Okay this is not the best analogy (see subject line), because the game of football does not operate like a game of "hot potato."
Anyway my observation of this society is that there is a sort of "sporting" attitude that permeates way too many aspects of all life. Sports are one thing --- and whether one appreciates any them at all, or not.
In Roman times, one of the more obvious pieces of leftover evidence before their eventual fall, was their collesium (sp?). Apparently this is leftover evidence of their bloodthirsty cravings for brutal and murderous sports.
In the rise and fall of civilizations, I wonder just where sports start getting way out of hand. Even primitive societies probably have some sporting events --- just for fun instead of life and death, and this probably occurs when they start having just enough leftover time, after the mere survival chores have been done.
But is it a pattern that societies start getting too much free time perhaps, where they don't have to prioritize their to-do lists, and then they fall into delusions and distractions of various sorts, according to their own proclivities, one of which might be making all aspects of life into competitive sports?
And then they even start seeing "justice" itself as something to turn "sporty" --- such as doing a rotten dirty and sociopathic deed (or just anything socially irresponsible, such as violating the commandment to "not bear false witness against thy neighbor," or whatever according to one's own religion, etc.). Anyway as I was saying, they do some rotten dirty thing like dangle peoples' lives over dangerous pollution pits or whatever (there are many examples of these sorts of socially irresponsible things).
And then they want to (after the fact, mind you) toss the liability around to some other party, like via the legal system or the media, etc. Huh --- that's why they are so adamant to get rid of the trial lawyers. That would be to get rid of whatever vestige of the legal system is left that protects the public.
I volunteer for Binghamton Indymedia, and after watching several fake news stories about breast cancer (e.g., http://www.wicz.com/fox40/video.asp?video=6%2D5+Breast+Cancer%2Ewmv ), and I wanted to do an article about the connection between the PR industry and how the local news covers breast cancer.
I contacted about 8 women working in the local media, including the ACS spokeswoman. None would talk to me! http://home.stny.rr.com/bhuston/Breast%20Cancer%20Media%20Request%20w_responses.html
I then went to a breast cancer walk for "awareness", and noticed that a local dairy supplier had a big display. (Dairy is indicated as a cause of breast cancer). I approached with my camera rolling, started asking routine questions, "how much money did you raise last year", etc. When I asked what is the purpose of the event, one woman said "to get people to understand that early detection is the best way to fight the disease". I then asked if they ever heard of any risks of mammography, if they ever thought about the dangers of radiation. "Nah, it's all digital now" was the answer.
I then found a woman from the corporate media shooting b-roll of the event. I asked her if she wanted someone to speak about another side of this story, and she said "I don't want to get another side". I thought professional journalism was supposed to be about balance?
I had contacted eight women in the press. Coincidentally, this is the same number of police officers who escorted me out of the park.
Unfortunately, to "think before you pick" puts one in the same category with "pinkos," atheists and puppy kickers. Josephina public is so easily manipulated they don't understand this is just a huge marketing gimmick!
Just in case you haven't been watching or listening to baseball recently, almost everything is for sale these days: the starting lineups, pitcher changes, etc. I attend 15-20 Sox games/year and the night games (except the Friday 7:30 starts) usually begin around 7:06 or 7:07. What's the big deal about a few extra minutes?
I'm not crazy about all of this commercialism but this seems to be a minor infraction. I may call the ballpark "The Cell" at times but that's as close as I'll get.
Okay this is not the best analogy (see subject line), because the game of football does not operate like a game of "hot potato."
Anyway my observation of this society is that there is a sort of "sporting" attitude that permeates way too many aspects of all life. Sports are one thing --- and whether one appreciates any them at all, or not.
In Roman times, one of the more obvious pieces of leftover evidence before their eventual fall, was their collesium (sp?). Apparently this is leftover evidence of their bloodthirsty cravings for brutal and murderous sports.
In the rise and fall of civilizations, I wonder just where sports start getting way out of hand. Even primitive societies probably have some sporting events --- just for fun instead of life and death, and this probably occurs when they start having just enough leftover time, after the mere survival chores have been done.
But is it a pattern that societies start getting too much free time perhaps, where they don't have to prioritize their to-do lists, and then they fall into delusions and distractions of various sorts, according to their own proclivities, one of which might be making all aspects of life into competitive sports?
And then they even start seeing "justice" itself as something to turn "sporty" --- such as doing a rotten dirty and sociopathic deed (or just anything socially irresponsible, such as violating the commandment to "not bear false witness against thy neighbor," or whatever according to one's own religion, etc.). Anyway as I was saying, they do some rotten dirty thing like dangle peoples' lives over dangerous pollution pits or whatever (there are many examples of these sorts of socially irresponsible things).
And then they want to (after the fact, mind you) toss the liability around to some other party, like via the legal system or the media, etc. Huh --- that's why they are so adamant to get rid of the trial lawyers. That would be to get rid of whatever vestige of the legal system is left that protects the public.
I'm so glad you covered this in the Weekly Spin.
I volunteer for Binghamton Indymedia, and after watching several fake news stories about breast cancer (e.g., http://www.wicz.com/fox40/video.asp?video=6%2D5+Breast+Cancer%2Ewmv ), and I wanted to do an article about the connection between the PR industry and how the local news covers breast cancer.
I contacted about 8 women working in the local media, including the ACS spokeswoman. None would talk to me! http://home.stny.rr.com/bhuston/Breast%20Cancer%20Media%20Request%20w_responses.html
I then went to a breast cancer walk for "awareness", and noticed that a local dairy supplier had a big display. (Dairy is indicated as a cause of breast cancer). I approached with my camera rolling, started asking routine questions, "how much money did you raise last year", etc. When I asked what is the purpose of the event, one woman said "to get people to understand that early detection is the best way to fight the disease". I then asked if they ever heard of any risks of mammography, if they ever thought about the dangers of radiation. "Nah, it's all digital now" was the answer.
I then found a woman from the corporate media shooting b-roll of the event. I asked her if she wanted someone to speak about another side of this story, and she said "I don't want to get another side". I thought professional journalism was supposed to be about balance?
I had contacted eight women in the press. Coincidentally, this is the same number of police officers who escorted me out of the park.
http://www.infoshop.org/inews/article.php?story=20061001170648163
Outline of my prepared presentation about Breast Cancer vs. PR:
http://home.stny.rr.com/bhuston/breast%20cancer%20talk.html
Unfortunately, to "think before you pick" puts one in the same category with "pinkos," atheists and puppy kickers. Josephina public is so easily manipulated they don't understand this is just a huge marketing gimmick!
Just in case you haven't been watching or listening to baseball recently, almost everything is for sale these days: the starting lineups, pitcher changes, etc. I attend 15-20 Sox games/year and the night games (except the Friday 7:30 starts) usually begin around 7:06 or 7:07. What's the big deal about a few extra minutes?
I'm not crazy about all of this commercialism but this seems to be a minor infraction. I may call the ballpark "The Cell" at times but that's as close as I'll get.
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