Recently in News Category

With Sarah Palin now on the Republican ticket -- she is being mocked for her duplicity and for her rather fascist want to create one set of rules for the rest of us and another set of rules by which only she and her family are allowed to abide.  Some on the internets are satirically calling her "Hitler in High Heels" and "Dan Quayle with a Ponytail" and I find that comedic flaying fascinating on many levels as the parody image below suggests...

Learning on the internet is a sensation that is growing every day. To meet the needs of new virtual learners the world over, Janna and I have created seven levels for studying American Sign Language online via our HardcoreASL.com portal.

The other day I was watching a Parole Board Review show on television where we, as viewers, were taken inside a parole hearing for inmates at a New Jersey state prison.

As I sat there and watched the inmates interact with the parole board I wondered why the inmates weren't more reverent and respectful to the men sitting in judgment of them.

Terrorism is not a single, violent, act.

Terrorism is living in fear of what might happen and not what has happened.

There is no such thing as impartiality.

We are not required -- by a sense of honor or a requirement of fairness -- to endlessly listen to all sides of an issue.

Forget Florida and Arizona as the final destination of carefree living for retirees.

Over the next generation, Colorado and Minnesota will become the new safe-haven for those wishing to spend their Golden Years in comfort as Global Warming trends continue to suffocate and fry us.

No one will want to face the steaming oceans or the baking desert in the coming perpetual heat wave.

We will instead seek out the solace of the cold and the soothing of the snow in order to preserve our burning bodies and to calm our boiling minds.

The role of any news department is to be critical in its coverage.

We do not need fawning and admiration from those delivering the news to us.

We need objectivity that is only created with a critical eye and deep analysis of what is happening to us in the world.

One must not need include two sides for any story.  Sometimes one side lies in order to cover the truths of the other and if those lies are proffered to us as "fairness in coverage" then those providing the podium for the lies are just as guilty of lying as those inventing the mistruths.

Our major media outlets need to step away from power and politics and money and return their loyalty and protections to the people who seek the truth in reporting from them even if it means the revelation of darkness pretending to be light and blood covering bodies in pieces.

Do you agree with Isiah Thomas that Black Men can call Black Women "bitches" while White Men cannot?

If not, where -- in the cultural meme that grew and molded Isiah Thomas -- did he learn to believe that it was appropriate and expected to call Black Women "bitches?"

Are all Black Women "bitches" by default in Isiah's mind -- or does he use that derogatory term on only those women he believes are below him in status and competence?  Is his mother a bitch?  His wife?  His daughters?

The chilling lesson of Isiah Thomas' Black Bitches is that he sets an example for bad behavior modeling in young people who look up to him to catch ideas and inspiration from a man -- A Proud Black Man -- many of us used to admire and emulate.

Double murderer O.J. Simpson is back in the news making an unwelcome return to using his parsing of words to point the blame, not at himself, but rather at others he feels unduly influence him.

It is fascinating to watch Simpson skate and dance and prevaricate his way out of a mess while he celebrates his return to the public eye.

I fear we will never be without O.J.'s influence because he knows how to take advantage of shared semiotics and the duality of semantic communication to better only his selfish ends in life and, I believe, his self-enrichment will continue to strangle us beyond his death and into our graves.

O.J. Simpson has marked us all in the eye and ear for all of eternity and we are all the worse for his wearing.

Janna is fond of replying to the question -- "Do you want the bad news first or the good news first?" -- by saying "There is no bad or good, you have to deal with it all."

That's an incredibly mature way of dealing with life.

I am not quite so mature. 

I always prefer the Bad News first because that is obviously the most conditional and powerful cudgel the teller of the news hopes use to influence your behavior:  Get the chit out of the way so you can enjoy the cream.