The younger you are, the less polished your speaking skills are.  It’s a generational thing.  My teenage son and his girlfriend will sit in the same room  and text back and forth.  What happened to talking?  And because it takes longer to type than talk, SNS and texting have ruined the grammar skills of an entire generation.

Wat r u doing 2da?

Im cing dat nu muv.

What?  Why can’t you just type:  what are you doing today or I’m seeing that new movie?

This is how people currently type and talk.  Speech and written language follow similar lines and we are currently dumbing down our communication patterns for the sake of brevity.

As for the ability for me to keep up with long lost friends and relatives, I say keep it.  There are a few instances where I have ran into someone on a SNS and was glad.  For the most part, however, I stopped socializing with those people for a reason.  It’s a great way to keep up with changes in the situation or location of people you know, but it should be used as a tool to interact with them in a more personal way.

Understandably, it’s easy to have ambiguous feelings about the whole situation.  I mean, as soon as I finish this sentence, I’m posting a link to this blog on facebook.

Shane

Social networking. We all know it. We’re all involved with it in some capacity or another. Some people reading this probably came here because of a link they saw on Facebook or MySpace. 

More than 200 million people are on Facebook. That’s an amazing number. But is it a good number?

I think it is. And I’ll tell you why. 

Social networking sites (SNS from here on out) offer us a way to stay in touch with people from all stages of our life — something that was impossible even 5 years ago. People we normally never would’ve talked to after graduation are now a daily part of our lives, whether that’s directly (messaging, wall posts or whatnot) or indirectly (reading status updates and those incessant quizzes). 

In my case, I have many friends I made while marching drum corps. They live all over America, some outside of America.  I rarely get around to calling them and almost never go see them. But because of SNS, I get to talk to them all the time. They know what I’m up to. I know what they’re up to. 

Also, I recently moved away from home, away from friends and family. If this were 2004, communication would effectively be cutoff (save for a select few). But it’s 2009 and I can very easily — with the stroke of a key –  close that 200 mile gap. I know whether my mom is having a good day or a bad day, or I know that Brandon still can’t spell. 

For those people I don’t want to follow, I block them from my feed. I don’t have to know about them if I don’t want to. And believe me, I do. 

SNS also fulfill that voyeuristic side of all of us. Face it, we all like to follow the drama, whether we’ll admit it or not. And there is plenty to be had on Facebook and MySpace. 

And not to mention, SNS fill the down time. If you’re bored, it kills time. 

Now, there are plenty of downsides to SNS. Downsides that are sure to be pointed out in the above post. 

Drew

Ah, the age old argument that never gets old. Batman or Superman.

I believe there are two types of people in this world: Batman people and Superman people. I am the former.

Let’s start with the most glaring issue regarding Superman’s ability to fight crime.

Lois Lane.

She’s annoying and she’s self-centered and when it comes to fighting crime, she only slows Superman down. In fact, he puts her before the people he’s supposed to protect.

Batman doesn’t have that stupid woman slowing his game down.

Let’s say a woman is pushed from a tall skyscraper by some Libyan terrorists with AK-47s. That woman is careening to her death when all of the sudden, Superman flies in a saves her. Shew! That was close, she thinks to herself.

But…wait, what’s that? Lois Lane is screaming for Superman. She needs help!!

What’s wrong? Oh….her garbage disposal is clogged.

Superman: “Gotta go. See ya.”
Woman: “Aaaahhhhhhheeeeeeeaaaaa.”

Superman drops the woman from 5,000 feet and races to his girlfriend’s house. Why? Because he’s whipped. He’s weak. Man of Steel — unless you’re a little brunette journalist named Lois. Then he’s man of whipped.

Batman, on the other hand, is dead inside. He witnessed the brutal murders of his parents and has since gone through a psychological gauntlet of guilt, despair, desperation and finally, a searing hatred for all things crime.

He’s a multi-millionaire and instead of bringing 5 supermodels home with him every night, he dresses up like a bat and fights criminals. I mean, that tells you something about the man’s psyche. He’s what we in the industry call “hell bent.” And he’s hell bent on revenge, which everyone knows is never satisfied.

What’s Superman’s motivation? He’s an alien and wants to protect a race of people to which he has no relation? Come on. There absolutely has to be a strong motivating factor, which is ultimately the real issue. Why is this person doing this? Because if the person is only doing it for superficial reasons, then the job will very quickly wear on them. And they’ll quit.

Which brings us to Kryptonite. S-Man is a decent superhero unless you have a green rock — in which case he’s impotent.

“But Drew, Kryptonite is an exotic mineral only found on the planet Zyborgiconastan?”

That’s fine. Bruce Wayne can probably afford to send Bruce Willis and his oil drilling team up there to mine a few thousand pounds of it and bring it back. Then it’s game over for Superman.

And finally, Superman can fly and that’s cool, I guess. Whatever.

Batman has the Batmobile. And in my book, that’s just as cool.

Drew

Who would win in a battle between these two? Good question; let’s explore a little more.

Three assumptions must be made about this epic. The tumult takes place on Earth, only weapons or special powers previously known in the superhero universe are permitted, and it is a fight to the death.

Superman wins!

Blog’s over. What, you need an explanation? Weak-minded earthlings.

First of all, Superman is actually super-human, or Kryptonian if you will. So unless you plan on moving our solar system around another star or plan on moving the melee out of our solar system, and consequently, off of earth directly in violation of rule #1, Superman can’t be beat.

What can Batman do that Superman can’t? Batman is a wealthy guy with a bunch of high priced toys. He’s Bill Gates meets MacGyver meets the Governator. Virtually every weapon in his Bat-cave is an imitation of some natural ability Superman possesses.

Batman has a plane. Superman flies. Batman has Kevlar armor. Superman has impervious skin. Batman has bionicle vision. Superman has x-ray vision (always cool with the ladies…) and laser eyes. Batman has fast cars and motorcycles. Superman runs faster than a speeding bullet. Batman lives in a cave. That’s right a cave. Nothing says I’m a hero like, “Hey babe, I just finished fighting some crime and was thinking we should have a few drinks and go back to my cave.” Superman has a frikkin’ Ice Palace. Enough said.

How do you kill them? You can’t kill Superman without finding some Kryptonite. Good luck with that. How long would it take Superman to remove Batman’s mask and end his mortal life? Not long.

The only edge that Batman has is alter-ego. Bruce Wayne is certainly cooler than Clark Kent, but…..Bruce Wayne is still human. Even though he looks like a dork, Clark Kent is really just Superman without the tights. If some crime breaks out, he’s ready without any trips home to the cave. AND- thanks to his super powers in the boudaire, Clark would be that guilty secret all the ladies talk about…he’s like the energizer bunny- except for the drum, batteries, pink fur, and being a bunny.

Shane

After years of obvious skin lightening, Jackson finally announced on his own to Oprah Winfrey that he had a skin disease called Vitiligo, that affects the pigmentation of one’s skin. If you read about the disease, you find that it is quite real and difficult to cope with.

Unfortunately, in the same interview, Jackson went on to mention that millions of white people spend much time sunbathing and using tanning salons in an attempt to make themselves have darker skin. He noted that this attempt to ultimately make their white skin more dark was widely accepted and never criticized. Why, he then asked, is it such a big deal if someone does the opposite?

One statement halts criticism and demands sympathy. The next demands speculation. The ordering of these comments causes one to think that the disease claim is a veiled attempt to hush the public scrutiny of his dislike for his own ethnicity.

There are some videos out there that show photos of Jackson with obvious effects of Vitiligo. They are not numerous, but they exist. The photos show enough evidence that I can be sold on the fact that the man did have this skin disorder. I can also imagine that the stress of having a disease that so greatly affects the appearance, especially around the mouth and nose, would cause unyielding stress for the most recognizable face on the planet.

There is only one thing that begs questioning? Why not just come straight out with it? Or when you announced it on Oprah, show it. Remove the make up, bring some photos of yourself fresh out of the shower with no cosmetic effects. This would have stopped the media and the world dead in their tracks. This would have brought worldwide attention to the disease. This would have brought understanding to the regular folks suffering from the same thing.

That middle school kid being teased might get an easier time because the King of Pop has the same thing. He could have stopped having to answer questions about his heritage.

I have sympathy for him, always have, but it is only to a degree. Strangely, though, I do not blame the media regarding this chapter of the Jackson story. And I hate the media. The bottom line remains that he had the power to easily stop all of the speculation and did not.

Shane

Regarding criminality, refusing to give the authorities access to information that can help prove your guilt or innocence only makes you appear guilty. We know this. How many times have you seen reports on ESPN of an athlete refusing a breathalyzer test after being pulled over doing 110 on the freeway? Some high priced attorney swoops in and the star gets some probation and an apology from the officer for doing their job.

Do I agree with tasering someone for refusing a sample? No. I believe we should all operate within the current laws. That should apply to law enforcement officials as well.

However, you implicate yourself as guilty if you are uncooperative. The innocent typically have little to hide from.

Furthermore, when was the last time someone refused to give their fingerprints? Aren’t those our own individual identifiers? What’s the difference? DNA is newer. DNA is more accurate. And more to the point, DNA has been mystified by CSI and makes people uptight.

Now, should babies have their blood samples stored without parental consent? Absolutely not. Should the samples be taken? Probably.

It is very easy to speculate about the intervention of Big Brother and controlling programs regarding our DNA. And Back to the Future created speculation about Hover-boards being on store shelves in 2000. Seen any skater kids floating around your neighborhood? Probably not.

From a scientific stance, do the positive possibilities outweigh the negative ones? What could scientists do with this data? Could they isolate common factors encountered during pregnancy that cause birth defects? Could they create synthetic blood for every type, fulling stocking blood reserves in perpetuity?

This article contains the following quote: “Once learning the genetics of one child, you could see an insurance company seeing that possibility for the next child and making it clear that this is a preexisting condition that the company would not cover. Or perhaps an employer that found out about it wouldn’t want to have us as an employee,” said Twila Brase of the Citizens’ Council on Health Care in St. Paul.

This issue is NOT scientific. The civil liberties arguments involved with background checks and insurance companies need to be addressed now, because of existing problems. We allow insurance companies to make medical care decisions based on profitability rather than the advice of our doctors. How do we allow it? The average American cares more about which gender Lindsey Lohan is swapping fluids with this week than they do about protesting the ever expanding grasp of corporations.

Remember, the Constitution was drafted to protect the rights of the burgeoning American aristocracy, not the masses. If you want real rights for the masses, you’ll need to start working on a revolution.

But is our DNA actually our DNA. Do we own it? Or is it something in which the government has a stake?

Of course it’s ours. My DNA belongs to me, your DNA belongs to you. You can’t take it from me without my consent or trick me into giving to you.

Our government disagrees.

Take for instance Ryan S. Smith. He was sitting handcuffed on the floor of a Niagara Falls Police Headquarters when he was tasered because he refused to give up a DNA sample.

That’s right. The cops shocked him with 50,000 volts of electricity because he wouldn’t give them what was rightfully his. The man was accused of a shooting and a gas station robbery. Was he guilty? Probably. In that case, the government should do its job and build a case against him using the law. When they have evidence, they can issue a warrant for his DNA. A warrant that must be signed by a judge.

Or take this case. A Minnesota hospital is taking the blood from newborn babies and storing it for future DNA use.

You and I are protected under the 4th Amendment from “unlawful search and seizure”, which is exactly what has happened in these cases. They can happen again and most likely will.

The government is making an argument for taking your DNA without your permission. They’ve already made the argument (and won) for taking your property without your permission — see Eminent Domain. What’s next? When do our liberties trump the “greater good”?

I don’t care if it’s your blood or your land or your money….Uncle Sam is coming for it.

Unfortunately for us all, we live in a world in which the news cycle is never-ending. Program directors and producers have to keep interesting content on your TV screen literally 24 hours a day.

What? You’re not interested in Jacko’s death? Well, neither am I. And neither is anyone I know. But there are millions of people out there who are. Millions of people who never watch CNN, Fox News or MSNBC will stay glued to their television sets for hours every day for the next week so they can soak up every ounce of news coming out of this story. That’s a whole new audience that news channel advertisers never get a chance to see. Now they’ve got a fresh captive audience.

Well guess what, now the folks at CNN can charge just a little bit more for that 30 second spot at 6 p.m. on a Wednesday because the middle-aged white woman in Wisconsin who doesn’t know the difference between a bill and a law has decided to watch Anderson Cooper so she can find out what the 2nd autopsy said.

It’s unfortunate, yes. Especially since the House just passed the largest tax increase bill in the history of this nation (without reading or knowing the contents of the bill I might add). Instead of talking about how the thousands of coal miners in West Virginia are going to suddenly work at a wind farm in the mountains of Appalachia when the coal companies can’t afford the billions it’s going to take cap the very gas that I’m exhaling right now, we’re talking about a 50-year-old ex-black entertainer who finally collapsed under the pressure of being worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

But, someone’s going to profit from the ridiculous news coverage, and with that I have no problem.

I do have a problem with people who are obsessed with a man who was a good dancer, a decent singer and shared his bed with 13-year-old boys.

Drew

Discounting, or perhaps counting all of that- for an entire week the media has acted as if we just found out that a giant asteroid is tracking straight toward earth.  Everywhere from CNN, FoxNews, CNBC, Facebook, MySpace, Twitter- you name it, it’s Michael Frikkin’ Jackson.  Look folks, he sang songs, danced around, did some really weird stuff- that’s it.  He did not lead an international peace movement or find a cure for cancer.  Let it go.  Two main points to contribute here.

First, I keep hearing and reading MJ this and MJ that.  Why do people keep bringing up Michael Jordan in the middle of a Jacko story?  That’s right.  There is and always will be one MJ.  His airness, Michael Jeffrey Jordan.  To rob the greatest professional basketball player of all time of his nickname is one thing.  To attach it to perhaps the single strangest human to ever exist is another.  One is a proud black man and the other spent his life trying to erase all traces of blackness.  Mission accomplished.  The news headlines could of easily read, “Leading female from Planet of the Apes found dead.”

Secondly, all of you crazy ass people boo hooing and blubbering for the TV camera need to shut up.  I heard one lady being interviewed say the following: 

[in a maniacal cartoon voice] “He was such a good performer and so full of energy.  I just can’t believe he could die!

Hey dumbass, everybody can die.  Not only can we all die, we are all going to die.  To quote an actual musician, “No one here gets out alive.”  If everyone involved- the media, the crazies, ultra-crazies, everyone- if they all took this energy being spent on mourning, they could do all kinds of positive things.  They could help find children who are being abducted by pedophiles.  They could find a cure for cancer.  Hell, they could write the song that makes the whole world sing.

But Shane, you’re some kind of heartless machine that doesn’t care if somebody dies.  Really?  YOU wanna play that card?  Where’s the outcry for the dozens of people in your local paper who died yesterday?  I don’t see any news coverage of them.  I don’t see any vigils planned and they lived close to you.  Oh, you didn’t know them.  Well……YOU DIDN’T KNOW MICHAEL JACKSON.  I care as much about him dieing as I care about every other random person I don’t know who dies.  Actually, I probably care less.

Shane