Turn It OFF, Tune IN

Almost anyone watching television, particularly what passes for news these days invariably becomes either depressed or angry or both - I know I do. It is, first of all, increasingly difficult to find actual news reporting devoid of commentary. What ever happened to good, old fashioned JOURNALISM?  Just give me the facts and let ME decide how to interpret them. Or give me commentary in a totally separate venue. What ever happened to those "editorial" segments on the news when we were TOLD to expect commentary? Instead we get commentary mixed with news. 

The fact is, most television stations are wholly owned subsidiaries of major corporations. Most of those corporations are run by right-wing leaning boards and CEOs. The "liberal media" is a MYTH. It is inevitable that the spin put on the news is going to be right-leaning, at the very least. The truth you seek is NOT going to be found there, maybe ever again. It is time to move on. 

I have also found that watching television tends to "paralyze" me. I get caught up in the drama of the talking heads and forget that the action is not on TV but out in the world. I strongly suspect that the powers behind the media would LOVE for us to stay tuned to the television and forget our civic responsibilities. "Watch us, we will tell you ALL you EVER need to know."  "Stay tuned."  "Don't touch that dial."  They would love nothing more than for us to become (stay) so mesmerized by the small screen that we do not even look outside. The frightening thing is, they have succeeded! How many hours do YOU spend in front of the television set? I used to spend way too many until I realized I was frying my brain.

People,  it is time to WAKE UP! Shake off the illusions they have put in front of you. Look away and see that reality is NOT what they tell you it is. The only way to be in touch with what is REALLY happening is to go out and see for ourselves and when we do, we should become alarmed at how quickly our freedoms and rights are being stripped away by the very people who urge you to "stay tuned." TELEVISION IS NOT REALITY AND NEVER HAS BEEN.  It is too easily manipulated and created and the imaginary can be made to seem real, but it is NOT REAL.

Reality is this: The people in your life, the actions you take, the words you speak, the work you do in the world. Reality is about tuning IN to LIFE, not TV. Get off that couch and go out and volunteer. Make a difference. Stop letting television and media determine reality for you. Make your own. The world you save could be this one.

Internships For Those Who Don't Fit The Mold

I know that most internships are about giving bright young people hands on experience (and providing cheap labor) but what if there was a model where there were internships set up and designed for people (of all ages) who have been overlooked for various reasons even though they are ALSO bright and talented? Yes, it would take more work but is there no one who is willing to go that extra mile? People with Asperger's could be writers or IT in an office or do research. Yes, it would take more work to design an internship for an individual but the hand up it gives could do wonders for the person and help the person's prospects for employment, thus reducing the overall cost to society. 

Many people with Asperger's Syndrome are chronically underemployed or unemployed. Setting up internships for those who are capable, on the higher end of the Autism Spectrum could be a way to reduce that burden to them and to society. The same might be true with other forms of disability or even those workers who have been unemployed for a long time through no fault of their own. Many people simply need a hand up, not a hand-out.

Is there ANYONE out there with an interest in a project like this? 

*ALL content herein is the opinion of the author

You Never Know...

You never know what a person is capable of and if you discriminate against them to the point where they choose suicide, you never know how history may have been forever changed.  Who KNOWS what Alan Turing would have been capable of without the inhumanity demonstrated against him?

Who knows what the people might have been capable of who are tormented to death because they are different ? What could they have been? What might they have added to our society?Think about all the teen-agers who have been bullied to death? So much possibility, so much waste. Their deaths are tragedies not only for them and their families, but also for us.  Our short-sighted inhumanity short changes the world. So, if simple compassion isn't enough to stop bullying and discrimination, think about the self-interest of human society.  

You never know, the person you just were cruel to might have cured your cancer someday.

Jesus vs. Bigotry

        Jesus vs. Bigotry

I have been contemplating converting from Christianity to Judaism lately. It seems to me that too many "Christians" have too little Jesus in their lives and too much fear in their faith, too much hate instead of love. What ever happened to Love the Lord your G-d and love your neighbor as yourself? Who is your neighbor? Jesus answered that with the Parable of the Good Samaritan: EVERYONE is our neighbor! EVERYONE! But every time I turn around I see another example of "pastors" declaring their hatred for gay people or the Vatican ignoring pedophilia by their priests while going after women's rights to access to health care, birth control and abortion. These MEN have, for two thousand years, systematically built an institution which caters to their needs, demeans women and built up riches at the expense of the poor. They even selected the Biblical canon based on these preferences. These men are not interested in preaching and LIVING the Gospel which was lived and taught by one Jesus of Nazareth. They are only interested in preserving the INSTITUTION of the Church for there OWN self-interest. Period. They really need to get off their thrones and go into the street and feed the hungry...

And then there are the other guys...the pastors on the evangelical right wing who preach hatred for anyone different than themselves. They don't just preach it, they advocate violence! One even hung President Obama in effigy! What a sacrilege against our Lord who was crucified for going up against self-righteous, arrogant paragons of faith like themselves! If you live by hatred, you will DIE by hatred! 

I don't know if I want to stay within such a broken religion. Are there even a FEW good shepherds in the flock anymore, O G-d?  I'm not too sure about the flock, either. 

It is not the Biblical faith that is broken, it is the corruption of the followers. Maybe it is time to wipe the slate clean and go back to what is True and has been for thousands of years...