And it’s so ridiculously obvious. The solution, if one were really wanted, an INTER-FAITH CHEMPLE.

Done. Who can complain? It’s the ultimate solution which is exactly why NO ONE on either (seemingly different) side will suggest such a logical, simple solution.

The conservative pundits are squawking about how we’re damned if we do, damned if we don’t. This is a classic ploy. Present the issue AS IF there were ONLY TWO options. That’s a sales technique. “So Mr. Fader, would you like me to deliver your new bridge today, or would tomorrow be better?” It’s a trick.

Which, of course, works for the purposes of the politicians… to distract us from the real issues.

INTER-FAITH CHEMPLE. Ask yourself, why hasn’t anyone suggested it? Do you IMAGINE that NONE of our politicians or pundits have thought of it? It’s how that “question” is “answered” on college campuses around the US. DUH. It’s a compromise you can’t argue with. Check and Mate!

But wait, they’re not talking about some memorial mosque AT ground zero, the TRUMPED UP DEBATE is about a mosque several blocks away in an office building. There is SO NO DEBATE. It’s their RIGHT to have a mosque there. It’s ridiculous to hold Muslims responsible for 9/11. You don’t hold Christians responsible for Oklahoma City? Be real.

There is nothing to see here.

No legitimate debate. This is more MANUFACTURED DISTRACTION so you don’t pay attention to the REAL things that are happening.

I’m not duped.

PAY ATTENTION - this is meant to distract you from the fact that BP is slinking out the back door on the cleanup, has used dispersants (far more devastating to the environment than oil) to HIDE the oil beneath the surface to further curtail their responsibilities (aka: Liabilities) and to one extent or another, that seems to be just fine with the Obama administration. Do you really think the Obama administration isn’t KEENLY aware of the effect of the dispersants and WHY BP really used them? Why else would our government allow BP to cordon off the entire Gulf of Mexico to reporters and “the small people” with an armed security force? Why would the Coast Guard work on BP’s behalf keeping people away from the Gulf? What? Did BP RENT THE COAST GUARD?

It’s a question of who owns whom? Of who’s working for whom?

When someone asks you what you think about a mosque at ground zero, tell them to get a real job.

What could be better?  Choosing your own video content  served up in easily digestible little movies that are usually not longer than 10 minutes and more often than not, even less.

With youTube, everyone truly does get a good shot at their 15 minutes of fame (in two parts).  We are all, now, producers, editors, actors, and directors of our own movie companies and at a minimum of cost.

I started paying attention to youTube in 2005 and from the moment Gary Brolsma Numa Numa’d onto my screen I was hooked.

I remember the early days searching for comical material and news and then I happened upon the 9/11 truth movement.  Those were the “dark days” of youTube.  When I was forced to face things I did not want to.

Oh, and the night when my sister and I discovered that there was a race of Shapeshifting Reptiles running the planet and hiding in humans, I had to turn off the computer before I got too creeped out.

When I started making my own movies the seduction was complete.

Now, there’s nothing you can’t find on youTube.  I’m taking an Electricity and Magnetism course at MIT (on youTube) I’ve learned to avoid fluoride, aspartame and vaccinations.  I’m learning how to cook raw and solder.  I practice belly dance in my kitchen while listening to playlists of Balkan Beat music or watching the incomparable Rachel Brice.  I get my news and news debunking from youTube and now can put a face to Amy Goodman of Democracy Now.  And on those rare occasions that I venture out of my house and away from my laptop I have learned how to create a “smoky eye” look with makeup and to whiten my teeth using common products found in my kitchen.

PLAYLISTS ARE THE BOMB!  For the first time since I started listening to the over night radio talk show Coast to Coast AM, back in 1997, I can actually hear the entire show without falling asleep.  I get a daily dose of Coast to Coast AM (with no commercials).  I put on a playlist that’s usually 12 or 13 videos long (10 minutes each) so 130 minutes of programming that I keep on in the background while I work or write.

If the internet is the Akashic Record of the digital age then youTube is it’s INTERACTIVE IMAX THEATER.

And youTube seems to grow along with me because now it is an integral tool for social marketing and, as luck would have it, my interests lie in that direction as well.

Check back here to see more on this subject and many others.

“Dear Amy,

How do I block those annoying messages from the games my friends play on Facebook?  Specifically, FarmVille, Mafia Wars and FrontierVille?  I don’t play computer games, I certainly have no interest in a blow-by-blow description of my friend’s wasting their time and energy and… MONEY on those games.  Help!”

Well, Mr. Fader, you’re not alone.  I can’t tell you the number of emails I get on a daily basis about those messages from frustrated Facebook users like yourself.  I totally agree that seeing messages like “Janie found a lamb, help her find two more…”  are inane and maddening.  But, such is life here in the land of Web 2.0.  With the advent of social networking, suddenly you’re getting spam, not only from someone you know but from an agent (the application) working on your “friend’s behalf”!  Add to that Facebook’s ever morphing interface and it’s the perfect storm for frustration, fear and loathing…   Had enough?

Okay, here’s how to hide those pesky application messages from your Facebook friends without blocking your friend:

From your HOME page, run your cursor over the upper right hand side of the offending message until the X appears.

Click on that X

You will then be given the options to either “Hide” friend, “Hide FarmVille” , “Mark as Spam” or “Cancel”.

Click on “Hide FarmVille” or (which ever application’s message you are trying to eliminate)

And Voilá!

Good Luck!

Well, you know, I DO like the sound of that, even better than “King” but, it’s a language thing.  In our language and society (and maybe the world) the connotation of “king” is inherently superior to everyone, including the “queen” .  If you say “Chris is the king of tennis.” then you mean that Chris is the best tennis player.  If, however, you say “Chris is the Queen of tennis.”   You mean that Chris is the best tennis player among women.

But what if “Christine” were the best tennis player in the world?  Would you still refer to her as the “Queen” of tennis?  Well, that would certainly be true, but is she is also the “King”.

Douglas Hofstadter, in his essay “A Person Paper on Purity in Language” made the point quite strikingly, I highly recommend it.  It can be found in his book, “Metamagical Themas: Questing for the Essence of Mind and Pattern”, a collection of the essays that he wrote for Scientific American in a column called “Metamagical Themas” which “replaced” the column Martin Gardner had previously written for the magazine.

“Metamagical Themas” is an anagram of “Mathematical Games” which was the title of Martin Gardner’s column in Scientific American.