Two More Answers to Ignorance

Two videos showing a much better and more theologically sound response to the tragedy in Haiti.

The first is by Frank Logue a contributor at AskthePriest.org



And the second from our own Presiding Bishop of The Episcopal Church:



Episcopal Relief and Development (ERD) is one of the best things about our denomination. If you would like more information or to contribute go to their website - Episcopal Relief and Development

Because Ignorance requires an answer

Following the devastation of Haiti this week two outspoken idiots aired their intellectual deficiencies for the world to see. Rush Limbaugh decided that political game playing was more important than human suffering and Pat Robertson decided to twist not only theology but history in order to make sure that he could assign blame for the suffering of the nation.

So let me make one thing perfectly clear to the world.

Rush Limbaugh does not speak for me as an American.

Pat Robertson does not speak for me as a Christian.

In fact I don't believe that either speaks for most Americans or Christians of any stripe, style or persuasion.

The Haitian ambassador to the United States offered a wonderful retort to Robertson's astounding nonsense (you'll have to endure Pat's twaddle to get there):

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View From the Phlipside - Stale TV News Anchors

These are the scripts from my weekly media commentary program on WRFA-LP Jamestown

My name is Jay Phillippi and I've spent my life in and around the media. TV, Radio, the movies and more. I love 'em and I hate em' and I always have an opinion. Call this the view from the Phlipside

One of the interesting points about the end of an old year and the beginning of a new one is the chance to look back and decide if you want to keep doing it. That's why we make resolutions at New Year's, it's a dividing point between the fixed past and the future that we hope to fix. That can be a very good thing too. For example this year the family Phlipside will take time at the New Year to clean out certain cupboards. Like the one where we discovered a cake mix that was a full two years out of date. Time to discard the old and move into a new, brighter and slightly less stale future.

All of which leads me to some end of year thoughts on the retirement of what one newspaper referred to as the "...last old school TV anchor". They were referring to the end of Charlie Gibson's tenure on the evening news at ABC. Eric Deggans at TampaBay.com said the following about Gibson and it got me thinking:

"He's not very active online and takes his anchor role seriously. ...He is not willing to pop up in comedy sketches the way NBC anchor and frustrated stand up comic Brian Williams does. ... And he's not about to become a fixture in either tabloid news or the online world, in the way Katie Couric has managed."

Now I'm second to none when it comes to my respect for old school news anchors. Give me Edward R. Murrow and Walter Cronkite, thank you very much. But as I read that bit from the St. Petersburg Times my initial feelings began to change. You may or may not like the new world of the internet. I've got plenty of misgivings about the wisdom of trying to communicate anything of importance in 140 characters or less. But if you're going to simply ignore the most important step in modern communications then maybe it's TIME to step aside. Like it or not it's a brave new world out there. I would remind you that the phrase comes originally from Shakespeare. It's an expression of wonder at the amazing and new people confronting Miranda in the play "The Tempest". This is a time when new things are happening all around us, when new opportunities present themselves and new challenges require new responses. A stubborn adherence to "old school" in defiance of that smacks far too much of Don Quixote. Even Murrow looked for new ways to bring news and information to people. A new year is coming. Sounds like it's time for something a little fresher in the news anchor cupboard.

Call that the view from the Phlipside

View From the Phlipside - Tiger's Tale

These are the scripts from my weekly media commentary program on WRFA-LP Jamestown


My name is Jay Phillippi and I've spent my life in and around the media. TV, Radio, the movies and more. I love 'em and I hate em' and I always have an opinion. Call this the view from the Phlipside

So here's the question of the day: Is the Tiger Woods marital problem the biggest media story of the year? Is it the biggest story of the decade/century so far? I'm amazed at how often this question is getting asked these days. I'm amazed at the folks who are willing to lay claim that this is not only the biggest SPORTS story of the year but it might even be the biggest sports story of all time. I seriously heard someone make that claim on the air in the last couple weeks. So let's take a moment to look at this.

Is this a sport story? Well it does involve a sports figure, arguably the most high profile and influential sports figure of the last ten years. On the other hand it actually has NOTHING to do with sports. So I would classify this as a non-sports story that happens to have a sports angle to it. So that pretty much eliminates it from the biggest sports story of the year or the decade or whatever in my opinion. Next subject:

Is it the biggest news story of the year? So far this year we've had a major political battle brewing over the quality and accessibility of health care for the citizens of our country. We're fighting two wars, we are struggling with the worst financial collapse since the Great Depression, and we have unemployment running somewhere between 10 and 20 percent nationwide on average and depending on how you choose to count the numbers. That's just off the top of my head. You could add in that we swore in the first person of color to the highest office in the land this year too I think.

On the other side we have a man who has made enough money to allow him to live at a level of which you and I can only dream even if he never works another day in his life . Plus his children and grandchildren could maintain the same lifestyle without ever working a day in their lives either. He has a gorgeous wife, a wonderful family and a successful career. Oh yeah and like many other stupid men before him he decided to, how shall I say this, dally with another woman. OK, it appears he decided to dally with enough other women to form a baseball team, possibly a football team. His wife found out, she got mad, there was a scene and they may get divorced. Or they may not. That still appears to be up in the air.

No my friends it is NOT the biggest story of the year. It's a sad and pitiful little story that needs to be ignored. The only thing more sad and pitiful is that we still insist on having this discussion. Playing peeping tom on other people's troubles through the media is something we should give up as a new year's resolution.

Call that the view from the Phlipside

Friday Update

It's been a weird week in so many ways.

On Tuesday I jumped into the South Beach Diet. Early results are as follows:

I've lost just over 4 pounds in as many days. That was with very little workout. Trying to find the new pattern for working out.

This is a lot of food. To quote my lady wife "I'm tired of chewing". We've also had about enough salad too. A lot of the meals are variations on salad. It's already getting a bit boring.

In fact I've found a fair amount of the recommended recipes to be dull. No need for it they just come off that way. Also the recipes are dumb. Some are for one person but others are for 6! Idiotic. Plus a fair number of them actually call for you to grill over hot coals. Umm, in February in WNY? Stupid. So I'm going to look at jazzing some of these up while keeping to the rules.

I had one day so far of carb craving. I spent all of Tuesday actually thinking about bread. All freaking day. It's gone now.

More later.

The weather has been freaky. We had 60 degree temps followed by high winds. Tree limbs and power lines down even a piece of building cornice torn off! This building is about 6 blocks from my house.

Finally there's been the plane crash near the Buffalo International Airport. That's about 90 minutes from me but it's a place that I drive in and around on a regular basis. Our thoughts and prayers have been focused on the families of the victims and the emergency folk working the wreckage site. This story notes one of the victims appears to be a local guy down our way. The name means nothing to me so I probably never met him. Still.

A weird week.

Bits o news

Been a strange week so far:

A very dear friend at church passed away yesterday. It was not unexpected in any way but it's still sad. She was a special lady and will be missed. Funeral tomorrow.

Had to take our older cat to the vet yesterday because she had pretty much lost all interest in anything. She barely flinched when the kitten would jump on her and gnaw on her head rather than growling and hissing per usual. And she wouldn't even budge when my lady wife came into the house. This cat has always treated her as the "goddess" and needs her undivided attention for at least 20 minutes at the end of every day. The last three days? Didn't even turn her head. The early word is not good -liver damage, kidney damage. She's a very sick kitty with a very poor prognosis. She's in the animal hospital for the time being.

In news of lighter note and less importance -

My first weigh in on my new contest put me in the top 5. I doubt I'll stay there. Lost just over 2% of my initial weight. I would really love to drop below that next 10 pound milestone. Just four pounds away.

Dropped out of the top 10 in the football pool. It was a wretched week. Come on the Dolphins beating the Patriots? And a serious case of tail whoopin' at that. A couple other teams let me down as well. So I fell to 11th place. Still picked something like 10 out 16 games last week but got several high point games that I missed. Need a better week this week. Only 13 games to pick.

I've spent most of the day waiting on a software download that I need for the big project I'm sitting on. So everything has been on hold. Doing lots of little things.

Peace

A great start to the day

He was just sitting at the stop, minding his own business, on his way to work when...

That's a wrecking ball boys and girls. Wrecking ball, as in the big ole heavy thing swung on a cable to knock down buildings. Seems it came loose from it's cable and ended up in this guys trunk.

But this may be the most frightening/comic/heroic part of the whole story (yes, all three at once)

"...Police said crane operator Robby L. Boring, 28, of Meadville, was injured when he tried to stop the wrecking ball by throwing bricks in front of it..."

That wrecking ball weighs 1,500 pounds. You've got to have guts to even TRY and stop it.

Full Story

Stupidity as a lifestyle

"Fat, drunk and stupid is no way to go through life, son." - Animal House 1978

It may be the greatest line from one of the ultimate American icon films. And yet no one seems to give it the tiniest bit of thought.

Fact is that here in these Yew-nited States we have made stupidity a lifestyle choice. Before you bury me in an avalanche of e-mails claiming that I don't love America please understand what I'm saying.

I am NOT saying that all or even most Americans are stupid, act stupid, think stupidly or have chosen to be stupid as a lifestyle.

We are however choosing to allow stupidity to become an accepted and acceptable way of going through life. Yes, we live in a free country and I will defend to my death the right for someone to choose to be stupid within the normal boundaries of our society.

I just don't see why we don't call being stupid, being stupid.

So what brings this to mind? Two items. One trivial the other serious.

First the trivial - Media day at the Super Bowl. This event now draws something around 5,000 "media" folks to interview the players, coaches and anyone else related to the Super Bowl teams. The vast majority of those folks are regular sports and culture reporters who are covering what is one of the central cultural events of our nation. Then there's the idiot who would ask the players if they knew the show "American Idol" and would they sing a song for him. This is part of who new range of "entertainers" who specialize in being stupid for a living. The only thing I find more disturbing than the existence of people who want to do this kind of stuff is the undeniable FACT that there are people who find this amusing.

If this is you think about this:

You like to laugh at stupid people. This is a form of entertainment for you.

Nice, very nice.

The second item is more serious.

Turner Broadcastings Cartoon Network put the entire city of Boston on edge yesterday by a really STUPID publicity stunt. (Story)

Quite simply they created 10 boxes,described as "...encased in dark plastic, consisted of blinking lights wired to an electronic circuit board..." and then left them on bridges and other public places.

To the surprise of only the idiots at Cartoon Network apparently, these set off traffic shutdowns and police mobilizations since people assumed they were bombs. Commuter trains were stopped, the Coast Guard shut down the Charles River, and the bomb squad had to be called in.

I want you to imagine the meeting where this was proposed and everyone there nodding their heads in agreement. "Great idea, we should do it". Black boxes with blinking lights left near medical centers, bridges and other public places.

Post 9/11.
During a war where IEDs, Improvised Explosive Devices, are a prominent feature. Boxes left on bridges and roadways or near buildings.

Stupid. No. STUPID.

Stupid is on the rise because we've come to believe that we're not responsible for the end result if that's not what we intended to happen. It doesn't matter how stupid we act or what stupidity rolls out of our mouths, as long as we were "just having fun". "I didn't mean to", "it was just a joke" "oh lighten up".

Sorry stupid is stupid. It shouldn't be encouraged. It should never have any appearance of acceptability. You ARE responsible for what you say and do. You are responsible for any reasonably expected outcome of those words or actions. You have every right to be stupid. I have every right to point that out and refuse to accept your stupidity.

Stupidity. Just say no.

Peace

Going to the Core!

I have now officially registered for the Core Workshop put on by Youth Specialties. This year it'll be in Hamburg NY which is actually closer to my house than usual (only an hour instead of an hour and a half).

PLUS

Plus, plus,plus,plus,plus,plus,plus,plus,plus,plus,plus,plus,......

Unless his schedule changes or he wimps out or sumpin' I'll get a chance to meet Mark Ostreicher, know far and wide simply as Marko.

Please don't get me wrong, I'm not some star struck kid youth minister. In fact I think I've got at least a decade on Marko. In my experience most "celebrities" are over rated so I stopped getting excited about them a long time ago. (Coolest celebrity moment - I interviewed Pat Benatar, on the phone sadly, and we chatted about our lives as parents. Very cool. My opinion of Pat went up even higher. Second best - meeting Slim Whitman. 'Nuf sed.)Actually the closest I've come to "star struck" was getting to greet and shake hands with Mike Yaconnelli. Exceedingly cool. But Pat Benatar is still hotter than Yac.

Marko has impressed me by his passion, his honesty and his....um... unique fashion sense. I just hope he doesn't freeze his southern California tootsies while he's here. April can still be pretty chilly. Needless to say I think I'll have to wear one of my trademark hawaiian shirts.

The Core workshops have always impressed me by the quality of what they bring. Good folks, good materials, the chance to meet with other YMs from various denominations and exchange ideas. I don't get any kickback from YS for this plug. I don't recommend what I don't believe in.

I'm looking forward to it. And meeting Marko.

Peace

A day of wows...

And neither of them good.

First the OJ story. O.J. Simpson has written a book "If I Did It" which details how he would have killed his wife and one other "if he did it". No matter how I look at it this book is reprehensible.

If OJ is innocent how do explain spending that much time thinking about that subject, let alone writing it all down? How do you explain to your kids that THIS is how you decided to make some money?

If OJ is guilty (and I've always believed he is) then this is one of the most evil individual acts I can imagine. It is the ultimate form of spitting on someone's grave. His publisher says it's his "confession". No it isn't, it's a cheap easy way to try and ease his conscience.

What does this have to do with ministry? It's another chance to model for our young people how we believe life should be lived. Don't watch the TV interview, don't buy the book. Until he's ready to make a full confession and accept responsibility (assuming that he's in fact guilty) don't buy into the cheap and easy media event. Don't feed the "car accident gawker" portion of our culture.

Second unpleasant wow. A letter in one of my local newspapers. A local clergy person calls upon the newly elected governor to help congregations that are failing. He wants the governor to "...arrive at solutions to make our churches economically viable..." because "...Like health care and education, spiritual care should be accessible to all." (Full letter is here)

I was flabbergasted. Dumbfounded. Astonished. Appalled. And then I began to laugh.

Brothers and sisters, if we are reduced to having the state government pull our chestnuts out of the fire, if we are incapable of supporting ourselves in a community of faith, then it's time to close the doors and go home. We face a variety of congregations that are struggling, that may or may not survive. I feel for all of them. But if they are not capable of creating a self sustaining community then why do they exist? Should we bail out communities of faith that are little more than personal chapels for a few families? How does this coincide with ANY understanding of the Great Commission?

Beyond that have you seen the way NYS runs MOST things?!?!?!?!?!?! Who in their right mind would want them more deeply involved in church?

Unbelievable.

Peace