Cartoons
Seriously? It's a cartoon. It's similar to Ted Turner saying that Bugs Bunny is sexist, racist, and Speedy Gonzalez makes inappropriate fun of Hispanics. First, it's a f'in cartoon. Secondly, most Hispanics that I know LOVE Speedy Gonzalez. Personally, Babak, I think our generation is taking cartoons TOO seriously. They're cartoons. Did I grow up with Bugs Bunny? Watched it every Saturday. I think I turned out find. Did I go outside and play with my friends? Yes. Did my parents ever arrange "play dates" for me? Umm..fuck no. Was there ever a term "play date" when I was growing up in the 80'?. Fuck no. Did my parents spank me when I got out of line? Hell yes. What's that called? Discipline. What's my point? That our generation takes things so freakin' seriously now, that our kids grow up not being exposed to anything, either playing video games and never going outside or having these contrived "play dates," and instead of teaching kids some discipline parents simply go "Now Billy, I'm going to count to three and you'll stop okay?" In the meantime the kid's' being a disrespectful pain in the ass and still doing the thing that you want him or her to stop doing and can stop them from doing if you just give them a hard smack on the ass which will teach them pretty damn quick who's boss.
London Riots
People will need to start realising that reliance on the state or
some other source of benefit is not going to solve their problems -
indeed the state is likely to provide less, and an assumption that this
will be the case should be a starting point for people taking control of
and planning their lives. They should begin to realise that
self-reliance and self-empowerment are likely to become more and more
the way forward and that rendering themselves less dependent on others
and less vulnerable to negative circumstances will be to their benefit
in these difficult times. E.g. - do not depend on others; rather turn
towards self-preservation within socially acceptable means. Reject the
subversive sentiment that "we down't need now educayshun, we down't need
now fowt controwl" and make the best of the educational facilities
available. With the right mindset one can learn a lot even in a crappy
school with lousy teachers. Do not get oneself pregnant in order to try
to get public housing, as a lot do. Spend one's JSA/IS carefullly in
staying alive and getting a livelihood (job is too specific and implies
dependence on somebody else). People have got to push themselves more to
get noticed in these ever more competitive days, and this should be
done positively. Smashing up neighbourhoods may well get one noticed,
but it'll also get others' backs up and is, on balance, negative.
Dick Ebersol
Mr. Ebersol's tenure at NBC sports spread over a flush era which frankly had as much to do with the cascading billions coming out of the professional sports leagues as it did with his acumen as an executive.
This is not to denigrate the man; he certainly has accomplished much, But regardless of the euphemized statements and releases sure to follow his departure, the hard truth seems to be that the golden days of tv sports are rapidly turning to silver, if not bronze, and other than the superpower exception of the NFL, perhaps even to dross. NFL owners can be accused of bare greed for certain, but it's equally true that there are disquieting tweets coming out of their protestations.
It's not entirely certain that the monstrous investments made in super-suiting stadiums will really pay off downstream. The NBA faces a tougher new financial landscape according to David Stern. Major League Baseball has become creaky and ungainly and Commissioner. Selig apparently does not appear to see himself dressed in the emperor's clothes. Hockey has been under stress for years. Golf without the stimulus provided by Tiger Woods, and more critically the economic downturn impacting participation and interest in golf will also take its toll. Tennis remains a blip. The bloated overprogrammed ESPN tv goldmine business model may be in for rough seas as more and more viewers take to the internet, a business model where dollars quickly turn to dimes.
But of all Mr. Ebersol's legacies the one which has never been really validated on naked dollar terms was the Olympics. In flush times one could argue branding, image,etc. In the no so brave new world of post 2008 frenetic media dollar chase against the likes of facebookworld, it's another story. Branding and image has become a totally fake, if not pathetically dated premise. But good luck to Mr. Ebersol, surely he'll find renewal some where in the digital wannabe companies proliferating out there.
This is not to denigrate the man; he certainly has accomplished much, But regardless of the euphemized statements and releases sure to follow his departure, the hard truth seems to be that the golden days of tv sports are rapidly turning to silver, if not bronze, and other than the superpower exception of the NFL, perhaps even to dross. NFL owners can be accused of bare greed for certain, but it's equally true that there are disquieting tweets coming out of their protestations.
It's not entirely certain that the monstrous investments made in super-suiting stadiums will really pay off downstream. The NBA faces a tougher new financial landscape according to David Stern. Major League Baseball has become creaky and ungainly and Commissioner. Selig apparently does not appear to see himself dressed in the emperor's clothes. Hockey has been under stress for years. Golf without the stimulus provided by Tiger Woods, and more critically the economic downturn impacting participation and interest in golf will also take its toll. Tennis remains a blip. The bloated overprogrammed ESPN tv goldmine business model may be in for rough seas as more and more viewers take to the internet, a business model where dollars quickly turn to dimes.
But of all Mr. Ebersol's legacies the one which has never been really validated on naked dollar terms was the Olympics. In flush times one could argue branding, image,etc. In the no so brave new world of post 2008 frenetic media dollar chase against the likes of facebookworld, it's another story. Branding and image has become a totally fake, if not pathetically dated premise. But good luck to Mr. Ebersol, surely he'll find renewal some where in the digital wannabe companies proliferating out there.
Osama Bin Laden
#2. Osama bin Laden did not attack us due to our freedoms...the fact that the U.S. chose, all by its terrified self, to begin walking--from 9/11--a path of ever diminishing freedoms is just icing on the cake.
Osama financed an independent anti-Capitalistic idea to attack the World Trade Centers and seats of U.S. government, as these are seen--by a great many individuals living in 2nd and 3rd World nations--to be the strength of our Imperialistic economic and military behavior.
The U.S. mans foreign military bases all over the world--imagine if China were to establish a military base on Oʻahu, Key Largo or Martha's Vineyard.
Our capitalistic drive has turned the world into one big source of McJobs. We control the lifestyles of 3rd Worlders working for peanuts and no benefits in our overseas factories. We foul their environments. We demand that they give us their oil for much less than the European market.
No, it wasn't our freedoms. It was our abuse of these freedoms. We are a target of terrorist attacks not because they are Muslim, not because we are Christians, Americans or relatively free.
We are a terrorist target because we use our military might to back the exploitation of foreign lands and lifestyle purely for our own luxury purposes. We have robbed nations of their sovereign right to establish and maintain their own socio-economic cultures. They now eat our burgers, drink our cola, dress in our gangsta clothing and rap-out songs of street violence.
If this were happening to you, maybe you wouldn't attack...but you'd certainly know someone who would--who'd trained for it--and who's just now waiting for their chance. See Less
Osama financed an independent anti-Capitalistic idea to attack the World Trade Centers and seats of U.S. government, as these are seen--by a great many individuals living in 2nd and 3rd World nations--to be the strength of our Imperialistic economic and military behavior.
The U.S. mans foreign military bases all over the world--imagine if China were to establish a military base on Oʻahu, Key Largo or Martha's Vineyard.
Our capitalistic drive has turned the world into one big source of McJobs. We control the lifestyles of 3rd Worlders working for peanuts and no benefits in our overseas factories. We foul their environments. We demand that they give us their oil for much less than the European market.
No, it wasn't our freedoms. It was our abuse of these freedoms. We are a target of terrorist attacks not because they are Muslim, not because we are Christians, Americans or relatively free.
We are a terrorist target because we use our military might to back the exploitation of foreign lands and lifestyle purely for our own luxury purposes. We have robbed nations of their sovereign right to establish and maintain their own socio-economic cultures. They now eat our burgers, drink our cola, dress in our gangsta clothing and rap-out songs of street violence.
If this were happening to you, maybe you wouldn't attack...but you'd certainly know someone who would--who'd trained for it--and who's just now waiting for their chance. See Less
1. Osama was created by Pakistani and Saudi secret services, which were in cahoots with the USA.
2. The idea that the CIA was directly involved is not so important as the reality that the CIA was instigating, advising, and sometimes directing the Anti-Soviet effort, and so indirectly Osama Bin Laden was working for the CIA.
3. Directly he was and is, in bed with Pakistani and Saudi Agents.
Maybe sometimes with official government and other-times with rogue elements of the government but it is misdirection to say that Pakistan had no knowledge of his presence there, because their secret service keeps tabs on everything and did so even more so 5 years ago when he first moved to where he was found.
The honest thing to say is that perhaps the current government has no clue, but this government was put in place when the military stood down from direct dictatorship a few years ago. That senior officials know nothing of this should only be embarrassing to the Pakistani people, because that is an indication of who really is still in control.
But of course we can expect neither honesty, nor journalistic integrity right now, because our governments have set things up so we only hear what the governments are willing to tell us as filtered through a press that is increasingly credulous when it counts while continuing to be sensationalist where it is total distraction. The reality remains that Bin Laden was preaching from a Wahabi/Moslem Brotherhood tradition not far from Saudi Orthodoxy, and that Al Qaeda was and is funded by Rogue elements of the Saudi rulers as well as from other quarters. The reality also remains that, nevertheless, this intervention shows that these guys aren't far from being rolled up. See Less
2. The idea that the CIA was directly involved is not so important as the reality that the CIA was instigating, advising, and sometimes directing the Anti-Soviet effort, and so indirectly Osama Bin Laden was working for the CIA.
3. Directly he was and is, in bed with Pakistani and Saudi Agents.
Maybe sometimes with official government and other-times with rogue elements of the government but it is misdirection to say that Pakistan had no knowledge of his presence there, because their secret service keeps tabs on everything and did so even more so 5 years ago when he first moved to where he was found.
The honest thing to say is that perhaps the current government has no clue, but this government was put in place when the military stood down from direct dictatorship a few years ago. That senior officials know nothing of this should only be embarrassing to the Pakistani people, because that is an indication of who really is still in control.
But of course we can expect neither honesty, nor journalistic integrity right now, because our governments have set things up so we only hear what the governments are willing to tell us as filtered through a press that is increasingly credulous when it counts while continuing to be sensationalist where it is total distraction. The reality remains that Bin Laden was preaching from a Wahabi/Moslem Brotherhood tradition not far from Saudi Orthodoxy, and that Al Qaeda was and is funded by Rogue elements of the Saudi rulers as well as from other quarters. The reality also remains that, nevertheless, this intervention shows that these guys aren't far from being rolled up. See Less
Jesus of Nazareth
The Coptic Church is one of the oldest Christian denominations, still using Aramaic, the language of Jesus of Nazareth, in its ceremonies. Most probably other aspects of the Church would be more authentic than modern adaptations. The picture of Jesus shown in the article depicts a more Arabic/Jewish man than the Anglicized version worshiped by most Americans. His hair and beard are darker and his face is fatter. Forensic studies of bones found in Nazareth from the time of Jesus indicate that males of that period were short and stocky, with very bad teeth. It can be assumed that their clothes would not be radiantly white and lack of bathing and sanitary facilities would most likely cause body odor. The conventional depiction of the tall, thin, light-haired man in immaculately white robes would not be harmful if “Christians” would not view it as a God-given revelation. The world and Christianity, itself, would be better served if people viewed Jesus and his precepts as they actual were and as they were meant to be viewed. During the last several weeks, I have received many Christmas Cards depicting Angels with blond hair and blue eyes and other Anglicized characterizations of Bible figures. Even Heaven has become an Anglo/Saxon haven. Modern “Christianity' deals in trivia; ignoring the essentials. Jesus of Nazareth was a poor man who taught empowerment of the weak and poor. He would open the beautiful halls of our churches to the poor and homeless for shelter and distribute their riches to feed and clothe them. That, of course, would be unthinkable to most of today's “Christians.” If we despise our own white brothers and sisters, how can we be expected to love all of the rest of the non-white, Non-Christian world. Religion today is a political phenomena not a spiritual one.
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Or a CIA-like organization created and supported him. His profile is as a recruit, not a leader with an agenda. Rather than a concerted plan, each act of violence sent a message and the messages are probably related in that they were in response to some other ongoing event.
2. Bin Laden attacked us because of our freedoms.
This never made any sense. How do you win? Why would a recruit blow themselves up? We now know he was an avid consumer of Pepsi and Coke, junk food. Soda, sugar water, is one of our most useless exports, yet many of the attacks worldwide were of a commercial nature. He was no idealist setting examples.
3. Al-Qaeda’s ideology has nothing to do with Islam.
We know from the Civil War, there are Causes and there are reasons and they may not be closely related. The Cause of the terrorists quickly became a defense of Islam. Most Americans (99%) knew nothing about Islam, let alone want to attack it. The Cause was a good recruiting tool to find zealots that would blow themselves up, much like the Civil War had men charging into withering rifle fire with grape and canister raking the open field. We overlooked the fact that many in the Middle East send their kids to school in America or Britain. Lately we have seen Middle East uprisings for the same types of freedoms. By whom were his children educated?
4. Ayman al-Zawahiri, not bin Laden, is the real brains of al-Qaeda.
A doctor? It is more likely the head is a military person that uses body counts as a tactic. Why did Bush lose interest in OBL as a target?
5. Bin Laden’s death is symbolically important but irrelevant to the war on terror.
Hopefully the intelligence community will take a deep breath and review all that has happened, in light of OBL's location and accessibility to the military in Pakistan. Obama made an important intelligence decision when he decided on a precision raid to establish identity and information collection over wholesale bombing. See Less