The News Media, Politicians and More


 

  Seems to me now days the news media is more about shaping the political views of its watchers than about bringing facts and information to the viewers. One News network transmits mainly Obama pro ideals as another may transmit anti Obama views. But all of them are guilty of playing news that boosts ratings. Okay I understand that ratings are important to any network being cable news or local television but somewhere down the line Integrity has been lost in the news media or at least to the most part.

  Now don’t get me wrong there are still a few people in the news media dedicated to bringing us the facts and the truth in the news they report. Politicians are exactly what they always have been and very few of them are completely honest with the people they represent. They are human so they will lie, cheat and whatever else they deem necessary to get what they want and sometimes what their constituents need. Even though our government system is flawed and those in power usually become corrupt there is still hope. I am one to believe that there is still some good people in power just not enough to get the job done far as making America the shining star she used to be.

 

The U.S. used to be a leader in technology, industry and innovation. Now we are leaders in consumption and contentment. We used to export far more than import and now we export a very small percentage of our goods and import most of what the consumers buy. We spend more than we earn and we earn less than what is necessary to survive. The Minimum wage is not enough to even be able to afford decent housing and food, leaving us in the hole financially before we even look for health insurance and other necessities of life. And if you work part time you earn too much for any aid such as food stamps, housing or welfare. So if you try to do the right thing and work you are on your own unless you cheat the system like some people do.

 

Our country need Healthcare Reform for sure but there are allot of issues that need to be address also.

One is the inequality of pay amongst all Americans, there are some who make billions as others scrape to get by. Not saying that CEOs or business owners shouldn’t profit from their companies but why must they make more in one year than any of their workers can in a lifetime. They always layoff workers to cut costs and move the jobs overseas to continue making profits when if they took a meager pay cut themselves they could achieve about the same thing.

 

And just personal observation, i can not see how a emergency room doctor is worth 800 dollars for 10 minutes of his time that is just ridiculous. i understand paying for the convenience of emergency care
but no man is worth that much per minute. And the reason i am for healthcare reform including a possible public option on insurance is all my insurance would pay for my 2000 dollar visit to the emergency room was 250 dollars of the blood work and that was my yearly limit. So i am actually loosing money paying for my insurance since what they paid out is not much more than the monthly charge I pay for their services.

  I know this is not a perfect world and that it will never be a perfect world. The wealthy will always be wealthy and the poor mostly will get the pointed end of the stick. I guess you cant blame a guy for dreaming can you?

 

Raymond Barbier 08/25/2009

Jamendo


Once again I am writing a post about Jamendo.com The best place I’ve found on the web to get free mp3’s.
Of course the artists on this site are majorly unknown , But due to the fact they are not bound by the music industries
controlling hand over creativity they pump out some of the greatest music that can be listened to.

They all are Creative Common Licensed so their mp3’s/Music is free to download burn and share alike.
You can either visit Jamendo.com or visit my Radio Station that plays mostly music from jamendo at the link below

Jamendo: http://www.jamendo.com         
My Radio Station: http://rjbradio.barbierfamilly.com or http://radio.rjbweb.org

Training For Front End Management


For those who know me personally i figured that I should let you all in on the good news. I have been Promoted to Front End Manager at the local Food City. Now only if I can get through the training… Pray For Me 🙂

A new wave, A new day


A new wave of energy is flowing in the air around me

The chains that bound me are loose and now I am Free

The past that haunted me is now forgiven and put to rest

My youth is gone but the days I live now are the best

 

Loves lost are now loves that helped me to learn

The love I have now is what is what I must earn

Those who wronged me I now forgive and forget

There is nothing forgiven but some things still I regret

But only so I do forget the mistakes I have made

The remaining sorrow now slowly begin to fade.

 

A new day and a brand new start for this old man

A new chance do to the best that I can

Dangers of Living in Ones Past


Do you find yourself always looking behind you regretting the things you have or should have done? Well most of us do look behind ourselves once and awhile to remind us of past mistakes and lost friends and family. This is  quite normal and also therapeutic if it is not a everyday occurrence.

When we tend to look back too much we start forgetting to enjoy the things we do have and the neglect the relationships we are currently in. Just like it is very difficult to walk backwards and get somewhere fast without stumbling allot it is also difficult to live in the  past and present at the same time. Learn from your past not live in your past. And yes its not as easy as it sounds, To some of us we have made living in the past a way of life. Basically it becomes a bad habit hard to quit, But like all habits it can be curbed and or ended.

Of course its a long process to change a habit, But you can curb it little by little. I usually just remind myself when thinking too much on the past that even though it could have been different that it can not be changed. I also work on forgiving myself for the mistakes and wrong decisions along with reminding myself I am only human. In the end everyone must find their own method of dealing with the fact that the past is the past and is an unchangeable fact of life. So good luck to those who also has the same bad habit as I, and Live for today not for the days gone past.

Peace and God Bless

Raymond Barbier

Consumerism or Self Preservationist?


Times are changing and probably not for the better, it is time for all Americans to get back to basics. We need to follow our grandparents and great grandparents examples on self reliance. Almost every family back in the day had a garden of some kind and many of them raised chickens and other small farm animals to supplement their food supply. Now days we just run to the local supermarket or fast food restaurant for our daily meals. Which that’s all fine and dandy when your in a booming economy but when times get tough it is not quite the best way to live. There are so many of us if our food supply were to be interrupted or our electric/gas supply we would starve and freeze etc… Fewer homes contain a alternative heating or cooking source and most families have less than a week supply of food on hand.

This leaves most of us in dire straits when a emergency arrives. Besides that fact the cost of food is rising exponentially and growing your own food is a far more nutritious and economical choice. Good news is that most Americans are already waking up to that reality and we as a nation are slowly moving away from total consumption mindedness to a more self preservation mind set. Last but not least we also are starting to enjoy the more simple things in life that by the way are usually free if not quite inexpensive.

Until Next Time

Peace and God Bless

Raymond Barbier

Bail out the banks but forget the People


Seems it always comes down to the fact We the People is referring to the big business and politicians of our wonderful country. And i am not sure if it is our lack of judgment on who we elect to represent us or the fact that the majority of politicians are just plain liars, but the poor and middle class always seem to get the short end of the stick every time. So far President Obama is keeping most of his promises and is helping the middle class and below.

And like usual the Republicans are opposing every effort made by a Democrat President , which the Democrats are guilty of doing the same in the past also.
The Bi-Partisan ideal is a good one but is unlikely to happen in our lifetime unfortunately. Their own party is far more important to them than the people they represent. Neither side can argue they are innocent of that, and until they realize it is the people that elected them that is their main priority we will always be the last thing on their elected little minds.

Now do not get me wrong, I am all for the multi party system and how the electoral system works , just i am not too impressed with the results of it at this time. I just wish they would stop playing their games and get down to fixing the problems at hand here in the United States. Until then I guess the CEO’s of large banks and corporations will have nice paychecks paid by the tax dollars of the middleclass and poor. Sometimes I wonder if they would have gave each American the bail out money if it would have stimulated the economy better. Just think we all could have paid all our debt off which in turn would have gave banks money to loan and we could have spent some on products that would have stimulated the economy. Oh well I am no Economist so maybe that would have failed to work but sure sounds better to this below middleclass man.

Peace to all and God Bless

Raymond Barbier

Healthcare in The United States


 

Seems we are one of the very few nations to deprive basic healthcare to our citizens. With our complex and high priced healthcare system only those who are wealthy can afford decent healthcare. A average person working for close to the minimum wage either has a Insurance package from their employers that is more of a discount card than insurance or they are without coverage at all. President Obama’s plan may cover the children but leave the parents of those children in a real bind. If the parents are sick and or die who is left to care for the children is what I ask.

Another issue is Dental, Have you ever looked for dental insurance? If so you know that is basically non existent.
And seems Obama overlooks the great importance oral hygiene and health is to the rest of the human body. There is some research that states that bad oral health is linked to bad cardiovascular health. But the basic ability to properly digest food and the infectious nature of poor oral health is the main issue. Our insurance system and health system in the USA is really in need of a overhaul.

The Problem is well known, the solution is yet to be found, It is going to have to be Federal,State and Healthcare system combined effort to make a viable solution.

Change


 

Well we all are all off on a new journey with a new Captain at the wheel.

My prayers go out to him and his family and for a good term in office.

About time we had a African American President, Now I am waiting for a female or American Indian President Next.  Being The U.S. is the great melting pot it is a bit sad it took so long to open up the most esteemed and powerful position in our country to all races and genders. I guess fear,racism and sexism are hard to grow out of. we still seem as a species to be in our young teens and have a long way to go.

 

Change is coming if we like it or not. Change in political and planetary climate and more. Seems the only thing remembered from the 60’s was the music sex and drugs, not the importance of love. O.K. I am a bit of a Hippie at heart I guess lol. Well till next time

 

PEACE

Jamendo a good Music Site


Creative Commons Licensing,

Thanks to CC we have a large selection of Music, Video and other Medias to choose from.

We can Mix, Transmit, share and copy a lot of the cc content, depending on the cc license on the material of course. One of the greatest music sites has sprung up in the midst of the creative commons revolution and it is Jamendo. At Jamendo artists can have a place to share their creations with the large listener community as well as the listener can download and enjoy a wide variety of music styles and genres. Another plus at Jamendo is the fact that it’s a multi lingual site with music to match. Great artists from all around the world have their music on Jamendo and more are joining every day. The best part is that Jamendo is completely free.

Visit http://www.jamendo.com

You can also listen to some of the artists found on Jamendo on RJB-Radio http://radio.rjbweb.org