21 Jump Street - "Next Victim"

Greetings!

I do see I got some page views; please don't be shy - I'd love to hear from you.  I do promise I don't bite, so please comment and please keep coming back. Ya never know what the next topic might be!  And don't forget to also check out my other blog, Daisies and Diamonds -  link is on navigation bar on the right!

Now on to the topic of this post.  I never watched 21 Jump Street when it was on originally. Not into it.  But now I'm retired and I seem to be keeping all sorts of weird hours.  Wanted to see what was on television at some crazy hour and found this rerun channel had on 21 Jump Street at the time so I watched.  The episode was ok - not great, but not bad, either.  So just the other day, I caught another episode.  This one was called "Next Victim."  Now I have some questions about some things in it (I'll try not to spoil much for anyone who hasn't seen it), but I generally found the episode to be excellent.  The plot concerned hate talk radio, a bigoted group, and a group opposed to such racism.  The story is not only engaging, but also as relevant today in the nasty political climate we have around (think of the nutjob) as it was originally.  The finale of the episode gives us something we all need to hear and think about - TODAY.

I'm going to give a link here so that if anyone wishes, he or she can view the episode.  If you just want to view the ending scene (MOST excellent), I believe that starts around 39:26 or so by the counter.

So enjoy:       21 Jump Street - "Next Victim" Episode 

What, AGAIN??? - Updated

I have to ask once again, is anyone actually reading?  Please comment; I could really use a boost here.

Anyway, when I saw this one new commercial I knew I had to do a post about it.  Anyone remember the AT&T commercial I wrote about as being racist?  Now Claritin has one as well.

Check this out.  In the link is the video for commercial - "Outdoor Carnival."  Look at how the African -American fellow is photographed/presented.  Certainly blackface or very close.  Very insensitive at best and racist at worst.   You can view the commercial here.

If someone told me about this and I hadn't seen it for myself, I would have said, NO WAY this would be happening in 2016.  But yes, racism is still around.  Consider that a pro-white rally was just held in GA.  Will some folks EVER LEARN?

Anyway, I will be calling the Claritin folks on Monday to complain.  I was going to use their online e-mail form, but it wanted too much information, and demanded that I say I bought it when I haven't.  I'll complain about that form, too.  I will update this post with my experience.

And don't forget, we could use comments on the "Positively Diverse" page; it seems we need all the good diversity news/blurbs/writings and all that we can find!

UPDATE: 

I did make the call; quite an interesting journey it was.  I called the main number given on the claritin website; when I finally got a human, told the rep I wanted to be connected to the advertising department. She said she'd connect me and also gave me another number just in case.  Well, when I got a rep there, it was no, wrong place to be calling....I think I got transferred to somewhere else and finally said, "I feel as though I'm being given the run-around."  That rep finally said, well, you need to call this number - the original one I called.  She said she'd try to find out why they transferred me out in the first place.  Well, finally got a gal who was nice and said she would pass on my feedback concerning this nefarious commercial.

So if anyone feels the urge to also protest this racist ad, call claritin at: 1-800-252-7484.  Let's let them know we don't appreciate insensitive protrayals! 

Related Posts:

•  AT&T: Image Fail (New Notes Added) 
•   Whoops, NBC 
• Equality Begins With Respect, And... (With Update)

Announcing the New Page!

Good readers, you will notice that there's a new page button in the navigation at the top of the blog!  It says: "Positively Diverse."  So what is that page to be about?

Well, obviously it will deal with diversity.  Specifically, I would like it to be a place to "archive" if you will, some positive links, articles, stories, etc. about diversity and unity.  With the current climate with much divisiveness being thrown around here in the U. S. in our politics and also often in regards to immigration in Europe, it was getting very frustrating, to say the least to hear all that bigotry. So what to do? I must give a nod to Alexandra Franzen here, who recently wrote about taking the initiative.  So I guess I'm doing that with this page at least to some extent.  Ms. Franzen also said quite recently said try doing something "cool."  Well, this could be!
 
The page will be successful IF you readers stop by and leave comments with some links, your own stories and writings, etc. that are "positively diverse." So please support this effort!

Blogger sometimes doesn't have the coolest basic features.  And the way comments appear is, to me, very poor.  You have to go on a new page to read them and they're too small on the page.  Just for the "Positively Diverse" page, however, what I'd like to do is this:  since I recently went on moderation (thought I'd get a landslide of negative comments to "Enabling"), I think I'll stay on moderation and again, for Positively Diverse page only, copy the comment and its attribution and put the comment directly on the page.  I think it might work, but I WILL need your help to give it a shot at success! Again, this copying will ONLY apply to any comments for that one page.

So I hope we can fill the page with some positive vibes. Please click on the 'Posibtively  Diverse' tab above, read, and hopefully submit something positive.  Please help.  Thanks in advance!

Freedom Uncaged

This is my own take on some really neat graphics I ran across today while searching.  

My own graphic: "Freedom Uncaged"

Is Unity Really So Scary?

Greetings!

For some reason what actor Bradley Whitford said in a tv interview some years ago has come to my mind.  He was still married to actress Jane Kaczmarek then and he told the interviewer that both of them had recently been nominated for acting awards.  He continued that they were left with nothing to complain about, which he said was "scary."

That rumination really struck me.  It may have been an "offhand" remark, but I really felt it hinted at something more profound.  I was still teaching at the time and actually had a great conversation with another college person about why we often find HEALING, which should be a great thing, often frightening (healing meant in our conversation all sorts of healing, physical, mental, spiritual).

This idea of actually finding something positive scary occurred to me as I thought about why we U. S. citizens, and humans generally, often are so reluctant to unify, even for positive changes.

Why IS unity so hard and scary?  Why do we so often get taken in by fearmongering, and even bigotry?  Well, to start at the beginning, naturally not everyone will see things the same way, so there will be differences of opinions and ideas of what should be done.  But it seems that it's getting harder and harder to come together and coalesce for SOMETHING.  March 31 was the birthday of Cesar Chavez and a rerun of "Mysteries at the Museum" featured a story on him and on the grape boycott, probably the most successful in U. S. history.  We're so factionalized today, I wonder how successful it would be now.  Sure, we have twitter campaigns and facebook protests, and sometimes they do lead to changes.  But it's usually just the core group that is pushing. If my memory is correct, that grape boycott drew strength from all sorts of supporters. Let's remember that a diverse group of folks supported abolition (for various reasons, it turns out) and also, later, a diverse group formed the Civil Rights Movement. We need more of that bridge-building today.

Why IS unity so hard and scary?  What are we afraid of?  Are we really afraid of any kind of linkage to anyone who is different?  I swear, I wonder if some racists think that the wrong skin color might actually rub off on them (not likely to happen).

Why IS unity so hard and scary?  What really is so frightening about it?  I'm thinking now of those who would discriminate (you know, against someone who doesn't share their "values"  or fit their mold of acceptability.  To those who have that mentality, I say: GET REAL!!!  No one is asking YOU to do or be whatever you object to.  Just not to discriminate against someone who is different or is doing something lawful. And for you NOT to pass laws enabling discrimination!!!

Why IS unity so hard and scary?  What is so intimidating about it?  Are we afraid that if we recognize the common humanity of others (even those different from "us") we'd have to start treating them better or seeing that their conditions improve?  So here I applaud those who do the good work of really helping those in need, working to improve conditions for those in sometimes horrible situations, and those who are fighting for human rights and dignity for all. 

Why IS unity so hard and scary?  What is so terrifying about coming together and trying to make some progress for most of us?  Why do we continue to let ourselves be divided and conquered?  Why don't we stand together and push for policies to upgrade our livelihoods, respect our civil liberties, and work to make our democracy more responsive?  Why don't we recognize the need to work TOGETHER to accomplish these goals?  Isn't it time we start reaching out to each other, even though it might be scary?

REMEMBER:  "Divided = Conquered, but United = Empowered!

RELATED POSTS:   Just click on 'unity' in the tag cloud on the right to peruse all the unity posts.

So, now let me hear from you!