Fabulous Spellos Brothers

ISM IT A PITY?

Only days remain in what may be remembered as one of the most historic runs for the Presidency in the history of America.One would hope both candidates would present intelligent, well-articulated final arguments in their respective wooing of the electorate, yet the politics of issues gives way to name-calling and labeling, especially from the team that is behind. The cries of Marxist, or he believes in Socialism or worse, the “C” word. Commmunism!!!!! Aaaaarrrrrgh!!! The Pod People! Don't Sleep, Don't Sleep!!!! (sorry, too much sci-fi this week) Yet this desperate lunge at poking fear in the psyches of the uninformed actually works. Hey, there may be monsters in the closet (no double entendre attempted) but you won’t know until you fight your fears and open it. My guess, there’s a whole bunch of younger folks that may be scared but they really don’t know what they’re scared of; The Red Menace sure does sound like a comic book villain, The Iron Curtin? Bad guys. The Evil Empire? Cue the music. Da-da-da-dah-dada...

What do Communism and Socialism have in common, with let’s say, Captialism and Republicanism? The dictionary defines ISM as a suffix appearing in loanwords from Greek, where it was used to form action nouns from verbs (baptism); on this model, used as a productive suffix in the formation of nouns denoting action or practice, state or condition, principles, doctrines, a usage or characteristic, devotion or adherence, etc. Loosely put, each ISM represents a philosophical, political or moral doctrine or a belief system.

So, instead of some worked-up crowd chanting BOO! everytime time a scared-for-their-politcal-career Senator or Governor runs off their mouths and shouts out their brand of political venom, perhaps they need to understand what it is they’re chanting against. To help our huddled masses yearning to stay free, here’s a list of 234 different ISMS, compiled by http://phrontistery.info/isms.html They are listed alphabetically, not in order of whether they are good isms or bad isms. In fact, let me help you out a bit – here are some of my favorite ISMS and ISTS (can’t have radicalism with a radicalist)-  perhaps they’re a favorite of yours.

COMMUNIST – people still living in Woodstock, NY

SOCIALIST – what Paris Hilton keeps close to her

MARXIST – any cigar smoking, mustache wearing anarchist

ANARCHIST – If you watch E! or Fine Living, it ain’t you!

ATHEISM –  folks who believe “there’s nothing bigger than Phil”

AGNOSTIC – pussy atheist

BULLIONISM – a salted cube is the giver of life

DEISM -  a belief in God but rejection of religion

DEI-O ISM – a belief in Harry Belafonte

PANTHEIST – believes the universe is God

PANTRYIST – believes the spice rack is God

Now, it’s time to put labels aside. Put down the talking points and walk away from the teleprompter. Trust your instincts and intelligence to filter out the rhetoric. Listen to your hearts and not your prejudices. Facts, not fiction or even comedy, shall prevail. Only if, each of us think of all of us.

History will be made next Tuesday. Be a part of it. You can get busy votin’ or you can get busy whinin’…

 

P.Spellos

actor/humorist/humanist

10/30/08

Thank you, Michigan

Imagine.  Me.   Meeting Tony the Tiger.

Yeah, he's grrrrreat!

Nothing else to say...the photo says it all.

Jim

If You're In Sacramento...

...definitely have dinner at the Waterboy Restaurant.  It may be an odd name, but it was one of the best dining experiences I've had in years.  Great service, superb food, and did I mention great service?  First restaurant I've found worth blogging about in a long, long time.

Jim

If u cn rd this, u prob txt

Hi Gang...

Text messaging.  The death of the language, or the next step in evolving communications?  Certainly a heated debate.  I'm starting to think more and more that it's the latter (note to my undergrad students...this isn't carte blanche to use these abbreviations on your exams - lol). 

Here's a good article from Newsweek that takes the point of view that Texting is not the end of language as we know it.  Hopefully, it may open everyone's eyes a bit.

ttfn...

js

Mashup + Mozilla + Wiki = Wow

Hi Gang...

This one was just released in August.  Called Ubiqutiy, it's a wiki (collaborative website) from Mozilla (who introduced Firefox) that allows users to use and even create their own mashups (new web apps combining existing ones) to better use the web.

Confused?  Hope not, but if you are, watch this video (it's 6 minutes, and well worth your time).  While you may not want to create them, everyone can use them (and I know that I will).

Wow.

Jim

Where can I learn about great Web 2.0 tools?

Hi Gang...

Other than from someone under 25, why not check out SEOMOZ.   This site, dedicated to search engine optimization, offers awards to the best Web 2.0 sites in 41 different categories.  That's 174 Web 2.0 sites that are deemed "best of breed" (thanks, AKC) for you to explore and use.

Gotta go...time to update my Facebook account.

Jim

Do Ya Sp-sp-sputtr?

Lot's of cool new search engines out there.  If you want all of your engines (and social networking sites) wrapped into a single webpage, check out Sputtr.  Various Google options, Delicious, Stumble Upon, Wikipedia and a bunch more. 

Not really new...it's been around for over a year.  But it is cool & customizable.

Jim