The Georgia Flag
Since 1956, until two years ago, Georgia had a state flag with the Confederate flag embedded in it. Many people, especially African Americans, found this flag offensive. Therefore the Georgia state legislature created a new flag that shows an emblem and a string of five flags below it, starting with the 13-star US flag, ending with the 50-star US flag, and including a Confederate flag as well. The Confederate flag was still on the Georgia Flag but was much less conspicuous.
But this left many people dissatisfied. So they sought to change the flag again, the second change in two years. The new flag is simpler, consisting of a blue left with an emblem on it, and a red, then a white, then a red stripe, with no Confederate flag on it. I thought, this must be the flag that Georgia should adopt, although I would really like to see a peach on that flag. However, one phrase on the white field of the flag to me makes it unacceptable: "In God We Trust". We already have a problem with this phrase on our currency. It should not be there. It is a violation of separation of church and state, and for the same reason, the Georgia flag should not have that motto on it. To me that is almost as unacceptable as the original Confederate-flag-carrying flag. The new flag of Georgia is OK, but first the phrase "In God We Trust" needs to be stricken out.
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2003/04/23
April Greer vs Laci Peterson
A young late-pregnant woman disappears. It is a long period of time, a month or more, and no one has seen her. Finally she is found, and her significant other is charged with murder. It is unfortunate when something like this happens; it transfixes the entire metropolitan area when something like this happen. But should it reach national news? I say no. There are hundreds of murders in the USA every year, and to report each on national news would mean that nothing else would get reported. So I feel that these stories should remain local stories.
I have heard of two such instances recently. One was in California, the case of Laci Peterson. The other was in North Carolina, the case of April Greer. Just about everyone in the US has heard of Laci Peterson. Hardly anyone has heard of April Greer. To me the difference is solely due to media hype. The media saw fit to escalate the Laci Peterson story to national proportions, but not the April Greer story, although much the same thing happened in both instances. To me this is a form of deception. The media should report equal cases equally, and this means keeping both April Greer and Laci Peterson as local cases. Laci should never have entered our national news screens.
A young late-pregnant woman disappears. It is a long period of time, a month or more, and no one has seen her. Finally she is found, and her significant other is charged with murder. It is unfortunate when something like this happens; it transfixes the entire metropolitan area when something like this happen. But should it reach national news? I say no. There are hundreds of murders in the USA every year, and to report each on national news would mean that nothing else would get reported. So I feel that these stories should remain local stories.
I have heard of two such instances recently. One was in California, the case of Laci Peterson. The other was in North Carolina, the case of April Greer. Just about everyone in the US has heard of Laci Peterson. Hardly anyone has heard of April Greer. To me the difference is solely due to media hype. The media saw fit to escalate the Laci Peterson story to national proportions, but not the April Greer story, although much the same thing happened in both instances. To me this is a form of deception. The media should report equal cases equally, and this means keeping both April Greer and Laci Peterson as local cases. Laci should never have entered our national news screens.
Madonna's American Life? I say NO!
Madonna Ciccone has been around for about two decades, ever since she started her career with the alluring number Like a Virgin. Since then she has come up with a number of enthusiastic hits, including In the Groove and Holiday. Most recently she came out with an antiwar video and song in an album entitled American Life. The video shows some footage about Bush that she felt might not be good to put out during the recent War on Iraq, but now that that war is over, the album has come to press. I find her antiwar message interesting, especially since it seems to be anti-material instead, coming rather paradoxically from The Material Girl. So will I buy this album?
No. Absolutely not.
No, it is not because of the strange outfits she has worn; for example a bikini wedding gown. No, it is not because of the "trashy" style of music that some has said she produces. Indeed, the music seems commercially driven, and I feel that true from-the-heart music comes from other than the pecuniary motive, but it is not because of that. No, it is not because she has simulated masturbation on stage. This type of liberation is needed. If more people masturbated in Africa instead of having sex, the continent would not be in trouble because of AIDS. No, it is not because the video bashes the Bush administration. The heart of any free democracy is the freedom to criticize those in power. No, it is not because of her lifestyle, either. It is not going to be for any of these things.
The reason I am not going to buy the album is because of her tactics in marketing the album. I heard from a website that she has issued decoy sound files of her songs that instead of playing the songs throws up an obscenity in your face and says something about your copying her music without paying for it; in other words, piracy. This is one type of technique that I will not put up with. No, as long as she is going to resort to tactics like this, then I am [obscenity] not going to buy any of her albums. I know that songwriters need to be paid so they can earn their living, but there are more civil ways of doing it.
Madonna Ciccone has been around for about two decades, ever since she started her career with the alluring number Like a Virgin. Since then she has come up with a number of enthusiastic hits, including In the Groove and Holiday. Most recently she came out with an antiwar video and song in an album entitled American Life. The video shows some footage about Bush that she felt might not be good to put out during the recent War on Iraq, but now that that war is over, the album has come to press. I find her antiwar message interesting, especially since it seems to be anti-material instead, coming rather paradoxically from The Material Girl. So will I buy this album?
No. Absolutely not.
No, it is not because of the strange outfits she has worn; for example a bikini wedding gown. No, it is not because of the "trashy" style of music that some has said she produces. Indeed, the music seems commercially driven, and I feel that true from-the-heart music comes from other than the pecuniary motive, but it is not because of that. No, it is not because she has simulated masturbation on stage. This type of liberation is needed. If more people masturbated in Africa instead of having sex, the continent would not be in trouble because of AIDS. No, it is not because the video bashes the Bush administration. The heart of any free democracy is the freedom to criticize those in power. No, it is not because of her lifestyle, either. It is not going to be for any of these things.
The reason I am not going to buy the album is because of her tactics in marketing the album. I heard from a website that she has issued decoy sound files of her songs that instead of playing the songs throws up an obscenity in your face and says something about your copying her music without paying for it; in other words, piracy. This is one type of technique that I will not put up with. No, as long as she is going to resort to tactics like this, then I am [obscenity] not going to buy any of her albums. I know that songwriters need to be paid so they can earn their living, but there are more civil ways of doing it.
2003/04/21
What's your playing card deck like?
Well first the Iraqi regime was defeated. And Saddam Hussein, Tariq Aziz, and all the others are killed, captured or something else happened to them. Then all at once the news takes a strange twist: we hear that the five of clubs is captured, that the King of clubs may have escaped to Syria and so forth. It's as though we were like Alice in Wonderland, when she challenges a whole card deck that has arisen around her. Well at least Saddam was dealing with a full deck, or so the military with their card deck issued to soldiers would have us believe. Maybe they should have left out the two of clubs.
But this is an interesting idea. Represent a collection of people by playing cards. How about the people in your life? Find four classifications of people and 13 types of people in each classification and you have yourself a card deck. So I tried that. I chose these four categories (determined partially by Maslow's hierarchy): Spades, the necessary and irksome, what has to be done. Hearts, the love in my life. Clubs, those who have helped me to success, and Diamonds, those who have inspired me the most.
For the ranks, I let the ace represent the top person in my life in that category. The King then represents the top man, unless he is the ace, in which case, the second top man. The Queen is then the top woman, unless she's the ace, in which case the second woman. The Jack or Jane then represents the most unusual, fool-like or trickster-like person in my life in that category. The 10 is the person who has enabled me the most in the category, and the 9 is the best teacher (unless they rank higher). I divide my life into 8 acts, so I let the 2-8 represent the top person in that category in that act of my life.
Some examples: the five of diamonds is the person who inspired me the most in my Fifth Act (i.e., when I was around 30). The Queen of Spades is the woman who most represented the necessary things in my life. The 9 of hearts is the woman who has given me the best teaching in love in my life, and so forth. I am not going to tell any of these here, except I will say that the Ace of Spades is my father, who died in 1999; he represents the necessary because he fought in World War II, which needed to be done but I hope it is never repeated again.
So what is your card deck like? Who in your life is part of your deck of living?
Well first the Iraqi regime was defeated. And Saddam Hussein, Tariq Aziz, and all the others are killed, captured or something else happened to them. Then all at once the news takes a strange twist: we hear that the five of clubs is captured, that the King of clubs may have escaped to Syria and so forth. It's as though we were like Alice in Wonderland, when she challenges a whole card deck that has arisen around her. Well at least Saddam was dealing with a full deck, or so the military with their card deck issued to soldiers would have us believe. Maybe they should have left out the two of clubs.
But this is an interesting idea. Represent a collection of people by playing cards. How about the people in your life? Find four classifications of people and 13 types of people in each classification and you have yourself a card deck. So I tried that. I chose these four categories (determined partially by Maslow's hierarchy): Spades, the necessary and irksome, what has to be done. Hearts, the love in my life. Clubs, those who have helped me to success, and Diamonds, those who have inspired me the most.
For the ranks, I let the ace represent the top person in my life in that category. The King then represents the top man, unless he is the ace, in which case, the second top man. The Queen is then the top woman, unless she's the ace, in which case the second woman. The Jack or Jane then represents the most unusual, fool-like or trickster-like person in my life in that category. The 10 is the person who has enabled me the most in the category, and the 9 is the best teacher (unless they rank higher). I divide my life into 8 acts, so I let the 2-8 represent the top person in that category in that act of my life.
Some examples: the five of diamonds is the person who inspired me the most in my Fifth Act (i.e., when I was around 30). The Queen of Spades is the woman who most represented the necessary things in my life. The 9 of hearts is the woman who has given me the best teaching in love in my life, and so forth. I am not going to tell any of these here, except I will say that the Ace of Spades is my father, who died in 1999; he represents the necessary because he fought in World War II, which needed to be done but I hope it is never repeated again.
So what is your card deck like? Who in your life is part of your deck of living?
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