Shhhh The News is On

Remember when there were just three television networks and we saw the world in black and white? Most people only had one television in their homes and the radio in the car was AM only.  Still, it seemed like everybody, from housewives and janitors, to secretaries and factory workers shared one thing with their bosses. 

They read two newspapers a day Monday through Friday, at least one on Saturday and one on Sunday. Besides the morning and evening papers, that were gently read and refolded for respected adults who couldn't see them until later, there were ethnic papers that offered thoughtful and focused perspectives.

The people we depended on also heard real news on the radio.Whether they had limited or no education or the benefits of college and more, they got a view of the nation and the world that could never be gleaned from those rare long-distance calls to distant relatives who lived in other parts of the country.

Generations of children grew up understanding that news was information, even if it was less than complete. If it was slanted in one direction or another, having some information was so much better than being ignorant.

I remember sitting there quietly with my brothers or cousins and watching grainy film that was often days old, as middle aged men and their white male reporters offered their observations about world events. If you were anywhere on the block, you were expected to be there when the news came on.

The stories might be fodder for dinner table conversation, or something to be discussed between parents and their friends or siblings after Sunday dinner. I grew up thinking it was necessary and natural to know something about the world beyond my neighborhood.

Today, there may be fewer newspapers and quality radio news is something you have to search for, but national and international news is a 24/7 packaged product. It is presented in living color and nearly as instantly as it occurs.

Yet, children and many adults seem clueless about world events. Ask five of them individually, for the last names of three of the Republican presidential hopefuls and three may have a hard time coming up with right answers. Ask them if Americans are still fighting in Iraq and they may not know we left in December.  Ask them what's going on in the world and they may smile and tell you the NBA lockout is over.

I wonder what would happen if we tried a little something different. Instead of doing what our grandparents would do which was to hush us up and offer the look that meant "park it and learn something,." we tried an instructive but abrupt  approach.

It might be something like this "Don't leave, 'Sit down now, and shut up, the news is on! It's your world, you might learn something." 

DeHoll-- My World, My View, 01-02-2011

TV: It's Like an Education

Is it just me, or does Newt Gingrich's pragmatic style remind anyone else of Pat Buchanan in the run up to the 1996 campaign?

Say anything with enough conviction and years of too much exposure on a cable news show and you will sound more authoritative than most ordinary politicians.

We'll have to wait and see if GOP voters find much substance in his style.

Who Knows the Time?

It's 2012


“Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart
and wait for the Lord” – Psalms 27:14
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I have no Mayan friends. Yet, I know the world has a fascination about academic translations of their ancient calendar. I am always open to learning and the older I get the less I dwell upon impermanence. I focus more on living life and enjoying the moments, hours and days that I breathe.
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“But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.” – Matthew 24:36

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So, I will not live as though 12-21-2012 shall be “the end of days.” I will simply live. As I do it, I will try to be a better person and share compassion and understanding with those who cross my path.

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“They ask you, [O Muhammad], about the Hour: when is its arrival? Say, "Its knowledge is only with my Lord. None will reveal its time except Him. It lays heavily upon the heavens and the earth. It will not come upon you except unexpectedly." Qur An 7:187

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I can strive to win, I can enjoy the companionship of family and friends, I can lead to move my family forward. I can also accept the opportunities arising from the impermanence of all things.
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Thus shall ye think of all this fleeting world: a star at dawn,
a bubble in a stream; a flash of lightning in a summer cloud,
a flickering lamp, a phantom and a dream. -- Sakyamuni Buddha

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No, I know no Mayans, but I know many types of people with many varied beliefs. So when the winter solstice of this waning year arrives, I will greet it hopefully, as I look ahead toward a future yet to be. DEH 01-01-2012

2011: 24 Words and Out

I had a lot of fun with the challenge to sum up the news of the year in 24 words. It gave me a chance to be back on Houston Radio. I also heard from a lot of folks whose talents have raised the bar for me over the years and I am thankful.

This is the verse below, and the audio from my Houston radio appearance is now on YouTube.

One percent served, recession curved
Capitol shaken, Bin Laden taken
Ghadafi’s reign ended, DADT rescinded
Wildfires burned, Iraq troops returned
Kardashian’s fling, Arab spring

Who Is Deholl?

I am a husband, father, grandfather, great grandfather, cousin, uncle, nephew, friend, and still a son and grandson to people I miss, or do not see as often as I should. I have been a student, Boy Scout, alter boy, paperboy, activist, athlete, volunteer and voter.


I am a sage, a bard, a griot, a spinner of yarns, a teller of tales, a blogger, an observer, a voice actor, and a writer and reader of the news.

Greed: Is it a Bad Word?

12/13/

The frontrunners are calling each other greedy. Is it interesting, curious, or just truth in campaigning?

Guns Kill People if People Want them Too

12/20/2011

Terrible Tragedies --

This is what our children are doing. Seventy people were arrested and 161 guns seized over the past year in a sting operation mounted by police in Washington, D.C. Police set up a recording studio and put out the word that they were interested in guns and drugs.

They took in more than $7 million in various drugs and illegal weapons. They also learned a lot about murders and other crimes, including a plot to take down the studio and possibly kill everybody inside.

The word often used on the street between folks in the life is "soldier." They use it as a term of honor and respect among themselves, even though it has nothing to do with crap like this.

There is no honor in street violence. There is no discipline in dealing death for a few dollars. There is no manhood in disrespect for humanity.

That's the tragedy of it. Not just the funerals of people who die much too young for being in the life, but too often, the good folks caught up in the violence and the mothers, sisters and children who shed tears or won't venture outside without looking out the blinds first.

When I drive through cities and see young men on canes, or in wheelchairs for all the wrong reasons, it's hard to not think of them as the lucky ones who have survived a plague of urban violence that's ripping our families apart.

Music used to be fun, and it still should be. This is not a blast at rap or hip hop. They are art forms no different than jazz, R&B or country. We are losing a generation to a war on the human spirit.

The tragedy is thuggery, and the indignation that doesn't rise up until the honored dead are family, close friends, or the children of someone we know.

Don't hate the players, hate the game. The stakes are life or death.

— with Jeanmarie Stokes at Any Sad City, USA .