Alan Rabinowitz on the Colbert Report

Jon Stewart lost my attention a long time ago. While his humor never left me in stitches, it did capture my attention for a while when I would come home late after a long night of waiting tables back in college. But then the jokes became to predictable, as did his opinion, and I pretty much wrote of political comedy.

Recently, however, I have become quite a fan of the genre via Stephen Colbert and his witty report. His less-slapstick-avant-garde style coupled with his interesting choice of guests is enough to keep me coming back. Last week (June 10) Colbert hosted Zoologist Alan Rabinowitz, who recently published Life in the Valley of Death: The Fight to Save Tigers in a Land of Guns, Gold, and Greed. The book (which I have not yet read) apparently chronicles Rabinowitz's efforts in the Hukaung Valley of Myanmar, as he works to save tigers from extinction.

Under normal circumstances, you would have to pay me to read a book like this; however, I am considering paying to see the pages of this work. Don't get me wrong...I care for the earth and all of God's creatures, I don't litter, I would rather have a hybrid than a Hummer--I believe eco-conscientiousness is a divine mandate; but anyone who reads this blog knows I have never been seen lobbying the front steps of the Whitehouse for bigger cages at the zoo.

Rabinowitz's humility won me over. His motivation for spending his life defending a predatory creature is far from some trendy impulse or response to social guilt--it is sincere, it is natural. I lieu of the fact that Rabinowitz is afflicted with a speech disorder, appearing on what could be a high stress talk show is quite courageous and speaks volumes for his commitment.

Enjoy the clip below!

Media, Murdoch, and poor Ron Paul

Who are you voting for? Don't tell me (rhetorical)!

But please be advised, your vote is and will be shaped by the media. So who is in charge of the country? You? Me? The Populous? Rupert Murdoch?

I'll go with Rupert Murdoch. Murdoch has a personal vendetta against Republican candidate Ron Paul. Even though Ron Paul was polling higher than other Republican candidates, Murdoch barred Paul from participating in the FOX (the syndicate he and his money control) News Republican Forum. In fact, Murdoch applied a filter to his email account to bar and bounce back to the sender any email with "Ron Paul" in the subject from reaching his inbox, to keep from hearing the protests of Paul supporters. But it should not surprise us that Murdoch, a war monger, who makes truckloads of cash when America is embroiled in conflict, opposes the Republican who wants to end the conflict in the Middle East. Read this to see how Murdoch has wielded his monetary power in the past to manipulate political climates.

Murdoch is not the only figure in the media to unfairly rig the polls. Think about it...who is front and center at every Republican debate? Gulianni, Huckabee, Romney, and McCain. Can you even name any of the other candidates? And what about the Democratic candidates? Obama, Clinton, and Edwards are in the middle of the stage at every debate. On both sides of the partisan divide, the candidates that the media deems unworthy have to stand on the edges of the stage, being given only one or two questions, each trivial and non-defining in nature.

I may be late in posting this, but I doubt any New Hampshire residents read this blog, so at least my warning might sink in to the few bloggers who follow My Friend Ivan before they influence the already rigged Primary system in their respective states.

My advice: Go to each candidates web site and figure out for yourself what stands on their platform, because you will not be able to make an informed decision based on the advice from the American god in your living room. I'm no conspiracy theorists...this is just too obvious.

Global Warming Sells

Global Warming or Global Hoax? Maybe a bit of both? Who's to know…certainly not me; you didn’t see me walk the graduation line MIT. I can’t trust the media. For goodness sake NBC’s green week made me nearly puke--not because I was sickened that every show on one network had a green theme for a week, but because it was a manipulative marketing tactic. General Electric-- besides owning my copier lease at work, a ton of light bulbs, and half of God’s green earth--owns NBC.

In between all the eco friendly punch lines in the sitcoms were the concomitant advertisements for eco friendly products all manufactured by…you guessed it…General Electric.

Media aversion aside, I do care about the earth. It seems that the first biblical character, Adam, was charged with tending the creation, so I think I should too, whether or not I understand or accept as truth every scientific claim made by ex vice presidents. Thus said, a fellow blogger posted this link to a video, and it made me think. It's worth a few minutes of your time.

If there is one thing I would like any viewer, no matter what your stance is on the state of our natural environment, to take away from this clever clip, it is this: We, as a culture, spend too much money on temporal things when so many things with an eternal future (people) are in need of a helping hand.

The Sky is Falling, The Sky is Falling!

A recent Newsday post brought to light yet another round of attacks between opposing parties common to pre-election campaigning. However, Newsday's focus was not the candidates but the bias of the carrier, in this case The New York times, notoriously left wing.

The Times apparently should have charged MoveOn.org $142,083.00 instead of the $64,575 deal of the lifetime they received. A disgruntled Giuliani demanded and received the same deal for his rebutle to the ad by MoveOn.

Here is where the beauty of a free market econemy and the first ammendment meet to make the Newsday article not so newsworthy. The New York Times have the freedom to publish whatever they desire per the first ammendment and have the flexibility of the free market econemy to charge what they wish. The fact that The Times gave both sides of the fence the same deal (smart move) coupled with the fact that New Yorkers have the choice of reading the right wing bias of the New York Post deems Newsdays article less controversial than they had hoped.

I am looking forward to my opportunity to help determine the course of the country in the up and coming election--don't get me wrong. But I am equally, if not more looking forward to interesting and worthwhile reporting on real issues!

Media Matters

The President of Russia has been scrutinized worldwide for his bizarre relationship with the media. As I have kept a wary eye on Putin’s tendency to revert to USSR ideology, particularly in this arena of censorship of media I have noted that censorship early on did not take the form of bans; rather, manipulation. Of late, as conspiracy reports have trickled into American media, I had to wonder…does Putin now react out of fear, or as so many fear, a desire to refurbish the iron curtain.

If it is fear—fear of the media, that is, perhaps I should allow myself to empathize with him, and you should too.

It is a teeter-totter game with our own media here in the USA as legislators try to ensure the oh-so-important freedom of speech while not impinging on the capitalistic foundation of America in placing anti-trust regulations (monopolies).

The consolidation of our local media has subtly been taking place since its inception right under our noses. Take a look at the “big ten” and how their reach extends beyond just television. Since this list has been compiled we have seen even more consolidation (i.e. AT&T, SBC, Yahoo).

Back to Putin: Why might he fear his own media? Simple. Knowledge is power, and whether or not the knowledge the media presents the masses with is true or not, as a democracy, the voting US is subject to and influenced by this information feed. Please read this, I would botch it if I reprodiced it, but keep in mind this is not a critique of the president. We will find a similar article on our next president regardless of party affiliation; Bush is just our current president, and thus more recent articles.

So, I empathize with Putin. The situation in America is not isolated! Our northern neighbors voice similar concerns.


This post may seem disorganized as this is a subject upon which I am not well versed, so I am begging for feedback, and asking that the reader do his/her own research. If, after either reading this or completing an investigation of your own you feel concerned, take action! My uncle Myron was terrified that the US Army would one day overthrow the government and disavow him of his rights. I have to wonder, as far as fascist takeovers go, should he have been more afraid of a consolidated control of information?

To Catch a Desperate Housewife

On November 6th, 2006 a district attorney from Texas committed suicide in his home as the world watched, myself included. Police were waiting outside his home to arrest him for soliciting sex with a “13 year old boy” (decoy), and NBC camera crews were waiting there alongside authorities to broadcast the shame and humiliation of a man who had made a big mistake.

Odds are the deceased DA knew his face was soon to be hitting the screens of millions of television screens across America; who hasn’t seen or caught wind of NBC’s To Catch a Predator. I sat stunned. Surely I had not just heard the blast that propelled a bullet into a man’s brain! I felt sick.

Before I go any further, let me advise the reader that this post is not a polemic on the ethics of entrapment as it relates to police/military affairs—something deeper disturbs me about this particular prime time incident.

Certainly the carefree regulations imposed by the FCC on the internet create a massive potential for evil as well as good, particularly when it come to sex and pornography. In fact social networking giant, MySpace, just booted off a behemoth 29,000 sexual predators—29,000 profiles I wouldn’t want my kids coming across.

Why the prolific increase in adults seeking sexual fulfillment with minors? Let’s ask America's favorite promiscuous ladies, the characters of ABC's Desperate Housewives. One particular episode featured a very cool and sexy underage teenager (16) seeking emancipation from his mother in order to get his greedy hands on an inheritance. His alcoholic mother meets a sex addict at her AA meeting—they hook up. Mom wins the court battle, son gets no emancipation, no money. He is so mad at mom he finds the perfect way to get back at her. We see his revenge on our screen as mom walks in on half naked, attractive, boyfriend and half naked, attractive son in bed, post coitus--yep, a forty year old just had sex with a 16 year, old.

Do I need to go any further? A late 50’s prosecuting attorney who has been battling his desire to hook up with an underage young man certainly would NOT be dissuaded by this debauched display. American Media, repent for your hypocrisy!

Sure they are two different networks, owned by two different media giants (GE/Disney), but you don’t have to leave ABC to find sexy young high school engaging their budding sexuality on primetime…check out an episode or two of Friday Night Lights, but be careful, odds are you’ll see a tempting young 17 year old vixen advertising her assets.

Yes, sexual predators are a problem; however, a media with an unquenchable thirst for ratings that can only be satisfied by pushing moral boundaries and forcing sexy young teens into adult situations may be at the root of the problem. Was ABC looking to ease its conscience with each episode of To Catch A Predator? I doubt it—just another insatiable story to spike ratings.