Blind Hatred

I want to start with a statement of fact. I don't watch political commentators on TV, nor do I listen to them on radio. Such commentators, regardless of their political views, are on the air to get ratings. Without ratings, they have no platform. Therefore, I believe, specially during "sweeps week", the shows that would be broadcast are more inflammatory in nature than you would normally find.

That being said, there is no denying that there are places in the world where blind hatred is taught to an entire society, beginning with the children. As a Jew, I have experienced personal persecution during my lifetime. Sometimes, the persecution was the result of child peer pressure ("he's a Jew, it's alright to pick a schoolyard fight with him -- we'll back you up"), sometimes it was the result of "innocent" remarks ("I went to a store to buy something, and I Jewed the guy down a few bucks").

The thing about being brought up with blatant persecution is that you develop a thick skin. You weigh things carefully, trying to determine whether a particular person's actions are the result of ignorance, or hatred. At a recent prayer meeting, a friend of mine asked whether I had seen the Glenn Beck show about Radical Islamic Fundamentalism and the hatred that is taught to their children. I had not seen it, and took some time today to search for a replay on YouTube. I found a video and watched it. It was disturbing. I wanted to post a link to it here, but instead, found another copy of the video with the ability to "embed" the video on a website.

I have chosen to embed that second recording, even though it is not the exact copy I watched. I'm telling you this in case there are problems with the video. If there are, I urge you to go to YouTube and search for "Glenn Beck Exposed". That should result in a suitable video link being delivered. In my original search, I found many show snippets of a few minutes each. There were only two links I found that were at least 40 minutes long (the actual play time, minus commercials).

Here's the embedded link:

Updates

Though each event on its own merits little mention, as a whole, things are moving in a positive direction. Having suffered through a slow October, November is starting out in a positive light, vis-a-vis business. I've had enough service calls during the first two weeks of the month to match the previous two month's revenue (that's not necessarily a major accomplishment, just a fact). I've also been approached to possibly provide a business service that might generate recurring revenue.

Speaking of recurring revenue, I've taken a couple of baby steps forward on one of my pet projects. Having acquired some much-needed research material through ebay, I'm making real progress towards bringing one of my other website ideas to fruition. It might take some time, but I'm hoping things will work out in the end.

On yet another front, I was cruising ebay a couple of weeks ago when I got the crazy idea to check out automobile GPS units. I happened across an auction with less than 1 minute left, and the current price was ridiculously low. I tried to snipe a bid, but by the time I had logged in and done everything necessary, the auction had ended. I was a bit annoyed (though I had no real reason to be), and started looking through some of the other GPS auctions, coming across one that had about 6 minutes remaining.

There was barely enough time to finish reading the product details and place a bid. I won that auction, and three days later took delivery of the GPS unit. It's been an absolutely wonderful toy, helping me navigate to a couple of service calls to obscure side streets that I would have otherwise had to print mapquest details for. I particularly enjoy watching it reroute itself when I purposely make an incorrect turn. With my wife planning to travel out of town this weekend, it will be a perfect navigation companion.

Well, that's about it. You're now up to date!