Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Hip Hop Revitalization

Hey hey.

Welcome to November. Just kicking off the month with you all out there, and it is a beautiful fall this week. Got out to the driving range. That was lovely. I couldn't seem to hit the ball straight, but it was nice to get some exercise and fresh air (yes, you do get exercise playing golf... try hitting a bucket of golf balls and not feeling sore in your abdominal muscles).

Recently, I've been getting back into listening to a lot of hip hop, sort of wading through all of the up-and-comings on my iTunes Podcasts... I've got about four CDs that I really want to get right now, and I wish that I had the money to get them all. For those of you out there who don't know, one of the best places for some good hip hop is actually north of the border. Halifax and other Nova Scotian cities have great hip hop scenes that have produced the likes of Buck 65, Sixtoo, Classified, and my newest favorite SJ the Wordburglar. Awesome, right? Anyway, I just got a few DVDs of Scribble Jam, this yearly hip hop festival that features all elements of hip hop (emcees, DJs, graff writers, B-boys/girls, etc.), so I'm really excited for those, too.


And to top it all off, there is going to be a hip hop class offered in the spring and I am SO taking it. I've actually been talking with the professor of it a bit, and we have sort of kicked back and forth some ideas about readings and artists that we like. It's made me really excited. So basically all I want to do all day is listen to hip hop, watch hockey, and of course, update my blog!!

I think this may have come up before, but I love hip hop. I hope to come back when I'm not exhausted and write about my life for hip hop, as well as comic books... two things that really are meaningful to me beyond their surface coolness.

OK, bed time. Sleep well and enjoy the lovely weather!

Saturday, October 24, 2009

Basilica and Beck

Well, I just had an absolutely magical evening with my lovely girlfriend at the Cathedral Basilica in St. Louis. Her professor's choir, the Tenebrae English Chamber Choir, performed and they were spectacular. The sounds reverberated so wonderfully off of the walls and to be in the presence of such beautiful artwork and Christian iconography... I had goosebumps for most of the evening. I just wish that the pews had been a little more comfortable. Half of the time I was thinking about how much my back hurt... But regardless of the minor pains, the concert was wonderful.

I, on the other hand, have felt miserable the last few days. Stomach flu, I think/hope. I feel better now, but who knows if that will last or if I will get back to school on Monday.


However, I have had a chance to think about one of the most frustrating people that I am aware of: Glenn Beck. Now, I am a little ashamed of the passionate rage this man can inspire in me. And perhaps it isn't even him. I think it may be more that he is incredibly popular and people seem to buy his message. Maybe they don't, but it is clear that he is very high profile and his words are reaching a lot of people. I want to keep my comments brief and concise because otherwise this will be 12 pages long. As a little appetizer to my main comments I wanted to say that I am saddened by people on the left that publish posts or comments about Beck the dabble in the same kind of name-calling that Beck loves. Calling Beck a "right-wing nut job" or a "crazy conspiracy theories" may be fair, but in the effort to inspire civil discourse, ultimately self-defeating. Clean it up, ladies and gentlemen. Attack the issues. You will win every time. There is little to no truth on his side. Point out his hypocrisy and lack of evidence, don't resort to cheap insults. It may feel good, but it just continues the bickering. OK...

1. I had a great conversation with my high school AP Literature teacher about the "Beckites" and racism toward the President. She put it in an interesting light that I may have thought of, but the way she said it made me think differently. In a white supremacist, patriarchal, capitalist culture, where rich, white men are privileged, "other" categories are not supposed to be in charge. Also, we have many images of African Americans in our popular culture that depict black men as bafoons, lazy, screw-ups, and foolish individuals. The way she put it sort of brought these two ideas together. The fear and anger towards the government may in part be driven by the fact that the President has made some ambitious decisions on policy with long-term impacts, and white America may be afraid that a black man will screw it up? To be clear, I'm not suggesting that all criticism of President Obama is racist, but the type of reactionary, appeal-to-my-great-great-grandchildren rhetoric, and apocalyptic conspiracy theories really does suggest that some of the criticism is people being worried about Obama "screwing the pooch."

2. On conspiracy theories, I think that this is where Beck has shown that he can really draw in the crowd. And I think that the proliferation of these ideas is a product of the dysfunctional democracy, not because Barack Hussein Obama is a fascist, communist, or a Muslim. Let's face it: if people believed that their voice in government was as strong as corporate money, then people would not need conspiracy theories. If people thought that they could organize and lobby for legislation that made their lives better, their communities better, people wouldn't need to think that OnStar was going to be used against them. If people believed that government was really of the people, by the people, and for the people, people would be more focused on researching solutions, calling their senators, and drafting legislation. We as a country have become cynical. We want to find reasons that explain why the government won't work for us and we resort to wild stories about FEMA detention camps and mandatory abortions. I think a lot of these fears go back to my racism bit. The fear are also just generally related to the rhetoric of "change." But I do think this craziness of Beck is a sort of escapism for people to sit back and rationalize why they should not care about government and explain why government does not work. Well, as long as Beck and the rest of Fox News staff have Americans lulled into this state, Murdoch and the gang will keep consolidating their media outlets, buying up interests, and continue to ensure their profitability with corporatist legislation.


So I guess the moral of the story is Glenn Beck makes me think a lot! HA! Anyway, seriously. We could all stand a little more time reading information like the actual text of a bill or speech, and a little less time listening to "pundits" or editorials. Go make your own decisions. It's the terrible burden of freedom and it's wonderful.

Monday, October 12, 2009

"Anti-Gay Attacks are Hate Crimes"

So in the NYT on Friday October 9 there was a story about a piece of legislation going through Congress that would expand the qualification of a federal hate crime to include sexual orientation and other gender issues.

Here's a link to a similar story run by NPR.

I read this article and felt like I wanted to talk about it. I read some of the responses from some GOP leaders, such as Rep. John Boehner, and I was disheartened by them. Here's one in particular that I did not like:

"The idea that we're going to pass a law that's going to add further charges to someone based on what they may have been thinking, I think is wrong"

Another comment I was frustrated with was by my very own Representative, Mr. Todd Akin:

"We believe this [piece of social agenda] is a poison pill"

Now I do not doubt that both Boehner and Akin are opposed to violence against the LGBT community. That is an unnecessary fight to pick. What I do find offensive is that they do not see the fundamental difference between an assault and an assault driven by hatred or bias.

For me, the difference is that an assault can be random, based on anger about a personal relationship, or economically motivated. An assault driven by hate for an identity represents something more insidious. It represents the idea that this person, because of their race/religion/sexual orientation, is inherently offensive and perhaps subhuman.

By adding punishments to crimes of hate, it becomes clear that as a society we believe it is unacceptable to disregard the humanity of anyone based on their sexual orientation. These crimes need to be treated more seriously because they are more serious. Violence against a specific minorities threatens the fabric of a democratic society; if we cannot ensure that every voice is safe, then we cannot ensure that we will have a unified community in the quest for democratic representation.

Also, by making this a federal law, it gives the federal government the ability to investigate and prosecute cases where local authorities fail to, perhaps because they are influenced by the same biases as the perpetrator.

Many have pointed out that assault or murder is already a crime and there is already a punishment, why do we need to be the "thought police" as well. I believe that intent is everything when it comes to crimes. It is a fine line between crimes against humanity and genocide. The reason we establish more serious levels of violation is to establish that we do not support bigotry. Matthew Shepard's murder was gruesome, but it made it so much more despicable that it was motivated by his sexual orientation.

There are also people who are concerned that this legislation will be heavy-handed and enfringe on people's First Amendment right to speak out against LGBT lifestyles. Democrats have pointed out the legislation forbids prosecution of people's individual beliefs or statements.

However, it has to be clear that intent, though important, is very hard to prove. Just like in cases of genocide, the prosecution must make it crystal clear that there was bigoted intent, otherwise the hate crime status is lost. So though it would be a good step, it may not dramatically change the way that crimes are prosecuted.


I do not think this bill is poison, Mr. Akin. I feel like it is a message to our community that it is not acceptable to be violent against anyone based on their identity. I know that most people would not deny that violence is wrong. But I believe this legislation could be a necessary deterrent against people committing crimes based on sexual orientation and perhaps it will highlight the fact that hatred of the LGBT community is not acceptable.

Thursday, October 8, 2009

Rainy Day

I hate rainy days.


Well, I guess that's not fair. When I don't have to be in class, and I don't have to be outside, and I don't have to wear shoes, they are not so bad.

My major complaint is wet socks. They make the day really unenjoyable and you never really feel comfortable in any class. And no matter how you hold your umbrella, your backpack and your pants are going to get wet.

Anyway, last nights Cardinals game was surprisingly frustrating to watch. The Cards struggled all game on offense and defense, and neither team retired three consecutive batters. The game lasted roughly 4 hours. Long one, even by baseball standards. New game tonight, though. And the Blues home opener!! Yes. I'm so excited for it.

Well, now I have to present about Frederick Douglass and primary sources. Yes! OK, enjoy the various sport events tonight. Maybe open a nice cold Budweiser. Either way, take it easy tonight. Tomorrow is Friday.

Monday, October 5, 2009

A Moment to Celebrate

Well. I finally did it.

I am the champion of my public Yahoo! Fantasy Baseball league. 2009 was just my year. I played my cards right, and I just seemed to do no wrong come play-off time. I should accredit my success to Roy Halladay, Ryan Howard, and Aaron Hill, but I won't. For this moment, I'm going to bask in the glow of my excellent management skills. Ah.


Anyway, today was a bit rushed. I once again had a news story to write for the Mirror literally moments before it was due. Second week in a row. It makes writing the stories a little more exciting, but also a bit more stressful. It will be much better once I get a paycheck... Is it strange that Drury only pays out once a month? I hate that.


I still haven't caught up on Glee for this week. I didn't catch the episode last Wednesday. I just gotta make time for that because there's no come back once you are behind by two episodes.

OK, well more homework, dinner, and what not.

Saturday, October 3, 2009

YES!

So tonight, I went to a flea market with Ma and Pa. I got some great movies. I hope that everyone is super jealous of this excellent list:

1. Plan 9 From Outer Space (Worst Movie of All-Time)

2. They Came From Beyond Space (Just looked like a great, old Sci-Fi film)

3. Outbreak (Awesome movie about a viral, well, outbreak... also a staple in pop culture references... the Deadly Motaba Virus!!!)

And all for a grrrrrrand total of $6.25. Wow. All the people at the Estate, prepare for some delicious movie viewing.


In other news, Drury Girl's Volleyball suffered a loss tonight to Northern Kentucky U. It was a great match, but just didn't work out. There was one call that lots of people got mad about, and it was sort of justified, but one Mom got reallllly mad... It's kind of embarrassing. I will be the first to say I have no problem harassing a ref, but at a crucial moment in the game, when it could still go either way, have faith in the team. It's one point. You gotta move on. If you can move on and still win, then do it. Succeed in the face of adversity, that's what I like to live by. And don't be excessively mean. Two phrases to live by. OK, off to dinner with the fam. Enjoy the rest of the weekend!

Friday, October 2, 2009

I Feel Like...

I have had lots of great ideas for blog posts, but I have been entirely too lazy to get them in type, so... this one will not satisfy anyone's urges for greatness, but at least I'm trying.

OK, so wow, is it really October already? This is incredible. September, we hardly knew ye. I feel like I was just ushering it in. That's fine though, because now it becomes time to focus on the greatest holiday ever: Halloween!

Yes, Halloween is amazing. The candy, the costumes, the scary movies, the fun parties, the outrageous antics... it's always a crowd-pleaser. I am going to have to make more time for scary movies because honestly it has been lacking around here. A lot of guitar, but not a lot of movies, and that's fine. Movies will have their time.

So my favorite Halloween movie is one that gets its namesake from the holiday, Halloween. But I was recently reconsidering that. I watched Halloweeen II the other night (not the Rob Zombie remake, which was average at best), and it was really truly excellent. All the great elements of a deliciously suspensful "slasher" (it's a technical term). So what that means is I will have to watch the rest of them and see if I like any of the others (I really like H20 despite it's corny moments. When Laurie goes back into the school with the Ax screaming out for Michael, you have to be a pillar of steel not to get goosebumps).

So I officially am intimidated by the GRE. I looked at the study guide and it was a bit more complicated than I imagined. I didn't see much about how much time you got, but I hope it's more than the ACT or maybe there's no time at all... But either way, I am intimidated...

I watched Frost/Nixon last night. It is an excellent film and fairly historically accurate. So everyone should see it (of course, see it after you've seen a horror film. Double features are the best). But the movie made me realize how little Americans seemed to care that President Bush also broke the law, just like President Nixon. The torture and wiretapping alone should have warranted the same type of anger, but nothing really. Obama covered for Bush and we may never get a trial to illicit that kind of apology and confession of guilt. So my question is: Where is our generation's David Frost? Who knows.

Anyway, time for other things. Enjoy the weekend.

Monday, September 14, 2009

It's Been A While...

I thought a Staind reference in my title would be good enough to summarize the first section of this here blog post. Wow. 10 days since I last posted? First of all, it feels like a million years since I last posted. And I cannot believe that it has only been 10. My days have been so action packed, it is unreal.

And by action packed, I mean used to the fullest. I have been spending more time having fun and visitng with people than I have in the past. I have also been writing a lot more. I write for Drury's newspaper, The Mirror. It has been a great experience, but it does take up a good chunk of time.

Fantasy sports have also consumed my brain. I am currently in the playoffs in my Fantasy Baseball league, which is awesome (the best I have done since I started in roughly 2005). I recently started a Fantasy Hockey team, and I'm getting all pumped for that (Go Blues!!), and I am getting into futbol a lot now... so naturally I joined a Fantasy Premier League. In addition to this Fantasy sports bonanza, I started a Dynasty on NHL '06 which apparently is the best game ever invented ever. The 2006 Blues never looked so good on ice...

Anyway, I am also in the market for buying a soccer jersey, or as they say a "kit". We have been watching the USA inch closer and closer to the World Cup, so I am fairly inspired to get a US National Jersey, but I have also taken Arsenal under my wing as my favorite team in the Premier League... so I may want one of their jerseys...

But the point is that I am really having time to enjoy all the finer things in life (read sports), and still get all of my work done in style.

Being a senior is wonderful. Anyway, I want to start doing some news reviews... so I think I will start tomorrow. Gotta pick of the NYT and see what it has to say. OK, goodnight!

Friday, September 4, 2009

The Weekend is About to Begin...

Hello and welcome to the first weekend in September!

Wow, it's good to be at the weekend. Yes, my life is somewhat stressful despite the obscene wake-up time of 10:30 on nearly every day of the week. I'm looking forward to just kicking back, reading, and enjoying my time. I really only have one class that requires intense reading; my other classes will have work occasionally, but nothing that will blow me away. I might for a chance to get READ everything, and not just skim or rush through it all. That would be lovely!

So I'm kind of excited about this: I'm in Model UN this year, presenting Drury as either Costa Rica or Haiti. I think this is going to be really sweet. In high school, I did something like this except it as a representative in state government. This is a whole new animal. But I'm only a little intimidated. Mostly excited. So I may get to prep for that this weekend.

Also, I finally settled on a topic for my history paper. I think I'm going to pursue Frederick Douglass and analyze his writings through a feminist lens, essentially. Douglass wrote a lot about Women's Suffrage. So I will see what he had to say about that, and what he says about modern rights advocates or something else that is cool. I really wanted to write about the formation of my church, but I'm just not sure how I would go about finding the sources. The UCC is so new, there's not a lot of research that has been done. Maybe it will be something good to pursue later!

Speaking of church, I recently went to a vigil for health care, hosted by everyone's favorite partisan organization, MoveOn.org. It was nice to see lots of people genuinely concerned about the welfare of others and their health in Springfield. There were some people who liked to hear themselves talk, there were some people who were not very well-informed, and there were some people who were quite excellent. It was a fun evening, and it was sponsored by the Community Christ Church or something to that effect. I think it was a DOC church, very small, very progressive/social-justice oriented. So I think I may try out their church this weekend. Who knows!?!?

Well tonight will be mad. Lots of things going on, and there's only so much time!!! OK. Well, again, welcome to September, hope you enjoy your stay... and yes Billie Joe Armstrong, I'll wake you up when it's all over... HA!

Monday, August 31, 2009

Will the Comic Book Survive?

Well, I was looking for what to post up on the last day of this wonderful month of August, and it was clear as soon as I logged on.

The headline on NPR was that Disney plans to purchase Marvel Comics and its nearly 5,000 characters pending an anti-trust authorization...

I want to be optimistic. I really do. I'm an optimistic guy. But I know that now it won't be the same reading my favorite Ghost Rider, Captain America, or even Iron Man. And you can be sure that Spiderman will be weinier than ever now. I am afraid that this new partnership will be part of the long trend of franchises gobbled up by mega media giants and then whored out to the point of irrelevance.

Now let me be clear. Marvel before this deal was certainly no bastion of independent artistic creation. Did you see the marketing and what not for Iron Man, Fantastic Four II and X 3? Shameless. And they were piss poor movies... Oh yeah, let's not forget Spiderman 3 as well. So clearly, Marvel was already a media monster in the comic book realm. But that is completely different from this new hypersphere of Disney. And Marvel may have been a media giant, but at least they were still a comic book company at heart. They understood what the real fans needed in the comic books and what we needed to see in the movies (although they had a hard time delivering there... anyone else vomit after Ghost Rider?). But now I'm afraid for the future of Marvel characters. Will they still be edgy? Will they still have character flaws, complex relationships, and the ability to wrestle with not just the best supervillans but also social/political problems. Would the "Civil War" series that Marvel just completed that had overt discussion of the rule of law, liberty vs. security, and the morality of vigilantism/the state have been as compelling under Disney ownership. Will Disney "clean up" the images of certain characters (i.e. Tony Stark no longer a recovering alcoholic)?

But at the end of the day, I'm not too worried about the comics because they know that if they change those, the fans will leave. What I am most saddened by is that you can count on a lot of crappy new Marvel movies to show up. Marvel will be plastered on more things now that it could have ever dreamed of.

The most interesting thing of all of this will be to see how DC acts. It seems to me like DC will be looking for a buyer if they aren't already part of a mega conglomerate, in order to keep up with the market value/recognition of Marvel. And in the end, this may produce a generation of kids who grow up thinking that lame comic book heroes and their movies aren't worth their time. I may have to write about what comic books mean to me sometime because I don't have the time to go into that, but I am trying to be optimistic about this deal...

Maybe Donald Duck and The Hulk will team-up for some hilarious... nope. Not working...

Thursday, August 27, 2009

Ugh.

So being a journalist is tough work. I just got a small taste today. I have been working on three stories right now, all of which involve several sources and a fair amount of research. I tried to get building permit records, contact city officials, set-up interviews for stories, develop story angles, have meetings, track down company contact information, and develop interview questions... Needless to say it was exciting, but very confusing and stressful. I just want to get it all squared away before the week ends.

Anyway, I wanted to make a brief comment on the Michael Vick situation. I have heard lots of perspectives on the matter, and frankly, I think a lot of the hostility towards Vick is understandable. What Vick did was at least upsetting and at worse disgusting. However, we have established a system of justice that is based on the idea of second chances. He was given a sentence, he served that sentence, and now he is free. Was it adequete? Did he get off easier because he was famous? Maybe, but a jury of his peers determined along with the state what his sentence would be and that's done. So theoretically, he gets a clean slate, with some reservations (I think dog-fighting is a felony? Maybe)... I'm also a big fan of forgiveness. He made some mistakes. Everyone gets a chance to make mistakes. Granted, his mistake was a lot worse than lying about breaking your Mom's favorite vase, but he still deserves a second chance. So to be disgusted that the Eagles would sign a convicted dog-abuser is to deny that humans deserve compassion and forgiveness, and that people have the ability to repent and change their ways. Perhaps I'm being far too idealistic and sticking up for the wrong guy, but I feel like we all have a moral obligation to believe that anyone can become a better person.

I could write more about that, but I need to get back to working and calling my wonderful girlfriend, who I am missing very much :( But I realized how soon I will get to see her, and that makes me oh so very happy!

Anyway, tomorrow is FRIDAY! Yeah.

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Hygiene Pet Peeve

I just wanted to throw this out there because I was thinking about it this morning. I hate cutting my finger nails, and here's why: the moment after I have done the deed, I need nails. I cut my finger nails this morning and, lo and behold, I needed to peel stickers off of my new binders for school. This is not a freak occurance of bad luck. It is consistently a problem. There's always a scratch, or a smudge of what-not, or a seal needing to be broken right after you cut you nails. That sucks. Hands down.

What I'm trying to say is that I hate cutting my nails. Hygiene is already low on my list. But this just another slap in the face. Thanks a lot, hygiene. What have you done for me lately, really?

Monday, August 24, 2009

The New Year Begins!!

And we are off to a great start! What a productive first two days at Drury.

Sunday started off great with a nice church service at home, successful packing of my car, and a solid drive down to Springfield. Moved in, got situated, had a great Target run, and I got to see lots of my friends. Couldn't be happier about all of that. The new house that I am living in this year has got some character to it, but man, it is really nice and fun to be here. There is so much space, and a lot of possibility for wild antics and shenanigans!

But anyway, today I had to give a bit of a testimonial to the freshman class before they entered into their service-learning activity for the day. I was calm, cool, collected, and I think I actually said most of the things that I really wanted to say. I think it's because I'm really excited about civic engagement and I really believed my message, so I could talk from the heart. It was empowering, no doubt. So that was successful, then I went to get my check from my civic engagement conference and that wasn't there, but I got a very helpful lady in the business office to help, so technically a strike but no one ever got out from just one strike. Then I took my transcript nightmare to the registrar and my new best friend in Bay Hall helped me hook it all up. Finally I will have my class from two summers ago credited to my account. Yes! And to top it off, we had a great lunch at South Avenue Pizza were the pizza buffet was only $8.00 (a competitive deal when you include drink and a full salad bar) followed by a short but helpful meeting with the Mirror staff for this year.

I am really excited for this year. I want to be active and engaged in student life, and I want to try to produce some really quality work that I am proud of. I have been doing that so far, but this year I want to take a lot of time and effort and make this my own personal capstone.

But anyway, nothing in the news has really struck my fancy lately. I'm sure it will. I have my access to free New York Times daily, so I will try to reflect on at least one news story every week. I also just finished a book about narcotics, the CIA, and Central America that I would like to talk about. I'll try and do that this week.


Well, awesomeness. I have to go get read for my Phi Alpha Theta activity for tomorrow. But yes, let's rock and roll.

Sunday, August 16, 2009

Frustration

I really don't know where to start with this one. I sort of touched on this subjects in some previous posts about health care and the angry, derogatory, fact-less, conservative protesting. There are two articles on NPR that I read this evening before I went to bed that made me sit up and got my blood boiling...

One of them was about how the Obama Administration wants to take the "Public-Option" off the table, or in their words, they will be open to compromise.

And the second article was basically some analysis of the current political situation for the Obama Administration and why they have had so much traction in gaining public support for their initiatives

Now first of all, I have no problem with a compromise. Compromise is healthy and should be expected, especially with the American political context. And the compromise actually may have some kick to it: Consumer-owned cooperatives as health insurers. Non-profit health care, even if it is private sector, is better than the for-profit arena. Will it lower costs? Will it get more people insured? Will it facilitate the ultimate goal of having a healthier, more efficient society? Will it produce more moral outcomes? Maybe.

But the part that steams me up is the fact that these outlandish protests seem to be the cause of all of this vision-alteration. Again, I understand that people have legitimate qualms with the current health care reform, I have my own. And in a republican democracy, it is the people who are sovereign and ultimately it is their opinions that determine what policy is acceptable. But there are two problems with that. I feel like most of the debate has been focused on disproving the myths about what the ACTUAL legislation, plan, and current system looked like. Institutions, like NPR for example, ran several stories that corrected common dissatisfactions with "ObamaCare" (as it has been infamously dubbed). So this begs the questions: Has the protest been based on legitimate concern or based on lies or misconceptions?

This whole town hall show-down has been absurd. I just don't even know where to begin. Where I come from, it is polite to ask questions, firmly expect answers, and respectfully disagree. There is no need for name-calling or apocalyptic descriptions of an America that is chained to the dogma of socialistic nihilism that is breaded with carbon-neutral, Fair Trade coffee rinds and fascist flavored handouts. The point is is that most doomsayers have little to no interest in promoting the democratic dialouge; they wish to complain about how fascist Communists have infiltrated America and we should all shiver in our shoes. I feel like the McCarthy metaphor is a tired one, but perhaps this is an appropriate to an extent.

I could go on about poorly informed rants, but I won't. I want to touch on two other things that I had never really thought about until I was really mad about how people were talking, acting, and pretending to be Thomas Paine (I really don't like you, Mr. Beck).

One thing is that I never realized how ridiculous it is to claim that a President is fundamentally challenging the core of "American Values". Now, look, I will be the first to tell you that President Bush was absolutely morally indefensible with the warrentless wiretapping, illegal detentions, torture, and a whole host of other offenses (uhh did I forget WMD's and Iraq?). But the point is is that in the end, claiming to have a handle on the core of American values turns out to mostly be partisan rhetoric. American values are sometimes contradictory and very complex. So while it does feel nice to be on one's high horse when we see a moral transgression, it is important to remember in American politics there are sets of values that can contradict one's beliefs and still maintain their "Americanness". Again, not defending the likes of the Cheney/Rumsfeld. Just something to chew on.

And secondly, I find it very distrubing the large pharmacutical companies were fully supportive of President Obama's health care overhaul. They, in fact, were throwing PR money at this deal! Retail giants like Wal-Mart were also supportive. This makes me very skeptical. When big business is happy, there is reason to doubt to what extent the proposed legislation will actually benefit the broader society and not concentrate wealth in elite hands. I think faithful Obamaites and progressive Democrats should seriously look at who is behind this plan before defending it to the death. While the attacks from the neo-Tea Partyers may be harsh, it might not be such a bad idea to see why major pharmacuticals are behind the plan. What do they stand to gain?

OK, well I tried to keep this short but it wasn't. I apologize.

Friday, August 7, 2009

Let's Go Bowling

For those who don't know, bowling is a fantastic sport.

And for those who are in the know, my recent rummage sale acquisition of bowling shoes and ball complete with plastic carrying case is working out like a dream.

A few friends and I had planned on going out to shop second-hand. We were going to do Goodwills, Value Villages, and some rummage sales. At the Kirkwood United Methodists rummage sale, I hit pure gold. After discussing over bagels my true desire of finding a bowling ball and shoes, something divine happened. We found exactly what I was looking for, the shoes fit like freakin' Cinderella, and the going price for this lovely package: One US dollar. Can you believe that?


Well, anyway, last night I went bowling with my girlfriend and started off shaky with a with 136, but came back strong in the second game with a 158. Needless to say, I'm excited. I saved $3.75 on a shoe rental and at the end of the night, I had the satisfaction of packing up my gear and walking out a champion of the second-hand realm.

So in short, when we go bowling, you guys will definitely be getting the water.

Monday, August 3, 2009

Futbol, Soccer, Futbol, Soccer... Let's Call the Whole Thing Off

So I've been taking care of a dog recently for a neighbor and they have Direct TV. I do not have any form of cable, and I have never had any form of cable. I stick to the basics, 2, 4, 5, 9, 11, 30, and sometimes 46 when the mood strikes me. But at this house, they have literally every channel known to mankind. And last night, I may have discovered channels that no one else knew existed. The only problem is is that there is a lock on shows that are rated higher than TV-PG because they have a son in elementary school. So I have been forced to watch exclusively sports, which is fine, that is what I would prefer to watch anyway (I'm not bitter). But last night I got to watch a lot of different soccer matches. I watch Chicago take on Los Angeles in the Women's Professional Soccer league. I learned that St. Louis has a WPS team as well, and we are pretty darn good! I also watched the final seconds of the Peace Cup, and I got to watch Arsenal play a team called the Rangers (who are apparently from Glascow? I always thought they were from Texas...)

Anyway, the point of the tale is that I got a lot of soccer time. My friends at school are really into soccer so within the last calendar year my knowledge and appreciation of futbol has grown exponentially. I usually considered it dry and a novelty at best. But after watching it regularly with people who understand and are truly passionate about the sport, I see why so many people around the globe love it.

I hope that soccer takes some roots in the American sports marketplace. It would be nice to field a team that could compete with the world. After watching Brazil narrowly defeat the US in recent match, I am now hungry for US glory at the 2010 World Cup. So, let's keep our baseball, basketball, hockey, and football close, but how about we invite in those crazy soccer kids?

Thursday, July 30, 2009

Bad Movies= Good Entertainment

Here's a fun news story I saw a few days ago that reflected my views on movie watching

http://current.com/items/90554710_crowds-lining-up-to-see-the-room-the-worst-movie-ever-made.htm

It's about this terrible movie called "The Room" that looks like it's extra bad. Needless to say, I want to see it with a passion! In middle school, my group of friends and I were really into Mystery Science Theater 3000, and today I still get the most pleasure from sitting around with my friends and ripping apart a B-movie.

If anyone wants to dive into the bad movie genre, go to your local flea market. You'll need a VHS player, but if you have that, any flea market will have a plethora of old, obscure, and hilariously bad movies. Here's a few of my personal favorites:

  1. Grim- A group of 30-somethings decide to go spelunking in an underground cave that is beneath their suburban neighborhood. But little do they know, a cave dwelling troll lives in that cave. The troll was awoken by a good, old fashion reading of a Ouiji board and a standard ancient stone tablet. The troll has been terrorizing the town (in very subtle ways) by stealing furniture and people. It's scary so hold on stalactite!
  2. Bloody Murder- An obvious knock-off of Friday the 13th (which makes it all the better). Six kids are getting set to counsel at a summer camp. It seems innocent enough. But the legend of the chainsaw murderer, Trevor Morehouse, is part of every dumb anecdote that these kids seem to talk about. And all the sudden, kids start missing. Bloody Murder is chocked full of hilarious one-liners, awkwardly intimate relationships, and incompetent authority figures; it will leave the whole family screaming for more...
  3. Boa Vs. Python- So this really rich dude wants to hunt a huge snake, right? But of course, while being transfered, the moron moving company let it escape (But what are you supposed to do about a 75-foot reticulated python, for crying out loud?!). Well, no biggie. The FBI has a great plan: Release an equally big snake from a secret FBI program to hunt down the original snake. Makes sense, right? Right?
  4. The Brotherhood- Wow. You are in for a treat. The box art leads you to believe that this will be a sweet, teen vampire adventure. Wrong. It's a borderline soft-core gay porn involving a fraternity of vampires that seduce freshman guys and girls (mostly guys) to become part of their rich and dangerous lifestyle. Apparently vampires love expensive alcohol, expensive cars, and expensive bed sheet... Oh yeah, and there's a lot of awkward elbow sucking... Oh yeah, and it's part of a trilogoy. Collect the whole set!

There are so many more, but there is only so much time in one post!

Saturday, July 25, 2009

A Fresh Discussion on NPR

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=106969104

We have been talking about health care reform a lot recently. However, as organizations like Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR) have constantly reminded us, there has been little to no real discussion of the feasibility of a single-payer option. President Obama has formulated a "stock response" as the article points out. But I feel like leaving this option out the the discussion does a disservice to Americans, who by large majorities favor some form of a single-payer system.

I'm not entirely sure how I feel about health care reform, but I do know that single-payer does offer a lot of benefits as a structural arrangment. The lack of debate on single-payer seems to reflect the pro-corporate mode of both Democrats and Republicans. I'm glad that NPR completed their journalistic duty and found an angle for the health care story that has not been covered. Though the article was not extensively in-depth, it was nice to see a story covering the issues with a serious tone. (Also, the quote my favorite Representative, Dennis Kucinich... gotta love that man)

Actually, check this out, too http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=7&issue_area_id=15

A run down of the corporate/mainstream media's failures to examine alternatives to private, for-profit health care.

Thursday, July 23, 2009

Busy Day!

Ugh. Busy day.

It started out definitely on the wrong foot. I had an argument with my mother about tires for the Neon. I'm pretty sure I lost the argument because I was awake at 6:30 am getting estimates for a new set of Firestone's... It felt like I won, but based on the situation, it sort of felt like a loss ;)

Today, we had a visit to the Monroe County Fair. It was a really good time. Great food, lots of cute animals, and some pretty great folk art and, honestly, some pretty good high art, too. The best part of the art section was seeing little bits of popular culture or dissident culture in some of the art that was being judged at the fair. I feel like sometimes people who aren't familiar with small, rural town life see it as monolithic... (and I thought us city folk were supposed to be highly enlightened?) and fail to see that there are people who do not fit into the traditional mode that we ascribe to rural Midwest America. Obviously there were lots of tractors, cheap light beer, and the essential pro-life booth, but those things shouldn't blind us from seeing the diversity, talent, and cultural celebration that are in small town county fairs. And gosh darn it! I had some fun!

And a volleyball game tonight. Always a good work out, lots of sweat. We couldn't pull off a win tonight, but we took one from them. They were good, but they were jerks. It's OK. I felt good about how we played. Well, I think I will get some sleep tonight. Read a bit of my Cornel West book, "Keeping Faith" and get some shut eye. It's Friday tomorrow! Yes!

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

An Explanation and a few thoughts

Back for more! I've been thinking about blogging and getting all excited about it. Maybe that's a sign that I will be more committed? I don't know. It's too early to tell.

Anyway, I guess the name of my blog deserves an explanation. And I was set to give it to you earlier, but I forgot. Got to ranting about this and that. So the phrase "Life, love, stress, and set-backs" is borrowed from the hip hop group Atmosphere. The MC for the group, Slug, uses it frequently when talking about general conversations or a broad range of ideas that come to his mind when he is thinking or speaking. I think it's clever, catchy, and fairly complex without being wordy.

Atmosphere is pretty great group. If you haven't heard of them, check it out. If you've never given any kind of hip hop a try, do it. It's worth it. Don't worry if it makes you feel silly listening to hip hop. Just kind of groove and let go; there's no reason why everyone shouldn't get to enjoy some nice 808s and some clever/creative lyrics. Trust me. I'll probably talk about hip hop more as time passes. It's a pretty big part of my musical library and my philosophies on life.

Another thing that I saw on the news that was distressing: Angry, angry people being angry about President Obama's "questionable" citizenship. It's really disturbing because the criticisms seem to be loaded with a xenophobic, ultranationalist intent that seeks to separate, divide, and crystallize who is and can be considered a "natural born citizen". It seems clear from evidence that he was in fact born in Hawaii (barring a MASSIVE government cover-up) and there seems to be agreement across the political spectrum (even John McCain defends Obama's citizenship). The conspiracy theory lives, though. And people who seem to be expressing these views are both very disturbed about the future of our country and they are regular subscribers to conservative voices like Dobbs, Limbaugh, and Beck. I suppose these voices have become popular because they are viewed as outside of the system, and thus, legitimate sources of critique and untarnished holders of the truth. However, I don't think it is clear to everyone that these voices are part of a broad network of corporate-controlled message. They are not operating outside of the system, they prop-up and support the very system that people have become disillusioned with. Therefore, we must evaluate their opinions not as outsider "populists", but as a xenophobic and divisive branch of the mainstream news/political establishment. This brand of apocolyptic and sensationalist politics is not acceptable because it does not encourage thought, analysis, or honest debate. I have lots more I could say about this issue, but I will keep it brief. Save some for another time. All I want to ask is how much evidence is necessary to convince people that President Obama is actually a legitimate citizen? Medical records, signed statements from the Hawaiian government acknowledging his citizenship, bipartisan agreement that he is a citizen? Those are all present. I didn't see people raising a storm about John McCain who happened to be born in the Panama Territory Zone. Perhaps our reservations about President Obama speak more to our inability to accept that diversity is creeping into our political life than to the fact that Hawaii won't release his birth certificate.

Well, that's enough for now. It's nice to release some thoughts about politics and what not. Otherwise I just rant to my family/girlfriend and they get tired of listening to me ;) OK, catch you later on down the trail.

Monday, July 20, 2009

Jumping on the Bandwagon

Well, everyone else is doing it, right? So I finally decided to take a stab at the ol' Blog-O-Sphere. I'm delving into this new and dynamic medium partly as a support buddy for my lovely girlfriend. She has wanted to start a blog for a while now, so I decided to be a pal and do it to.

Also, I have recently been making some decisions about the course of my life, and I wouldn't mind a forum to sort of talk things out and develop some of my thinking and writing skills. I have been studying political science and history, but I believe that I am leaning towards studying at seminary in a post-undergrad world. So I want a place where I can begin to really dig into some ideas about religioin, Christianity, social justice, and service/civic engagement.

But another reason I cannot neglect is that I have a love for discussing domestic and international relations and politics. And I feel like with the increasing popularity corporate cable news, sound-bite politics and divisive mudslinging have become the norm. This unfortunately creates distrust and ungracious discourse. Therefore, I would like to at least use my own blog as a space to present alternative perspectives to the traditional dichotomy of politics, which chokes out creativity and encourages "us versus them" hostility. Though I do tend to side more with ideologies that promote social justice over corporate care, I am not opposed to digesting and integrating other persepctives. I hope that my example will demonstrate creativity, critical thinking, and gracious understanding, all of which are essential to democratic development.

And if not, at least I'll have a place to post stuff and sleep at night! So many ideas running around in my little head. Maybe this will take the edge off a bit :-)

Anyway, this introduction was supposed to be short, but it's not. I don't think I know how to keep my thoughts short when it comes to politics, philosophy... or anything really. I'll leave it at that. I don't know where this will go, but I hope it is somewhere nice.