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Anjelica Huston


"What do I think of the Yankees? I'm sorry, I don't follow football."


Hey, when was the last time you encountered someone who didn’t share your interests? I would say there is good chance it was today. Besides being out in the real world, social media is in the home from waking to sleeping again, so even if you had the day off at home, you encountered someone who wasn’t interested in your favorite subjects.


Another question. What was your reaction to this? Some can accept this on the face value, realizing everyone is and has the right to be different in their pursuits. Others immediately jump right to ridicule, eager to prove their point of view is superior.


Dictionary.com says Ridicule is speech or action intended to cause contemptuous laughter at a person or thing, derision.


Why is ridicule so popular and so quickly used against others? I firmly believe this has more to do with the state of mind and intelligence of the ridiculer rather than the victim.


Thomas Jefferson: Resort is had to ridicule only when reason is against us.


This seems to be the polite way of saying what Charles Simmons was much more blunt about: Ridicule is the first and last argument of a fool. I guess it’s time to ask ourselves who the real inferior fool is here.


Sports being the competition it is, certainly provides a lot of space for playfully deriding another’s team, but keep it in good fun. The ones who can suffer the most from actual derision are those like Ms Huston, who don’t have the background to know one sport from another.


Everyone you meet knows something you don’t. Don’t make fun of them. One of these days you may need some knowledge they have, and burning those bridges may not be in your eventual best interest. On the most basic level, don’t be mean to other people. Seriously, just don’t be mean.


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dictionary.com


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George Takei


"This is supposed to be a participatory democracy and if we're not in there participating then the people that will manipulate and exploit the system will step in there."


How have things been going for you in politics lately? Is everything just moving along the way you would like to see things going? Oh, by the way, when did you last vote? When did you last participate in the process? If things aren’t going as you would like, it’s entirely possible someone else stepped into your place when you walked away from it.


Can you trust another person to handle that detail for you? Do you even know who that person is? Complaining about political trends we don’t like is very common and actually expected, but do you have the right to do some downright griping if you haven’t even voted or tried to do something else about it?


I read a science fiction book a year or two ago that had an interesting premise. The society described only allowed those who served in the military to be citizens. Only those who by risking their lives for the country and state were really worthy to help determine its future by voting or holding office.


While I am in no way advocating this change in our society, it would be an interesting way to cure the epidemic of boredom and apathy our political system suffers from.
Here, you just kind of have it thrust on you when you turn 18, and it is not really appreciated. I found for myself, after early training in my duty to vote, I have grown cynical later in life and wonder what the use is to waste my time participating in this farce.


It’s time to revisit the issue. One of the problems is the two party system. We are given two basic choices, neither of which is acceptable. The lesser of the evils, generally the one who looks better on TV wins. It’s time to completely ignore what candidates SAY about themselves and each other, and ONLY consider the documented actions that are recorded in the record. Political advertising is just that. Advertising. It is calculated to make a sale. Don’t be so easily duped into believing the flash and hype. Do the work and check online for details about actions, not words.


We have the potential to be the most informed electorate in the history of this nation. The info is easy to obtain and we could get actual fact to make informed choices on election day.


Franklin D. Roosevelt:
Democracy cannot succeed unless those who express their choice are prepared to choose wisely. The real safeguard of democracy therefore, is education.


To conclude, allow me to make a prediction. For the first time in multiple decades we have the chance to elect a president in the United States who is not a member of either of the two main political parties.


The large pool of independent voters, the 24 hour news cycle, and the Internet make it possible for a person to get the coverage and funding they need to get elected if it is handled correctly and the direct line to the people is used effectively. I really believe we will see this happen within the next few election cycles.


George Takei's Web Site

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