Hello? Is there anybody out there?

 

Last night, on the news, I saw a story that discussed an increase in local (NC) water prices (for those who have town water) because now that people aren’t using as much water (that would actually be called CONSERVING, last I checked), the water treatment plants aren’t making enough money.

 

All I can say to that is, ARE YOU KIDDING ME?

 

I am continuously amazed and appalled at the whining of big industry that has an effect on or causes us to have an effect on our environment, such as water companies, oil companies, and everything related. I also continue to be amazed at the politics that are overall against us preserving our environment – our world – so we can continue in existence. Electric cars and or hydrogen cells? Been around for longer than most people think. However, the oil industry has its hands in so many political pockets that they’ve successfully kept it under wraps for decades. That’s right: DECADES.

 

More than a decade ago, when I lived in New York, we would gather our recyclables, take them up to the recycling center, and actually get paid for recycling. Isn’t that fascinating? Because when we moved down to North Carolina almost 12 years ago, we discovered rather shockingly that we have to pay to recycle here.

 

OK, so let’s get this straight:

• We pay more for water because people are conserving;
• We pay to recycle;
• We pay more for recycled paper and other recycled items than for items that take down our forests and other natural resources;
• We pay more for non-GMO (that would be non-genetically modified) produce because the pharmaceutical indutry has so flooded our commodity markets with GMO items (which we’re discovering have long-range negative effects on our environment and on us) that buying food grown from NON-genetically modified — and much safer and healthier — seed is today actually a NICHE market;
• We pay an extraordinary amount of money for petroleum products so… well, hmm…. so the oil companies can make more than any other company/industry in the world next quarter, yet again? When we’ve actually had the resources to use alternative fuels for decades?

So, what is wrong with this picture?

 

There’s a movie that a friend of mine recommended awhile back that was a sleepy Indy movie — and it initially seemed pretty dumb, yet if you paid attention to it, it was exactly where we’re going, and it was actually a brilliant movie with a brilliant statement — it’s called Idiocracy. Rent it, and then, please, THINK! About what we can do to fix this. Because if we actually start to think instead of just follow, we might wake up and fight to fix what’s so terribly, terribly wrong.

 

 

 

 

Enough of this silent discrimination, already!

 

I’m sooooo tired of this, and I’m wondering if everyone else is actually agreeing with — or actually just going along with, like sheep — the silent yet persistent and unwielding cold shoulder the media insists on giving Hillary Clinton, despite her popularity and potential.

 I’m rather disgusted and sick about it. It was clear early on — even when Hillary was the clear favorite for the Democratic candidate — that the media would do ALL it could do to silently push her out of the public’s eye, minimize and taint any coverage about her during these campaigns and primaries, and try to persuade the public silently in this act of intentional omission to NOT CONSIDER HILLARY.  I feel like running to the mountaintop and yelling, “Hello? Does anyone think for themselves anymore, or does the information the media chooses to provide to you become your truth, accepted as is, and forget about any personal analysis by finding out ALL the information, not just one side?”

Idiocy.

Yet she’s still rather holding her own, regardless of the apparent joy the general media seems to be getting by sensationalizing Obama and every single little baby step he makes. Obama this, Obama that… if I were an alien, I would think that this Obama person was a clear front runner, because it isn’t as if they give Hillary equal share of coverage — especially positive coverage.

Sexist pigs.

You know what? I don’t care about Hillary being a woman, and I don’t care about Obama being a black man. What I do care about is that Hillary was the first first lady that made people uncomfortable because she actually had politics of her own, instead of quietly “standing by her man” and doing as a good little lady should do and just follow in his shadow. And constantly, the media drags up BILL’S politics and throws them in her face. With some things she agrees, with some things she has a very staunch opposition to. Last I checked, Bill wasn’t running for president again… GW had some different politics than his pop, yet he wasn’t constantly barraged with accusations about that! Yet, again, because she’s the “little lady,” she’s not allowed to have her own beliefs?

She’s got the experience, the intelligence, and the chutzpah, not to just be the “first woman president,” but to be the president that has to clean up the mess our current president has made of this country. And maybe to add something different to the plate.

I’m a registered independent; I don’t claim allegiance to either major political party. And I’ll have to admit, I didn’t vote for Bill Clinton either time he was in office. However, I DO say that regardless of the fooling around issue (funny, it seems there were plenty of other presidents in history who did the same and everyone just looked the other way — including Kennedy – but that’s a whole different blog!), he did a LOT for this country. Hello?? Does anyone remember that it was the first time this country balanced its books and being in the black since…. a very, very long time before? Yes, there were things with which I disagreed, as there are a few items on Hillary’s agenda that I disagree, but when they did a national poll about 5 years ago, Bill Clinton actually ranked as the #2 favorite president of Americans. #2, folks.

Anyway, back to Hillary. Because as I said before, this is HER campaign, not Bill’s. I know there’s a solid, intelligent consistuency out there who still really, really wants her to win this nomination, and the presidency. Because she can make a difference, and she can break some huge barriers that haven’t been broken before in the process.  In my opinion, the more Obama becomes the media’s love child, the more I get disgusted. When did it change, and the media stopped reporting the news without bias or favoritism? Because today, all I see is brainwashing. Because if you strip down the sensationalism and all the mud slinging, Obama really doesn’t have all that much to say that he’s not told to say. And who really wants that for a president who leads a world power that’s in dire need of a breath of fresh air and some “thinking outside of the box” to rebuild what we used to have?

Think for yourselves, everyone. Please. Don’t be brainwashed; and if you like Hillary, WRITE about her. TALK about her. LEARN about her. EDUCATE OTHERS about her, in contrast to Obama, so more and more people REALLY know what’s going on, before it’s too late.

And vote for her.

Why Those Folks Who Try Out for American Idol Don’t Get It

Tonight, I came the closest I’ve ever come to killing myself. Unfortunately, at the moment of deepest disdain, I couldn’t get my hands on any ice picks that I could shove into my eye and then further into my brain.

What would cause such angst, you ask? Sometimes, the simplest thing can set the most optimistic person over the edge. It’s just like for those of you who may have read the classic (one of my favorite books), Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (by Doug Adams) — I never could imagine what Adams meant or at what he was driving in his book via the description of the alien race, the Vogons, who could put someone through the most unimaginable torture and drive them to suicide by merely reciting poetry.

Tonight, I understand the metaphor. It was when my husband and I were FORCED to sit through the entire 2.5 hours of my younger daughter’s elementary school “talent” show. I use quotes there, because I definitely question the English definition of the word after tonight.

It wouldn’t have been so bad if 21 out of the 35 “acts” weren’t vocals — if you want to call them that. Bad karaoke is what I would call them. One time — and only one time — when my husband and I were first dating, my husband, in a drunken state, got up on that bar stage and sang “The Immigrant Song” (yes, by Led Zeppelin) with a bunch of his Navy buddies, thinking I would a) be impressed by his courage/idiocy, or b) take such pity on him and think he was so terrible, that I’d think he was cute. I went with a little bit of both. But see, here’s the point — getting up on that stage, my one-day-to-be-husband KNEW he couldn’t sing. He didn’t even try to hide it. But it was all in good fun, and he didn’t even pretend he thought he could sing. And that drunken night, years ago, he was about par with 95% of those 21 acts that got up there and really thought they were good tonight.

I recall my daughter (the one in the show, and one of the few acts that were NOT singing) telling us about tryouts. Tryouts? Really? You mean, there were some who DIDN’T make it into the show? Afterwards, upon prodding my daughter about that, she told me that the “tryouts” were just to make sure there was a legitimate “act.” I guess I question what the music teacher (the one who put this abomination on) thought was legitimate.

So, in struggling to keep myself from running out of that auditorium (well, actually, it’s what they call the “all-purpose room” these days — forget about a separate auditorium, gymasium, and lunchroom!) screaming and pulling my hair out, I pondered why, oh why, these kids would think they were THAT good. I’m serious; you had some kids in 2 or even 3 acts mixed up with a combination of 1 or 2 other kids, “singing” song after song.

 And then it hit me, like a light bulb.

Part of why I disagree wholeheartedly with our socialistic “no child left behind” thing today in the U.S. is that I think in a big part it causes our children to lack the drive to get ahead in the world. Remember the idea of capitalism? That the idea that the person who works the hardest and has the best outcome deserves to have the most and get the most recognition for it? In case you’ve forgotten, it was one of the ideas on which this country was founded. And it’s one of the reasons that the U.S. became a world leader. And now, we’re faltering on a global scale… isn’t it a bit too coincidental that it’s when we now have a generation of kids who aren’t allowed to show any differentiated points of view, in case of offending SOMEONE? Or, when they play T-Ball, baseball, softball, or whatever, ”no one loses, everyone’s a winner”? Or, better yet, growing up with an elementary school grading system that is structured (at least in our state) to just show a child is “at grade level” (with 85% or more of the rest of the children), instead of how well they actually stack up to other kids? Then, they wonder why the children get so stressed about the “End of Grade Exams” — when they actually have to be GRADED on their work.

I remember in middle school, when we had a talent show, that we DID have to try out, and we DID have to have some iota of talent to be in it. And then, someone actually WON. Which means…. gasp…. that someone LOST. And then, during the rest of my performing arts years — dancing, acting, cheerleading, and the like — trying out for something actually meant you competed to win, which meant that some people DIDN’T MAKE IT. I didn’t even make it sometimes, and I had quite a bit of training. And you know what? If I really wanted to do it, that made me try again. And try harder. Usually, it would make me dig in my heels and cause me to become better at whatever “it” was. Or, I would move on to something else, knowing I tried my best and it wasn’t good enough to compete.

That’s reality. That’s life.

Today, everyone’s afraid of telling someone they’re not good enough, or that they’re just not good at something. There are all of these school-aged sports where “nobody loses.” And there are talent shows where nobody wins, with music teachers telling children whose singing should be limited to the ears of the immediate family — or even just the bathroom walls — that they’re worthy of standing up on stage in front of the whole school and parents and singing into a microphone, with the illusion that they are worthy of doing so.

When I was growing up, we took lessons. Music lessons, dance lessons, and yes, voice lessons, if you wanted to get onto stage. Yes, there was a lot of natural talent in the mix, but raw talent almost never made it without SOME training. Would I have ever tried to break a cinderblock with my bare hands if I’d never taken extensive martial arts training? I think not. Would someone who’s never trained in diving try a triple flip, jackknife, or anything of the sort? Probably not. And my parents would never have let me just join a diving competition without it. And when I tried that jackknife and floundered badly, my parents would at least say something like, “… but you swim really well!”

Today, things are different. All this lack of competition, lack of training, lack of honesty, and lack of WINNING and LOSING is what feeds into the mediocrity we see more and more. And we marvel at the poor souls who, never having LOST at little, local talent competitions (though never having won, either), take a huge jump from their protected, everyone-is-the-same hometown disillusionment to the REAL WORLD and try out for American Idol, only to be crushed and confused when the judges give them the boot.

When watching those painful shows of personal disillusionment, I never understand if and how those people actually think that they’re even close to worthy of trying out for a national TV show like American Idol. It had to all be an act — no one could actually be THAT clueless about themselves, right? And so many.

But now, I understand.

And since I couldn’t find any sharp objects with which I could end my misery while enduring this masquerade of a “talent” show tonight, my wandering mind finally put together that long-pondered mystery of those terrible American Idol tryouts with these evil, group-think practices that promote mediocrity and sameness.

I get it. Simon Cowell, where are you when we need you???

Keeping up with the Nielsens?

So, we must all sit and have a moment in silence for deference to… the TV writers?

Seriously?

First of all, let me just say it right now — TV is generally junk. And most of the shows out there today are pretty much junk, written to lull us into a state of stupidity and superficiality. How much time have you taken out of your life to talk about Gabrielle and Carlos, and how they really belong together, even with all of the (ex-) marriage’s misgivings? Or how mad you are at Shonda Rimes and crew, because they started such a wonderful relationship in Meredith and Derek, got us hooked on Patrick Dempsey and Ellen Pompeo, and she/they have just torn it down to a wasteland of playing with viewers’ minds, giving everyone a glimmer of hope, and then just pulling it away? Yes, I admit it — I’m there, too, to some degree! But the saddest part is, our household is an oddity of today — we don’t ever have the TV on during the day/evening before the kids go to bed (which usually gives us about an hour a night), and only for a few hours every Saturday/Sunday morning, so they can watch the re-re-reruns of their favorite Nickelodeon shows (“Who lives in a pineapple under the sea?…”). And occasionally, a (previewed and preapproved) movie.

So, terrible enough — we won’t have any new shows to watch for awhile (maybe a LONG while). And the terrible part of that is… that we (as a society) might actually talk to each other? Get to spend time together as a family? Read the newspaper, read a book, play a game, maybe (:::gasp:::) go outside or go out and be a part of our communities? I sure as heck know what we WON’T be doing — tuning into the useless, lame, ridiculous reality shows that will continue to plague the airwaves — because THEY won’t be bothered by this strike. Yippee. That means more people will watch the junk that’s there, and then they’ll renew the junk, which turns into the continuing downward spiral.

And I’m sorry, network writers. That I don’t have more sympathy for you. In fact, I find it rather hysterical that some celebrities are out there with the strikers, giving them “support” (these are the people making thousands and thousands of dollars — some hundreds of thousands of dollars and more, even — for every episode they shoot in a series, so what kind of hardship will they “endure” by not shooting a few epis?). So, this is greed vs. greedier? Yes, I agree that the networks have gotten pretty big for their britches, but I’m sorry — the actors, writers, and executives live in La-La-Land:  “I want $2 million dollars for this, instead a measly $1 million, waaah, waaah, waaah…”

Don’t get me wrong. I understand the value of entertainment. But excuse me… can all of that money that’s not being paid to the writers and actors during this time of frivolous disagreements go to the homeless? To rebuild a community? the help aid the disadvantaged? I doubt it!

So, writers, go at it. Bring the greedier network execs to their knees. It might actually allow everyone to become de-mesmerized by the “Idiot Box” (as my father always called it) long enough for us to start paying attention to things (really) more important than if Meredith and Derek will ever get together… such as world events, the war, the upcoming presidential elections… and our kids/each other. Hey, if you must watch TV, anyway, rent “An Inconvenient Truth”!

OK, so stay with me here… What I ALSO find interesting is that this Hollywood writers strike is very coincidental to another looming eventuality in U.S. TV — the changeover to all digital, I think due to be put into effect by the end of 2008.

I know, I know — that’s a whole year away! But the last time the writers went on strike, in 1988, it lasted for more than 5 months, which takes us more than halfway to that digital eventuality. And preliminary projections say that this strike may last… well, awhile, anyway.

So… conspiracy theory???

Nah, I really don’t think so. But that’s something else we should all wake up and look at. Do you realize that after such a date, the industry is going to FORCE us to change over to digital, or — even worse — PAY to keep analog TV? Yep, you heard it, boys and girls — you will have to PAY to be able to use your existing non-digital TV sets. The question I have is, will they also continue to make you pay for digital TV, too? The way they make you pay to have BASIC stations, because there’s really no such thing as using bunny ears anymore?What a racket! They just love to hypnotize us, and slip this stuff in!

And for everyone who doesn’t think this “hypnotizing” is actually happening, there are many, many studies that have shown that the soporific effects of TV actually temporarily lower viewers’ IQs.

Hey, if you really want some irritating giggles that make you think, watch the movie “Idiocracy.” On the surface, it seems dumb, dumb, dumb, but it really says SO much, and the more I thought about it, the more I thought, you know, it could happen…

Seriously. Watch it for yourself! Hey, after the holidays, there won’t be any new shows on for awhile… and this will make you think…. about the fact that maybe TV shouldn’t be so central in everyone’s lives.

Prejudice or Reverse Discrimination?

I hate reading and watching the news. In the words of my kids’ pediatrician (an awesome doctor we all adore), according to the media, ugliness is interesting… happiness, in general, is not. And, in my words, it’s getting old that media tries to brainwash us to believe what they want us to believe.

Frankly, I look very warily at the “Jena 6″ saga in Louisiana. It’s one of a thousand things wrong in our little world in the U.S. today. Yes, those kids were wrong to put nooses on the tree. Yes, there was some wrongness in the convenience store incident the week before, when black kids took a gun away from a white kid threatening them with it (and then the black kids got charged with theft). BUT, here’s what’s wrong with the picture:

Let’s take color out of it. Say this was a group of kids, say a bunch of teenage girls. And, say one of the girls was different because she wore a purple hat every day, rain or shine. And the other girls, being bored in a smallish town, for some reason didn’t like the girl with the purple hat. In fact, most people liked her regardless of the purple hat or not. But these girls just got competely incensed by it. So they dug up something about her family’s past… like, say, one or her mother’s ancestors was burned at the stake as a witch in the Salem Witch Trials…. and they make a likeness of her in a scarecrow, then set up a stake and burn it in a very public place. And the girls do subtle things to her, like leave voodoo dolls in her locker, make sounds, talk about her and tell others that they saw her killing Farmer So-and-so’s chicken so she could use its blood for a sacrifice. The purple-hatted girl tells the school officials about all of this, and do they arrest them? No, as is often the case, they give the girls in-school suspension. The purple-hatted girl is really mad, so she gets 6 of her friends, finds of the group of these girls, and beats her up bloody. Here’s my question for you: What would you say should happen to the purple-hatted girl and her friends that were part of the beating? Yes, the purple-hatted girl was harassed, her life was made miserable by the group of girls. But did that make it OK for her to plan on beating up the girls, in essence become a vigilante? No, absolutely not. The law is the law. The original group played head games; the second one committed a premeditated act of violence. I would say the first group deserves school and parental intervention; the second deserves law intervention. Was either group right? Absolutely not, though yes, I’d feel badly for the purple-hatted girl. She likes purple hats…. so what? And so what, that an ancestor was (probably unrightfully) burned at the stake as a witch? It’s just a reason for someone to hate her; it gave the other girls something from which to work, without having to look at their own insecurities. HOWEVER, I would say that it DID NOT justify physical violence in retribution.  The law is the law.

This is a huge problem we have. I am caucasian. I grew up on Long Island in NY, which is a melting pot of nationalities, races, and religions. I celebrate and enjoy our diversity — that’s what makes life interesting and colorful! And I hate bigotry. However, I’m tired of people USING their ethnicity, skin color, and/or religion as a shield against the law, or to get political, financial, and societal favors simply BECAUSE of it. It happens more and more these days.

What happened to us being the big melting pot? It seems we’ve been divided; with all the injustice in the world, we need stop acting like oil and water. And don’t fail to notice: I’ve met (yes, even here in the big, bad, nasty South) plenty of black people who are just as or even more prejudiced than any caucasian I’ve known.  But their close-minded deeds aren’t pointed at; they’re applauded. Even when those close-minded deeds are just as bad (if not worse) than any caucasian bigot I’ve met. Pride, and slavery, you know. 

Oh, please.

My husband and I have been so, so purposeful in bringing up our kids without prejudice, with open minds, and open hearts. We’ve not taught them that they can only like a certain type of person, due to genetic difference than ours. I was unduly proud when I found out (from my daughter’s Kindergarten teacher, mind you, not even from her) that her best friend at the time, a boy in her class, had cerebral palsy, and was a bit slower than everyone else, both physically and learning-wise (incidentally, he was black). One day, she refused to play with the rest of her friends because they were making fun of this boy. She took his hand, said, “____, don’t listen to them. Let’s go play somewhere else, without them.”

I was SSSSOOOOO proud when I heard about this incident from her teacher, and even prouder when I prodded my daughter, who just shrugged her shoulders and said, “Well, they were making fun of him. They’re just not friends, then. It’s not like he can help it.”

Did she get a handful of her most vicious and violence-loving Kindergarten friends to go and beat up those original “friends”? No. In fact, she instead spent productive time trying to integrate him in with them. She talked to the others, told him to give him a chance. And at the end of the year, I wouldn’t say he was the best of friends with the others, but they had hit a neutral ground.

So, we despeartely need to stop acting like sheep, and before we jump up to shout “WRONG!” about the inequities by some of people in the spotlight who play off of things like this, who are trying to further expand the chasm between people who are different in looks from each other, let’s look at where the inequities REALLY are. We were given a brain; let’s use it, instead of being told what to think! Look at the facts — NOT EMOTION — and THEN decide what you really think.

 More on this to come; I’m just tired and need to go to sleep!