Jen and I will be watching this via Hulu.com tonight, so I thought I’d share here… in case you haven’t yet experienced Psych. It’s definitely our favorite current TV show! (You’ll love it more if you are around our age… tons of hilarious and random references to 80s pop culture.) 🙂
Hulu – Psych: You Can’t Handle This Episode – Watch the full episode now..
In case you have not seen this yet, some good friends of ours produced their annual Christmas video, and this year they’ve outdone themselves! (Many folks want to see the full version of this “trailer”!) 🙂
Enjoy. And if you need any sort of video work done, you can’t do any better than LaBarge Media.
Wow. This is really amazing. I actually love the story behind it, too. (He shows you how he developed the ideas.) But the demos of it doing what it does… incredible interaction of digital and physical world. Worth the 15 minutes to watch!
This is… CRAZY. Had to post 🙂
Are these for real? They look for real. But, really?
I like the warning before Mauroney does his stunt, “Do not attempt unless you are an NFL athlete.” (Perhaps not even then?)
I know these are old, but my Dad sent me some in an email today, and they’re just fun, so… enjoy!
Holy cow… this is nuts.
But it’s not recent.
Best I can tell, this occurred on August 3rd, 2007. (Check this link for some more info, context, and subsequent links.)
I am continually saddened by the untouchable, unaccountable attitude that seems to be so present in our political system, especially Washington. It’s certainly not relegated to just one party. It’s a prevailing attitude. And as you can tell from the date of this video, it’s been around for a long time now. (Much longer than 2 years! Bill Clinton, anyone? And it goes way past that.)
The only way our country has a chance to pull out of the ridiculous state we are in (financially, politically, even spiritually) is to allow more freedom to the people (which includes accepting the responsibility for and the consequences of that freedom). The government is clearly not going to solve our problems. (Look where it has gotten us!!)
This country is based on the idea that all are created equal, and that all have the right to, “life, liberty, and the pursuit of …” happiness is the word they chose. However, it was originally property. The people who broke away from a government which they felt was only using them, and with no representation, in order to live freely, each man responsible for his own life and choices (but each also knew that they were also more together). That is what we are lacking today. That and this crazy notion that you can spend money that you don’t have!
Much must change. However, one caution in this age of easy information exchange. The video I posted above is/was shocking. But I am seeing it used as though it is happening now, and unchecked. It was checked. There is still some accountability.
Ultimately, that’s what it is about. Rather than playing political games, speak the truth. Do some research (Google is your friend!) and then make sure you are telling the whole story. I wish that would become the “norm” in Washington. What if not only did everyone speak the truth and hold to an ethical standard that always had the best interest of their constituents as paramount… what if we actually knew what we were talking about, and believed it. For real.
We’re definitely not there yet. But until our economy completely collapses, and/or our liberty is completely legislated away… we can still get there.
If you don’t have time to watch this whole thing, then watch the last 10 seconds or so. But be warned, out of context it will just be scary. Very scary. Very “Un-American”.
Problem is, if you watch the rest (minus a few other wacky moments) you’ll see again what I was talking about yesterday. What Obama wants to motivate people towards is good. The others-awareness that Jesus lived and that we are teaching our kids. The scary part is at the end where the actress says, “I pledge to be a servant to our president.” Um… ? I’m good with the “pledging” to serve other people, so as far as the president is a “people” that’s cool… but well, just watch the last 20 seconds. You’ll see what I’m squeamish about.
Also in the video you’ll notice that they mention usaservice.org. I checked out that URL and it just forwards to serve.gov. I think that’s a mistake. I know, it doesn’t really matter, but again, it’s either from the “ground up” or from the “top down” and if it is a .gov website, that’s from the “top down” (at least, in our current way of thinking regarding government). Should have stuck with the first URL.
One more line that stood out in this video that I don’t think a lot of people hold to was, “I pledge to commit to my own change before I ask others to change.” Another thing Jesus said was, “First get rid of the log in your own eye; then you will see well enough to deal with the speck in your friend’s eye.” (He’s a pretty smart fellow, Jesus…) Again, if we stick to this and work on getting our own lives focused on helping others (rather than making other people help others, or complaining that they don’t) then real good will be done.
So if we drop the crazy allegiance to a man – Barack Obama – or even the office of president, then we’re on the right track. In fact, I’m glad I know of usaservice.org (I’m going with that one) now. We know of plenty of opportunities to help out, but we’ll check on there too and see if there’s a place we Campbells can help out as a family, too.
It’s nice to be nice.
(It’s scary to pledge allegiance to a person. Just don’t do it people. All men (people) are created equal. Let’s try to live that.)
PS… I know this is not news, I just happened to stumble upon it today…
I mentioned in my previous post that one of my “qualities” is that I can truly give people the benefit of the doubt. I presume the best of intentions from everyone (perhaps because I know my heart, and I only have the best of intentions for everyone I know – and don’t know – around me) and that extends even to people whom I disagree with.
Like our current president, Barack Obama.
I really don’t agree with anything he is doing or wants to do with our government, but if you have time to listen to what he says (and, if you actually do listen to what he says) in the full version of the speech I mentioned previously, perhaps you’ll agree with me that perhaps Obama shouldn’t be in the office of President, but would be more suited as an “activist” or whatever you want to call such a person? Someone like Martin Luther King, Jr… who did not hold any political office, but was superb at championing the rights of people who were not being treated equally, as our Declaration of Independence declares that we do.
If you listen to his words… he’s right. America can be changed (for the good) from the ground up. There’s the key. And perhaps even he has missed it. (Which is one reason why I still have some reluctance to believe what he says…) The key is from the ground up. As president, he is trying to affect change from the top down. Making government policies to mobilize the citizenry to “community service” is more coercive than culture changing. Sure, good things may happen, but people aren’t responding to the “call to service” … they are responding the the authority of the government.
I really don’t think that funding such endeavors with people’s tax money (money that is required to be given) will ultimately affect the change he wants. (Also, I know that we do not HAVE the money he is wanting to invest in these programs. National debt is off-the-charts ridiculous, and the deficit (expenses vs income) is equally ridiculous, even though we the people are also ridiculously overtaxed in every way.)
I believe Barack Obama could be (maybe is?) a great leader of people from the ground up. But perhaps he would be more effective in doing that in a non-governmental role? He may get that chance in 2012 … I don’t think he’ll disappear from the public scene any time soon. Maybe if someone else were to take his place as president, he could affect the change in thinking that he seems to want to bring to America – a more involved, others-oriented way of doing life.
That would not be a bad thing. Let’s just not have the government mandate it.
Related Links:
United We Serve annoucement (whitehouse.gov)
Serve.gov (locate or post opportunities to serve near you)
Local Volunteer opportunities @ CraigsList (CraigsList.org)
(There are tons more… just Google “opportunities to serve” or “Volunteer opportunities” or check with your local Salvation Army. It is good to serve.)
I’ve heard this audio clip a few times, so I looked it up and found this YouTube clip. What is he talking about? Seriously? Isn’t our military the most well-funded in the world? First, where will he get the money to equal or best that funding for a “civilian national security force” (there are some sources given in the volokh.com link below), and, second… what in the world is that most-well-funded-security-force-in-the-world for? Why not just bolster military funding?
To me… this is a very troubling sound clip. I like to give people the benefit of the doubt, so perhaps the wording he chose was just, well, poorly chosen. From what I’ve found, he does just want to get people more involved in community service. But why call it a “national security force”? Again, it’s still troubling… but here are some more links for you to research for yourself.
UPDATE: After listening to the full-length speech below, it definitely does give more context. One thing is for sure about Barack Obama… he can definitely deliver a prepared speech. In context, in summary, his desire is to motivate each citizen of our country to give their time to helping other people, doing things that serve the community. Those two lines from the video above are a very poor choice of words (at least). I still do not agree with most of what the president has done (ridiculous “stimulus” package using money that doesn’t exist, managing/interfering with private industry (auto industry), and a tax-funded health care system – which is now apparently “on hold“) but I would say in the context of this one political speech, Obama’s remarks are less cause for concern.
Related links:
H.R. 675: Building Obama’s National Security Force (infowars.com)
Funding Barack Obama’s “civilian national security force.” (volokh.com)
(Unfortunately, I could not find the full transcript from any official site, including whitehouse.gov, but I did find the full version of the video.)
Apple released a couple new Get A Mac ads last week, and I’d say this particular one vaulted into my top five favorites of the whole 3 year campaign!
Enjoy!
