Monday, April 23, 2012

The Children are our Future

I know this has already gone VIRAL and therefore you've already seen it.  Let's face it, when MSN Trending Now posts it you're too late.


But I'm so impressed with Frans Hofmeester's work here (and his beautiful daughter), that I felt I had to post it.  I hope you'll watch it again.  Turn the volume up, too.  The background music is beautiful.


 


As I watched it here I realized that, without saying a single word, it is a stunning political statement. And the beauty of this video is that it make a compelling statement for most any cause, left or right.


Of course we need to save the planet for our children.  And every child deserve love, food, family and warmth.


And who could watch this video and not see it make a strong "pro-life" statement, as well.


I don't want to hijack Frans Hofmeester's video or his daughter.  It possesses many universal truths.  


The children are our future.

Saturday, April 14, 2012

After All These Years, Hilary Rosen is Still a Tone Deaf Hack

My history with today's top name in the news:




I need to rebuild and restore the links to the original THE WIZARD, FKAP website archives. My original webpage collection was started long before the term blog ever existed, but included a regular essay under the title The Existential Blues.  All the essays and files still exist and are still on-line.  I'll get the links restored and embedded in the right hand column as soon as possible.


When those link appear, you'll find I've written to and about Hilary Rosen since the early 1990's.  As the head of the Recording Industry Artists of America (RIAA) she is the subject of many of my earliest essays.  She has always been a tone deaf hack and in her official RIAA position, she almost single-handedly destroyed the entire music industry.  She fought legal digital downloads with a single-minded (closed minded) zeal that was breath-taking to behold.  If you wanted to sue Grandma for an illegal download, Hilary was your gal!


She seems incapable of independent thought, and functions mostly as an agent who does the bidding of her masters, currently the Democratic Party National Committee (DNC).


That Hilary Rosen is currently employed by CNN is an embarrassment to journalism.


Today, Hilary Rosen is in the headlines through her foolish comment about Ann Romney.  Here is a summary of the latest Rosen disaster from the AP Newswires:


The multimedia furor erupted Wednesday night when Rosen said on CNN that Ann Romney, whose husband is worth millions, never had to work to pay the bills and should not be her husband's surrogate on women and the economy. "His wife has actually never worked a day in her life," Rosen said. "She's never really dealt with the kinds of economic issues that a majority of women in this country are facing." 


The backlash was brutal and swift. 


David Axelrod, Obama's top campaign strategist, tweeted that Rosen's comments were "inappropriate and offensive." The president's campaign manager, Jim Messina, said Rosen should apologize. And the Democratic National Committee downplayed any connection to Rosen or her firm.


Although I've written in these spaces that the Republican "war on women" doesn't actually exist, Democrats and President Obama had successfully used this fabricated issue and had gained a virtually insurmountable lean among women voters.  


Hilary Rosen single-handedly turned the tide and gave the issue back to the Republicans on a silver platter.  That she then tripled down on her ill advised statement, assuring that the public forgot, if not forgave, Rush Limbaugh, was stunning to behold.


Republican comments were unnecessary.  We are watching a train wreck in progress.


Her apologies, two so far, were ever worse.  Hilary Rosen doesn't understand the public or the issues involved.  The Democrats need to drop her like the hot potato she has become.  So does CNN.

Monday, April 02, 2012

We Care About Trayvon Martin's Murder Because It's So Rare

We're still looking for justice for Trayvon Martin.  As well we should.  His death is at once both tragic and horrific.


And exceedingly rare.


If you watch television you might think there is an absolute epidemic of whites murdering blacks without so much as a single arrest and even a passing glance from law enforcement.  


Alas, there is a greater and more horrific truth.  There is an epidemic of young teen and early twenty year old black men being murdered in cold blood!  About 4,000 were murdered in the last 12 months!  It's a real and horrific epidemic.


The problem is almost all die at the hands of other black teen and twenty something year old men.  


Young black men comprise only about seven percent of the population, yet account for a whopping 50 percent of the murder victims.


Without "Googling" can you name a single one of them other than Trayvon Martin?  No cheating.  You have 4,000 from which to chose. Name one.


Now tell me we don't have a serious problem here in the United States than NO ONE IS WILLING TO ADDRESS.