John Beard - The View From Here

8/26/09 I’m excited about my new job…

After lots of time and thought I’ve decided to accept a job offer in my old stomping grounds of Buffalo, New York. The last 28 years in Los Angeles have been great personally and professionally, but it’s time for a change.

5/4/09 Ronald Reagan, the secret handshake and me…

In 1976 Ronald Reagan brought his Presidential campaign to Winston- Salem, N.C. I had just started as a reporter at WXII-TV there and at the last minute, the assignment director sent me to the hotel where Reagan was to speak at a fundraising dinner.

2/23/09 Random thoughts on the Oscars…the good and the bad.

As always I recorded the Oscars so I could time shift through the breaks, that eliminates the biggest complaints most people have…the show is always too long, tries to do too much and has too many commercials.

1/20/09 Inauguration day…random thoughts on an Obama Presidency.

As President Barack Obama takes the oath of office to become our 44th President, I wonder as we all do what the next four years will bring. Here are some thoughts about the new President.

12/31/2008 Hello Fidel? It’s me Barack…

This is a phone call that needs to be made, a call that should have been made in the last century…a call that will initiate the end of a now senseless embargo of Cuba.

12/30/08 2008 year end update…

It’s been over a year now since I was fired by KTTV. I never expected to have this much time off but I’ve taken advantage of it by doing some things I’ve never been able to do before…especially writing and traveling. I have to admit that after this unexpected sabbatical I’m looking forward to going back to work in TV News. I can’t say where that will be, but it will hopefully be soon and I promise to let you know.

11/20/2008 A major environmental victory today you may have missed.

In a move that has left heads spinning on Capital Hill, California
congressman Henry Waxman today ousted one of the most senior members
of Congress from the critically important House Energy and Commerce
Committee.

11/7/2008 The trouble with the Republicans.

Isn't a fundamental problem with what the party stands for, the problem is they don't stand for what they used to.

10/27/08 The bumper sticker voter…

I’ve been giving a lot of thought to the election, a lot of thought to the candidates, and lately…a lot of thought to the voters.

8/30/08 Thoughts on Sarah Palin…

John McCain pulled a joker out of the deck yesterday when he announced Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as his running mate, and I think it’s going to be fascinating to see how it plays.

The Lion roars, the Clintons fall into line, and Obama sets the tone…

First I can’t tell you how much I miss covering the conventions in person, and especially one as historic as this one. Now…here’s what I took away from it.

I LOVE My Kindle

There are advantages and disadvantage to being out of work, the biggest disadvantage is of course the lack of income. The biggest advantage is having the luxury of time, time to travel, catch up with friends.and read, that's where Kindle comes in.

I'm just slightly worried...

I’m just slightly worried about the world’s biggest and most expensive ($8 Billion) machine, will soon be up and running outside Geneva (the project itself is called CERN). There’s a very good chance it will yield enormous scientific discoveries, and a very, very, very small chance it will destroy the planet…

The Inaugural Address I'd like to see.

My fellow Americans, thank you for your applause. I savor the sound of it because I may not be hearing that much of it in the next few minutes or over the next four years.

Did George Bush kill the GOP.or was it a suicide?

This is an interesting election year…the Democrats are attacking the Republicans, and the Republicans are attacking the Republicans! Many GOP insiders are essentially writing off the 2008 election year, some of them are even hoping for a massive defeat to give them a reason to retool the party. So what happened?

Democrats to Hillary...quit now. Wink.Wink.

Everybody but Rush Limbaugh seems to want Hillary Clinton to quit the race for the Democratic nomination for President. Limbaugh has been running what he calls “Operation Chaos”. The thinking behind his insurgent campaign is the longer Hillary stays in the race, the more time and money Barack Obama has to spend running against her and the less he has to strengthen his position against John McCain.

The man most qualified to be America's first Black President.and why it will never happen.

Am I saying Barack Obama won't be President? Not at all, the man I'm talking about had his chance at the Presidency eliminated by his link to the invasion of Iraq. I'm talking about Colin Powell, soldier, statesman and reluctant warrior.

I know both sides think they're right in this ongoing debate.but I'm taking a stand.

I'm a Mac guy. I have many friends, (most of them in fact) who are PC people, and I love them, they're like misguided children. They like what they're used too, and like youngsters.sometimes they don't know enough to know what they don't know. As a result, when it's time to get a new computer, they usually get another PC.but not all of them. Slowly, sometimes stealthily, even the diehard PC owners drop by the Apple store, or take a turn behind the keyboard of a friend's iMac or MacBook, and then.life is never quite the same.

LA's national treasure.for fifty great years

He’s a guy most of us take for granted, because he goes about his business in such a professional and unobtrusive manner, deliberately not drawing attention to himself. But he does this very special job in a way no one else ever has…because no one else can. He’s a poet, a historian, and a storyteller…making it all sound as easy as chatting with your neighbor over the fence.

Ten other things to do at Ten P.M.

OK it's after Ten again and you've just realized I'm no longer on the News, and if you got this far you know why. So what else can you do at this hour? Well I have a few options.

So, how do you like that SUV now...sucker?

It's time to say what a lot of people have been thinking for years. I hate SUV's, always have. They're too damn big, too damn dirty and too damn dangerous. The only good thing about gas prices moving towards $4 a gallon is that more and more SUV's are being traded for cleaner, safer vehicles...and fewer new buyers name the big gas-guzzlers as their first choice.

The McCain "Affair".

With the publication of the NY Times article on John MCCain’s dubious relationship with an attractive Washington lobbyist, it’s time to examine the man and his candidacy.

With the failure of talk radio’s efforts to hand the GOP nomination to Rudy Guliani and Mitt Romney, both of whom would have been shredded like a White House memo in November…

The problem with Religion.

Americans are very religious people, but there’s a big difference in religion here and in the rest of the world. Generally, the most religious countries are the poorest countries with the US being a
dramatic exception. Americans are religious and rich at the same time… and that’s a rare coincidence. Read More >>>

An unpleasant environment for the EPA

What most Americans didn't see today (and won't see tonight on their local news) was a struggling attempt by Stephen Johnson, the Environmental Protection Agency Administrator to explain why he ruled again California's request of a waiver of the Clean Air Act (in order for the state to implement tougher greenhouse regulations than the federal standard). Read More >>>

I'm not a conservative (and neither are you).

We're not liberals either. My point is this, major media and talk-radio in particular try to oversimplify our political views. But people (and especially Americans), don't fit neatly into those boxes. My contention is there there are very few card-carrying liberals or conservatives out there, the vast majority of us don't live lives that are that simple. Read More >>>

Useful TV News Terms

Here's an explanation of terms frequently used in TV News...

Live shot...actually there are two kinds of live shots.

1. The real...where reporters are on the scene of a developing story gathering important information (brushfires, crime scenes etc.)

2. The bogus...where reporters stand in the dark near the building or other location where something might have happened hours earlier. These are usually ordered by management (see consultant)...reporters know they're a waste of time and money, and make them look silly.

How to save Baseball

The saddest thing about former Senator George Mitchell's report on the use of performance enhancing drugs in Major League Baseball is this...no real surprises. Every owner, player and fan pretty much knew who was on the juice (steroids and Human Growth Hormone or GBH). It was obvious by the changes in their appearance and performance. If there was anything at all surprising about the report it was that it was able to name 88 players at all, given the fact that almost nobody in the sport wants to clean it up. Read More >>>

Too Much Freedom

A few years ago, I was traveling and started talking to my cab driver who was from Cuba.

I said, "What would you say is the biggest difference between Cuba and the U.S.?"

He picked up a newspaper and said, "You have this! In my country, you can't believe what you read or hear on television; here, you can."

I've never forgotten that moment. Here was a man who realized the value of something most Americans take for granted: that what we read or watch is the truth. Is it biased or slanted with a political point of view? Maybe sometimes. but it's not a lie and it's not controlled or edited by the government; that a free, unfettered media is the single most important element in keeping government honest and keeping people informed is a given.
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My New Job

Well, after several weeks of being out of work and trying to decide what to do next.I think I have it.

I was watching one of the candidate's debates the other night and it came to me. It was so clear and obvious I can't believe I didn't see it before. I need to run for President of the United States!

Now I will never be President, but I realized the other night, neither will most of the other men (and woman) now raising million of dollars from special interests. And there's no interest more special to me right now than figuring out where the next paycheck(s) will come from!
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