On August 28th, 1963 Martin Luther King Jr delivered his “I have a dream” speech. These words that he delivered to over a quarter of a million people are still just as relevant today.…
On August 28th, 1963 Martin Luther King Jr delivered his “I have a dream” speech. These words that he delivered to over a quarter of a million people are still just as relevant today. The work that Dr. King made great stride in civil rights, but unfortunately there is still a long way to go to make his dream a reality. The world needs more people like him. Some day his dream will come true and we can live together in peace. Love always will triumph over hate. We must learn to celebrate our differences and not them divide us. John Lennon sang “imagine all the people, living life in peace.” There is no race except the human race. As a people we can never have peace and live in harmony until this is realized. Live with love and kindness in your heart and the dream can come true.
If you were to take a survey about how people consume the news you would get a lot of different answers. But it’s a good bet that most news is consumed on a mobile…
If you were to take a survey about how people consume the news you would get a lot of different answers. But it’s a good bet that most news is consumed on a mobile device or home computer. With the prevalence of social media and advancement in mobile technology, it’s now easier than ever to stay connected with the headlines. Whether it’s a mass media outlet like CNN, your local news station, or a social media site like Twitter, all of it is available with the tap of a finger. So what can you trust and what is a sensationalized headline just trying to get your attention? How do you know what you can trust and what is the real truth behind the headlines? These aren’t easy questions to answer and I’m sure greater writers than I have certainly tried. The only real way to know the truth is to actually be there when news happens, obviously that’s impossible. So we have to take everything we see and hear with a grain of salt. Don’t take everything the news presents at face value. Check the sources and see what other news outlets report on the same story.
“You are young yet, my friend,” replied my host, “but the time will arrive when you will learn to judge for yourself of what is going on in the world, without trusting to the gossip of others. Believe nothing you hear, and only one half that you see.”
Edgar Allen Poe
There are two priorities that run the news media: presenting current events and getting high ratings. Usually the later is the driving factor behind most headlines. A good samaritan helping feed the needy is not going to grab attention and ratings like a political scandal. Therefore you will see the scandal story at the top of the news and the good news story might air on the 6am news when most people are still sleeping. Big media companies like Fox, CNN and NBC are all after the juiciest headlines that will give them the best ratings which turns into more ad dollars. So often times the story will be skewed to make it more attention grabbing and facts will be omitted or not presented. You may think this is only a problem with the big networks and your local networks aren’t as crooked. However in some way they may be even worse because of the companies that are actually behind these local news affiliates. One such company is Sinclair Broadcasting which owns 193 local stations around the country. In the past several years they have been under scrutiny because of their increasingly conservative bias and how they force their stations to slant their stories in favor of the views that they wanted to convey. One example of this was what they called “must run segments,” which were essentially propaganda messages that were distributed through their networks. Below is a story from HBO’s “Last Week Tonight” where he shows some of the segment that these networks were forced to air.
The other side of this coin is social media like Facebook and Twitter. With these sites anyone can spread stories across the world in a matter of seconds. With the accessibility of professional quality video editing and a 4K camera in everyones pocket, suddenly everyone can be a journalist and present their version of the truth. Before there was TV and the internet, all stories were spread through word of mouth but you know what happens when a story is repeated through different people. The facts get changed or omitted and by the time you hear it the story may be completely different. That is how social media works, someone posts a story, it gets shared, somebody adds a comment and eventually this story has been completely skewed in a different way. This is the danger of citizen media, there is no journalistic integrity, no producers or editors to fact check the stories.
With everything going on in the world currently it’s important that everyone is involved in the story and keeping up with the headlines. It’s impossible to know the whole truth with everything going on, not even the parties involved know the whole truth. The best thing anyone can do is look at facts and try to make logical sense with them. Check other news sources and see if they corroborate the same facts and present the story the same way. With the news just as in life you have to be your own advocate, you decide what you believe and don’t let the media or anyone control your beliefs. More important than anything is to remember to be kind to others with different opinions or beliefs. It’s our differences that make us unique and special. Don’t let politics or the news get between you and the ones you care about.
Another not so easy day, makes it easy to fill your mind and heart with negative thoughts. But no matter what life brings, just remember those 3 letters: ABK, Always Be Kind. It’s not…
Another not so easy day, makes it easy to fill your mind and heart with negative thoughts. But no matter what life brings, just remember those 3 letters: ABK, Always Be Kind. It’s not an easy thing to do, but that just means it’s worthwhile.
Everyday there will be struggles and there will be challenges that will make you feel like giving up. Just slow down, take a deep breath and look at the situation from the outside inwards. What will anger or frustration do to the situation? What will kindness do? Kindness will always make the situation better, even if it doesn’t seem that way at the time. Anger and frustration will just make the situation worse and make you feel worse, that is a guarantee. These feelings are just our fear taking over our thoughts and actions. Don’t let fear take you over, don’t let it consume you. Take that fear and make it your power, use it give you strength. Use that strength to be kind and in turn that kindness will make you happy.
“Fear is the path to the dark side…fear leads to anger…anger leads to hate…hate leads to suffering.”
– Yoda
May the force be with you and stay away from the dark side. Every day wake up and make it your mission to be kind and spread kindness. At the end of the day as you fall asleep think about your day, did you accomplish your mission? If not, what could you have done differently. That’s my daily ask to everyone, Always Be Kind. Let the force of kindness run through you and give you strength.
Life is short, and it’s never too late to make changes to reach your dreams. This speech from Steve Jobs taught me that you can always make your life what you want it to…
Life is short, and it’s never too late to make changes to reach your dreams. This speech from Steve Jobs taught me that you can always make your life what you want it to be. If something is missing in life you need to find, if you want to do something the just do it, if something is wrong then it needs to be fixed. Every moment matters, every day you wake up is an opportunity and a chance to make a choice for a better life. It’s impossible to always make the right choice or say the right things, but the most important thing is to always try and learn from your mistakes. The wise Jedi Master Yoda, said “Do or Do Not, there is no try.” He was both right and wrong with this, you have to always try to do your best but don’t let the fear of defeat keep you from taking risks. When you “try” anything in life, it has to be your belief that you can achieve what you want. Always strive for more, never accept anything but what you desire and what makes you happy.
“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma – which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of other’s opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.”
– Steve Jobs
Today’s Featured Song is “Moving Right Along” by Alkaline Trio from Muppets: Green Album. This is one of my all time favorite go to albums for some feel good music. To me this song is about always looking forward to the good times and the good things that are ahead.
It’s the start of a new year and that means it’s time for New Years Resolutions. After the tough year that we all just endured we are all hopeful for a better 2021. With…
It’s the start of a new year and that means it’s time for New Years Resolutions. After the tough year that we all just endured we are all hopeful for a better 2021. With that in mind, don’t stress and try to make some big promise to yourself or others that will just make life harder. Focus on something small and attainable. The best small thing you can do is to be kind. An act of kindness may not change the world, but a life of kindness just might. If everyone could just make their New Years Resolution to be kind then maybe we could change the world even in the smallest of ways. We could all use a little more kindness in our lives.
As the last chapter of 2020 flips the last page, we have to ponder an important question. Is this the beginning of the end of the pandemic, or the beginning of the end of…
As the last chapter of 2020 flips the last page, we have to ponder an important question. Is this the beginning of the end of the pandemic, or the beginning of the end of life as we knew it in January 2020? The year started out as any other mundane year, but we had no idea what 2020 had in store for society, the way we live our life and all the things we took for granted. (more…)
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