The biggest sporting event in the world has a bug up it’s thin, pig skin. 
Perhaps you’ve noticed that restaurants, bars and your occasional Elks lodge refrain from calling the Super Bowl, the Super Bowl. Why? Can you spell Greed?

First, a little history. The first “Super Bowl, was called the NFL championship game. Legend has it became the ‘Super Bowl’ after American Football league founder Lamar Hunt, hearing his grand-daughter call her toy rubber ball a ’super ball,’  thought she said ‘Super Bowl’ and changed the name..

More than 45 years later, the NFL just signed a deal with the networks for close to 28 billion dollars, their merchandising makes millions more, and still they won’t let Oggie’s pizza say Super Bowl without forking over thousands of dollars? 
Really? Have they forgotten who’s responsible for their meteoric success? 
But I have a plan. All week long I’ve been saying Super Ball, Super Ball Super Ball.  And NFL, you can’t do squat. Nope. Nothing. 



Although I just got a cease and desist from Hasbro…

Really? It’s already illegal to smoke at the beach, near buildings, in parks, and bars and restaurants. The reasoning being that second-hand smoke is dangerous to non-smokers. But those studies are incomplete, and sometimes outright bogus. (http://tinyurl.com/yuhvzd) The largest study to conclude that second hand smoke is dangerous was funded by a pharmaceutical company who sells medication to stop smoking. Imagine the hue and cry if a cigarette company produced a study with such self serving results?

We could ban cigarettes, but then what would Washington and Sacramento do without the billions in taxes from the sale of tobacco? A tax that is regressive, since the poorer and less educated one is, the more likely he will smoke. And what percentages of those revenues go to smoking cessation programs? According to the CDC, less than 2% of cigarette taxes help people quit. 

So maybe, it’s not the smokers we should ban from our streets, restaurants, parks and public buildings. Maybe it’s time to go after the real merchants of death. Because it’s not smoke that’s killing you, it’s the second hand policies of the political status quo, doing a slow burn on your money and your rights.

I have lived, and I have the scars to prove it.

Here in Southern California, where lines, wrinkles, sags and bags have fallen way to the wizardry of the cosmetic surgeon, I stand alone. I love my imperfections. And there’s a lot to love.

I have lived thru battles with rough edges, gravity, knuckles, a few bb’s and an arrow. And with it, some rust and wear. But I’m still here. Sure, I’m not as pretty as Matthew McConaughey, but I don’t need to be. I’m a guy. We have different rules. Seriously, would Jack Nicholson still get sex if he were a woman? (That sounds wrong, but you get it.)

I don’t mind getting older. Why? Because, it’s better than a face full of dirt. As a society however, we have decided that youth is king. TV, movies, magazines celebrate youth. But it’s really a den of fear. Of age. Of death. But not me. I like my cars,wine and women with a few miles on em. Life is to be lived. It’s said he who has the most toys when he dies, wins.

That’s not true. It’s whoever has the best stories. And the scars to prove them.

~Chip Franklin 1/16/12

If we had a VAT or a flat tax, we would not need special exemptions for special groups. Marriage would again be a contract between two people. There would be no need for Defense of Marriage act, etc..

So why not do this? Inertia, in the shape of the IRS, the accounting industry, state gov’t revenue collections, and of course, every business that benefits from the current tax policies. But the long version is a simpler and more prosperous economy. Sadly however, the long run is a political orphan with no hope of adoption by this two party corruption.

A young Oklahoma mother shot and killed an intruder to protect her 3-month-old baby on New Year’s Eve, less than a week after the baby’s father died of cancer. But that’s not the story.

Sarah McKinley was home, one day after burying her husband, the father of her infant son, when two men who had been stalking her attempted to break in and rape her. At the very least. Now it should be noted that this is Grady County OK, where it often takes law enforcement an hour to respond. Where when the bad gets worse, and the worse gets deadly, all of the PC in the world can get you in trouble, or worse, killed.

Still this young mother felt it necessary to call 911 and ask for permission to shoot the 24 yr old man breaking into her home with a 12 inch butcher knife. Which she did, successfully. But what does it say about our society that she felt she needed to contact authorities first? It says a lot about the culture of group-think over the rights of one.

But it gets weirder. The accomplice escaped, and only was captured when he called 911 to report the shooting. Oh yeah. He thought that his rights as an intruder/rapist had been trampled. Welcome to Backwards-land, USA. A ideological suburb of once great, now broken state of California.

1/6/12 ~Chip Franklin

I was telling my son about Andy Warhol’s declaration that in the future everyone will be famous for 15 minutes. He said, “who’s Andy Warhol?”

I’ve been in front of a microphone for all of my life, playing/paying my way thru colleges in a band, doing standup while my kids grew up, and now radio here in San Diego. I started performing because girls seemed to like musicians, but also because people paid attention to you. I know that sounds shallow, but it’s true. At the heart of why any of us performs is a neurosis that our words need amplification over yours.

Fame however is a fleeting thing, and keeps me working to justify my increased volume. I’ve been on national TV and heard my songs on the radio, and it’s a great feeling.
But I’ve been around long enough to not take it for granted. I’m not famous by any stretch, but there are enough people listening that occasionally I get recognized.
Like the other day this woman asked me, “Are you Chip Franklin?” “Yes, I said, “I am.” She tilted her head and then said, “You’re an a-hole” and walked away.

I bet Andy Warhol didn’t tell you that.

The Department of Justice says they will prosecute anyone who lies about themselves on social networking sites like Facebook. So your relationship status can quickly change from “it’s complicated,” to “I guess I am the mommy.” Penn State has decided to leave the statue of Joe Paterno in place despite the latest furor. Actually, leaving it there is actually symbolically consistent. See, the statue doesn’t tell anyone or do anything…

In the GOP debate Wednesday, Romney and Perry both said they created thousands of jobs. Cain said he tried offering a few jobs here and there, but where did it get him?
Facebook announced they are hiring again. Problem is, they’ll only hire you if you promise not to screw around all day on Facebook.
Speaking of technology, Microsoft announced this week they’re teaming up with AOL in a joint venture to try and convince the world that it’s 1997. And finally an asteroid almost hit earth this week. Had it hit san diego, it’s estimated the roads would have actually improved.

A CT legislator has proposed that we supply the poor with diapers? Really? A political system ripe with fraud and corruption now is pandering to my child’s bum? What’s next? Free toilet paper for the masses, yearning to be regular?
The Diaper Act is the perfect metaphor for our Congress. Legislation that smells like what it is, and no matter how many times you change it, you get same result.