Hmm, Chicken or Tofu w Water Chestnuts

Funny as it may be, Jay makes a great point here. The republican party always remembers to play team ball when the money is on the line. Will The Democrats learn to do that this year?

Some Humor on Presidential Race

While this race might be the most crucial in my lifetime, it's still good to be able to step back and have a laugh, if nothing more than help maintain some sanity.

Some insight on MTV??

David Wilmot












This from recent Bob Lefsetz post:

In all the bloviating about Obama, I haven't heard one pundit cop to the fact that MTV is responsible for his success.

In case you haven't noticed, Barack Obama is an African-American, he's BLACK! Only thirty five years ago, this was a punch line in "Blazing Saddles". We lived in a country ripe with racism. How could our population's views change so much?

MTV.

MTV started out as a visual AOR station, as white as milk. But, after prodding by CBS Records, not only did MTV play Michael Jackson, its ratings went up! Only when MTV became a big tent did the station truly explode. And in the ensuing twenty five years, the outlet has featured a rainbow of human beings. Of all ethnicities. Not only black, but brown and multiracial. To the point where those who grew up in the MTV generation, some of whom are already in their thirties, accept their multicolored brethren, it's no big deal.

And who was the biggest impresario of the MTV age? Russell Simmons. Russell is an educated, intelligent human being who the common man believes is the father of hip-hop. And hip-hop, that derided art form, supposedly responsible for rape and even murder, also contributed to the erasure of racism in America. Eminem made a big point of lauding and hanging with his black brethren. On paper someone from a low income, underprivileged background was supposed to hate African-Americans, but Eminem wanted in. And the most famous producer, the most acclaimed one in music today? Dr. Dre.

I won't say those under thirty five are without prejudice. But I will say we have the music industry to thank for this revolution of hope that Barack Obama is leading. And that's what it is. A generation that saw Bill Clinton interviewed on MTV has had enough of the old players, the old system. They don't want a return of the boy bands, they want a brand new act, in touch with the times. And what that act says is much more important than how he looks. It's not only the pollsters and pundits who are out of touch with America, but today's record industry too. The public deserves our respect. People want more. They want something new. They want music to BELIEVE IN!

Interesting...concur? Disagree? Please feel free to offer comments.

Racism-Brooklyn

This Part 2 of a series of discussions on racism in our lifetime. The first was Len Edgerly from experience growing up in Boston. This time Mark Forman comment's on his experiences growing up in Brooklyn and how he tackled the issue and problem.

Change Congress

Larry Lessig is a brilliant law professor that founded Creative Commons and the Free Culture meme. He is committed to changing the culture of influence in US elections. In fact he is considering running for Congress right now.

Racism-Boston

I ask Len about his experiences with racism in Boston and he responds.

Well Begun!

Mark, thanks for getting this up and running. The photo is impressive, and scary--a good fit with our project here. It's 3 am in Denver, so insomnia and general excitement with what I might find on my computer has drawn me from my bed when I should be sleeping. Today is Super Duper Really Big Tuesday in the U.S., and I can see politics as a good prospect for Depth Charge videos and conversation. Maybe we're creating a Seesmic for video-quakes of 5.0 and higher. In any event, I'm glad to be a partner with you in what's unfolding.

Introduction

Depth Charge is a video project between Mark Forman, Len Edgerly and others that attempts to deal with some of the more serious issues of life and society. These issues are often reduced to "sound bites" on the news or altered due to some policy matters between news agency and their advertisers,etc.