Going Off The Grid

This summer, my shitty HP laptop contracted a virus around the same time I deleted my Facebook account and I essentially went off the (virtual) grid. Writer Patrick Ross is taking a break from the never-ending distractions of the digital world, too. His "One Week Social Media Withdrawal" is outlined in a blog post, ironically, but he hopes that the time away will allow him to finally get his three-year-long project completed. 

My laptop works again (though it's been a long road), but I'm still anti-social media, abstaining from Tumblr, Twitter, and especially Facebook. Don't get me wrong; social media has a lot of practical uses and can be a fun and social tool as well. But for me, the endless updates of what people were doing with their lives were too much. It was information overload of the worst kind. I knew too much about who broke up with their boyfriend every two weeks, who had a 3.67 GPA, and who was way too into drunk selfies. I almost felt bad for some of them, with the show they had going on. I almost felt bad for me, too, with how obsessed I could get with some of their pages, and my own. 

So I'm off the grid, and it's great. Sure, I don't get to always see the pics from the party the night before, or participate in the occasional Facebook debate, but I have a real life, and real friends who, if need be, can tell me what's going on the virtual land of social media. Usually, we talk about other things. 

Now and Then

To be fair, keeping an eye on Sarah Palin seems like a good idea.   

In Case You Haven't Heard

Love, CNBC. 

More Thoughts About the Shutdown

The question most on my, and a lot of people's, mind lately about this whole Congressional mess is: why are Republicans so against the Affordable Care Act (a.k.a. Obamacare)? A New York Times article entitled "A Population Betrayed" discusses the issue of Republicans leaving their own supporters without health insurance, some among the poorest in the country (obviously this excludes Rupert Murdoch, and the like). If the Republicans don't find it a worthwhile endeavor to ensure the people who put them in office, never mind Democrats, independents, and politically apathetic individuals, the basic right of healthcare, what exactly do they intend to accomplish in Washington? Stop people who love each other from getting married? Insist on trying to maintain America's Puritan image of centuries past? It's been too long since the government was able to put its differences aside and make an important stride for a country running out of steam. 

Partisan Politics Make Me Mad

Many articles published in the wake of the government shutdown have proposed that the Speaker of the House, John Boehner (R-Ohio) [pictured below], has the ability to end the shutdown but will not due to the conflicts of partisan politics. Boehner will not pass a bill to fund federal agencies and national parks for the next six weeks because it lacks Republican support. The Washington Post reported: "The speaker’s closest allies say he cannot afford to defy those on his right flank by ending the shutdown with largely Democratic votes." With 800,000 federal workers at home and economists predicting that if the shutdown continues it will cost the economy billions of dollars, Republicans still insist it is worth the attempt to derail Obamacare--or worse yet, to not piss off your buddies. The speaker's problems are far from over, with the impending debt crisis looming over his, and America's, horizon. 

Apple Replaces Coke As Top Global Brand

Coca-Cola has fallen to number three in the ranking of the most successful global brands after holding the number one spot for the last 13 years, as described in the Interbrand's Best Global Brands 2013 report. The new number one and number two? Apple and Google. The top 10 includes five technology companies, indicating even more how the world is changing. But Coke shouldn't worry too much; another beverages brand doesn't even crack the top 20, with Pepsi coming in at number 22.

I'd like a new iPhone, and maybe a Coke, too.

Death of a Journalist

                                                        (Taken from jimromanesko.com)

Journalist Marina Shifrin quit her Next Media Animation job because she felt that "for the past six years I've been a writer trapped in a journalist's body." She writes on her blog about how she got fed up with the profession: "Journalism is the worst! I mean if you're not reporting about which Kardashian is pregnant, then you're reporting about a baby that was shot in the head."

Read her whole rant on her blog.