10. Robert F. Kennedy: April 4, 1968
Complete Speech

"I have bad news for you, for all of our fellow citizens, and people who love peace all over the world, and that is that Martin Luther King was shot and killed tonight.

Martin Luther King dedicated his life to love and to justice for his fellow human beings, and he died because of that effort.

In this difficult day, in this difficult time for the United States, it is perhaps well to ask what kind of a nation we are and what direction we want to move in. For those of you who are black--considering the evidence there evidently is that there were white people who were responsible--you can be filled with bitterness, with hatred, and a desire for revenge. We can move in that direction as a country, in great polarization--black people amongst black, white people amongst white, filled with hatred toward one another."


11. Ronald Reagan: January 28, 1986
Complete Speech

"We’ve grown used to wonders in this century. It’s hard to dazzle us. But for 25 years the United States space program has been doing just that. We’ve grown used to the idea of space, and perhaps we forget that we’ve only just begun. We’re still pioneers. They, the members of the Challenger crew, were pioneers.

And I want to say something to the school children of America who were watching the live coverage of the shuttle’s takeoff. I know it is hard to understand, but sometimes painful things like this happen. It’s all part of the process of exploration and discovery. It’s all part of taking a chance and expanding man’s horizons. The future doesn’t belong to the fainthearted; it belongs to the brave. The Challenger crew was pulling us into the future, and we’ll continue to follow them……

The crew of the space shuttle Challenger honored us by the manner in which they lived their lives. We will never forget them, nor the last time we saw them, this morning, as they prepared for the journey and waved goodbye and 'slipped the surly bonds of earth' to 'touch the face of God.'"


12. Malcolm X: April 3, 1964
Complete Speech

"The question tonight, as I understand it, is 'The Negro Revolt, and Where Do We Go From Here?' or 'What Next?' In my little humble way of understanding it, it points toward either the ballot or the bullet.

[. . .]

The black nationalists aren't going to wait. Lyndon B. Johnson is the head of the Democratic Party. If he's for civil rights, let him go into the Senate next week and declare himself. Let him go in there right now and declare himself. Let him go in there and denounce the Southern branch of his party. Let him go in there right now and take a moral stand -- right now, not later. Tell him, don't wait until election time. If he waits too long, brothers and sisters, he will be responsible for letting a condition develop in this country which will create a climate that will bring seeds up out of the ground with vegetation on the end of them looking like something these people never dreamed of. In 1964, it's the ballot or the bullet.


13. Franklin D. Roosevelt: March 4, 1933
Complete Speech

"This is a day of national consecration. And I am certain that on this day my fellow Americans expect that on my induction into the Presidency I will address them with a candor and a decision which the present situation of our people impels. This is preeminently the time to speak the truth, the whole truth, frankly and boldly. Nor need we shrink from honestly facing conditions in our country today. This great Nation will endure as it has endured, will revive and will prosper.

So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself--nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance. In every dark hour of our national life a leadership of frankness and of vigor has met with that understanding and support of the people themselves which is essential to victory. And I am convinced that you will again give that support to leadership in these critical days.

In such a spirit on my part and on yours we face our common difficulties. They concern, thank God, only material things. Values have shrunken to fantastic levels; taxes have risen; our ability to pay has fallen; government of all kinds is faced by serious curtailment of income; the means of exchange are frozen in the currents of trade; the withered leaves of industrial enterprise lie on every side; farmers find no markets for their produce; and the savings of many years in thousands of families are gone."

Random Thought #1

Do you ever have days that start off perfectly fine -- Mary Poppins-like in fact, kind of "practically perfect in every way" -- only to have them go dreadfully wrong only a couple of hours later? Yesterday was like that for me.

I was on the ball and ready to conquer the world starting just after 3:00 a.m. In a couple of hours I managed to answer the business email, sort my personal email for answering later, complete the Monday meme posts, scoop the litterboxes, brush two of the four longhair cats, unload the dishwasher, get a new load of laundry started, and harvest my crops on Farm Town. James Brown's song "I Feel Good" was the anthem of the day. Then a single phone call brought it all crashing down around me.

I wasn't really paying attention to the time, but I think that it was shortly after 9 when Betty's estate attorney called. Evidently, he received a phone call from one of the daughters of Betty's deceased husband because she, after a single visit to Betty in the 8 years that she has lived at the board and care facility, was concerned that I might be mismanaging the trust. I don't think much of anything could have shocked me more than that phone call, but I do know that it's been a very long time since I was as angry as it made me!


This individual has no real relationship with Betty, has not bothered to check up on her except for a phone call last Christmas when she told the caregiver that she would come to visit but never showed up, and now, out of the blue, is "concerned" that her care is not being managed well? Where has this person been all these years? In a neighboring city, certainly not too far away to demonstrate this "concern" by visiting Betty to make sure that she is being well cared for. Last week was the first time in eight -- count them, I said E-I-G-H-T, years that Betty's caregiver ever saw this person! How's that for "concern"?


Random Thought #2

After yesterday's "excitement," I've had a headache that doesn't want to give up the ghost and die. I know it's because the anger is still seething in the pit of my stomach, bubbling to the surface every now and again to remind me how utterly brutal people can be. I can't place the blame for this one on The Brain; nope this misery is my own fault. At least the headache is not one of the Chiari types, so I am left to conclude that this must be the kind of headache that "normal" people get, LOL.


Random Thought #3

Surgery update (yes, Aunt Nola, this is for you): Next Thursday, the 27th, I am scheduled to have the thyroid surgery that should have happened last November but didn't because my pre-op blood work showed an elevated white blood cell count that turned out to be an indicator of the very nasty cold that made itself known on Thanksgiving. I have the pre-op appointment on Monday and barring any WBC issues, I will be AWOL for one day next week. Unless I have a seizure or some other Chiari related complication, the surgery is supposed to be out-patient. I am going to discuss with my doctor the possibility of having it done under a local instead of a general anesthesia as this significantly increases the likelihood that I will get to go home on the same day. Besides, how cool would it be to lie awake on the surgery table while a surgeon slashes a hole in your neck and takes out half of your thyroid gland? Sounds awesome to me!


Random Thought #4

Classes begin next week, and I feel sad. No school for me. I'm retired, remember? No animated discussions about censorship in the public school classroom. No more interesting essays defending the First Amendment as it applies to websites with disgusting content. No more introducing the uninitiated to John Milton's Areopagitica or John Stewart Mill's On Liberty. No more poring over the ALA's list of banned books to see which ones we've read. No more. No more. I'm sad.

And did I mention that I'm pissed off, too?

Just a few things I've been thinking about . . .


What makes The Brain think it's the boss?
Last week was a real humdinger from start to finish. With so much unusual excitement going on, I should have been prepared for The Brain to take control and to push me into the passenger seat. At least this time The Brain held off on the electrical surges until Thursday night; the only bad thing about it waiting so long is that the surges are worse than normal -- as if seizures are ever normal per se. I don't like it when The Brain takes over, but that's life; I'll continue to deal with it as best I can.


Why are people so willing to believe what they hear without bothering to investigate the facts?


Watching the debate over health care reform devolve from discussion to organized shouting matches has made me pull out my much used and well loved copy of John Stewart Mill's essay On Liberty and to reread his discussion of the Tyranny of the Majority, because I see its bud fully flowering on this single issue in a way that it hasn't for quite some time.

The "people" who exercise the power are not always the same people with those over whom it is exercised; and the "self-government" spoken of is not the government of each by himself, but of each by all the rest. The will of the people, moreover, practically means the will of the most numerous or the most active part of the people; the majority, or those who succeed in making themselves accepted as the majority; the people, consequently, may desire to oppress a part of their number; and precautions are as much needed against this as against any other abuse of power. The limitation, therefore, of the power of government over individuals loses none of its importance when the holders of power are regularly accountable to the community, that is, to the strongest party therein. This view of things, recommending itself equally to the intelligence of thinkers and to the inclination of those important classes in European society to whose real or supposed interests democracy is adverse, has had no difficulty in establishing itself; and in political speculations "the tyranny of the majority" is now generally included among the evils against which society requires to be on its guard.

When a group, whether numerically greater or not, gains enough power to assert its authority over others and uses that power to silence dissenting voices, we have Tyranny of the Majority. Since tyranny is the antithesis of liberty, and something that Americans take an inordinate amount of pride in "removing" from the world, why do we allow it to happen in our own back yard?

Among other things, controlled experiments on tyranny have shown that

• Tyranny can be implemented and exercised by normal people.
• Tyranny is more likely when people are competing for insufficient resources.
• Tyranny is more likely when the tyrants have little empathy for the tyrannized.
• Tyranny is more likely by stealth by those in power than by coup. (Source)
  

The folks who are showing up at town hall meetings with the sole purpose of shouting down their elected officials or acting as the spokeshole for a special interest group (insurance industry, pharmaceutical company, et al) are, for the most part, quite normal people, I'm sure. Yet once they have had their daily dose of Rush and O'Reilly, they feel empowered enough to behave like tyrants, silencing all who disagree with them, in a controlled environment such as a town hall meeting.

To say that people are competing for insufficient resources in these difficult economic times is, perhaps, to use an old cliche, the understatement of the century. Because of fear mongering further compounded by the fact that the average American is too lazy to search for factual information independently and thus, like so many lemmings, is willing to throw himself off the cliff without cause.

Empathy is having the capacity to understand, be sensitive to, and feel the experience of someone else. When the economy is bad and people are concerned about making their own mortgage payments, putting food on their own tables, and meeting the needs of their own families, empathy often gets lost in the daily struggle. The problem is that the same people who struggle to make ends meet but have health insurance are the very ones who ought to have the greatest empathy for their uninsured fellow Americans who find themselves having to choose between paying for a doctor visit or a prescription and making a house payment or buying groceries!

The special interest groups on both sides of the health care reform issue resort to stealth by spreading misinformation anonymously. It doesn't take long before the lemmings leap into panic mode and once they pick up the ball, the lobbyists can sit back and enjoy the show as they pat themselves on the back for a job well done; they know that to stage a successful coup, they need only to strike fear into the hearts of the lemmings who can be relied upon to take them at their word without ever bothering to research the facts themselves.

God protect us all from the lemmings of the world irrespective of the side of the political spectrum on which they sit!


What am I missing?

So my laptop is up and running again. All the software has been reinstalled, the file folders created, the desktop organized and decorated just the way I like it. It's even running much faster than it was pre-hacker / Trojan. I should be happy, right? Bleh -- that would work in someone else's world, not mine! Something is missing, I just know it! The problem is that I can't put my finger on what I've forgotten, and it's making me crazy. You know what it's like when you can't remember a song or movie title and it sticks in your head until you do? It's like that with the missing software. I know that I neglected to reinstall something, but what? I don't know! I guess it will hit me on the head like a sledgehammer when I go to use it and can't find it -- then I'll know what I forgot to install!



"Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph." -- Thomas Paine

The tapestry of American patriotic music is as rich and varied as her people. Hymns, marches, national songs, poetry, military themes, and music from the theater, television, and radio combine to reflect the pride and hope embodied in the American Experience. With the celebration of our independence just two days away, my list is about American Patriotic Music. I hope that you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed researching and writing it.

1. America the Beautiful
Katharine Lee Bates wrote the lyrics for "America the Beautiful" while on a lecture trip to Colorado in 1893 after being inspired by a trek up Pike's Peak in a prairie wagon. Originally sung to any tune that fit the lyrics -- "Auld Lang Syne" was the most popular, "America the Beautiful" didn't have its own melody until 1882 when Samuel Augustus Ward, a New Jersey church organist, composed one for it. Thereafter, the song has been sung the way we recognize it now.


2. My Country 'Tis of Thee
While we know that Reverend Samuel Francis Smith wrote the lyrics for this song in 1831, the mystery surrounding the composition of its melody remains unsolved. The tune's first appearance in a verifiable form is in the 1744 tune book, Thesaurus Musicus, printed in England. It has been used mostly for songs honoring kings and became the national anthem in 6 countries before making its way across the ocean to America.


3. Battle Hymn of the Republic
Julia Ward Howe, a staunch abolitionist, rewrote the lyrics to a very popular song among the Union troops during the Civil War. The soldiers called the song "John Brown's Body" in honor of John Brown, the abolitionist killed at Harpers Ferry. But after visiting Washington, D.C. with her husband in 1861 and hearing Union soldiers marching to the tune, Julia determined to write lyrics that better suited the majesty of the music. The end result is the song that we now know and love.


4. When Johnny Comes Marching Home Again
The story of one of the most popular songs of the American Civil War is also the story of the Irish immigrant who wrote it. John Philip Sousa considered Patrick Sarsfield Gilmore, an 1848 Irish immigrant and author of the song, "The Father of the American Band." In 1861, Gilmore's band was attached to the 24th Massachusetts Infantry where they served as both musicians and stretcher bearers in some of the most significant Civil War battles including Bull Run, Antietam, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, and Richmond. In 1863, when he was posted to occupied New Orleans, Louisiana, Gilmore composed "When Johnny Comes Marching Home." The song became popular with northerners and southerners alike.


5. You're a Grand Old Flag
I love the story of this song! Written for his stage musical, George Washington, Jr. in 1906, George M. Cohan's inspiration came from a random meeting he had had with a Civil War veteran who, like my great-great grandfather, had fought at Gettysburg. Cohan noticed that the old man was holding a carefully folded but ragged old flag and when the old man saw Cohan looking at it, he said, "She's a grand old rag." That old man's comment about a cherished battle-worn flag became the original title of the song; however, when people objected to the flag being called a "rag," he changed the word to "flag." Maybe if Cohan had explained why he titled the song the way he did, people would have reacted more positively to it because its meaning with the original title and lyric is much more powerful!


6. Hail to the Chief
Did you know that this song, which plays with every formal entrance made by an American president, actually has its origins in a poem written by a Scotsman? Sir Walter Scott's poem, "The Lady of the Lake," tells the story of a Highlands Scottish clan that loses its heritage and land to an imperalist invader (the Brits): "Hail to the Chief who in triumph advances!" The song first came to be associated with presidents when, on February 22, 1815, it was played honor both the deceased George Washington and the end of the War of 1812.


7. Marine's Hymn
The tune for this song actually came from Jacques Offenbach's comic opera Genevieve de Brabant, first staged in 1859. Nobody knows who added the lyrics or when, but at least one verse has been traced to Colonel Henry C. Davis who wrote it during the early part of the twentieth century.


8. Stars and Stripes Forever (check out the video for this one!)
John Philip Sousa was the greatest musical star of his era, combining the charisma and popularity of Leonard Bernstein and The Beatles. He wrote "Stars and Stripes Forever" in 1896, while grieving over the death of his manager. For 25 years, Sousa's band played this song at the end of every concert. "The Stars and Stripes Forever" was declared the National March of the United States in 1987.


9. Yankee Doodle
This is one of America's oldest, and most enduring, marching songs. It was written several years before the American Revolution, but like so many songs of old, its origins aren't clear. What we do know about it is that the song isn't really as patriotic as it seems: it is a British parody of the early American militiamen. "Yankee" comes from "Nankey," a word from a well-known not-so-nice song about Oliver Cromwell that later became the name for American colonists; "Doodle" means a fool or simpleton; "Dandy" is a word used to describe a gentleman of artificial manners, dress, and hairstyle -- in other words, a fake. Put these three words together, Yankee Doodle Dandy, and you have a foolish American colonist who puts on airs. At the battles of Lexington and Concord, the British troops sang the song to make fun of the rag-tag American militiamen.


10. This Land Is Your Land
Woody Guthrie, America's most influential folk musician, wrote "This Land Is Your Land" in 1940 after becoming annoyed with Irving Berlin's song, "God Bless America," which Guthrie thought glossed over the lop-sided distribution of land and wealth that he was observing during the Great Depression and had experienced as a child growing up in Oklahoma. Guthrie's observations accurately reflected the fact that, even in the depths of the Depression, nearly 20 percent of the nation's wealth rested with one percent of its population. Guthrie's personal and musical styles were deeply influenced by his childhood in rural Oklahoma during the Great Depression years, which led him to a hobo life-style, a powerful dislike of greed, and a deep appreciation for the diversity of America's everyday folk.


11. God Bless America
Shortly after becoming an American citizen in 1918, Irving Berlin, already a highly successful popular lyricist and composer, was inducted and stationed at Camp Upton in Yaphank, Long Island, New York. While stationed there, Berlin convinced his commanding officers to allow him to write a musical comedy that could be used to raise both funds and troop morale, and the original version of this song was part of this production. But after he heard the song, Berlin decided that it was too serious for a comedy and tucked it away for 25 years. On November 10, 1938, contralto Kate Smith introduced the song to America on her CBS radio show that was broadcast from the New York World's Fair. Timing is everything; the song became an instant hit. Berlin generously signed over his royalty money from the song to charity, and the revenues went to the Boy Scouts and the Girl Scouts of America.


12. God Bless the U.S.A.
Lee Greenwood, a country music artist, wrote "God Bless the USA" in 1983 as a patriotic song about his country. When it was originally released, it didn't top the charts; however, it quickly became Greenwood's signature song. When the Amazing Egyptian Dude was sworn in as a U.S. Citizen, this is the song that played in accompaniment to a video showing scenes of what it means to an American. We already knew the song because we have been fans of Greenwood's music for quite some time, so the AED was thrilled when the song blared out from the loudspeakers at the Los Angeles Convention Center on the day that he officially became an American in 1986. If you've never been lucky enough to witness the swearing in of a new American citizen, check out this video; the song & video we saw is at 8:05. I guarantee goosebumps!


13. The Star Spangled Banner
Francis Scott Key put new words to an old song when he wrote what would become the national anthem of the United States of America. In the mid-1760s, a London society of amateur musicians, the Anacreontic Society, commissioned a young church musician, John Stafford Smith, to compose music for material that its president, Ralph Tomlinson, had written. The result was a song called "Anacreon in Heav'n." Its metric difficulty was meant to be the vehicle through which the group's best bariton singer could display his virtuosity and vocal range. Its musical complexity has been compared to the famous "Toreador Song" in Bizet's opera Carmen. The tune appeared in North America before the end of the 18th century where the lyrics were rewritten to include references to Jefferson, Adams, and Liberty. Francis Scott Key was fascinated by the song's unique metrical structure, not found in any other song of the period. That explains why it's so difficult for the average person to sing!

So, how did it become our national anthem? While detained aboard a British ship during the bombardment of Ft. McHenry on September 14, 1814, Francis Scott Key witnessed at dawn the failure of the British attempt to take Baltimore. He used this experience to write a poem that asked the question "Oh, say does that Star-Spangled Banner yet wave?" or in modern American English, "Hey, Dude, is that flag still flying?"

Almost immediately Key's poem was published and set to the tune of the "Anacreontic Song." The Secretary of the Navy, on July 26, 1889, designated "The Star Spangled Banner" as the official tune to be played whenever the flag was raised, and Woodrow Wilson chose the song to be played whenever a national anthem was appropriate because we didn't have one yet. It wasn't until March 3, 1931, that the song was made our official anthem by President Herbert Hoover.

I think that. . .

• I will survive today's class without falling asleep again. Why? Because I'll have my laptop with me and can do my own work. If I have to work, I have to stay awake, right?
• Camry might not forgive me for getting her spayed. I'll know for sure in a few more days as her incision heals. Although she still wants to sleep with me, she is doing a really good job of ignoring me the rest of the day.
• I could get used to the June gloom that has brought wonderful summertime temperatures to Southern California for the past three weeks. Usually by this time, I'm running the a/c whenever I am at home; however, open windows and doors, supplemented by a ceiling and floor fan, has been adequate to keep the whole house cool.
• I'm going to splurge and get a blog template specially made for me. I'm still thinking on this one but at the moment, I'm leaning much more to the go for it side.

Header from samulli
Click here to see other entries or to play along.

Most people are familiar with the literary masterpieces that are often called the "great books." Mark Twain joked that a "classic" is "a book which people praise but don't read." My list today is made up of thirteen "great books" that I believe everyone, irrespective of language, gender, culture, or religion, should read because they express themes that transcend all of these boundaries designed to make us think we're different and demonstrate just how similar we really are.

1. The Oedipus Cycle: Oedipus Rex, Oedipus at Colonus, Antigone by Sophocles

• fate vs. free will
  
• Is it better to be "blind" to the truth or to uncover and "see" no matter the cost?
• laws of man vs. divine laws
  

2. All Quiet On The Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque

• horrors of war for all involved
  
• dangers of nationalism
• war is not a romantic adventure
  

3. Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe

• change vs. tradition
• What does it mean to be a "man"?
• importance of language
  

4. The Prince by Niccolo Machiavelli

• qualities of a strong leader
• the power of political deception
• types of governing strategies
  

5. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

• laws vs. customs
  
• compassion vs. justice
  
• importance of education
  

6. Lord of the Flies by William Golding

• the necessity of law and order
• individualism vs. community
• man vs. nature
  

7. Nectar in a Sieve by Kamala Markandaya

• man vs. nature
• knowledge vs. ignorance
• western civilization vs. eastern civilization
  

8. Children of the Alley by Naguib Mahfouz

• the importance of memory
• new ideas vs. old traditions
• tyranny vs. justice
  

9. 'On Liberty' and Other Writings by John Stewart Mill

• civil liberties
• importance of free speech
• social contract
  

10. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

• censorship
• life and death
• knowledge is power
  

11. King Lear by William Shakespeare

• political authority vs. chaos
• father/daughter relationships
• If both the wicked and the good die, what is justice?
  

12. Hamlet by William Shakespeare

• appearances vs. reality
• frailty vs. strength
• revenge vs. justice
  

13. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain

• law vs. morality
• selflessness vs. selfishness
• freedom vs. slavery
  

Post about 5 favorite things from the past week. It can be anything that tickled your fancy: favorite quotes, posts, happenings, scriptures, recipes, pictures, great internet finds, etc., etc. Be as detailed as you like, the more detail the more fun for those of us visiting. Susanne, the hostess, just asks that it be kept family friendly. Click here to play along with us.

Back in 2006, when Al Jazeera English, the English language sister news channel to Al Jazeera in Arabic, launched, I really wanted to watch it. I called our satellite company and asked which channel number it would be assigned, only to discover that they had no intention of carrying the station -- ever. When I asked why, I was told in no uncertain terms that this company did not support "terror television." Since the channel was brand new, I wondered how they had determined that it broadcast "terror" and decided to shop for a cable service that carried it instead. My luck was no better in that arena than it had been with the satellite provider. Just like the kid who has never tasted spinach announces that he doesn't like it, our local satellite and cable providers had blacklisted Al Jazeera English before the station had had an opportunity to prove itself.

"Everyone is in favor of free speech. Hardly a day passes without its being extolled, but some people's idea of it is that they are free to say what they like, but if anyone else says anything back, that is an outrage." -- Winston Churchill

Three years later, the new satellite system that the Amazing Egyptian Dude had installed several months ago has given us access to Al-Jazeera English under the Free-to-Air format. I have been able to watch it and assess for myself just how much "terror" the station broadcasts. Instead of "terror television," as countless fear and many believe it is, I have found Al-Jazeera English to be a news source every bit as valuable to the American audience as the Western mega news channels.

Much like CNN, Al-Jazeera English's hosts and reporters come from around the world. With such a diverse base, the channel is able to offer a true global perspective on the news. Take, for example, the case of Josh Rushing, whose report on Fault Lines, "Lone Star: The Death of a Small Town," chronicles the decline of the steel industry in his hometown of Lone Star, Texas, and illustrates how a small town with a population of less than 1700 people is dying because of the current economic crisis. The coverage of California's budget crisis and its impact on the state's poor in "California: Failed State" has been exemplary, as well. I suppose, though, that considering how bad off the Golden State really is at the moment, one could call this report, at least, "terror television." All in all, though, I fail to see what the hype and fear-mongering over Al Jazeera English is all about.

More and more, news reporting has become like the informercials that plague late, late night television: full of hype, rife with loaded language, and often downright comical to watch. CNN says it delivers “All news, all the time”; FOX claims to offer “Fair and balanced news reporting”; MSNBC uses technology to deliver "a fuller spectrum of news." Bells, whistles, catchy tag lines, slogans, and visually appealing hosts aside, each of these mega news channels claims to report the news. While this all sounds well and good, the truth of the matter is that even in the No-Spin Zone, far more spinning than reporting takes place on these channels. MSNBC caters to the far left, FOX delivers news with a distinctive far right twist, and CNN feeds both audiences.

Perhaps because I have a background in language analysis and research, or maybe just because I love to argue (not in the negative sense as in to scream and hurl insults, but to weigh the pros and cons of an issue using reason, logic, and facts), I learned long ago never to rely on a single source for important information. Recalling my mom's wise advice to me and my sisters whenever we fought with one another, I know that the truth lies somewhere in the middle of the "my side vs. your side" equation. And it is that middle ground, that truth, that I strive to find. Thus when it comes to the news, I follow a single story from multiple sources, analyzing the use of language, word choices, and presentation of facts to determine wherein that middle ground, or truth, can be found. It's not as hard as one might think to figure out a news source's position on an issue just by examining word choices and understanding denotation and connotation.

Mega news channels do have their place in American society. They all spin events to suit the ideology of their viewing audience; they are, after all, for profit entities and without an adequate rating to generate advertising dollars, these mega channels would fail. For those of us who long for the days of old-fashioned news reporting Edward R. Murrow style, however, they all leave a much to be desired.