The daily show

The Daily Show is funny and informative. Its nice to see a show that doesn't make you want to sleep. And as we know the viewers of this show are very informed. But is it too much? It may be that the show is silly and a little hard to watch too often. while funny it is not always a substitute for news.

On tonight's show the main focus of the show spent a lot of time on the payments made to the victims of priests. It almost seems making fun of it lessens the severity of what these priests did. This is why I believe that it is fun in small doses but some really in depth news is needed as a supplement to this show.

World News!

Tonight on ABC's 6:30 news the lead story was that the average cholesterol is now in the healthy range for the first time in 50 years. The rise in medication has helped. The storms in the midwest was next and how these people are coping. The election had a whole 20 seconds and the war about 15. Health care got an interesting segment. It seems that the VA system a form of socialized medicine is more efficient then any other system.

Am I the only on that thinks this is one of those things where even if we did all have the same care, like in the VA system that it is bound to fail. It is similar to schools, some do better then other because of where they are or how much money they have. Anything on a small scale will work.

Someone give Yogi a Bat

Many Americans believe that image only applies to women in America. Meaning that men do not have to worry about body image or being perfect. I will have to disagree with this. It may not be as wide spread or on the same level, but men deal with their own issues about appearance. Take the performance enhancing drug trend in baseball. This is a prime example of pressure put on men to perform better by altering their body in a harmful way. This is no different to me then a model who crash diets in order to fit the image that is required of them.

So why is this happening? I believe it has a lot to do with competition and rising costs. The fact that a baseball player can make 250 million in 10 years is insane. If they are not the best at what they do they can't compete. So what is the solution? I say lets go back to the times when people played ball because they loved it. Oddly enough there was a time when these players had jobs that they worked in the off season. Tickets and beer were cheap, and players were just good ball players. They didn't need to break records so they could rack up the endorsement deals. They played because they were great players and no matter how many records Barry Bonds holds he will never be the kind of Yankee that Babe was or Yogi or even Jeter.

So my solution? There is none. We can't go back in time, we can only move forward. None of these people are going to give up their paycheck out of a sense of nostalgia. They well simply continue to juice and eventually baseball will fall out of favor with the American public. But until then we will have to live with this image.

Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome

I read Roy's post on World AIDS day and I must agree with him. AIDS is an important issue for a number of reasons. One very important issue is who it effects. AIDS and HIV are in the process of wiping out entire cultures abroad and severely infecting based on socio-economical levels. Meaning that in America those most likely to become HIV positive are Black females. The poorer you are the higher your risk as well. In places such as Africa this disease has the potential of wiping out entire populations and villages. It is devastating to have such a disease destroying culture.

I must agree with Roy, I believe that the cost of these drugs should be lowered in order to help prevent the spread of AIDS. Also local initiatives like Broadway Cares can help the families as well as those with AIDS cope with this.

Oprah and Barack

So my hero is Oprah, I love this woman. She always reminds me of her character Sophia from The Color Purple. I think she is smart and generous and takes no crap. She is a powerful individual who can show all people regardless of color, creed, gender, and class that they too can be a success. She is an American success story, and she is backing Obama; I also like him, I think it is too soon for him but regardless I like him. I think if Barack comes back in like 4 or 8 or maybe even 12 years he would make a better candidate. I would like it if he had a little more time in congress.

I really like that Oprah is campaigning for him. She rarely supports any candidate publicly and she must really like and believe in him if she is putting her reputation of the line. In the next few weeks we will either see Barack Obama become the Democratic candidate or he will go back to congress and await his turn. Either way it is not the end of him. I think he will do great things in the congress and then maybe one day as president.


On a side note, pay attention to how she is talking when she is in SC, she is definitely getting back to her southern roots.

H&C

On Hannity and Colmes the most interesting segment was done with Karl Rove who talks to Hannity about the primaries. They discuss the front runners and the chances that each one has. Rove tells Obama to go after Clinton and blow the whistle. Rove believes that Obama can win if he does this. But it will be hard because of the people that she has surrounded herself with. He also had an interesting comment to make about how the Republicans can beat her if she gets the nomination. He believes he should keep it clean.

On the Republican side he thinks that the “Huckaboom” is in Iowa but does not know how well that will transfer. Giuliani on the hand, he believes is taking a risk in relaying on his stronger states but not too concerned with the earliest states.

This guy is an interesting guy; he was able to pull off the election and reelection of President Bush. This was an amazing job just on how to run a campaign. It would seem that this guy may have some of the best insight into this election than many of the other talking heads. I kind of like this guy. He is smart, yet he is not willing to give too much away.

H&C is a good show I like the approach they take. It is clear that it mostly about Hannity but he is not a bad pundit and is likable. His interview with Rove as light; he did not attack him but simply asked his opinion.

New Jersey: A Possible New Governor?

I have lived in South Jersey my entire life, I have spent ever summer (and winter) on the beach for as long as I could remember. And every summer on route 37 you would know it was us because one could here the sounds of Bon Jovi coming from my car. Anyway why am I reminiscing about my childhood and high school? because page six reports that Jon may run for governor. As silly as this may be it would be fun to see Bon Jovi take on Governor Goldman Sachs.

New Jersey blogger, John Shabe put the following list on his blog that I would like to share.

10 reasons why Bon Jovi should be governor ...

10. Tico Torres could drumbeat a full day's work out of anyone.
9. He could rewrite his song lyrics to serenade some of our former governors..."You Give Jersey A Bad Name".
8. He's already got the entourage.
7. We haven't had anyone with groovy hair like his since Governor Livingston.
6. Trenton's incentive: Free tickets to arena football.
5. His limo driver obeys the speed limit and insists that his passengers always wear their seatbelts.
4. Just imagine the rockin' town meetings!
3. Hallelujah! Finally our lack of a state song dilemma is solved!
2. A new kind of inauguration....C'mon over to the mansion....Party!
1. Hey...nothin's gettin' done anyway!


In all honesty This state is in dire need of new government, with GGS new plan to hike highway tolls in order to close the budget it is just another example of selected taxpayers getting a raw deal. The public officials who make the laws sit pretty while the rest of us must pay for it all.

Get this, if you hold a part-time public office, lets say a member of a town council making $5500 a year after you serve for 25 years you will get a pension that is based on the average of the three highest paid years. So maybe you make a percentage of the $5500 this seems fair. But the New Jersey politicians have found a way around this. They get their other political buddies to create a position for them for say $90,000 a year. They then serve in this position for 3 years and retire on that pension.

Okay so I will admit that this may not be what is breaking the budget, but it is not helping. The pensions that New Jersey is giving out is outrageous and to boot the people who are getting these pensions can't afford to live here so they are taking their pensions and leaving the state.

It is insane that the people of this state continue to elect these crooks into office election after election. I for one would think it would be refreshing if Jon Bon Jovi was Governor. And maybe the playmates can run the legislative branch. I think they would do a better job balancing the budget than this current government.

Huckabee and Coulter: A New Political Power Couple?

So Robin Gerber of the Huffington Post is pretty sure that they will be perfect for each other. She dug up a comment by Huckabee from almost ten years ago about how he would like Christians to take the nation back for Christ and compared it to Coulter's way more antisemitic remake. This may have to fall under the category of being a little bit of a stretch.

If I would have to interpret Huckabee's comment it would seem that it is more likely to mean that he would like the nation to become more conservative; that is following the conservative doctrines which as we all know tend to be based on the religious views of some of the citizens of this country. Coulter's remark on the other hand was a knock on the Jewish faith. She disagreed with the basic doctrine's of the faith while Huckabee seems to have been focusing on reviving the doctrines of his own faith.

This falls under the category of unfair attack. There is no proof that Huckabee hates other faiths but simply that he really likes his own. It is obvious that this was simply an attack on him to make him look bad or draw attention to his religion. Unfortunately, this is sometimes the result of people who have their own agenda. By linking Mike to Ann, Gerber is trying to discredit him.

23 months!

Michael Vick a.k.a the worlds dumbest football player has been sentenced to 23 months behind bars for dog fighting. The former NFL star admitted that he bankrolled a dog fighting operation. He also admitted to killing 6 to 8 dogs that did not perform well in test fights.

I cannot understand how any person can do this. Are we that sad of a species that we enjoy watching two animals be torn to pieces? I love how we get to decide the fate of these animals. What bothers me the most about this is that this guy didn't need the money. He had a NFL contract and endorsement deals yet he needed to do this. Was it simply the enjoyment or was it to employ his buddies. the operation included "the execution of under performing dogs by electrocution, drowning, hanging and other means."

I am in no means a member of any animal rights groups but this is insane. I disagree with the notion that eating meat is cruel or one should not have a fur coat if they so choose to have one. I am against this type of brutality. What was the purpose or executing the dogs in this manor. Its not like they were setting an example for the other dogs. This man is just sick. He is a disgrace to the human race and gives other really rich people a bad name. Dog fighting is almost understandable if you have children to feed or your mother needs a doctor. But as a rich mans sport its despicable.

I believe that more should be written about the actions of this jerk.

Cable News at its finest.

Today over the course of the evening I watched Fox News and CNN. A shooting at two separate church sights in Colorado was the top new story. The newscasters seem to be taking the same approach on both channels. CNN seemed to focus more on this one story while Fox seemed to move onto a few different stories. Personally I like the variety approach. A news channel should be able to give us the news of the day and when they focus on one particular story it gets redundant do to the slow speed the new information will reach the stations.

I think that it is clear that none of these stations are non partisan. It is sometimes fun to watch the opinionated talking heads on both networks. This being said, it is unfair to accuse either station or being strictly objective or partisan. In the stories of tragedy or crime at the beginning it is not going to be about the politics. Later on CNN or Fox may have a debate over gun control but that will not happen until most of the facts are out and these people run out of things to say.

Investigative Reporting?

So after watching "All the President's Men" I decided that we may need to revive this type of reporting. Unfortunately, most of today's investigative reporting is to uncover who is sleeping with who? Does this really matter? I mean really I don't really care and it is not adding to society to know this. What these two reporters did, uncover something that actually has an effect on democracy was heroic.

I think that it is important for reporters to do their jobs, report the news without a bias. That means that if they uncover something that the American people have a right to know they should be told, regardless of whether the reporter supports that office holder or not. A reporter should want to tell the story because it is the right thing to do not because it will stick it to the opposing party.

Do we Really Need Texas?

Evolution and Texas

In the op-ed piece above the author is rather upset by the firing of Texas Education Agency employee, Christine Comer, its director of science. It seems that she forwarded an e-mail about a speech on evolution. Their fear is that this is the beginning of the push in Texas to stop the teaching of evolution.

This is a legitimate concern, Texas is shall we say different. While I disagree with rejecting the idea of "creationism" all together, I also disagree with not teaching evolution. Didn't we already have this fight? It was like in the 1920s and there were monkeys involved? I guess my real complaint here is that I take issue with any individual or group who believes that they are the only ones who are right. Evolution is a touchy subject I'm not trying to say that its not. It completely rejects the biblical interpretation, and that kind of sucks considering we do not really have much to believe in anymore sometimes these folks would just like to be left alone with their bible.

But like I said I disagree with not teaching both sides. . I mean who is really being hurt by teaching either interpretation. Whats wrong with allowing the students the opportunity of figuring it out for themselves. Maybe the religious people are right, now wouldn't that be a kick in the ass? Anyway in all seriousness I believe if you become too committed to our beliefs we forget that there is another side to the story.

I am not advocating "creationism" I do not even believe in the bible. I am advocating acceptance and tolerance. these two thinks seem to be lost of many people too committed to their beliefs. And in case it's not clear where I stand on this issue I will leave you two quotes from one of my absolute favorite plays "Inherit the Wind," which happens to be the story of the Scopes Monkey Trials.

"Bert, whenever you see something bright, shining, perfect-seeming. look behind the paint! And if it's a lie-show it up for what it really is! -Acts III, Sc. 1~Inherit the Wind


"The individual human mind. In a child's power to master the multiplication table there is more sanctity than in all your shouted amens and holy holy hosannas. An idea is a greater monument than a cathedral, and the advance of man's knowledge is a greater miracle than all the sticks turned to snakes or the parting of the waters"~ Inherit the Wind

Who Says the Theater is out of Touch?

So many believe that the theater is out of touch with what it going on in the world; we have singing Phantoms and dancing lions but nothing with much substance with the exception of a few shows.

So why would I be posting on the topic of theater. Some good and relative theater still exists! But not in one of the 39 Broadway houses, instead it takes place in a hole in the wall theater in downtown New York. I am talking about “Shoot the Messenger” a political satire created and starring by “The Daily Show” co-creator Lizz Winstead. The premise is that the cast is the news crew for a fictional morning news show like the “Today Show.” The idea is that we are not told anything important in the 3-4 hours that these shows are on television. She on the interview I heard her give basically says that people need to find the good news that is hidden in blogs or other online news sources.

This is an interesting why of seeing the failure of mainstream media. The show actually simulates a news show pointing out all the irrelevant crap that is on TV. This show is relevant and up-to-date with its news and now that there is no more Television due to the strike it may be worth while to take in something as relevant as this show promises to be. I know I will be making my way to see it as soon as I get the chance.

Where Did Christmas Go?

On December 21st New Jersey 101.5 radio personalities, Ray Rossi and Casey Bartholomew better known as "The Jersey Guys" will host their Save Santa party. These hosts of the call-in show are best known for their controversial afternoon talk show that has attacked everything from the blind to the post-partum depression of the former first lady of New Jersey.

On a recent episode the Guys were discussing the attack that companies are making on Christmas as well as images of Christmas, such as Santa. They discussed the fact that in Sydney, Australia Santa is no longer allowed to say Ho, Ho, Ho because it is considered offensive to women! They were also unhappy with Lowes Home Improvement’s renaming of Christmas trees to a Family tree. Some even say that Santa's weight is an issue.

I will disclose first off that I have nothing to gain from the Pro or anti Santa people. I myself am an atheist and therefore have nothing to fight for. But I will admit that this is getting out of hand. I celebrate Christmas by default, my family is Christian and therefore I must partake in the festivities. I will also disclose that members of my family are Jewish and they, I might add, do spend many of the Christian holidays with my family. My Aunt, Uncle and Cousins have never been offended when we have them over for Christmas and they don't care that our Christmas tree is prominently displayed or that the outside of my house looks like the Vegas Strip. We all exchange Christmas presents and eat our Christmas dinner.

I have no problem with the inclusion of other celebrations in the holiday season. In fact I tend to wish people a "happy holiday" because you do not always know what they celebrate. When it comes to these companies who what to me to spend my money in their stores but they refuse to acknowledge that a Christmas tree is for Christmas, in other works my Aunt doesn't have a Christmas tree.

I think that if we are going to treat people fair then a Menora should be a Holiday Candle-holder. I mean why not maybe I'm offended, of the religion that it represents as an atheist. My point is you can never please everyone and for as long as we appease on group we must appease them all. So here is my solution, if it is distinctly something for Christmas such as those really annoying lights or a tree please don't treat us like we are children and just call it what it is. I don't mind buying holiday gifts or even attending a holiday party. So let Santa have his month. I believe we have bigger issues facing this country then attacking all things Christmas.

DROP THAT HAMBURGER!

On this recent New Science blog researcher Lucy Middleton, a vegetarian herself, declared that we can cut CO2 Emissions 85% by eating locally grown non meat products or locally grown organic meat products. She made her point in a non accusatory way; her point came across as seeming to say that this is a good way to live and it may not be for everyone and you are not a terrible person for not choosing to live this way.

I respect her for her sentiments but i believe that it is impossible to ask people to live by this. These products, like other good for the environment products are expensive. The average family could not possibly be able to live like this. As a former vegetarian myself I understand the burden of this. Many times my food bill for soy and organic products was much more then that of the rest of my house.

Instead of just telling everyone to do this they should be lobbying in congress or trying to get subsidies for these good for the environment products. Why not have some sort of initiative to get farmers and meatpackers to do this. I am not by any means advocating that the government should supply these goods but they can help with making it more profitable for the companies leading them to want to do this

Everyones Favorite Blondes

"The Girls Next Door" is a peculiar hit show featuring Hugh Hefner's three girlfriend, Holly, Bridget and Kendra. On an episode that recently aired again from season 1, A Mid Summer's Night Dream, "The Girls" as they are commonly referred to were preparing for the summer's biggest lingerie party. Bridget's sister, who was staying at the mansion for the summer became the girl's project. They gave the girl the complete bunny makeover, including of course blonde extensions.

Watching this young lady go from ordinary girl to playboy bunny in a half-hour made me wonder about what it is we value. It was clear that she enjoyed the process as well as the party but it was also obvious that it was a character she was playing. This is what this entire show is about. These three girls get to live celebrity lifestyle just because they are blonde. It is quite clear that they are a publicity stunt for Hef. He has to live every guys fantasy to sell his product and in order to do this he needs to have beautiful girls vying for him.



The friendship that is forged between these girls makes it apparent that they are not looking for a life time with Hef. They are like a musical act; they are around for photo ops and the impression that is left on people is that they are good friends who all love the same man. We enjoy laughing at the show because of how outrageous it is. Anything less then this belief is silly. We understand and hope that parents have enough brains to not allow their daughters to watch this type of television and if they do that they point out the positive things about this show. That is the friendship between the girls, or the careers they have made outside of being a girlfriend. One of them even has a masters while the other is attending classes to be a massage therapist while the other is earning her bachelors.


All in all this show may be silly but its over all kind of an endearing show with more of a neutral impact on girls then a negative or a positive.

Your Local News

On NBC's local news tonight there was a surprising amount of political news. For an election night the news only covered maybe 4 minutes of results and issues. The most important of these issues being the rejection of the stem cell bond ballad question in New Jersey. The rest of the news consisted of human interest stories, sports and weather. Although not a major election year it seems that this coverage may be part of the problem with voter turnout. The other ballad questions for New Jersey were not even mentioned.

The news covered a small part of the issues and immediately jumped into the national election. This included Hilary's sinking polls. The local election, although the lead off story, only really mentioned one result from only the 12th district. Others have come in yet they are ignored completely. The news tends to do a poor job of ensuring the public is aware of these issues.

Catfights in Washington

On the Feministing blog this week blogger, Jessica, was very upset by the fact that ABC did a story on Nancy Pelosi. The problem being that the headline stated "Pelosi: Clinton Camp Played Gender Card." To add insult to injury, this was accompanied by a really fun graphic that seems to have really upset Jessica. She really believes that ABC is trying to create a catfight among these two powerful women.

It would seem that she is right. None of the quotations used from an interview with Pelosi indicate that she believed Clinton was playing the gender card. So why would ABC, a reputable news source spin the story this way? That pretty simple...It sells. Whether it is a man or a women surfing the net they are bound to click on that story. This post sort of paints this as a male generated tactic against Hilary and Nancy. This is where I would have to disagree with her. It would seem to me that these two fighting is much more interesting than what they actually believe.

Site for Users

The city of San Francisco, known for its unorthodox way of doing things is in the beginning stages of opening a clinic for addicts. Sounds like a good plan right? The difference this is not a clinic for addicts to kick their habits but instead it is a clinic for them to continue using. That’s right it would be “America’s first legal safe user room.” The idea behind it is to have users safely shoot up under the supervision of nurses. It would not be targeted by law enforcement and it would be a step toward helping the addicts get clean.

At first glance this plan seems outrageous; why should these people have a safe place to do an illegal activity. If it works it may help them eventually get treatment. The problem is why the taxpayers should have to employ the staff and support the cost of running this place. While I tend to agree with the programs principles I disagree with who should be paying. Unfortunately it is not the type of thing that could be supported by private donations.

All in all it would seem that this program is theoretically ideal. The problem is the reality of the situation. To ask taxpayers to support drug habits with clean needles was asking a lot but now asking them to supply a facility to do their drugs may just be asking a little too much.

ISRAEL BOMBS NUCLEAR PROJECT

Isreal Struck Syrian Nuclear Project

It would seem that the Sept. 6 attack on Syria was directed at a nuclear project that was in its early stages. American and Israeli intelligence had made this determination. But many mysteries still surround the incident. The reactor was said to have been modeled after the North Koreans but no proof of that exists.

It would seem that at the current time any action taken by the US would be too soon. Right now it is Israel deciding what they will allow in the Middle East and since we are already way too involved in that part of the world I would make the suggestion of working closely with Israel yet steering clear of any confrontation with Syria or any other nation.