A Glass Half Full

People are afraid these days, and I must say that I’m a little scared as well. I’m glad that I’m still in school, or otherwise it’d be a definite challenge to fight for a job in the market. But there is an upside to this down point. It’s a little device called innovation that hasn’t been utilized much lately by the bigger corporations in the banking industry or in the automobile market. In these hard times people are going to find creative ways to lower their own costs, and could quite possibly end up inventing new things. 

Since I’m a bit of an environmentally minded person, I find it awesome that people are cutting down on energy and consumption. To the automakers, they deserve to be shut down because of their blatant inability to change with the times. The Hummer itself represents the archetype of this kind of mindless degradation. As for banks, I argue for more regulation, it’s a greedy business. But maybe now they’ll shape up and be ready for the bank accounts of the next generation. 

Many jobs are going to be created as a part of the new Green Revolution, this time it isn’t about agriculture. New inventions in this field, along with the industry required to produce them, will make up tons of money flowing out of and into the system. This is not a time to be wary, or a time to be depressed. It is a time for a renewal of the spirit, a new Renaissance. Think, learn, imagine, and do. This half empty glass may fill up sooner than you realize.

What the caterpillar calls the end, the rest of the world calls a butterfly.- Lao Tzu

Stop the Partisan BS

There’s a financial crisis where jobs, lives, and futures may be at risk. I have a stake in the debate over what to do in that I’m a student and I’ll probably have to be taking out loans next year or later. It isn’t rocket science that we all have to get together and agree on something so that it can pass, and you congressmen can go about getting your dirty money under the table or whatever it is you so desire. We can’t have a system where one person blames the other when something doesn’t work, and visa versa. I was always taught that compromise was the basis of all agreements, so why can’t people just congressmen and women get over themselves and their party and do something meaningful and worth while. 

Republicans can’t talk because their president has made some bad mistakes, and when you argue that it started in Clinton’s years, guess who was in control of congress. Democrats can’t talk because they’ve had a very ineffective congress; though I must say it doesn’t help things move along when the Pubs filibuster in record numbers. Hey, I’ve got an idea. Have people like Paulson and Bernanke form some kind of a basis for a bill, then put your own little points in with it. It’s not that hard to work with other people, that’s a basic principle that even Kindergartners know and understand. You politicians like to tell us how very different we are, but I think we’re very similar. We all want better education, better air to breathe, low crime, and solutions to the giant problems we face as a nation. The greatest advice given to me in my teenage years can definitely apply to this situation. GROW UP!

And don’t forget your roots:

“The ‘morality of compromise’ sounds contradictory. Compromise is usually a sign of weakness, or an admission of defeat. Strong men don’t compromise, it is said, and principles should never be compromised. I shall argue that strong men, conversely, know when to compromise and that all principles can be compromised to serve a greater principle.”-Andrew Carnegie

Subtle Giants

There is no more action anymore. Everywhere you go it’s just talk talk talk. The days of rioting are gone, and the days of silent grumbling have begun. People are thrown around these days by the subtle giants that rule their lives. I use the term subtle giants due to the fact that the Stalins, Hitlers, and War in Vietnams of the world are gone. There is no one or thing that people have to embody their hatred so much so that they would die to make it end. 

The media is partly to blame, as they focus on domestic issues only anymore. American’s have no clue what’s going on past the mailbox anymore. As the international issues are burried deep in the confines of newspaper advertisements, and as the broadcasts continue to argue over who has what kind of bias and spin, the world is becoming a strange place.

These misc. and utterly random bills are presented and passed, and before they know it the people’s lives are hanging in the balance. There is no transparency in government, and that doesn’t help the people. It only seems to make them more ignorant to what’s going on which is the prime reason for this article in the first place. Some say ignorance is bliss, but with ignorance also comes a loss of power. In this wonderful country power for the government has always been of the people, by the people, and for the people. When people gain ignorance, the power goes to those few who seem to control all things.

As for me, I choose to take arms against the subtle giants that exist in the world. I cannot stand idly by while genocides rage in Africa, nor when China’s government tells its people what they can and cannot think or talk about. It’s time we gather once again, and let us fight for the greater good which we all know exists somewhere within the hearts of all men and women. Or we can just sit down and let the subtle giants become so powerful that there is no hope of getting things back to where they were. So the choice is yours, will it be the red pill or the blue pill.

“There may be times when we are powerless to prevent injustice, but there must never be a time when we fail to protest”-Elie Wiesel

DNC and thoughts on the Obama Speech

The DNC hosted many incredible speeches. Ted Kennedy, even in his week and recovering condition, brought thoughts of marching forward and of a certain passing on of the torch to the next generation. Both Clintons came forward to further bring the party together. Hillary tried to finally bring the remaining Hillary people to Obama’s side. Bill gave finally gave his acceptance and full support to Obama. Joe Biden gave people his story and also through in some anti-McCain rhetoric with facts to boot, overall a decent speech, great VP choice. Then there was the coup des gras of Barack Obama himself. The DNC sought to bring together the party as one, and I believe it accomplished that for the most part. Obama’s speech, though lacking a certain zing of incredible historical oratory, was a great one. All the while the crowd of 85,000 present and 38 Million elsewhere watched and were amazed.

Possibly the most enduring line of the whole thing was the word “Enough!” It definitely sent chills down my spine and got me pumped up once again where I had been lagging in the inspiration department. Then the closing confetti and fireworks, along with the music, created an almost film-like ending. I felt like I was watching a movie at the climax of it all, and that something bad was going to happen. But when everything was well I shed a little tear of happiness. My main thought was that maybe good things can happen, a thought that has escaped me in the past as I learned about figures like MLK Jr., JFK, RFK, and Ghandi. I truly have hope for the future, finally.

Dum spiro, spero.-While I breathe, I hope.

Dear John

Dear John Edwards, 

Today I found out you had an affair. First let’s confront the moral issue. You cheated on your wife who had cancer, and now we find this out in a time when she has relapsed. Inconvenient is word that can be lightly used to describe your situation. What does your wife think, your kids, you!?! It’s crazy times we live in, and disparity is high, but that does not excuse your actions.

Secondly let’s take it from the stand point of the people. You’re a public official. People trust you, as much as they can trust a politician, but regardless, they put some amount of faith in you. Today I believe you’ve lost some of that trust gained over the years. As this event comes into view, so goes what you could’ve accomplished in the next couple of years with your work with lower class people. What do they think?

I give a little bit of respect to every person that pursues a life of service to the people of any nation. Unfortunately, sir, my respect is almost gone. The effects on your family are bad, and the affects on the community at large go with it.

BUT THERE IS HOPE MY FRIEND! While there is a long road ahead, you can turn this car around. It’s up to you though. With media coverage these days, you won’t be able to escape the label, but it is possible to make things better. You must find a way to get back to where you once were, as idealists are running low these days. Cut the $2000 hair stylings, get in touch with your roots, and get real. 

Dale Carnegie put it best when he said, “Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all.” I’m skeptical, but I know the possibility for good things is still there.

Sincerely your friend and concerned citizen,

Jordan Norton

Sell Out

Urban Dictionary defines a Sell Out as “Anyone who sacrifices artistic integrity in an effort to become more successful or popular: Someone who forgets their roots.” Though the term has lost it’s prominence as an insult, it is needed now more than ever. Teenage wasteland is made up of a cesspool of sell outs and phonies. Kids try to be like everyone else, and forget themselves in order to become more popular. But they don’t seem to know any better, so maybe one day they can mature and gain some scruples.

Television these days, especially stations like MTV and VH1, have sold out completely and now have about 2 or 3 hours of music a day, as opposed to 24 hours when they began. These musical stations have turned into reality television stations in order to make a buck or two because people, I guess, feed on the crap they spew out on a daily basis. Even when I do happen upon the 3 AM music hour, it’s filled with those wonderful top 20 videos. To stray from the mainstream would loose too much money I guess. But for at least these two Networks I dub thee Sell Outs.

Untouchable, though, on the scale of selling out that Sell Outs are judged upon, are politicians and the government in general. They do reverse selling out, though, for it does not make them more popular to make tons of money in “donations” while abandoning the thoughts they may have once had of doing something good in the world. Though there are varying degrees of this type of Sell Out, it is very clear that all politicians are Sell Outs. We must, however, put up with these Sell Outs and try to help them come back to their roots so that we can get some good things done.

In these days the loss of power of the insult “Sell Out” has been a product of our fake, phony, and Sold Out culture. We must get back to our roots, and come back to thinking that we can do good things. So tomorrow, go out, call someone a Sell Out, maybe they’ll pass it on, and we can finally start to remember what we thought was possible.

Words of wisdom: Character is always lost when a high ideal is sacrificed on the altar of conformity and popularity.-Anonymous

Warped Tour ’08

Yesterday morning I awoke at 6 am in order to begin the long journey to Charlotte, NC. I was stuck in the third row of an SUV for about 4 and a half hours, but it was all worth it. Stood in line for another 30 minutes after arriving, but it’s all good. I got in and went through a huge crowd at one concert to get to the other stage beside it, don’t know if you’ve ever done it but swimming through people is fun. First Band I saw was Reel Big Fish, kick ass stuff I must say. A mixture of guitar, drum, trumpets, and a trambone just gets the blood flowing. Jumping up and down, people crowd surfing, I’ve fallen in love with concerts.

I don’t know who the next band I saw was, but they were good. I walked around for a while with my friends, in a search for free stuff. Then I went to see MC Chris. Awesome music and comedic mixture, even got a nice workout in there. There were so many bands and booths and things to see it was overwhelming. Now that I’ve had this experience, I can go in there next year knowing what to expect, and getting the most out of it that I can.

Now I normally don’t blog about things that happen in my own personal life, but I felt this was just such an awesome experience I had to write it down. My very first real concert experience. I have a definite feeling that I’ve got a lot of concerts in my future. No words of wisdom today, unless “random screaming” of excited pandomonious crowds counts.

My Top Five Reasons…

For Not Voting For John McCain.

1. Age-as I’ve always been told, we, the semi-adults, are the future leaders of the world. So when does the next generation get a chance to lead. Are these old politicians just cued into some crazy life prolonging syrum that lets them rule forever? Plus how healthy is he really? And its not that I’m “Agist” (a word I’ve always thought was invented by the GOP). I just think that it’s time for a new generation to take the reigns, the old knights of the round table can’t last forever.

2. Forgetfullness/Mind-when a person is on a tour around the MidEast and mistakenly confuses terrorism/extremism/Al-Qaeda that person might remember not to make it again. That was not the fact as he made the mistake three more times in his travels. And has anyone thought of possible Alzeimer’s disease? Also he seems to be the kind of guy that would not take anyone’s advice but his own (well I take that back, maybe the advice of the highest bidder).

 3. Temper-I don’t like to trust people with bad tempers. They are some of the least dependable because they get angry and lash out randomly. Now I know he can’t just declare war out of the blue, but biggest gaps have been jumped in pursuit of war before. I say we elect someone with some patience to make some progress instead of the same old arguments over and again.

4. Method of Attack-the GOP nationalist strategy is to basically try and prove that their opponent is less patriotic than their candidate. Also, when someone states that a terrorist attack would help their campaign I would tend to be weary. Tools of fear may be useful to those in power, but in the end we’re all screwed as a result.

5. Policies-tax breaks continue(to screw our economy), war must go on(to preserve the civil war in Iraq so the military industrial complex makes their buck), no talking to those that are different from us(in fact we may just have to replace their dictator with our dictator), and a coup-de-gras of letting the insurance fat cats continue to screw those that pay for help(or for the PI’s hired to find ways to not have to pay out policies).

Words of wisdom- Sic Semper Tyranous.

What’s wrong?

Couple weeks ago I went to orientation where one of the speakers used the quote, “The world is ran by those that show up.” She used it to describe us that had shown up, to tell us that we were already doing better, but I believe above all that this specific quote was talking about the idiots that run things in the world. Or at least that was always my take on it. I don’t know what’s wrong, things are getting crazy around the world. Governments are getting more powerful, people seem to have given up, and the legends that I have known all my life, and loved for half of it.

Earlier this week George Carlin died, and earlier this month Tim Russert died. I think all the legends that have existed for my generation to look up to and provide us with some hope that things were still not completely whack are about to start dieing in masses. George Carlin definitely provided a check on the system of free speech, and how things went down. Tim Russert put a check on any politician that came his way, asking the toughest questions without any show of bias. I suppose that we’ll have to move on and make our own legends; unfortunately though, legends seem to be in short supply these days.

Going back to the original base that “The world is ran by thoise that show up.” We can show up all we want, but we have to do more than that to make a dfference. If you’ve missed it, lately the world’s been in a bad way. So, even if the world is ran by those that show up, maybe thats thae problem. People just show up to take the job, and as long as they’re making all their money and getting kickbacks from big corporations they’re just fine. The thing is that we have to roll up our sleeves and make the world a better place. Abe Lincoln once said “Whatever you are, be a good one.” And finally the parting words of wisdom comes from the lips of Thomas Jefferson to your ears. “The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not.”

 

 

Zeitgeist

I was in a strand of random searching on the net I wondered upon an awesome documentary called Zeitgeist: The Movie. It presented a lot of facts and figures that just blew my mind, three parts composed of Religion, 9/11 & War, and The Ones Behind the Curtains. Some of them seemed pretty crazy but all their facts were pretty much backed up with sources. These sources can be found on www.zeitgeistthemovie.com in the Interactive Transcript section.

I found this documentary to be very well made, and it threw a lot of stuff at you over a 2 hour time. That being said, the information was awesome and can really change your mind about things, but one of the main things is to go in depth. To do your own in depth research and draw your own conclusions. These days, in this world, our society seems to be so caught up in whatever is the current trend that they just tend to accept whatever they’re given without any research done or thoughts composed. It’s a sad state of affairs but we can change it by drawing our own conclusions. We must look at the facts, and use the tools available to us if we just stepped in the library.

Here’s a link to the beginning of the string of youtube videos, I’ll let you decide how far down the rabbit hole you wish to go.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mzciu8HvfwA&feature=related