2012, The End of the World: Sasha Smith

This summer, when I was picking my birthday beach vacation location, I decided to head back to Cancun, Mexico. Since I've been to Cancun many times before, I decided to have a more educational trip. I learned a lot about history and got the opportunity to visit one of the seven wonders of the world. I headed to Chichen Itza in the Yucatan Peninsula to visit one of the most famous Mayan cities. We made a few stops in this rural part of Mexico but of course the most exciting was visiting the Pyramids, one of the seven wonders of the world,  and hearing all the wonderful stories about the history of one of the smartest civilizations in the world. I was amazed at what I learned about Mayan inventions. The architecture of the Pyramids and other historical temples and structures was amazing and of course you could not be in Chichen Itza without talking about the Mayan calendar.

In Chichen Itza, the local Mayans explained to my group of girlfriends (that I convinced to meet me in Mexico), all the elaborate calculations of how the calendar was invented and it's functions and of course it's ending date of December 21, 2012. For a while, I must say it was rather convincing. The tour group was "ooooooohhing and aaaaaaawwwwing" every time the tour guide explained another wonderful fact about the calendar. They had me for a second and then reality settled in and I thought about the whole Y2K experience and how everyone was all caught up in the world coming to an end or everything being messed up. The Mayan calendar theory is no different. At the end the day we don't know when the world will come to an end. But I guess no one will be here to talk about it so we have to talk about it now. I am surprised at how well the movie did and how caught up folks are in believing the world is coming to end. I think that it has been a year of a lot of loss and people just want to know when to prepare themselves, but in reality you should be living your life to the fullest everyday like it's your last. It's certainly a lesson that I learned this year.

In regards to the world coming to an end in my lifetime... well it didn't start in my lifetime so it probably won't end in my lifetime.

Check out my picture above of me in the sweltering heat of Chichen Itza. I recommend everyone take a visit. Actually, December 21, 2012 will be the perfect day to visit. It will probably be the best light show (from the sun) that you've ever seen in your life.

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2012, The End of the World: Have Your Say

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Surviving the Recession

While economists are predicting that the worst of the economic downturn is over, many Americans are still struggling through the recession. Unemployment is at a twenty-six year high, and both Wall Street and the housing market are still suffering despite recent increases.

Today, Scott Hinkley joins editors Jeff Weiss and Art Hastings to share stories of how the recession has effected them, along with some ideas to help you save money during this rough economic time.

After you read their thoughts, have your say by leaving a comment.

Surviving the Recession: Jeff Weiss

The recession, or The Great Recession as it's come to be known, has caused a ripple effect through the country - and even the world. Unemployment is sky-high. In October 2009, one in 385 households in the country had received a foreclosure filing. However, economic experts insist the worst is over, and we are on the road to recovery.

In hard times, we are forced to tighten our budgets and save wherever we can. I started by calling my satellite TV provider. I dropped the premium channel package that was costing me $20 per month, but I also asked if there were any promotional offers available. I was quickly signed up for a free three month preview of another premium package. When the three months were over I called to cancel the package to avoid being charged, and again I asked if any promotions were available. I was then offered a premium channel package that cost me one penny for an entire year as long as I signed up for the satellite company's auto-pay program.

Next I called my cell phone provider and dropped some extras. I strongly urge everyone to review their cell phone bills carefully. Cell phone companies are quick to advise you to sign up for a text package (often as high as $20 monthly) to avoid being charged per text message. I send and receive an average of 120 texts per month, which would total $12.00 if I was charged for them - a little more than half of the amount of an unlimited text plan. If you pay a $20 monthly fee to access the internet on your cell phone, ask yourself if you can wait until you are at your computer or laptop to get the “joke of the day” email your mother-in-law or co-worker sends. Are you paying $5 or $7 per month for insurance on your cell phone? While insurance is great protection in case you lose or damage your phone, if you are eligible for an upgrade you can get a discounted (or often free) phone for signing a new two year contract. If you are within your time to upgrade, drop your insurance and then use your upgrade option if anything happens to your phone.

There are many ways to save during the recession without really cutting back. Be creative, be aware, and save!

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Surviving the Recession: David Loftus

For the most part, my wife and I live no differently since the advent of the recession. That’s because during the preceding decade -- inspired by the Simple Living movement, ethical and ecological concerns, and the practical need to go lean in order to pursue our personal goals -- we had already made most of the changes a recession might otherwise have forced upon us.

We cleared up all our consumer debt. We gave up car ownership more than seven years ago. (Turning our aging vehicle over to the local humane society instantly bumped us into the “big donors” class, whereupon we were invited to receptions and got to rub elbows with people we never see anywhere else.) We sold our condo four years ago and moved into a rental apartment, which left us with a healthy chunk of savings. I haltingly followed my wife’s lead into vegetarianism three years ago.

Some things never change. We still watch no more than an hour or two of television a week. (The year’s chosen series is Flash Forward, though it’s clearly inferior to Lost.) I still check out a stack of DVDs from the public library in a clever ploy to save money on movies, and return them unseen.

So the only change has been that we eat out maybe once a week at most, rather than three or four times the way we used to. Well … that and the fact that I was laid off from my five-year-long job suddenly and without warning in July, and made the carefree decision -- at my wife’s urging -- to become an actor and model.

Surviving the Recession: Scott Hinkley

Up until the stock-market crash, I had been working steadily as a re-recording mixer on feature films for years. As a mixer, I belong to a union, but I work exclusively as an independent contractor, so my personal exposure to changes in the market is fairly high. The immediate change I found, when things went south, was a complete loss of work for almost everyone in my industry. Unnerved by the economic downturn and compounding threat (empty as it proved to be) of a SAG strike, studios froze many of their production budgets and shelved their works-in-progress. Needless to say, it left me in a position familiar to many during these past months: time on my hands and no money to pay for it.. I turned to savings and what little work I could scrape together and just tried to keep my ship afloat.

I have recently found more work, and things seem to be turning around for both myself and my peers, but I feel as if I have undergone a more long-term shift in my goals and ideals during this recession. I no longer dream of the same list of unnecessary goodies. I seek more satisfaction internally and from my immediate surroundings. I have become a better cook. At the same time, I feel like I am also thinking about things on a larger scale. My future, with a family and house, seems like much less of an inevitability now, and for me, it makes those goals seem more worth-while again. Another change I have noticed is the steadily increasing rate of interaction among those meeting for the first time, or those just passing on the street. A little uncertainty seems to be a strong reminder of the value of neighbors and community.

I hope that these changes, both personal and community-wide, can survive an economic recovery. I am not sure that I am optimistic about it, but one of the biggest things I have learned to do in these times of uncertainty is to let things unfold at their own pace. I will do my best to keep that up.

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Surviving the Recession: Have Your Say

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Celebrities We're Tired of Hearing About

Sarah Palin was the guest of a special edition of The Oprah Winfrey Show yesterday, and her book, “Going Rogue” hits bookstores today. Meanwhile, Levi Johnston, the father of Palin's grandson, posed nude for Playgirl last week. Former Miss California USA Carrie Prejean caused waves when she attempted to storm off the set of Larry King Live after declaring King's line of questioning to be “inappropriate.” Prejean, who's sex tape came to light last week, was on King's show to discuss her new book, “Still Standing.” And Nadya Suleman, aka “The Octomom”, was also in the news as her reality show Me and My 14 Kids debuted on UK television on Thursday.

Mrs. Palin is a former governor and running mate of of former presidential candidate. Miss Prejean is a former pageant contestant. Mr. Johnston is a high school drop out who fathered a child with Mrs. Palin's daughter. Nadya Suleman gave birth to fourteen children – including a set of octuplets born in January. So, why are we still hearing about them in the media? Editors Jeff Weiss and David Loftus weigh in on the subject; joining them on the panel today are Gabriel Mata, Jamie Metrick, and Sasha Smith. After you read their opinions, have your say by leaving a comment.

Celebrities We're Tired of Hearing About: Jeff Weiss

I am tired of hearing and reading about people who are famous for being famous. While I'm not sure if Sarah Palin should be grouped with the likes of Nadya Suleman and Carrie Prejean, I am just as tired of hearing about her as I am the Octomom and the Perez Hilton's least favorite budding author. Palin, for a time, was a hard news story. As the first GOP vice presidential nominee in a race that would make history regardless of the outcome, Palin was the very essence of breaking news. But that was last year. The election is over, she's resigned as the governor of Alaska, and she has yet to announce a bid for the 2012 GOP presidential nomination. What she has done, however, is to manage to stay in the public eye by commenting on a wide variety of political policies via her Facebook page, and by authoring a book about her life and her historic bid to the first female vice president of the United States. Never before in history has a losing presidential candidate's running mate been so visible after an election. I wonder how many people remember that Joseph Lieberman was Al Gore's running mate in 2000, or that Jack Kemp ran alongside Bob Dole in 1996?

The other “celebrities” who manage to remain “hot topics” such as Suleman, Prejean, Johnston, and of course Jon and Kate Gosselin, have actually done nothing to deserve media attention. In a world where global news organizations covered Paris Hilton's twenty-three days in jail back in 2007 (for violating probation in a DUI charge) as if she were a head of state, I'm not surprised that Nadya Suleman's return from the hospital with the first two of her eight newborns was the lead story of every local newscast in Southern California last March -- but I am disappointed.

There is a place for the Prejeans, Gosselins, Sulemans, and all the other pseudo-celebrities in the world. Let them grace the pages of tabloids and the screens of shows like Inside Edition and Extra as often as they wish. But when they turn on up CNN, network news programs, and the front pages of newspapers -- that's when I eagerly anticipate their fifteen minutes running out.

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Celebrities We're Tired of Hearing About: David Loftus

What qualifies as “newsworthy” depends on which criteria one applies. Will further knowledge of these people enable us to be better citizens or more ethical individuals? Have these luminaries done anything worthy of our attention? Do any of them matter?

The answer in all cases is probably not. On the other hand, if millions of Americans continue to watch and discuss these clowns, then there’s a sense in which they are newsworthy, if only in the sense that they help to keep turning the great Nielsen-ratings-and-corporate-advertising carousel. And that’s all that counts for so much television “news” programming and pop cultural magazine sales.

As a sometime elected official, Palin might have a claim on our attention, although her behavior since the election (and even, to some extent, during it) has made her steadily less relevant. I’m of two minds about her, actually, because she’s so clumsy and hilarious that she provides dependable entertainment, unlike the others, who are mostly just sad. And the longer she stretches out a 15 minutes of fame she never really merited in the first place, the more I suspect it benefits the Democratic Party ... which, lord knows, has done little to recommend itself on its own merits of late.

Personally, I can’t say I’m “tired” of hearing about these people because I don’t watch television or read any gossip magazines, so I find them fairly easy to avoid. They’re a very dull roar on my distant horizon. It’s just a shame too many other Americans seem to think it’s worth their valuable time to keep looking, even if it’s to summon up a feeling of superior contempt.

Celebrities We're Tired of Hearing About: Gabriel Mata

If I were to write a piece about any of the characters mentioned above save Sarah Palin, I would be contributing to the problem my piece would object to. The piece couldn’t avoid being contradictory because my opinion is that fewer people should have opinions. These people are jokes and I think everyone should stop caring all together.

I don’t watch or read that crap and I make it a point not to. Everyone likes to watch a little junk TV now and then, but that doesn’t mean I need to keep up to date on it or respect it.  Uninformed opinions are worthless and I actually try to make my opinions on these matters as worthless as possible. The “tabloidization” of our culture is a threat to a stable society and the balloon boys and octopus moms prove it. It is a travesty how seriously we take these disturbed individuals and I won’t have any part in it.

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Celebrities We're Tired of Hearing About: Jamie Metrick

If I never hear the terms "Octo-Mom" and "Washington Outsider" again, it would be a blessing. I am sick to death of all of the above "personalities," a name for which they barely qualify. It used to be that people of interest made the nightly news because they contributed something useful or important to the public. A scientist cures a deadly disease -- get him on 60 Minutes. The first female head of state in a developing country -- invite her on The View. A dog that can bark Shakespearean sonnets -- book it on The Tonight Show. Why are Sarah Palin and her brood still on public display: controversial politics, corruption allegations, and a dysfunctional family. Nadya Suleman has a bizarre birthing fetish and appears to be not very mentally stable. Carrie Prejean made some divisive statements, exploited that notoriety, and ended up part of a sex scandal. Instead of dismissing these people for their bad choices, our media are rewarding them with attention, money, and even prestige. 

The old-fashioned Freakshow never went away, it just moved to prime time and book deals. Why is it when people make stupid remarks or horrible life choices we can expect their new reality show to air next season? Why should we care what these anti-role models do? Why do the media care? Apparently people love the sensationalism, but I don't get it. What passes for hard-hitting "news" these days is slipping further from the important and creeping into mindless entertainment. Excuse me, did anyone know that 90% of all African-American children will be on food stamps at some point in their childhoods? It was totally on World News Tonight for, like, thirty seconds. This is something pundits should be discussing. Never mind the two wars, the economy, relations with China and Iran, and the political coup in Honduras. How many people even know about that coup? Or care? I long for the breaking headlines that report relevant stories that affect our lives. Is Levi Johnston's redneck junk on display that much more fascinating?

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Celebrities We're Tired of Hearing About: Sasha Smith

Americans love pop culture and drama. I am one of them. If we stopped talking about these people what would we watch on Oprah or Larry King? We are intrigued with scandal or anything that goes against the grain.

Sarah Palin is the all-American story that folks love to hear. Virtually an unknown who became known in record time, she joined John McCain and his crew and ran a campaign that they thought they would win, and then they lost. Sarah Palin didn't win the Vice Presidency but she won the American people over with her drama-filled personality and family. She was the face of the party that was preaching abstinence in schools but ended up with a pregnant, unwed, high school daughter. She vowed that her daughter Bristol Palin, and Bristol's baby's father Levi Johnston would be finishing school and getting married. Before we knew it, Levi couldn't see his child anymore and was exiled from the Palin's home. He was soon going on the talk show circuits telling his story and sharing his version of the Palin household. How could you not want to keep watching? Everyone wants to know the dirt especially on the person who didn't win. We want to know the truth behind the rumors that she was a vixenella. People always want to know the unknown and Levi Johnston was giving that story to us -whether it's true or not. It's a story from someone who was in the inner circle at one point and was closer to Palin than us.

This is no different for Carrie Prejean or Nadaya Suelman. Everyone loves to hate folks that don't fit into the "American dream" or the norm, whether this means having recorded your most private moments or having more than the 2.5 kids that we should be having. Americans are brought up to stick within what socially constructed social norms are and if they don't we judge, we ridicule, and we obsess.

I do think there are much more important news stories that should be aired for our country to see and that we can save these as secondary stories and not as the primary news feature for the public to view. I guess it's pretty sad that Americans have become complacent but I think they also realize that the news media is controlled by a small handful who choose to show certain coverage. They control what we see and how we see it.

At the end of the day, if you want to real news you have to seek it out on your own. Thank goodness for the internet.

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Celebrities We're Tired of Hearing About: Have Your Say

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Terror Trials in New York City

Attorney General Eric Holder announced on Friday that five Guantanamo Bay detainees including Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the self-described mastermind of the 9/11 attacks, will be prosecuted in a Manhattan federal courtroom - less than a mile from where hijackers destroyed the World Trade Center, killing 2,752 people.

The announcement sparked an immediate debate - opponents of having a federal trial in New York as opposed to a military tribunal say it will only cause the city to be even more of a target for future terror attacks. Others say it is fitting to have the trial in the city that was the scene of mass destruction.

Our panel of contributors weigh in on this topic below. After reading their thoughts, tell us what you think by leaving a comment.

Terror Trials in New York City: Jeff Weiss

Finally, something is going to happen with Khalid Shiekh Mohammed and the others accused of planning the September 11th terror attacks. However, I don't agree they should be tried in a Manhattan courtroom. These are not ordinary criminals, and they are not accused of ordinary crimes.

We all know that the accused were detained at Guantanamo Bay, and of the allegations of torture used there. Civil courts will not allow evidence obtained under duress to be presented during the trial. Khalid Shiekh Mohammed has already written a confession, wishes to plead guilty, and looks forward to what he calls “martyrdom.” The news this trial will surely generate will only make him a symbol of encouragement to terrorists who are already looking to strike us, both on our own soil and in Iraq and Afghanistan. Additionally, the incredibly amount of security that will be present at this trial will be a burden to the city of New York, as well as the federal government.

Everyone knows the severity of these crimes. We don't need to turn the trial into a public spectacle in the largest city in our nation to ensure guilty verdicts. The case should be a slam-dunk for anyone with basic logic and reasoning. I see no reason not to make it a swift military tribunal held at Guantanamo Bay and be done with it once and for all.

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Terror Trials in New York City: David Loftus

A civil federal trial in New York City is absolutely the right thing to do with the regard to the September 11th suspects. I say this without having read any of the news stories, and not having looked at any of the arguments offered against it.

Despite all former President Bush’s pronouncements to the contrary, the 9/11 attacks were not acts of war; in the absence of a declared war, they were criminal acts. Even if you classify them as terrorist acts, that still means they were not acts of war. You cannot have it both ways. Bush and his defenders have presumed to have it both ways in so many areas: We did everything we could to prevent 9/11 but it happened anyway but there haven’t been any comparable attacks since so we’re obviously doing everything possible to prevent them now. We are at war so American citizens we incarcerate in Guantanamo are not entitled to their civil rights. We are at war but the Geneva Convention against torture doesn’t apply to our treatment of suspected terrorists in Guantanamo. We are completely justified in doing nasty things to prisoners in order to fight terrorism but we’re going to hide what we’re doing by flying them to secret destinations in friendly countries who can keep a secret.

If critics argue the New York civil trials make the city even more of a target for attacks, then they’re saying we aren’t really prepared to deal with future attacks after all. But a civil trial, out in the open, will provide a perfect example of the difference between us and them. It probably won’t change any militant Islamic minds across the globe -- they’ll presume the fix is in no matter what we do -- but it will hearten the hopefuls, reassure our Western (and Far Eastern) allies, and reaffirm that the United States stands by its ideals. We have to be better than our enemies to win any more hearts of minds in “the war against terror” (much as I despise that phrase).

Terror Trials in New York City: Shaun Hautly

Trials for the 9/11 suspects are quite a touchy subject to write about. I begin by saying that I know how hard it hit so many people. It made our vulnerability very real. Since then we've turned security in our country upside down. Now we slow down airport security and turn racist faces to anyone who "looks like a terrorist." My heart goes out to the families of the victims along with the victims of the Oklahoma city bombing, every shooting in East St. Louis, stabbing in Detroit, and any other awful murder of innocent people.

Now I'm not saying that 9/11 wasn't a big deal, but the way we handled it was backwards. More than the events themselves, the message and attitude we took away from them was not productive. We scared ourselves into a blind misrepresentation of what "patriotic" means. We put flags on our bumper stickers and weapons on our soldiers and got to work looking for retribution. Around 3000 people died. The images of the planes are still horrific. Regardless of whether or not it was a conspiracy.

While 3000 people died, we also lose more people each year to heart disease, colon cancer, drunk driving accidents, tobacco, homicide, and adverse reactions to prescription drugs. So while 9/11 was no doubt significant, perhaps, we should try this man somewhere, anywhere, deliver whatever justice our court system deems necessary, and get to walking through our next set of metal detectors. The sooner we stop publicizing every move and dreaming up every paranoid situation we can, the sooner we relax-- as a people-- and get back to a healthy economy and a happier people: People who aren't reminded everyday that terrorists are waiting, watching, and-- because we're constantly worried-- winning.

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Terror Trials in New York City: Scott Hinkley

I think it is a smart decision to prosecute these war criminals in New York City, and a responsible decision to do so within the collective gaze of the public-eye. Since the attack, I feel Americans have been psychologically scarred by the side-effects of our government's clandestine approaches for seeking information and justice, and that moving this trial out into the open seems to be a wise approach to finding resolution and healing amongst ourselves and with the rest of the world. The Republican reaction of allowing Fox News to layout a rebuttal of fear does little more for me that make them seem increasingly nervous about the political fallout of having been so arrogant and self-righteous in their initial approach to this issue.

Back when things were going their way, the Republicans had suggested that questioning, let along outright opposing, the decisions of our president and the attorney general on the issue of 9/11 justice was a matter of treason, and that a lack of unified action threatened to make us even more vulnerable to physical and ideological attacks. Now, with the shoe so squarely shifted, it seems as if that argument has long since lost its appeal. America continues to weaken it position as a world power as our under-educated and xenophobic minority lets fear, greed and pride cloud it judgement.

I am reminded of a recent contestant on a reality show, who, when faced with a challenge she so wholly feared (in this case going down a waterside), spouted rants about the stupidity of both the challenge and the slide itself rather than have to admit that she was afraid. I don't know about any of you, but I'm scared half-to-death, but while at least half of me is still kicking, I'd rather be strong and admit I'm uncertain about the outcome. Leaders govern with virtue, while despots rule with fear. Let's be leaders for a change.

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Terror Trials in New York City

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