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Skeptic Conservative Revival — Take Two

July 7, 2013 by TheDougem 3 Comments


Hello!

Many of you stumbling onto this website likely came from the Sunday test show on Right Side Media Network. Happy to have you on the blog, and unfortunately the test show probably was NOT saved into an archive. Darn 😦

The long time audience is probably scratching their heads wondering what the heck I’m up to – Never fear, I’ll explain in detail tomorrow. But what I will say now — I am back, I will be doing weekly one hour shows, and I am very pleased to be working with Right Side Media Network.

You can hear the show every tuesday at 3pm EASTERN time here. That’s Eastern. Not pacific. Which would be noon. It will run for an hour, I won’t be taking calls the first round, but I will be watching a chatbox and encouraging comments here on the blog.

This show will be styled more like a traditional radio show — there will be commercials, less content on the hour (roughly 40 minutes for every hour) but I fully intend to maintain my style of being responsive to -you- and open to comments.

I’ll be circling back to the themes I just covered in today’s intro on tuesday — that of the struggle conservatism faces in the coming years. After Tuesday? It’s open season on topics, and I would love to hear from you.

New to the site? Here’s a few of my greatest hits from the past:

Occupy San Diego Day 1 March Coverage

The Conclusion of the “Drysift Saga”

Occupy CLICS — Radicals Occupying UCSD Library

Why It’s Hard to Remain an Optimist

TheDougem Quick Take: Gun Control

Thanks for dropping by, and pardon the site being disorganized! I’ll fix it. Soon. Maybe. Eventually.

Now I’ve been up since 5am and this is the friday of my work week. My post show high is quickly fading and I -really- need some darn sleep.

 

-Doug

 

Announcements

Spring Cleaning Complete

June 10, 2013 by TheDougem 7 Comments


…mostly.

I spent today skimming through every single post on this site. Fun times.

I trashed a sparing few, discarded all drafts, and applied some polish here and there. This wasn’t a -complete- spring cleaning; I haven’t caught all dead links (though I did get a few) but it’s what needed to get done. Excerpts for each post is something I really should do but is not worth my time at the moment. (it’s a wordpress thing).

But it’s done for now. Without getting into too much detail, I’ve been given a rather compelling reason to resume activities on this blog and they orient around something I may possibly doing every Tuesday at a certain time in the afternoon for an hour involving the spoken word. No, it’s not the revival of the Invisible Voice but it is something I’m going to be excited to tell you lot about once I am able to.

I also have a very serious question to ask directed at the long time listeners and readers of mine.

I could use, but do not -need- a small amount of seed money. To make a long story short I have positioned myself so that I can break-even budget-wise and largely I’ve succeeded. My side project however changes things just a little, and while I expect to do fine long run — in the short term I’m going to have to play my cards very close to my chest to make it through.

I know that in the past some have expressed discomfort with the paypal donation button — and for the time being, that button is gone. I’m toying with the idea of a very small scale kickstarter (goal $100-$300) to help step around those concerns and have a little fun and practice with fundraising. I don’t entirely expect such a thing to succeed or raise a substantial amount, and that’s fine. I merely could use a little push to get me started.

The donation button will return, I need to settle a few things with paypal first.

I will extend details once I can — I hate playing coy, and I -really- hate asking for money. Just consider this me gauging interest with the expectation of getting nothing.

In terms of actual content, I will be recording a quick-take tomorrow afternoon. The first person to suggest a topic via the comments will likely have theirs selected for me to take to pieces, with the goal of a 20 to 30 minute segment.

Also, it has literally been years since I’ve touched livestreaming. Any quick opinions on which websites these days offer the best streaming service are welcome!

Announcements, Audience Participation

April 2013 Announcements; Boston Attacks Mention

April 22, 2013 by TheDougem 1 Comment


Alright folks, I DESPISE doing announcement posts but it’s necessary, given that I’ve gotten a number of people interested in my work as I have been merging from one job to another.

 

First: I know, I’m slow getting things started again. Life always takes priority, but thankfully that attitude is bearing fruit as I type this. I am shifting jobs and my future is looking increasingly more in my control then it did just a few months ago. The apartment has been moved into, I have gotten a few pieces of equipment, and I am in the midst of letting some budget milestones get struck along with putting all my energy into training for my new job. (high expectations, but a great company. It’ll be worth the effort and focus.) I will share what I am able to when appropriate. I need to clarify a few legal liability issues.

Second: My goal is in roughly two weeks to begin at the very least twice-once weekly Dougem Quicktake shows. Mixture of explaining philosophy and addressing current events. The bombings in Boston and the surrounding crap have thrown a wrench into these plans, particularly as the story has developed. I have a lot I want to say about the attacks but they must wait for now.

Third: A heavy round of spring cleaning is necessary on my content. Don’t worry — I will not be deleting posts unless there are any I feel are completely worthless (old announcements and the like.) Old formatting errors, defunct content, etc. I want my work to stand polished, and it will help get me back into blogger mode. It may take awhile, this is something I’ll chip away at for a few months. Until I mention otherwise consider any information on here potentially out of date or incorrect!

 

I know, I was over ambitious with my last post. I usually am with my plans, but always with the caveat of no promises. At least until I actually am completely financially independent. That time table I laid out is still very realistic once I pull the trigger on the first step, and that is going to wait until my training for the new job is done, sometime mid/late May.

Regarding Boston:

History was made last week. Never before has such a monumental crisis played out live via social media, police scanners, and traditional media. I was among those listening to the Boston police scanner while watching updates roll in via twitter feeds and reddit information compilation threads along with the occasional dose of The Blaze radio network. It was incredible in terms of the implications to the power and influence of old media vs. new media, and in terms of the average joe schmuck’s influence in critical events.

This story is not over.

As I have maintained to those who have asked me in person, there is a layer to the events in Boston that we the public haven’t been told yet — at least officially — by our government. As to what this could be or the implications, I am holding my piece but I encourage you to investigate on your own. Ignore the obvious conspiracy theories; as the saying goes the real conspiracy theories are the ones that hide in plain sight. This isn’t Bilderburgs, New World Order types, or lizard people — just simple international corruption, graft, influence peddling and cover-your-ass tactics that can, have, and will get people killed for the sake of placating certain interests and promoting political correctness.

The Boston attacks showed us that the American people are still a brave people. Many people ran toward the blasts in the immediate aftermath, and despite horrific injuries the death toll stands at a mere three people when it should arguably be a dozen or more, thanks in no small part to quick action and advanced medicine. While I am saddened to see the flag once again flying at half mast, I am proud of my countrymen and thankful for those who offer their support and thoughts to the people of Boston.

As always, remain skeptical, take nothing for granted, and continue to pay attention. And for heaven’s sake shun cable TV news media — they do not deserve your time or money.

Announcements

December 2012 Updates

December 19, 2012 by TheDougem 1 Comment


Hey folks!

I know, I’ve gone and done it again – a content drought. There’s easy explanations however.

FIRST: The End of the World Show at 8PM, december 21st, is a confirmed go. This has been scheduled for nearly 6 months, I cant back down! It’ll be a fun lighthearted show, I’ll yank out the prediction sheets from last January and we’ll make some collective judgement calls on who was an Idiot and who wasn’t.

Observant readers and listeners will note that I just bumped the show ahead a day – since I was silly and forgot exactly what day the world is supposed to end on. We can now properly dance together in the ashes on the correct day.

The Actual News: The current quarter at UCSD ended, and Tom and I were unable to run the last scheduled show of Invisible Voice season 2 owing to Finals Being Dumb. The other bit of actual news is that BOTH of my computers – the tower and the laptop – failed catastrophically within one day of each other. I’m currently using a borrowed cheap laptop. I’m in the midst of desperate repairs, and if all goes to plan I will have things fixed just in time for the podcast on Friday.

UPDATE: I did the first part of the show, then dove into Hour Two of Flyover’s show, which can be found here. A make-up show should be due some afternoon this next week.

Announcements

Invisible Voice: There Was a Show, There Will Be a Show

November 30, 2012 by TheDougem 1 Comment


Very quick update —

There WAS  a show last week! Sadly, work had stolen me away, but Tom stepped up and took the helm for the full two hours. I am currently processing the raw KSDT audio which you can find here. Show audio starts roughly five minutes in. I intend to upload slightly polished audio to BTR sometime this weekend, hopefully Sunday – I only have so much free time these days, so it will be a rough job.

There WILL be a show this coming Tuesday, in spite of me running a closing shift monday night. As usual. I’ll have it scheduled sometime tomorrow once I confirm a few things. Feel free to leave notes on this post as to suggestions, topic ideas, questions, and so on. We’re likely to get heavy on issues framing the realm of US politics and conservative vs. progressive ideology, so be warned!

Finally, friend-of-the-show FlyOverTerritory had a revival on the 29th – one I was very sorry to miss! The show kicks off roughly seven minutes in. Please give him a listen – strong broadcaster, has a nice, bristly style, and he pulls clips like almost no other show.

The listening stats on the last batch of shows continues to be incredibly heartening and disturbing. I can’t thank you lot enough, both for your time and patience. My living situation will be adjusting soon in a way that will allow me to throw more of myself into my craft – hopefully coming by the tail end of this holiday season. More details as they come – until then, enjoy the weekend.

Announcements

No Invisible Voice this Week!

November 20, 2012 by TheDougem 4 Comments


Well, I feel lame.

Last week, Tom was sick. This week – we’re both sick. So – sorry folks, no dice 😦

I can recommend Red Eye Radio instead – very intellectual show for one oriented towards late night truckers and workers, free podcast, three full hours of content from a condensed five hour show. Certainly worth the time.

Enjoy your Thanksgiving, and thanks for your continued listenership! The stats have been impressive lately – I just can’t force a thing, particularly when my boss has a nasty habit of scheduling me late monday nights and leaves me little time for sleep..

Announcements, Invisible Voice

It Ain’t Over till the Fat Lady Sings, But…

November 6, 2012 by TheDougem 5 Comments


Those are painful words to type, but I’m a mature person. If trends continue this will be a popular vote win for Romney and an electoral win for Obama, keeping him our president. You will not, by the way, see me calling for an overturn of the electoral college system and I very much discourage my ideological companions from touching that argument with a ten foot pole.

http://pjmedia.com/instapundit/157173/

America losing touch with economic reality doesn’t change the economic reality facing this country. I’m frankly a little disappointed in my country tonight, but I will persevere.

Tom and I have some humble pie to chew into from today’s show in calling a landslide – perhaps we were picking up on the popular tally, perhaps we fell into the classic political junkie trap: We saw an amazingly strong case against Obama’s policies and stances, we saw so many instances where he outright lied, we’ve seen numerous scandals that colored him in a horrible light, and we just couldn’t see how people could not see those stories, take them to heart, and see that this nation needs a different course.

I’m not certain what this says specifically about the American electorate, but I can say one thing – it seems America’s historical problem of having to take a pounding before it turns around is again playing out before our eyes. We have an economic disaster on the horizon, period. It seems America has done an effective job of convincing itself that the problem is either too harrowing to contemplate or that the fed can happily print money with no consequences. The fantasy that federal money is free continues.

http://pjmedia.com/instapundit/157204/

Obama owns the last four years. A large number of his major policy moves were offset to kick in after the election, and in 2014. I will say it again: America is insisting that it needs a sucker punch before it sees the light of day. Fine. It will come. But I will go on the record – this mess would not have been entirely diverted by Romney. Romney would have given us an emergency landing as opposed to a crash. It could have been side stepped. It could have been cushioned. Instead we’re apparently going to accelerate.

Buckle up, folks. It’s going to be rough ride. Remember: As a country, this is the path we’ve chosen.

And I will still not give up on my country.

I remain, as ever, an optimist. I do, however, despair that this nation is now stepping into a period of history where we have never been so sharply divided politically, and where a campaign oriented around shallow tactics managed to win with classic politics. Obama has always been a master politician, and it’s something I will never deny or contest about him.

I intend to remain active, and bite the bullet and march on. And unfortunately – for my family, this election has direct consequences on our lives, and we’ll be making a number of hard decisions soon. I imagine it’s the same way for many, many other Americans tonight.

I’m feeling much the same way I did when Justice Roberts made the deciding vote to uphold Obamacare. Conservatism as a movement in this country is being given an incredibly trying test. We will ultimately be stronger for it – but damn if it isn’t painful not seeing the ‘easy route’ pan out.

Things to Watch:

  • Benghazi
  • Precious Metals
  • The Federal Reserve (specifically Ben Bernanke)
  • Ripple effects of Obamacare solidfying sinking in over the next two weeks
  • Overall regulations via the EPA aimed at energy producers firing over next several months, particularly coal

More thoughts from Vodkapundit via PJM that I encourage all of you to read.

Update: Why on earth is THIS my 100th post? Talk about bitter tastes left in the mouth.

ALSO: This piece is linked in one of the instapundit links, but a qoute from a Bom Krumm piece is worth highlighting:

“We are an evenly divided nation between two irreconciable ideologies.  On the one side is the collectivist progressive who knows that by centralizing control in the hands of leaders empowered by special powers, that America will be a fairer place.  On the other side is the rugged individualist who knows that if he were freed of extraordinary restrictions that he could accomplish extraordinary things and that will make America a stronger place.

This is not a new conflict.  In fact, it’s the conflict that gave birth to our nation, when we left and England and an anointed elite behind.  But we didn’t leave it entirely behind.  And by degree, collectivism has returned.  For decades we have been able to paper over the differences between the two camps through the incredible surplusses that we have amassed.  But those surplusses are soon to come to an end.”

Additional Reading

I really ought to listen to myself more often. Sometimes. Back then I was very put off by Romney – my opinion on Romney the man has changed considerably since then.

Announcements, Breaking News, monologue, Political Opinion
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Day before Election Day – Ballot Guide and Thoughts

November 5, 2012 by TheDougem 8 Comments


Forgive the thrown together nature of this post, I have been very busy!

Scroll down for the voter guide. I can’t guarantee it but if I can –  it will be in pretty colors.

Last Week’s Show

First off – last week’s Invisible Voice show has tacked to 1063 archive listens within one week. This is terrifying in a wonderful way. I have no idea where the traffic has come from, but that show has the distinction of being my most popular piece of content within one week of all time. Hearty kudos are extended to my cohost, Tom Webb, as well as to the thirty two folks who listened live throughout the two hour broadcast. You can listen to the show directly by clicking here.

That’s a pretty awesome milestone to hit as an online content producer. What does this mean, going forwards? All Invisible Voice shows will now be simulcast on BTR. This means that post show sharing and turn around will be almost instantaneous. Exposure is simply too valuable to loose.

Some folks have requested cross posting to youtube, because of complaints with the Blog Talk Radio player. First: please subscribe to the rss feed if you have problems with BTR! www.blogtalkradio.com/thedougem.rss Second: I will be blunt, as I have in the past. I am working almost full time in the service industry. Money is a significant concern for me, as is my time. I am in BTR’s revenue sharing program in order to help justify the amount of time I spend on making content. I am not outright asking for donations at this time, but it’s simple economic reality that if the choice is between more hours at work, or more hours mixing audio and video when I have bills to pay – I have to take more work hours.

I want to cut back on work hours, and as my income stabilizes it becomes more viable, but that time hasn’t come yet. I still aspire to enter the broadcasting industry, but I need to build up savings to go to community college first, and my job is simply the most practical way to do that. IF. Huge IF – but IF online income through donations or other means is able to replace at least part of my work wages, I can consider cutting back on hours and devoting more time to production, but that’s not something I’m going to ask of you. If it happens, it happens. If not, that’s ok. I proceed as planned, work hard at my job, and make the most of it I can.

 

Quick Voter’s Guide (CA focused)

Alternate Voter Guides:

President: Mitt Romney/Paul Ryan

US Senate: Elizabeth Emken

US House: Brian Bilbrary

San Diego Mayor: Carl DeMaio

Prop 30: No

Prop 31: Abstain

Prop 32: YES

Prop 33: Abstain

Prop 34: NO

Prop 35: Abstain

Prop 36: No

Prop 37: No

Prop 38: No

Prop 39: No

Prop 40: Yes

 

Why so many abstains? If I don’t have full understanding of a proposition or what it will do, my default is usually ‘no’ – but I’ve been convinced on those three to abstain since they could be good, or they could be bad. I don’t know, I’m not informed, and cannot make an informed decision.

These recommendations are simply my opinion and mine alone! Please come to your own conclusions when voting!

 

What do I think happens tomorrow?

I will only place a cautious call on the overall presidential election. I don’t even begin to know how individual propositions or races are standing.

Based off of the overwhelming turnout on ‘Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day’ and an overall sense of pent up momentum across the news cycle, I predict that the Mitt Romney Paul Ryan ticket will win a narrow Electoral College victory and be within five points positive leading the popular vote.

My heart predicts a landslide tomorrow. My brain is more cautious. We will see tomorrow, hopefully.

Based on overall news cycle movements, some bullet point predictions. Also, remember that polling is notoriously bad lately. Majority of media favored polls are sampling as if 2008 is happening again, which is not rooted in reality.

  • If Romney wins, media will blame it on ‘extremist’ tea party and GOP vote stealing.
  • If the election is within 3 points we will not know who the president is for a month.
  • If Romney wins, the floodgates on news of the dire economic situation this country faces will open, especially once inauguration takes place. Media will cease being the fourth branch of government but will heartily continue being the publicity arm of the Democrat Party.
  • Whomever wins, the aftereffects of the Benghazi scandal will lead to criminal trials and possible impeachment unless something else big grabs national attention.

There’s a show tomorrow morning – see the next post for details!

Announcements, Political Opinion, Production Notes
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Planetside 2 Beta, Updates

August 23, 2012 by TheDougem 1 Comment


NOTE: Because a number of  people found this post hunting for planetside 2 Beta info – the official beta forums can be found here. If you have a SOE account you -should- be able to log on – not sure if beta access if required. Beta server uptimes tend to be from 6 am to 10 pm Pacific Time.

Hey folks!

General Updates

I’ve been a very busy guy, have one job, looking for a second, my current life goal is to move into an apartment again. Until that happens any kind of serious production work or anything of the kind is going to have to wait. This isn’t just a time thing – it’s getting into a space and state of mind where I have a serious kick-ass creative muse and the freedom to unleash it. I’m saving my energy until then.

If this hasn’t happened by the start of October, never fear – I will kick into election mode and go crazy-kabonkers. Until then – patience, please.

Planetside 2 Beta

The point of this post – I got a beta invite to Planetside two and have been very pleased with the little bit of testing I’ve gotten to do so far. The receptiveness of the developers to feedback, their future plans, and how the game plays and feels makes me pretty darn optimistic about its long term viability – as long as they can be a free to play game and remain in business. League of Legends is pulling it off though, and this is one of the developer’s inspirations..

I play on US West 02 – I usually only can drop in twice or so a week, but if you have a beta key as well and want to blow up people together, it shouldn’t be too hard to track down a New Conglomerate TheDougem.

I’m musing starting an outfit that would be a dedicated armored cav division called ‘Imperial Guard’, but that may also have to wait for the apartment 😦

Minecraft Server

I simply couldn’t afford to keep it up for every month. Traffic wasn’t ever too high – but that’s fine. Once my income gets back up I can guarantee 24/7 uppage – until then, it will be sporadic. I did reset the map since the game made alot of advancement since server start, and all server strongholds were ruined – but I do have the old map files in my possession. If you’d like a copy I can pass them out on request.

If you want in on the server it will take some time for me to open it up to all once more. I simply can’t manage a server effectively right now and I have to keep a very tight leash on access as a result. (I’m also lazy and waiting for Bukkit integration with Minecraft proper which will make managing mods 10,000x simpler and easier)

In Sum

I’m busy. Hopefully less so in October. Planetside 2 is fun.

If you’re starved for decent news commentary I have two recommendations:

Late night talk show, has a free podcast, releases weekday mornings. Two veterans of talk radio, offer a libertarian-lite take on things, very good handling positive and negative callers. They stole Coast to Coast AM’s deep voice guy recently (Ross Mitchell).

A tried and true warhorse of conservative blogging. Great resource, like drudgereport but with more commentary and easier to navigate! Scattershot of stories and angles, updates constantly, mixes in the serious with the funny very well. Requires sarcasm as a second language. Remember kiddos, conservatives can’t help getting bitter and cynical now and then with what gets thrown at them every day.

Cheers.

Announcements

Reflecting on Invisible Voice’s First Season, and Looking Ahead

June 26, 2012 by TheDougem 0 Comments


Hey guys – and yes, I know it’s been awhile. Life’s been a little crazy, and I’d like to keep it at that.

BUT. As some know, this past quarter at UCSD hasn’t been a waste for me – I had the opportunity to whip up an hour-long weekly radio show on the campus “radio station”, KSDT. (it’s actually only an internet stream but it USED to be a radio station darnit!) Today, the quarter’s been over for a week, the first run of the show is done, and I have ten full episodes and a debate to produce in two weeks. Before I dive into that, I thought it would be nice to do a brief lookback on the overall production, with more specific thoughts as I release the archived version of each episode.

What Went Right

It took a few weeks for the team to settle, shifting from myself, Tom, and Cody, to myself, Tom, and Austin – with support people varying each episode. Once we got established by show four, things began to click and go -really- well. I feel like the show had good chemistry and attitude, we were in studio on time every week (not always starting on time, thanks to technical gremlins!) and almost always got in our preshow planning meeting. Austin and Tom, complete newbies to broadcasting, picked things up quick and got relaxed and comfortable with the format very quickly, well enough that they were able to do a show without me for episode nine!

My primary goal was to focus almost exclusively on getting the show part of the show right – by and large we got off to a great start.

What Went Wrong

Coordination – but only partially. This is the kind of effort that has to start very light – extra bits like regular, on schedule production, companion blogs, webcam, etc. have to be secondary to the sound. I wish we could have gotten a little more energy to force that stuff out, BUT. I’ll be happy with what I can get, and now with momentum at our backs we should hopefully get it better this fall!

There were a -lot- of technical issues with the studio – partially my fault, since I was supposed to know it inside and out off the bat. There were issues with the show before us running late, before it got yanked halfway through the quarter. I wanted to foster a friendship with the show after us but that never got off the ground due to time issues.

Overall, this was and will remain a learning experience, so I won’t nitpick about rough edges in the actual show. We’re rookies after all!

Most Important Lesson Learned

Two hour time slots are like manna from heaven, since there’s plenty of room for short breaks for the crew to quickly butt heads and get on the same page.

—

What’s Next?

I have a ton of production work to do! I intend to have every episode of the Invisible Voice on youtube much in the same manner this one is.

That’s ten episodes to go. Hooray!

Until I get that done – you may not see very much from me save for:

  • The occasional guest article (once average traffic gets stirred up a bit)
  • Short and sweet blog articles on one thing or another
  • Quick (half hour tops) podcasts in the spirit of ‘TheDougem Drives’, except I won’t be driving.
Keep an eye on this website and twitter to get a head’s up on releases.

Why am I putting myself through all this suffering? The Invisible Voice is part of my portfolio now – I and the team worked hard to put it together, we need a venue to show it off to get people excited about coming back in the fall!

I can never say it enough: Thank you SO much for your patience and hanging around, whether you’re a new face or someone who’s been around long enough to see me attempt to conquer medieval Germany.

When will I get back to nice, long podcasts? Two months tops, I’m hoping.

If you need stuff to tide you over until then, I recommend both The Blaze as well as PJMedia. Instapundit on PJMedia is also excellent – it updates throughout the day!

Cheers till then

Announcements, Invisible Voice, Production Notes
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