#1 Geo’s Media Blog (Between 65 and Death.) 7/31/20

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01 – It’s time to use the money you saved up. Use it and enjoy it. Don’t just keep it for those who may have no notion of the sacrifices you made to get it. Remember there is nothing more dangerous than a son or daughter-in-law with big ideas for your hard-earned capital. Warning: This is also a bad time for investments, even if it seems wonderful or fool-proof. They only bring problems and worries. This is a time for you to enjoy some peace and quiet.

02 – Stop worrying about the financial situation of your children and grandchildren, and don’t feel bad spending your money on yourself. You’ve taken care of them for many years, and you’ve taught them what you could. You gave them an education, food, shelter, and support. The responsibility is now theirs to earn their own money.

03 – Keep a healthy life, without great physical effort. Do moderate exercise ( like walking every day ), eat well, and get your sleep. It’s easy to become sick, and it gets harder to remain healthy. That is why you need to keep yourself in good shape and be aware of your medical and physical needs. Keep in touch with your doctor, do tests even when you’re feeling well. Stay informed.

04 – Always buy the best, most beautiful items for your significant other. The key goal is to enjoy your money with your partner. One day one of you will miss the other, and the money will not provide any comfort then, enjoy it together.

05 – Don’t stress over the little things. You’ve already overcome so much in your life. You have good memories and bad ones, but the important thing is the present. Don’t let the past drag you down and don’t let the future frighten you. Feel good in the now. Small issues will soon be forgotten.06 – Regardless of age, always keep love alive. Love your partner, love life, love your family, love your neighbor and remember: A man is not old as long as he has intelligence and affection.

07 – Be proud, both inside and out. Don’t stop going to your hair salon or barber, do your nails, go to the dermatologist and the dentist, keep your perfumes and creams well stocked. When you are well-maintained on the outside, it seeps in, making you feel proud and strong.

08 – Don’t lose sight of fashion trends for your age, but keep your own sense of style. There’s nothing worse than an older person trying to wear the current fashion among youngsters. You’ve developed your own sense of what looks good on you – keep it and be proud of it. It’s part of who you are.

09 – Always stay up-to-date. Read newspapers, watch the news . Go online and read what people are saying . Make sure you have an active email account and try to use some of those social networks. You’ll be surprised at what old friends you’ll meet. Keeping in touch with what is going on and with the people you know is important at any age.

10 – Respect the younger generation and their opinions. They may not have the same ideals as you, but they are the future and will take the world in their direction . Give advice, not criticism, and try to remind them that yesterday’s wisdom still applies today.

11 – Never use the phrase In my time. Your time is now. As long as you’re alive, you are part of this time. You may have been younger, but you are still you now, having fun and enjoying life.

12 – Some people embrace their golden years, while others become bitter and surly. Life is too short to waste your days on the latter. Spend your time with positive, cheerful people, it’ll rub off on you and your days will seem that much better. Spending your time with bitter people will make you older and harder to be around.

13 – Do not surrender to the temptation of living with your children or grandchildren ( if you have a financial choice, that is ). Sure, being surrounded by family sounds great, but we all need our privacy. They need theirs and you need yours. If you’ve lost your partner ( our deepest condolences ), then find a person to move in with you and help out. Even then, do so only if you feel you really need the help or do not want to live alone.

14 – Don’t abandon your hobbies. If you don’t have any, make new ones. You can travel, hike, cook, read, dance. You can adopt a cat or a dog, grow a garden, play cards, checkers, chess, dominoes, golf. You can paint, volunteer, or just collect certain items. Find something you like and spend some real time having fun with it.

15 – Even if you don’t feel like it, try to accept invitations. Baptisms, graduations, birthdays, weddings, conferences. Try to go. Get out of the house, meet people you haven’t seen in a while, experience something new ( or something old ). But don’t get upset when you’re not invited. Some events are limited by resources, and not everyone can be hosted. The important thing is to leave the house from time to time. Go to museums, go walk through a field. Get out there.

16 – Be a conversationalist. Talk less and listen more. Some people go on and on about the past, not caring if their listeners are really interested. That’s a great way of reducing their desire to speak with you. Listen first and answer questions, but don’t go off into long stories unless asked to. Speak in courteous tones and try not to complain or criticize too much unless you really need to. Try to accept situations as they are. Everyone is going through the same things, and people have a low tolerance for hearing complaints. Always find some good things to say as well.

17 – Pain and discomfort go hand in hand with getting older. Try not to dwell on them but accept them as a part of the cycle of life we’re all going through. Try to minimize them in your mind. They are not who you are, they are something that life added to you. If they become your entire focus, you lose sight of the person you used to be.

18 – If you’ve been offended by someone – forgive them. If you’ve offended someone – apologize. Don’t drag around resentment with you. It only serves to make you sad and bitter. It doesn’t matter who was right. Someone once said: Holding a grudge is like taking poison and expecting the other person to die. Don’t take that poison. Forgive, forget, and move on with your life.

19 – If you have a strong belief, savor it. But don’t waste your time trying to convince others. They will make their own choices no matter what you tell them, and it will only bring you frustration. Live your faith and set an example. Live true to your beliefs and let that memory sway them.

20 – Laugh A Lot. Laugh at everything. Remember, you are one of the lucky ones. You managed to have a life, a long one. Many never get to this age, never get to experience a full life. But you did. So what’s not to laugh about? Find the humor in your situation.

21 – Take no notice of what others say about you and even less notice of what they might be thinking. They’ll do it anyway, and you should have pride in yourself and what you’ve achieved. Let them talk and don’t worry. They have no idea about your history, your memories, and the life you’ve lived so far. There’s still much to be written, so get busy writing and don’t waste time thinking about what others might think. Now is the time to be at rest, at peace, and as happy as you can be!

And, remember: Life is too short to drink bad wine !!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Geo’s Media Blog. (The birth of K103 Part I)

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While recently writing about Richard M Fairbanks who owned Fairbanks Broadcasting, I couldn’t help but think about when I became an owner.
My brother Reg, Bill Yde, and I owned a company called Fairwest which had two formats that were on fire, “Music of Your Life” and “The Class format.” It was time to turn our successes into brick and mortar. Our first endeavor was to purchase a brand new FM facility in Portland Oregon, KKCW (K-103).
In no time, K103 went from being a good radio station to a great radio station, especially when the legendary Craig Walker (photo above) joined us to do mornings. (I’ll tell his story next)

When Craig retired a few years ago, some classy friends of mine, Bruce Murdock and John Erickson, (photo on top)continued the K103 tradition.
Now some thirty years later, not only are they also retired, but K103 still remains #1.

When I first got involved with K-103, I had no idea that all my radio dreams had already come true. I should have hung it up right then.
Instead, I continued to fly all over the country servicing all the “Class” stations even though I already owned the #1 radio station in one of the most beautiful places on earth.

While growing K-103 I spent a fair amount of time in Portland and pretty well thought I knew how ownership worked even though I still operated as a consultant.
However, on one of my station visits, I soon learned that how I thought things worked and how they really did, wasn’t even close.

During one of my visits, the designated driver of the week to do the airport run was our Sales Manager.
As we left the airport and headed to the station, he told me there was quite a buzz going on about the radio station.

Then as we crossed the big bridge leading into the downtown area, I noticed that the whole riverfront was under construction.
They were building a bunch of new retail shops, restaurants, and a beautiful boutique hotel.

When I asked our SM if he knew when the hotel was due to open, he replied, “It’s already open, and in fact, we even have some trade there.”
Shocked, I couldn’t help but ask, “Then why am I staying in a motel in Beaverton instead of there?” His answer equally shocked me, “Oh that’s just for our clients.”

A few days later, when I was talking to Jim Hilliard, I asked him what I was doing wrong? “In this deal,” I told him.  “I’m Mr. Fairbanks, but as I recall, Mr. F always stayed at the Ritz or the 4 Seasons.”
Jim responded with, “George, you don’t have me if I left it up to the staff, Mr. Fairbanks would be lucky if he got to stay at a Motel 6.”

GEO’S LIFE-LINERS.

If anybody’s begging for a real estate crash, it’s gotta be California.

You know you’re gonna have a bad year when the people who never planned on paying you aren’t even buying.

At his worst, in one year, Tiger can make more money than he’ll ever need.

Isn’t it crazy how many theories there are about what the Beatles should have done but none on how you become them?

Its always been about how to create a “Game Of Thrones,” its never been about how to sell it.

Worrying fixed nothin’.

The truth always shows up when you’re willing to walk away.

Salespeople are very good at selling that which they consume.

You can run from your responsibilities, but you can’t hide from the consequences.

When the big go small, it’s time to go big.

Making good decisions comes from the experience of making bad decisions first.

What if Mother Nature intended for global warming to show up so that she can get on with whatever’s next?

If morning folks had the ability to interrupt themselves, I believe a lot of them would.

Do you remember when the airways used to belong to the people?

I’ve never seen or heard a success story where the radio station was led by sales.

I love humor, but I hate jokes.

Sometimes the lady wears the dress; sometimes the dress wears the lady.

I’m not sure that Justin’s daddy was a great Prime Minister, but he sure was cool.

I bet my grandparents wished that just bitching about the conditions they do in America would change things, they wouldn’t have left Great Britain.

If mother nature intended us all to end up brown why didn’t she start us out that way?

 

 

 

 

Geo’s Media Blog (The Citi Saga) New for 8/03/20

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One day out of the blue I decided to have my condo appraised. When I learned that it was worth more than double what I owed, I went for a refi.
My short term goal was to see if I could get a better rate and enough cash back to pay off my credit cards which would give me a much lower interest rate on a car loan.
Hey, maybe if my credit score goes up enough I’ll be able to slide into a brand new black BMW convertible with saddle leather that I’m lusting after. Yeah, I’m thinkin’, with a little help from my friend Buzz Braman (shown below) and a higher Fico Score, I could be smelling that leather real soon. (Yep, that is Buzz’s family’s name on the automotive buildings you see all over Florida)

Things were rockin’, but by the time Brock at Penny Mac got my mortgage approved and Kalyn at the escrow company sent me the checks, I owed less than I was sending.
However, they said not to worry, the credit card companies would all refund me the overage.
My job was to put the account number and my name on the front of the checks, send them off, then sit back and watch my credit score rise while cashing all those refund checks. Man, I can smell the leather from here.
However, just to be on the safe side, I sent the checks out by priority mail which meant that I could track when they were delivered.
The checks all went out on Monday, June 08, and by Wednesday, June 10, they were all delivered.
Within a couple of days, all but one of the credit card companies not only thanked me for my recent payment but also claimed that a refund check was on its way.
The only company that seemed to take no notice of my payment, was the only one I cared about, Citi Bank because I owned them more than ten grand Citi.
The reason I owed Citi bank that much money was because their Amex card was the one I used the most for business. Also, this was probably the card that was keeping my credit rating where it was so I needed all this fixed as quickly as possible.
Every morning the first thing I’d do is check the balance on my Citi Bank account, and every morning it would say there was no change.
Being very concerned about all this, I decided to try Citi’s chat system. It seemed to work ok and whomever I was texting back and forth with assured me that they’d be looking into it and that I shouldn’t worry.
As the days went by and the due date of my monthly payment looming, I made a minimum payment just to stay on the safe side.
The next time I get on chat I’m told that I now need to call a special number and speak to a team member who can better help me.
Of course, I get the Citi Robo system, and as I sit there listening to the robot take me through the whole menu, I feel my rage beginning to build.
When a human finally gets on the line and once again I explain my dilemma, he claims that he sees no record of a payment being made other than the one that I recently made.
Then when I tell him that I have proof that it was delivered, he told to send or fax a copy of the check to the payment investigation center in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
Fortunately, Kalyn who’d sent me the checks also included her office phone number, and when I talked to her, she not only told me that Citi Bank had deposited the check on the same day it was delivered, she’d be happy to email me a copy of it.
A few hours later I printed out and faxed a copy of the check to the Citi payment investigation center in Sioux Falls South Dakota.
Then to make sure they get it, I doubled down by also sending them a hard copy by priority mail.
Now we’re moving into July and the only thing happening is, I’m accruing interest so I reach out to Brock at Penny Mac and Kalyn at the escrow company to see if they could kick it upstairs to the suits who could put some pressure put on Citi.
However, when they claimed that there’s nothing more they could do, my rage boiled over and I ended up sending them a scathing email which I cc’d to all my friends who had juice.
Almost immediately I heard from my mentor, Jim Hilliard, (pictured with me above) who says, “You’ve got to calm down Johns and you’ve also got stop talking to those clowns who answer the phones, you need to talk to a supervisor.”
Next, I heard from was my nephew Jamie Boychuk who’s a big honcho at CSX railway who says, “Hey, I know Michael Corbat who’s the CEO of Citi Bank, let’s get him involved.”
Feeling a little better but still pissed, I head off to bed thinkin’, Mr. nice guy is over, we’re bringing that prick, George Johns, on board.
The next morning with a new attitude, I get back on the phone but of course, I still had to dance with Citi’s Robo system first, and it don’t know from attitude.
When I finally got to a human, he had a very heavy Indian accent and claimed that his name was Bruce.
However, when Bruce told me that I probably needed to start the process all over again, I lost it and say to him rather loudly, “Hey pal, not only do I not understand most of what you’re saying, what I do understand I don’t like so I wanna talk to your f**king supervisor.

While waiting for a supervisor I’m forced to listen to a loop of lame music over and over and over again.
When the supervisor finally showed up, she instantly calmed me by saying “Mr. Johns, as I look at all this, it’s obvious to me that you sent the money and it’s also obvious that we’ve somehow lost it. My job is to find it.”

The first thing I did the next morning was to check my Citi Bank account. It now said that not only did I owe zero dollars, but I had a two hundred dollar credit.
The Citi Saga that had gone on for more than a month and a half, was over.
GEO’S LIFE-LINERS
Hey, I’m a big believer in, “Necessity is the mother of invention.” I think the government should give Mr. Business man all the tax breaks he wants, but keep him from hurting the Planet. No matter how many rules you come up with, he’ll still figure out how to make a buck; it’s what they do. Oh, and the world will be a better place. 
 
Speaking of necessity, because they limited how much fuel an Indy car could use during the 500 is one of the main reasons we better gas mileage today. They were hoping to slow them down but Instead, they got faster. 
 

The trouble with being a Centrist is twice as many things piss me off.

I thought that the New Yorkers all went home, but I could’ve sworn I heard a car horn the other day.

I read a tweet from Monica Lewinsky today that said, “I heard an intern joke yesterday but it sucked.” The guys all laughed but the women gave her a pile of shit.”
 
In 1775 Patrick Henry said, “Give me liberty or give me death.” Some 245 years later, America’s lust for freedom is now leading us to death.
 

Remember when we used to worry about nuclear war? it turns out that the atom bomb was only big stuff, it’s the little stuff that’s killing us.

 

#12 Geo’s Media Blog (Who Dat?) New for 7/27/20

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Come September, I’m making a bucket list trip on the train across America which will begin in LA and end up back here in West Palm Beach.
First, I’ll fly from West Palm to Burbank, and then after checking into the Marriott, I’ll have dinner there at the Daily Grill with my daughter Candis and my grandson, Nathaniel.

The last time I ate at the Grille was fifteen years ago when I had flown in to be there for my grandson’s birth. Shortly after checking in to the hotel, I got a surprise call from Candis saying that she was coming by to have dinner with me. The reason her call was kind of surprising was because I knew that her Doctor was going to induce labor the very next morning.

After dinner, she surprised me again when she asked me to take her back to work so she could finish up one more project. Her husband and her mother had refused to take her and said, “Enough of work already, you need to focus on becoming a mother.
Considering that Candis has never heard the no from me, I didn’t think that this would be the best time to start, so off we went.

When we arrived at Warner Brothers where she was the licensing Director, she went into her office and while I waited for her, I wandered around checking out all the gold records and posters that were hanging on the walls. Very cool for an old rocker like me.

A few minutes later out she came carrying a box set of CDs. When she handed them to me, with a tear in her eye she said, “Dad, your grandson is going to be so proud the day he discovers that his grandpa was a Rock Star.”

The CD collection was titled “Nuggets II.” (see on top) What made this collection so special, was that it contained a track by my band, The Jury called, “Who Dat?” which we recorded before before Candis was born.
941443_10151878371704307_282448850_n The next morning at the hospital, we were told that the induced labor thing wasn’t going well, so they decided to go the cesarean route.
As her Doctor said to me, “Mr. Johns, your daughter is much too tiny to be giving birth to a big guy like this.”

Thankfully, it all went well and I soon got to welcome my beautiful grandson Nathaniel into the world. (pictured above with his mother and me)

The next day, I headed back home to Florida where I could hardly wait to tell the new aunty about her new nephew.

When I picked Cami up at school the next afternoon and told her all about Nathaniel’s birth, I also told her about the gift her sister had presented me with.

When I asked if she would like to hear it and she excitedly said yes, I slipped the CD into the player and hit play.
As Terry’s thundering fuzz guitar intro filled the car with sound and I began to sing along all of a sudden, Cami tapped me on the shoulder. When I asked her what she wanted, she asked if it was almost over? When I asked why, she said, “It’s not very good, Daddy!”

(To hear what Cami heard, click on the link near the bottom of the page.)

GEO’S LIFE-LINES
Adversity awakens the talent inside you.

The only men I know who refer to it as a vagina, are Doctors.

Is it just me or have you also that noticed that the growth in positive cases of the Coronavirus seems to be just keeping pace with the growth of the number of people they’re testing?

Scarcity is what gives things value 
 
Going slowly is ok, it’s the stopping that ends everything. 
 
The client isn’t always right but our job is to never let them know. 
 
If you don’t set your own goals you’ll be working on somebody else’s. 
 
I think that the DOJ is just as irrelevant as the FCC, what do they do? 

When the companies who don’t have any debt start making cuts, you know their f*cking ya!
 
Nothing is perfect. 
 
What have accountants invented or created? 
 
When people tell your story, what will they say? 
 
Half of all fiction is true. 
 
As a nurse told me, “You have the power to heal yourself, the Doctor is merely your assistant, pick a good one. 
 
The rich are just another minority who need the government’s help. 
 
Patience is an activity that goes unnoticed. 
 
The mere Passage of time changes a lot of things, including minds.
 
COMMENTS
Josie Thomas: Geo. Who is this Tyler? Sounds like his description fits him to a tee. Maybe he should stop spewing his nonsense and make a more sensible comment. I enjoy your words of wisdom.
Sincerely, Walking in Memphis (The Genius)

Doug Chappelle: I have no idea who Tyler is but his post shows what he is. I think he may be an accountant 🙂 (The Genius)

Ron Hamilton: Tyler, At least have the cojones to write your last name, totally disagree with you about George. For the record, my name is Ron Hamilton and George knows what the hell he’s talking about! (The Genius)

Nick Alexander: You wrote, “You sure know when the New Yorkers are in town. Nothin’ but horns!” Here in Texas, we have a different kind of horns: we bow to burnt orange and say “Hook ‘Em”. :o) (The Genius)

Mark Masley: Great hearing the WVBF clip, some great jocks passed through there. My favorites were Frank Kingston Smith, Ron Robin, Harry Chase, Dale Dorman, and Bill Stephens. I have met them all but Harry. Man what a voice. All these guys were terrific talents and wow what a great radio station that was!
I would still be listening if they were still around! (WVBF Boston 1974)

Mike McVay: George: As someone who built a large radio consultancy myself, and learned much from listening to your stations, you are undoubtedly the father of Adult Contemporary.  You also taught us all how an AC could perform stronger than the then-dominant Top-40 stations of that era by building big entertaining morning shows. The model you created continues to be a huge part of the “Best Practices” of Radio today.  You and I had some great battles that drove the overall shares of radio upward. We grew the audience by competing. In the words of Sun Tzu … “When the elephants fight, the ants take a beating.” (The Birth Of AC Radio)
Geo: Good hearing from you Mike. I’ll never forget attending a George Burns conference when he spotted me, he pointed me out which I thought was very nice of him. However, when my companion leaned over and asked, “Did he just refer to you as the Grandfather of AC radio?” I said, “Nope he said, Godfather.” Well, that’s what I heard and I’m stickin’ to it.
We did have some great battles, Mike, and the radio industry was the better for it. You’re always better when your competing against the best.

Tim Moore: Well, as a 27-year-old VP at TM Productions, the career leap of a lifetime thanks to Jim Long, Tom Merriman, and Jerry Atchley, I arrived from Michigan a “Northern radio Snob.” It’s not that I lacked respect for DFW radio; I simply hadn’t heard it. So shortly after occupying my office on Regal Row, I kept hearing staffers make references to “KVIL” and “Ron Chapman.” So I asked my top sales guy Mike Baer, “What is it about KVIL? I hear it mentioned all the time” He looked at me as if I was a Martian and asked. “Have you LISTENED to them?” I assured Mike I would, and for the first 2-3 days said to myself, “well, they’re really solid and the morning show is very good, but…” Then, after two weeks I said to myself, “This is the most incredible interpretation of AC on the face of the Earth. Chapman and his cast are incredible; everything the station does is relevant to the target and purposeful!” From there forward I coached KVIL’s packaging and atmospherics. The trouble was (and still is), so few can “hear it” much less execute it. (KVIL Jingles)
Geo: I love the word atmospherics, Tim. 🙂

Geo’s Media Blog is an inside look at Radio, Music, Movies, and Life. For a sneak peek at some upcoming Blogs or to see some that you may have missed, go to Geo’s Media Blog @ GeorgeJohns.com. On Twitter @GeoOfTheRadio. Sharing and commenting is appreciated.
 

#8 Geo’s Media Blog (Layla) new for 8/10/20

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The beautiful woman pictured above had several songs written about her which sold well over ten million records. Her name is Pattie Boyd, but perhaps you know her as Mrs. Harrison, Mrs. Clapton, or, better yet “Layla.”
To watch her famous husbands perform some of the tunes that they wrote about her, click the link at the bottom of the page.

GEO’S LIFE-LINERS
You can overdose on mind-alternating drugs but not on the mind-alternating truth.

When and who was it that decided that the rich people on the losing side of a war, don’t lose anything? Oh, and how come Cuba and Israel didn’t buy into that concept?

How long do you suppose it will be until the overused word, “racist,” finally burns out like Right On, Far Out, and Crazy did?

Whenever you stumble, just make it part of your act and keep on dancin’.

Is it just me, or do the folks who are in charge of how much everybody makes tend to overpay themselves?

What successful company bought out by someone ever become better?

Women used to know their place, which my daughters still do. However, I never had to teach them that their place was down front.

Does anybody know in days hours or minutes how long, coming soon is?

For the last decade or so, we’ve been fighting the war in the desert door to door, and now a virus, yet the military still wants more money from congress to build faster airplanes and bigger warships. Why do we need them?

How it is, ain’t how it’s gonna be.

When you do the wrong thing for the right reason, it’s still wrong.

Driving my daughter Cami to work this morning, I realized that the last time I filled my car up was in March and I’ve still got a quarter of a tank left.

COMMENTS

Bob Christy: On December 30th, 1994, I was driving to a meeting with our station’s attorneys in Wellesley, MA. I was on the Mass Pike and had dialed around the radio checking things out, KISS, EEI, WBZ regular programming on the air. I turned on WBUR, Boston University’s NPR station and they are doing wall to wall coverage of a shooting at an abortion clinic in Brookline. I listened for a few minutes and turned back to WBZ, nothing.
I called Len Malo at our station and told him what was going on, he checked it out and broke in on the air with a bulletin. I went back to WBZ, still nothing…I knew at that moment the clock was ticking on the number one radio news outlet in Boston.
It took WBZ a half hour to catch up.
The funny thing or maybe not so funny is at the time WBZ was in the same building as WBZ TV, who was all over the story.
WBUR is the top radio news station in Boston today. They are on top of breaking news and do brilliant deep-dive coverage of stories as well. The long-form stories they did on the Whitey Bulger trial were excellent.

Today, in L.A., If KPCC in Pasadena had a better signal, they’d be on top of radio news in short order. The thing that all these NPR news operations have in common is a total commitment to news, and they get excellent demographics by doing it. Fred Heckman once told me, “if there is a column of smoke in the sky and you can’t tell them why it’s there, you’re finished.” it’s still true today and always will be. (I Write The Wrongs)

Doug Chappell: George, Funny thing between Canada and the USA many Canadians think it is wrong for Trump to want to have the Southern border secure from Latinos crossing illegally into the USA, BUT they are also pissed that Trudeau is allowing/encouraging illegal immigrants flowing across the border at Champlain NY into Quebec
“OTTAWA – Canadian officials in Nigeria are working with the U.S. on developing tools to flag Nigerians applying for U.S. visas who may be at “high risk” of crossing illegally into Canada across the U.S. border. So far this year, the majority of illegal migrants arriving in Canada are Nigerians who have recently been issued U.S. travel visas.”
Canada has become the Nation of double standards. (Classy)

George: Geo: Love your blog, George. I was one of the guys fired by you in Toronto when you changed from MOR to rock. Your firing me at CFTR was just what I’d Needed; I was way in over my head.
Any news of Keith Elshaw, he was one of your talents, I think? Regards, and keep on keeping on. BTW John Tory was there during my time. (Rocket Man)
Geo: Damn, I hope I was kind about it, George? CFTR changed a lot of lives for the better, including mine. I used to hear from Keith, who was my assistant P.D., but we’ve fallen out of touch.

Earl Mann: Excellent article, George. It is appalling to see the media’s continual attempts to castrate and crucify this man! Trump has done an amazing job, especially considering the slings and arrows the Left has thrown at him.
The economy is booming! More people have more money in their 401K’s than they ever have before! The stock market is higher than it has ever been thanks to Trump’s deregulation and his cutting of corporate taxes! “Huge” amounts of money are now flowing back into the U.S. from overseas, creating jobs, and improving infrastructure!
Illegal immigrants are no longer flooding into the U.S. because they know Trump means business! And, finally, instead of ‘leading from behind’ as Obama did, Trump is telling the world two things: “America first” and “Don’t fuck with us”! BTW, getting China to begin to pressure North Korea seriously is the result of Trump’s leadership no less. Gone are the “Kumbaya” days of a feckless and impotent globalist – Obama! (Unthinkable Trump)