Behind the Saloon Doors
One night, back in the dark days of dialup, I found myself in the adult section (separated from what passes for wholesome America in a Blue state by a couple of saloon-style swinging doors) of my local video store when a fairly significant earthquake hit. I was confronted with the horror that if the place collapsed on me, my mother would eventually find my body under a pile of naughty rubble high enough to displace any pride she once had in me (including a pretty stellar haftorah portion during my Bar Mitzvah). On the other hand, the distraction of the rattling earth also provided me with a window of opportunity to grab my title of choice (Masseuse 3 if memory serves) before any of my other eternally doomed compatriots had a chance to regain their bearings.
Such was life before broadband.
All of our social habits, good and bad, were just a little (or a lot) more difficult before broadband blasted our every short term want – gambling, anonymous conversation, titillation, videos, photos, and the rest – right through those saloon doors. There’s a new sheriff in town? More like no sheriff.
And today’s easy access means big money for the purveyors of material that once required some effort (or at least the risk of some embarrassment) to get your hands on. Today, the stuff behind the swinging doors is a bigger business than the NFL, the NBA and MLB combined. Gambling, recent laws notwithstanding, is going through the roof thanks to online poker and sports betting. Even my friends who don’t bet are betting now. My wife recently asked me if I wanted to go to Vegas for my birthday. I glanced down at my 12inch Powerbook and responded, “I’m in Vegas right now.” If only you could bet on p-rn…
But this easy access could also be creating a nation of addicts. According to a recent Stanford study, more than one in eight Americans shows signs of “problematic internet use”. People are using the internet to “self-medicate”, even hiding the extent of their use. Webaholism?
My take is that many of us are part of a lost generation when it comes to managing our use of modern technology. We’re young enough to know how to use it, but we didn’t grow up with it. Properly compartmentalizing easy and instant access to everything we want whenever we want it is not built into the fabric of our being. We’re millions of Charlies in an always open Chocolate Factory without the constant nagging off those moralizing Oompa Loompas.
For the next generation, maybe the gobstopper won’t be quite so everlasting.
The GOPstopper
Things are looking even uglier for Republicans according to the latest poll numbers that show the party and Prez sucking wind at historic proportions. According to one pollster: “There is not a single number in here that would suggest the Democrats will not have their best showing in a decade—and maybe two decades.” Will this be another 1994 in reverse? Maybe. But there is one key difference this time around. The GOP is essentially playing against air in this election cycle. The results hinge solely on how the GOP does and how events play out on the ground.
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A Video History of You Tube, Taking Saunas with Mark Foley, General: Iraq Disheartening, Memorable Brawls, Funeral Homes and After Market Parts and NannyBlog.
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