In an unmissable TED talk lasting just 4 minutes, Alisa Miller, head of Public Radio International, tells us how the US media tells the news. Her message - no matter how amusingly delivered - is disturbing, especially considering how journalism is one of THE most influential and important ways in which world-views are shaped. Yet another question that springs to mind: is it time the world reevaluated its misguided enchantment with American capitalism or not?
“What good fortune for those in power that people do not think.”
Interesting thought, especially when you consider the role of the music or movie industries or even advertising in popular culture. I often find people in the biz that consider others - especially consumers - as fools. Then they deliver mediocrity of a kind that is really unacceptable, but it is often lapped up!
Unfortunate that those words are Hitler’s and we still see his vision play out day after day around us. Isn’t it time that people became less naive to the phenomenon? It might be wise to heighten awareness and learn how to see through sugar-coated manipulations. But more than anything else, I wish we would all pay just a little heed to to our intuition.
Hillary Clinton said a couple of days ago: I want the Iranians to know that if I’m the president, we will attack Iran. In the next 10 years, during which they might foolishly consider launching an attack on Israel, we would be able to totally OBLITERATE them. This DEMOCRATIC candidate’s willingness to be perceived as the next war-president of the US is both sickening and scary. What exactly is going on?!?!
As part of a recent poll, Relevant magazine - which caters to young evangelicals in America - asked the following.
Barack Obama 18.4%
Dennis Kucinich 2.1%
Mike Gravel 0.5%
John Edwards 24.9%
Joe Biden 0.9%
Hillary Clinton 2.6%
Mike Huckabee 16.6%
Rudy Giuliani 4.1%
Fred Thompson 4.8%
Ron Paul 5.4%
Mitt Romney 13.2%
John McCain 6.6%
Who would be voted Most Likely to Be a Preacher?
Barack Obama 19.8%
Dennis Kucinich 0.8%
Mike Gravel 1.3%
John Edwards 7.5%
Joe Biden 1.0%
Hillary Clinton 0.9%
Mike Huckabee 37.3%
Rudy Giuliani 1.2%
Fred Thompson 6.5%
Ron Paul 4.8%
Mitt Romney 12.9%
John McCain 5.8%
Who would Jesus vote for?
Sunday’s cartoon responds to the generally respectful tone accorded Mike Huckabee, who does not believe in evolution and is therefore, by definition, a lunatic.
- Ted Rall
Condoleeza Rice at a press conference on Friday: “The United States doesn’t have permanent enemies; we’re too great a country for that.”
No-permanent-enemies is obviously semantic strategy to clarify that North Korea and Iran are indeed enemies until they comply with nuclear demands. It makes little diplomatic sense to refer to enemies - however temporary - as enemies out loud. Okay, so it’s a clumsily put statement, but at least it is honest.
Now the too-great-a-country bit. It brings to mind instantaneously the fact that truly great countries - if there are indeed such things - should have no enemies! Particularly in the unctuous way the US currently does. What were her speechwriters thinking when they churned that out?
I am excited about this book. I read excerpts from it at a bookstore today and did something I don’t usually - bought it without reading any reviews. The title brought to mind two classic books: The Origin of Species (Charles Darwin) and The Wealth of Nations (Adam Smith). Intuition served me well; the book by Eric Beinhocker (2006) combines evolution with economics. I’m not sure if it will hold up to expectations (reviews are mixed - I have since looked!) but here are some of the reasons I picked it up.
So I’ll be off now and will try and update this after I finish reading (or give up on) the book. Good night! In a jetlagged kinda way.
Help!
I am addicted to (gulp) TBN.
Today, I watched Bill O’Reilly in earnest conversation with James Robison. The latter is a regular on the evangelical channel I have become so intrigued by. They were discussing O’Reilly’s latest book called ‘Culture Warrior’ where he talks about some stark divide between America’s “Traditionalists” (Ts) and its “Secular-Progressives” (SPs).
I have watched him on ‘The O’Reilly Factor’, and often been impressed by his ability to think rationally and articulate quickly and succinctly his point of view. What he sorely lacks however is the ability to discern the shades of grey of any issue and therein lies his (fortunate) unpopularity with more than just the “SPs”. I saw the same trend play out in this interview, where Robison asked him to tell “people of faith” in the TBN audience about his book.
O’Reilly spoke of how, in polls, 65% of America was found to be of the “T “variety and how, unfortunately, a liberal media represents the 35% “SP” minority. He went on to beckon viewers of TBN to be a “T warrior” and help to preserve the Judeo-Christian foundation on which the nation has prospered so far. He pointed out how there exists a clear distinction between right and wrong, good and evil, and how this line is sadly made blurry by people who think secularly and progressively.
He claimed to be against the removal of Christian prayers from public school, espoused his clearly anti-gay-marriage view, and spoke passionately about how Ts need to fight SPs from causing furthur deterioration of this nation’s values. “Too many Americans,” he told Robison, “are sitting this one out, when in fact, we need them to go out there and be warriors!” What he means by that is “boycott liberal media” and other things in that vein, but the language is incendiary, to say the least.
Needless to say, Robison was lapping all this up. It seems to me that this “T” state of mind is the internal war - which in turn fuels the external wars - that America is embroiled in. And the same issue seems to exist worldwide. That Shilpa Shetty would be given such a tough time in India (wasn’t the Shiv Sena involved?), for a little kiss in public from Richard Gere, reeks of the same misguided and arrogant sort of “traditionalism”.
Well, I’m going to have to avoid getting my daily fix of TBN drivel tomorrow. But I’m afraid that The Bold and The Beautiful will toss me in to the throes of withdrawal.
While switching channels on TV yesterday, I came across a show with two women in deep discussion about the competition that women feel with other women. It sounded like a rather secular discussion of the nature of human beings until one of them exclaimed, “It is the attack of Satan, that’s what it is.” The other one somberly agreed. Hilarious!
That’s when I realized that I was watching the Trinity Broadcasting Network , a fervently Christian endeavour. TBN is available in every major continent via 47 satellites and more than 12,000 cable affiliates worldwide. It broadcasts in to 92 percent of the American homes and its website receives more than 25 million visitors monthly.
The two women went on to converse about how competition between women is “natural”. And by that very definition, they postulated, it is “off the flesh” and hence “opposed to God”. Who would have ever have thought that Nature is antithetical to God? Goodness, I was honestly rivetted and stayed on the network for hours. I saw a newscast where evangelicals were shown trying to spread the word of Jesus at a congregation of Muslims clearly there to celebrate Allah. How very audacious!
(See how I might have gotten hooked on to this incredible programming?)
Finally, they talked about Kathy Griffin’s “blasphemy” while receiving her Emmy. Here’s Bill Donohue, president of the Catholic League, expressing his sentiments about Kathy in greater detail. Anyway, to bring this full circle, the anti-defamation Catholic League apparently decided to issue a reprimand (in the form of a full page ad in USA Today) to Kathy with a headline that read ”Enough is enough”.
I’m not applauding Kathy saying, “Suck it, Jesus!” (Even though I think she is generally very funny.) But what about the freedom of speech? And letting people find funny what they will? How about honestly dwelling on why people might have found the comment humorous, rather than the knee-jerk censoring of it out of the Emmys?
O M G.
A group of people protest the war at the corner of Fair Oaks and Mission in South Pasadena every weekend. They jump around waving signs asking that you honk for peace. It’s fun and makes you feel better for a bit somehow - the simple fact of having ‘raised a voice’ perhaps. Who would have thought there could be any trouble with it?
