PAUL HARVEY HAS DIED

ABC NEWS RADIO has learned that Paul Harvey passed away this morning. Tune into KFYO for more.

CHECKOUT THE PODCAST!

If you missed today’s edition of The Chad Hasty Show, you can download it now from the podcast page at chadhasty.com or go to the link section here on the blog. Today I talked about the idiot in Lubbock who smashed up 2 police cars because of a $7 ticket, Clint Eastwood and P.C. in America, and Obama talking to the “State of the Black Union” folks.

CLINT EASTWOOD IS RIGHT

Clint Eastwood hates political correctness, and I can’t agree with him more. (link)

London, February 27 (ANI): Acting legend Clint Eastwood , 79, apparently believes that political correctness has rendered modern society humourless, for he accuses younger generations of spending too much time trying to avoid being offensive.

The Dirty Harry star insists that he should be able to tell harmless jokes about nationality without fearing that people may brand him “a racist”.

“People have lost their sense of humour. In former times we constantly made jokes about different races. You can only tell them today with one hand over your mouth or you will be insulted as a racist,” the Daily Express quoted him as saying.

“I find that ridiculous. In those earlier days every friendly clique had a ‘Sam the Jew’ or ‘Jose the Mexican’ – but we didn’t think anything of it or have a racist thought. It was just normal that we made jokes based on our nationality or ethnicity. That was never a problem. I don’t want to be politically correct.

We’re all spending too much time and energy trying to be politically correct about everything,” he added.

We will be discussing this more on today’s Chad Hasty Show at 5 so be sure to tune in. I do agree with Eastwood though. People in this country live to be offended, it’s like they want to be offended and then punish you for not being politically correct. Sometimes a joke is a joke, but people just don’t get that. We are a nation of victims, everyone has to be hurt by someone else.

SELECT PODCAST FROM TODAY’S SHOW POSTED

Segments from todays LFN that are now available online:

Interview with Mayor Tom Martin.

Rex Offenders

The segment dealing with feeling safe in Lubbock

To hear these podcasts and more go to the podcast site at chadhasty.com or just click HERE

CRIME ON THE RISE IN LUBBOCK

MORE ON THIS STORY ON THURSDAY’S LFN.

From the AJ:

Home invasions more than doubled last year in Lubbock compared to 2007, according to numbers recently released by the Lubbock Police Department.

Most other crimes also spiked in 2008, bucking national trends of decreased crime last year, according to FBI statistics and Lubbock police records.

–Violent crimes rose about 6 percent in Lubbock. The violent crime rate was 976.5 per 100,000 residents.

–Nearly 2,100 violent crimes were reported in 2008 — 145 more than in 2007.

–Robberies increased about 15 percent, with nearly 300 occurring. Aggravated assaults were up 8.4 percent.

–There were about 28 home invasions last year in Lubbock compared to roughly 13 the year before. In 2006, there were about 24 invasions. Police say the numbers are not exact because they have not traditionally kept track of home invasions because there isn’t a state statute for the crime.

–Rapes and homicides dropped in Lubbock last year.

–Property crimes increased about 3.8 percent. Vehicle burglaries saw the highest spike at 16 percent. Residential burglaries rose about 7 percent, and theft cases increased 7.8 percent.

Still, police officials say Lubbock is a safe place to live.

“We certainly wouldn’t call that a dramatic increase,” said Capt. Greg Stevens, spokesman for the police department, adding the overall crime increase wasn’t significant enough to be a major cause for concern.

“What really matters, in my opinion, arguably for most people is your sense of safety — how safe do you feel?” Stevens said, adding he believes a widespread sense of safety paints a more accurate picture of crime in Lubbock.

He said he believes residents overall feel safe in Lubbock because the city doesn’t have a widespread problem with random violence, though some pockets in Lubbock may be safer than others.

“The vast majority of those violent crimes are not random in nature,” Stevens said, noting it is very common for there to be a pre-existing relationship between the involved parties.

For example, FBI statistics show most murders are committed by somebody the victim knew.

Crime compared

While crime rates were up last year over 2007, most crime in Lubbock was lower last year than most any other year over the last decade, an analysis of the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reports show.

–The violent crime rate per 100,000 residents was down about 22 percent compared to the rate in 2000. It was down 4 percent compared to 1998.

–There were 976 crimes per 100,000 residents in 2008 to 1,256 per 100,000 in 2000 (2,098 crimes vs. 2,508, respectively).

Still, crime rates in Lubbock have been higher than national averages, according to the FBI.

–Nationwide, the FBI reported violent crime was down 3.5 percent, and property crime was down 2.5 percent during the first half of 2008 — the only numbers available. The national crime rate also was down the year before.

–In 2007, there were about 919 violent crimes per 100,000 Lubbock residents compared to a rate of about 635 for cities with populations between 100,000 and 249,999, according to FBI statistics.

CHAD WILL BE TWITTERING TONIGHT

Be sure to sign up and follow me on Twitter. Not only will I be Twittering tonight during Obama’s speech, but during the morning show and throughout the day as well. How do you find me on Twitter? It’s easy:

www.twitter.com/chadhastyradio

NO CHARGES IN LEONARD ASSAULT

MORE ON THIS ON TOMORROW’S LFN

From the AJ:

A Lubbock County grand jury did not indict three men accused of assaulting Lubbock city councilman John Leonard on Christmas Eve.

Leonard was treated for facial fractures at University Medical Center after the beating at the Dakota Arms Apartments in the 6700 block of 82nd Street.

Leonard told police he was accosted after Harris told the people in the apartment above them to turn down their loud music.

The men followed Harris downstairs, where an argument ensued and turned physical, according to Leonard.

The same grand jury declined to indict the men earlier this month. Leonard was allowed to testify on the case Tuesday after a typo in a letter notifying him that a grand jury would hear his case gave an incorrect date for the hearing.

MAYOR OF HOUSTON DROPS PLAN TO PAY OFF PEOPLE’S DEBT

Updates from Chron.com

Mayor Bill White this afternoon announced that a plan for the city to pay off some debts for first-time home buyers has been pulled from tomorrow’s City Council agenda.

Council members are now professing their “embarrassment” about the proposal, which has hit the national news circuit, including drudgereport.com., which picked up this morning’s Houston Chronicle story about the plan

“This issue has hit a nerve across this country,” said Councilwoman Anne Clutterbuck. “Not just here in the city of Houston. Giving people the ability to increase their credit score artificially because we’re allowing them to pay off their credit cards is exactly what got us into this (national economic) crisis in the first place.”

Councilman Jarvis Johnson said the city should continue to help people move from renting to owning.

“But I do believe we can do it in a better way, a more thoughtful way,” he said. “But we don’t want to become enablers, where people count on the city to be the cure-all.”

Good, now if we can just stop the type of thinking that got Houston nationwide attention it would be even better. In fact, maybe those in Washington should wake up and see that people do not want to pay for those who were irresponsible.

HOUSTON TO REWARD PEOPLE WITH BAD HABITS

If you’ve been listening to the radio I’m sure you’ve heard about the City of Houston considering paying off some people’s credit card debt so they can buy a home. (link)

We didn’t have a chance to get into the story this morning on the show, but we will on Wednesday morning. Here is part of the story:

Houston taxpayers could start footing the bill to help first-time homebuyers pay off debts and improve their credit scores, under a proposal before City Council this week.

The “Credit Score Enhancement Program” will give up to $3,000 in grants to individuals who are trying to qualify for mortgages through the city’s homebuyers assistance program. City officials say some applicants fall short of eligibility by only 10 or 20 points on their credit scores, and paying off some debt balances can quickly improve their numbers.

Are you kidding me? Why should taxpayers have to pay off someone else’s irresponsibility? As someone who just left Texas Tech my credit score isn’t perfect, but I don’t expect anyone but me to improve my credit score or pay off my debt. Obama wants to use taxpayer money to pay off mortgage’s that people couldn’t afford, now Houston wants to pay off debt of irresponsible people.

RIP days of Personal Responsibility.

New Poll: Hutchison Leads Perry

From the Quorum Report:

NEW POLL PUTS KBH AHEAD OF PERRY 56-31

Company uses controversial robo-dialing methodology but notes it was the most accurate in 2008 Texas GOP presidential primary

A North Carolina polling company called Public Policy Polling reports that a recent poll of 797 likely Republican primary voters puts Kay Bailey Hutchison decisively ahead of Rick Perry by a margin of 56-31.

PPP uses a controversial method of automated telephone polling that has both supporters and detractors. To pre-empt arguments about methodology, the company forwarded an analysis indicating that they had the most accurate Texas numbers in the 2008 GOP presidential primary.

KBH has 76% favorables to RP’s 60%. But the 27% Perry unfavorables lean to Hutchison by a factor of 85-8.

PPP President Dean Debman said, “Rick Perry is in grave danger of losing in the primary. It’s partly because he’s worn out his welcome with a certain segment of the Republican electorate, but he even bigger reason is that Kay Bailey Hutchison is just a lot more popular than him. It would be hard for anyone to heat her in an election.”

Most observers believe that a contested primary would draw well over a million voters rather than the six to seven hundred thousand that normally vote in a gubernatorial year.