Posts by Michael Hogan
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The trillions of dollars and thousands of lives uselessly wasted in Iraq have been put on the back burner conveniently whilst Americans frantically check their wallet, their dodgy mortgage and their job prior to voting. Hillary's husband hasn't done her any favours lately, and that will gravitate more towards the inspiration thing with Obama.
Indeed he is the most exciting and charismatic politician to come into the fore in the US since Kennedy, and many are making that comparison. Nonetheless, he is a politician, and with no small machine behind him to get their guy in there. The hostility is there between the two (not unfamiliar territory for a Clinton), make no mistake, which is a shame as it would be a winning ticket for sure if they ran as a team. Most bridges are burned too deeply by the time the convention comes around for real healing.
Gore or Kucinich were the only real change agents, and they are two entirely different cases. It may unfortunately be business as usual, even with the Democrats having this race won all bar the shouting. They gave it away in 04, and can do it again, though unlikely.
California is a largely Dem state, and who they choose to run will be a very good indicator. Great stuff
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Drugs are drugs. Always been there always will. Legislating for or against certain drugs has never worked, and never will. People will use what they want. It is not the drugs that are the problem, it is our relationship with them that can be. If you include caffeine, nicotine, and alcohol, almost everyone uses some kind or another, most very responsibly.Others not so.
In terms of driving, well I don't know how anyone can waste space talking about the effects of cannabis in this area, as recent media reports are doing, both here and in Australia (on 60 Minutes this week).The term "drug driving" is an attempt to demonise and separate other drugs from the real problem behind the wheel as everyone knows, which is alcohol.One could easily get the feeling that certain very large industries that stand to lose the most only want us only using their drugs, and not anything else that may cost them revenue.
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Patti Smith DOES rock. I saw her a few years back w/Bob Dylan at the (yikes!) North Shore Events Centre of all places. No matter.She tore the roof off the place. Likewise, the Hendrix version of Like A Rolling Stone is monumental. Another version of it live at Winterland can be heard on http://concerts.wolfgangsvault.com/
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It seems to make sense that someone selling me something I'm going to put into my body should have to demonstrate that it is, within reasonable bounds, safe.
Well yes, I agree Russell. The problem arises however, when the business model is used as the primary driver behind legislative action. And who will have the lobbying power to ensure this is passed? Those with the most to spend (and gain) when it does. The acceptable return on investment philosophy is older than many of the remedies being touted now as ancient.
The food you buy at the supermarket cannot be demonstrated to be safe within reasonable bounds until it has been (supposedly) consumed for a number of years without adverse side effects. Is this not a good enough standard to apply to supplements and herbal remedies? GE food (covering 80% of the cotton, soy, and corn from the US) cannot pass that test, yet we merrily go about buying food "products" full of these ingredients (and shipped from all over the globe). Many plant based remedies would fall under the same type of processing nightmare, but many do not. It is most definitely buyer be "aware".
The conditions and "dis-eases" which we see emerging that were not around (or monitored) 50 or even 20 years ago, are often a direct result of the environmental toxins we ingest through air, water and food. We should be concerned (or at least reasonably informed about everything we put in our bodies.
The Omnivores Dilemma by Michael Pollan is the best book in ages about this subject. It is very hard to look at anything we put in our bodies the same again.
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"You learn something in a good discussion, and there are plenty of blogs where that holds. In fact, I'm going to go out on a limb and declare that Public Address is better than Comment is Free."
Couldn't agree more RB. I want to use the huge interactive advantage 2.0 is giving us to learn something for sure. I can listen to talkback, pick up a Womens Weekly or watch idiot TV if I want to be numbed and sedated. Broadcast Yourself invites a fair amount of digital narcissism for sure, but one has to filter through much in life to uncover some gems. Web 2.0 offers the platform, and the foundation for imagination and creativity to create some synergy in real time. Brilliant. And I haven't made a bob off it yet either. Is it commercial? Absolutely. Is it narcissistic? A good majority, perhaps. But is it changing our culture? Most definitely. Long way from dead, just learning to ride the bike, I'd say, and falling off once in awhile.
Don't get me started on "poor old Bob", arguably the best poet of the 20th century; and Scorcese's doco No Direction Home, shows just how far ahead he was then, and still is, sorry. Nobody has ever written a song close to Like A Rolling Stone. It turned the music world inside out. Who has done that recently?
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I find it difficult to accept those (of whom I know several) that are in the "autistic spectrum" are pre-disposed to anything at all similar to actions regularly associated with psychotic pathological behaviour. One area seems to have more to do with power and control, the other with social connectedness (or lack of it).
Let us not forget the complications of brain chemistry as a finely balanced maelstrom of neurotransmitters that may (through a whole host of reasons) be affected in the simplest of ways that have the most tragic of consequences. Those of us who think we may be in total control of our mind at all times well, er, best wishes.
Toxicity in all forms - mental, emotional, physical and environmental - is reaching alarming proportions in societies that have the luxury to recognise and analyse them. Those that are not too busy with surviving, will realise the immunity against these types of dis-eases will take more effort as the fallout from ignoring them becomes too great. -
If being a liberal is not accepting "evil" as inherent or genetic in someone Neil, then by all means label away. It seems to me actions that are unacceptable are more a product of conditioning,chemical reactions in the brain, and environment. Fortunately in the societies mentioned Che, there has been some effort to keep the safety net a bit wider,and perhaps catching more of the potential risks.
I make no bones about assigning personal responsibility when and where it is due, which is most situations. The difficulty arises when the environment, mental health and conditioning arrive in a torrid confluence that some are clearly ill-equipped to handle. This was not the first, nor will it be the last, and if it can't be described as a mental health problem, I don't know what can.
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Since the Reagan era in the U.S., there has been a continuous and unmitigated disaster in the mental health field. Facilities were closed down and seriously mentally ill were let loose to fend for themselves (i.e. become homeless), or end up in prison. As with so many other government functions, the prison "industry" was privatised allowing more to be built for those who were deemed "imminently at risk to themselves or others".
How do authorities decide that? They can't in many cases until it is too late. Clearly Cho was in the system that failed him and ultimately all his victims.
Psychiatric beds are simply not profitable, and the alternative is not thinkable, but quite possible.
First hand story worth a read:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=9750908 -
Let us not forget this is about Nexters in the U.S. As an expat American that travels back and forth regularly, I would say the cultural myopia that exists in that country is especially acute for that generation. A very large percentage have not traveled outside their country, or even own a passport. Yes, the trends do make their way around Pacifica and many other parts of the world; but young people here thankfully have other influences balancing their outlook and decision-making capabilities. These will hopefully help to form the beginnings of their own national and cultural identity. Americans export many things with great success; strong cultural values or political maturity would not be amongst those, I would suggest.
As far as how they compare with Baby Boomers or any other demographic; each one seems to have its own version of the "me first", depending on the technology of the day. If "MySpacing" is not an exercise in narcissism, I don't know what is..
Nothing wrong with social networking mind you, but just because it is done instantly via bandwidth,doesn't make it any more valid or useful than any other generations'. Unless it is used for generating real social change and political momentum to solve some of the mounting problems Nexters will need to address, it is just another cocktail party on steroids. -
Journalists I read rarely label anything with "most". As parochial as the Herald is, it obviously is referring to NZ political blogs. That is a big filter, and a big mistake.
Worldwide, many bloggers are making a measurable difference in the style,quality and quantity of media we consume.
That has got to be a good thing.
Apparently no one worth anything in Washington DC finishes their coffee in the morning without checking out Huffington Post, and she is treated like royalty. All that in less than a couple of years. It will bring about real change in that country sooner hopefully, rather than later.
Apparently we have reached our first billion online, and the next few billion wiill be vastly different. I find it heartening in the age of delusional leaders like Bush and Co. to be able to access content around the globe, be it political,social, economic or creative.
From last weeks New Scientist:
http://www.globalvoicesonline.org/