Chapter 10: In the Grey

Ron Paul Hosts Third Party Press Conference
(aired on C-SPAN September 11, 2008)

(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zYALxUfEmfQ)

Only 6960 views when I watched this. More people watched Britney Spears "Womanizer" video than this. Not that it's their fault. I'm 100% positive that it was suppressed by all media. Besides, the majority of the American people prefer flash over substance.
We have chosen complacency and laziness over information, rights, and liberty.

I am not a sheep, never have been, probably never will be and it doesn't make my life easy. Yes, I'd love to chime in with my peers, believe what they believe because it's obviously easier. I wish I was one who got off on sucking off the lips of maple syrup buzz words and phrases that make the average television whore cum radically in their pants. Since when did people stop seeing the larger picture of what makes America the country it is?

The media will have you shaking scared into believing that if you don't walk the black and white path they want to sell to you, that this country would find itself lost forever. The truth is that there is very little besides a great huge ocean that separates the US with the rest of the world. We hold onto a golden belief that our societal structure, our economic security, and global power is solid, unwavering, and unmovable.

However, I think that just like a Jenga piece, you start to take critical structural pieces out and you'll find your perfect tower crashing down.

Just look at Katrina and New Orleans. This "perfect shining example of civilization" that the US boasts to the rest of the world. It was broken down in a matter of seconds when life was threatened, liberty was up for barter, and justice was completely absent. We WANT to believe that our society and communities would uphold the belief system that is the rock, solid foundation of this country. We WANT to believe. And that's why we ignore our own internal logic and do things without question.

A two party system in the country where NEITHER parties uphold the values that can keep this country in check is a failed system. Instead of race between two qualified leaders who promise to uphold the constitution, protect the liberties of the its citizens, and will fight to secure us from foreign compromise, we get a horse race that amounts to nothing better than a Miss America Pageant sponsored by our beloved media.

I know I always fight the main stream. I know it always looks like I do things simply because they aren't the norm. I've always felt there wasn't something right about this election... about either the Republican and Democrat candidate. It never sat still with me. The media continues to ignore the fact that neither of these candidates have real solutions but just broad promises that sound OH SO TASTY to the masses. But if you actually look at the consequences of their promises, you have to wonder if not only we'll be even further into debt but will anything really be solved? And if we continue to use force to secure our global positioning, if we'll inadvertently compromise all the rights this country used to stand for...

So I'm going to vote third party this year I think. I looked into this site
http://www.votepact.org/

Basically it works when two people who were going to toss their vote to the republican and democrat nominee because they were the lesser of two evils both agree to vote for a third party candidate instead. This way, it doesn't throw the vote to one of the primary sides but cancels out the two main stream choices and shows that maybe it's time for reform in our political system.

I will be researching a third party candidate this year and hopefully will be able to find a vote pact partner and vote my conscious.

Chapter 9: Haul Culture

It's always a little offsetting when you discover a new type of culture online. It's part of the exploration/discovery part of being a metazen. You just never know what types of communities or groups are out there.

I was on youtube watching videos of people freaking out in offices and going ballistic. Mainly, I was watching them because my friend was having a super bad day at work and I wanted to link him some videos of people throwing monitors to help him feel better.

However, if you know how youtube works, some key words tend to over lap regarding the description of the videos. The next think I know, I'm watching a Britney Spears video and then from there moving to how to apply make up. Because I'm not a girly girl and hardly ever put on make up, I'm always fascinated in girl culture. It's nice to see the side of xx that I never really get to experience. So all these girls kept talking about haul haul haul haul. I'm thinking to myself, wtf is a haul?

Apparently, it's this whole culture of women or men online who like to video themselves prepackaging their cosmetics, bags, clothing, or any consumed item really. It seem to be heavily cosmetic driven but the jest of it seems it's more along the lines of the glamour world.

The reason it feels like a this totally subtle fetish to me is that it's all about really appreciating packaging, assembly, colors, textures, and feeling. It's giving someone that tactile experience of sensory connection to the product. It's that feeling you get all over the surface of your skin when someone speaks about something with enthusiasm and passion.

Also, it seems like it involves those who are heavily into shopping. hehehe. Crazy. I guess I should have known a culture like this would emerge. What better thing to use youtube for than to help those who love to consume, share what they consume. I know people who are very passionate about shopping and all they want to do is share the details of their purchases with you.

Video blogging allows them to do this at any time and for all their purchases. I should do a HAUL video for the expansion release of World of Warcraft. :)

Here's a link to the Anatomy of a HAUL video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzJUd5z3vo8
Summary:
Anatomy of a Haul Video
1. Packaging - Box, envelope, bag
2. Product - Cosmetics, handbags, clothes, shoes - no restrictions
3. Touching - opening of packaging, product displaying, color name or number
Optional:
4. Testing of product
5. Price paid / Display of Receipt
6. Location of Purchase(s)
7. Demeanor and helpfulness (or lack of) of sales associate
8. Hopes / Desires of future purchases
9. Plans on returning or exchanging any or all of items / Possible regrets
10. Caveats to other buyers (Don't buy the Neo Sci Fi line, don't bother with the sale, etc.)

Chapter 8: The Sheep Live

The whole election process over the last 8 years now has really just been a complete and utter disappointment to the democratic system. First, with media being as accessible as it is now, there is no reason we should drag elections out for so long. It now takes almost a year and in that year our entire nation gets torn in half.

The demon side of people come out and it ends up a rat race of popularity and media controlled influences. These are decent people who are volunteering to lead our nation. And yes, there are some who are more qualified than others but none deserve to be completely disrespected to the point of personal abuse.

The sexism and ageism in this country is outrageous. Had the media gone after the race card, do you think this country would have stood for it? Absolutely not. And I'm a firm liberal and am entirely ashamed of all the other media-sponge, liberal-turned-sheep heads out there. Grow up! This is a fucking Presidential Election.

Stop looking at the skin, sex, age of the person and actually look at their platform, economic plan, or NON- plan. Look at their history of leadership and background on foreign policy or their stance on government spending.

THOSE are the things that will matter coming from the future President of the United States. The more the media twists this into their free-for-all reality TV show, the more the politicians can't focus on the real issues at hand.

Last night's debate, they were talking about abortion and education reform. This is a sinking ship. We are a great sinking ship as a nation. I want a leader who knows how to fix the gaping hole that's causing us to sink. I don't want to talk about how we're gonna add a pool to the top deck or improve room service.

There's not one politician in this run for president who seems to be willing to admit that mom and dad have spent all of our money and we're living on massive credit debt. And the answer isn't to charge more!

Am I crazy? Do I not understand economics? Is it OKAY for us to continue to spend billions and trillions per year that we don't have?? Is the answer to all our problems to throw more money into the fire?

In any case, I have no idea who I'm voting for this year. And it's a shame that the media decided to turn this into their own personal boy-toy of the year game. I don't think it's going to matter who is the next President. Neither one of them has the balls to do what really needs to be done. And that's tell the kids, I'm sorry but for the first time, I'm going to have to say NO you can't buy that we simply don't have the money.

Maybe reality skews from a micro to macro level.