The King of Pop and The Supreme Leader

The last week has seen its share of death and drama. Way too many people have died in Iran and here in the states (including local and international celebraties and others in my circle of "family.").

But it's curious how the media can brush aside what they have been covering in depth - the election in Iran and its aftermath and go into hours upon hours on the subject of Michael Jackson's passing.

I was and continue to be a fan of the "gloved one" and yet am quite aware, as my friend Alan posted on my facebook page a few days ago, "Michael Jackson's grotesque weirdnesses far overshadow his talent." Perhaps a bit harsh (as another post noted), but not far off. Jackson was immensely talented...probably one of the best at his craft. However, somewhere deep inside of him was an abounding insecurity that lead him to do some strange things.

Which enables me to move into the subject of the strangeness of our media. Last evening I channel surfed for quite some time to find out the latest news on Iran. From BBC America to CNN to MSNBC to (yes even) FOX and none of them even mentioned the story that they had been covering so intensely for the past week or so. None could tell me what's happening to the Persian people...none.

We are fixated on celebrity in this country to the point where it seems to overshadow things that can and do really affect our lives. I know that Micheal Jackson was an enormous figure in the world of music and that Farah Fawcett had a large and admiring fan base.

But, to not be able to hear what is happening in an area that can impact the world at large, because the television news media keeps repeating the same things over and over and over again about "The King of Pop" while "The Supreme Leader of Iran" talks execution of the protest leaders (read that on the internet) is indicative of how our society has evolved.

Celebrity over substance tends to numb the mind and retard substantive knowledge.

May their souls rest in peace while we try to create it here on earth.

My solution for the Phillies

Here's how I see the Phillies home woes turning around.

From now on, they should where their away uniforms and bat first at every Citizens Bank Park game. All those in attendance should show up for the games in the opposing teams colors, or without any Phillies garb. If we pretend that it's an away game then...voila - the chances of a victory should be WAY better!!

Facebooking and tweeting Iran

It's amazing how social networking sites have impacted the situation in Iran. People "broadcast" pictures, videos, and meeting sites to their fellow citizens and the world. Who would have thought the a tweet here, a "what are you doing now" there, and a post everywhere, could change the face of the way a country and the world view an election.

CNN uses iReposters, and youtube gets videos from inside Iran. Does this mean we, as a political and social world, are changed forever? How could these things have affected the 2000 U.S. elections. Could it be possible that exit polls can now be twittered (or tweeted) so that we can actually have voters telling the networks (both in the media and socially) how they've voted; enabling us to get more accurate results?

How the political and social stage is changed from here on out will be incredible to watch. Post me, tweet me, blog me, facebook me, text me...geez, things sure have changed since the days of "gimme a call!"

More Hate

I don't get it. Maybe it's this pea brain of mine but...why would someone walk into the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington and open fire?

From all reports James W. von Brunn, a white supremacist, is an anti-Semitic who believes that the Holocaust is/was a hoax.

Hmm...let's see here. There are a little over 13 million Jews (that's 5 million people FEWER than the population of greater metropolitan New York City) in the world (in a population of over 6.7 BILLION). Which means the Holocaust translates into the deaths of what now would be almost 1/2 the entire Jewish population of the world and this guy thinks somebody made it up!! You gotta be kiddin' me! And, he wants to kill even more!!

Go tell the people who lost their families. In fact...that doesn't take into consideration the Pogroms in Russia (where more Jews were murdered - just for being Jewish...including my great aunt), or the Inquisition (another period, among many, when being a Jew was not a good thing) when so many were forced to convert that if they all went back to being Jewish there'd be A LOT more Jews in this world.

But, back to James W. von Brunn. What makes someone hate that much? Where does that mental state come from? What kind of propaganda can create a mind that believes that Jews, or for that matter any other group, whether religious, ethnic, or "racial" is not as qualified to live on this planet in peace and prosperity as another?

Remember, religion is a belief system, not a "race" or ethic group. And...that "race" and ethnicity are social concepts. So, I guess that means - if you feed people enough distorted stuff about a socially conceptually devised group you can create your own little socially warped concept about them and then figure you're better than they are AND therefore you might as well de-humanize them and spread hate.

Geez, sounds like what all wars play into. Hmm...this hate thing just keeps goin' round and round.

13 million compared to 6.7 billion...doesn't sound like a threat to me. But then again, I've spent my life disavowing the concept of hate.

Oh, and props to President Obama and the Council on American-Islamic Relations (an American Muslim organization) for condemning the attacks.

And, every once in a while listen to John Lennon's "Imagine" for a reality check. Just remember what the Beatles said, "All you need is love." Well, I can hope...can't I?!

Some thoughts about our world since my last post

Well friends...I'm back. It's been a while since my last post. Classes ended and a new Summer Session began. So, I figured I'd take some time off. Now it's time to vent a bit.

It's ironic that a killer would abort someone's life in the name of stopping abortions. What the heck is that about?! When Scott Roeder assassinated Dr. George Tiller it just proves how absurd and twisted our society has become. Kinda like eating all the cows on earth to help spread vegetarianism. I guess the reasoning would be that the fewer animals the better chance of not eating them. So...keep eating 'em 'til there's none left! Then, of course, we'd all be forced to be a vegetarian.

Ok, so maybe the entire ecosystem would get totally screwed up, but we'd have no choice but to munch on plants. I figure if we use Scott's rationale then we better start wiping out anyone who has anything to do with abortions. Doctors, nurses, women (we can't forget women), men and their genitals (yep...get rid of those things, that way the chances of needing abortions will really be lowered - no pun intended), any form of transportation that can transport a female to an doctor's office, and why not just do away with the entire species of homo sapiens. That should really take care of things!

Ah...my oil buddies are at it again. $70.00 a barrel! Help!! Next you'll hear the cry to start drillin' in every imaginable spot in the U.S. so we can foil those dastardly foreign oil mongers (just don't mention that it was Western Companies like Standard Oil, Shell, Amoco, etc. - some under different names - that started drilling in the Middle East in the first place). Noooo...why don't we show 'em the door by developing alternative forms of energy and transportation? Think rationally about it and get movin' immediately! We shouldn't wait another day. How great would it be if we didn't use another drop of oil? Ahh...

Lastly, I saw that Jon Voight was giving a speech in which he put down Barack Obama saying that everything Obama's done has been a disaster. First...let's not forget that the President has been in office for less than 5 months and is trying to clean up a mess that took 8 years to create. Now here's Voight, who's own daughter has a hard time communicating with, telling the world that Obama's a false prophet. Huh? That's like me standing in front of a microphone telling Chas Utley how to hit. Please...Mr. Voight.

I don't think there's anyone out there who believes that Israel needs to be secure and the Jewish People (who have been the most oppressed group in history) need to be safe more than I do. But, we certaily need dialogue and discourse and that's what the President is doing. Nothing would give me greater pleasure than to see Israel at peace with its neighbors.

So, there's a few things to chew on. I welcome your comments.