I hate to say it but I feel similar to this journalist. Israel is in a position to create peace and won't really make any big strides. Then again who are the Americans to dictate ethics in the Middle East. I hope Israel's Prime finds a slice of compassion for the Palestinians it's the only real power for peace right now.
I'm writing you from Clearwater to tell you how important WMNF 88.5 is to me as a struggling college student. I am interested in a career in politics myself and depend on free independent news media. WMNF 88.5 has an excellent track record for honest news media. They cover local, national, and international news. I am willing to volunteer time at the station as well. I could try and bring a bigger donating crowd through my connections in both business and the youth of the bay area.
I would hate to see this station go away or any others like it. Is there any other alternative we can think of than cutting the funds for 88.5 WMNF?
Sincerely,
Robert Ives
Anyone who would like to use this letter I encourage it. Please help in protecting public radio!
Those who think that America is a democracy are wrong. If we are a democracy then Julian Assange wouldn't be arrested for expressing his right to free speech; Bradley Manning wouldn't be tortured for whistle blowing; Politicians would represent the people to the fullest. Putting the powerful in their place is not the only solution though. Unlike some of the super neo-liberals out there I do not believe that there is a conspiracy to control the people and in fact believe that the people have failed to do what we were empowered to do. I'm calling on the people to not just listen to the facts but to investigate them. I'm asking that people read scholarly journals more than newspapers. We should not be subjected to sub par schooling and then expected to perform miracles on standardized tests. There is an inequality expanding in the middle of our social and economic classes. I find myself being torn between a society that does not know what is happening to the poor and the poor who do not know what is happening anywhere. Republicans and Democrats love to keep us apart, they really do. I'm here to ask all of you to pursue truth over brand. What I mean by this is ask yourself why you believe the things you do. Where did that information come from? Our school budgets are being slashed left and right. What used to be silly mockery of college students from the conservative extremists has now become slanderous attacks against college professors and now public school systems in general. We cut the resources out from under everything we do and then want to know why quality is not checked. Wealth is most certainly going to the top one percent and people from all social classes defend the rights of those who take rights away. As a country we economically bully smaller countries into becoming a financial colony of us or face the threat of military coup, war, and depression at the hands of American Patriots. I am asking all people to not trust my blog or anyone else's. I'm asking you to not be afraid of the world around you long enough to go out and find truth in everyday life. Realize the ability and power you have as an autonomous being. Demand politicians listen to you or face a very real threat of your vote. We have the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. We govern ourselves. If you don't feel like you are part of government then it isn't really democracy.
Alright so the title might be a little misleading because after all I'm here promoting my political ideas. I just wanted to express my understanding for those who have a more conservative point of view than my own. That being said I want to dive into what my concerns are about what the Republican Party is trying to do in this country. Right Wing America refuses to pass legislation that would tax corporations more. Meanwhile, last fiscal year Bank of America and General Electric managed to pay zero dollars in taxes by slipping through tax code loopholes.
Despite what side of the political isle you may land on we must recognize that cutting social programs for the poor would not only hinder those who depend on those programs but also cut about 700,000 jobs if the House of Representatives gets their way.
Republicans are claiming to have an interest in promoting job creation by giving the richest of our nation the most. "Alright" we said, "we'll see where they're going with this." We bailed out Wall Street, making up for about half of the national deficit. JPMorgan Chase CEO just made $16 million in a bonus while teachers and police officers have to stand in the freezing cold for weeks just to fight for their right to ask for smaller class sizes or fair wages. Lets not forget that inflation has risen more than wages since the 1950's.
I guess what I'm trying to say is that regardless of whether you agree with the existence of these social institutions or not maybe we should consider looking towards a lack of regulation on the rich instead of a lack of regulation on the poor.
Hi guys, I'm back. I know it's been way too long, but I've really decided to start taking this blogging thing a bit more serious.
Anyway, last week I read a terribly uninteresting article in Bloomberg Business Week titled "The Kids Are Not All Right". This article was also advertised on the cover of the magazine with a half-assed picture of angry Egyptians protesting in the streets. I was a bit frustrated by the whole thing from the catchy front cover to the lousy ending line.
The author starts off by admitting the role played by facebook and other social networking sites in revolution for the Middle East but, somehow, ends by discrediting the whole movement. He emphasized the drive of the people over the internet as the main influence, which I took as some sort of accusatory stance on those who fully recognize the important influence internet had/has in fighting oppression. My immediate reaction, you ask? Duh! Of course the internet would be nothing without it's users! Any fan of the cult classic movie Tron could understand that concept.
What he fails to recognize is in oppressive authoritarian countries assembling at the local coffee shop was not exactly an option. Nor is it as effective in today's internet driven society. At the end of the piece he finishes with this cynical statement: "After all, reading is just reading."
I find it strange that a journalist would ever end an article in such a way. The fact is I could have written the exact same article about the printing press in the 1400s. But would I ever dream of calling it's impact small? Absolutely not! The internet will forever be known as my generation's printing press, and although Bloomberg doesn't like the competition of alternative news sources, they may find themselves caught in their own propaganda one day when the internet puts them in their place. Who knows? Maybe it already has.
I drive down the road looking for time, Wondering where the setting sun has gone. He has fallen behind bolstering signs, Tomorrow, you know, I won't see Day's dawn.
They sold my view for a nickel, you see, A pretty angel descendant from Gods, Or just plain eyes looking down upon me. I cash in my loot and way out the odds.
Now here I am unsatisfied and dead, My organs fail and my glutton persists. The angel lied about what she'd not said, My life prolonged for these Gods' interests.
I've lived not loved for the sunset's now done, My new life dieing for old life to come.
I've been thinking a lot on the subject of language. How do we use it and how is it interpreted in the 21st century? I was thinking specifically about the relations between emotion, logic, and how we communicate these things to others. When we express an opinion on politics, theology, ethics, etc., we may think that we are making our judgments solely on logic. In fact most of our views on ethics and the world are based on emotional foundations and that's okay. Some of the more pretentious educated types may scoff at anyone who bases their world view on emotion, but they too fall victim to the emotional foundation of logic. It's terribly important to maintain that emotional core; it is in fact the root of our humanity.
That said, these two things, emotion and logic, play an unusual role in light of the recent developments in technology. Since the dawn of the Internet we have made virtually all information in the world accessible from the comfort of our home. I do the majority of my research on the Internet. It's a great source when used correctly but can be the worst source when used incorrectly.
Since the Internet we've discovered faster more efficient ways of communicating with each other, but we have also seen a decadence rise from the wonders of technology. When we use these shorthand ways of communicating over the Internet or our cell phones we leave out the important details and the aesthetic appeal. When this void of logic or humanity occurs I think the loose soil foundation of emotions seeps into the rigid structure of logic creating a structural weakness in our whole establishment. We have a lack of factual detail and therefore fabricate uninformed, strictly emotional, details to formulate our opinions. For example: “If the terrorists from 9/11 claim to be Muslim then I don't like the religion of Islam.” We have such a lack of interest in the details or the deeper issue that we are willing to accept not just what simple-minded details we come up with in our heads but also what simple answers other people come up with.
Online social networking sites can be a detriment to the fight for well written language. Twitter, for example, limits a person to 140 characters per post. At first I thought this was wonderful. I didn't really want to hear a narrative about the latest episode of Gilmore Girls. The problem was not the length of the Gilmore Girl narrative it was actually the problem of uninteresting writing. Nobody is really interested in poorly written work long or short on, for example, what one may have had for lunch that day. Instead of fixing the problem we've decided to eliminate the use of vocabulary that expressed this awful writing. I didn't realize that I was in favor of a band aid solution to the gangrene of language. Now instead of the long description of the Gilmore Girls episode, I find myself reading one sentence descriptions of uninteresting life events. I do believe that some people are losing interest in, not just the usefulness, but the beauty of words due to the fast-paced world we live in. Even when talking I find that some people have such a short attention span that I need to speak like a Twitter post in order to make my point. I'm not claiming to be the most interesting man in the world but when I have someones undivided attention and I watch it fly away when I break into detail I cannot help but feel perplexed.
I may seem cynical but if I'm wrong correct me. As a child growing up we were too poor for the Internet or cell phones. It wasn't until later in my life that I acquired these luxuries. At the age of fifteen I was struggling to keep up with a shorthand lingo of acronyms such as, lol, lmao, omg. I was taking guitar lessons with kids who were taught shortcuts instead of sheet music. Call me an old soul if you will but I still play guitar, text on my cell phone, and use the Internet and I try to do it with conviction and my full attention. We find all these ways of saving time and then we die.
