MY PHOTO PAGE
Straycat with Lt. Col. Oliver North, of Iran Contra fame.
Formerly with the National Security Agency, he supervised many covert operations for the Pentagon, and was a regular at Reagan cabinet meetings. He is currently a talk-radio host and has run for political office. These photos were taken at Brandywine Country Club at lunch after he spoke to my church congregation about how God changed his life.
Col. North with son Stuart outside Brandywine April '95.
With Congressman Jack Kemp, shaking hands and throwing a football into the crowd gathered at Springfield High School, when he was running for Vice President in '96.
On my way to lunch with Col. North at Brandywine Country Club after his speech to my church, April '95.
WSPD RADIO 1370 AM
Conservative talk radio. My favorite radio station.
PHOTOS COURTESY OF BANNED JIM
Hanging out at, and delivering pizza to the guys at, WSPD during their March Madmen tournament. It featured a special guest appearance by Sean Baligian, who left the station last year for a bigger market in Detroit. March Madman '2000 - our own Scott Sloan.
left to right: Scott Sloan, Banned Jim, and Sean Baligian.
Sean, Scott, producer Jeremy, and Lynn Cassidy in background.
In the studio during the broadcast.
( l-r ) Scott Sloan, and Sean Baligian together again if only for a little while.
A very special thanks to Banned Jim for letting me borrow these pics from his WSPD website at:
Last November, WSPD's conservative afternoon talkshow host Scott Sloan became involved in controversy when he made on-air statements that some in the area, and nationally, took to be racially negative. Mr. Sloan was commenting on Rev. Jesse Jackson's involvement in an Illinois incident where some African-American youths were suspended from school after a fight at a school sporting event turned into a brawl. Mr. Jackson's very vocal protests, that the boys be reinstated, led to civil disobedience and his arrest, which drew national attention. This incident subsequently became the topic of conversation on Mr. Sloan's radio show. While making sarcastic comments about Jesse Jackson's motives for creating such a stir, Mr. Sloan suggested that perhaps Mr. Jackson wanted to make a martyr out of himself the way his mentor Dr. King had become. He suggested that a place in history was Jackson's real motive, and that what he was actually seeking was a way to bring that about. So, Sloan did a comically intended bit where he called a hotel and asked if they had any balconies, and then stated "Now all we need is a shooter." ( a reference to Dr. Kings assasination ) While most of us regular listeners got the humor and understood the sarcasm, many in the minority community did not. There was an organized protest outside the station by the NAACP and many minority groups, and there was a call for Mr. Sloan's dismissal. The mayor and the local ( biased ) newspaper, who had old axes to grind with Sloan, also joined the cry for his head. The radio station suspended Mr. Sloan indefinitely, and had him, and all of their employees, undergo sensitivity training. After a two month absence, Scott Sloan returned to the air in January, and has toned down his vigor considerably. Most of us who are conservatives loved his tenacity and bite, but those sensitive to his sarcasm won. The new Scott is less effective at generating phone calls, but at least we still have OUR voice.
Three of us listeners showed up to counter-protest the NAACP's rally at the station. We understood what they did not, that Scott Sloan was not a racist, but was just trying to make people think and get them talking about the issue. After the first rally there were a few more all day "Support Scott" rallies during his suspension. Our goal was to make sure the station, and the public, knew that there was another side to the issue. The local media was against Scott, and the newspaper was especially vindictive. The whole event made national attention, with some national media people joining the cry for Scott's dismissal. In the end, after all the details were worked out, an agreement about future on-air conduct was struck between all the parties involved, and Scott returned. The day of his return, we were there, outside the station, to welcome him back. Faithful listeners, such as myself, Banned Jim, and Jacko, as well as a few others, stood outside all day to make sure everyone knew he was welcome back.
Only twice did we get any television exposure for our rallies, and only twice did the newspaper show up. One time they misquoted us and twisted what we said to fit their agenda, and the other time they chose not to print anything at all.
The following pics are from Vidcaps taken from tapes of the two channel 24 news broadcasts of our protest rallies at the Jacor/Clearchannel building in support of Scott Sloan.
Protest sign says how we all felt.
WSPD studios are in the Jacor/Clearchannel building.
Tom, Straycat, and Jacko, Counter-protesting the NAACP at their rally in front of the studios. They wanted Scott fired we were determined to keep him.
Straycat on T.V. Channel 24 interviews me about the NAACP counter-protest.
Scott Sloan responds to a Toledo Blade photographer that had been following him around for some time trying to get an unflattering shot.
PHOTO BY THE BLADE
A few weeks later and I'm back on the news again. This time it is for a rally to welcome Scott back to the airwaves after a two month absence.
Straycat, Jacko, and Matt stand outside the studios in support of Scott Sloan, and to welcome him back, while we listen to his return on our car radios.
Sign, sign, everywhere a sign, as we wait to welcome back our conservative voice in Toledo.
Jacko, and Banned Jim stay into the night to make sure everyone knows Scott has support from his many fans.