Those words are usually the first that come to mind when it comes to the 4th of July. This year however, many towns across the nation will have dark skies due to budget cuts in this tough economy.
Click here to listen to NPR's Boston affiliate WBUR report on the struggle that Lowell, Massachusetts is facing this 4th, and the community's rally to save their cherished tradition.
More locally, many Connecticut towns including Middletown and East Haven are facing a similar dilemma, but have decided not to forgo the fireworks because of the morale and entertainment they provide. Reasons that are so important now, more than ever.
The world lost a number of legends, with Ed McMahon & Farrah Fawcett losing their long and heroic battles with cancer, and of course, the unexpected death of music icon Michael Jackson. (Visit our YouTube page to see The Simpsons cast reflect on having Michael guest star on the show.)
For me, the breaking point was when news came that beloved pitchmanBilly Mays passed away unexpectedly.
Yes, Billy Mays. That bearded, boisterous, guy on t.v. who, with his elevated voice and unstoppable energy, could almost convince you to buy almost anything. C'mon admit it...you've been tempted to play with a little Mighty Putty or a Mighty Mend It? For me, it was Oxi Clean.
One hot summer afternoon I opened the fridge at my mom's house for a drink. There was a fresh pitcher of red something, so I reached in, grabbed it, and WHOOSHHHH-the pitcher of red something that had once looked like an oasis now looked like a red nightmare, all over the kitchen floor, and worse, onto the (cream colored) living room carpet. I saw my life flash before my eyes. Then I ran to the sink.
I quickly grabbed the blue spray bottle, went to work, and within minutes, the panic had been relieved, and the red night mare was gone. I kid you not, after laughing at myself a little, the words "god bless you Billy Mays" came out of my parched mouth.
To this day, my mom still has no idea. Well, until she reads this. Hi mom.
So this one's for you, Billy. Thank you for saving my life that day. Thank you for keeping our whites whiter, our bathrooms brighter, and our Saturday mornings lighter with your jolly infomercials. You will be missed.
I don't have an eloquent or witty response to my reaction to all of this. It's just makes me really sad.
Aside from the fact that I am..scratch that...was an avid fan of the hit show, I am also a child of divorce.
When my parents marriage began to deteriorate, I was thirteen years old, and my younger sister was not much older than the Gosselin's twin daughters, Cara and Mady. At that young age, we endured some of the most painful, darkest days we will probably ever experience in our lives. Days that still play out in our minds, and that will follow us forever.
My heart is bleeding for Jon and Kate's "plus 8." Not only are they facing a long, hard road ahead, they are going to have to do it in front of the entire nation. They may be too little to understand what is going on now, but someday these kids are going to get on the computer and Google their family. They will be able to read, and watch all the drama and gossip that is out there, and it is going to scar them forever.
While last night's announcement did not come as much of a surprise, it did come as a disappointment. Honestly, it seems the split was inevitable. But as I tuned in last night, I was still holding out a bit of hope that Jon & Kate would say that they were ending taping so that they could take care of their family.
Behind the cameras, TLC execs are drooling over some of the highest ratings they have ever seen. Season 5 debuted on Memorial Day with over 10 million viewers. Ratings for the rest of the season have decreased, with last week's episode being seen by 2.9 million viewers. That's down 31% from the previous week, which was down 41% from the season opener.
I'm sick of watching these kids get dragged through the mud, and it seems America is too. Today, TLC has offered Kate's blog as a place for fans to offer their thoughts: "I never thought that I would feel so turned off by this show that I once enjoyed watching so much. A part of me is really happy that Jon is moving on from Kate. The other part of me wishes that this wasn't televised for people's amusement." -Dina
"This was a long time coming, but it is now time to move on and that includes the end of the show. Why do the children need to be put through a show supporting divorced parents? It just shows money doesn't buy happiness and this has destroyed a family that should still be together." -Shelly
"TLC really needs to take another look at its supposed code of ethics and end this show. I won't be watching any more TLC programs. I am disgusted by what has become of this family and the damage it has done to their poor children. All they care about is $$$."-Brittany
I've been using Twitter for a few months now, but I'm still undecided when people ask me if I like it. It can be as self-indulgent and narcissistic as the haters claim, but it can also be really useful. I follow mostly people / organizations that tell me something about what's going on with things that I care about, and I've found it mostly to be a helpful, self-selected news feed, catered just to me.
And now, with the way it's being used to keep the world informed of the news from Iran, I understand what Twitter might be at its best. Iranians and others have been using Twitter to communicate, not only with family and friends, but with those who are grasping for news and trying to sort out what's happening in real time; Twitter even postponed a scheduled update so as not to interrupt what has become a crucial service for getting news out of Iran when many have found themselves without phones or reliable Internet access.
In a recent TED Blog interview, NYU Professor Clay Shirky spoke about the influence of the internet on the way we digest and understand world news as it unfolds, and he was asked about the recent events in Iran in particular. When asked: "Which services have caused the greatest impact? Blogs? Facebook? Twitter?", Shirky replied:
"It's Twitter. One thing that Evan (Williams) and Biz (Stone) did absolutely right is that they made Twitter so simple and so open that it's easier to integrate and harder to control than any other tool. At the time, I'm sure it wasn't conceived as anything other than a smart engineering choice. But it's had global consequences. Twitter is shareable and open and participatory in a way that Facebook's model prevents. So far, despite a massive effort, the authorities have found no way to shut it down, and now there are literally thousands of people around the world who've made it their business to help keep it open."
Also check out Andrew Sullivan's amazing blog coverage of the news out of Iran - Sullivan regularly collects Tweets out of Iran (like this), giving a real feel for what people in Iran are thinking, seeing and feeling. It's a new way of collecting news and understanding events in real time, outside of traditional news sources.
As your high school history teacher - and even college professor(s) if you majored in the subject like me - likely told you many times: In order to make sense of the present we must first look to the past. In that same vein, I thought I'd poke around at past Forum footage to see if any of our panelists had said anything relating to the current election fiasco in Iran. In fact, one had, Benazir Bhutto, take it away:
Although the late former Pakistani Prime Minister was not talking about Iran specifically, she very presciently touched on many of the hot-button issues that Obama administration officials are looking at squarely (U.S. interventionism, terrorism, nuclear capabilities, global security).
To what extent should Obama intervene, if at all? Is the United States willing to impose sanctions on Iran for election fraud? Would we look hypocritical if we did? Is the International Community willing to stand behind us? Does it really matter if one puppet president is replaced by another one? There are no simple answers to these questions, although Slateoffers some advice and tries to get in Obama's head. Nevertheless, nobody can deny that what's currently going on in Iran seems like the hopeful beginnings of (dare I say it?) change, but as to what's really going on, and what will come of it, that's anybody's guess.
I will say, however, that it's nice to have a president who is on top of this, rather than one who jokingly sang "bomb bomb bomb Iran" at a campaign rally in South Carolina a couple of years ago.
As for the hoax, the perfect storm of fanaticism, mental instability and the Internet. I can understand that combination being dangerous. At least, far too tempting. Alcoholics probably shouldn't hang out in bars and attention-seeking depressives probably shouldn't have a blog.
The REALLY interesting thing to me is, a million hits! Well over a million people read a blog about a woman with a sick baby. Millions more watch the Gosling family's eight kids and two parents' lives disintegrating every week. Half the world was worked into ecstasy by Susan Boyle belting out a song and then into a frenzy when she ended up in a hospital over it.
When it comes to misery, tragedy, and even hoaxes, I'm with Alice Waters. Keep it local. There is plenty of really dreadful stuff going on in our own community and (I know you probably don't like to admit it out loud) in our own lives, that makes for some excellent drama.
I think we all might just find that if we DID spend some more time exploring the lives of the people who live around the block, next door, and even in the next room, that not only would we grow closer, we might just have a lot less of the tragedy we so eagerly await now.
Here's what some other Forum folk have to say on the matter...
Jasmine says, "Anyone that gave her [money] should lose it for being so stupid."
Ruth says, "It shows you what lengths people will go to push their own agendas. "
Abe says, "Caveat Emptor on the Internet. Anybody can post anything."
Katlyn says, "I love Jon and Kate Plus Eight."
Jamie says, "I'm with Pat on this one. People should spend more time worrying about how they can help people in their own communities."
We are a one-of-a-kind nonprofit organization serving Connecticut and beyond with live, unscripted panel discussions among renowned experts and celebrities, and community outreach programs including our award-winning CT YOUTH Forum. Our mission: To encourage the free and active exchange of ideas in Forums that inform, challenge, entertain, inspire and build bridges among all people and organizations in our community.
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