The HUB

Segment 1

HEY, TARA REID! WHAT’S TWO PLUS TWO? – HOW TO BLOW THE NEW YEAR

SUNDAY AT THE SALOON
The Sunday alcohol sales debate heats up in GA
“The Sunday Alcohol Sales Debate: Court Ruling”, AJC, 01-05-07
Why is the religious component so strong here? How is drinking alcohol any more secular than coupon clipping, mowing the lawn, watching football or anything else we’d do on Sunday? Was the secular basis that has been argued more recently in support of Sunday alcohol bans really about a legitimate basis or the religious community just needed another alibi – enter secularism?

TIME MAGAZINE PERSON OF THE YEAR – DO WE LIVE IN A ME-CENTRIC WORLD?

Where technology is and where it has taken us. YouTube, the blogosphere opening at a rate of 10,000 a day, Facebook, MySpace, Digg, Wikipedia. Are we living with a new self-obsession? Is it narcissism 101 or simply expression and identity sharing?
Wired Magazine, pp. 56, January 2007

Segment 2

KILLING OFF OUR INNER NARCISIS – ARE WE KILLING IT OR IS IT KILLING US?
Why should we even want to kill it off? Are we not propelled forward as a society by our high self regard? Why kill off a little self-importance? There’s no need, is there? If knowledge is power, full knowledge is omniscience, search engines like GOOGLE give us that so we’ve built the new Tower of Babel from fiber optic cable and we can be our own God.
“The World Is Flat” by Thomas Friedman, pp. 186

The Center of our Universe – Webocracy Island, Wired, January 2007

Segment 3

How is narcissism different from self-assurance/awareness? How do you know you’ve crossed the line? How do you keep yourself from going too far?When you start to hurt other people?

GENTLEMAN, BUCKLE YOUR SEAT BELTS!“Thomas Pushing Bill for Seat Belt Usage in Pick-ups”, Dalton Daily Citizen, 01-05-07The FEDS withhold $25 million dollars from Georgia each year in transportation money because the State doesn’t require people in pick-ups to buckle up. That means you’re hurting people economically by insisting on your right to not girdle your girth even if they don’t drive a pick-up truck? What do you have to say for yourself?

RUNNING THE THREAT ANALYSIS
Self used to be personal, self-disclosure, intimate. Then, with technology, it became inevitable and we felt vulnerable. Now, we are beginning to warm up to it and cope by seeing it more and more as empowering.

Segment 4

THE BIG THREE
Three personality types are surfacing in this You-centered age. The Narcissist, The Narcotic or Nark and The Nihilist. What are these other than Cheetos Cheezy alliterations? How do you go about reining them in and should you even want to?

Narcissist – Doesn’t care about others, only self.

Narc – Doesn’t know he needs to care because he’s numb to the needs of others – his drug of choice has him on perpetual shut-down to the outside world.

Nihilist – Sees no reason to care. It’s every man for himself in a world with no intrinsic value. Suffering has no meaning. Of course, neither does comfort. Survival is his chief goal.

A narcissist might know he needs to care but not give a s*&% while a nihilist may be firing on all 8 cylinders and just see no rational reason to care. And a narc…what?

How Have the Big Three Influenced Politics?

..the 20th century has been characterized by three developments of great political importance:
The growth of democracy, the growth of corporate power, and the growth of corporate propaganda as a means of protecting corporate power against democracy.
-Quote by Noam Chomsky

Segment 5

THE WORLD OF ONLINE CHEATING
Interview with Katy McColl, JANE Magazine Lifestyle Editor

Define cyber-cheating. Who is offended worse by online cheating – men or women? Why? Would this type of an article sell in Men’s Health or GQ? Why? Why not from what you’ve discovered? And why do people ask these questions – so that they know what to avoid or what they can get away with? What’s the motivation for cheating? What does cereal dating do to someone’s chances for real intimacy? Is it a sign of the self-empowered woman to know what you can get away with? If a woman were to do it long enough, would she affectively become the very thing she started out despising men for? A non-commital, self-important, island to herself? I guess congrats would be in order……..

Segment 1

R2D2 AND CP3-0 MAY SOON GET THE RIGHT TO VOTE
In a recent report commission by the British Government, top scientists in the field of robotics and artificial intelligence are predicting robots in the near future -50 years-will be given the same rights as humans.
“UK report says robots will have rights”, The Financial Times, December 19th, 2006
If our Declaration of Independence is correct and we are endowed by Our Creator with certain inalienable rights who will endow these robots with rights? A group of engineers with IBM? MicroSoft? Hewlett Packard? Will they truly be playing God? What is “we” defined as? What does it take to be a “we”? And what is the definition of “is”?

FIVE YEAR OLD ACCUSED OF SEXUAL HARASSMENT
A Kindergartener in Hagerstown Maryland pinched a female classmate on the buttocks and was charged by his school with Sexual Harassment.
“School accuses 5-year-old of sex harassment”, The Herald, Wednesday, December 20th
Is it really smart to teach a five year old what Sexual Harassment is? What possible good could come from this? Talk about growing up fast! Is this the kind of thing you must catch early in order to prevent? At what stage in the developmental process do you crack down on sexual misbehavior?

Stats on child sexual abuse and the perpetrators
Stop It Now! Georgia, www.stopitnowga.org
When you see these kinds of statistics, are these types of stories really doing anything more than taking our eyes and our energies off the real problem?

On a larger level than even this case, this shows us how innocence in all its forms is being attacked at a younger and younger age. The permission to live in wonder of life. And when it comes to living in wonder and discovering new things, are our kids the only ones under attack? Wonder and discovery go hand in hand with humility. You don’t discover new things when you’re convinced you have to convince the world you already know it all. Has the pressure to posture left us at a loss for innocence and wonder? How do we return to a place where the spirit of discovery breathes free?

Segment 2

CHILD Sexual Harrassment and the Attack on Innocense and Wonder
When I say, live with wonder and enjoy innocent discovery, you probably think this is some hippie utopia. Admit it. It feels selfish to even suggest engaging in this sort of thing. Israel is threatening to blow up Iran’s nuclear program, Pelosi is basking in the 100 Hour Horror, etc. But if you can’t laugh and learn and admit to and get comfortable with your own fallibility, you slowly begin to lose touch with your humanity. And a person like that is dangerous. “Never trust a person that can’t laugh at themselves”. Kim Jung Il comes to mind.

LIVE TalkBack

Segment 3

IN A PERPETUAL STATE OF SHOCK
Why do we lose our ability to wonder and enjoy life? Worry plays a big factor. And as with everything else, there’s a scientific explanation for this…
“Why We Worry About the Wrong Things: Psychology of Risk”, Time Magazine, December 4th, 2006

Men, always seem to be worried about our performance – whether it’s in the work force, in bed, in sports, whatever.

107 YEAR OLD NIGERIAN PASTOR WEDS 30 YEAR OLD WOMAN WITH THE STRENGTH OF GOD
Not to be outdone by impressive exploits of longevity, some guy in Fayetteville wrestled an 1,100 pound hog to death last week.

Segment 4

LIVE TalkBack

Segment 5

THE WORLD OF ONLINE CHEATING
Interview with Katy McColl, JANE Magazine Lifestyle Editor

Define cyber-cheating. Who is offended worse by online cheating – men or women? Why? Would this type of an article sell in Men’s Health or GQ? Why? Why not from what you’ve discovered? And why do people ask these questions – so that they know what to avoid or what they can get away with? What’s the motivation for cheating? What does cereal dating do to someone’s chances for real intimacy? Is it a sign of the self-empowered woman to know what you can get away with? If a woman were to do it long enough, would she affectively become the very thing she started out despising men for? A non-commital, self-important, island to herself? I guess congrats would be in order……..

Segment 1

IVY LEAGUE STUDENTS LEARN THE NAKED TRUTH
It seems that “Naked Parties” have become all the rage at Ivy League schools. The Pundits, a secretive society at Yale University started the trend in the mid-90’s. They claim the events are non-sexual in nature and are only open to a select few.
http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/international.cfm?id=36832007 January 8th, 2007

DEAD DELTA PASSENGER DIDN’T HAVE A TICKET OR A SEAT
A young stowaway died of asphyxia inside the wheel well of a Delta Air Lines flight from Dakar, Senegal, that landed in Atlanta on Friday. Workers found the body after Delta Flight 35 landed from Dakar at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport about 8:45 a.m., Delta spokeswoman Betsy Talton said.
“Man dies in Delta flight wheel well”, AJC, January 13th, 2007
Shouldn’t the world’s busiest airport be more concerned about the lack of security of the foreign airports flights originate from?

FARMYARD FREAKS
British experts are concerned that new developments in the cloning of farm animals is creating farmyard freaks-fast growing, super-size, zombie animals. These new factory farming techniques are used primarily for pigs and chickens since they are raised in confined, cramped conditions.
The executive director of the Food Ethics Council, Dr Tom MacMillan, said: "Cloning raise animal welfare concerns, both for the clones and for their parents.
“Cloning opens door to 'farmyard freaks'”, January 11th, 2007
Why are we more concerned about the genetic welfare of farm animals than we are about humans? What the British scientist are recommending is a way to take away part of the “pain and suffering” of livestock raised for food-which is one of PETA’s main beefs-pun intended.

Segment 2

LIVE Talkback Segment
“Pope Calls for Return to Humanism and Respect for Human Life”
What does it mean to have respect for human life? How do you reach a point where groups like PETA are more aggressive in protecting the rights of Wilbur on the farm than people are in protecting embryonic human life.

Segment 3

EMBRYONIC STEM CELLS MAKE ANOTHER WASHINGTON TOUR
Interview with Greg Koukl, author of Precious Unborn Human Persons, Founder Stand to Reason

Segment 4

LIVE Talkback Segment
Interview with Greg Koukl continued

Segment 5

CALLING THE FUTURE – THE IPHONE IS HERE
“I-Phone: Calling the Future”, Wired News, January 12th 2007
The I-Phone is here to connect us to everything and disconnect us from everything all at the same time! Holy Micky Mousecapade! It’s a small world after-all.

Segment 1

NO LEGAL ID, NO RIDE

There is a bill being introduced in the Georgia General Assembly that would require proof of legal resident status before someone could get a tag for their car or apply for a homestead property tax exemption. This strengthens the standard requirement of “proof of residency.”
“Bill would require ID to get a tag for vehicle” Dalton Daily Citizen
Will this really deter illegals from getting a car? Will this just increase the number of counterfeit Birth Certificates and Passports? If they are already breaking our immigration laws, why do we expect them to keep this law?

51% OF WOMEN ARE NOW LIVING WITHOUT A HUSBAND

For the first time, more American women are living without a husband than with one. In 2005, 51 percent of women said they were living without a spouse, up from 35 percent in 1950 and 49 percent in 2000. Coupled with the fact that in 2005 married couples became a minority of all American households for the first time. There are several factors contributing…
“51% of Women Are Now Living Without Spouse” January 16th, 2007

FIVE WAYS MEN STILL MATTER TO WORKING MOTHERS

A recent study also found that the main key to a woman’s success is a good man. There are five reason men still matter. Since the birth of modern feminism, it seems our society has systematically told women that men are irrelevant to their success in life. It is now being proved statically that that is a farce. I would also add women are just as important to the fulfillment of men as men are to the fulfillment of women. An objective look at both History and Anthropology will bear this out.

Segment 2

Do women need a male spouse in their life in order to achieve their highest potential, or can they go it alone and be just as well off or even better with a different type of support network?

Segment 3

Black History Month

There is a larger percentage of single black mothers nationwide than white mothers.
Does popular black youth culture play a factor in this? What has gone on during different stages of the American Civil Rights movement to begin the swing toward government dependence? Did civil rights progress come on so fast that young black men were not always taught to fill the gaps that newfound freedoms created? How did the welfare state beat out traditional family values in the space that emerged in the late 1960’s through mid-1970’s?

Coming Out of the Republican Closet – Reginald Bohannon
How are the politics changing in minority-America? Where’s the hope moving forward? What does our current generation “get” about race relations that others did not?

“Secession Fever"
Damn the Expenses, north Fulton breakaway speeds ahead”
Creative Loafing, January 3rd, 2007

After racially divisive ads hit the air in last year’s Georgia mid-terms, the new secession push for Milton County got a shot in the arm. There’s a lot of speak about constant squabbling and gridlock in the Atlanta commission, some of it racially motivated. Is the push to split the county in some way an indication of a new Generation of individuals who are fed up with race-baiting and ready to move on? What does moving on look like?

Segment 4

Segment 5

Who Would Jack Bauer Vote For? – Bartop Confessions and the PANEL

Everybody knows Jack Bauer and John McCain wouldn’t get along. McCain would rather waterboards be left for bodyboards only to surf the Hawaiian tubes. Bauer would like to unleash hell, wrench your arms on the board and then beat you over the head with it. Sounds Conservative to me, unless you mean the liberal employment of pain and suffering to extract information. But he also has his soft, more nuanced side. More like Tracy Chapman. So if the general election were held today – who would Bauer want to work for, John McCain or John Edwards?