April Blog

Terri Schiavo 1963-2005
Terri Schiavo passed away on Thursday, March 31, about two weeks after her feeding tube was removed. Like you, I’ve watched the story unfold literally 24/7 in the media. There are certainly are many opinions about her case, and this is neither the time nor the place to comment further other than to wish her family peace and healing. And also for the rest of the world to allow them to do that in the privacy they deserve.

I need your help
I continue to be troubled by the loss of Jessica Marie Lunsford to a sexual predator in Florida. As you know, we had joined in the reward effort for her safe return.

Doubly troubling is that just days later, an Iowa girl was the victim of the same fate. In both cases, the killers had previous convictions of sexual assault on a child. And both served minimal time for their crimes before being released back into society to do it again. Too many of these cases involve repeat offenders. And I’ve been unable to find any evidence that these types of sexual predators can be “cured” or “rehabilitated.”

Equally troubling is that in too many cases, these predators are “registered sex offenders.” It’s obvious from the cases in Florida and Iowa; being registered does nothing to protect innocent children. So, like you, I ask the question, “What can I do?”

A good start is contacting your elected representatives. Tell them you want, no, demand, real laws that actually protect us. And if your local or national representatives counter with the high cost of jails, tell them to call Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio in Arizona. He houses the worst of our society in tent jails. And he spends less than 20 cents per meal to feed them. Joe also keeps a “Vacancy” sign lit on one of the guard towers. Arpaio’s popularity rating amongst voters by the way remains consistently in the mid-80’s.

Please, call or write your elected officials today. Tell them enough is enough. Tell them it’s time for real laws with real teeth with real consequences.

Our government has been calling a lot of special and weekend sessions lately, even coming in from vacation to do so. Let’s have some special sessions to protect our kids.

Opening Day
They USED to be the best two words in sports. Last year is supposed to be forgotten, and a new season brings hopes of a pennant. You notice I said, “Supposed to be forgotten.” Here in Denver the Rockies are “rebuilding” which is baseball speak for “we’ll lose 90-100 games.” And we have yet another suspect pitching rotation and what do they do? Start a rookie catcher! And what did they do with the #2 hitter from last year? Yep, traded him away.

And sadly, as we discussed a couple of weeks ago, there’s the whole steroid thing. It’s hard to concentrate on the game, when you’re wondering “is he juiced?” or “do you think he’ll have to testify?”

The only way I know how to get their attention is not to attend. I’m going on strike.

Getting to this NCAA Final Four has been more than half the fun!
Are you kidding me? If after last weekend’s NCAA Basketball Sweet 16, the NCAA isn’t thinking about a play-off in Division 1 Football, then I don’t know what will. Some are calling it one of the best weekends in College Basketball History. And with those wild O-T finishes, especially the Michigan State/Kentucky game where we were treated to a double O-T, well, let’s just they there weren’t many fingernails left after that game!

So it’s Louisville, Michigan State, Illinois and UNC. They’ve all earned their trip to St. Louis. No coaches or writers’ polls needed. There’s nothing like winning to prove you really belong!

Top TiVo records
Do you have a digital recorder on your home satellite or cable system? The well-known brand is TiVo but both satellite and cable offer options so you can digitally record your favorite shows, hundreds of hours worth if your want. The other cool thing about DVR technology is you can pause live shows when the phone rings, skip back and do your own instant replays etc.

Where there’s a record, there’s a list, and last week this is what TiVo owners recorded the most:

Top 5 Shows Recorded or Watched Live by TiVo Subscribers for the Week of 3/20/05 - 3/26/05
1. American Idol (Tue 8pm) - Total TiVo Rating 30.71% (Recorded)

2. The Apprentice (Thur 8:30pm) - Total TiVo Rating 20.25% (Recorded)

3. Survivor: Palau (Wed 8pm) - Total TiVo Rating 19.95% (Recorded)

4. 24 (Mon 9pm) - Total TiVo Rating 17.41% (Recorded)

5. American Idol (Wed 9pm) - Total TiVo Rating 16.61% (Recorded)

Four of the top five are reality shows! Interesting!

Site o’ the week:
OK folks; don’t forget we go back to Daylight Saving Time this weekend. At least most of us do. So spring forward one hour before you go to bed Saturday Night.

And to help you keep track of time, we found this latest little masterpiece. I’ve got to meet the people that design these sometime!

http://entries.the5k.org/365/t.htm

My cyber door is always open; you can reach me at CEO@videoprofessor.com

John W. Scherer
CEO and Founder
VIDEO PROFESSOR Inc