drive-by media... UPDATED

this news piece irritates me.

first, the headline blares "Protesters angry about Obama's plan to help economy" which gives the impression that the people at this rally were a bunch of angry malcontents.

then the last line of the hit piece states:

"Most people at the capitol said they were at a loss about exactly what to do about the current crisis. Many said they simply were frustrated and afraid."

which furthers the idea that these were people just scared about the current economic situation and didn't really know where to direct their angst.

noone likes a malcontent who has no suggestions for how to make things better, and the "reporting" in this piece seems to play off that general feeling.

you are left with an impression that these people are a fringe group who just want to complain because they don't like president obama.

the problem is, i was there at that demonstration and i got a completely different feel than what is presented in that hit piece.

i was there for over an hour and i engaged in conversation with many of the people at the rally. i heard plenty of great ideas from the crowd about what should be done about our current economic crisis. the applause lines from the speakers all centered around having people, businesses and governments take personal responsibility for the mistakes they made and buckling down to pay the piper instead of begging for handouts. much like what we all have to do in our personal lives to show fiscal responsibility.

what most people seemed to be upset with was the fact that the administration is using the current fear of the economic crisis to allow the congress to fund all of the pet projects that the people have been rejecting for the past 50 years. you actually hear people justify the outlandish spending by saying "all spending is stimulous" which is like saying if your kids are hungry you should go buy them a nintendo. it's ridiculous on it's face, but the people are going for it because they are scared about potentially insolvent banks and are therefore willing to go into deep debt to assuage that fear.

and the obama administration and congress are all too happy to take advantage.

of course the ksl reporter wouldn't know about these viewpoints or the applause lines of the speakers because he left 5 minutes after the first speaker started speaking and didn't even stay to hear the 4 state representatives who offered remarks afterward.

he showed up for a few minutes, asked a few questions of a few people and then skedaddled out of there like he was late for his afternoon latte.

i was witness to an incident of what rush limbaugh refers to as "drive-by media". this reporter clearly had his own narrative about this demonstration and went there to get the video and sound bytes he could craft to fit that narrative and then left.

one thing that really struck me about the demonstrators was how diverse they seemed to be. a range of socio-economic classes, races and political ideology were represented. the organizer even commented at the end about how he understood that many of the demonstrators had various political views, but that we were united on this one issue. that was certainly the impression that i had from talking to people as well.

another thing that struck me about the demonstration was how deeply grassroots it was. these "tea-party" demonstrations started last week within several cities across the nation with attendance anywhere from 100 to 1000 people depending on the city.

i read several leftists trying to dismiss these demonstrations as being heavily funded by corporate interests in an effort to downplay the grassroots nature of them.

i can tell you if this demonstration had been "heavily funded" by anyone, we would have had a much larger turnout. as it happens, i heard about the demonstration last sunday by good ole fashioned word-of-mouth when a distant relative of my brother's wife told me about it in my brother's kitchen.

i went around the demonstration asking people where they had heard about it and everyone said they had heard about it from someone else. i asked if there was an email list i could get on to receive further notices and the response was that there was no email list, just people talking to people.

you can't get more grassroots than that.

in any case, the turnout was much larger than i expected (i half expected there to be 5, maybe 10 people show up) but i wanted to go anyway in hopes that this could be the start of a snowball that would get bigger and bigger. it has to start somewhere and i was glad to help start it.

next friday there is a "we surround them" demonstration organized by listeners to glenn beck's radio show. i don't listen to glenn beck, but i understand, from talking with people who do, that it will basically be about the same thing the tea party was about. i'm sure that event will be greater attended if anyone is interested (i'll be there).

UPDATE: here is an example of a real reporter getting the story. notice he has quotes from all the state reps that were there (i.e. he stayed for the whole thing instead of just driving by).

UPDATE2: after watching the video (instead of just reading the story) i notice the print report is slightly different than the video report. in particular in that last line where they claim the demonstrators were "afraid". the reporter didn't characterize that in the video report at all. instead he said "angry and frustrated".

knowing that editors usually write the headlines, it wouldn't surprise me if the anti-demonstration bias was slipped into the report, not by the reporter, but by an activist editor, so i might be being too harsh on the reporter.

but it remains true that he showed up briefly and bailed out well before the whole story could be aquired.

looking for a bike

brian here. i am looking for a decent bike for a project i am working on (to be fully announced later). i am also working on a limited budget (esp. since the taxman is not gonna be nice to us for this past year). i prefer a road bike, but i'd be willing to go with a mountain bike if that's what's available. if anyone who reads this knows of any bikes that are up for sale cheap. please let me know in comments or at bkirkby@kirkby.org.

thanks!

Runup on no candy for a whole year.

So, my mom's cousin Mitzi was wondering how my no candy for a year was going. It's going pretty well! I had to lick just one lick from a sucker for a class, but that's it! i haven't eating anything and its been 3 months! I think I'm doing pretty well!! haha. So, yah. there have been times when i REALLY want candy, but i tell myself no and i get on with my life. haha.
Well thats my runup on my life without candy!
♥Briannekirkby

on global economies

so i ebayed this microsd to usb converter since i'm playing around with flash drives lately. (i'm trying to find a good solution for bulk buying for a business idea i have).

i go to ebay and find one that's on buyout for $0.89 with free shipping. i'm thinking "that's not a bad thing" so i splurge and spend the $0.89 halfway thinking i'd never see the item.

i had to pay via paypal which, for some reason, didn't charge me anything for the transaction (maybe it was too small?!).

to my surprise, i actually got it today shipped all the way from hong kong.

all that for $0.89.

i'm guessing they are making a profit because they have a lot more listed (and not as bulk).

wewt!

Lessons learned from a Diaper Rash

Savannah has developed a yeast infection combined with diaper rash this last week. It is somewhat painful for her, especially when she poops or pee's in her diaper. She screams and screams when she has messed her pants because her skin is so sensitive. I have a prescription ointment for the yeast infection and I alternate that with regular diaper rash ointment every time I change her diaper.

The sad part is that she gets really mad at me whenever I change her diaper and put this goo on her bum. She looks at me as if I am the meanest mom in the world and I have broken her heart with my "abuse".

Just a few minutes ago I went through this with her and it made me think about our Heavenly Father and how he must feel when we have our own trials in life. As her mother, I see Savannah in pain when she has a wet/dirty diaper. I go to Savannah to clean her up and apply the medicine that will make her better in the long run, even though it is painful to apply at the current moment. She doesn't understand why I am doing it. It is hard for me to see her going through it. She thinks I am making it worse, but I know it is what she needs to overcome her problem.

Just as our Heavenly Father see's us in our earthly pain at times. He wants to give us what we need to overcome our problems. Sometimes we don't see it as the right answer to our problem, just how Savannah doesn't understand the ointment will help her sore bum. But in His wisdom, he knows what we need - even when we don't. It may even seem that He is not hearing our plea's and not giving us what we need. But He is. He see's the big picture where we do not. We are immature compared to Him. Just as Savannah is immature compared to me.

I would never stop giving my children their medicine just because they don't understand how it helps them. I understand and that is enough. They need to trust me that what I give them will help. As such, we need to trust in God that He knows what we need. If we are living the right way, He will put us on the right path.

I try to apply this principle in my own life, but it is hard at times. I see my family and friends going through their trials in life - asking "Lord, why is this happening to me?". But it is my testimony and belief that He is aware of us and what we need. We experience these trials for a reason and He is in control. Live by correct principles and He will guide you.

Love to you all,
Liz

Chirstmas 08

Chirstmas 08 was a great success. We finally got with the times and had Santa bring us a Wii. It has been lots of fun and everyone has been enjoying it the last month. We've had to put a ban on playing on school mornings since that usually causes problems with being ready on time. The games we got were: Raving Rabids (1, 2, and 3), Lego Indiana Jones, Mario Kart, Mario Super Sluggers, My Sims, and Wii Sports.

It was also Maegann's year to get her American Girl Doll. she was very excited. Especially when she got a trunk full of clothes and accessories from Grandma Kenney.

Hannah's favorite stocking surprise was a set of earrings. At first she was confused since she doesn't have pierced ears, but it turned to thrilling excitement when she realized it meant she could go get her ears pierced later in the week.

We had a blast with family over the Christmas Break. Our Kirkby cousins got Guitar Hero which turned into a huge entertaining event all week long. We were so happy to see Grandma and Grandpa Kirkby from Texas. They were here for two full weeks. Too bad it was during the worst snow storms of the year and they had to put up with the snow - they don't like snow :)

is church torture?

ok, so this story has Susan Crawford (the convening authority of military commissions over guantanamo bay detainees) declaring that a gitmo detainee was tortured.

what evidence did she have that he was tortured? it wasn't the "enhanced interrogation tactics" used against the man (like isolation, exposure to coldish environments, and some frat-like things like making him wear a bra) that had her reach that conclusion, but, rather, the fact that the tactics twice caused his heart rate to drop well below 60 beats per minute.

in her own words:

The techniques they used were all authorized, but the manner in which they applied them was overly aggressive and too persistent. . . . You think of torture, you think of some horrendous physical act done to an individual. This was not any one particular act; this was just a combination of things that had a medical impact on him, that hurt his health. It was abusive and uncalled for. And coercive. Clearly coercive. It was that medical impact that pushed me over the edge [to call it torture]

the medical impact of having his heart rate drop below 60 beats per minute.

i dunno about ya'll, but i still think of torture as "a horrendous physical act done to an individual" like saddam hussein feeding people's legs to a wood chipper.

but it's comforting to know that this woman has my back, because apparently i'm being tortured every week. i wonder if i can get some gubmint money for my pain?!

let me 'splain.

my parents got me a heart rate monitor (HRM) for Christmas. this is all part of my ongoing effort to be healthier. i use it to pace myself properly when i go running 3 times a week (sometimes even in "torturous"ly extreme temperatures below zero). occasionally i'll wear the HRM throughout the day to establish a baseline of where my heart rate rests in normal activity. usually i'm right around 60-65 bpm.

last sunday i wore the HRM to church. the speakers for sacrament meeting were a very interesting family with interesting things to say. i was attentive and interested in the talks. i wasn't even close to falling asleep (which, i sheepishly admit, does happen way too often for me in sacrament meeting).

my heart rate measured a consistent 48bpm throughout the meeting (only spiking to normal when i had to reprimand one of the kids for something).

i just figured that i had scientific evidence that church was good for your heart, but apparently, according to Susan Crawford, i was being tortured.

so, anyone know a hungry lawyer-type that would be interested in making some easy money? we'll make sure the complaint includes reference to bush AND cheney and maybe throw in something about how global warming is causing the "torturously" cold tempurature's i'm having to run in. surely one of the liberal bugaboos has got to stick and make us rich!