Posts Tagged ‘NPR’
19
The Perfect Conservative: Herman Cain or Jesus Christ?
by Usonian 
2012 Candiate Profile, News
We’ve been writing a lot about Herman Cain lately, since he’s pulled ahead of Romney in the polls. As such, we’ve officially arrived at the point in the race when the conversation turns to things the candidates wish they’d never said or written.
One such regrettable comment could be Mr. Cain’s Christmas message from 2010.
Along with the standard season’s greetings, Cain included such gems as:
He helped the poor without one government program. He healed the sick without a government health care system. He feed the hungry without food stamps.
NPR points out that, sure, the modern welfare state didn’t arrive until almost two thousand years after Jesus, but we shouldn’t let that get in the way of an argument that one RedState commenter said: “reeks of political opportunism more than piety.”
Other commentators are scratching their heads over this excerpt from Cain’s speech:
He didn’t have a lawyer, nor did He care about who judged Him.
His judge was a higher power.The liberal court found Him guilty of false offences and sentenced Him to death, all because He changed the hearts and minds of men with an army of 12.
Any ideas about what made it a “liberal” court?
At any rate, we’re not sure what good is accomplished by fighting over what Jesus’s party affiliation would be today–apart from misguided political support and totally cool religious revivals, of course.
But, if we’re playing that game… we’ll play devil’s advocate, so to speak, and quote a classic from Mark’s gospel:
21 Jesus looked at him and loved him. “One thing you lack,” he said. “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”
22 At this the man’s face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth.
23 Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!”
24 The disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said again, “Children, how hard it is[b] to enter the kingdom of God! 25 It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”
So what do you think–was Jesus Christ “the perfect conservative”? Was Cain just spreading Christmas cheer? Or was he perhaps spreading something else?
Images thanks to Politico!
You can stand under Obama’s umbrella-ella-ella-ay-ay-ay. Because apparently he won’t.
Mark your calendar! Michele Bachmann stops by Late Night next week.
Senator Barbara Mikulski sponsors repeal on DOMA, and the WashPost writes about the new Democratic support for same-sex marriage.
And just in case you haven’t heard about Schweddy Balls yet…
Image courtesy of NPR's Planet Money blog
Do you find charts, graphs and data painful for your eyes? How about your ears? What? Are these numbing nuggets of numbers not singing to you?
Thanks to some plucky reporters at National Public Radio you can now experience the full musical majesty of visual data.
These intrepid audio-detectives decided to investigate the possibility economusic when they faced the problem of trying to describe economic graphs to their listeners.
Take the Case-Schiller Index which measures home prices. Visually it is a good indicator of the “housing boom”. It shows the huge increase in home prices, followed by the huge decrease and subsequent recession … and looks like this.
But what happens when you take those numbers, transpose them onto a musical staff, and get an opera singer to record them?
Well, this.
Also of interest, here’s Miami’s musical representation - the city with one of the biggest booms and busts, and Dallas – a city that saw relatively constant home prices.
We are looking forward to the day when the 1300 pages of the Federal Budget is delivered in song.
iTunes better be ready. Check out the full story here.
Traditionally, Memorial Day weekend has signaled the start of the summer vacation season. But in recent years, the economic downturn has made the holiday nothing more than a tease.
Over the past three summers, the travel and leisure sectors have been hurt by the surge in ’staycations,’ the stay-at-home alternatives for people who couldn’t afford destination vacations.”
This year, according to NPR, the tease is over!
Now that people are feeling more secure in their jobs, the travel and lodging industries are both predicting a healthy (or at least a healthier) vacation season ahead.
Not to bring you down: While job security might be becoming less of a thought, ever-increasing gas prices are still on the mind of many Americans.
It’s a tough time to be a journalist.
We hear about how the Internet is threatening print newspapers. Newspapers respond by laying off thousands of writers.
Fortunately some websites are hiring new blood to meet new demand (at much lower wages than in the print industry).
But now some online journalist’s jobs may be threatened as well.
According to this article from NPR, a new software program has been developed to write sports news.
This “Robot” can import sporting score sheets then, after processing that data, produce competent stories about the games in question.
What next? Computers arguing on SportsCenter?
James O’Keefe, the undercover conservative journalist, investigator, filmmaker, etc. etc. has problem…and he needs your help to fix it.
O’Keefe, who most recently made headlines for his role in the controversy surrounding NPR, is known for his work involving hidden cameras.
He first came to “prominence” when his videos exposed the wrongdoings of some members of the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN).
The problem for O’Keefe is… this film making costs money. Until now, O’Keefe has been putting the money on his and his friends’ credit cards. Now, he is deep into debt.
It cost us about $50,000 when all is said and done to produce the NPR video”
To help ease the pain, O’Keefe is asking supporters to contribute money so he can pay off the bills. He promises anything extra will be used for future projects.
Maybe next time he’ll spend less on costumes?
BONUS: Vanity Fair thinks they may have found some useful advice.
Going green! The St. Patrick’s update to Angry Birds Seasons is available today!
No surprises…fighting in Libya continues as Gaddafi’s forces intensify.
Another one bites the dust: NPR’s top exec resigns amidst most recent controversy.
Is the GOP attacking Islam? The House starts its hearings on “Muslim radicalization.”
And, Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark loses its director…but not in a freak accident.
By now you might have heard about the tremendous budget cuts being proposed by Republican members of Congress. What you may have missed is the impact of the plan on some of the country’s largest providers of free press.
In their proposal, the Republicans are calling for a complete de-funding of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, an organization which provides funding to local television and radio stations all over the country. The CPB has already expressed their opinion:
Federal funding for public media is a smart and careful investment that continues to deliver proven benefits to the American people at both a local and national level. It is a successful example of a vital public-private partnership.”
Funding for organizations like the PBS and NPR has always been a heated issue between liberals and conservatives. As liberals prepare to fight the proposal on every front it doesn’t look like it will cool off anytime soon.
Today, we at USDemocrazy have decided to take a break from bonuses and Obama and AIG and the economy… and well, you know, all the bad stuff going on. Instead, we’re talking music!
In case you hadn’t heard, this week, Austin, Texas is descended upon by music industry big-wigs and little-wigs, independent musicians from all genres, music journalists, and music junkies for the South by Southwest music festival. If you don’t know what that is, you really ought to. The whole industry has its eye on the eighty-plus stages in Austin featuring hundreds of pretty sweet performances.
But, if you can’t go, or have been too into “the news” to have paid much attention, you’re in luck! There’s a ton of people who would love to tell you about it!
Our favorite place to go is NPR, who are in their element at the music festival, broadcasting select performances on – gasp – the radio! But, if you’re glued to your computer as most of us are, they have great live webcasts from the best shows, including chats with people at the show and photos from the show. It’s like you’re there… but not.
In a recession, spending money on music (we at USDemocrazy are all for legality, and we actually purchase our music!) might seem like a frivolous expense that can be eliminated. But these days, it’s nice to have your money go to something you can actually enjoy, rather than to some slimy Wall Street exec. (OK, so we can’t entirely erase those bonuses from our minds.)
If you’re going to be able to make it mentally (let alone financially) through this economic bust, you might need a little escape from all this money business to take in a show, buy a new album, or discover a new artist. But a lot of people don’t know where to start. Here’s a hint: start by paying attention to South by Southwest. There’s something for everyone — even those finicky bluegrass fans. (The Travelin’ McCourys are a great place to start, if you’re into that kind of music.)
Indulge in a little new music. It’ll make you feel good! And if it’s the top trend on Twitter, it has to be worth talking about!
Thanks to The Economist
The name Bernie Madoff (pronounced made-off, as in he MADE-OFF with your money) may ring a bell. If not we here at USDemocrazy can fill you in:
Madoff organized one of the biggest scams of all time. Current estimates show that he committed at least $65 Billion in fraud. He did this through a technique known as a Ponzi Scheme.
A Ponzi Scheme (not to be confused with the leather clad, motorcycle riding, Fonzi scheme) is a four step process:
- Attract some investors with promises of great returns on their money.
- Take their money and pretend to invest it.
- Get more investors and use their money to pay back the initial investors.
- Rinse and repeat.
As word gets around about your “great investment” more people flock in, bringing in plenty of greenbacks. For more info, check out this NPR report.
Now, you may be saying how can I get in on this? Madoff was a big Wall Street executive, how can I, a working stiff, scam my family and friends?
Craig Ginsberg managed to swindle $4 million using gift cards instead of stocks. See, it’s that easy!
Now before you go start your own little scam, here is a warning of the risk. Madoff currently is facing up to 150 years in prison for his crimes. He’ll get out when he’s 220 years old.
Who said investing wasn’t risky?
Remember the ’80s? That was the era of Pac Man, punk rock, and boom boxes. It was also the time of YUPs (now called “yuppies,” because it sounds cuter). YUPs were a whole class of Young Urban Professionals, making their own successful ways in the job market. (Ah, the good ol’ days.)
But, since the ’80s everything has changed. Now that we are in a recession, we at USDemocrazy would like to reclassify the YUP acronym and instead refer to them now as: Young and Universally Poor.
That’s right folks, as of now we are all poor — including those aformentioned yuppies.
And it is not just contemporary yuppies who are under seige… current college students (aka: AYUPs… aspiring yuppies) are also in trouble.
Morgan Oliver, who was featured on NPR’s “All Things Considered,” is a recent graduate of Columbia College. Like so many of her peers, Oliver just can’t find a job! Are we surprised? No. But what does one do with mountains of student loans with no substantial income to pay them off? (Ignoring them doesn’t work… we’ve tried.)
Anyone looking to enter the workforce now may want to run and hide… or consider getting another degree. Hibernating in academia for another few years (or decades) looks increasingly attractive. (Many a college senior could tell you this is a great idea!)
Other would-be yuppies are finding themselves in soup kitchen lines. Nick Turse at Mother Jones discusses the changing face of the working poor in America… a face that is getting younger. (Does this remind anyone else of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button?)
So much attention is being paid to those who have been laid-off (and rightly so!). But let us not forget the youth of today (and yuppies of tomorrow) who can’t even break into the job market to build up some savings. These kids might listen to Notorious B.I.G.’s “Mo’ Money, Mo’ Problems” and beg to differ.
Image courtesy of crunchgear.com.
… but we at USDemocrazy are fairly certain the that does not apply to our US economy.
A few weeks ago, we posted a blog that basically said: if you talk about too much about recession, you could end up with a depression . Well, apparently no one has learned their lesson!
This article in the New York Times tells us how upset we should be about the loss of our jobs. And this article from the Wall Street Journal is especially nice and perky. It gives us the odds of the United States stumbling into a deep dark depression!
We at USDemocrazy kinda prefer stories like NPR’s story on “Laid Off Camp”. This is about unemployed or furloughed people who seek out others in the same bind. One guy said he just wants to meet someone who can go to museums in the middle of the day with him. The Laid Off Camp counselors say that you should embrace unemployment, not stress about it! If you’re going to be out of work… be happy out of work.
In these tough times stories of optimism are great (and hard) to find. As all of us who have been jobless know… being happy and unemployed is easier said than done!
Most likely, you’ve heard about Twitter, but if you’re anything like us at USDemocrazy circa two weeks ago, you probably still have no idea how it works.
Or maybe you’re one of those annoyingly savvy people who is just lightyears ahead of us mere mortals and can thus pontificate on the greatness of Twitter for hours. (Yawn!)
Either way, you’re likely to find this piece from NPR’s Weekend Edition pretty entertaining. It features Andy Carvin and Scott Simon trying to explain to 80+ year old colleague Dan Schorr the glories of Twitter. They are aided in this challenge by Dwight from “The Office,” also known as actor Rainn Wilson.
Anyone who is anyone is Tweeting these days.
If you aren’t Tweeting, don’t worry — these “Tweets” aren’t what you think. They are just a nickname for your personal mini status updates. These updates are put up on the Web for your “followers” to read. So… Tweeting does not involve chirping, whortles, whistles, wings, feathers. No birds are harmed in the creation of any and all Tweets (so far as we know).
If reading the newspaper in the morning for your daily dose of news isn’t enough for you (and these days, there is ALOT of news!), then go to Twitter. There you can follow constant updates on whatever is going on out in the big, bad world. All this talk of “following” and “followers” may connote some kind of cult, but really, it’s safe to drink the Twitter Kool-Aid. It’s all just a part of the Twit-cabulary.
Once you dive into the Twitter world an unrelenting stream of Tweets may start to show up on your homepage telling you what your favorite celebrities are doing, what the New York Times is currently reporting, or (gasp!) what people you actually know are up to. All this can actually be rewarding. Twitter brings to you the wealth of the internet (should you choose to accept it) without making you go search it on your own. Good Luck!
Come on, if we at USDemocrazy can Tweet with the best of ‘em, it really can’t be that hard.
