You are a full glass of GOD or RAGE AGAINST THE "ER"

By Patia B.
Mamba Magazine

We are all full glasses of God.

I came to this conclusion at 6 am, when I woke up and felt that I had no other purpose in life than to stare at the glass of water that sits at my bedside. (Anyone who actually knows me knows that "cute" little throat scratching that I have in the middle of the night…thus making the water a vital part of my existence..and a vital comfort for everyone who is in earshot.)

ANYWAY…as I stared at the water I contemplated the irony of the "half empty/half full" phenomena. I couldn't decide whether I thought the glass was half empty or not. I couldn't decide why I couldn't decide….and suddenly as I looked around my room….contemplated my life (no job..in my parents house…losing my mind (literally and beautifully)… just sort of living…)

There is no glass…there is only God. So in essence we are all full glasses of GOD. Everything else is a misconception...

We are all...click here for more.

REV. JOHN: Random Thoughts for 5/10

I have a friend who will fill me in on what everyone is talking aboot on the talk radio, and apparently everyone (at least on the right side of the dial) has realized that John McCain and Fred Thompson are essentially the same person (a conclusion we on PCLIVE! came to a few weeks ago). The only difference is that Thompson speaks with a southern accent. That must be why everyone thinks he's the most qualified.

People seem surprised that Spiderman 3 broke every opening weekend record when the movie was terrible. I'm not. It doesn't matter how bad the movie is, people were still going to see it just because it was opening weekend and the thing to do. It's like being a battered wife. You know it's going to hurt, yet we can't stop ourselves from going back (like we will and Spiderman 4 comes out in a few years).

I'm really tempted to get tickets for this year's Projekt Revolution tour. Linkin Park, My Chemical Romance and Taking Back Sunday are probably my three favourite bands to come out this decade (plus seeing TBS at Jones Beach would be cool). The rub is that I think my rock concerts days are behind me. I usually wind up feeling like a narc or a chaperone.

At this rate, I'll be heading for electric chairs. I'm only human with my cross to bear. When she described her underwear, I forgot all the rules my rabbi taught me in the old schul. You're too young to be this empty girl. I'll prepare you for a sick dark world. Know that you'll be my downfall, but I call, and I call, and I call...

I hate to admit it, but MSNBC's "Morning Joe" with Joe Scarborough and John Ridley may be a winner. Scarborough is a former Republican Congressman, the host of "Scarborough Country," and quite possibly the whitest guy on the network. Ridley is a screenwriter, a blogger for the "Huffington Post," and one of them black African Americans. I was laughing my ass off this morning, though if I find it funny I'm sure there's a whiny pussy "media" watchdog somewhere who is trying to see how many words ending with "-ist" and "-ism" they can squeeze into one blog post complaining aboot it.

I think I quit buying CD's. I definitely steal my share of music off of da' net, but if I really dig the artist I'd still by the CD. The rub is that I'll either rip in onto my laptop, or listen to it once and leave it on the floor of my car for a few months. Plus now that I have the FM transmitter for the ol' iPod, I don't even listen to the CD's anyways, so what's the point? I bought the new Travis album off of iTunes, and pre-ordered Bon Jovi and Linkin Park. As far as the transmitter goes, I know it doesn't get the best reception. The trick is turning the volume up loud enough where the music drowns out the static.

After the debate last Thursday night, I turned on Hannity and Colmes, because they had Newt Gingrich on and I figured the former speaker of the house would have a better insight then the debate spin room. Hannity wanted to make an issue out of John McCain saying that there were mistakes made in the war, which a) no shit and b) is something McCain's been saying for years, but I think the implication the host was making was that McCain's comments were "demoralizing our troops." So Hannity asked Newt to comment, at which point the former speaker strongly defended John McCain (almost in an "I want to be your V.P." way), agreed that mistakes were made, and even had a kind word for Joe Biden (which is a "D" if you didn't know). I sware, Sean Hannity looked like he wanted to cry.

Stop the Presses: Al Sharpton's a Hatemongering Hypocrite

By John Ridley
The Huffington Post

File this one under the heading THINGS WE ALREADY KNOW, right next to "water is wet" and "sunshine is warm." Al Sharpton is a hypocrite. And a hatemongering one at that.

When we were last visited by - or rather forced to endure - Reverend Al, he was once again snatching up the scepter of media-anointed spokesman for All Things Black.

It was the heady days of the Affair Imus. The women of the Rutgers B-ball team had the kink of their hair and the level of their sexuality called into question by the I-Man. Al, as Al is wont to do, took it upon himself to act without invitation and speak for those who were perfectly capable of speaking for themselves (for those keeping score, that's hypocrisy number one).

Toward the tail end of that TV news cycle whipped storm, when it was pointed out to Al that a variation of Imus's rant could be heard with an exponent in heavy rotation within a certain variety of rap music, Al promised to go at the extreme ends of the music business with the same camera-whoring zeal with which he attacked Imus.

On the 12th it will have been a month since Imus was dropped by CBS.

Though I make a point of closely following the news, I was apparently otherwise occupied during the ten minutes Al was flogging his big Anti-misogyny in Music Campaign.

Or so I thought.

As it turns out, it was Al who was otherwise occupied. Rather than take on misogyny, the man who decried there was no place in the culture for hateful language...well, he went out and fresh-brewed some hate talk of his own.

During a debate held Monday at the New York Public Library with...(click here for more).

RADULICH: On Spiderman 3, Hollywood Politics And Gender Roles

For months many fans of fantasy and/or comic books looked forward to the third installment of one of Marvel's most beloved and successful comic book movie adaptations Spiderman. What made this movie especially appealing to fans was the inclusion of one of Spiderman's most infamous villains-turned-icon in his own right, the dastardly fiend, Venom. With CGI effects evolving at leaps and bounds and based on the successful representation of previous characters from the comic book, we, as fans, assumed that Venom, in both look and character would be phenomenal and worth the price of admission alone. Couple that aspiration with the general appreciation for all of the characters and unresolved plotlines in the Spiderman movies and you should have had what would make for a stellar movie viewing experience.

However, as the old saying goes, the bigger they are, the harder they fall an in this case, expectations for the fantastic movie fell hard on comic book geeks from Tampa to NY. In short, nearly everyone I've spoken too after seeing Spiderman 3 thought it stunk. On the other hand both my wife and I enjoyed it and for her part, she's not even a fan of the movies or the comic book (I however am a huge fan and even bigger mark for Venom/the alien costume).

I think that this was much like the Hulk movie directed by Ang Lee in that it was a clear case of the director and writers making a compelling movie for the wrong audience. Fantasy fans (Sci-Fi, comic, D&D, etc.) don't particularly want to be bogged down in complex, sympathetic characters and plot lines. The fantasy experience should be fairly straightforward; bad guys are bad, good guys are good, bad guys threaten us, good guys save the day and win the girl. In the middle of all of this there should be lots of fighting, cool effects, and plenty of destruction.

Sam Raimi and company did not do this with Spiderman 3. In fact, one can safely say that Spiderman 3 was not really a fantasy picture, per se. This was a movie about relationships and forgiveness staring characters from the fantasy realm. All of the characters were complex people with multiple motivations, wants and desires capable of being both sympathetic as well as antagonistic. The best example of this that I can think of was the infamous kiss between Mary Jane Watson and Harry Osborn. Under normal circumstances, a woman in film that feels she has been slighted by her love and finds warmth and comfort in another mans arms does not invoke the reaction of the male audience members in the theater shouting, "Whore!" out loud. This kiss did in fact cause at least two instances of this from what my friends have told me.

Sure in films past a man might have thought that to himself but most would not have been moved to hysterics the way this scene did to it's male patrons. The reason is actually fairly simple. Again, under normal circumstances, it is accepted that a conflicted woman on film might have an on-screen indiscretion that leads to an unfortunate act of intimacy. In fact, this kiss was fairly innocuous considering some other movies portrayal of women and their capacity said indiscretions. But Mary Jane Watson is not a character in a movie that examines these types of issues that plague real people. She's simply Spiderman's love interest; an ornament to be worn by the hero as he fights bad guys and rights wrongs thus she's not entitled to perfectly human imperfections. By kissing Harry Osborne she betrayed the beloved hero and of course that can't be tolerated and thus she's labeled a "whore."

What I believe separates my wife and I from those who hated this film are issues that are actually two sides of the same coin. My wife had no fantasy expectations and was then free to enjoy a movie about people and their intertwining relationships. She even elbowed me when Mary Jane validated her belief that the man should always put his woman before himself or anybody else, even if you are Spiderman. While I can comic fans reacting harshly to such an assertion as it has to place in a boy's playground, the women in the audience thought it was perfectly natural for her to say that nor understood why it might just be a bit out of place in a fantasy movie. Fantasy is where boys can be unfettered in their imaginations so it breaks the rules to be told that you can be unchained save you keep yourself tied to your lady first.

I on the other hand did have fantasy expectations of the movie but once I realized where Raimi and company were going I let go of them and just accepted the movie for what it was and not what I wanted it to be. This is the eternal struggle between audience and Hollywood. Ego plays a part. Most professionals in Hollywood don't want to make the same old thing over and over again. With the amount of crap that gets made year after year this might sound funny but many in the movie industry consider themselves to be artists. Artists typically want to find some new frontier to explore or at the very least something fresh to share with an audience that is becoming jaded to movie magic. I'm not Sam Raimi but I can imagine what he might have been thinking when he and the writers put the Spiderman 3 script together. At the very least he was probably thinking that nobody wants to see the same old super hero action movie so let's do something different. Ang Lee I'm sure had the same thought and ran into the same problem with his albatross, the Hulk.

It's the same mentality that explains why people continue to cheer for Hulk Hogan despite the fact that these days he can't put on very good matches unless guys who can have 4 carry him star matches with broomsticks. We like our hero stories to be simple and easily defined-Black and white, not shades of gray. But when someone like Raimi or Lee goes off the reservation and overly complicates our beloved hero stories, people simply get pissed. We paid for a simple hero story and that's what we want. Now as I said earlier I enjoyed Spiderman 3 but that's only because I knew I wasn't watching a fantasy story anymore and thus I could enjoy it on a different level-the level the director intended for me to enjoy it on.

The last complaint I've heard about Spiderman 3 is yet another example of a fantasy coming to life and falling victim to the harsh politics of Hollywood. Now on this complaint I am sympathetic and I felt the same way as the rest of the detractors but since I understood, I got over it fairly quickly. The problem many had with this film is that both the heroes and villains could not keep their masks on to save their life. Every 30 seconds it seemed like the costumed characters needed to show of their familiar Hollywood faces. This is normal fare for Hollywood. Studios pay good money for name/face actors and their not going the throw it all out of the window because said faces need to be covered with masks (for the oh-so-important-to-the-fans character continuity). As much as it pained me to wait for two hours for Venom to show up and when he finally does he spends nearly the entire time out of mask, (don't even get me started on Spiderman's ever-decreasing lack of secret identity) the studios and producers don't give a rat's patoot about Venom or his fans. They do however care a lot about Topher Grace and the belief (by them) that it is not Venom that puts asses in seats but rather that 70's kid Topher Grace that brings them in a million score.

It's the Judge Dredd effect. You can't keep marketable faces covered up because then you'll lose value. Why pay for Sylvester Stallone, Topher Grace, Tobey McGuire, and James Franco when if they are just going to wear a mask you can get Tom, Dick and Harry Nobody for a considerably lower price. Not to mention with the aforementioned use of CGI, it's much cheaper to film mostly the natural faces of the young actors than it is to film the expensive masked heroes. Topher Grace costs less and is more marketable (in Hollywood theory) than is Venom. Once you understand and submit to this that it is reality, one can enjoy the movie for what it is instead of what you think it should be.

Gender roles and Hollywood politics may not have their place in the fantasy realm but the reality is that are here to stay. I think there can be room for both if given a chance and handled properly. Spiderman 3 might have been able to incorporate both elements without stinking (by the fans assessment) but the fans have to be willing to accept both first. At this juncture, until fantasy fans are willing to compromise and deal with reality, I think we are in for some long summers.

On the other hand, there's always Pirates 3 to look forward to.

HAMAS Mickey Mouse

Iron Shiek Done Gone Crazy...

RADULICH: I'm Not Dead Yet

This is my first entry in the post-Progressive Conservatism era. You see, I was pretty much done with writing as I had no time or real interest in writing about the news anymore. However, the good Rev John suggested that instead of limiting myself to just the news, why don't I write whatever I want, of any length at all and we'd rename the blog PC Live, seeing as the show is the focus now anyway. So after two weeks of thinking about it and deciding to do it but not having the time or the inclination, I'm finally submitting my first entry of limitless possibilities and the thing that's most pressing on my mind is…

Who thinks Rage Against the Machine is still relevant? Honestly, the only people who still listen to them probably don't vote or read the news. Organizing for political power and influence through music made sense when there were few ways to tap into the burgeoning population of educated middle income white kids but that was also 40 years ago. Music is not, despite the mainstream media's insistence that it is, a relevant political tool. Fans of music, especially metal, don't care enough about politics to sway anyone in authority or have so little knowledge of the issues that they cause more harm than good. De La Rocha basically used violent words to incite a crowd that will beat each other up to the deafening cacophony of stereo hiss and sound checks.

The real story here just how lazy the press really is. Instead of doing research and trying to understand and break down complex issues, they collectively opt to take what amounts to basket weaving 101 in paying so much attention to pop culture and it's dubious relationship to politics.

I may not be dead yet as a writer but its stories like this that make me as least wish for a short coma.

Politics, Spiderman, and How to Kill a Wife...

Our 5/6 show was the funnest one we've done in a while, but don't take our word for it...

Listen to highlights on our Myspace Page, or...

Listen to the entire show on Blog Talk Radio.

We're still working on next week. If you have any ideas on what we should talk aboot, let us know.

Imus hires attorney, will likely sue CBS

NEW YORK (CNN) -- Former radio talk show host Don Imus has hired one of the country's top trial lawyers to sue CBS Radio following his dismissal last month for making racial and sexual on-air comments about members of the Rutgers University women's basketball team.

Attorney Martin Garbus told CNN Wednesday that he has agreed to represent Imus in a wrongful breach of contract suit against his former employer.

Garbus would not disclose when he was retained by Imus but said he plans to file an action against CBS in the near future. Calls made to Imus by CNN were not returned.

A CBS spokesman declined comment.

Imus had $40 million remaining on a multiyear contact that began in 2006 and included a clause that CBS wanted him to be "irreverent" and "controversial," according to CNN legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin, who was shown part of the contract.

"Company (CBS Radio) acknowledges that Artist's (Imus') services to be rendered hereunder are of a unique, extraordinary, irreverent, intellectual, topical, controversial and personal character and that programs of the same general type and nature containing these components are desired by Company and are consistent with Company rules and policies."

Toobin said the legal issues in the Imus case are simple: "Did Imus breach his contract by saying what he did about the Rutgers basketball team?"

CBS dismissed Imus on April 12, eight days after he called the Rutgers players "nappy-headed 'hos" on his radio show, "Imus in the Morning."

"What stands out in the contract is he is supposed to be controversial and irreverent. That's what his statement about the Rutgers basketball team was," Toobin said.

"How is CBS going to argue that what he said was so controversial and so offensive that it isn't what they asked for in the contract?"

5/2: RandomThoughts w/ Rev. John

I get up at an ungodly hour in the morning to go to the gym, and while I have the TV on I'll still catch some of the infomercials for "Girls Gone Wild." After years of watching these commercials with black bars over all the fun parts, I downloaded on to see what all of the ballyhoo was aboot. As far as I can tell it's nothing but a bunch of drunk girls, marginally attractive at best, licking on each other and touching themselves. And while there's nothing wrong with that (and dare I say, it should be encouraged), it's hardly worth $19.95.

I don't know what's worse - my friend calling to say how he's a slave to fast food commercials, or the fact that I knew he was going to Arby's for the 5 for $5.49 (which we re-titled the "Pick Five You Fat Fuck") because I saw the same commercial last night and was wondering if there was an Arby's in the area? He commented that he's been sliding off his diet. I say if you're ordering five things off of a fast food menu, there's no diet to speak of.

I'm all for calling public figures on hypocrisy when it comes to saving the Earth and global warming (along the "do as I say, not as I do" tip), but let's keep some perspective. There's a world of difference between G.Q. Smoothe or MC $tereoType using private airplanes for frivolous uses...and a PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN needing one to transport a staff of hundreds. All the douchebag radio shows are criticizing the Dem candidates because they didn't carpool to the debate. Imagine what they would be saying if Hillary Clinton missed it altogether because Jet Blue cancelled all flights out of JFK? And if even if it was "frivolous," that's not an excuse to leave all the lights on in the house or ask them to double bag your laundry detergent when it has a handle on it.

I'm still waiting for a good day. I think I've held this long enough. I think it's safe to tell you some things. It's not just what you say to people and it's not the way you look at me. It's the way you present yourself for all your worst critics to see. And it feels like I'm at an all-time low, slightly bruised and broken from our head on collision.

Why can't I believe in equality for women, yet still think that Hillary Clinton couldn't be anymore transparent if she were invisible? I watched the debates this week and when she bought up her and "Bill" going to Columbine you could almost hear her saying to herself, "Dramatic pause, try and look upset." If you want to call me biased, that's fine. I know when I appear on the Sunday morning shows, it won't be with a (D) next to my name. But at least with Barrack Obama or John Edwards I get the sense that they have a vision for America. With Hillary Clinton, I think she just wants to be President.

If there's one thing I miss aboot working in the mall, it's that first day in Spring where the weather is just warm enough for all the girls to decide it's time to take out the clothes that shows off the goods. It's like they have a hotline that tells them "Ok girls, it's sunny out. It's time for everyone to start showing off the goods." And oy vey, do they show off the goods! They hit the malls and the beaches in the shorty shorts and the tops that make you say, "huh huh...boobs." God bless America.

It amuses me when I hear all the D's running for President saying something to the effect of, if they new then what they no now, they wouldn't have voted for the war. The reason I find this funny is because all the Democrats I know (friends, family, etc.) to a person all seemed to know then what they still know now. And while I'm not one for arm-chair quarterbacking (especially when my brothers and sisters are out risking their lives and I'm just blogging in the basement), I find it curious that a general manager from Hooters seemed to have a better grasp of the world than a senator on the Armed Services Committee.

No Pants Day is THIS Friday. Spread the word.

Post a bulletin telling everyone that No Pants Day is this Friday, May 4th.

No Pants Day is a day where everyone, be they students, respectable businessmen, or cherished community leaders, leave their pants behind. Usually this means wearing thick, appropriately modest boxer shorts, but bloomers, slips, briefs, and boxer-briefs all work as well.

http://www.nopantsday.com for more information

IFC supports women in the poultry sector

Taken from WorldPoultry.net

The IFC Advisory Services for South Asia (the SouthAsia Enterprise Development Facility - SEDF) and the Women Entrepreneurs Association of Bangladesh have signed an agreement to provide support for women farmers and entrepreneurs in the poultry sector.

This project includes training workshops to enhance technical and business management skills, as well as sessions providing guidelines to help women entrepreneurs improve their businesses. The initiative will increase productivity and generate income for women in the sector.

"There is a lot of interest from women to invest in the poultry sector, but they lack the necessary skills. I hope that by delivering both technical and business management training, this project will address this issue and encourage women to set up poultry-related enterprises," said the president of the Women Entrepreneurs Association, Nasreen A. Mintoo.

"Our aim is to help women entrepreneurs develop the necessary skills to scale up and remain competitive in a commercially viable, sustainable way," said Deepak Adhikary, deputy general manager and head of IFC-SEDF Bangladesh.

Random Thoughts: by Rev. John

I'm all for calling celebrities on hypocrisy when it comes to whatever the social issue du joir is, but am I the only one who heard Sheryl Crow say we should limit ourselves to "one square of toilet paper" and thought she was being sarcastic? Do people really think she means that seriously? Only use one square, "except for those instances where you need a second or third?" Two hundred and seventeen different people are running for President, each with their vision for America. My vision for America is one with a sense of humour, where we can put the politics aside once in a while just to simply say, "LOL!"

Matt Serra, or WORLD WELTERWEIGHT CHAMPION Matt Serra, and Matt Hughes are going to be the two coaches on the upcoming season of "Ultimate Fighter: The Welterweights." We're all particularly looking forward to this because it's been decided that the Serra/Longo Competition team is going to be our "NY YANKEES" of MMA, and we all hate Matt Hughes and all the other Miletich guys.

I was at our local burger joint a few days ago, and there was this guy who was, as they say, "all up in the grill" of someone else. He wasn't wearing a shit, had a big gold chain, his ball cap turned sideways, and was trying oh so very hard to look tough. To prove how tough he is, he even punched his car. And I thought to myself, "Self, there's a guy who thinks he's cool." What's sad is that I'm sure there are people who think he is.

You're primitive and you're cynical to me. I chewed down on the bit and almost swallowed it. You sit all alone with your color TV. Your hair starts to glisten in spite of the fleas. We don't have to stay friends. Let's pretend to be enemies. Yeah, whatever makes you happy.

So to celebrate Earth Day last Sunday, MTV aired a very special episode of "Pimp My Ride," where they pimped a ride to make it more eco friendly. It was a nice thing to do, but I don't see how much of a difference it will make when they go right back to pimping rides to waste as much energy as they can possible squeeze into a Honda Civic. I find MTV saying we should "go green" to be particularly amusing. The two most basic things you can do to help the environment (and two things we should all be doing) is to cut back on excess and exercise self-restraint. If it wasn't for celebrating excess and people who show no self restraint whatsoever, MTV wouldn't have any programming.

First I quit cable news after the Imus lynching debacle was one media circus too many for me. Now I've decided to quit the Internet, after a pop stars stupid comment on toilet paper seemed to take precedence over a world leader dying and that pesky little war. I've decided I'm just going to watch the Sunday news show for an overview of what's going on in the world, and if there's anything I feel compelled to research further, I will. My favourite is ABC's This Week. George Stephanopoulos is a great interview, and despite who his past employer was, I find him to be fair in his questioning. Plus George Will is the man, and as long as this one tart whose name I can't think of isn't on, the roundtable is usually heavy on ideas and light on talking points. I'll go back to cable news once the joint press conferences debates start, just because those will be good for a few yucks

Do you know that feeling in the middle of the afternoon when you really want to take you pants off but can't until you get home, but you still have two hours to go and the day is really dragging, and all you can think of is, "Wow, I really wish I wasn't wearing pants right now?" I hate that.

Enough About You, Let’s Talk About BUCGAW

It felt good to be back in the saddle again. I was a little overcome with trepidation before the show as I thought having taken a week off the good Rev and I would not sound so good but I’ll be damned, the show was a lot of fun. I’ve opted to go balls out with a new commenting style – less Brit Hume more Mark Radulich. In other words, though I am loathe admitting it, the only way a talk show of this stripe works is if I give more opinion and what’s in my heart than I do straight news analysis. So that means less research and more animated discussion on topics I have a solid grounding in. Having done that, I think it worked pretty well.

Even though I don’t have the expendable time like I used to, Rev John and I will still talk about the show throughout the week, hashing out what it is we want to say. However, to me the funniest and best part of the show came from a segment we didn’t confer about until about 30 seconds before the show started. The BUCGAW Report was to pretty damn entertaining this week and definitely removed some of the tension that the previous political discussion brought on. If you haven’t heard it yet, it’s worth the price of admission alone to hear Rev John and I riffing on prison show movies staring a cast of a 100 chickens.

Life Gets in the Way

I have put off writing this entry for some time now but in reality, it's probably more than a year overdue. Since I started this blog, I have tried to conduct myself as something of an opinion writer in training and have treated this blog like it was a real job. I wrote like one would exercise not just because I liked the hobby of writing but also to make myself a better writer, again like someone trying to lose weight and get in shape. When one is single and without many dependents or responsibilities, one can easily delve into a hobby such as this without much thought as to what it's consequences might be because obviously, you are only dealing with yourself. However, once I decided to get married I now had another person and her needs to consider and one cannot be completely selfish and selfabsorbed if you want your marriage to work. Marriage takes a degree of sacrifice, and frankly so does just becoming an adult. This won't be the first time I've opted to put away a childish thing in order to focus on more pertinent issues in my life.

That being said, with a flailing interest in political opinion writing and a life that consumes more of my time away from the computer, it is with some regret and more hope for better things that I have decided to stop writing on a weekly basis. If my heart were still in this I might try to fit it in, in leiu of something else but frankly, until Iran or China actually attack the US or the '08 primaries start up, I can't get excited with what I'm seeing in the news today and that by itself is reason enough not to pursue weekly blogging to the exclusion of all else or the detriment of my life off of the computer. Not to mention the fact that my new job (as of 3/12) will not really permit me the luxury of cosying down with the computer for long enough that I can actually compose something of value.

I have just enough energy to continue with the radio show which you can still find here with my thoughts and occasionally, time permitting, I will still throw something up for giggles but that's about all I can muster.

Thanks for reading (all 12 of you a day).

Next on Progressive Conservatism Live...

MARCH 18TH - Mark will be busy cleaning and doing his housework. Rev. John will just be drunk all weekend. Sadly, there will be no Progressive Conservatism Live this Sunday.

However we will return next week (March 25th) with a look at Mitt Romney and...we have no idea what else. That's where you come in. What topics would you like us to kibitz aboot on the show?

And if you miss us that badly, you can click here for all our archived shows.


Find out what grinded Mark's gears this week:
http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.ConfirmSubscribe&friendID=144579825

And hey look, Rev. John has a blog too:
http://blog.myspace.com/brodigan2016

go to blogtalkradio.com

Gingrich Vs Cuomo, Mark Vs People Who Hate the BIG, John VS Hypocrites, and Bengali Cows VS Chickens

It would have been nice if the Blog Talk Radio system had been working properly. I could finally see the buttons but one of them didn’t work and of course we got cut off again. Meh.

Outside of that, I thought the show went well. It seems like the hour just flies by now. I probably could have done an entire hour on just the economy and the BIG but obviously we had other stuff to get to.

I encourage those of you who write me about my column to call into the show and discuss your points further. I promise not to bite.

Lastly, though John’s already had a break, I need a weekend off. With the changing of jobs taking place and other personal matters I just need a moment to reconfigure my life and get things rolling again. So again, no show next week but when we come back, we should be refreshed and ready to rumble.

Monologue:

Why Our Emerging Robotic Nation Needs a Basic Income Guarantee

The Rise and Fall of a Basic Income Guarantee Bill in the United States Congress

US Economy Risks and Strategies 2007-2017 (V1.2)

Is this really the strong economy we are being lead to believe?

Gingrich Vs Cuomo

the "Lincoln at Cooper Union" dialogue series: Gingrich Vs Cuomo

The BUCGAW Report

Missing chicken mystery in Bengal solved

Narcissistic College Students

Narcissism and the End of Social Cohesion

Narcissism and the End of Social Cohesion

I was at a training recently and one of the younger social workers in the room was talking to me about the need for more certified male mentors. This came from a discussion about how when case managers gather services for families, almost all of them end up requiring some form of therapy as well as respite/mentor services. The obvious reason being that there is typically no father present or the one that is around is not functional in the home. The picture we were describing is a rather common one: boys of all races and ages growing up with no positive male role models and in turn never being taught nor having the opportunity to develop appropriate coping skills for boys.

Though the conversation zigged and zagged from one topic to another, even to the extent that we were seriously discussing what has been the long term effects (if any) that the Million Man March had on getting black men to return to their families to raise the children they brought in to this world. That’s when someone at the table looked up from their lunch of chicken and rice and said rather profoundly, “You know, the men of this country may be pigs but the mothers out there aren’t much better and in some cases they are worse.”

This is absolutely true. Many drug-using mothers had abandoned an untold number of teenagers I treated when I worked in an inpatient drug rehabilitation facility when they were born or any number of years after. Others were not abandoned but they might have done better if they had been given up for adoption as their mothers continued to use drugs all throughout the child’s life and tended to bring in men who in more cases than I care to recount, molested them.

There are a multitude of reasons why young people use drugs, become unfit parents, take unnecessary risks and even commit serious crimes. These reasons range from socio-economic to psychological. However, if there is one common thread that links the awful behavior of a low – no income crack addicted mother to a drunken irresponsible high-income frat boy is the unfortunately common trait, narcissism.

“The terms "narcissism", "narcissistic" and "narcissist" are often used as pejoratives, denoting vanity, conceit, egotism or simple selfishness. Applied to a social group, it is sometimes used to denote elitism or an indifference to the plight of others,” according to Wikipedia.

You can follow the line of regression from the Post World War II era to where we are now by looking at a number of factors. After WWII we see in the US the rise of suburbs and a distinctly self-sufficient middle class. It’s never been uncommon for parents to want better for their children than they themselves one experienced but now not only can parents provide a better life for their children but also, one with less and less responsibility for others. In other words, where once families had to think about each other in order to survive, slowly but surely the roles of the younger family members in which they were the caretakers of older generation were replaced by the government (social security) as well other unintended consequences of modernity.

To put it in another way, from the end of WWII until now we’ve had the dubious convenience of not having to care for others because the government and lord knows what else would do it for us. As more money and opportunities unfolded for the happily progressing American family, so did the devil of selfishness grow, feeding on the steadily declining idea of community. No sooner were we as a country throwing overboard the social mores that had helped civilization grow out of the darkest corners of Africa, were we giving in to behavior dictated by the basest impulses in the human psyche. It didn’t happen overnight but this did happen. Sixty to seventy years ago, it was not typical for people to have children out of impulse and then not take care of them because their own needs were not being met. From a socio-anthropological point of view, we flipped as a people from one where the needs of others outweighed the needs of the one to the needs of the one are the only needs that exist (until one’s conscience kicks in).

There is no question that we’re more narcissistic as a society today than we ever have been. The real question is whether or not we’ve hit the point of no return. One has to wonder if the trend of the last 40 some odd years have gone past the point of being irreversible. Twenty years ago one could argue that so long as we walled up the poor areas of America and kept it’s malevolent influence away from the proverbial children, well then, frankly who’d care if the poor burned themselves into oblivion. However, 20 years since even then, when many thought we could sweep poverty and its subsequent generation of immoral behavior under the rug, we’ve seen the richest and most potentially successful amongst us give rise to the same, if not worse behavior run amok throughout the country.

You may have heard that, “A new comprehensive study suggests today's college students are more narcissistic and self-centered than their predecessors.

Five psychologists who conducted the study worry the trend could be harmful to personal relationships and American society. The study suggests narcissists "are more likely to have romantic relationships that are short-lived, at risk for infidelity" and lack emotional warmth. The study also suggests narcissists are also more likely "to exhibit game-playing, dishonesty, and over-controlling and violent behaviors."

The study examined the responses of more than 16,000 college students nationwide who completed the Narcissistic Personality Inventory between 1982 and 2006. The researchers say NPI scores have risen steadily since 1982.” (Source)

So even the data suggests that the most affluent amongst us are just as selfish and ego-integrity deficient (look it up folks) as the people mostly associated with the worst in human nature. My question is that if the rich Caucasian prom queen has just as much of a chance of tossing her baby in the dumpster as a the resident inner city minority crack whore, then where is this trend leading us as a society? In other words, if all the kids of the generation which is to be the caretaker of those of us whom are say, 40 or older, only care about themselves and can’t generate any decent or long lasting relationships with anybody on the planet, then how are we supposed to proceed as a society?

The simple math is this: we’ve abandoned, both literally and figuratively, 2 – 3 generations of children who, out of survival instinct, have learned to only fend for themselves and are not capable of caring for others thus there will be no stewards of the future left to take care of the country when the rest of us are gone.

As I asked the young lady at the training rhetorically but with a worried heart, “How does one undo 40 years of teaching people it’s OK to be selfish?”

The answer to that question may hold the key to this country’s future.

This Sunday on Progressive Conservatism LIVE!

MARCH 11TH - Mark won't shut up about Newt Gingrich. Rev. John won't stut up about Randy Couture. What does that have to do with anything? Nothing at all. It's exactly what you've come to expect from the only BTR show that doesn't suck as bad as the others...Progressive Conservatism Live. And unless Newt wins the world title and Randy makes people think he might run for President just so he can collect a few sheckles on the lecture circuit, here's what you can look foward to:

We take a look at the Newt Gingrich/Mario Cuomo debate and what it (at least should) mean for America.

College kids are spoiled. That's news?

We give the U.S. Economy a swift kick in the nuts.

All this plus...you guessed it...the BUCGAW Report! It's all this Sunday at 12:30 PM EST. You can click here for all the necessary information.


Find out what grinded Mark's gears this week:
http://blog.myspace.com/punkrockconservative

And hey look, Rev. John has a blog too:
http://blog.myspace.com/brodigan2016

go to blogtalkradio.com

Having Fun with Global Warming, Welfare, Smokin’ Joe Biden, and Jesus

Confession time kids…I’ve been a bit depressed lately for a variety of personal, professional and other reasons. Some of this depression was caused by the show itself and some affected the show but I’ve taken my own advice and things are better now. One of the changes I’ve made is my attitude with regards to the show as per my own professionalism versus how much fun it is. Right now, I think I have to have more fun with it than I might it if were my job. The reality is that it’s not my job. It’s not John’s job either and that’s the issue for me at hand. As I’ve said in previous posts, I love doing the show but I can’t stress myself out week after week trying to make what amounts to a garage band sound like the John Williams Symphony Orchestra recording Star Wars. So in the spirit of my newfound outlook on the show, the answer is yes, I had fun doing the show today. I talked openly and honestly about subjects I know very well and just gave my opinions in a natural way. I don’t have control over who listens or what they think, just what I believe is good for me and the show in that order.

Overall, I think having fun and not taking it too seriously will be good for the show in general. I’ve heard the serious shows on BTR and I’m not overly impressed or entertained. Maybe that’s what others will say about my show but I’m the one who gets up early on Sundays to do it (with Rev. John) and if I’m not enjoying it but it sounds professional then what’s the point?

Personally, I thought all the segments sounded pretty good even though we had some more tech difficulties yet again. That’s the way the cookie crumbles I suppose. Till next time folks…

Intro/Monologue

Matt Drudge v. Al Gore

“Smokin’ Joe Biden” in 1,000 Words or Less

Joe Biden For President

The BUCGAW Report

Teenage suicides in Japan linked to bird flu vaccine

Welfare Reform and You

On Welfare and the Alternatives

Conspiracy or Quack: James Cameron Finds Jesus’ Tomb

Jesus tomb found, says film-maker