Politial Correctness and Cingular

My nephew, Jeremy wrote and sent me the following piece. I'm posting it with his permission.

It's a particularly heart felt rant on the state of political correctness as it pertains to a recent Cingular commercial. Tell me, when did Tolerance mean shutting down or shouting out others. And when did we become so thin-skinned that we parade our 'offences' around like war wounds?
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I'm back on my soapbox again about the direction in which our world is heading.

I'm sure most of you have seen the hilarious commercial from Cingular that stars a man and his soon-to-be son-in-law. The company is trying to get across the disasters that can happen with dropped calls. The man tells his future son-in-law to call him Jim and to think of him as a buddy.

The son-in law then starts in on a comical scene of nick names, "Ok Jim...Jiimmy...Jimbo...". He procedes to sing the old song "Jimmy Crack Corn and I don't Care". The call is dropped and the young man freaks out thinking he has crossed a line.

The line with the song has been cut from the commercial due the few complaints of people who were "uncomfortable" with the fact that this song orginated during the african slavery in the US and was sung by a black-face minstril. Did this commercial offend the black population in the US to the point where they made phone calls and wrote letters in protest? Most likely not. No doubt because of a handfull of complaints, Cingular had to spend thousands to edit, process, and edistribute their commercial. Who pays for those thousands the company just spent? It's certainly not the CEO.

Funny commercials are few and far between these days. In fact, the main reason I watch the Super Bowl is to see all the quaility advertising companies save for this one occasion. Now there is one less quaility commercial surfing through the cable lines and satalite waves to our televisions.

Political Correctness has cost Americans their rights in more ways then one. Certain religions can no longer practice their beliefs in public. The government has gone out of their way to make everyone in schools "comfortable" in their surroundings, sacrificing simple practices, like
birthday parties on school property, so not to offend certain religions and races. The employer has to now go to great lengths in preparing to interview, evaluate, and confront employees so not to cross a line and end up in a law suit. Now it is affecting the simplest of commercial
advertising.

Is there an answer to help solve this epidemic, or is our nation so far gone that we will only be sinking deeper in the infringment of our basic freedoms?

You tell me. - J.C.

YouTube and MySpace

I've decided to join the 21st Century... or whatever century we're in - I've lost count. Anyway, I've finally set up pages on MySpace and YouTube. I actually HAD a MySpace page a while ago, but it was rather pathetic - and I only had a couple of friends. And after several news stories pointing out the social problems with MySpace - including people infiltrating teen sites with less than honorable intentions... I decided I wanted nothing to do with it.

...but mainly it was because my page was pathetic. I had no clue how to format the webpage - and I'm a WEB DESIGNER!! Also, I had no life of which to speak of, and, as I said, no friends. ::SNIFFLE!::

That's changing. I'm picking up new hobbies and getting more active with friends (road trips, weekly poker, movie night, just hanging out, etc.) So with my new found LIFE, I'm giving the Internet one more chance as an outlet for my thoughts, creativity and socializing.

My new MySpace page is now fully formatted, playing music, and listing local poker buddy friends as well as notable's such as Sly Stalone, Shatner, Weird Al, and a couple other favorite musicians. These are the official MySpace sites of these stars - even if they themselves aren't the geek behind the keyboard. I think it's still cool and funny.

On YouTube, I'm posting songs, poems, skits (old and new) and segments we've filmed for my SAPS Ghost Hunting Group. Some of my videos are getting hundreds of hit - not THOUSANDS like some have - but I'm not some geeky girl dancing around my bedroom in my pajamas.

I'm brainstorming on a new YouTube Channel idea that will bring back my love for puppets - and that's all I'll say for now. In the meantime, check out my main site at www.ToddPCarpenter.com or www.SingleChristianGuy.com and follow the top links to my YouTube and MySpace pages!

Enjoy!
Todd

PS: If anyone actually READS these mindless blogs
- drop me a line at todd@webrilliance.com

Everyday Experts of Everything

I'm finding it more and more obvious that the average, every day guy is an self-percieved expert in everything - even if the information is pretty useless or just plain wrong. I'm pretty sure they make this stuff up as they go - but I'm also sure they do it without realizing it.

I try to only say 'this is that' if I KNOW it is. That is, I can remember reading it, hearing it from some valid source, saw it on the tellie, or know it from experience. Otherwise, I say, "I think this is that..."

For instance, today I was playing with a christmas present, "Chinese Stress Balls". They are shiny metal balls that jingle when you roll them around in your hand. That's it... they are stress relievers. And wouldn't you know it, several guys around the office walked by and told me how to use them. As experts they proceded to tell me the goal is to move them around your hand without letting touch. Later, they added, the goal is so move them around in your hand without letting them touch AND without making a jingling sound.

I didn't know any difference, as I say, I don't pretend to be an expert on things I don't know. So, I tried looking it up on the web. Of the dozen or more websites I found on Chineses Stress Balls, their benefits and uses not ONE of them said ANYTHING about not letting them touch each other or not making the jingling noise. In fact, every indication was they are SUPPOSED to touch and make the noise - as a means of relaxing you.

Which made me think - what the problem was. These guys have got it in their heads that the 'stress reliever' was a competition. It couldn't be enough to roll the jingling balls around... no - you had to make it HARD. Doesn't that defeat the purpose? Once you make it a sport, it becomes stressful.

People make me smile...