Enoch - bravo!

Most of my teachers through school were textbook folk, who never once made me question or challenge anything. I had one teacher in high school who inspired me, but turns out I annoyed the hell out of him, and he doesn't like to talk to me anymore (I see him around my small hometown when I go back for visits). I don't know what that means.

I was usually resented by my teachers because A) I was on several sports teams (unlike anyone else in my classes) B) My father was a politician who was vocal about his views (anyone from a small town knows what small town politics are like) and C) I had friends among the jocks, the nerds, and the 'bad crowd', which drove teachers and school administrators crazy. Most teachers tend not to like students they can't pigeonhole.

My parents always took a deep interest in my education (IMHO the MOST important factor in childhood education), and my parents supplemented my education with what they thought was lacking (typically with current events, camping/hunting skills, and a morality that one doesn't find in the public system). My mom almost sent me to a renowned all-boys school, but I protested vehemently (no offense to anyone here, but I didn't like those uniformed snobby pricks).

University can be fun, but in my field I find that folks are either completely unquestioningly dependent and loyal to a political party ideology (party volunteers and/or staffers), great at studying dates and names but without an eye for political strategy (bureaucrats), unaffiliated whackos (hard-core feminists, anarchists, etc.), or dumbass fratboy rich-kids who only got in because daddy was alumni and made a generous contribution. Of course, not everyone fits into these categories, but far too many do.

We need more teachers like Enoch. The robots might as well go work in a factory somewhere.

So, actual terrorist event, or carefully orchestrated government plot to take your minds off the economy, healthcare and other current events?



Okay, I'm gonna put my foot down and demand that our conspiracy theories get a bit more plausible. I will admit that I'm actually a huge fan of conspiracy theories. Not because I'm swayed by any of them, but because I admire it as a genre of science fiction. The hook is that you invent a "secret" history for the world that ties together all the disparate and chaotic events of our world, and provides simple, unifying answers to them.

You know, the urban legend-ized version of Satan for our more secular culture.

In this case, clearly the cabal that both Obama and Bush are a part of only want to turn people into frightened, thoughtless animals. It's also clear that all terrorist plots are really perpetrated intentionally by the evil US government on its own citizens (because in the real world, America is never in danger from anything but the Soviet Union, Muslims, China, and Nazis and only then when they have Nukes). The purpose then is not to "distract" people from real concerns like the economy and health care, but to add the threat of bodily injury that is as unpredictable and random as it is impossible to protect yourself from, to make sure that the cold spike of fear is still there even on Christmas Day, as well as the general tableau of despair about your day to day life.

So no, it's not a fucking distraction, it's a devilishly smart move and we should all put on our tinfoil Santa hats and load up on ammo, because the mind control rays are nearly complete...

Hmmm, or maybe that's a distraction, and the real mind control rays come from these things called "television" and "radio" and "YouTube" and "blogs"... be careful what kinds of ideas you let take root in your mind, you never know if it's going to turn you into a zombie, or worse, a teabagger.

the show is just Mock The Week, no "of". i'm guessing its a play on mocking the weak. they could probably rename the show "7 comedians riffing on current events"

anyways... some funny stuff in there.

^Wrote her too. Her response was nothing more than a form letter.

Dear Mr. [blankfist]:

Thank you for taking the time to write and share your views with me. Your comments will help me continue to represent you and other Californians to the best of my ability. Be assured that I will keep your views in mind as the Senate considers legislation on this or similar issues.

If you would like additional information about my work in the U.S. Senate, I invite you to visit my website, http://boxer.senate.gov. From this site, you can access my statements and press releases about current events and pending legislation, request copies of legislation and government reports, and receive detailed information about the many services that I am privileged to provide for my constituents. You may also wish to visit http://thomas.loc.gov to track current and past federal legislation.

Again, thank you for sharing your thoughts with me. I appreciate hearing from you.


Barbara Boxer
United States Senator

>> ^rasch187:
Not a fail. At all.

It seemed like a litany of "fail" moments that Colbert strung together into a great bit, but I'm not picky.

Also, WP, you've just illustrated that you haven't the foggiest what Keynes' economic ideas actually were. So yeah, I guess it would be too much to ask to learn to spell the name of Keynesian school of economics (which Obama's administration isn't about, anyway).

Any fool can say "yeah - you don't know what you're talking about". That isn't an argument. That's a cop out, and I dismiss such pithless verbosity as the vapid denial of a person who doesn't like the fact that their ideas have been accurately described. Please elicudate exactly how I misapplied the term by applying it to Obama. I can literally write pages and pages describing exactly how Obama is Keynesian. What reasoning do you have that he isn't? You're going to have a tough row to hoe because you are simply mistaken. From wiki...

Keynesian economics advocates a mixed economy—predominantly private sector, but with a large role of government and public sector... Keynesian economics has provided the theoretical underpinning for the plans of President Barack Obama, Prime Minister Gordon Brown and other global leaders to rescue the world economy.

Furthermore, your "you either support our big @$$ government solution or you are an evil bastard" mentality that neolibs put forward is such a bold-faced hypocritical lie and distortion of current events and 8-year-old history that I'm left wondering whether you're a relative to the Cheney family.

See - you follow the same school of debate that typical neolibs do. "You disagree with me so you must be a relative of Cheney..." The entire Obama and Democrat position to date has been one where they ignore other points of view, belittle opposing positions, and demonize opponents. Standard Saul Alinsky stuff. I phrased the neolib position bluntly, but accurately. This video is a shining example of the tactic. They ignore the many other things Republicans do to address issues, and instead insult them as cruel, evil summbiches for not supporting the neolib big government solutions of massive federal spending programs.

I think you're mad not because I'm inaccurate. I think you're mad because I'm adacious enough to tell the truth accurately.

Also, WP, you've just illustrated that you haven't the foggiest what Keynes' economic ideas actually were. So yeah, I guess it would be too much to ask to learn to spell the name of Keynesian school of economics (which Obama's administration isn't about, anyway).

Furthermore, your "you either support our big @$$ government solution or you are an evil bastard" mentality that neolibs put forward is such a bold-faced hypocritical lie and distortion of current events and 8-year-old history that I'm left wondering whether you're a relative to the Cheney family.

Bea, while not the same conversation I had some similar conversations with my dad. He isn't religious but he is Republican. To a fault. He votes straight Republican because he thinks they represent his old, poor, and disabled vet status.. which of course they don't. So imagine my surprise when the subject of evolution comes up one day. My dad, non-religious, believes in creationism. WTF? His reply to why evolution couldn't be possible, "There's too many gaps in the theory."

To try to speak to him on terrorism, global warming or another current events is futile. I have not learned to change the subject. For some reason the only thing that makes sense to me in the moment is to argue with him with FACTS.

This of course makes no difference.

Moral is: How did we turn out so awesome???

I'd still love to contribute to a site/page about video, giving context to and discussing online videos.

http://www.videosift.com/talk/An-alternative-edited-front-page-with-video-AND-text:
"The current front page is only video with sometimes more context in the description and comments. It's great to go from one subject to another but readers/viewers also like to stay on topic for a while and see more structure.
It would be nice to also have a more "contextual" - more structured/categorized - front page with small articles and features written around video posts on Videosift. Community members could become editor of this page, which may be similar to the Wikipedia portals (List of portals), where's a fixed structure and content 's changing occasionally. E.g. one could have current events section (news videos+short factual description), daily comedy sketch (video), a feature section about a subject with lots of links to videos on VS, et cetera. It would be a bit like some of the blog posts but then put together on one page and with some editing (limited amount of words, opinion or more factual)/subject (within the chosen format) guidelines."

I think it would work best on a new URL (under a new name, different layout, cf. http://wordpress.org/extend/themes/arras-theme ), but it could be integrated in the current site as well..

that was nice.
from my perspective i have found that the young people today either are highly aware of current events and are making conscious choices,or are totally oblivious to whats going on around them.there seems to be no middle ground.
i find it a comforting hope when i encounter a fairly large percentage are pretty well-informed for their age.
then again im pretty biased.
i dont suffer fools in my class and i make it a point to call any of them to task if they spout rhetoric without any logic to back it up and i expect them to do the same with me.
challenging ideas is a trait i attempt to instill in all my students,even if that means challenging me.
which they do.....constantly.
i think i learn more from them than they ever could from me.

>>^griefer_queafer
Yeah I agree Zakaria is a talented interviewer. And quite smart. He can actually pronounce names of people overseas properly. But I think you might be giving CNN too much credit in giving him leeway on CNN. I'm thinking they hired him because his ideology is within the spectrum of what they want to broadcast. Because if they actually gave a real voice to the best academics on foreign policy in the US then it would be like CNN stabbing itself in the heart. The amount of so called "official sources say" reports and interviews they depend on is pitiful. CNN is pretty much irrelevant to me. For them to have any credibility to represent reality they have to challenge those in power, take the hit of losing interviews with politicians, then do investigative work rather than he said she said tabloid style what do you think of what that person said about this or that person coverage. I used the word coverage purposely in that I have a hard time calling the vast majority of CNN journalism, more like a 24 hour politician versus politician reality show. If you have one self serving propaganda group versus another self serving propaganda group constantly fighting for power then it's seems obvious to me that the media should be a referee of facts and analysis. But rather than investigate and giving cold hard facts on social issues now you've got networks (generally) representing political parties instead. CNN, took a slightly different path, instead of doing good investigative journalism has opted for getting a wide variety of political ideologues. But they're still mostly political hacks and their viewers aren't given the historical context of current events because of that. OK. I've gone a bit off topic ranting. anyway.

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