This and That

This

In the right column of this page are two site rankings, the top one indicating that you must be a genius to understand the material printed hereon. Below that is one that says that you must be capable of getting into college to understand the material on this site. These two rating were made only a few days apart.

I have other sites, as well. One is where I posted pieces of a more personal nature, which requires a junior high IQ, and the other is a site where I post jokes and cartoons that requires only an elementary school education to understand it.

The fact that Observations received two different ratings just a few days apart tells me that the method for determining the reading level must focus on the most recent posts. Also, some of the jokes on that site are a little sophisticated, although the words are pretty basic, so the method must focus on the number of four-letter words, or some such thing, to determine the rating.

What this all means is that this is a neat little trick, but essentially meaningless.

That

Monday sees the return of Don Imus to morning radio, and I for one am glad. I think Imus got a raw deal over his crude remark about a black women’s basketball team. The remark was crude, but it wasn’t any worse than a great deal of Imus’ material. That’s what made him interesting to listen to, that and the truly funny stuff on the show. But suddenly one comment out of thousands hit a nerve with the right people, triggering righteous indignation, and a huge fit of political correctness.

Even though I used to listen to Imus when a local station carried his show a few years back, I didn’t appreciate everything he did, but I did like the show. It was alternately high-brow and in the gutter; it had something for everybody!

A little advice for Imus: keep up the liberal politics, and the slamming of politicians. Keep doing the funny bits, the parodies, and keep bringing in personalities to interview. Just avoid anything remotely resembling racist material. That’s the only thing you have to fear. Everything else is okay.