The Elephant in the Room

The April 2013 Jobs Report

2013-05-03T07:31:00.000-07:00

Here is the April 2013 employment situation report from the BLS: http://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/empsit.pdf

Key Highlights:

- The unemployment rate dropped to 7.5%. Non-farm employers added 165,000 new jobs, beating analysts' predictions.

- The number of unemployed persons remained unchanged at 11.7 million in April.

- The civilian labor force participation rate remained unchanged at 63.3%. In spite of the better-than-expected jobs numbers, this figure is concerning.

- The "not in labor force" count (those who have no job and have stopped looking for work) decrease modestly from 89,967,000 in March to 89,936,000.

- The number of persons employed for part-time economic reasons (those that are considered part-time involuntary workers) increased by 278,000 to 7,900,000.

- Average hourly earnings rose by 4 cent. The 12-month average for hourly earnings have risen at a 1.9% yearly rate.

The good:

The unemployment rate fell and 165,000 jobs were added, beating analysts' predictions. This is the first time in a while that a decrease in the unemployment rate was not a result of people giving up looking for work and leaving the labor force. Additionally, February's and March's numbers were revised upward to 332,000 and 138,000, respectively. These are good signs.

The bad:

The labor force participation rate remains high. This number needs to increase... it's just that simple. Also, the part-time labor force increased, and that's undesirable. The economy needs to add full-time jobs, not part-time ones, or ones that people are taking simply because they can't find work elsewhere. This, coupled with the decrease in work hours, could be a sign that employers of low-wage workers are making shifts in hiring and employee retention with the upcoming health care bill kicking in full swing next year. Additionally, the economy needs to add 150,000 jobs per month to simply keep up with population growth. While 165,000 beats that number, it's not enough to consider this an expansion. This is slow job growth. It's mediocre or bare minimum at best. We might not be slipping into another recession, but we surely not pulling out of one quickly.

The ugly:

My prediction might seem redundant, but the press will champion this. Get ready for the tidal wave of fawning coming from the press claiming how wonderful it is. Live I've said, the numbers are decent... they certainly aren't terrible, but they're nothing to write home about, either.

What do YOU think? Please share your thoughts below.

Listen to OpinioNation LIVE at 10:00PM EST Tonight!

2013-05-01T09:04:00.000-07:00

We start May off strong with a great, and maybe controversial, discussion about rights. I'm going to be sharing my views that our rights, our American rights, are really privileges, and that the notion of "human rights" isn't real but yet a political tool used to sway minds and push legislation.

Be sure to join us at 10:00pm EST! Listen to me (Mike - LME), Amy, Bruce, and host, Jon Rollings, as we discuss all the major news headlines of the week. Click the image to listen in:

(the Live365 radio panel will be on the right - it says "Live Stream Players")

This is a great opportunity for you to share your thoughts. I'm sure there will be some disagreement on the subject matter of this show. Be sure to express your views live! Call us at 877-297-8022, and you'll promptly be put on the air. Engage the panel, share your views, or ask a question to our listeners. We hope to hear from you.

Finally, be sure to stick around for our final, lightning-round segment The Bottom Line.

P.S. Speaking of rights, be sure to vote in our gay marriage poll on the left side of the blog!

Weekly News Headline and Debate Topic Forum 4/29/13

2013-04-29T08:51:00.002-07:00

Without an election, the political discourse in the country seems to have calmed to a light simmer recently. That being said, there are always news topics to discuss.

The purpose of these forums is to have an open space for people to debate these topics and to share whatever is on their mind. Here are a few things that caught my eye; please feel free to comment and/or share your own:

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-04-26/senate-passes-last-ditch-bill-to-end-controller-furloughs.html

- I actually agree that this is simply a "Band-Aid" and that it will simply open the door for more exemptions rending the spending cuts that actually kicked in worthless.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/04/28/army-says-no-to-more-tanks-but-congress-insists/

- UGH. I talk about this constantly on our radio show OpinioNation. It disgusts me that our elected leaders obtain and retain their positions by giving something to people, via the government, in exchange for votes. This is no different. The army has said they don't want these tanks, but our elected leaders don't want to be the voice of the party that says, "no" and threatens to close up shop in ever-so-important Ohio. Power and politics over reality and logic. Disgusting.

Listen to OpinioNation LIVE at 10:00PM EST Tonight!

2013-04-24T14:08:00.004-07:00

Our fan base is growing, and it's not because we're pretty. We give the straight talk with no balk. Be sure to join us at 10:00pm EST! Listen to me (Mike - LME), Amy, Bruce, and host, Jon Rollings, as we discuss all the major news headlines of the week. Click the image to listen in:

(the Live365 radio panel will be on the right - it says "Live Stream Players")

This is a great opportunity for you to share your thoughts. From Boston to West, Texas, gay marriage to gun control, taxes to inflation, and everything in between, whatever your opinions, our show is your platform. Call us at 877-297-8022, and you'll promptly be put on the air. Engage the panel, share your views, or ask a question to our listeners. We hope to hear from you.

Finally, be sure to stick around for our final, lightning-round segment The Bottom Line.

Weekly News Headline and Debate Topic Forum 4/22/13

2013-04-22T09:17:00.002-07:00

After a tough, fear-filled, emotion-packed week, we take a step back and try to restore a sense of normalcy to everyday life. The Boston Marathon bombings sent us through a whirlwind of emotions from fear to shock to tension to a sense of victory (even in the smallest sense) as we watched last weeks events unfold.

As we move forward, new issues are sure to come up. While the tragedy in Boston won't be forgotten, other social, economic, and political issues remain.

As usual, please share any and all comments and opinions below.

Listen to OpinioNation LIVE at 10:00PM EST Tonight!

2013-04-17T06:35:00.000-07:00

With heavy hearts we will be going on the air tonight. Join us at 10:00pm EST! Listen to me (Mike - LME), Amy, Bruce, and host, Jon Rollings, as we discuss all the major news headlines of the week. Click the image to listen in:

(the Live365 radio panel will be on the right - it says "Live Stream Players")

This is a great opportunity for you to share your thoughts. Whatever your opinions, our show is your platform. If you want to rant, let off some steam, share a viewpoint, or flat out disagree with us, call us at 877-297-8022, and you'll promptly be put on the air. Engage the panel, share your views, or ask a question to our listeners... it doesn't matter - we're here for you, and we hope to hear from you.

Finally, be sure to stick around for our final, lightning-round segment The Bottom Line.

P.S. Due to work constraints, I missed posting the weekly debate forum on Monday. But don't worry; a new one will be up next Monday, and any comment section is open for debate. If you'd like, you can call in to the show to debate, too! My apologies on missing this post.

Listen to OpinioNation LIVE at 10:00PM EST Tonight!

2013-04-10T09:21:00.000-07:00

Here we go again... lots of topics to talk about. See our discussion list here. Join us at 10:00pm EST! Listen to me (Mike - LME), Amy, Bruce, and host, Jon Rollings, as we discuss all the major news headlines of the week. Click the image to listen in:

(the Live365 radio panel will be on the right - it says "The 405 Radio - Live Stream")

"Gun Control" Fueled by Emotion and not Logic

2013-04-09T10:37:00.001-07:00

I've said this many times: I'm a conservative republican, and while I love our party and its ideals, I don't believe, by any means, that it's perfect. In that regard, I've also said many times that I think there are some positions the GOP holds that are losing propositions (the GOP's position on gay marriage, for example, I think, regardless of anyone's personal feelings, is a losing position to have in the party of smaller government), and while these political "losers" are small in number, there are many, many winners.

Simply put, gun rights is one of these winners. In my opinion, the GOP has the winning position. Hands down.

Much has been said in this arena since the tragic massacre in Newtown, Connecticut, and that tragedy should never be forgotten. No one can fathom the loss and grief the families and friends of the 26 victims are feeling. It's unquestionably a sorrow few know, and this brief article is, in no way, an attempt to downplay that aspect of one of the darkest events in American history.

Sadly, however, since this tragedy occurred, people have turned to government and requested it to do something. They are turning to the government to react, and just as sad, they're requesting this reaction to be based on emotion rather than logic. Aside from all the rhetoric that has been tossed around from both sides, from "if no guns existed this wouldn't have happened" to "dictators in Germany, China, et. al. took guns away from their citizens before they killed them," I want to focus, instead, on something I noticed... something that shows that the democrats' push for further "gun control" is completely devoid of logic. It comes from President Obama's emotional campaign-style speech in Hartford, Connecticut yesterday. The full transcript can be seen here: http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2013/04/08/remarks-president-reducing-gun-violence-hartford-ct

In his speech, President Obama claims that if we enacted these tougher "gun control" measures, criminals wouldn't be able to (or they would have a harder time) "get their hands on a gun." He made this claim four times:

- "We have to tell Congress it's time to require a background check for anyone who wants to buy a gun so that people who are dangerous to themselves and others cannot get their hands on a gun."

- "Over the past 20 years, background checks have kept more than 2 million dangerous people from getting their hands on a gun."

- "Shouldn't we make it harder, not easier, for somebody who is convicted of domestic abuse to get his hands on a gun?"

- "Why wouldn't you want to make it harder for a dangerous person to get his or her hands on a gun?"

Aside from the obvious, glaring facts that render these claims embarrassingly false (none of these so-called background checks could have stopped Adam Lanza - he nor his mother, the purchaser of the guns, had any criminal record - from carrying out this massacre), the emotional plea that background checks would stop some bad people from "getting their hands on a gun" is so far from the truth that it would barely produce the results its intended to produce.

What President Obama is doing is greatly stretching what would happen: possibly preventing a potentially bad person from purchasing a gun at a specific time and place into ensuring that bad person does not get his hands on a gun at all. As you can undoubtedly see, these two things are not the same. All a background check would do, should it produce the information that shows that a potential buyer should not be purchasing a gun legally, is prohibit the buyer from purchasing the gun at that specific time and place. Surely, the bad person would be stopped there, but if he is truly determined to "get his hands on a gun," do you really think he will stop at his local gun store? Do you really think he would walk out of the store and say, "oh, okay... that's it... I guess I'm done. I can't buy this gun, so that's that?" This is the precise problem with Obama's position. A bad person, hell-bent on getting a gun, will simply turn to the black market to get that gun. He will buy it illegally, off the streets, in one illegal method or another, and guess what... he will still be able to get his hands on a gun. The universal background check will be rendered ineffective and worthless, and all it will have done was created another government control infringing on our Second Amendment rights.

Please keep this in mind: there is no law that comes without a sacrifice in freedom. The more power the government gets, the less free the people are. "Gun control" and universal background checks are no exceptions. The potential system of universal background checks the government is proposing (some states are worse: Maryland wants to fingerprint all gun purchasers, for example) is completely hollow and will do virtually nothing to prevent bad people from "getting their hands on a gun," all while establishing another government control and another government regulation that puts up a barrier to a citizen exercising his or her Second Amendment right. "Infringe" was a word carefully inserted into the Second Amendment, and it was done for a reason. The right of the people to keep and bear arms, a measure installed in the Second Amendment to protect the citizens from a potentially tyrannical government, was not worded, "the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall be controlled, limited, and made unduly difficult by the very government this Amendment is designed to protect the people from," it was worded in the simplest text possible: SHALL NOT BE INFRINGED.

The government, in such a brazen, logic-less, emotion-based, feel-good rush, is pushing to trample this Amendment, and if the citizens stay quiet on this issue, they're simply paving the way for further government expansion. This is no "hysterical" rant. This is a call to get people to return to logic and common sense. I urge people to share this, talk to friends, talk to family, write their elected representatives, and be heard. If we let the government alter the citizens' rights as it sees fit, we are allowing it to remove the very safeguards we have, as a population, that protect us from that government. And for those who say, "no way... it wouldn't happen; our government would never turn on its people..." I beg of you to look at history. Perhaps you know someone who is related to a fellow American who felt the wrath of Executive Order 9066.

Weekly News Headline and Debate Topic Forum 4/8/13

2013-04-08T10:18:00.000-07:00

First, a sendoff to the Iron Lady:

source: wikipedia

Margaret Thatcher, October 13 1925 - April 9 2013 - - - The first female Prime Minister of Great Britain... a trailblazer to many. Thank you.

What do YOU think of Margaret Thatcher? Her policies... her style... her portrayal in the media... her legacy? Be sure to share your thoughts below.

As usual, there is a whole gamut of news topics to discuss from the dismal employment numbers to North Korea's continued provocation to the death of another American diplomat. Whatever it is, share your opinions and engage others below.

The March 2013 Jobs Report

2013-04-05T06:56:00.000-07:00

Here is the March 2013 employment situation report from the BLS: http://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/empsit.pdf

Key Highlights:

- The unemployment rate dropped to 7.6%. Non-farm employers added 88,000 new jobs, falling well short of analysts' predictions.

- The number of unemployed persons edged downward to 11.7 million in March from 12 million in February.

- The civilian labor force participation rate dropped to 63.3% form 63.5% in February. This is the lowest level of labor force participation this country has seen since May 1979.

- The "not in labor force" count (those who have no job and have stopped looking for work) increased by 663,000 from 89,304,000 in February to 89,967,000 in March.

- The number of persons employed for part-time economic reasons (those that are considered part-time involuntary workers) fell by 350,000 to 7,600,000.

- Average hourly earnings rose by 1 cent. The 12-month average for hourly earnings have risen at a 1.8% yearly rate.

- The change in total non-farm payroll employment for January was revised upward from +119,000 to +148,000, and the change for February was revised downward from +236,000 to +268,000.

So what do I think? Ummm, can you say déja vu? This is a disaster! The unemployment rate is now 7.6%, something the democrats will probably brag about, but the key facet that will get overlooked: nearly 500,000 people stopped looking for work! This is tragic. These people, who are no longer counted in the unemployment rate, simply gave up. Since they're not trying to find work anymore, they're not counted in the unemployment rate, and this gives the UE rate an artificially low reading. This becomes apparent when we look at the civilian labor force participation rate... which is now at its lowest level since May, 1979. Moreover, the employment-to-population ratio is 58.5%. How can a country continue when nearly half the population isn't producing?

Sadly, the media will trumpet this 7.6% rate as a victory. It's not. It's a tragedy. Millions of people are giving up looking for work, and the poverty level in this country is at its highest level since 1960. And all this has happened BEFORE Obamacare has kicked in. The CBO estimates the ACA will cost 850,000 jobs over the next 10 years.

It's clear: the government is not helping... it's hurting. Obama's policies are not a boon to employment; they're a destroyer of it. But hey... when you're unemployed and destitute, you turn to the government for support... and when one party of the government promises to "help" and "take care of you"... when it comes time to vote, you won't bite the hand that feeds you. This is the way of the democratic party.

What do you think? Share your thoughts below.

Listen to OpinioNation LIVE at 10:00PM EST Tonight!

2013-04-03T07:42:00.001-07:00

North Korea, gun control, Hillary is "back," budget woes, NCAA athletics, and more on tonight's show. Be sure to join us at 10:00pm EST! Listen to me (Mike - LME), Amy, Bruce, and host, Jon Rollings, as we discuss all the major news headlines of the week. Click the image to listen in:

(the Live365 radio panel will be on the right - it says "The 405 Radio - Live Stream")

This is a great opportunity for you to share your thoughts. Whatever your opinions, our show is your platform. Call us at 877-297-8022, and you'll promptly be put on the air. Engage the panel, share your views, or ask a question to our listeners. We hope to hear from you.

Finally, be sure to stick around for our final, lightning-round segment The Bottom Line.

Weekly News Headline and Debate Topic Forum 4/1/13

2013-04-01T11:10:00.001-07:00

April Fool's!

Well, I really have nothing to fool anyone with, but I thought that it would be fun to center come of this week's discussion board on foolish things. For example:

"It's foolish that we send millions of dollars overseas while not being able to balance our budget."

You know... stuff like this.

What do you think? Share your thoughts on government/political foolishness, or anything of that matter, however you like, below.

Listen to OpinioNation LIVE at 10:00PM EST Tonight!

2013-03-27T11:13:00.001-07:00

Yes, your new wave political radio is on at 10:00pm EST tonight! Listen to me (Mike - LME), Amy, Bruce, and host, Jon Rollings, as we discuss all the major news headlines of the week - and there are a LOT! You won't want to miss it! Click the image to listen in:

(the Live365 radio panel will be on the right - it says "The 405 Radio - Live Stream")

This is a great opportunity for you to share your thoughts. Want to express your views on the recent Supreme Court hearings on gay marriage... or feel the need to chime in gun control... do you love/hate Obamacare? Whatever your opinions, our show is your platform. Call us at 877-297-8022, and you'll promptly be put on the air. Engage the panel, share your views, or ask a question to our listeners. We hope to hear from you.

Finally, be sure to stick around for our final, lightning-round segment The Bottom Line.

Weekly News Headline and Debate Topic Forum - 3/25/13

2013-03-25T09:33:00.001-07:00

Another week down, and another one is beginning with new, relevant topics.

Out with the old:

- What do you make of Obama's trip to Israel? The media seems to be fawning over his trip while claiming it was a success. What do you think?

- Harry Reid shutters the assault weapons ban, and the liberal media's head explodes...

In with the new:

- The Supreme Court hears gay marriage arguments. Should this be maintained as a states' rights issue, or should it be a federally-protected right? Vote in our poll on the left side of the blog.

- Furlough notices are beginning to go out to federal employees. What impact will this have?

As always, share any and all relevant opinions, rants, positions, etc. below. Thank you!

Listen to OpinioNation LIVE at 10:00PM EST Tonight!

2013-03-20T17:51:00.001-07:00

Listen to me (Mike - LME), Amy, Bruce, and host, Jon Rollings, as we discuss Cyprus, guns, CPAC, and anything we want! You won't want to miss it! Click the image to listen in:

(the Live365 radio panel will be on the right - it says "The 405 Radio - Live Stream")

This is a great opportunity for you to share your thoughts. Our show is your platform. Call us at 877-297-8022, and you'll promptly be put on the air. Engage the panel, share your views, or ask a question to our listeners. We hope to hear from you.

Finally, be sure to stick around for our final, lightning-round segment The Bottom Line.

Weekly News Headline and Debate Topic Forum - 3/18/13

2013-03-18T07:52:00.000-07:00

Another week down, another news cycle. What have we seen in the past week:

- Obama has reinstated a missile defense system that Bush supported and Obama scrapped.
- CPAC winds down, and all the media can say is that the GOP is tearing itself apart... of course. Why would they say anything else.

But on top of all that, I wanted to highlight this article: http://money.cnn.com/2013/03/18/news/economy/europe-cyprus-bailout/index.html

In case you haven't heard, here is the quick rundown: The country of Cyprus, in an effort to save itself from a crippling debt crisis and secure new "bailout" financing from the EU, had proposed a tax on band deposits. If a deposit held in a Cypriot held more than 100,000 Euros, it would be subject to a one-time 9.9% tax. If a deposit held less than 100,000 Euros, it would be subject to a one time 6.75% tax. As expected, hundreds of Cypriots fled to ATMs to make withdrawals, and, as expected, this created bank runs.

The outrage has mounted, however, and it looks like a parliamentary move is in place to either reduce the tax rate being implemented or scrap it altogether.

To me, there are three things to take from this:

1. Debt is bad. End of story. It's okay to run up and manage some debt, in a temporary fashion, especially if you will soon have the funds to replay that debt, but crippling debt is just that... crippling. The definition of what is "crippling" is subject to debate, but it's hard to debate away the fact that if a country continues to rack up debt without maintaining the production needed to pay this off (often, as it is done here in the US, the debt is used to pay for social programs that yield NO production in return, further exacerbating the debt problem), eventually the debt will consume the country, and lenders will no longer supply the country with the money it needs to run itself.

2. Imagine if this was proposed here. Could you envision the outrage?! The government seizing the assets (assets that have already been taxed, mind you) of its citizens to run itself - crazy! Wouldn't that be a case of the government usurping the power from the people to simply maintain that power? Holy cow, this would be disgusting. I seriously hope this is never implemented in Cyprus, let alone the US or any other place.

3. People dislike taxes. Period. If you impose more taxes on the citizens, they will react. Rarely is there a time in our modern history where the citizens of a country say, "yes, please, tax me more... I'll just sit back and take it." Look at France in the last 8 months.

What do you think? Please share your thoughts below.

*** Be sure to vote in our new pool on the left side of this blog ***

Obama says "There is no Immediate Debt Crisis"

2013-03-13T08:50:00.000-07:00

And then claims, "in fact, for the next 10 years, it's gonna be in a sustainable place."

Wait, WHAT?!

I just had to post this. It seemed so "out of whack" that I figured it would be something worth talking about: http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2013/03/president-obama-there-is-no-debt-crisis/

Take a look at The President's interview, and share your thoughts. I will say, upon looking at some of the comments in the article, these sum it up the best:

- "The fact that we are here today to debate raising America's debt limit is a sign of leadership failure. It is a sign that the U.S. Government can't pay its own bills. It is a sign that we now depend on ongoing financial assistance from foreign countries to finance our government's reckless fiscal policies... Increasing America's debt weakens us domestically and internationally. Leadership means that 'the buck stops here.' Instead, Washington is shifting the burden of bad choices today onto the backs of our children and grandchildren. America has a debt problem, and a failure of leadership. America deserves better." - Senator Barack Obama, March 16, 2006

- "The problem is, is that the way Bush has done in the last eight years is to take out a credit card from the Bank of China in the name of our children, driving up our national debt form $5 trillion for the first 42 presidents - #43 added $4 trillion by his lonesome, so that we now have over $9 trillion of debt that we are going to have to pay back - $30,000 for every man, woman, and child. That's irresponsible. It's unpatriotic." - Candidate Barack Obama, July 3, 2008

What do YOU think?

Weekly News Headline and Debate Topic Forum - 3/11/13

2013-03-11T11:10:00.000-07:00

Well, the new jobs report is out, and many media pundits are claiming this is an Obama success: http://loudmouthelephant.blogspot.com/2013/03/the-february-2013-jobs-report.html

I don't see the report as a thing to leap about, but it does contain some positive news. Of course, that can fade if the numbers get revised next month.

But for me, here is the big topic of discussion: With all the doom and gloom painted by Team Obama regarding the sequester, how will this play out? If unemployment keeps falling, Obama looks like he severely over-exaggerated the sequester claims but is a "hero" for having the unemployment rate decline (this is subject to interpretation). If unemployment increases, Obama can claim he was right about the sequester, but is not the hero of decreasing unemployment.

Hmmmmm. The x-factor, of course, is the media. What do you think?

The February 2013 Jobs Report

2013-03-08T05:59:00.001-08:00

Here is the February 2013 employment situation report from the BLS: http://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/empsit.pdf

Key Highlights:

- The unemployment rate dropped to a new, four-year low of 7.7%. Non-farm employers added 236,000 new jobs, beating analysts' predictions.

- The number of unemployed persons edged downward to 12 million in February.

- The civilian labor force participation rate dropped to 63.5% form 63.6% in January.

- The "not in labor force" count (those who have no job and have stopped looking for work) increased by 296,000 from 89,008,000 in January to 89,304,000 in February.

- The number of persons employed for part-time economic reasons (those that are considered part-time involuntary workers) rose by 15,000 to 7,988,000.

- Average hourly earnings rose by 4 cents. The 12-month average for hourly earnings have risen at a 2.1% yearly rate.

- The change in total non-farm payroll employment for December was revised upward from +196,000 to +219,000, and the change for January was revised downward from +157,000 to +119,000.

What's your take on these figures? To me, the number of new jobs added is a slight plus, but it is overridden by the decrease in the civilian population force (-130,000) and the not-in-labor-force number (+296,000). It appears, again, that many people simply gave up looking for work, and the new jobs created (when coupled with January for an average of 177,000) is barely enough to keep up with the growth in population. I'm sure the media will LOVE this report, but when you look at it, it's not all peaches.

Weekly News Headline and Debate Topic Forum - 3/4/13

2013-03-04T08:36:00.001-08:00

Well, congratulations! You survived the Sequester. Yippie!

Unfortunately for me, I haven't been around, and I even missed the Gang of 405 radio show on Saturday. I regret that because there was a TON to talk about.

But that's okay; I'm sure there is a lot to talk about this week. The Sequester fight has come and gone, but the effects haven't really kicked in. On top of that, we have the issue with Bob Woodward, and the continued press headlining of this mythical "shift" in republicans now accepting Obamacare. As always, this forum is open for any and all discussions.

Weekly News Headline and Debate Topic Forum - 2/25/13

2013-02-25T20:59:00.001-08:00

Ugh... sorry for getting this up so late. I'll work on making this better. I hope the blog doesn't turn in to this and a couple of radio shows...

Anyone want to be an admin? :)

Weekly News Headline and Debate Topic Forum - 2/18/13

2013-02-18T06:14:00.001-08:00

I know last week's open news headline forum didn't get much traction, but hopefully with the Hagel confirmation hearings, Dr. Ben Carson talk, and the sequester, there will be more to talk about.

In an effort to stir the pot, here is the podcast of our Saturday show of the Gang of 405: http://the405radio.podomatic.com/enclosure/2013-02-16T10_43_54-08_00.mp3

Please share your thoughts, opinions, gripes, and everything of the like below. Hopefully we can foster a great discussion!

What Did YOU Think of the State of the Union Address?

2013-02-12T18:41:00.000-08:00

Here we are, 34 minutes in to the #SOTU2013, and I swear it's October, 2012. To me, this is a campaign speech.

But it's not over... what do you think? I'll post the transcript as soon as it becomes available. Please share your thoughts below.

UPDATE: Speech transcript: http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/OTUS/transcript-president-barack-obamas-2013-state-union-address/story?id=18480069

Weekly News Headline and Debate Topic Forum

2013-02-11T06:21:00.002-08:00

As addressed in my letter here, unfortunately, due to a career change, The Elephant in the Room blog has undergone some changes as well. Most noticeably is the lack of daily updates and Morning Headlines posts. As time goes on, things do change, but my goal with the blog is to ensure it changes as little as possible with respect to the amount of civil debate and information passing that occurs.

In the letter linked above, I tossed around the idea of opening up weekly news headline and debate topic forums so that the debate about relevant issues continues. Because of the nature of my new job, I'm unable to post daily headlines posts as I arrive at work. These posts have served as a way of fostering spirited, civil debate relating to relevant current events, and I think those things are the "bread and butter" of the blog. I truly hope they can continue at a high level.

So here we are: the first round of the weekly open forum. I'll try my best to post this on Sunday night or Monday morning each week, and hopefully, if people feel so inclined, they will come here with whatever news subjects, links, headlines, stories, and other topics in general (it doesn't have to be solely what's going on in the news) they'd like to debate. After a few weeks of this, we can all look at how it has gone in addition to looking at what tweaks need to be made. Post whatever you wish in the comments section below, and reply to other people's posts as well. I hope this works out! Thank you for understanding :-).

A Message from Mike (LME)

2013-02-01T08:58:00.002-08:00

Good morning everyone!

If you're a follower of the blog, you've probably noticed I haven't updated it at all this week. I'm writing today to address that specifically.

Over the past year, The Elephant in the Room has evolved and grown beyond my wildest expectations. From an "insider" stand point, we started with three people, then we shrank to two, and now, aside from some help from an original admin, Pachyderm Pride, it has been pretty much just me... Mike (LME) running the show. It has been wonderful, and I'm glad to have taken on this role by myself. Don't worry, I'm not shutting things down; this isn't a break-up letter :-).

Sometimes, in life, other things do evolve, too. For me personally, I've accepted a new job at a start-up company, and my first day was Monday, January 28th. It's truly a great opportunity, and I feel very fortunate to have been accepted. It is vastly different from my previous job, however, and as you've probably noticed, it has an effect on the blog.

One of the biggest and best things I think this blog does is bring people together in an open manner. I'm HUGE on openness... from personal emails from "fans" (and non-fans alike), to getting to know the over 100,000 visitors, to daily debate engagements, the open blog format, in my opinion, has been a success. I'm also big on keeping The Elephant in the Room fresh and "with it" the best I can.

As I said, the new job is vastly different from the old one. At my previous employer, I was in the office 2 hours before anyone else, and I could research, write, and even post daily news headlines to stir debates. At the new job, as with any start-up, the hours are long, and I'm finding it difficult to make it to the blog each day. Additionally, in an open-office (ironically), Google-like atmosphere, I don't want to be working on the blog as I did at my last job. That was an uncommon luxury, and I don't plan on continuing it forward here.

So what does this mean for The Elephant in the Room? Well, I don't know yet. I've taken a one-week break (unintentionally) to assess how to go forward. The first thing I can readily affirm is that I won't be able to post Morning Headlines. I enjoyed posting these, and they were a great way to share with people some relevant news information as well as being the catalyst for civil and open debate. With the nature of the new job, I simply won't be able to keep these going. As far as "main" or "deeper" postings... I'm going to try my best to continue with these, but I'm not sure how many and at what frequency they will be posted. I tried to maintain at least two being posted live each week, but I don't know if that will continue. One of my pet peeves with other blogs is when they post so sporadically... like once every three weeks. I prided myself on not going down that road, but with these new conditions, I'm not sure how this will work out.

Where does this all lead? Well, first, employing the open blog format I love so much, I'm asking for feedback. As I said, I won't be posting Morning Headlines, and I do plan on writing main posts on a here-and-there (sadly) basis... but how do you think this should work? For example, I was thinking of starting a post every Sunday night that will be a week-long open board for people to post the week's news events as they come up. I might just keep the blog title and a set of instructions up and leave the comments section open to share and debate. Also, I was hoping to capture more Reader's Posts. Being a content-driven, open blog, this might help in fulfilling that segment.

But what else? What suggestions do you have? I'm truly sad that the blog will take a hit as I love politics and political debate, and I love facilitating and running a place where people can come to express themselves. I hope to keep it going with the largest capacity I can, but I'm just not sure it will be possible. I'm open to any and all suggestions, and if you don't want to post them in the comments section, please email me at loudmouthelephant@gmail.com.

Again, this isn't an "end" letter... just a major update. It has been a pleasure so far, and I hope to keep it going. I'm looking forward to hearing what everyone has to say! Thanks again!

Mike (LME)

P.S. Go Ravens!