Are we able, as a culture, to experience the holidays in any genuine way? I know that my views are outside those of the general public, as I believe that God is dead, but still I cannot help but feel that we can no longer experience holidays as a culture. Capitalism is to blame but maybe it is that the experience hasn’t changed in form, only in content. Christmas is a religious creation but it no longer carries many religious overtones. The holiday has become a time to get together with your family and give presents; it is a cultural experience more than a religious experience. Consumerism has its firm grasp on this experience and so it seems to me that Capitalism (capitalized as it deserves to be) has made a genuine experience of Christmas impossible. It is not enough to say that your family does have a genuine experience because that does not mean that our culture is capable of such an experience. It also doesn’t matter that Jesus’ birthday was not the 24th of December, or that the whole idea of celebration at this time of year does not originate within Christianity; the point is that Capitalism does not allow us a culture to partake of the celebration with any good faith.

Christmas has become my least favorite time of year. I enjoy seeing my family but I didn’t even do that last year and saw them at other times of the year, which was better. Like Office Space, the requirement for one to have Christmas spirit can drive a person insane. Christmas spirit has now been plugged into the profit seeking world we live in; if you do not have the spirit, then you will not shop, and this is what our culture desires. The profit margin has replaced ethical standards and so we no longer weigh the things that are proper to a just society. The change in measures has made the holiday season quintessential to our new cultural desires and we have lost sight of any “true” meaning in Christmas. Even the guy who doesn’t believe in baby Jesus as savior, me, thinks that Christmas had a real meaning, but it is lost now. You may think that what I am saying is all bunk, and you can wrap yourself up in the fact that you experience Christmas in a genuine way, but if our culture no longer participates in such an experience then it will start to erode our individual experiences until there is nothing real left. What is scary is that it isn’t people like me, who think that the experience is founded upon mind weakening rhetoric, who are destroying the experience; it is people who are trying to replace it with Capitalistic tendencies so that you feel like you are making a genuine attempt at experiencing something that is changing right before your eyes (and these people probably go to church as Christians). They are keeping the rhetoric but changing the message. So remember to go out and shop and keep up your Christmas spirit,

Have a merry Christmas,

-Mr. White

mrwhitemrbrown@gmail.com

*Edit by Mr. Brown

November 4, 2057

Gognews.wld

On this date fifty years ago the world was in peril. Americans were a year away from electing a new President, a Black candidate was said to be too white, and a female candidate was deemed too male—but there was little discussion about whether any of the people seeking office had the qualities to lead (but we know how that turned out). The Iraq War was waged on, gay politicians were outed, and celebrities were using rehab like it was a vacation get-away. Not much has changed has it?

Why does your writer choose this date to pontificate on? Well reader, at this time in history the effect of man on global warming was at its fever point. This is when people were encouraged to buy “carbon off-sets”, a scam in which you would calculate your green house emission profile, and then purchase from an off-set to compensate for your footprint. Now we know global warming was indeed happening, the cyclical nature of this massive blue ball in the heavens has its own way of sweating, breathing, and recycling. Although the evidence was already there in the geological data, which covered millennia, the pop scientists of that day found it more dramatic to base their assumptions on 200 years of weather data for a planet that was 4.5 billion years old. Any high school math student could tell you that 200 years out of 4.5 billion is a rather poor sampling for any sort of conclusion. So why did they buy into it? What pushed the general public to accept such absurdities as fact? The key word here is in fact “buy”, and why I chose this date to illuminate for you.

A network television station called the National Broadcasting Company or N.B.C., yes that N.B.C., the station that later lost its own broadcasting licenses when they ran the President sex tape in 2012 on prime time television. “Chief on the staff” as it is referred to now seems tame in comparison to the Iptv we enjoy night and day, but they did not have the sensitivity brain chip in law yet, so millions of Americans had to actually turn their set off if they did not want to see the image. Can you imagine a world without the black bar tech we have today? On this date fifty years ago, N.B.C. launched it’s going green campaign and it started with an American football game. They sent a host to the arctic to report on the ice that was melting, and then had the lights turned off in the studio to show they too could conserve energy. One of the football commentators could be heard chuckling throughout the game coverage, as the sheer lunacy of it all could not be contained in reverence. You see it is as this point when the color green more than ever before meant money. The corporations and politicians of the day figured out that global warming could be used as a potent marketing force. First you tell the people they are all going to die because of what they have done to the planet, then you say it might be able to be stopped, and then you show what you are doing to protect the Earth. Do you see the brilliance of this? They had not just the common man, but everyone believing that they were going to die because of their own hubris, people in this situation spend more money, go into debt even further since they figure they will not be around anyways to have to pay it off, and all the while the doomsayers have a rosy, err, green fuzzy image of trying to help. It was this date, November 4, 2007 when, to use the parlance of the times, the man-made global warming lobby jumped the shark—and Americans became evermore as Lenin once put it, useful idiots.

Now it is easy for this commentator to take such a brash stance on a time much different than our own, with hindsight on my side. How could they have known what was before them? They were right of course; dependence on a fossil fuel driven engine was an era that needed to be put to bed like the steam engine of the 19^th century. Even the holders of the rich oil fields in the Middle East knew it, the clues were all there. The United Arab Emirates had begun to purchase mass interest in the American stock market, land and commodities were being acquired because they knew the value of the black stuff in the sand would soon no longer be of any value to the world, certainly not at prices that were entertained “per barrel” in that day. One might even draw a certain amount of irony, or a hint of conspiracy that an Arab scientist cracked the hydrogen fuel code. Near free energy has propelled our society’s development in a measurement of inches rather than feet. We thought that getting off of oil would be the utopian bliss we needed, that near free energy could solve the world’s problems. Instead it just made new ones like an explosion in population growth. If I may draw a financial analogy, the more money you make, the more you spend. Our world is full of energy, but droughts lead to disputes over river tributaries in the most remote areas of the world. It seems only where those precious caustic metals for batteries are mined, does the World League intervene. No blood for storage they say, something familiar about that. I have high hopes for the S.O.A.P. (Solar Orbit Array Project), which will finish its final launch platform in the spring. 24 hours of sunlight to be harvested from 20 miles up, and transmitted down to the junctions across Earth, let’s just keep those things in geo-sync boys, I cannot help but to think of the ant under a magnifying glass.

So today we laugh at the commercialization of the green movement by our parents. A time when savvy marketing saved a day of make-up for a crew of football commentators. We can laugh at yesterday, but thank them for today. As ridiculous at the decade looks through the eyes of history, no matter how miss-guided they were, concepts such as conservation, being a better steward of the planet, and living *gulp* green made for us to have a clearer looking future in the present.

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Can we trust that Google will stay true to its company slogan “Do no evil”? The goog is making a lot of big moves in world privacy standards and open band communications which in turn benefits the user, but even more so will benefit Google. Google is the position as the world’s largest advertising company, and they know everything we choose to tell them about ourselves. Gmail gives relevant ads to words you have typed or received, search and browsing history goes even further to narrow down your specific interests, and if you participate in Google checkout, they have your credit card number. This centralization of information is creating a net life that becomes more relevant and useful. Should we be worried about the power we have gave Google and its magic algorithms? Maybe, but then try using something other than Google as a search engine for 24 hours— while possible, impractical at this point in time. So how do we know Google will stay true to its stated mantra? One word-Porn.

Mr. White and I are starting a web 2.0 business venture, or adventure as it were. I have signed up for Google ad sense as it is the most practical ad model that will be beneficial to our users. In reading the terms of use policy, a section sang out to me that alleviated any concerns about the question of Google becoming evil. If you run a site that has pornography on it, Google ad sense is not a service available to you. Ok, so Google will point you in the direction of the next bukake gang-bang up-start if you search for it, but once you get to said spunk filled site, you won’t find any relevant ads for; dildos, condoms, or Windex. Do you see where I am going here? Google is denying its self ad revenue from the number one use of the internet, pornography.

This is a company that has put up 60 million dollar cash for a moon race X-prize, is bidding on public air wave bands in the U.S. and the U.K., and is reported to have over 200 billion dollars in research and development money. Imagine the ass load of zeroes Google would have behind its 1 if they suddenly did start advertising for the pornography industry. The day that happens, is the day we can truly say Google has gone evil.

The current campaign of Miller brewing advertising the taste of their light beer is beginning to make me angry. The claim that Miller Lite “has more taste” makes me wonder if the company is really so stupid. Claiming that something has more taste seems to leave out any qualitative judgment on said taste. My two month old tuna salad sitting in the back of my fridge has more taste than the tuna sitting at my local deli, but what does that mean? It means that just because something has more taste (a quantitative judgment) does not mean that the thing has a better taste (a qualitative judgment). I am sure that the more discerning viewers pick this up but that doesn’t mean that the ad company should think that such things are acceptable. The fact that the campaign has been running for some time now is a sign that such a grievous error has not hurt the marketability of such a slogan as, “my product has more taste than yours”. And the fact that it has not hurt the marketability leads one to believe that Americans either enjoy the nasty taste of Miller Lite, or they have not made the discovery that the slogan is meaningless. Or maybe it comes down to the good old fashioned American slogan, “More is better”, no matter the quality.

Is there terrorism in Iraq? Before answering this question it seems imperative for one more person to ask, do we still believe as a country that there was a link between the terrorism of 9/11 and Iraq? There have been commercials running portraying a house wife near tears because we cannot let the terrorists win by evacuating our troops from Iraq. What terrorists is she talking about, the ones in Afghanistan, Sudan, Iran, Pakistan, or what? There was no link between terrorism and Iraq, but I would put some money down that there will be in the future, unless we stay there for the entire existence of our own country.

Now, is there currently terrorism in Iraq? If a group is planning attacks against troops of an army that has just been trained by the army that conquered the previous government, is that terrorism? If another country’s army enters a country and implements their form of government, is it not expected that there would be detractors and are these detractors terrorists? Iraq does not have the necessary prerequisites to allow for terrorism. It does not have a fully formed government; it does not have an ideology that it projects internationally; it is not a fully formed country yet. Attacking our troops as they police another country is not terrorism, it is war. There is no good exit strategy with the totalitarianism of democracy.

mrwhite.mrbrown@gmail.com

I need someone to explain to me the fascination with fantasy football. ESPN recently aired a fantasy football draft in prime time. It consisted of ESPN employees/commentators and actual football players picking football players to construct a “team.” In fact, the team is not actually a team of 46 players; rather, on offense, it is an amalgam of position players from different teams, and on defense, it is one team’s defense. The offensive players do not play with each other and it is possible for them to be playing against each other on any given Sunday, or as I like to call it, the actual game. Granted, the watching of actual games takes on a new meaning when you have to keep track of how your defense is doing, while waiting to see how all of your offensive players performed, but there seems to be a problem. Fantasy football alters the experience of watching actual games to the point where the games no longer have their original significance. So, the only reason I can come up with, as to why one would want to participate in fantasy football, is that one wants their experience altered. Whether it is because the actual games have lost their interest, or one needs a reason to watch many games at one time, this is the only motivation I can see. True, football is not nearly the most athletic sport out there, but still the strategy (what about the hitting?) is what makes it interesting and fantasy football does not involve any of this strategy, BECAUSE THE PLAYERS DO NOT ACTUALLY PLAY TOGETHER. So as you get ready to draft your team, could you please ask yourself why you are doing it and let me know, thank you.

mrwhite.mrbrown@gmail.com

Per the latest athletic “victory” by Steve Spurrier, it is now time to start considering the creation of athletic universities. It may appear to some that that is what we currently have, but it turns out that there are also students attending these universities, who do not play sports. More specifically, the only sport to be played at an athletic university will be football, and the only two majors will be communication and family studies. College football represents all that is wrong with the current university system and its perception by society. Parents send their kids to college because that is how you get a job, when in fact most kids need to find other skills before they come to college, if they do at all. College football is a representation of the business model way of running an academic institution. The business model seeks the greatest profit while the academics of an institution are just an accidental cause. True, football brings in a great deal of money and some of that money does see the classroom but learning is still in the service of sports; the equation is backwards, sports should be in the service of learning.

Playing sports is a positive experience that leads to learning many great lessons. College football, in itself, is probably a good thing (although I am not so sure that football includes as positive the effects of other sports). The problem exists in the administration of such sports, and it probably begins in high school. Often times a teacher is forced to decide between giving the student an inflated grade and giving the grade they deserve, risking the condemnation of the coach/administration/alumni/community. Is it worth denying a good athlete their initial chance at going to college so that they can adequately complete their academic requirements? The answer should be yes but we have lost sight of the proper place for education. The university is just another part of the capitalistic market, dealing out its product (knowledge), but the product has to fit into the market, and so education will continue to be in the service of the market, instead of the other way around. Let us end this facade, of the family thinking the athlete will get that good education as well play their sport, and just create dummy schools for college football.

mrwhite.mrbrown@gmail.com

Jack Mclellan is a self described pedophile whom takes pleasure in posting pictures he takes of young girls on his website. Recently, he has moved to California and subsequently—due to his public announcement of his desires, was issued a restraining order restricting him from being within 10 yards of any child in the entire State. Here is the rub; Mclellan has never been convicted of a crime as pederast. While he has no problem announcing his attraction to little girls, and as repugnant as you and I find this thought, the man has not committed any crime, he has only expressed his thoughts. In this nation where we are considered innocent until proven guilty, this judge has taken upon himself to police from the bench. Somehow we have been launched into a world of pre-crime enforcement where you can be punished for something you have yet to even do, with the caveat in Mclellan’s case; that we know of. What has happened is an American citizen has been punished for his thoughts, not his actions. This is a direct violation of our First Amendment rights, the freedom of speech.

This is a dangerous precedent we have come upon. If our thoughts, as disgusting or atrocious as they may be can be punished through the court of popular opinion, when does this stop? This is not a defense of pedophiles, but of free speech. I wonder if Mclellan is doing a service by bringing this whole issue to light. California has rallied strong against this man, and if he acted on his compulsions, then I would take no issue with this. But can he even be considered a pedophile if he has not actually abused a child? How is it that one man who has only spoken of what his desire has become public enemy number one(the thought is sick, and his condemnation is appropriate), when at the same time we have half way houses in Garden Grove California for convicted pedophiles that are located within a stone’s throw away from an Elementary school directly contradicting court orders?

Allow me to draw an analogy. What if a twenty something, Middle Eastern male, created a website that stated he was a terrorist? What if on this site he posted pictures of public buildings on this site, nothing more, no plans of destruction or call to arms. He simply says he is a terrorist, and here are some buildings in a city. Would the government be just in arresting him and putting him in jail if there was no other evidence then a statement and some pictures? The man has done nothing wrong, only expressed his thoughts, would you support his incarceration? What would happen if we took the analogy further, and the users who posted pictures of public buildings on FLICKR became suspects for terrorism? I can hear Mr. White now saying I am drawing a false analogy, and he may be right. But when you can be oppressed in a country that was built on the notion of free speech our system has failed.

During a heatwave, we are exposed to one of the many oppressive forces of nature. When the air begins to close in around you, when your clothes begin to act as sponges and nothing more, you get the feeling that you are being subjugated by unjust means. A heatwave forces you to stop and think about the way the world is treating you. In truth, there is no such thing as a heatwave; temperature is a human concept that we have created tools to measure. But it is solely this fact, that it is a human concept, that allows us a shared experience.

It is not too often that we, as humans, think about common experiences. In truth, no one experiences what I experience; even if someone were to stand in my concrete footprints and stare upon the same street, they would have a different experience. Heraclitus said that you cannot step into the same river twice, believing that all things remain in flux. But he also said that thinking is common to all (only that most of the time people do not use their ability). The world does seem to remain in flux, and it is true that each individual’s experience is one’s own, but it is also true that we share the same methods for acquiring those experiences. A heatwave is precisely one of those times where you can think about all the other humans who experienced wanting to jump into a huge pool of ice cold water. You can wonder about how previous civilizations dealt with such a phenomenon and partake in a certain satisfaction knowing that others probably could not afford an a/c unit, or slaves to fan them. So the next time a heatwave comes your way, walk up to that window unit, or go to that central air control panel, and turn off the a/c. You might discover that joining in on such an oppressive event might make you a little more human.

mrwhite.mrbrown@gmail.com

If you are a smoker of cigarettes, every needy child should be required to thank you. In fact, by smoking, you are saving childrens lives with each stick filled with tobacco that you ignite. Smoker, you are a hero for the sick and impoverished childer of these United States of America. I suggest you post camp in front of your local hospital and demand a thank you, or a hug for your brave contribution as you suck on the filter and head to flavor country. On second thought, leave the hug out.

Why are you, smoker, such a hero? The Senate has appoved a 61 cent tax hike per pack of cigarettes to fund the State Childrens Health Insurance Program. This program is designed to give assistance to needy children who do not have access to health care insurance (btw, “needy” is can include a family who makes more then 80k a year). The program was falling short in funding, so a sin tax was proposed to cover the difference–and smoker’s recieved the bill.

This band-aid of funding is short sighted as if current trends continue, less Americans are smoking. The Center for Disease Control attributed the drop of Heart disease rates in 2001 to the decrease in cigarette smoking. So as less people light up going into the next decade, more children are going to be left out in the cold with no health insurance. How does that feel non-smoker? You do not care about children, because if you did, you would be buying a pack right now. Smokers are creating a healthier future for our children, so stop your self righteous indignation when a nic-fiend lights up their moment of peace. Thank them, otherwise later in life you may be playing a state mandated lottery.

mrwhite.mrbrown@gmail.com