Virgina Tech Society and blame

In light of recent events this blog will be a bit more sensitive. Already both sides of the political spectrum have thrown in their two cents over gun control and psych profiling students. Where and more importantly who went wrong? Who do we blame? Well for starters let’s blame the gun lobby for beating into our heads that gun ownership is a right. No it’s a privilege, and not everyone should have one. Here’s an idea, strict gun control laws overseas, lower murder rates, a coincidence? Or are the Europeans less barbaric than us Americans? Lets blame the media, who wrap themselves in the first amendment and show whatever they want claiming freedom of speech. It’s called responsibility. Seriously how many more shoot’em up movies that glorify death and sex do we need? Lets blame politicians who would rather make a sound bite on CNN rather than doing something like I don’t know, governing? Where were they when gun control bills came rolling through Congress? Who else can we blame? The school, for not seeing they have a dangerous and disturbed student in their mist, then again had they done something the ACLU would have had a field day, so let’s blame them too. I want to personally blame MTV simply because I like to blame MTV for everything. I want to blame the kid’s parents who for all intents and purposes are typically Asian (I’m Thai so I’m not a racist). Yes your kid has issues and rather dealing with them you’d rather forget it and move on quietly. Let’s blame the kid too for being psychotic. Is that all?

Seriously though, violence isn’t an epidemic, it isn’t even random. It’s a part of everyday life, what makes this story so different is that one: it happened on a college campus, two: the body count was high, too high and finally it was an Asian kid. Who would have thought? Not I says the Thai kid with glasses, that would be me. We have always touted ourselves, as a nation and as its citizens as being civilized, righteous, and gosh darn great. The reality is that we’re not so smart. If we were not anyone can walk into a store and buy a gun. If we were normal we wouldn’t be glorifying violence in the media, but rather something noble like say, being smart…? Just a thought here and I know its crazy but shouldn’t the real blame be on us, each of us?

I know what you are thinking, me? I live in Iowa, I have nothing to do with this, I do my thing, keep my head down and live my life. Congrats, you are just like 99.9 percent of people. And that’s the problem, we’ve become so apathetic, so downright cynical about social issues that we gave up. Instead we’ve given rein of the government to the far right and the far left. Both sides have seriously screwed us so bad its hard to tell who’s worse. The right would have you believe boys kissing boys is bad, the left would rather we all be politically correct for fear of upsetting someone. So not only are we homophobic but we can’t call them homophobic. The real issues aren’t being discussed. And what’s worse is that the 18-27 year old demographic would rather watch The Real World or Flavor of Love rather than say…VOTE! Yes its that hard to believe but you college student can go see Dave freakin Matthews but not vote. But you who really one? The same far right and the same far left, see they want you to not care its easier to brainwash the sheeople er…. People. Yeah much easier to blame everyone but themselves and that’s a damn shame.

32 students killed, 1 kid with problems who’s gonna get demonized. What worries me is that rather than reporting real news CNN ran a story about Korean Americans fear backlash. That’s a story? The question is why? Why did this happen? Why this campus? Why this kid? Forget the why, let’s focus on the who. Let’s focus on how we can avoid another Va. Tech, another Columbine. We’re so focused on terrorist we forget that we haven’t solved our problems here yet. So come on America, come on internet people, bomb your congressman’s message board. Let’s vote, for the right person not the person we’d rather hang out with. The first step is to admit we have a problem. AMERICA WE HAVE A PROBLEM. Second thing, look in the mirror and ask your self what have I done lately….
(This blog in no way shape or form is endorsed by or approved by the AP, its just my bloody opinion)

Red States Blue States

Red states, blue states, battleground states. The geography of America isn't defined on a compass anymore. It's not the North versus South nor is it East Coast versus West Coast. America's geography has been carved up by politics: Blue of Democrats, red for Republicans. It was not so long ago that elections were fought on the campaign trail. Rather than media buys in battleground states like Ohio and Pennsylvania. As the mid-terms approaches and past, this year's elections maybe the most significant since 1194 when Republicans first gained both house of Congress.

This year's election is crucial to what will happen in the next two years leading up a presidential election where there is no incumbent and there's an open field of candidates. If the Democrats regained Congress, Pres. Bush will become a lame duck president by default. Any thing that would need Congressional approval would most likely not be decided since the Democrats believe they can win the next presidential election and would block any further actions of the President.

The last few weeks the GOP have been under fire with scandals. Aside from the Abramoff influence scandal, scandals' involving Republican congressmen and inappropriate behavior with under aged pages undermines the value argument the GOP have long had. As well as the outing of other Republican congressmen have the GOP nervous heading into Tuesday.

According to several polls, most Americans are fed up with the quagmire that is Iraq as well as a struggling economy where most manufacturing jobs have been outsourced overseas as well as white collar, service oriented jobs as well. The culmination of all these issues as well as a growing discontent for the current administration shows most voters will seek new leadership in the Congress.

It was only a few months ago where the likelihood of the Democrats winning back control seemed remote. At the time the Democrats would have needed to sweep all the elections now it seems they do not need too anymore.

This election also has seen more attack ads than prior mid-terms, which help illustrate just how wide open and vulnerable incumbents are and how important gaining or regaining control of Congress is. Recent gaffs by both Democrats and Republicans have made pariahs out of Sen. John Kerry after an inadvertent comments in a speech last week as well has the President's low approval rating has him sitting on the sidelines while other more notable Republicans stump for candidates.

Another major concern is the growing deficit and debt due to the war in Iraq. The lack of true economic growth has most people worried as well as rapid outsourcing of jobs have more Americans looking for other means to provide. In the end these elections may prove to be a turning point for the US. With issues such as the war on terror, border patrols and other immigration issues, Medicare and civil rights violations, the time for a change seems nigh.

Already on both sides of the aisle everyone is arming themselves for the next two years as prominent politicians on both sides prepare for the 2008 campaign trail. Polls show Sen. Hillary Clinton D-NY and Sen. John McCain R-AZ. as the frontrunners for their respective parties.

There are growing concerns over voter turn out, many polls indicate that African American voters have become so disillusioned by the political process that some will not vote which may spell disaster to Democrats especially in the South. In order to win the Democrats need all hands on deck while the Republicans are hoping several issues that will be decided in some key races, such as gay marriage bans help bring out their voter base. But once again a sex scandal involving an influential Evangelical minister who engaged in a homosexual relationship involving a male prostitute and drugs have called into question the same moral values touted by Republicans.

In the end, the main issue is that most Americans hope that these elections can yield some solutions.

Get Out And Vote...Get off myspace and vote damn it!

Today is Election Day, go out and vote. Take your right abd vote. take the ten minutes and vote on your future. Does it matter? Yes it does. Cause you can't bitch if you don't take part in the democratic process. You can't complain if you can't take time the time to vote. Enough with the apathy and the complaining go out and do something about it. The bad guys are counting on you not caring, they are counting on your apathy and not vote. At stake is the future of the war, the national debt, stem cell research, your jobs, your money you homes and your family. Do what people all over the world wish they had, control over your destiny. I don't care if you're a Reupblican and Democrat, Liberterian I can care less, but for the love God do something besides shrug your shoulders and say" Who cares..."
I often have a picture of Kennedy on my profile its because I believe in what he said a lobg time ago," Some men see things and ask why I dream things that never and ask why not...." Its not cool to not care, its not cool to be clueless, its not ok to believe the hype on MTV, in the end all we are really doing is dumbing ourselves down and then they win, they being people who count on our stupidity and our apathy. Stop wearing a political tee shirt cause its cool, start believing what it says. Screw rock the vote. just vote, why? Cause if you don't they win and when they win and screw us we have no one to blame but ourselves. So get off myspace and vote.

Montreal Shootings, Bullying and Society

It wasn't that long ago that in the US we came to grips with school shootings and the polarization it created. Everyone blamed each other, we blamed Marilyn Manson, we blamed schools, we blamed parents, it became a flashpoint for many social and political critics, it demonized people and rather than finding solutions or trying to understand the why we focused on the who. In the docu-mockumentary of "Bowling For Columbine" by Michael Moore (and I'm not a Moore fan) the most poignat moment for me is what Marilyn Manson said if he had a chance to speak with the boys who killed their classmates and teachers what would he say, he replied "I wouldn't I'd listen to them." There in a nutshell a man demonized for his music and his appearence gave the simplist and real answer listen. It is unknown or clear if the Montreal gunman was troubled or just disillusioned and deluded in his mind with blood and glory he does make reference in his online profile that he "hated jocks for bullying".
Bullying happens everyday, you would think that over time it would stop but it doesn't. As children we knew there was a kid that was larger than the others and exhibited aggresive behaviour towards smaller than themselves. Early on we were seperated into groups, or cliques. The cool and the not, the jocks and the geeks, as we get older the seperation remains the same but unlike getting beat up in the playground adult bullying comes in forms of the workplace a boss, a co-worker who jokes or sabotages your work. We should ask ourselves with all honesty if we really take the time to listen and see and react. Somewhere along the way these kids decided that the only course of action was taking agun to school. Somewhere along the way we failed them by saying "its just kids being kids, they'll outgrow it" or "it builds character" or my personal favorite "it happens its not a big deal." It is a big deal its a big deal because we alienated a segment of the population by minimizing their emotions.
When I was in high school and alternative music exploded, Kurt Cobain gave voice to a generation of disenfranshised youths. Yet there were no school shootings then, what played on the fears of parents were their kids running away, commiting suicde or developing a drug problem. We fast forward to today and now we wonder if our kids will go postal on their classmates, thus not only ending their lives but the lives of the people they felt hurt them most. The easiest targets in high school were the quiet kids, the ones who were a little different maybe they prefered metal and not crunk, maybe they liked wearing black and not Abercrombie, maybe the liked Role PLaying Games and not football. Yet in the hierarchy in high schools its the "jocks" who get the atttention and praise, they get the homecoming queen and in result have the "alpha dog" mentality. Its only natural to pick on the secondary males namely said rpg kid. Over time the abuse the ridicule or worse the invisibility of themselves leaves them marginalized and isolated, they seek their coounterparts in school or in today's world the online community. They are inadated with games and movies and even music with violent themes, now its not Marilyn Manson's fault and anyone who believes that also believes that the death penalty will lower crime rates or that tougher drug laws will stop the drug problem in America which is just wrong. Marilyn Manson and artists like him do nothing but make music and entertain, if society actually listend to what they are saying and not what they want to hear perhaps it can shed light to kids who are left margiunalized and identify themselves with this kind of music. We dwell on Manson's look and what he portrays but noone pays attention to what he's saying or what he is trying to convey. We did what everyone did and demonized the two Columbine shooters and the those who came before and after them. We demonized the media and in the end it solved nothing. Kids are still being bullied and kids are still feeling marginalized.
There is no one simple answer and sadly it is the question of what if that will haunt us long after the memory of Montreal Columbine becomoes a footnote in history. The past tells us that there will be another school shooting there will be more heartaches to parents who outlived their children there will be more fingerpointing and demonizing and still no answer at the end of the day. The best place to start is to stop blaming and start listening to our kids, to others kids to what they are trying to say and can't say.
I pray for the familes in Montreal, I pray for the families in Columbine and all over, but more importantly I pray we learn from these tragedies.

Internet Stalkers, And Freaks from San Jose, Finally I Get Stalked!!!! Sam I Am!!!

Finally I am being stalked!!! Yeah for me, after all these years, finally, someone...someone has the time, the sad little life to stalk me. Sadly it isn't a blonde with a nice body, nor is it a cute redhead no, no its a guy named Sam Pincus of San Jose.....A big round of applause to Sam! Yeah Sam!!!! See Sam is upset because a girl doesn't like him...awwwwww. But Sam being the fertile, virile man that he is starts calling her, and professes his undying love to her..awwwww. But no avail, our hero Sam, is left in the cold. Does he drink? No. Does he write crappy love poems? No. Does he threaten to call her husband? Does start calling at weird hours of the day? Does he become hostile online, starts calling her names? Yes, yes and yes. So I your lowly and humble hero, decides enough is enough, my friend is in pain, she's about to cry, so I tell her to call Sam on three way (gotta love technology) and I begin to tell said Sam to back the f' off. A few more things said, I must admit at 2am last night I was buzzed been out with the guys. His best come back? Making fun fun of my NY accent? Ummm wow. He says I sound like a girl? Ladies and Gentleman, Sam Pincus of San jose, here all week, no cover charge. You would think this would be over....not for our friend Sam, no no, Sam proceeds to get this, get a myspace account and then finds me here!!! I know what you're thinking, but I won't give it up on the first email treat. Yes, our man Sam of San Jose, tracks me down and sends a message, here, on myspace.....Apparently he has nothing better to do in life.....So what is the end result? What will our hero Sam and his nemisis, moi do? Well from this point every message, email he sends me I will put it up on my blog here and on blogspot and msnspaces. As to show the world that Sam Pincus is a manly man, a man who knows how to stalk, a man who with 5 minutes and a fast modem, he too can stalk you. Ladies beware he's a charmer. By the way Sam I am, I wonder if Cathy, asuming Cathy is a real person and not the name of your blowup doll, knows what kind of person you are...hmmmm....... oh and here is what Sam I am wrote to me Tom if you catch this I'm doing a public service announcement:
From: SamDate: Apr 12, 2006 2:22 AM
Silly boy...come on little man...I can see why you write as opposed to speak. You sound like a little girl. Anyhow, should you ever feel passionate enough to share some words with me face to face, we can arrange that. Otherwise, don't waste my time being brave over the phone.
His profile is at http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=58040619 but don't expect alot he just opened his account today...give him sometime before to long he'll have the number stalking song of all time as his music video, "Every breath you take" and yes its about stalking and not about love....jeeze...
So there has to a moral right? I mean I just wouldn't write all that without having a point? A witty, sarcastic yet in depth comment about how this little situation is a microcosm of a bigger larger issue....ok you got me...there is.
With the world getting smaller through technological advances, one of the things to go out the window is privacy. While real life stalkers that follow you and track you down at home are more dangerous than online stalkers, the added spped and vastness of cyberspace has made you easily available for stalking. The internet is freedom, freedom for you, me and the pedophiles and Sam Pincus' of the world. It starts out innocently enough, you're in chatroom, a blog space something. You exchange emails, you im each other you may even take the next step call...but when things go wrong, your life becomes an episode of 90210. The hate mail starts coming, then comes photos and nastiness. Next thing you know you dread opening the email. Luckily you can block said psycho, but if its that easy to track someone down on myspace, or a quick google, then isn't it possible no matter how remote for this person to track you down at home? Answer yes.
Recently there have been reports about online predators and pedophiles that are online. They appear in chatrooms, mesage boards, your kid's friend list on myspace. They seem and even look like your neighbor, your kid's teacher nd sadly...they are. The are parasites and feed off the vulnerablity of kids, like online stalkers the avaialbility of their target is as vast as cyberspace itself. The rest of society is trying to keep up with the pace of technology, new laws have been signed to punish online stalkers, sting operations have netted hundreds of online pedophiles, but it barely makes a dent in the armor. There is no real way to protect yourself from predators and freaks like the guy from San Jose, all you can do is try and stay safer, or you can take the high road and try to ignore them...as for myself, Sam Pincus of San Jose....you started something with me that you shouldn't have.....before long you're gonna be as famous as Brian Peppers, go google that......

Girl Groups,Models Sex and Political Warfare The Art of the Lapdance

So I'm watching MTV, it happens every once in a while they still play videos, I kinda wanna know what kids are listening to these days, maybe learn a new slang word, cause I'm still using fresh and funky, usually in that comination as in I'm in a funky fresh mood today, which sounds weird in 2006 but in 1990 I was coolness. So while watching said channel, I saw a girl group, not just any girl group, but the Pussycat Dolls. All I can say is meow. So my whole thing is this, wow, man are they hot. OK now newsflash there, and I haven't been under a rock, I know what the Pussycat Dolls are burlesque at its best, talk about retro. Anyways.....I started thinking about other girl groups and aside from the Motown days of the Supremes and such, we need to fast forward to the Spice Girls. Remember them? They all had personalities, we all knew their names, kinda. Destiny's Child, the ever revolving door of members, I was taking bets for how long it would be before Beyonce jumped ship. But the Pussycat Dolls are a great insight into the evolving societal attitudes into female empowerment. Don't cha think? OK bad pun. Moving on....
The Dolls are beautiful, sexy, talented....not Sarah McLachlan, singer songwriter talent, but for pop music, pretty damn good, better than the pop produced by The Simpson Clan. But the ever changing world of feminism, has turned on its dime. Somewhere between Jewel and The Dolls, sexuality equals feminism. OK, I can see the arguement here, a woman taking control of her sexuality is being independent, bucking society's prudish views of chastity. But isn't playing up the sexuality just another form of putting the woman down? I mean, as long as men or society still view as sexual objects and still objectify the sexuality of a woman as something as we can take advantage of, then isn't the end result of all this just influencing young girls who will also see this as empowerment and then you know, start bar dancing and such? I don't know maybe this whole situationis more complex and involves more than just girl groups and MTV, but isn't it safe to assume that young impressionable minds are influnced by the media just as much as their enivronment at home and school. I can understand if this were the 50's and tv was a new medium, but in this day and age of technological wonder, the tv, internet and everything else plays a bigger role than 50 years ago, shouldn't we at least not discount the fact that this happens? In any case, this isn't about how bad the Pussycat Dolls are to society which they aren't and personally I think we need more Dolls, but the the bigger issue is responsibility on all levels, from the media, to parents to schools. We live in a world now where we avoid debate, wanna teach evolution ok, teach intelligent design at least get the kids minds working. Are we developing a culture of conformity where we avoid debate and promote political correctness at any cost? While political correctness was a good thing in the 90's it took a decade for me to realize that political correctness is condesending. At least when we were openly hostile to one another we debated issues, today we hide behind smiles and hypocrisy, for fear of being labeled racist, agist, anti-semite, zenophobe and et al. In the end we are judged based on not what we say but what we think and feel. HIstory will not remember the immigration bills or the abortion bans, history will remember the arguements, they will quote nameless faceless people but the sentiment is there. Not for many people remember what Nathan Hale looked like or even who he is, but everyone remembers, "I regret that I have but one life to give to my country." Nice sentiment no?
This arguement will be waged, I hope for years to come, but sadly we live in a model-esque world. And by that I mean superficial, artificial and unremakrable world. We are we actually celebrating models? Caus ethey have a talent? Did they cure a disease? Are they creating music? books? poetry? Or are we celebrating them for looking nice, looking nice in lingerie, next to a car? I mean really what are we saying? Here's a sadder note, society is so dumb right now, we buy into it, yeah thats right, drink this beer, drive this car, use this body spray and chicks will dig you. Ladies you have no to blame but yourselves, explain to me why, when women have a 5 point majority in the US women still don't control the political agenda? Could it be, and I'm just throwing this out there, but could it be that women care more about landing Mr. Right or the right fall makeup for you than say abortion rights, healthcare? Just me but if women have a 5 percent majority over men and can swing elections, shouldn't we have had a female president? So with this "model" mentality of superficality, we shouldn't be surprised that with each passing generation its getting shallow No longer are we producing Mozarts or Eiensteins or Shakespeares, instead we have Paris Hilton and Jessica Simpson and Aston Kucher, there is no justice in the world. Its sad when Jessica Simpson is more well known than the people who broke the human genome, its sad when we basically gave up the idea of not only setting the bar high and then setting it higher, instead we give points to those who just try and never succeed. Not everyone should play in the game coach, no what I'm saying?
So this all started with Pussycat Dolls and my continuing war with celebrities with no real talent and it ends with this....if we don't care about what entertains us, then in the end we don't care where society evolves too. Everyone sees the conservative zealots yet no one says anything about theliberal zealots who turn everything into a crime. I swear if another tree-huggin' granola eating birkenstock freak with a soul patch tell me I'm being insensitive to the plight of the indeginous people of America I'm gonna puke up my Starbucks latte. And if another flag waving Bible thumping I'm an American redneck tells me how sex on tv is bad for America I'm gonna throw the Constitution with a highlight of the First Amendment at his head. Wanna be a real American? Why not stick up for everyone's right to speak, even to people whose words make you mad and whose ideas contradict your own, stand up for their right as well. Thats what freedom is all about, you would argue for the right for everyone not just for people who agree with you. Then we start a real debate about issues. Then we can start discussing war, economics, healthcare and the Pussycat Dolls. You can't blame everyone and leave yourself out, its not their fault why Bush is in office again, its not Bush's fault for taking America to war after 9/11 its our fault for not saying.."Wait, is this even right?" Its our fault for speaking a good game but then not show up on election day. The lapdance isn't the problem, the problem is that in a country as wealthy and advanced as ours, why do people still have to do lapdances to make a good life.

Girls Gone Wild? Serial Date Rapists? The Next Sex Generation

Admit it, its 3am you can't sleep. You filp through the channels, (cause theres 300 channels and somewhere The Karate Kid is playing) and you see it, a pretty young thing, who lifts her top and bam! GIRLS GONE WILD!!!!! Ladies, you seen them at the bar or the clubs, open shirt wearing, wife beater shirt guy with a Corona in his hand. He's getting you liquored up on Cosmos or apple martinis then you wake up the next morning searching for your thong. I'm 29, and in some ways one side of me feels jipped. When I was in college, the girls were into the whole Lilith Fair, Sarah McLachaln thing and date rape was the number one issue on campuses nationwide. Guys were so neutered that wearing a goatee and stuming along to old Bob Dylan songs was cool. Hell, you wouldn't get a date unless you read Slyvia plAth poems and bared your soul in a poem, in a coffee cafe with an open mic. Taking women's issues classes was the thing to do and everyone wore birkenstocks. My how things have changed.

Maybe I'm getting old and not hip anymore or maybe, just maybe, we're on downward spiral towards a hedonistic hell. Lets be Frank for a moment or a Judy whatever the case may be, to all the liberal ideolouges out there, if you think we're being overrun by moralistic conservatives, check yourself first. Today's media is far more liberal than 15 years ago, even ten years ago. Aside for out and out fellatio, monkey sex, full frontal nudity, what more can you ask for? When Ellen came out the closet it was the biggest thing to happen and after which she was cancelled, fastforward to now she has successful daytime talk show. Will and Grace? Never could have happened in 1994. So lets not try and say we're being censored cause to be honest we're not, Howard Stern and Clear Channel? Try Stearn going for the big bucks on satellite. Janet Jackson on the Super Bowl, was it really necessary? For all the people who feel oppressed or censored, try going to China first then get back to me.

I'm not bashing liberals, considering I am one, its your turn conservative America. Its the moralizing, the better than thou finger pointing. Its the hypocrisy. You curse in life, you have sex, hell you even get naked so don't start moralizing on the virtues of chasity, please if that were the case, you'd never procreate. I digress. The conservatives have their own holier than thou philosphy which is at times confusing, I mean I understand it I just don't see the logic, which is why most of their ideas are all faith based initiatives. Yet, I wonder where are they when things like rape and genocide in Africa and the Mid-East are in the news? Perhaps in deep spiritual prayer. I can get down with some more morality, a little family values, the idea that showing your breasts for cheap 10 cent beads isn't always a good idea.

So is it liberal hedonism or conservative backlash? Do we blame the media? Do we blame parents who in their youth (ie: the 80's think Less Than Zero or Robert Downey Jr. period) went crazy on coke and heroin 8-balls while making money in the market? Do we blame MTV who seem to stop playing videos and started showing teen like reality shows which do nothing but warp a young mind, more on this on a later date. Do we perhaps blame porn? Here's a real noevl idea, we blame everyone and ourselves. Yep, everyone, me too. I always think its odd how we expect other people to do the dirty work and not ourselves. How we all think cops are corrupt and racist but always the first people we call after we get mugged. The fact that we complain about taxes yet enjoy free public eduation and road improvement. We shake our fingers at musical lyrics that degrade women, yet have no problem dancing to it or downloading it illegally, or refer to another girl as a bitch. I would like to say that all of this is ironic but its not, its hypocrisy, but not ironic, though thanks to Alanis, no one quite understand irony anmore, which in of itself is ironic? No? Ah well, you dribble and you shoot.

The moment of clarity for happened one spring day a couple years ago while I was strolling in Central Park, I saw a mother with her young daughter say 11? Maybe 12 or 13. No matter though, cause mom had no problem with what said child was wearing. No she wasn't in a skimpy see through thing, or an ultra too short skirt just jeans and a t-shirt. Doesn't sound bad? Course not well, unless of course you read what the t-shirt said. "I'm A Porn Star". In bright orange, this child was declaring that she herself was wearing a "I'm A Porn Star" t-shirt. Nice real nice. Whats next? "I Give head like a pornstar" t-shirt, sadly I have seen this t-shirt as well. Though I think she was 16, still scary. Now, I like porn as much as the next guy, but seriously 12? The real issue isn't the shirt or the fact that the mom was ok with it, nor is the real problem the infomercial itself. Its not the internet's fault and its not cable tv though I would like to blame Sex and the City for something. I can blame it on two things, one MTV thats right them and of course I blame Freud.

First lets tackle MTV. Aside from destroying the careers of the not for ready music video careers of Christopher Cross and Air Supply, but somehow made Flock of Seagulls and The Bugles really big stars proved to everyone once and for all, image really is everything. Who needs talent when looking cute and sexy can make you an insta-celeb? WHole careers were made this way....Wham! anyone? But its more than just that, its the advent of reality tv, The Real World. Aside from the first season, which if you watch today seems tame by coparison to today's hottub orgies. But once that first season cme out and turned normal everyday people into "famous" folk, the bar has been set and since then it was about mugging for more camera time. So where does this cause give us the effect of Girls Gone Wild? Wait! there's more. I can remember being a young 7th grader and watching MTV's Spring break, with Paulie Shore, sad I know but true. There they were, blonde, bikinis and beach, the Holy Trinity for a young lad. If you were say born in 1985, by the time you were in high school the year would have been, 1999. Talk about being impressionable. Britney Spears, Sex and the City MTV's Real World and my personal favorite, the Girls Gone Wild infomercials. Fast forward to her freshman year of college, already in the her mind are the images and influences of a faster, hedonistic society. The Me First attitude, the party, party generation who seem to forget that AIDS is still around. Sure they won't smoke cause its bad, but who needs a condom? Now before you start thinking that I'm some old fuddy duddy, I'm not, I just wonder if I have kids what's next? Now if you're a guy born about the same time, the amount of rap videos that literally depict women as sexual objects and good for you know, the matress mambo, watch and see that hey, I can do that too, next thing you know its about a sense of entitlement. Remember back in '94 they had this whole lame red light, green light thing on college campuses? Where were the bar dancing then? The whole stripper pole revolution? Seriously the kids born in 1974-1978 seriously got jipped bad, too young for the freeqwheeling 80's and the decadent 2000's. Now other guys my age are khaki wearing, Starbucks drinking shells of men who still think Sarah McLachlan kicks ass. Damn you MTV!!!! Damn you Paulie Shore!!!! Damn you Daytona Beach!!!!

Freud....he's a pretty smart guy. Had some ideas regarding psychological stuff, you know everything has some weird sexual reasoning behind it. Too much love or hate a cigar not a cigar, unless you're Pres. Bill, ( what a guy!!!! 4 more years of Bill!!!!) So why Freud and not say Madonna? WHy Freud and not Hooters? Freud killed God...... well not kill maybe perhaps you know, made God less important than say you're fixation on lollipops. When religion became say....less important to our lives it did a lot more than let us sleep in on the weekends. Take away the angels, the saints, the whole virgin birth thing and what you have is a bunch of do's and don't, a sense or morality. Yes some of them were dated and really really dumb but for the most part its got a good moral no? Ok, so maybe you were good cause who wants to burn in a lake of fire for eternity? Sure you'll be good cause who wants to Satan's bride? Basically we stayed good and moral or a bit more modesty for fear of eternal damnation. Take out damnation you take away guilt, you take away a guilty conscience all you have left is a logic that is based on what makes "you" feel good. Better analogy, ok. Why don't people commit murder? Eternal damnation? or being in jail for 25 to life spending your days and night fighting for your ass virginity? A corpreal punishment verses a possible metaphysical punishment? So if there is no more "damnation" or "punishment" then whats the harm? The only harm is to oursleves only. Its not like anyone would find out that I showed my breasts on a dvd distributed worldwide and downloaded online by millions? What are the odds anyone will recognize me? And even if they do, they have to admit to buying it, so whats more embrassing me for showing tits or you for buying it? Weird logical which somehow makes sense enough to get Joe Francis, the Girls Gone Wild guy, an island and a private jet. Sad I know and the dude who cracked the human genome is nameless, dateless and he still wears glasses. I know, our soldiers are protecting us and our rights and getting blown up, so idiots can marry a millionaire, be a survivor, an apprentice, marry someone you just met or just be an idiot. Whatever happened to the counterculture? Would these kids care more if there was a draft? an economic depression? a world war? You would think post9/11 would give us some insight, it did lasted less than a year and we're back to beads and bikinis.

In the end its not where we are its more about where we are heading. The conservative censorship is a pipedream, there is no real cracking down on your rights and such when it comes to the media. The media just isn't doing their job, the real voices of the people aren't heard cause there isn't enough of them, where is Abby Hoffman when you need him?The reality is, that censorship and such will lose to the almighty dollar and as long as sexy sells, they'll keep pushing the envelope. Even Bible Belt Reupblicans see the reality of the situation, which is ..."Ahhhhhh fuck it!" They'll protest, maybe make cnn.com one day, hey they might even try and pass a law or something which will mostlikely get overturned when a Denocrat becomes President. Sooner or later we're all gonna have to stop and think, how far is too far. Sooner or later someone has to ask that question and risk being called an asshole. At least the conversation has begun...and that is probably the more important issue.

Cult of Importance...The Notice Me Generation

The notice me generation, the blog posting, onlibe profile, I have 100000 friends on myspace generation have come crashing through the doors megaphone and cell phone in hand. There was a time not too long ago where writers were actually talented. There was a time where a brief glimpse into the inner mind of some people were a luxury as much as it was insightful. When Sylvia Plath's journals were published we saw a glimpse of her mind and her life and the thoughts that led towards her suicide. But thanks to technology and a high speed modem everyone can now broadcast their inner most thoughts into the cyberworld.

At any given time, millions of onlibe journals makes it way through the cyber relam. Spawning amatuer poets, mystery writers, ranters and ravers and reporter, the state of writing is at all time low point. Its hard to write when everyone, who thinks they can write do so and publishes online as too share their creativity to the world. Nice sentiment but leave writing to those with talent. While being a writer would be translated to starving artist, those with talent usually won't starve for too long. The flipside to talent is that overwhelming amount of "writers" or those who want to write are encouraged by postive feedback and comments, though they have no talent. Yes, writing a poem is nice, I'm sure your pain is real and heartfelt but please don't confuse politeness with "you have talent". Real poets, talented poets have a hard time as is in the writing world, to see or read other "poets" who do it as a hobby, or those who do not possess talent get recognition is an insult. Writing isn't as easy as everyone thinks it is. Anyone can put a sentence together but not everyone can turna sentence into a brilliant novel. I've been a professional writer since I graduated college, and I can not stop myslef from rolling my eyes when I meet someone who also claims that they are also a poet or a writer. When asked if they been published the answer is usually: "No, I write for fun or on this website." James Joyce is rolling over in his grave as we speak.

From online Nerudas, to online Edward J. Murrows your opinion, while valid and yours and may even impress those around you are merely your own. I'm a journalist and an author, having landed my book deal recently. But as a journalist the main objective is to be objective, to follow it up with facts. Not to say some media outlets are clearly biased some liberal others conservative, I worked for AP so there were no added extra adjectives to describe the news. While bloggers will dish their opinions, and arm chair book store facts they googled with an intro to sociology class under their belt which makes them "experts" now, these bloggers do not follow any rules. The rule of law in the cyberworld is that your opinion no matter how ridiculous is valid and there are no repercussions. That statement is in of itself a falsehood. What one writes and leaves for the world to read and form an opinion is a big responsibility. What happens is that "your" opinion will go down as fact, "you" may be wrong in your assessment, you opinion may be off center and that in of itself ceases to be news or opinion it becomes fiction. There are some excellent bloggers whose opinions and writings are superb but to the casual blogger who decided to write about genocide or the war in Iraq and gets their facts mixed up then we have a problem. Everyone is free to raise an opinion, everyone is free to publish, write, sing or even rap their opinion, but you also have to understand that there is a responsibility there as well.

All of this comes down to one small thing, well one real big thing with a lot of sub-plot. ME, ME, ME. Read my blog, sign my guestbook, pay attention to me, rate my pic. Between reality shows and websites, we have made insta-celebritities of the normal average person, who wants their 15 minutes of fame. We blog, we post photos we do all this for what? So we can get noticed, a sense of self, an affirmation of out beauty, intelligence, wit, etc, etc, etc. Is it really possible to have a quarter million friends on myspace? Well sure its possible, its not like you ahave a quarter million birthday parties to show up too, or but 250,000 X-Mas cards. Its a popularity conest on a cyber-level, purely superficial and often mindless, millions of people worldwide, like the concept of being popular, wanted, needed, read and heard. Notice me, love me, pay attention to me is the new battlecry in the cyber-revolution that started over a decade ago. Today we are all exhibitionists and voyeurs trying to peek into someone's world and want others to peek into ours.

There is no real conclusion to this, sans this, the level of our writig, our music and art is a reflection of society. The importance of not yourselves, but in the actual writing is critical. Some woman the other day when she found out that I was a writer and journalist complained that the news was bad and that the last two books she read were horrible. As if I were responsible for the world events or the books and writers being published, I realized that there isn't a more important time than now that I should be good at my job. So while millions read about the comings and goings of celebrities and the midnlessa ntics of someone, somewhere who had a bad day at work, or the heart-breaking poem about that guy or girl, I'll be in the Sudan.