Preventive Imprisonment....illiberal????

In this speech from Obama, he speaks about the need to have FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) a sub agency of the Department of Homeland Security regulating which people 'might' be deemed to have criminal intent and therefore incarcerated in the interest of protecting Americans. Rachel Maddow carefully deconstructs this speech and her analysis is pretty damning as to the abuse of civil liberties, which of course the States swears by. Is this an example of illiberalism at it's 'finest' or is the President justified in his actions? The video can be found here.

Mr Jones...the ultra don't &^*% with my gun libertarian...

Alex Jones really when off the deep end when he was interview about his views on gun control. I couldn't believe how he would resort to name calling, discrediting and out right threats to his host when debating gun control. There are two parts as you will see if you view this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4uymMI_omik. Does his rant have meaning or is it just a rant? How do you see gun control in light of liberal ideology which you are well aware of? Love to read your comments!

What the 99% movement was and is about...

In this video,the Californian Teachers Federation try to suggest what ails the US is the tax base and how services are paid for. Further, it suggests that the people to blame for the US fiscal crisis are not workers but rather the rich who do not want to pay their fair share of taxes. Do you buy into this message? Why/why not? What evidence is seen that supports this position and finally how does it relate to our studies of economics and politics this semester? The link to the video can be found here.

Yet...another mass shooting in the good US of A...

What are the pundits saying this time? Just another crazed individual? Perhaps we should have hired guns in schools? Maybe as part of teacher training, a course on weapons use would be required and of course then the teacher can have one at the desk at the ready? In all seriousness the point to me is always dismissed. That is, we live in a culture of violence which needs desperately to become a culture of peace. Only this will change the attitudes and provide us a way out. Here is a link to the shooting news....and here is one to the culture of peace website. What do you see as the issue? How does liberalism handle gun issues?

Before I die.....

Ms. Chang's community efforts should be applauded. Can you see a use for this type of activity? After view evaluate how useful these activities would be for us? The video is found here. For more on Ms Chang and what she does at home and her impact around the world go to this url.

Climate change? Nah...just unusual events in weather...geesh

I love Linda McQuaig, PERIOD! How she uses her wit and humor to get us to think deeper is wonderful. In this short article, Linda discusses how discussion on climate change has been deverted by 'wicked weather' events. There are many sub stories here...media influence, societal values and of course ignorance of the 'facts'. How do we as a people know how to act when agents of rationalization (see posts below) form a public perception that keeps us from moving forward? What does this say about us? About the failure of our institutions to make us aware citizens? Find the article here.

Narcissistic culture...what are the effects????

In this brillant short video about the effects of TV and how it aides our narcissitic behavior one is compelled to ask themselves...how does this play out with me? This story is from an American context but we can ask ourselves if there any truth of narcissistic culture pressure in our society as well. If there is, how do the key values we have looked at, individualism and collectivism play out for us? What consequences (short/long term) are there for our society? Is this positive or negative in our push forward to develop the 'common good' for society. Looking forward to your take on this, ty.

How 'honest' are you?...

This RSA animate video explores our perceptions of ourselves and others as to how we rationalize our behaviors. The gift of modernity has been 'reason' as we've talked about extensively in class. Take a look at this video and ask yourself how honest are you? Is bias towards a certainly ideal or goal natural? How do we justify our own actions and others? Love to hear your insights....remember...hook the ideas to our study of the philosophes.