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| An example of crossover between video game culture and graffiti culture found on the Berlin Wall (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
Of late my frustrations with our screwed up society have been exacerbated. More than ever before, media creates the stories that become our history and provides interpretations of what people say rather than merely reporting what they say. That which is presented as news is distorted in order to fulfill agendas and control our thinking. No wonder so many in the United States are amazingly nonchalant about who we are as a nation and where we are going in the future.
As I have been watching certain television reports lately I am baffled when I know what I heard and what I understood about what has been said and then the talking heads reinterpret things for me to let me know what I was supposed to have heard and what it is that I'm supposed to think. This is a technique that is in essence mind or thought control.
The U.S. government has been working on the collective brain of society for years now as certain influential groups have been whittling away our traditional thinking and twisting our history into the story they want us to believe about ourselves. My memory is fading as I grow older, but the powers that pervade the general belief systems of the American psyche in an attempt to pervert rational thinking in favor of emotions are interfering with my ability to remember the United States of America as a beacon for the world. The guiding light that once made this nation great may be dying out and many of the younger generations don't even realize it or for that matter care.
I'm puzzled when something makes total sense to me and then the message bearers from the media tell me that I'm wrong and then let me know according to them what I am supposed to be witnessing and hearing. I'm not naming names or citing specific situations. I'm being enigmatic for a good reason. This is just my way of saying something without actually saying it. Obfuscation is a media tactic and a ruse of the politicians that seems to be the way we are often forced to use as our method of communication and now here I am also resorting to it, not in the way they do, but in the way I feel I must for reasons some of you might understand. If you don't understand then I see no reason to explain this to you.
Besides, those who don't like me or what I'm saying will shape my statements to suit their own needs. Most everyone else isn't listening anyway.
Results for Battle of the Bands
My most recent Battle featured the Kool and the Gang hit "Cherish" with versions by The Katinas and Pappa Bear. Knowing the nature of my voting audience, the winner of the contest was no real surprise. What did surprise me was how well the rap artist Pappa Bear actually did. I had even considered the possibility of a blowout in favor of the Katinas, but a handful of you kept that from happening.
One thing for certain is that my vote would not have saved Pappa Bear although I thought the rap version was pretty good. Rap is not a genre that I normally listen to, but I like to keep an open mind about music and I can honestly say that there are some rap songs that I actually don't mind and in some cases I even think a few rap songs are quite good. However, I would imagine that my general preference in music will always fall in a direction away from rap. This is so in the case of this match-up and my preference is with the group The Katinas.
Final Vote Tally:
The Katinas 23 votes
Pappa Bear 7 votes
One More Thing...
Regarding my opening statement, you can make what you want of it. You can consider it an exercise in writing or another rant blogging in the wind. I tend to do some of both. When something strikes me strongly I tend to say more than "ouch" and then fade with a whimper, but then again what I say might be so veiled that I leave people guessing or just moving on to the next thing. I do what I feel like I need to do, but often not to the extent that some would think I should do. I guess that's my business though. And for now I do mean "business".
Next Battle of the Bands will be on Thursday October 1st when I will get political by presenting one of the most well-known and perhaps oldest of political songs--a song that most of you probably wouldn't even associate with politics. You might be surprised.
Do you avoid discussing what is meaningful to you for fear of offending others? Can you think of any recent blatant mind manipulations in the media? Have you avoided any genre of music merely because of your decision not to like any of it?
