My family and I are moving to Lakeville. Its not a huge move but it does come with a few changes.
Despite my cynicism, it got me thinking. There needs to be some alternative channels to all these Christian channels. Though, I'll admit, the plethora of Christian programming has a lot to do with the population of those who purchase satellite television. I can't find statistics to back up an assertion I want to make so bear with me. I'm making an assumption that most subscribers, or at least a bulk of the early ones, were in the Midwest, regions with a more independent libertarian philosophy, or the Crispies themselves who also happen to live in those areas as well. So, its no surprise that there should be that many religious channels. There are something like 4x that in Skintillating programming (misspelling intended).
I think there should be something of a new age channel incorporating Buddhism, Hinduism, Eastern Philosophies, Paganism, Theosophy and any damn thing we can come up with. It might be difficult to dream up content but there is enough out there already to get us started! I think it would be nice if Belief.net could get on this for all of us who aren't of the Abrahamic faiths. I'd watch!
- Gotta mow the lawn!
- New Phone #
- Living in a basement again! Eek! Spiders!!!
- Shoveling a driveway
- Switching to DSL!
- Switching to Satellite TV
Despite my cynicism, it got me thinking. There needs to be some alternative channels to all these Christian channels. Though, I'll admit, the plethora of Christian programming has a lot to do with the population of those who purchase satellite television. I can't find statistics to back up an assertion I want to make so bear with me. I'm making an assumption that most subscribers, or at least a bulk of the early ones, were in the Midwest, regions with a more independent libertarian philosophy, or the Crispies themselves who also happen to live in those areas as well. So, its no surprise that there should be that many religious channels. There are something like 4x that in Skintillating programming (misspelling intended).
I think there should be something of a new age channel incorporating Buddhism, Hinduism, Eastern Philosophies, Paganism, Theosophy and any damn thing we can come up with. It might be difficult to dream up content but there is enough out there already to get us started! I think it would be nice if Belief.net could get on this for all of us who aren't of the Abrahamic faiths. I'd watch!
I also have not posted about Michael Jackson because there is really is no need to. Everybody is doing it! So I thought I'd join up but for different reasons.
I really was neutral about his death. It was just another part of my childhood gone just like Cabbage Patch Dolls and music videos on MTV. But I did remember something that I have to mention.
A song on the Bad album called Man in the Mirror struck a chord with me when I was a teenager. Given that I was 8 when Bad was released, it was several years after. I was really beginning to become concerned about the world. About being a force for good in the great strain of Judeo-Catholic philosophy (Jews better the world, Catholics do good works and Protestants save souls). Of particular interest during my teen years was Sarajevo and the war in Bosnia-Hersegovina.
While my classmates were digging on the revivals of Jimi Hendrix and the Doors and buying into Alternative only when popular, I was listening to other shit. I got into Alternative, too. But I also got into the deeper messages that many were spreading. And it went back to the 80's when a lot of musician-as-activist had its real zenith. In the 60's there was protesting politics and folk anthems. But in the 80's it came to singing about social problems. Bruce Springsteen, Tracy Chapman, U2 and even Michael Jackson were singing to raise awareness of problems as far away as Ethiopia and as close as next door.
And there were lots of problems: homelessness, drugs, crack babies, oil spills, endangered species, nuclear meltdown, wars, civil wars, Cold War, nuclear weapons, inflation, recession, taxes, unemployment, pollution, malnutrition, gang violence, civil unrest, crime, school closings, rising food prices, suicide, white collar crime, sex slavery, Cola Wars, Savings and Loan collapse, suicide bombers, famine, drought, AIDS, hate, and poverty.
But the song that probably made the biggest impact brought it back home. Man in the Mirror forced the audiance to reconsider their own feelings and actions, thoughts and ideas about the world and what a person could do to make a difference. Instead of thinking just about others, we had to think about what we could change about ourselves to make it right. The song made an impact at me at that time and I will be forever grateful for it.
The video is an emotionally charged collage of various problems around the world in 1987. It also shows good things happening.
Here's the video. Real Player.
I really was neutral about his death. It was just another part of my childhood gone just like Cabbage Patch Dolls and music videos on MTV. But I did remember something that I have to mention.
A song on the Bad album called Man in the Mirror struck a chord with me when I was a teenager. Given that I was 8 when Bad was released, it was several years after. I was really beginning to become concerned about the world. About being a force for good in the great strain of Judeo-Catholic philosophy (Jews better the world, Catholics do good works and Protestants save souls). Of particular interest during my teen years was Sarajevo and the war in Bosnia-Hersegovina.
While my classmates were digging on the revivals of Jimi Hendrix and the Doors and buying into Alternative only when popular, I was listening to other shit. I got into Alternative, too. But I also got into the deeper messages that many were spreading. And it went back to the 80's when a lot of musician-as-activist had its real zenith. In the 60's there was protesting politics and folk anthems. But in the 80's it came to singing about social problems. Bruce Springsteen, Tracy Chapman, U2 and even Michael Jackson were singing to raise awareness of problems as far away as Ethiopia and as close as next door.
And there were lots of problems: homelessness, drugs, crack babies, oil spills, endangered species, nuclear meltdown, wars, civil wars, Cold War, nuclear weapons, inflation, recession, taxes, unemployment, pollution, malnutrition, gang violence, civil unrest, crime, school closings, rising food prices, suicide, white collar crime, sex slavery, Cola Wars, Savings and Loan collapse, suicide bombers, famine, drought, AIDS, hate, and poverty.
But the song that probably made the biggest impact brought it back home. Man in the Mirror forced the audiance to reconsider their own feelings and actions, thoughts and ideas about the world and what a person could do to make a difference. Instead of thinking just about others, we had to think about what we could change about ourselves to make it right. The song made an impact at me at that time and I will be forever grateful for it.
The video is an emotionally charged collage of various problems around the world in 1987. It also shows good things happening.
Here's the video. Real Player.
I have not said anything about her because of several reasons. First, she's not nearly as crucial to the Republican Party as pundits like Bill O'Reilly and Sean Hannity would have people believe. Second, she's not really worth talking about. I thought she was a lightweight, a soft politician unable to think for herself.This former beauty queen who is a maverick unto herself doesn't have the right character to be an elected official. If anyone criticizes her right or wrong, she has to attack them with legal proceedings. I know from just being a Political Science major that its a tough field. Politicians are built of tougher stuff than the average citizen. For her to cry foul on every statement, joke or insinuation about her or her family shows her naiveté and vulnerability. The fact that she allegedly looks for criticism reveals that she is more concerned with what others think of her than her job.
By constantly needing to "set the record straight" she actually creates a bigger firestorm. Lunging at all who say anything gives nameless and faceless bloggers a bigger podium form which to reach a larger audience. Also, by calling what we do the "record" is to give us far more credit than we deserve. I'm neither her constituent nor a fellow party-member (I'm a lib lib - that's Liberal Libertarian). She owes me nothing! But I can still criticize her to my heart's content. But does what I say become a record that can be used against her in a court of law? NO! I doubt I even have any effect on any voter's mind!
Now that she has announced her resignation as Governor of Alaska she has proven many of her critics correct. She lacked the integrity to stick to the job at hand. Instead she let her ballooning and evermore cartoonish profile overwhelm her. Her "personality" became bigger than the office she held but not in the way anyone would want. It also increased her political vulnerability because those in the Alaskan government knew she had something fragile to protect: her national image, her brand. Book deals and lecture circuits are far more lucrative than the pitiful Office of Alaska Governor.
I am angry at Moose Hunter Barbie! She has set women back a decade. It may be harder for anyone to take a female Presidential Candidate seriously. Thus far, we've achieved Secretary of State thrice and Speaker of the House once. The Glass Ceiling is still the Presidential Ticket. In addition, her public face helps to reinforce a stereotype that women have increasingly worked to obliterate. The ignorant, sheltered, naive soccer/hockey mom whose ambitions go only as far as her hairdo! A woman who cares more about what others think rather than how she has lived her life. It seems her biggest problem is that instead of thinking, she just reacts. To Everything!
So like any young insecure girl uncomfortable with what she has, she stays with the "in-crowd". The trend right now is to distrust all government. Glenn Beck, a political commentator who recently left CNN for Fox News, has pointed out repeatedly how little we can trust our elected officials (Common Sense, Beck). If Palin is reading her tea leaves, she probably sees herself in the grouping that are currently unpopular. So, like a teen girl who must be seen in the latest fashion, she bails on her state in favor of more money and a maverick image that few take seriously.
I sincerely wish her luck with whatever she does. I don't think it matters much. Mostly, I think she's gunning for Ann Coulter, Michelle Malkin or Laura Ingraham's job or at least their profiles and bloated bank accounts. Though I'd remind her that these women have what they have by inviting criticism! They sell more books by being polarizing and pushing so far to the right. They have what they have because of their thick skins and ability to use other's anger against them (which though I disagree with much of what they think, say and do, I do applaud this rare characteristic). I have serious reservations about Palin's ability to survive jumping from the frying pan into the fire.
On a personal note: I am an unemployed College Student who has next to nothing. Try and sue me!
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