Category: Culture
Some Reading and Lyrics
When everything matters. Nothing matters most.
Rather than send words into cyberspace everyday or even weekly for that matter, I’ve waited. The amount of opinion, news, entertainment, shouting, conspiracy theory, resources, video, music, good causes, hype, drivel, virtual community, politics and religion, it seems like every minute of every day has become the holiday family meal where one must be cautious about anything but the weather. Oh, wait. Climate change. My apologies.
I don’t know what you are reading. Here are a few things I’ve found interesting.
Journalists Aren’t the Enemy of the People. But We’re Not Your Friends.
Ben Smith, The New York Times. Sept 6, 2020.
The Last Time a Contested Presidential Election Nearly Tore the Country Apart
Ed Kilgore, New York Magazine. Sept 7, 2020
Help still needed to fill gap while Our Daily Bread is closed
James Neal, Enid Eagle. Sept 13, 2020
With Some Schools Moving Outdoors, Retailers Follow
Business, The New York Times
Hate Social Media? You’ll Love This Documentary
Arielle Pardes, Wired. Sept 9, 2020.
The Best Reason to Go to College
Pico Iyer, The New York Times. Sept 6, 2020
Updates and Guidelines for Including Music in Video
Facebook.com. Sept 11, 2020
I Take Back Everything I Said About Southwest Louisiana
Stephanie Soileau, The New York Times, Sept 11, 2020
Social media disinformation on US west coast blazes ‘spreading faster than fire’
Jason Wilson, The Guardian. Sept 14, 2020
And now, to demonstrate the theatre of the macabre of President Trump’s Presidency, rallies, and governing alongside the GOP, here are the lyrics of John Fogerty’s “Fortunate Son” which is being played at the President’s campaign events. Click here to hear John Fogerty’s thoughts.
Some folks are born made to wave the flag
John Fogerty, “Fortunate Son.” Fantasy Records. November 2, 1969
Ooh, they’re red, white and blue
And when the band plays “Hail To The Chief”
Ooh, they point the cannon at you, Lord
It ain’t me, it ain’t me, I ain’t no senator’s son, son
It ain’t me, it ain’t me; I ain’t no fortunate one, no
Some folks are born silver spoon in hand
Lord, don’t they help themselves, oh
But when the taxman comes to the door
Lord, the house looks like a rummage sale, yes
It ain’t me, it ain’t me, I ain’t no senator’s son, son
It ain’t me, it ain’t me; I ain’t no fortunate one, no
Yeah!
Some folks inherit star spangled eyes
Ooh, they send you down to war, Lord
And when you ask them, “How much should we give?”
Ooh, they only answer, “More! More! More!” Yo
It ain’t me, it ain’t me, I ain’t no military son, son
It ain’t me, it ain’t me; I ain’t no fortunate one, one
It ain’t me, it ain’t me, I ain’t no fortunate one, no no no
It ain’t me, it ain’t me, I ain’t no fortunate son, no no no
A reflection on the state of our dis-union everyone should read.
Yes, I know that for many the New York Times, Washington Post, LA times, The Guardian, and BBC News cannot be trusted. Often, I feel the same way about Fox News, the Washington Examiner, and others. This is what makes Thomas Friedman’s words from August 9, “Beirut’s Blast Is a Warning for America” important. A snippet and a link.
Beirut’s Blast Is a Warning for America
Thomas Friedman, Opinion, The New York Times
The United States is becoming like Lebanon and other Middle East countries in two respects. First, our political differences are becoming so deep that our two parties now resemble religious sects in a zero-sum contest for power. They call theirs “Shiites and Sunnis and Maronites” or “Israelis and Palestinians.” We call ours “Democrats and Republicans,” but ours now behave just like rival tribes who believe they must rule or die.
Everything is now politics — even the climate, even energy, even face masks in a pandemic.