Kevin Marshall's America
Myself and two (possibly three) more people are looking to rappel off the Crowne Plaza Hotel in support of the Special Olympics of New York! Have you donated yet to our cause? Your donation can get you baked goods, a portrait drawn by yours truly, and much more. Plus, you’re automatically entered to win a $25 Target gift card! Give a little, get a little. Click here for more info.
—–
Equal parts outrageous and sad.
Desperate for some footage to accompany a story about a shooting, CBS Chicago interviewed nearby neighborhood children to get sound bites and reaction. The video first shows the segment as it aired, then the full footage. Note that the first child interviewed is only four years old.
In the footage that airs, the clip ends with the four-year-old saying “I’m gonna have me a gun!” After another child reacts to the violence, the anchor does a head-shaking, pseudo-remorseful “that is very scary indeed” that would put Jack Aerneke to shame.
As the upload on YouTube shows and is apparent by the fact that in the aired clip you can hear the beginning of the reporter’s follow-up question (nice editing, folks), the child wants to be a police officer.
Child: “I’m gonna have me a gun!”
Reporter: “Why do you want to do that?”
Child: “I’m gonna be the police!”
Reporter: “Oh, that’s okay then!”
So what could have been a moment of brief respite, with the idea that this violence is possibly laying the foundation for this child to pursue a dream in law enforcement or somehow fight back against the criminal element in his community, is twisted and distorted to make it look like this innocent four-year-old is a little gangbanger in training.
I wish I was surprised that any news organization would stoop to this level, but the mantra has become that ratings are ratings and sales are sales. This is the sort of thing that happens when you compromise things like journalistic ethics and higher standards for the sake of numbers. Many newsrooms of various media would give no shortage of excuses (“the state of the industry made me do it!”) or cry “logical fallacy” at the inference of a slippery slope. But it’s not a slope, it’s a dam. Putting entertainment and narrative ahead of truth and journalism in any way puts a crack in that dam, and eventually that leak becomes a flood.
And we’re the ones left drowning in misinformation and an almost cartoonish disregard for standards and decency. This was inexcusable, but it was not isolated, and any outfit presenting itself as a news organization – regardless of the form it takes or its presentation – needs to be held to a much higher standard.
—-
Local readers will note that in the beginning there’s mention of “South Albany” – there’s a lot of fun connections between New York’s capitol and the pride of Illinois. There’s also an Albany Park neighborhood which has a street named…Troy.
With a minimum donation of $5 to Special Olympics of NY, you’ll be automatically entered to win a $25 Gift Card to any and all Target locations!
CLICK HERE to donate. One lucky winner will be drawn September 1st.
If you’ve already given, you’re automatically entered. Also, it doesn’t matter which member of Team (Kevin Marshall’s) America you donate to; all are eligible to win!
One thing I’m always struck by is the generosity of friends, acquaintances, and outright strangers.
Yesterday I was out on a morning run (I actually did two days in a row; someone get Rex Smith on the horn and tell him we need an evening edition printed) when I was flagged down by someone that lived around the corner from me. He mentioned that he had talked to my next door neighbor and found out that my bike had been stolen off my porch two weeks ago. This man, whose only association with me is that his wife also works for RPI (but doesn’t work in the same part of campus as me let alone with me), said that he had a couple bikes and offered me one of them on the spot.
I was legitimately taken aback by the offer.
What’s more, I had to politely decline because my roommate had already given me one that he had: a bike that he and/or someone in his family easily could have sold for some decent change. Instead, without a thought, they offered it to me.
A month ago, someone ripped my bicycle off the railings of our front porch and carried it off with them. In the time since, through word of mouth, I have had nothing but offers of replacements that have reinforced a belief and outlook I’ve adopted in the last five years: that for every person that would deprive you of happiness, there are tenfold more that would step in to try to help in some manner.
One Christmas, before I was born, the presents my parents bought for their children were stolen out of their car. Then, in a scene ripped out of the cheesiest ABC Family made for television Christmas movie, friends and strangers that lived with us in the projects (a place called Griswold Heights) came together and surprised my parents with replacement gifts for all their kids.
Instances of generosity and kindness far outnumber those of selfishness. Unfortunately, it’s the latter that hits us the hardest. But if we allow ourselves to appreciate the other moments and give them equal weight and consideration, we’ll be surprised at how much good there really is in this world.
I’m seeing it, too, in the outpouring of support that all you readers have shown for Special Olympics of New York through my fundraising efforts for the Over the Edge event. I thank all who have given and all that will give in the coming weeks. If you haven’t yet, check out the page I put together: it explains what we’re doing, has a list of incentives for giving, and more. Even as little as $5 or $10 goes a long way towards providing services for the more than 47,000 differently abled athletes and their families.
So to Jackie’s husband, to my roommate, to my friends, to those folks in Griswold Heights (some of whom are no longer with us), and to all of you reading: on behalf of the human race, thank you for making us all a little richer.
If you give, that is.
Tonight is the last Friday of the month, which means it’s time for Troy Night Out, the Collar City’s monthly celebration of art, culture, and night life in our city. Visit TroyNightOut.org for a full list of the festivities, and ride the trolley through the city!
I’ll be out and about from 5:00pm onwards. If you find me before 8:30pm and make a donation of $10 in cash to the Special Olympics of NY, I will perform one of the following dances for you, your choice:
- A jig
- The running man
- That MC Hammer dance where he puts his hands on his hips and just goes back and forth all crazy-like
Please note that I don’t say I’ll do these well, just that I’ll do them.
This is another installment of my ongoing effort to raise money for Special Olympics of NY through the Over the Edge fundraiser. So far you people have given generously, but there’s still much more that’s needed! Special Olympics of NY provides services to more than 47,000 differently abled kids and their families throughout the State. It’s a worthy cause, so why not humiliate me?
For information on how you can donate online (as well as other incentives for giving including baked goods from one of my teammates), visit the sub-site at KevinMarshallOnline.com.
Very sad to read the news today about Hideki Irabu, who hung himself and was found dead yesterday in Los Angeles.
I remember his signing well, much ballyhooed in an era where Japanese players arriving in the United States was still a novelty. I was still a baseball fan and Yankee supporter in those days, and I remember well the excitement that accompanied his arrival, as well as the disappointment that accompanied his performance.
What I was too young to understand and what even those who were didn’t know is that Irabu had issues with depression and alcoholism (a really terrible combo) even before he came Stateside. The move and increased pressures, only exacerbated the problem.
It’s a shame that his potential was unmet, and it’s a tragedy that those same factors that prevented the former ultimately overtook him in his personal life as well. Just sad, sad news.
It also should serve as a reminder of the very serious and dire nature of depression, alcoholism, and addiction, particularly when they go untreated. They are progressive and will pull you down, whether you’re a Japanese pitcher or an American blue collar worker.
There is no shame, only strength, in reaching out for help when you need it.
A fight card in Atlantic City tonight (Thursday) features three local fighters from Amsterdam, NY who graduated High School together.
Lightweights Manny Milan, Mervin Rodriguez, and Tom Marcellino are competing this Friday night, July 29th, at XFE Cage Wars 8 at Showboat in Atlantic City.
For more info, check out XFE’s website.
Cover of An Albany Trio
Local site All Over Albany scored an interview with Lewis Black. Black, whose resume is a veritable bucket list for stand-up comedians, shared his views on New York State politics and happenings in advance of his concert at The Palace on October 21st. He’s made Albany a regular stop and comes across as having a legitimate familiarity and affinity for our strange, tertiary locale.
The item that struck me, though, came at the end of All Over Albany’s post. From the man himself:
Seriously, something Albany should be proud of: William Kennedy. He’s one of the great writers. Basically, whenever you’re in doubt, just go back and read him. I like the way he writes about the city and the people. Any writer who gives you a sense of place like that I really admire. It’s why I’m not a fiction writer — it’s an extraordinary talent. Faulkner had his place, Hemingway had Spain. Kennedy writes that way about Albany.
Kennedy, who won the Pulitzer for Ironweed, happens to be one of my favorite writers. I first read him when I was 21, having been given a collection of his Albany trio as a gift from someone whose name escapes me now. Albany is not only a consistent setting but a muse for Kennedy, whose work often incorporates the sites and historical happenings of the region.
Though I like Ironweed, I think my favorite of his might be his fictionalized biography of Jewish gangster Jack “Legs” Diamond titled Legs, which is an intriguing character study and exploration of the local mob scene. For what it’s worth, which isn’t much, reading Legs I always yearned for James Woods to be twenty years young so he could play the title character in a big-screen adaptation.
Anyway, one of my favorite comics likes one of my favorite writers. What a delightful combination.
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
Speaking of wonderful combinations, I can think of another one: your generosity and the Special Olympics of New York! I’ve dedicated essentially the remainder of the Summer to raising money through their Over the Edge fundraiser, which will culminate in myself and upwards of 100 other individuals rappelling down the Crowne Plaza Hotel in downtown Albany on September 16th.
So if you have a minute and a couple dollars to spare, it’d mean the world to the over 47,000 children and their families that the Special Olympics of New York serves – free of charge, I might add – if you visited http://bit.ly/stuntraising and donated to the cause. My group, Team (Kevin Marshall’s) America, is offering tons of great incentives for giving: poems, projects, commissioned portraits, baked goods and more! Check it.
Yesterday I announced that if you donate $15 to Special Olympics of New York between now and Sunday at midnight, I will personally create a crudely drawn portrait of you. Crude because my artistic skills are, to put it kindly, s***.
UPDATE – this offer has been extended through the entire month of August!
So far we’ve been able to garner $60! Here are the samples, approved for posting by the subjects themselves.
SIOBHAN:
————————–
CHRIS:
More after the jump!
Ed Lass made a donation to Special Olympics of New York and in exchange gets this personalized birthday message!
Today is, of course, Ed’s birthday. So if you know him, wish him a Happy Birthday! And if you don’t, sit there and seethe because he’s going to have cake today and you aren’t.
This is, in case you’ve been living under a rock, part of my ongoing effort to raise money for the Special Olympics of New York and their Over the Edge event. For more information or to make a donation, visit KevinMarshallOnline.com.
This is yet another incessant reminder that Kevin Marshall’s America is raising money for the Special Olympics of New York! PLEASE CLICK HERE for more information and to donate.
———————————–
I understand how a man like Anders Behring Breivik fed the flames of his hatred, even if that was not the only reason for his terrible act of terrorism, because I was, for a while, his friend on Facebook.
- Read more from Camilla Ragfors, translated by The Guardian
I can’t image the horror the author of this piece must have felt when she realized she tangentially knew the man that cooly and remorselessly gunned down eighty children. It did get me to thinking about last Saturday’s blog post and the dangerous ground we tread when we try to assign the label to simply one group. There was a time, shortly after 9/11, when people like Peter King could be shamed into denouncing their former allegiances to terrorists. Unfortunately – and this is a global and domestic problem – there has been far too much space and patience given to racist, hardline nationalist rhetoric not seen since the early days of the twentieth century. There has been an insistence on fake fairness, with the idea that somehow a viewpoint has validity simply by nature of its existence. This has led us to be far more accommodating to racist and xenophobic viewpoints out of misguided politeness and the fear we have in calling people out on it simply because it’s draped in a flag.
It was hard over the weekend to imagine there would be anything at all that could be culled from the unfathomable tragedy in Norway, but with some time to process and revelation of the climate that bred Anders Behring Breivik and fed his insane delusions, it is clear what the lesson is, and is this: if you are truly of a good heart and you are serious and earnest in your belief that we need to make the world safer for ourselves and our neighbors around the world, then the fight needs to be against the one common thread that ties all terrorists together. That thread is intolerance.
Xenophobic nationalism caused the tragedy in Norway every bit as the man who committed the deed himself. It is here, too, in the United States, and if you deny it you must not have your eyes and ears open. It seems insane, for example, that anyone would actually believe that the United States would ever be in danger of adopting Sharia Law, yet there are candidates running for political office with no shortage of supporters who spout such nonsense even though most rational people wouldn’t trust someone who believes such things with running the Sunday brunch rush at Denny’s. It flies in the face of all that’s rational and comes not from an area of legitimate concern, but rather a hatred and ignorance that is unbecoming of us as Americans in the 21st Century.
Breivik wasn’t the first to terrorize his own people and won’t be the last. We have a history of it ourselves. Almost assuredly, the next terrorist attack will be domestic. Some of us may have the man posting on our Facebook wall, and God help us if we can’t say we didn’t see it coming.
STALK ME
