I am one of the few people in the U.S. that does not have cable by choice. So I didn't find out about MJ until I went online many hours later and saw it on Yahoo! News. I find it disturbing that when I finally had access to a television today that so many channels are covering his death and no one is mentioning Farrah Fawcett.
Farrah was a talented woman who made sure to leave behind a legacy as well. Not only was she also an icon but she documented her three years of cancer and treatment so that the world could see what it meant to have the disease. She was brutally honest, showing herself going bald and even throwing up. She should be admired for her courage and tenacity in the face of such a scary illness and her willingess to sacrifice her privacy so others may learn more from what she was suffering. And yet she is an afterthought. A one sentence or two moment in the media while MJ gets hours and hours perhaps months of coverage. It's sad really.
Now I understand that Michael was a huge icon as well and that his music touched millions. I understand that dying so unexpectedly is shocking and sensational. I get the fact that he died leaving three children and a $400 million dollar debt is newsworthy. And that for 50 years he has been someone worth covering in the news because he was that marketable. If people didn't talk, mourn and even joke about him I would be shocked and appalled. However, what does it say about us as a society that we have no room in our hearts to also mention someone beloved by many who suffered tragically while still trying to give back?
It scares me how little we care about those who were truly good, honest people. It scares me how we enjoy freakiness and scavenge for dirt first because that interests us more. Even with MJ what they talk about most is not how he changed pop culture and how he helped to break the censoring of black artists in mainstream music. Instead people want to know what the autopsy will reveal and if he hurt children and they want to know the intimate details of his later life.
What does that say about us?
Friday, June 26, 2009
Thursday, June 18, 2009
The Suck ups Win Again
Governor Rendell is an idiot. Pennsylvania needs to make some cuts to its budget because it has gone over expenses by $3 billion dollars. So for the last couple weeks Rendell has been talking about budget cuts and to be prepared. I read in the newspaper today that he plans on cutting funding to state fairs (whoopee, they're boring anyway), funding for public school computers (sucks but understandable) and another cut will be in the care of the mentally ill.
Now, I understand that cuts need to be made but I think the last one is ill-advised. Mentally ill people do not receive enough funding for programs, housing and help as it is and they want to cut spending for them like they are as expendable as a state fair and a computer?! I worked in state run homes for the mentally handicapped for two years. They are PEOPLE just like you and me but need a little help.
It makes me sick when I think about how Dan Surra is making $95,000 a year to act as an advisor for the "Pennsylvania Wilds". In other words he's getting paid a ton of money to sit around in an office and pretend to know something about the forests and wildlife. Why not take that money and put it toward helping the mentally ill, you know - people that really need the money and not some smug politician who weasled his way into a cushy and made up job because he's 'good friends' with Rendell.
Oh wait, that won't happen because America has forgotten what it means to be democratic and show equality to all people not just the ones that know how to kiss ass.
Now, I understand that cuts need to be made but I think the last one is ill-advised. Mentally ill people do not receive enough funding for programs, housing and help as it is and they want to cut spending for them like they are as expendable as a state fair and a computer?! I worked in state run homes for the mentally handicapped for two years. They are PEOPLE just like you and me but need a little help.
It makes me sick when I think about how Dan Surra is making $95,000 a year to act as an advisor for the "Pennsylvania Wilds". In other words he's getting paid a ton of money to sit around in an office and pretend to know something about the forests and wildlife. Why not take that money and put it toward helping the mentally ill, you know - people that really need the money and not some smug politician who weasled his way into a cushy and made up job because he's 'good friends' with Rendell.
Oh wait, that won't happen because America has forgotten what it means to be democratic and show equality to all people not just the ones that know how to kiss ass.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is
With the recession still going strong there has been an increase in credit card debt and defaulting on accounts. I admit I am currently behind on my own credit card payments. Apparently, there is hope for the average person however.
HSBC, which is my credit card pirate captain, has begun to bargain with people who are delinquent on their accounts. Sometimes even halving the amount to be paid in an attempt to collect what is owed to them.
Before this, asking for a settlement was met with scorn or with barely any money taken off the account. Now, the companies are calling and sending letters as they desperately try to get any of their investment back from the American people. I find it interesting that at one time we were desperate to avoid their phonecalls of collection and now we could very well negotiate with them and feel powerful doing so.
Not that I advocate defaulting on a promise to repay but I have a special scorn in my heart for credit card companies. Mostly because they take advantage of people that are going through rough times by hiking up their APRs, nailing them with late fees, finance charges, annual fees and other fees when taking out cash. They have made a lot of money on this scheme of charge, charge, charge and ask questions later. I suppose I should feel bad that even the credit card companies are struggling but I still remember the way they use to call people like me and that lovely feeling of being a maimed animal with vultures circling me, waiting for any sign of weakness.
HSBC, which is my credit card pirate captain, has begun to bargain with people who are delinquent on their accounts. Sometimes even halving the amount to be paid in an attempt to collect what is owed to them.
Before this, asking for a settlement was met with scorn or with barely any money taken off the account. Now, the companies are calling and sending letters as they desperately try to get any of their investment back from the American people. I find it interesting that at one time we were desperate to avoid their phonecalls of collection and now we could very well negotiate with them and feel powerful doing so.
Not that I advocate defaulting on a promise to repay but I have a special scorn in my heart for credit card companies. Mostly because they take advantage of people that are going through rough times by hiking up their APRs, nailing them with late fees, finance charges, annual fees and other fees when taking out cash. They have made a lot of money on this scheme of charge, charge, charge and ask questions later. I suppose I should feel bad that even the credit card companies are struggling but I still remember the way they use to call people like me and that lovely feeling of being a maimed animal with vultures circling me, waiting for any sign of weakness.
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