Displaying 0 To 0 Of 0 Comments Casey Anthony: Guilty or Not Guilty? You and fifty million South Koreans, c-lady. It shocked the country to its core, and led to some much needed soul searching. South Korea is the most “wired” country in the world, and that incident gave them a funhouse mirror glimpse of what that can mean. » Posted By whatsthatsound On July 4, 2011 @ 1:28 am Definitely too rational, and what is clear from stories like this is that many human beings are growing up all over the world without a basic capacity for managing life, let alone being responsible for the life of another. I think we need a new basic curriculum for schools. Survival skills, so we can tell the difference between edible and poisonous plants in the forest. Seriously, I think this would be a better world if we just dropped all the goobley gobbledy stuff that kids have forgotten within the first two weeks of summer vacation, and teach the above. » Posted By whatsthatsound On July 3, 2011 @ 6:01 pm Those stories, and c-lady’s, are just profoundly depressing. In Korea, the whole nation was shocked a few months ago by the news that a couple, who were addicted to online gaming, so totally neglected their baby that at three months old, she died of malnutrition. They didn’t work, and spent nearly every waking hour playing these stupid role playing games. They were even raising a “virtual” child, that obviously meant more to them than their own very real, very vulnerable, baby. » Posted By whatsthatsound On July 3, 2011 @ 5:42 pm Weekend Music Thread – American Independence jeez, jkk! This has to be one of the worst songs I’ve ever heard in my life! As revenge, I’m gonna try to get you to listen to this:
» Posted By whatsthatsound On July 2, 2011 @ 11:06 pm One Nation Under a Groove » Posted By whatsthatsound On July 2, 2011 @ 10:58 pm The first time I heard this song, when it first came out, I was blown away. And deeply saddened, as I suspect many others were. Unfortunately, The Eagles are particularly parsimonious about what they allow to appear on Youtube, so no video, just the lyrics, to “The Last Resort”: Down in the crowded bars, Then the chilly winds blew down Some rich men came and raped the land, You can leave it all behind Who will provide the grand design? We satisfy our endless needs and And you can see them there, » Posted By whatsthatsound On July 2, 2011 @ 8:10 pm Superb, Sue! » Posted By whatsthatsound On July 2, 2011 @ 7:19 pm Every day’s the 4th of July! » Posted By whatsthatsound On July 2, 2011 @ 6:56 am I’m Free! » Posted By whatsthatsound On July 2, 2011 @ 6:36 am The Age Of Reason As An Argument To The Age Of Fear Hey KT, I just saw this! Sorry for the delay in responding. Let’s do it! And, like you said, flexibility on the “deadline” since we all have other fish frying, I’m sure. Khirad, what say? » Posted By whatsthatsound On July 9, 2011 @ 6:20 am Khirad, maybe you, KT and me should each do an article on one of the three books. You take F451, I take BNW, and KT takes 1984. We comment on what parts of each one are most connected to today’s world. » Posted By whatsthatsound On July 6, 2011 @ 2:48 pm jkk, I mentioned Ipods in order to update the John Lennon lyrics, but I don’t feel that young people are any more “blinded” by media than those who are older than them. Although I DO find it annoying that young people cut their videos before I have a chance to ogle female derrieres, beyond that I don’t feel that their addiction to mass entertainment is any different than anyone else’s. My main point is that Distraction is an insidious form of controlling populations, and that the current glut of content may make it harder, rather than easier, for a new age of enlightenment to occur. As the Zen Buddhists say, you have to “empty the cup” in order for enlightenment to take place, but these days peoples’ cups are continually being poured to overflowing by the ubiquitousness of media. » Posted By whatsthatsound On July 6, 2011 @ 2:43 pm yeah, KT. And although the media has the potential to be a very efficient conduit for a New Enlightenment, that just doesn’t seem to be happening. Even the internet. People are watching Youtube videos (heck, WE are!) and gossiping on Facebook more than watching TED talks about how to improve life on earth. Those who produce the shows are well aware that it is easier and more convenient to distract masses rather than educate them. Aldous Huxley and George Orwell had a friendly disagreement over which of their dystopias would actually play out in the future. Orwell’s “boot on the face” version or Huxley’s “happy mutants” one. Dispassionately, I would have to say that Huxley has been more right. Many former dictatorships have lightened up. Heck, even China! But we just keep on soaking up our distractions, the “feelies” and “soma” of Huxley’s BNW. » Posted By whatsthatsound On July 5, 2011 @ 9:44 pm “born on third base thinking we hit a triple” – that is so accurate, AD. That’s the attitude of the Limbaughs, Coulters, Palins and Bachmanns of this world. » Posted By whatsthatsound On July 5, 2011 @ 2:40 pm I’m not sure there can be an enlightenment while there is such “enBLINDenment” going on. Keep you doped with your Ipods, and sports and TV » Posted By whatsthatsound On July 5, 2011 @ 2:39 pm TAKE ACTION: Support MN Gov. Dayton in Gov’t Shutdown Over Taxing the Rich 🙂 » Posted By whatsthatsound On July 2, 2011 @ 2:25 am I think something can be arranged. » Posted By whatsthatsound On July 1, 2011 @ 7:10 pm I have a tax plan that I think really makes a lot of sense. Everybody who makes more than me should be taxed more. Everybody who makes as much as me or less should be taxed less. This rate would fluctuate, meaning it would change from year to year. » Posted By whatsthatsound On July 1, 2011 @ 6:28 pm Is All That Anger Out There Making You Mad? no worries, foodchain; figured as much. Hmmmm…maybe I should draw Peggy Lee. I need a theme though…… » Posted By whatsthatsound On July 1, 2011 @ 9:05 pm I agree, foodchain. I think this video just flat out smoulders! » Posted By whatsthatsound On July 1, 2011 @ 8:28 pm Peggy Lee is beautiful when she’s angry
» Posted By whatsthatsound On July 1, 2011 @ 6:58 pm I don’t agree that “good” anger is easy to spot. Certainly the anger of the Germans came from injustice. The unjust war reparations imposed by the British and French after WWI DID call for a certain amount of anger. MOST anger that unites an entire people comes as a result of actual injustice. The Serbs have been both victim and abuser. Let’s not forget that Native Americans committed atrocities too, not just white settlers. » Posted By whatsthatsound On July 1, 2011 @ 1:50 am Elvis Costello is not angry. » Posted By whatsthatsound On July 1, 2011 @ 1:37 am Terrific article, cap’n! Anger has both healthy and unhealthy dimensions. Ones that can move us forward, others that keep us stuck where we are, and still others that take us further and further back. Hitler took the anger of the German people and turned it into the most horrific regime in human history. How could that anger have been channeled differently? Certainly not by Hitler, as he was bloodthirsty and saw himself as the embodiment of that rage and hatred. But even a more benevolent person would have had a very hard job in front of him, trying to make things better in those circumstances. For me, personally, no form of malignant anger is ever good. Smears, lies, attacks, incitements toward hatred and demonization of those not like us – the results of this kind of anger couldn’t be more predictable. » Posted By whatsthatsound On June 30, 2011 @ 11:25 pm
» Posted By whatsthatsound On June 30, 2011 @ 7:04 am Watch that, jkk! Some things I just don’t forgive! » Posted By whatsthatsound On June 30, 2011 @ 5:46 am Same thing. It was really embarrassing for me to finally confess to my mom how scared I was. I still remember how calmly she took the whole thing. “Well, if they scare you just put ’em in the basement!” I think I grew up a bit that day, realizing how different a child’s view of the world is from an adult’s. » Posted By whatsthatsound On June 30, 2011 @ 5:45 am Here are some other things that nine year old John Quincy Adams did to ensure our country would be great decades later: He built a hangar in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, so the Wright Brothers would have a place to store the plane he correctly predicted they would invent. He placed the ‘H’, ‘O’, and ‘L’ signs up on the hill above Los Angeles. Long before the area was even given the name “Hollywood”, those three letters served as a beacon for budding entertainers and would-be directors. A precocious musician, he created the world’s first jazz composition, for clavichord, entitled “Rhapsody in Red, White and Blue”. This was said to have inspired his instructor, Betsy Ross, to use those colors in her flag design for the new nation. He coined the phrase, “fast food” to describe the quickly gobbled and digested ham sandwiches he developed as rations for the Minute Men. Founding Father, Boy Wonder, and all around Gump-ian wunderkind! » Posted By whatsthatsound On June 29, 2011 @ 6:43 am Those are some VERY scary ventriloquist’s dummies, Cher! But let’s face it, they seem to go out of their way to make even the regular ones scary looking. I had a couple when I was a kid that I finally had to put in the basement because I dreaded the thought of passing them on my way to the bathroom in the middle of the night. I was just about sure one of them would start talking on its own at some point. » Posted By whatsthatsound On June 29, 2011 @ 6:31 am The Personal Journal of Osama Bin Laden, Vol. 2 Sorry, thumbed you down by mistake. But just curious, what’s the age demographic for “natch” use? I thought it was free to anybody, no matter how geezerly. » Posted By whatsthatsound On July 11, 2011 @ 4:09 pmComments Posted By whatsthatsound
We teach math, history, chemistry, etc., and, okay, those are important. But really, are they more important than the things the people we are discussing WEREN’T taught?
Conflict dispute.
Being able to think things through to their logical conclusions (for the cases above)
Empathy; basically the Golden Rule, taught to children as “How would YOU feel if that was happening to YOU?”
How did these two ever manage to make a real baby, I wonder? Maybe during a power outage?
There are some really screwed up people in this world.
She came from Providence,
the one in Rhode Island
Where the old world shadows hang
heavy in the air
She packed her hopes and dreams
like a refugee
Just as her father came across the sea
She heard about a place people were smilin’
They spoke about the red man’s way,
and how they loved the land
And they came from everywhere
to the Great Divide
Seeking a place to stand
or a place to hide
out for a good time,
Can’t wait to tell you all,
what it’s like up there
And they called it paradise
I don’t know why
Somebody laid the mountains low
while the town got high
Across the desert
through the canyons of the coast, to
the Malibu
Where the pretty people play,
hungry for power
to light their neon way
and give them things to do
Nobody caught ’em
Put up a bunch of ugly boxes, and Jesus,
people bought ’em
And they called it paradise
The place to be
They watched the hazy sun, sinking in the sea
and sail to Lahaina
just like the missionaries did, so many years ago
They even brought a neon sign: “Jesus is coming”
Brought the white man’s burden down
Brought the white man’s reign
What is yours and what is mine?
‘Cause there is no more new frontier
We have got to make it here
justify our bloody deeds,
in the name of destiny and the name of God
On Sunday morning
They stand up and sing about
what it’s like up there
They call it paradise
I don’t know why
You call someplace paradise,
kiss it goodbye
This is my body, by the way; I’m just letting Roger Daltrey borrow it for this video.
To paraphrase JL,
and you think you’re so sexy and classy and free
but you’re still fucking peasants as far as I can see
btw, I’ve enlisted the support of Senators Leonard Howe (RI) and Sandra Much (HI), so it’s being called the Howe Much Act.
Depending on how much I make.
The anger that many Chinese, Koreans, etc. feel toward Japan is plainly a result of the wrongs Japan committed against them in the 20th century, but it serves no real productive purpose at this point, when these three countries should be natural economic/ cultural partners leading the world right now.
Many people who join militias, the Tea Party, etc., or who lovingly lap up Glenn Beck’s hate speeches sense that our society is deeply unjust, but don’t need to know who to turn to or what to do about it. In fact, to his fans, Glenn Beck’s anger IS good anger, although none of us here would agree. That is what I mean by discernment. Who is pointing the way toward positive change, and who is leading us to the abyss? It is not always easy to discern.
Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela, etc.; these are leaders who turned the expression of anger into positive gains, not just for the people they represented, but for our entire race. Were they less angry than Hitler? Perhaps not; but their anger had a less malignant quality to it.
The GOOD kind of anger is more refined; those who have mastered it and can work with it are the ideal leaders, I feel. We have to listen with a great deal of discernment to hear the voices of such men and women.
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