Response to Erica & Sig about hippies

Of course there are the hippies that just get stoned and lounge around, but then there are the hippies that have the blond dreads, wear the '60s style clothes and pass out leaflets about the horrors of genetic engineering, pesticides, animal testing (of any kind, for any reason) - the only reason they don't touch stem-cell research is that its too closely tied with the abortion debate. There are some scary hippies out there that think that we shouldn't do any kind of research or science affecting mother nature. And its not just straight-up hippies, a lot of the literature I read against things like genetically engineered foods came from a class that Brian Schreier took. I think the term "hippy" might not be the right term, or it has different meanings for different people. I used to fall close to the hippy-sub-section of counter-culture, (but I'm erring closer to goth these days) but I never considered myself a hippy - I think its just a catch-all term for people that don't fall into goth, indie, punk or raver but are still considered counter-culture

Comments on Debate commentary

So this morning I got up pretty early and decided to check out my friends list on LJ. I took the bush_sucks community off my friends page because its just TOO well used but I still have thedailyshow community there. The instant verdict I got on last night's debate was that Bush "got his ass handed to him on a platter." I read the posts I hadn't read and then went over to bush_sucks. There was a comment on the conspicuous silence on the pro-bush communities last night and a lot of commentary about the debates. I didn't read most of it because I know that what really matters is what the big commentators say about it. Unanimous American opinion might be that Bush got served, but if a few networks say that he did a good job, American opinion will change. My best example of the power of the media is the constant claim that Kerry "hasn't taken a position" on Iraq and a few other things. Thats simply not true, but truth doesn't really matter anymore, Kerry could take out a full page ad in the NY Times and a few other papers articulating his position and they would still be using that lame line that he hasn't taken a position. Its sickening.

On the other hand, if they do point out Kerry's victory, it scares me to see what will happen with the next debates. Frankly, I won't be relaxed until Nov.3 when the campaigning is over.