When Times Get Tough, Iron Your T-Shirt!

(courtesy of the-signal.com and knx1070.com)

From the-signal.com staff writer, Brian Charles, comes this news-worthy item:

29 year-old Santa Clarita, California resident Kelly Kinney has been out of work since October 1, 2008, but she's not laying-low, blaming tough economic times, or feeling sorry for herself. What Kinney -- an ex marketing manager -- has done is begin ironing her resume onto t-shirts and wearing them around the streets of Los Angeles with the hope of finding employment.

Forget her degree! Here's a woman who has guts and is a true inspiration! While all around our country so many banking CEOs, car manufacturers, and Wall Street brokers are apparently willing to whine and otherwise get busy "beggin' for bailouts," Kinney has taken to the street with a pragmatic, unique, and entrepreneurial style all her own.

Kinney, pictured above, actually holds two bachelor degrees -- one in economics, and one in marketing -- and, it seems to me, she's putting her mind, her creativity, and her education to good work. Or, rather, she's HOPING to put herself to work through her creative ingenuity.

She admits, however, that she has so far been frustrated in her job search, but she refuses to go quietly into that bleak, economic night. You won't see her standing around waiting for a bailout, she's not waiting on welfare, and she's not expecting the t-shirt ploy to land her at a Fortune 500 company. Of her job search, Kinney simply said, "I just want to work. I don't care about the money."

TMH wishes Kelly Kinney all the best, and we hope that things -- for her, and for the rest of the country -- begin to turn around soon; before more of us (with the definite exception of the CEOs and the bail-out benificiaries) have to break out the "surf boards" and "wax-on, wax-off" a few of our own iron-on resumes!

What's New(s) on The Media Hammer

The Media Hammer is currently providing a wide variety of media-based links to our community members.

To your right, you will find an eclectic mix of news sources --some of which you may already enjoy and visit frequently and some which may well go against your personal politics, your political persuasion, or otherwise irritate you beyond belief. The diversity of news choices and the different perspectives (i.e. "the Spin") IS the entire point, so please don't be offended just because we have posted links to both Fox News and MSNBC for example. As nasty as it sometimes gets, we don't think we'll be seeing Bill O' Reilly and Keith Olbermann duking it out any time soon!

We invite you to check out the available links and to comment here in your own words with regard to your favorites, your least favorites, the links you trust as well as the ones you do not trust. There may also be -- hopefully -- a few with which you are not that familiar.

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Are "Great Men" also Bad?

By Gregory A. Hammer
TMH Editor

As if president-elect Barack Obama did not already have enough on his plate; what with the state of the economy, the on-going wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the continuing politics of the bailout package(s), trying to keep the Big Three auto-makers afloat, naming his cabinet, monitoring the last 50 days of the Bush administration, and now -- today -- comes this: Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich is accused of trying to sell Obama's available senate seat to -- apparently -- the highest bidder. What IS this, political E-Bay?

Blagojevich was arrested on graft charges Tuesday, and also charged with threatening to strong-arm the Chicago Tribune company by withholding state funds in an attempt to bribe and coerce the media giant into firing some of the paper's editors who had been critical of Blagojevich's political "guidance" during his time as governor. In a move not-so-surprising-in-this-day-and-age, a federal judge -- ON Tuesday -- granted Blagojevich release on his own recognizance. Even with as much political corruption as we've had lately, it's apparently still not possible to keep a politician behind bars for more than a few hours.

Suffice to say that the political corruption over the course of the last eight years has been particularly atrocious. More specifically, the political corruption which has taken place in Chicago -- where three former governors have been indicted and convicted of crimes of corruption within the last thirty-five years -- pretty much mirrors the present-day political side-show.

I don't know about you, but it's getting hard to keep track of the scandals taking place throughout the Washington political circuit, and at a time when our country NEEDS to be able to trust in its elected leaders...well, trust is a hard thing to come by, isn't it?

The hubris of American business men, CEOs, politicans, federal judges, governors and people in power continues to amaze me, but perhaps I should not be surprised. MSNBC's Chris Matthews echoed the oft-quoted, well-worn opinion of Lord Acton today on his syndicated show "Hardball" when he stated, "Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts -- absolutely." Acton's statement reflected his personal feelings-of-the-day and he expressed clearly his own issues with people in power in an 1887 letter to Bishop Mandell Creighton.

What Matthews failed to mention, and what many people may not realize, is the final part of Acton's quote...the part in his letter which reads, "Great men are almost always bad men." I'm sure it's not something in the water, and I'm not putting this on our president-elect, but Chicago definitely has a well-worn history of political corruption. Has this kind of corruption, greed and scandal simply become part of the larger political shell-game, or is it a case of ethical lightning striking over, and over, and over again upon The Windy City?

Don't look too closely at any American city these days, not unless you're willing to see something ugly. You're guaranteed to find something corrupt; something you won't like, something that's better left unseen and unknown. For those of you who thought the corruption would end with the Bush administration...well, there's still time for that to happen, but it's beginning to look like the great men in this country are "great" because they are so bad.

Our hopes for a political turn-around and an ethical rise in America's elected leaders to the point that they will actually listen, let alone lead, falls -- initially at least -- on the politician in the top spot, a man whose politics derive from Chicago. The questions remain: do great men necessarily have to be bad in order to be great? And will Obama be great, bad, or both?

TMH Innaugural Post

Welcome to The Media Hammer!

We're glad you found us on the web, and we're excited to begin this website at such a transitional period in American history.

The process of electing Barack Obama has held the United States' attention for a long, long time now and -- with his inauguration -- the country will begin to move in a reportly "new" direction. We at The Media Hammer will be watching, and keeping an open eye and open mind to the way in which the news is reported. We hope that you will join us as we explore the news and the variety of ways in which it is presented.

Despite the fact that the United States is facing an historic economic crisis and a water-sshed moment in American history, our elected officials -- our "Civil Servants" -- seem to be more corrupt than ever. The Media Hammer will be working to report on the latest news from, and ON, the world's diverse media formats: radio, television, the internet, and the written word. Within our coverage we will include news and commentary, politics and religion, as well as topics surrounding popular culture and the issues which you -- our readers, subscribers, writers, and reporters decide need to be discussed.

Who are we? The Media Hammer is a group of writers, reporters and critics whose backgrounds vary from teaching and education, to writing, communications, politics, and philosophy. We are a diverse group of free-thinking people with eclectic backgrounds, experiences and opinions. We're bringing this diversity to our new website, and we're asking you to help us expand our horizons. Our goal is to offer a unique and interesting perspective on what is newsworthy, and on the way in which the news is presented through different media outlets.

We want you to take part in this world, and to help us explore the knowledge, news and education we receive through the American and world media. By using reportage, critical thinking, free-inquiry, and the vast technological network available to us all, the writers at The Media Hammer strive to help shape the understanding of the news, rather than just having it shape us!

Thanks for everything, and please come along for the ride!

--TMH


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