RE: Comcast - My Idea for a Black-Owned TV Station

Hi Comcast!

My name is Larry West, and I am an illustrator/designer from Philadelphia, PA. While surfing the net, I saw a post saying that you were looking for ideas for one of two stations to be owned by African-Americans. Despite not being born in Africa myself, I have been told I'm somehow of African dissent. As such, I feel I should apply.

That being said, my idea would be perfect: A 24-Hour Cartoon Channel!

OK, OK! I know exactly what you're thinking! "We've already got one!" NO, you don't! What you have is a kids channel that shows a lot of cartoons but also a bunch of live-action shows! The cartoons on the channel SUCK, and some of them look like they were done by people on acid (I'm looking at YOU, Problem-Solverz!).

No, I want a REAL 24-Hour Cartoon Channel! 

My idea is simple: Nothing but cartoons. Period. OK, except for commercials and any movie that features both cartoons with Live-Action! At the same time, I want to start hiring talented cartoonists who either had a break and lost it or people who never got the one they deserve. Think about it: Comcast supports the arts!

Who's on my list?

John K.
Harry Partridge
Peter Chung
Joe Murray
Mike Judge
Joseph Krzemiensk
Swinton Scott III

Some of these names may be familiar. Some are not. Click on their name and you'll learn more about who these awesome people are! John K, for example, created Ren & Stimpy and is a remarkable cartoonist! Harry Partridge is well known for his Watchmen and Akira parodies, while Peter Chung (my HERO!) created Aeon Flux, one of the greatest cartoons to ever make it to mainstream TV! Joe Murray created Rocko's Modern Life as well as Camp Lazlo, while Mike Judge created King of the Hill and Beavis and Butt-Head! Meanwhile, Joseph K is a talented animator I knew in college adn Swinton Scott III has worked on The Simpsons, Futurama, and Static Shock.

Also, I want get the rights to a bunch of old cartoons, like The Critic, Animaniacs, Duckman (ESPECIALLY Duckman!), Dilbert, Pinky & The Brain, Swat Kats, Aeon Flux, Drawn Together, and a bunch more! Not to mention show movies like Akira, Wallace and Grommit, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, and Cool World.

Yes, "What the HELL You Starin' At? indeed!

In the morning we would show some classic funnies, like Tex Avery cartoons, and then just show some random stuff during the day (some re-runs of cartoons made by our talented staff would be great!), and during the afternoon have a block of cartoons by our in-house staff for 2 hours! Prime time would allow for more new programs, while the hours of 10PM to 5AM would compete against Adult Swim and WIN! Yes, WIN! How? By having the best classic cartoons and adult-themed animation around!

Yes, Reel Toons (TM! TRADEMARKED!!!!!) would be on from 10PM to 5AM showing the more adult of cartoons we have! Aeon Flux and Duckman would be a given, but we could also get whatever we could from Mike Judge's connections! Its perfect! The man helped to host the Animation Show and the Sick and Twisted Festival of Animation!

Yeah.... LOTS of Aeon Flux!

Meanwhile, we would have a bunch of awesome bumps and promos, and attract the key 5 - 35 age demographic! WE WOULD MAKE MILLIONS!!!!


-Wait, really quick... were you expecting this to just be "Hi, I'm black, so lets make it an 'urban' network by showing a bunch of old black sitcoms, toss in a bunch of sexist and homophobic rap videos, never show anything without black people, and treat our audience like uneducated cattle?" Sorry, dude, but I think trash like The Parkers and Soul Plane are nothing more than modern-day minstrel shows while anything by Tyler Perry continues to prove that he hates black people.

How To Solve the Current Fiscal Problem in Philadelphia Without New Taxes or Fees!

Here we go again...

It was nearly a year ago when I posted the first time about how to solve the fiscal situation in Philadelphia, but has seemingly always been the case, no one really listened.

The ideas were simple: Start enforcing the law, go after Tax Evaders, raise only one tax to help raise cash in the long term, close down maybe one library that most likely isn't needed that much... oh, and instituting a bike license. Actually, that last one gained some ground, but by the same guy who now wants to tax my soda and wanted to impose a fee on plastic bags. Ever notice that laws and taxes designed to make things "better" always limit what little freedoms we enjoy?

Oh, and I proposed legalizing same-sex marriage to help with the budget more times than I can count.

So, how do we fix it this time? What, exactly, is the "magic pill" this time?

1. STOP THE ABATEMENT PROGRAMS!

"Wait, isn't that why Philadelphia gained so many residents over the past few years and caused a rebirth in Northern Liberties in Fishtown?" Yes, it is. Now it needs to stop.

For those not familiar with what an abatement is, its basically the city of Philadelphia saying you don't need to pay taxes on the home you just bought. This abatement is supposed to go on for 10-years. Mind you, during the time we've had this program, despite more and more residents coming to town, tax revenue has gone down and now the city is going broke.

I think you can see where I'm going with this.

2. RAISE PROPERTY TAXES (On Out-of-Towners)

Well, here we go, another really fierce-sounding idea, but one that needs to happen. Why?

At the corner of Juniper and Chestnut, above the Valu-City store, is one of the most beautiful examples of architecture in Philadelphia. The facade of this building has deteriorated over the years thanks in large part to the owner who refuses to do any basic upkeep on the property over the store. Why? Because he is simply squatting on the property, waiting to sell it.

The owner lives in New York City.

When it comes to property owned by people who don't live in Philadelphia who let their property crumble either because they simply don't care enough to take care of it or because they refuse to keep it in a decent condition, we need to start doing something! I'm not saying Philadelphia should only for Philadelphian's, but I am saying that charging those who let their property decay a extra fee of 25% - 50% of their real estate taxes is what we need to do to either get them to fix up their property or sell it to someone who will.

3. REFORM THE WAY PROPERTY TAXES ARE DONE

When it comes to the issue of gentrification in Philadelphia, people constantly yell about property taxes going up. One problem; that hasn't really happened at all over the past 5+ years in most of the city.

For the most part, the only real part of Philadelphia over the past 10 years I've seen where people who had lived and done business for forever and a day was South Street, and literally ONLY that street, although the effects were felt on a few other places about 1/4th of a block surrounding it.

Philadelphia Forward does a better job of explaining it than I can in a short post, but basically the way taxes are done now, it should be about 8% of the value of a property, but in certain cases its as much as 34%, and its all done on rough estimates. Again, this is a gross over-simplification on my part, but that's a general idea of what we're looking at here.

Apply the same rate to everyone in Philadelphia (Which is basically what the current law is) and start making sure houses are assessed to their real value.

4. OK, ONE NEW TAX: BOTTLED WATER

OK, this one is more of a vanity idea for me, but hear me out: The plan now is to tax soda because the city of Philadelphia needs the money. But what about bottled water? Bottled Water, in essence, is actually one way the City of Philadelphia is losing money every year. How many people refuse to drink Philadelphia Tap Water and, instead, rather drink bottled water? Considering the fact tap water is "virtually free", and you have people electing to drink bottled water, doesn't it make more sense to tax that instead of soda?

5. LEGALIZE IT!

I'll say it: We need to legalize two things in this city, and that's Same-Sex Marriage and, yes, Marijuana. I want to state now that I'm not a big fan of the second one, but it really makes sense.

As I've stated time and time again, SAME-SEX MARRIAGE MAKES A TON OF CASH! Most states have passed laws allowing it, and the occasional city has legalized it anyway. And marijuana? Not a fan, but considering the fact it's easy to tax, would reduce crime, and generate revenue in various ways (more 24/7 convenience stores, anyone?), tourist dollars, and more people moving here because of the easy access.

And if you're morally opposed to that, remember: Jesus wasn't a big fan of gambling, but this Quaker-based state already approved that. ;)

6. STOP THAT IDIOTIC DROP PROGRAM!

Remember in 2007 when Joan L. Krajewski decided to retire for one full day? In return, she got nearly $300,000!

You would assume that with the city in such financial straights right now that the other people in City Council would, instead, save the tax payers money and not use the Deferred Retirement Option Plan (DROP) program and vote to have it removed.

You would be wrong.

Six city council members have opted into the program – and city officials say combined, they stand to collect more than $2 million when their terms end in two years.

Council president Anna Verna stands to collect the largest sum: $571,679. Marian Tasco will take home $467,566. Payouts for Frank DiCicco, Jack Kelly, Donna Reed Miller and Frank Rizzo range from $189,000 to $392,000.

Source- CBS 3

Notice any interesting names on that list?

Throw in the fact that the cities unions are STILL without a contract, largely because they can't get anything for their pensions, and that $2 Million that these 6 little piggies look even greedier.

So, there you have it! 6 ways to save the city a ton of money, and make a ton as well. I plan on these ideas being ignored, just like always, and wonder why no one listens to common sense.

A Few Of My Favorite Things (Right Now)

Everyday I visit a bunch of blogs and websites that inspire me and I don't feel that I post my findings enough. Ever since I got posted on NotCot, I felt it's only fitting I share stuff I like to get the word out. Well, enjoy!



Someone was clever enough to take a pineapple grenade and turn it into an awesome piggy bank! SWEET!.... just don't take it with the bank with you. The Love Grenade Coin Bank is available at Heilothrope.




Back in 2001, I thought about becoming a police sketch artist but decided not to because... well, I suck at caricatures. This guy, on the other hand, was able to push his creativity to the limit outside of his job and came up with "Musical Anatomy"! Check out the rest of Shawn Feeny's stuff at his website.


The company "Iron Fist" made this kick-ass high heels! What? I'm secure enough with myself to say that, yes, I like high heel shoes. I know a bunch of women who would love these. Sadly, I can't find them on their site, so here is the Boing Boing story with them.

Nutter Has Gone Insane: How I Would Help Fix the Budget Problem

I'm not going to state that this idea of mine is perfect, but honestly, it's better than Nutter's ideas of either charging residents $5 a week for basic sanitation services, forcing us to buy "special trash bags", or paying to have to go to jail.

1. Have officers start punishing for minor crimes!

During the election, I preached that the Broken Windows policy would help Philadelphia by deterring people from committing crimes. Broken Windows states that by ticketing and targeting minor offenses, it deters them from committing larger crimes. At the same time, this policy would make the city money. A LOT of money. Ticketing and fines for littering, jaywalking, and not recycling would be a boon for Philadelphia. That said, I think we need to crack down and start ticketing heavily for the following:

• Littering
• Vandalism
• Jaywalking
• Selling goods on the street without a permit
• Not recycling

That's a short list, and there are laws in place banning these activities and fines in place for offenders. One thing that was discussed during the election was raising the cost for dumping/littering in Philadelphia. More needs to be done to actually enforce it and collect the fines from it. At the same time, there are laws in place already concerning even trash cans and recycling, but they're not being enforced!

2. Tax Evaders!

In 2007, the City of Philadelphia was owed, get this, $700 MILLION DOLLARS IN TAXES! The City of Philadelphia has not done enough to crack down on this problem and, in turn, we are facing a over $1 Billion Dollar Deficit. Why isn't more being done to correct this?! Treat these guys as the criminals they are! Remember in 2002 when John Street launched his "Safe Streets" program and randomly raided houses where they were selling drugs? Do that again NOW, but with Tax Evaders! Well, the big ones; the smaller ones, send letters, take them to court... etc.

3. Raise Taxes, but Not all of them!

Someone pointed out that raising the City Wage tax by .5% would equate to only $20 a year per $25k a person made a year. That isn't bad, it isn't bad at all. I'm fine with that. But raising the City's Sales Tax?! NO! 7% is already high, raising it to something like 8% would just be insane. It drives away commerce, and makes residents cranky and poorer, and no one is really going to benefit in the end since it most likely would never go back down.

4. Close 1 Library

Yes, yes, people complained non-stop about closing the libraries. Closing 1, I think, isn't that bad and it's fair. Pick the one that isn't going to be missed that much and cut it, at least for now.

5. Institute a Bike License

OK, this last one may seem as bad as what I was complaining about, but it can actually be a boon. A Bicycle License system is already in effect in a town in California, and for $5, you get a lifetime license. In turn, if your bike is ever stolen, its treated like a stolen car since its serial number is tagged with the city and everything. That actually isn't that bad an idea, although, personally, I'd charge $25 a year to bike couriers... but that's me.

In the end, this is going to raise a lot of money for the City of Philadelphia and help the standard of living here.