East Bernard Express (East Bernard, Tex.), Vol. 70, No. 8, Ed. 1 Thursday, February 21, 2013 Page: 4 of 10
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age 4 Thursday, February 21,2013
East Bernard Express
Bill Wallace, Editor & Publisher
bwallace@journal-spectator.com
Keith Magee, Managing Editor
kmagee@journal-spectator.com
Burlon Parsons, Associate Editor
bparsons@journal-spectator.com
P.0. Box 111 • Wharton, Texas 77488 • 979-532-0095 • 979-532-8845 fax
Periodicals Postage Paid at East Bernard, Texas 77435. Annual
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About Pokemon and he Medium is the Massage'
Marshall McLuhan published
The Medium Is the Massage in the
mid-1960s when I was working on
my master’s degree at the Univer-
sity of Houston. The book was much
discussed on university campuses,
and many people who understood it
disagreed with what it was say-
ing. Actually there were quite a few
folks who read the book and didn’t
really understand it very well. As a
graduate student, I was one of those.
I think I understand it a little better
now.
The term “medium” means a
book, a movie, a video game, comic
strip, television newscast, musi-
cal, pornography, etc. Normally
we believe that the most important
thing about a book or a movie is
the message it presents through
the “medium.” In contrast to that
concept, McLuhan is saying that the
“medium” is the message.
For example, the news show
presents up-close investigating and
reporting of say a terrible crime,
like the mass shootings on high
school or college campuses, showing
gruesome details of the crime while
the average family is eating dinner
or relaxing after dinner. McLuhan
would say that the message is not
the story of this bloody crime that
has stunned everyone, but the “me-
dium” itself, the television cameras
showing the gruesome details that
in earlier times in America would
not have been deemed appropriate
for a family to watch during din-
ner. The family becomes immune to
watching true horror stories on TV.
It is the medium, not the message,
that changes society’s views.
About a decade later, when I was
in graduate school at the Univer-
sity of Michigan, the newness of
McLuhan’s ideas had worn off, but
I saw changes in university English
department curricula that may have
reflected those ideas. For the first
time in my experiences as an Eng-
lish major, colleges and universities
were offering courses in what was
then known as “popular culture,”
and it was popular culture seen
as “literature.” A course in Shake-
speare’s history plays, for example,
had long since been considered “lit-
erature,” but now movies were also
being taught for credit as “litera-
ture” (using the term “cinema” rath-
er than “movie” to make it sound
more legitimate). Even comic books
were considered popular culture as
literature. One graduate student at
Berkley did her doctoral dissertation
on Wonder Woman Comics.
Well, television led to video
games, and video games led to com-
puter games, and so we have this
incredible surge of public interest in
yet another area of popular culture.
If today’s electronic games had been
around when McLuhan wrote his
book, you can be sure they would
have received the most coverage,
because the violent exterminations,
manipulated by each player, an
integral part of most of the games,
would certainly prove how the “me-
dium” is the message. What effect
they have on society is still in the
process of being determined, some
people even connecting school shoot-
ings with computer games.
The Japanese phenomenon
known as “Pokemon” started out as
a video game, which led to a televi-
sion series, movies, toys and col-
lectibles, comic books, and a trading
card game. The enormous amount
of money that is being spent on
the various Pokemon collectibles is
phenomenal itself, not to mention
on the various games themselves.
And the enormous expenditure of
time! Focus on the Family doesn’t
condemn Pokemon, but they caution
parents to review the games and
watch the purchasing of merchan-
dise.
Like many of the cartoon series,
such as the “Avatars,” for example,
the Pokemon characters and stories
have a mythological dimension to
them, which is very appealing to
young people. I have very limited
knowledge, but apparently the
Pokemon world began eons ago,
when humans still lived in caves,
and pokemon were “animals.” Hu-
mans hunted them and they hunted
humans. The humans were the
weaker of the two, lacking elemental
powers that the pokemon had. The
humans tried to find ways to cap-
ture and train pokemon, and were
finally able to. Thousands of years
later, humans now live in houses
and the pokemon have technology.
The criminals in the pokemon world
have banded together into Team
Rocket, a gangster gang and more
dangerous than in the human world.
That’s about as far as I want to
go in describing something I don’t
know a lot about, just enough to see
the mythology. And of course Poke-
mon is only one of many electronic
game series. I have no firsthand
knowledge of the others except they
seem more violent. The point of my
column is McLuhan’s “the medium
is the message” idea. Where does it
eventually lead? Already we have
Kindles replacing books (not as bad
as movies replacing books which is
happening, too), the extermination
of cursive writing, calculators replac-
ing adding and subtracting the old
way, etc. — take the calculator away
from most youngsters and they can’t
do even a simple math problem.
Most people think we are being
unduly influenced by the message
in modern obscene, nihilistic novels,
movies, etc., but what about the
medium? That’s a far more sinister
influence, isn’t it?
Ray Spitzenherger serves as pas-
tor of St. Paul Lutheran Church in
Wallis, after retiring from Wharton
County Junior College, where he
taught English and speech and
served as chairman of Communica-
tions and Fine Arts for many years.
The most perfect food
Most scientists, and 100 percent of babies,
agree that milk is the most perfect food. It
may come in different containers and deliv-
ery systems vary but this is where nutrition
begins for all mammals.
I suppose that’s where
the term mammary gland
comes from. If it doesn’t I
don’t want to know about it
because I’ve already come to
a conclusion. As my friends
know once I make up my
mind I’m just full of doubt so
don’t correct me if I’m wrong.
I’m often wrong of course but
never in doubt. The engineer type of person
will analyze this article and bring up the fact
that there are many different forms of milk so
it depends on what kind of milk we’re talking
about.
There is whole milk, skim milk, reduced fat
milk, condensed milk, powdered milk, homog-
enized milk, vitamin D added milk, pasteur-
ized milk, homogenized milk, irradiated milk,
organic milk, artificial milk, flavored milk, and
God only knows how many species specific
milks there are. It boggles the boobs.
There was this guy who wanted to get his
wife a special gift for her birthday so he asked
her what she’d like. She said she’d like a milk
bath like Cleopatra and all those cool babes
had in the history books. He got to check-
ing around and found a dairy cow operation
that was recommended by the Better Boobs
Administration. He called for an appointment
and when he was interviewed by a technician
he was asked if he wanted Grade A milk and
if he preferred Holstein, Jersey, Gurnsey or
one of the exotic breeds. “I’ll take exotic,” he
said, “she’s impressed by that sort of thing,
but what is the difference?” The employee
replied, “About a dollar a gallon or twice that
if Congress doesn’t pass the farm bill, so how
many gallons will you need, and does it need
to be pasteurized?” He replies, “No and not
past hers either, she’s a keeper.”
This guy may not have been the smart-
est jug in the cooler but
he knew how to please a
woman. It’s kind of like
my friend Bunkie says, “A
man’s life is never com-
plete until he’s married to
the right woman and if he
PUN marries the wrong one it
is finished. And if the right
one catches you making
eyes at the wrong one it’s
completely finished.”
So the bath was taken and milk saved an-
other marriage. As the old adage goes, “Every
woman marries a man hoping he’ll change
and every man marries a woman hoping she
won’t.”
This same guy was so impressed with the
positive change in her attitude that he entered
a contest that Carnation Milk was running.
He wrote “Carnation Milk, the best in the
land, the best there is in a dog gone can. No
spigots to pull, no manure to tend, just punch
hole in the dad burned end.” He’s an incurable
romantic even if he is lactose intolerant.
■
Hey folks: The next Java Jam will be
Friday at the Milam Street Coffee Shop in
downtown Wharton. Special guests will be Jeff
Davang and daughters. He is a jazz guitar-
ist, and they sing beautiful harmony. The last
Java Jam was standing room only. Join the
fun. For details see www.whartoncountytx.
com.
Doc Blakely is a humorist and motivational
speaker who resides in Wharton. For more
information, visit www.docblakely.com.
Has this Cruz ship gone awry?
Well, that didn’t take long.
Or, as NBC broadcaster Andrea Mitchell
put it recently, “Ted Cruz has made his mark
already.”
If The Cruz was a missile, there might be a
plaintive call to Mission Control: “Houston, we
have a problem.”
In just six weeks, Texas’
new United States senator
has irked just about ev-
eryone he’s encountered in
Washington. Those spared
simply have yet to be in The
Cruz Missile’s path.
The Cruz was one of just
three of 100 senators to vote
against confirming their
colleague, Democrat John
Kerry of Massachusetts, as secretary of state.
Best-publicized demonstration of The Cruz
in action was the confirmation hearings of
Republican former U.S. Sen. Chuck Hagel as
defense secretary.
The Cruz actually caused some fellow GOP
Senate Armed Services Committee Hagel op-
ponents to defend him.
When The Cruz questioned decorated Viet-
nam vet Hagel’s dealings with foreign govern-
ments, hackles flared.
The Cruz: “We saw in this nomination
something truly extraordinary, which is the
government of Iran formally and publicly
praising the nomination of a defense secretary.
“I would suggest to you that to my knowl-
edge, that is unprecedented to see a foreign
nation like Iran publicly celebrating a nomina-
tion of a defense secretary.”
Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., charged The Cruz
“has gone over the line. He basically has im-
pugned the patriotism of the nominee.”
And Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., another
Vietnam vet and prisoner-of-war, and Hagel
opponent, chimed in.
“Sen. Hagel is an honorable man,” McCain
testified sternly. “He has served his country.
And no one on this committee, at any time,
should impugn his character or his integrity.”
Later, Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo.,
questioned The Cruz’s intimations Hagel had
gotten speech honorariums from North Korea,
comparing it to the 1950s accusations Sen. Joe
McCarthy made about commies in the state
department.
“He (Cruz) basically came out and made the
accusation about money from North Korea or
money from our enemies, and he just laid out
there all of this accusatory verbiage wi thout a
shred of evidence,” McCaskill said.
“In this country we had a terrible experi-
ence with innuendo and inference when Joe
McCarthy hung out in the United States
Senate, and I just think we have to be more
careful.”
The Cruz said 24 other senators backed
his request for more financial disclosures by
Hagel. And Hagel money from questionable
sources? “(T)he suggestions I have made in
my arguments have been merely to raise
examples for why I believe Senator Hagel’s
financial disclosure is so important.”
The Cruz said he felt “compelled to vote
no on Sen. Kerry’s nomination because of his
longstanding less-than-vigorous defense of
U.S. national security issues.”
The Cruz, with no mili-
tary service, also questioned
the commitment of deco-
rated vets Kerry and Hagel
to the armed forces.
Later, even Hagel critic
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-
S.C., said The Cruz’s undoc-
umented charges were “out
of bounds, quite frankly.”
The Cruz was an acci-
dental senator, beneficiary
of a perfect storm that claimed front-runner
Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst
The Cruz had the moxie to seek the Senate
nomination against Dewhurst and his wealth.
To Dewhurst’s detriment, a redistricting court
decision postponed the Republican primary
from March 6 — when Dewhurst was expect-
ed to win without a runoff — to May 29.
Dewhurst led with 44.6 percent, but not a
majority. Cruz got 34.2.
In most states, without runoffs in prima-
ries, Dewhurst would probably be senator
today, and The Cruz a faint memory.
But Texas is one of 11 states that require
runoffs. Nine weeks later, The Cruz won the
GOP nomination in the runoff, 56.8 percent
to 43.2. In red-state Texas at present, that
amounts to victory, the general election just a
formality.
John Cornyn, Texas’ senior Republican
senator, has voted in lockstep with The Cruz
against reauthorizing the Violence Against
Women Act; raising the debt ceiling; cutting
off military sales to Egypt; relief Aid for Hur-
ricane Sandy; and of course, Kerry’s confirma-
tion.
Speculation is Cornyn, whose seat is up
next year, worries about getting “primaried”
in the May 11, 2014, GOP primary. Is Cornyn
trying to avert being passed on the right by
a Tea Party candidate, as happened to De-
whurst?
So far, The Cruz’s biggest accomplishments
seem to be making the Senate’s other Cuban-
American, Marco Rubio of Florida, seem closer
to mainstream, and Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul
less lonesomely wacky.
Some think Texans are know-it-all blow-
hards. For them, The Cruz is reinforcing the
brand.
For others, The Cruz Missile reminds of
the cruise ship that broke down in the Gulf of
Mexico, forcing several days without enough
food, water or toilets.
The Cruz Missile obviously is not the cruise
ship. But after several days, the smell is the
same.
Contact Dave McNeely at davemcneelylll@
gmail.com or 512-458-2963.
How to reach
UNITED STATES
• U.S. Senator John Cornyn (R)
Washington, DC 20510
Fax: 361-884-2223
• President Barack Obama (D)
517 Hart Senate Office Bldg.
Phone: 202-224-5922
Website: www.farenthold.house.gov
your elected/
public officials
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20510
Fax: Not available
Email: See "Contact me" on website
Washington, DC 20500
Phone: 202-224-2934
Website: www.cruz.senate.gov
Phone: 202456-1414
Fax: 202-228-2856
Email: Not available yet
TEXAS
Fax: 202456-2461
Email: www.cornyn.senate.gov/public/
• Gov. Rick Perry (R)
Email: www.whitehouse.gov/contact/
index.cfm?p=ContactForm
• U.S. Rep. Blake Farenthold, District 27
P.O. Box 12428
submit-questions-and-comments
Website: www.cornyn.senate.gov
(R)
Austin, TX 78711-2428
Website: www.whitehouse.gov/adminis-
101 N. Shoreline Blvd., Suite 300
Phone: 512463-2000
tration/ president-obama
• U.S. Senator Ted Cruz (R)
Corpus Christi, TX 78401
Fax: 512463-1849
B40B Dirksen Senate Office Building
Phone: 361-884-2222
Email: www.governor.state.tx.us/contact
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Wallace, Bill. East Bernard Express (East Bernard, Tex.), Vol. 70, No. 8, Ed. 1 Thursday, February 21, 2013, newspaper, February 21, 2013; East Bernard, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth787552/m1/4/: accessed July 7, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Wharton County Library.