early 1970's, playing the greatest hits of the 1950's and the 1960's. Then, several years ago, they started fiddling with the format and isolated the 1950's to a once-a-week show, and the rest of the time played songs from the 1960's and 1970's. Then, one day, after more than 30 years of being the favorite station of most New Yorkers who listened to music on the radio, playing the music "we" wanted to hear, WCBS-FM ceased to be. All the DJs were let go and replaced by a voice claiming to be some guy named "Jack" who was going to play what "he" wanted to hear instead of what "we" wanted to hear. Not quite sure why anyone thought that was a good idea.

Well as you can imagine, that caused a major uproar, and the new format failed miserably. It took two years before the management decided to drop the new format and go back, sort-of, to what they had abandoned - the music "we" wanted to hear. But it's not quite the same. Gone are the 1950's all together. Gone are most of the DJs that were the on-air personalities that helped make the station what it was. Instead what is back is music of the 1960's and 1970's, supplemented with songs from the 1980's, plus a few of the DJs that were let go, and some new (to WCBS-FM) DJs.

WCBS-FM came back on the air on Thursday July 12, 2007 at 1:01PM. I listened at different times of the day for the first 48 hours. By day two I was already hearing repeats of songs that had been played. Why are they already repeating songs? Surely they could not have run out of 30 years' worth of music after only one day. And I have yet to hear any song from earlier than 1964. The 1960's start in 1960 after all.

Another thing: They should immediately stop playing that obnoxious promo that includes telling folks where the old and failed "Jack" and the songs "he" wanted to hear could still be heard. We don't care -- and any mention on air of "Jack" just makes us want to hit the button and change channels. They should vow never to mention "Jack" again. He's hit the road and should not come back. In fact, Ray Charles singing "Hit The Road Jack" is what should have been the first song played. I didn't hear it played during the time I listened before writing this article.

And finally, there would be no Rock & Roll of the 1960's, the 1970's or beyond without the Rock & Roll of the 1950's. So to live up to the motto, "The Greatest Hits", the station needs to include the music that started it all.

Richard Kuper
The Op Ed Page
http://TheOpEdPage.com

Forgotten Generation Get's Rediscovered

2007-07-12T12:00:00.000-04:00

Back in June 2005 I posted this article about the demise of WCBS-FM. Well, today at 1:01pm it will return, but not quite as the same station. Many of the DJs will not be back, either because they have other commitments now, or have retired, or, sadly, have passed on. Also, it will be a rare moment if any music from the 1950's gets played. The new WCBS-FM will span from the 1960's to the 1980's.

I hope that there will at least be a show somewhere in the lineup that plays music from the 1950's and that they change their mind and play some 50's in the general mix.

Welcome back, sort-of.

Richard Kuper
The Op Ed Page
http://TheOpEdPage.com

The Fairness Doctrine

2007-07-02T11:21:00.000-04:00

The problem with what is on the air today is there is a blurry line between news and opinion. What should occur is as follows:

NEWS programs should be forced to be NEWS programs and not opinion factories. If they wish to have opinions expressed, there should be CLEAR visual/audio statements that the following is an OPINION and NOT news, like when the news programs once upon a time had a segment clearly labeled opinion or editorial. If there is to be an interview of someone representing a specific point of view, equal time must be given to the opposing viewpoint, or else the program becomes a biased opinion show and not a news program.

OPINION programs (like Rush and others), as long as they are CLEARLY marketed and explained as OPINION and not NEWS programs, are fine, because listeners or viewers know that they are tuning in to an opinion show.

The above also applies to print media and Internet media. If a publication bills itself as a NEWS publication, then it should be reporting news, with a clearly defined opinion/editorial section for such opinions/editorials. If a publication bills itself as an opinion/editorial publication, then it is clear that is what it is.

Richard Kuper
The Op Ed Page
http://TheOpEdPage.com

Warning: Counterfeit Toothpaste - may be harmful - if you've got any, stop using it immediately

2007-06-15T10:55:00.000-04:00

If you buy your toothpaste at 99 cent or similar stores, you may have purchased counterfeit toothpaste.

Currently Colgate is warning everyone about counterfeit Colgate found in at least 4 states.

I suspect other brands will follow.

The counterfeit Colgate contains Diethylene glycol - a chemical used in the production of polyester resins, plasticizers, acrylate and methacrylate resins and urethanes. It comes labeled as a 5 ounce or 100 ml tube, a size not made or sold by Colgate in the United States. You can identify the counterfeit product by the words on the package, "Manufactured in South Africa", and there may be several misspelled words on the product carton including: "isclinically", "SOUTH AFRLCA" and "South African Dental Assoxiation." Colgate does not import toothpaste into the U.S. from South Africa.

If you've purchased this product, you should stop using it immediately.

Richard Kuper
The Op Ed Page
http://TheOpEdPage.com

Democrats cave; Bush wins

2007-05-24T13:14:00.000-04:00

That is clearly the only way to describe the invasion of Iraq funding bill that will be voted on this week by Congress. The bill removes all time-tables for getting our troops home safely; removes any requirements of accountability by the president; and essentially grants everything Bush has demanded.

What a sad, sad, day for this country and for our troops in harms way in a war that we should not be in in the first place. Clearly the democrats in Congress are not listening to the overwhelming majority of the people who elected them. If they were, then they would be sending the same bill they sent the first time, over and over again until the president could no longer get away with murdering innocent Americans by putting them where they don't belong and never should have been.

Meanwhile, Osama bin Laden is still at large, and the persons and countries responsible for the attack on the USA on 9/11 still have not been brought to justice.

Richard Kuper
The Op Ed Page
http://TheOpEdPage.com

Sixty Million Containers of Pet Food Recalled After Dog and Cat Deaths

2007-03-18T00:52:00.000-04:00

If you buy pet food, you want to go to the links below.

See:
http://www.menufoods.com/recall/
for the products being recalled and the number to call for more info.

and here is an article summarizing the problems:
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,259223,00.html

Richard Kuper
The Op Ed Page
http://ReadTheOpEdPage.com

FDA warns consumers of online drug scam: You may have actually received a schizophrenia drug

2007-02-17T00:20:00.000-05:00

If you or someone you know purchased sleep aids, antidepressants, or other drugs over the internet, you should read this article. According to the Food and Drug Administration, what may have been shipped instead was a schizophrenia drug.

Richard Kuper
The Op Ed Page
http://ReadTheOpEdPage.com

"Offshore-developed software projects have 2.8X as many bugs as average software projects"

2007-02-14T16:49:00.000-05:00

For details, start here:
Offshore-developed software projects have 2.8X as many bugs as average software projects

Richard Kuper
The Op Ed Page
http://ReadTheOpEdPage.com

The Decline of Customer Service

2006-11-13T17:16:00.000-05:00

November 13, 2006

The Decline of Customer Service

By Richard Kuper

The Op Ed Page
http://ReadTheOpEdPage.com

Businesses usually rise and fall, at least in part, on the quality of their customer service. That leaves one to wonder why many companies, especially the larger ones, have chosen to outsource their customer services to places where, for starters, English is not the native language, and so those hired to be the customer-facing company representatives for these customers are, for the most part, incapable of having a clear and understandable conversation with the customer.

The modern world provides for multiple means of providing customer support. There is, of course, the in-person -physically-at-the-company customer support, where that is feasible (physical stores, for example). Such companies usually take care to ensure that the persons who represent them are presentable and can communicate clearly with the customer. Technology has added other options. There is, of course, customer service by telephone. Calling customer service has proven to be a nightmare for a wide variety of citizens here in the USA, as they are more often than not connected to someone in a far-away country with less than adequate English-speaking skills, and often no clue as to how to address the problem. In addition, there is now e-mail and on-line chat, and the written responses show the glaring issues that now exist. More often than not there are multiple words missing making the information incomprehensible. Also frequent are canned paragraphs and phrases that usually have nothing to do with responding to the help that has been requested.

It is a mystery to this writer why it is that companies have gone so far out of their way to do what they can to alienate and infuriate their customers. Do they not want our business?

Irresponsible and innacurate reporting?

2006-11-09T00:28:00.000-05:00

November 8, 2006

Irresponsible and innacurate reporting?

By Richard Kuper

The Op Ed Page
http://ReadTheOpEdPage.com

The new Senate will be 49 Democrats and 49 Republicans and 2 Independents. No party is the majority. And even if the 2 Independents (one being Lieberman who got back into congress thanks to the Republicans who voted for him) may tend to side more often with the Democrats, they are not Democrats, they are Independents. So, technically, all committees must be co-headed, and there is no such thing in the next Senate as a Majority and Minority leader, just co-leaders.

So why is the press saying the Democrats are now the majority party in the Senate? It's just not accurate.

The future of the US depends on your vote: Remember to Vote

2006-11-06T01:33:00.000-05:00

November 6, 2006

The future of the US depends on your vote
Remember to Vote

By Richard Kuper

The Op Ed Page
http://ReadTheOpEdPage.com

Hopefully your vote will count. If you are voting on an electronic voting machine, do everything in your power to confirm that your vote is registering as you intend it. If you see something that doesn't seem right, say so at the time you see it. If you suspect foul play and do not get satisfaction at the polling place, contact the media and get them to your polling place.

The state of our democracy is at risk. Elections have been stolen since 2000. Yes, that is an accurate statement. No, it is not some sort of conspiracy theory. If you have not seen the documentary on HBO "Hacking Democracy" it's still airing so look it up and watch it. Here on the east coast it will re-air on Election Day at 9am. If you don't have HBO, see http://blackboxvoting.org for more info. You should also see if the Lou Dobbs special on electronic voting on CNN is still airing and catch that as well. Sadly, the majority of media have not reported on this major issue.

Remember to vote and remind all your neighbors and family and friends and coworkers or whomever to vote. And pay attention, and tell everyone you know to pay attention, to what is happening at your polling place, and to every part of the voting process, from signing in to recording your vote.

Must See Regional Production of Mame

2006-10-08T14:43:00.000-04:00

October 8, 2006

Must See Regional Production of Mame

By Richard Kuper

The Op Ed Page
http://ReadTheOpEdPage.com

On October 7, 2006 I saw a wonderful production of Mame at the Barrington Stage Company Theater in Pittsfield, MA. If you are in the area or can get there before October 15, I recommend you do so. It is a "concert version," production (a la "Encores!"), so there are no fancy stage sets, just various guides every now and again on stage telling you what has taken place or how many years have passed or where the current scene takes place.

This production stars Sandy Duncan as Mame, and she does a fabulous job. In fact, everyone in the production does a fabulous job. Part of the production unintentionally comes right out of many Broadway tales - someone needs to be replaced and another star is born. Well, it seems that one of the actresses (Patti Perkins) had a mishap during the prior night's production and another actress (Megan Rozak) was volunteered (as I understood the announcement) to take over in the second act. I'm sure Ms. Perkins was doing a great job, but her substitute Ms. Rozak, which is who I saw, was terrific as both Madame Branislowski and Mrs. Upson.

There were a few stand-out performances (besides the fabulous performance by Sandy Duncan) that deserve special mention. Diane J. Findlay, who plays Vera Charles, was wonderful as Mame's foil. Joyce Chittick, who played the nanny Agnes Gooch, made the most of every moment she was on stage and was superb.

Finally, let me take a few moments to talk about the other star of the show, the 12 year old boy from PA named Johhny Shaffer who plays young Patrick Dennis. Before the show I happened to meet and chat with his parents. Dad had already seen the performance but this was going to be Mom's first time, and she was a bit nervous. It seems young Mr. Shaffer has been acting since he was 5, and his parents are very supportive and proud. And they should be very proud. He did a really wonderful job, and it was clear that Sandy Duncan was enjoying playing opposite him, and vice versa. I happened to bump into Mr. Shaffer's parents both at intermission and after the show, and my parting comment to them was that I would be watching to see their son appearing on Broadway. They beamed at the suggestion.

In fact, it is my opinion that this show should be expanded to a full production and find it's way to Broadway with the current cast intact. But until that happens, if you have the chance to see this very limited run production, do see it.

For more information, go to http://www.barringtonstageco.org/ or call 413-236-8888.

Don't be fooled again!

2006-09-25T13:06:00.000-04:00

September 25, 2006

What's the plan?

By Richard Kuper

The Op Ed Page
http://ReadTheOpEdPage.com

We are quickly approaching the 2006 elections. Now that the summer is over and the electorate is starting to pay attention, we have gas prices suddenly dropping (but still way to high), and now we have some slight easing of the clear liquids rules for what can be in your carry-on luggage when flying. That seems odd since no change has been made to the technology at the airports to determine what those liquids you are carrying might actually be, and the threat has not gone away. A seemingly arbitrary decision of "travel size" (e.g., 3 ounces) is the new maximum standard as I write this. So perhaps, if one is actually carrying all the necessary liquids to create an explosive device, it won't make a big enough explosion to blow up the whole aircraft, but it seems to me it probably could still be sufficient to blow out a window which would still bring down an aircraft.

So between these relaxed but inexplicable rules on liquids, and the sudden drop in gas prices, what is really going on? Is this the 2006 version of bogus terror alerts that unfortunately conned many citizens to mistakenly think the republican party's fear tactics meant only they could protect us? This year's version seems to be an attempt to give a 'false sense of security and feeling good so things must be getting better so why change' aura.

I, for one, hope that the citizens of the USA have learned their lesson and won't be fooled again.

Ah, but then there is the leaked security assessment clearly stating that the top security agencies and officials in our government know that invading Iraq has made us, and the rest of the world, less safe and helped the terrorists in their recruitment efforts. Hopefully this will wake up anyone who still mistakenly thinks that invading Iraq, which had nothing to do with the events of 9/11/01, somehow made us or the world safer. In reality, it made the world a less safe and a more dangerous place.

It's time for a change. Dont't be fooled again!

Letter To The Editor Re: Men Not Working, and Not Wanting Just Any Job

2006-08-02T13:01:00.000-04:00

NY Times
Letter To The Editor
via email
August 2, 2006

I am extremely dismayed at the way "Men Not Working, and Not Wanting Just Any Job" (NY Times, July 31, 2006) was reported and at the biased selection of letters (August 2, 2006) in response. The truth is that a large number of unemployed and underemployed men and women in this country are college educated, highly skilled individuals who have lost their jobs and cannot find comparable work at comparable pay. The article implied that only uneducated or non-college educated people were having this problem. That is not true.

There is an article in The Op Ed Page from April 7, 2006 titled "The Broken Press" that primarily addressed the inaccurate reporting by the press of the unemployment numbers and jobs reports.

The problem is not "lazy" men (or women), as the article and the selected letters imply. Part of the problem is that many jobs formerly filled by hard working US citizens in the United States are now being performed by low-wage people in other countries, eliminating many jobs and also reducing money going back into the US economy. (Also not being reported is the rework that needs to be done from the poor work products being provided by at least some of these low-wage off-shore workers, increasing dramatically the true but unreported cost of such offshore-outsourcing.)

Owners of major (and not so major) US companies either don't understand the harm they are doing to their own firms and to their country or they don't care because it is putting more money into their personal pockets. They also don't seem to understand that combining remaining jobs with unrelated skills into fewer jobs complicates this problem even further. For example, project manager, business analyst, and programmer are three distinct and different jobs. Many employers have attempted to combine these into one job, not understanding that by doing so they will get the worst of all three, because one person cannot adequately perform any one of them well if trying to do all three (and each job - project manager, business analyst, programmer - has many aspects to it). See "Gathering Business Requirements: Reality Check" written in 2002 for a fuller description of the reasons not to combine these particular jobs. This is but one example. There are many, many more such poor decisions being made by US companies.

As was indicated in passing in the NY Times article, another complication is age discrimination. There is a significant but unreported number of men and women in their 40's and 50's that are having difficulty finding work because of their age.

It would be helpful if the NY Times would do more research, and report more accurately, the truth about the deteriorating US job market and the inability of a significant number of qualified men and women to find work in this country.

Yours truly,

Richard Kuper

What's the plan?

2006-07-17T11:54:00.000-04:00

July 17, 2006

What's the plan?

By Richard Kuper

The Op Ed Page
http://ReadTheOpEdPage.com

The world is getting more dangerous and hotter by the day. The problems in the Middle East are getting worse by the minute, thanks in large measure to the failed policies in Iraq and the terrorist actions of Hezbollah and Hamas on Israel. Then there are the increasing nuclear threats from North Korea and Iran. Here in the USA, the first half of 2006 was the hottest on record.

There was the train bombing in India recently, one in England not that long ago, train bombings in other countries in the recent past. The World Trade Center in NYC was attacked by terrorists twice. The first time with a car bomb in the early 1990s. The second time on 9/11/2001 with jets. In the early 1970's, a terrorist bomb blew up Fraunce's Tavern in lower Manhattan.

Heat waves have caused power outages on the East coast, multiple times since the 1960s. Fires and floods have caused serious problems in other parts of the country.

There are many threats to the safety and security of the people across the United States and elsewhere. But lets take the number one target, the City of New York, and ask: What's the plan?

The Homeland Security Department, clearly misnamed, thinks some goat petting zoo is a more viable terrorist target than the City of New York. The federal government has not laid out a plan for it's citizens in the event of a terrorist attack, a natural disaster (like hurricane Katrina), or a major power outage. The State of New York has not laid out a plan. The City of New York has not laid out a plan. Or if any of them have, they have failed to inform the citizens so the citizens are prepared and know what to do in the event of an emergency. And although NYC is the primary terrorist target, it is far from the only place in need of plans communicated to it's citizens. Have the residents of New Orleans been told what to do in the event of another hurricane? Is that city and it's neighboring cities prepared should it happen again? Are there any cities or towns in the USA that have educated citizens so that they are all calmly prepared for whatever disaster may strike? None that I've heard about.

All the good jobs have moved overseas. The jobs that are getting filled here in the USA are, with rare exceptions, paying less, and a significant number of college educated citizens have been forced to take low wage, sometimes minimum wage jobs just to get by.

We are neither better off, nor more safe, than we were before 9/11. In fact, I would say that we are worse off and less safe. We need leaders and government representatives that care, that do what needs to be done, and that communicate with the citizens of this country and help us stay safe and secure. Sending men and women to die in an unwise occupation of another country that was not a threat the to USA, and by doing so seriously destabilizing a barely stable region of the world, was probably the dumbest action any government could take. Sadly the government that did this was the government of the USA, headed by George W. Bush and Dick Cheney.

So in the event of a real emergency, what's the plan?

You Don't Have To Be A Victim

2006-07-11T11:49:00.000-04:00

July 11, 2006

When a Stranger Calls

By Richard Kuper

The Op Ed Page
http://ReadTheOpEdPage.com

On July 9, 2006, The New York Times ran an editorial about illegal debt collection activities that are on the rise as the real economy (not the one the administration says we have or most of the press seems to report) continues to make more people poorer. Many folks seem to be getting letters and phone calls claiming they owe a debt they do not owe.

You are not powerless and are not obligated to pay debts you don't owe. If you are a victim of such harassment, call 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357).

The NY Times article can be found here.

Tony Awards Agree: "Jersey Boys: The Best Musical On Broadway"

2006-06-11T23:10:00.000-04:00

June 11, 2006

Tony Awards Agree: "Jersey Boys: The Best Musical On Broadway"

By Richard Kuper

The Op Ed Page
http://ReadTheOpEdPage.com

Sara Krulwich/The New York Times
Cast members performed a number from "Jersey Boys," which was named best musical.

On December 20, 2005, I wrote the review found here titled: "Jersey Boys: The Best Musical On Broadway." Tonight, the Tony Awards agreed:

Best Musical: "Jersey Boys!"

Lead Actor in a Musical: John Lloyd Young, "Jersey Boys."

Featured Actor in a Musical: Christian Hoff, "Jersey Boys."

Lighting Design - Musical: Howell Binkley, "Jersey Boys."

Strawberry Fields at BB King's Blues Club - A Review And A Warning

2006-06-09T17:56:00.000-04:00

June 8, 2006

Strawberry Fields at BB King's Blues Club - A Review And A Warning

By Richard Kuper

The Op Ed Page
http://ReadTheOpEdPage.com

On Monday night we went to hear the group Strawberry Fields at BB King's Blues Club in NYC. As you may have already guessed, they are a Beatles sound-alike band, made up of folks who were in the Broadway production of Beatlemania. So, of course, we expected a terrific show.

Instead, what we got was earsplittingly loud and distorted noise. If one stuck their fingers in their ears, one might then determine that the group really wasn't all that bad, if only they would lower the volume.

After a complaint, the manager, Eric Gunther, claimed he lowered it. When pressed, he stated that the volume was originally at 95 db, and he lowered it to 90. That was still way too loud. His solution was to get us some ear plugs. We tried them, but the show continued to be totally un-enjoyable. He refused to refund our money. We finally left.

As we were leaving, the volume cranked up even louder. I wouldn't be surprised if Mr. Gunther pushed it to over 100 db, as he truly did not seem to care about the damage he was causing to the patrons and to the workers as well.

I did some research. According to the American Academy of Otolaryngology (AAO):

"The Occupational Safety and Health Administration, in its Hearing Conservation Amendment of 1983, requires hearing conservation programs in noisy work places. This includes a yearly hearing test for the approximately five million workers exposed to an average of 85 dB or more of noise during an 8-hour work day."

Notice that it said "exposed to" and "85 db or more." None of the staff were wearing ear plugs or other protective devices, so I hope that BB King's is following the law and providing free annual hearing tests to it's employees. It is apparently also required to provide free ear plugs to it's employees. I wonder if they know that.

The following is also from the AAO:

"What Are The Laws For On-The-Job Exposure?

* Habitual exposure to noise above 85 dB will cause a gradual hearing loss in a significant number of individuals, and louder noises will accelerate this damage.

* For unprotected ears, the allowed exposure time decreases by one-half for each 5 dB increase in the average noise level. For instance, exposure is limited to 8 hours at 90 dB, 4 hours at 95 dB, and 2 hours at 100 dB.

* The highest permissible noise exposure for the unprotected ear is 115 dB for 15 minutes/day. Any noise above 140 dB is not permitted."

Also according to the AAO, the typical rock concert (this was not supposed to be one of those) is at least 115 db, so anyone attending one for more than 15 minutes without extreme hearing protection is asking for trouble.

The club gets around the NYC Ordinance of the sound not exceeding 45 db because it is below ground and not causing a disturbance to an apartment or on the street.

I would encourage anyone considering going to BB King's to not go there until they lower the music. If you must go (the server was very nice and the chicken wings with bbq sauce was good, but the prices are on the high side for the food), make them give you high-quality ear plugs before the show begins, and make sure that you follow instructions on how to insert them in your ears or you won't be getting the appropriate protection.

Microsoft Is Spying On Your PC Every Day

2006-06-08T11:40:00.000-04:00

Reposted from:
The Kuper Report
http://TheKuperReport.com

June 8, 2006
Microsoft Is Spying On Your PC Every Day
Richard Kuper

According to an AP report posted on yahoo news ( http://tinyurl.com/qjqf8 )
Microsoft admitted that its tool, called Windows Genuine Advantage, which checks to see if you are running a legal copy of Windows, checks your pc every day. According to the article, "The company said the undisclosed daily check is a safety measure designed to allow the tool ... to quickly shut down in case of a malfunction."

It seems that if Windows Genuine Advantage were to malfunction and incorrectly deem a legitimate copy of Windows to be a pirated copy, it would disable that computer from being able to download any but the most urgent of patches, and could conceivably prevent the computer from functioning properly.

Without this software installed, downloading updates is a significantly more difficult process,
and all but the truly tech-savvy would find it onerous, which would cause most windows-based
computers to not be updated with the many security and other patches Microsoft needs to keep issuing.