I love reading the comments section of online news stories, particularly from local news sources. Granted I feel slightly dumber after reading them than I did before, but they are entertaining nonetheless. Part of me is proud to see so many individuals taking the time to practice literacy and debate, two cornerstones of a thriving democracy with free press, but there are times when I seriously doubt the level of literacy ability and whether debate is merely a means of soapboxing.
I have come to the conclusion that the "participants" of my state are a mostly embarassing self-selected group. I am still amazed that Indiana swung to the blue side almost a year ago, not that you could ever tell by the comments posted on any given news story. It seems quite often that the comments are spewed hatred of President Obama, illegal immigrants, welfare recipients, Congress, China/India/Iraq/North Korea/Mexico/etc, any multi-million/billion dollar business and other such "destroyers of the American way". Now mind you these topics often have very little to do with the actual story but commentors connect them regardless, usually in some argument contrived on a conspiracy theory to stick it to the little guy. Needless to say, sarcasm abounds....as well as blatant disregard for proper English language usage.
Occasionally I contribute my two cents (but only if I can do so anonymously - I have no patience to be setting up user accounts willy-nilly) in some thoughtful fashion to stir debate but I do realize in the end nothing is throughtfully debated.
But I feel better afterwards, soapbox or not, and perhaps that is the ultimate purpose of such a "section".
Saturday, October 3, 2009
Online Comments
Saturday, August 15, 2009
"Network Deprivation"
This article by the NY Times really hit something on the head and I found myself amused and cringing.
The bottom line is most Americans jump online the second they wake up and spend a better part of the remaining day doing so until they crawl back into bed - accurately termed "network deprivation" - and even ordinary "chores" such as eating breakfast, walking the dog, and family time are now dismissed or severely limited in lieu of texting, Facebooking, and blogging ;)
I have to admit I am quilty, quilty, quilty.
I wake up, take care of necessary functions, pop some bread in the toaster and settle down with my laptop. Unless I have to go to work, I come up for air around lunchtime, settle back down and finally break myself by midafternoon. By then I am competing with someone else for computer time and I do realize there's more to life than whatever is online (even though that may be everything now!). Intermittent doses contine until my "network deprivation".
On the occasionally rare days where my "network deprivation" spans an entire day (wha, wha, what?!) I will usually squeeze in a 5 minute check up on email and Facebook. I know that's really disgusting; I could at least check the weather forecast or jobs ads.
Come to think of it, why are you even reading this right now? Go take a good ol' walk with your dog instead; you might even find a few seconds to verbally talk!
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Is fashion a new Presidential requirement?
Perhaps I missed the presidential oath that swears to uphold the latest fashion standards on that cold January afternoon six months ago. Perhaps I wrongly assumed "mom jeans" were for...moms. And perhaps I missed the band wagon for the skinny jean rage (for the record I adamantly oppose such fabric!).
Seriously, give the man a break.
He inherited the world's richest country (only it's not so rich anymore), right-wing conspiracy theorists are out to get him, and he's only worked at his job for six months. Why shouldn't his jeans be a little loose?
But let's not go crazy and call them "mom jeans" - those are reserved for a very unspecial design of stretchy spandex demin fabric with a waistline sitting 4 inches above the navel and tapered leg that ungratuitously hugs every crevice within the vicinity.
Obama's jeans are loose fit, straight leg denim, albeit slightly grey. Their only disappointment is they are grey and every fashionista knows dismal denim colors are skanky; but Obama isn't a fashionista, he's the president - and male at that. Of course men don't like to shop and we should all be thankful that given our nation's plunging circumstances, the President has not found time to shop.
Though Presidential shopping could be the next economic policy. Take notes, Bernake.
http://buzz.yahoo.com/buzzlog/92832
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Night Lights
This image is from NASA's Earth lights satellite composites. It's amazing that electricity was invented over 100 years ago (a blink in the span of time) and we've lit nearly every corner of the Earth (despite it being a sphere ;).
I wonder how big of a light it takes to show up on a satellite image? For instance, what is in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, just east of the US? Other things to notice: Russia has built an extensive network to Siberia; the Nile is a solid bright line; Australia - not as bright as one would expect; and Canadians apparently live mostly on the US border, but who can blame them, right?
The question is: is this a positive achievement or some disasterous consequence of urbanization?
Saturday, July 4, 2009
Just Pick a Date
As we celebrate the historical proclamation of being independent with all of the fireworks and hot dogs one can imagine, we are doing so on a seemingly random day chosen from the summer of 1776.
As tensions brewed during the hot summer days when the 2nd Continental Congress convened to write out a list of grievances the crown had imposed on the colonists, the foundations of our American government...well, began to work like our current American government - slow.
On June 7, Richard Henry Lee moved for independence with John Adams seconding the notion formally, although support had been growing for some time by then. But the issue was "deferred" until July 1 while Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, Roger Sherman and Robert Livingston drafted a declaration. Although Jefferson claimed that he did not refer to other historical literature, many of the ideas and phrases he chose did make it into the document.
After the declaration was editted, a semi-unanimous vote was taken on July 2 (because New York delegates hadn't been given "official" voting power - though they did finally cast a vote July 9). Later in the month, July 19, the declaration was officially copied to parchment, which is the preserved copy now residing in a temperature-controlled case under guard) but it wasn't until August 2 that the delegate members actually signed that parchment with 3 absent members signing it later.
So the notion of celebrating the essential act of giving Britain the middle finger on the fourth day of July is arbitrary at most; really we should celebrate the entire summer and for most intents and purposes, we do. But everytime you pay taxes, participate in a trial and vote for elected officials, you are celebrating the real intent of the Declaration.
And that, my fellow citizens, should be celebrated all year.
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Video Resumes
I recently made the analogy that trying to find a teaching job, or any job for that matter these days, is rife with rejection and if I was going to face so much rejection, I rather be an actress because the payoff is much more substantial. I know there are billions of paper resumes out there that have never seen the light of day.
And why should they? No one is reading them.
But like all dying practices, survival is dependent on adaptiveness. That phenomenon has reached the unemployed. CBS aired a segment over TWO YEARS ago about video resumes. If you search "resume" on You Tube, you received about 37,000 results; on Yahoo, 379,000,000. And there are STILL some businesses that require a 1-2 page printed application with resume attachment optional.
So here's the issue: are employers going to see this as a faster, more authentic way to screen potential workers and thus embrace it, or are employees, given the economic plumment, force this method on employers to break out of the paper-pack?
I smell a new type of worker revolution brewing....and it smells like Flash!
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
A Humorous Take on Biased Media
There's much debate about whether a clear bias exists in the American media, particularly those of major news corporations. Upon an equally contingent debate over President Obama's first 100 days in the White House, "The Daily Show" presents what it does best: poking fun at the uber-seriousness of explicit bias in the media.
| The Daily Show With Jon Stewart | Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c | |||
| Obama 101 | ||||
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