the watcher
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Wild path said " tend to read lighter fiction when I need something to calm down after a long day. Grisham, Crichton, stuff like that."
I often read before I sleep to calm my mind. Lol My rule is when I start reading the same paragraph for the 3rd time, turn the light off and go to sleep. Last winter I found I was spending way to much time staring at screens so I self imposed some rules about reading instead.
It was interesting to re- read The Lord of the Rings. I had read it in the 1970s then again in the late 80s or early 90s to my kids. What I really noticed this time was the difference between the movies and the books. All the characters and the story itself is so much richer in the books . Gandalf is more wizardry, the bond between Frodo and Sam is so much stronger, the elves more fantastical. It's an interesting example of how deeper and richer the written word can be. I think it is very rare that it is the other way around. Perhaps my only example would be The Commitments by Roddy Doyle. Perhaps because the movie( one of my favorites of all time ) is packed with some fantastic music.
Anyway, great thread and thanks for some great reading suggestions everyone.
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Hey thanks for starting this thread. I do most of my reading over the winter. Usually non-fiction but with a bit of fiction sprinkled in here and there. I've found myself diving back into a few that I already read and had buried deep in my cluttered office. A Fever in the Heartland looks interesting. Last winter I re- read The Lord of the Rings trilogy, American Fascists by Chris Hedges , Lake Agassiz by Bill Redekop and re-read The Pioneer Years by Barry Broadfoot.
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On 2023-05-11 at 10:29 AM, Wideleft said:What is the definition Christian dominionism?Dominionism is an umbrella term for certain groups of Protestants and some Catholics who interpret Genesis 1:28 in the Bible, which refers to people having dominion over life on earth, as meaning that Christians should exercise control over most aspects of modern life, Riccardi-Swartz says.
One of my winter reads was Chris Hedges " American Fascists, the Christian Right and the War on America " Written in 2006 its a bit dated but still relevant. I wasn't that familiar with Domnionism and Dominionists but his 1st chapter covers it extensively. A couple of quotes:
" Dominionism takes its name from Genesis 1:26 -31, in which God gives human beings " dominion" over all creation. This movement, small in number but influential, departs from traditional evangelicalism.........Dominionism seeks to redefine traditional democratic and Christian terms and concepts to fit an ideology that calls on the radical church to take political power. It shares many prominent features with classical fascist movements."
" Dominionism, born out of a theology known as Christian reconstructionism, seeks to politicize faith. It has like all fascist movements, a belief in magic along with leadership adoration and a strident call for moral and physical supremecy of a master race, in this case American Christians.
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I posted that song from his 1st album then listened to the rest of it. while pruning trees. And DAMN ! I I had almost forgot how good it was. It absolutely brilliant. While he had individual songs that matched or perhaps bettered it , the album as a whole was his best. Done simply yet runs the gambit from political commentary to heartbreak.
RIP Gord.
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Check out his voice here.
- Noeller, kelownabomberfan, Wideleft and 3 others
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I was a huge Lightfoot fan. A brilliant writer and especially in his earlier years a great singer. His very first album was amazing. My son is a huge music fan but was so so on Lightfoot till he listened to it. It converted him. Like the obit says, Icon doesn't do him justice.
- JCon, blue_gold_84 and Fatty Liver
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When I grew up I thought residential schools were just where indigenous kids went to school. Your damn right we ( including me ) need to be educated about the truth. A few " wasted resources " now can help correct the past or at least our view of it which can help future generations.
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9 hours ago, Mark F said:
I managed to find a photo of you from then
Yup, that's me. With my long hair tucked under my hat I don't look like I'm still in my 30s. You can't see the bottle of whiskey in one hand or the doobie in the other. Or the rifle leaning on the wall that I'm about to go get dinner with. There's probably a ticket in my pocket for Whitehorse for my next session at the mine.....I had an interesting life in the 90s.
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1 minute ago, HardCoreBlue said:
Wow. That takes tons of discipline and focus. Kudos.
2 minutes ago, HardCoreBlue said:Wow. That takes tons of discipline and focus. Kudos.
There are times when I wish I would get rid of the internet and TV. The written word is so much richer. All that reading , Christian, Buddhist, Taoist....texts and I ended up with a belief system that Iris Dement summed up in a couple of minutes much more eloquently than I ever could.
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3 minutes ago, Mark H. said:
Just respect the fact that people do believe in both ideas
First Nations people also believe in a creator
That's your assumption.
Back in the early 90s I did a deep, deep dive into religion. I consumed whatever I could about many religions, and the history of those religions. I had ditched my TV and it was pre-internet for me so I had lots of time on my hands lol. One of the things I did was read the Bible from front to back. Like one would read a novel. I found it really changed my perspective. While I no longer consider myself a Christian there is alot of good and positive things that can be taken from the Bible. But to take it word for word as God's rule is impossible. A bit of a deep dive into the history of the Christian church will yield the same results. I don't see any issue with a Christian believing in evolution.
- Bigblue204, Wideleft and HardCoreBlue
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Wide Left said:
" One poll may show that, but polls can say a lot of things - like people don't really like either Trudeau or PeePee to any great degree."
I am definitely in that group. I can't vote Liberal unless Trudeau removes himself and I can't vote for any party like the Cons that denies climate change led by a little shite that would sell his soul ( and maybe everyone else's) and join forces with what ever moronic movement that will get him elected. So I am limited to 1 party before an election is even called.
- 17to85, rebusrankin and Bigblue204
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Americans always seem to need an enemy. I have a theory that if you are particularly inward looking, believe you are the best, the greatest, the ultimate nation then when the inevitable problems occur that all nations suffer it can only be blamed on subversives or outsiders trying to destroy you.
Those in power know this and use it.
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The CNP came up in a book I'm reading so I thought I'd read a bit on it. What really struck me about this article and about the CNP in general is how twisted it is that they are the very thing that alot of MAGA supporters think they are fighting against is what they are supporting.
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I found this interesting:
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When a politician/ government official intentionally, knowingly tries to thwart democracy they need to be charged and dealt with harshly. Every time I hear things like this I think of the woman who thought she could vote ( an election official said she could ) despite having been in jail.They slammed her with 5 years in prison
- Bigblue204 and Wideleft
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On 2023-02-07 at 9:20 AM, Wideleft said:
Mississippi banned ‘Sesame Street’ for showing Black and White kids playing
By Kristin HuntFebruary 5, 2023 at 7:00 a.m. ESTIn April 1970, members of Mississippi’s newly formed State Commission for Educational Television met to discuss Big Bird and Cookie Monster.
“Sesame Street” had debuted on public TV the previous November, and the earliest episodes would look familiar today: cartoons about the letter O, counting exercises with ice cream cones and Ernie singing in the bathtub.
But the all-White commission decided Mississippi was “not yet ready for it,” according to one member, because it showed Black and White kids playing together. In a 3-2 vote, the commission banned “Sesame Street” from broadcasting on the state-run ETV network.
“The state has enough problems to face up to without adding to them,” an anonymous member of the commission, which was appointed by segregationist Gov. John Bell Williams (D), told the Associated Press.
None of the board’s members would speak on the record about the ban. The commission worried about sinking its fledgling system just as it was launching. At the time, ETV operated only one channel near Jackson, but it had plans to expand statewide after securing hard-won funding. It was allegedly spooked by state lawmakers, who had objected to educational programs promoting integration and could meddle with the commission’s funding. Some had already objected to ETV’s $5.3 million appropriation in the state budget.
“I think it’s a tragedy for both the white and black children of Mississippi,” Joan Ganz Cooney, a television producer who co-created “Sesame Street,” told the AP.
“Sesame Street” had landed in a bleak landscape for children’s TV. Saturday morning cartoons were big business, thanks to ads for sugary breakfast cereals, but during the week, kids were mostly stuck with reruns of “a lot of junk,” as Ganz Cooney put it. Still, children were clearly drawn to television, and hungry for more. Lloyd Morrisett, one of the co-creators of “Sesame Street,” noticed that his young daughter watched test patterns on their television, waiting for something to come on.
“When kids’ TV first started out, it was mostly old cartoons with hosts,” said Linda Simensky, a visiting professor of media studies at the University of Pennsylvania and former head of content for PBS Kids. “And these hosts, in the middle of their hosting duties, would start selling bread.”
She said that among TV executives, “there was sort of this general feeling that kids would watch anything that looks like it’s for kids, and they didn’t want to spend a lot of money.”
In the 1960s, these shows rarely had diverse casts of Black, Brown and White kids. There were exceptions at the local level: Ron Simon, head curator at the Paley Center for Media, points to New York’s “Wonderama” as an example of a show making a “conscious effort of integrating.” But nationally, the landscape was mostly White. It was still so rare to see Black actors of any age on television that Jet magazine published a page of radio and TV appearances by Black entertainers each week, from Eartha Kitt on “Mission: Impossible” to Sammy Davis Jr. on “The Hollywood Palace.”
“Sesame Street” not only wanted to teach children through educational programming they’d actually enjoy — it wanted to specifically target kids from low-income families, who were entering school at a disadvantage. The show was designed with this audience in mind, from the research and writing to the casting.
In addition to many of Jim Henson’s Muppets, “Sesame Street” featured human characters like Bob and Mr. Hooper, both White men, and Gordon and Susan, a married Black couple. Children of all races roamed Sesame Street (which was modeled largely on real-life blocks in New York’s Harlem, Upper West Side and the Bronx), a choice the creators hoped would impart positive images of integration — and give each child watching a chance to see people who looked like them on-screen.
But first they had to hear about it. Ganz Cooney stationed outreach coordinators in different parts of the country to make sure the show was recognizable and accessible to as many children as possible.
That outreach, combined with $4 million in funding from the Lyndon B. Johnson administration and another $4 million in private grants, meant there was “a lot of goodwill surrounding the show” when it began hitting local affiliates in November 1969, said David Kamp, author of “Sunny Days: The Children’s Television Revolution That Changed America.”
“Sesame Street” received rave reviews from public luminaries like Jesse Jackson and Orson Welles, as well as many parents who wrote to newspapers to heap praise on the show.
“My 2-year-old, who can hardly talk, is running around the house identifying letters like H and W and numbers like 9 and 3 since he’s been watching ‘Sesame Street,’” wrote a Los Angeles Times reader from Glendale, Ariz.
And then there was Mississippi.
In fairness, the state was likely not alone in its reluctance to broadcast interracial friendships. When KTAL in Shreveport dropped “Sesame Street” in its second season, claiming it didn’t have the money to air it, a fan wrote to Time, “The ostensible reason was that the show was too expensive. Actually it was too black.”
In the aftermath of the Mississippi decision, letters poured into ETV, protesting the ban. “There will always be people in Mississippi and across the nation who will find an integrated television cast offensive,” read one letter printed by United Press International. “But there are probably more conscientious parents who will put the education of their children ahead of their personal prejudices, and these people should not be denied a choice.” WDAM, a local station based in Laurel, Miss., urged the commission to reverse the vote and offered to air “Sesame Street” itself if ETV wouldn’t.
The board was doubtless embarrassed by the attention, not expecting its “postponement” of the show, as members characterized it, to make news across the country. (The Albuquerque Journal, for example, called the decision a “crying shame,” swiping at Mississippi’s “education levels,” which lagged behind other states.)
“That was kind of a spasm of the old ethos,” Kamp said. “I think most of the country, even in the South, was trending in the other direction.”
ETV scrambled to lift the ban, promising viewers on May 23 that “Sesame Street” would air in a matter of weeks. The show appeared on local TV listings by June 8, and that fall, the board sponsored a special episode.
As part of a 14-city national tour, the cast of “Sesame Street” stopped by Jackson for a free live show on Sept. 6, presented in cooperation with the State Commission for Educational Television. Over the course of an hour, Big Bird and his friends Bob, Susan, Gordon and Mr. Hooper entertained families with songs, jokes and questions, encouraging audience participation.
It was not quite an apology, but a display of an uneasy alliance between a progressive show and a conservative board, all in front of an integrated crowd of ecstatic children.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2023/02/05/sesame-street-ban-mississippi/
A whole lot of folks wearing folks wearing red hats would give a deep sigh and mumble " Ah,the good old days "
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4 hours ago, JohnnyAbonny said:
Nah, the Dems are corrupt sure but it’s night and day man. One party are typical politicians like we’ve always known. The other are straight up scorched earth fascists. It’s not “both sides are equally bad”. Not even close.
I never said they were equal .No doubt the Republicans are disgusting. But if you remove about 4 items off that list then they are right there. It was the Democrats that instituted mandatory minimum sentencing. The Democrats have been perfectly willing to send their kids to unneeded wars that gain nothing but profits for corps under the guise of overblown patriotism.They had their chance to codify Roe vs Wade and didn't. I could go on.
As I said ones a dung hill.The others a steaming rotten dung hill . Granted the latter is now filled with nutbars and lunitics
- JCon and JohnnyAbonny
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6 hours ago, JCon said:
Tell me which of these signs of fascism is not a pillar of the current GOP:
- Powerful and continuing nationalism
- Disdain for human rights
- Identification of enemies as a unifying cause
- Supremacy of the military
- Rampant sexism
- Controlled mass media
- Obsession with national security
- Religion and government intertwined
- Corporate power protected
- Labor [sic] power suppressed
- Disdain for intellectuals & the arts
- Obsession with crime & punishment
- Rampant cronyism & corruption
- Fraudulent elections
Now, tell which are not part of the current CPC/PPC platform?
The trouble with the US is alot of that list could be assigned to the Dems as well. There is no real choice that will change the direction of that country other than lone wolfs like Bernie. It's like a choice between a dung hill and a stinking rotten dunghill. It's still all crap.
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On 2023-02-10 at 12:22 PM, FrostyWinnipeg said:
Human trafficking is their new business? Gov. DeSantis’ administration will now be able to relocate migrants elsewhere from any state in the country, not just from Florida. https://nbcnews.to/3YrBXMr
Scary sh##t to be honest.
- HardCoreBlue and JCon
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The RIP 2023 Thread
in General Discussion
Posted
A good article on Tina from the Guardian
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2023/may/25/through-pain-and-joy-tina-turner-wrote-herself-into-pop-history-again-and-again