iSnob

I have launched a new website devoted to enhancing the breadth of evidence for faith-based prevention. It is part of the Faith-Based Prevention Network™. Take a look, and watch for ways you can either participate in a study, or become an Ally.

An interesting article in the New Republic today (Power Chip) speaks to the weird silence from the decency folks about the power of the V-chip to solve many of the indecency concerns of TV viewing public. Indeed, I have used my digital cable's blocking system to successfully limit my kids' TV viewing to just a few channels and TVY only. While there are still a few shows I don’t like them to watch that get through (the Rugrats drive me crazy), I rely on good old parenting to set rules about the scraps. My TV allows in very little objectionable content. Of course it would allow even less if I merely kept it off, which is usually the preferred option anyway. Or, barring that, there are always DVDs with content prescreened and no commercials to boot.

So why must so many be so worried about the drivel, filth, and gore on TV? Block it, shut it off, shut up and go read your Bible, practice yoga, or write a blog and leave government to more important business.

So I have become a DMOZ Open Directory Project editor. What a job for a snob. I am giddy with power, as I have come to realize that I have the sole discretion to list or de-list sites in my appointed category. I am fortunate to have no other editors of my category, so what I say goes...As it should be. I assure you, there will be changes. Sites selling junk and exploiting the Health subcategory I edit are already dropping like flies. It feels good.

I strongly encourage more snobs to help weed through the crap, and become an editor of the ODP, even if for only a little while.

This being sweeps week, many folks out there have been selected to be Nielsen families, busily tracking their TV viewing behaviors. Well, the Augster has been selected too. What a wonderful job for a snob. It should come as no surprise that I hate almost all TV. So as of Day 5 of this weeklong stint, I have logged no shows for myself. My wife too has zero. My kids, on the other hand do have some entries. But I have been careful to push Noggin and PBS shows (and DVDs which don’t count at all) even harder this week.

Now I am somewhat conflicted about this. I do like some shows (Good Eats and the Daily Show are pretty much it though). I want to support them, but I just don’t feel like watching them now. So I figure I will either have a DVR marathon tomorrow night, or just lie and say I did.

Feel free to offer comments on other shows you would like me to consider claiming to have watched. And don’t forget to give a good, snobbish reason as to why.

My 20-year High School reunion is coming up, and my wife asked if I was planning on attending. I think I will. There is one aspect that gives me pause, however. No it is not that I fear the boasting or competition from my former classmates on our current success. For I, not surprisingly, am doing quite well.

It is the almost certain pitch for donations that I fear. I attended, La Jolla High School, a rather innovative public school in a wealthy part of town. The school is innovative, if nothing else than for its fund raising activities. Most schools hit parents up for donations nowadays. But my alma mater hits up alumni. Yep, they ask me all the time for money. I don’t have a clue why they would think that I would send money to a public school in the wealthiest part of town, that my children will never attend but other spoiled brats can, just because I went there 20 years ago.

That they ask is bad enough. What galls me more is the certainty that they continue to ask because some of my fellow classmates must respond with checks. Do these idiots not pay any taxes? Do they actually believe their money is wisely spent donated to a school where the students come from households that practically ooze money? Would not those funds be more strategically spent on either their own children’s schools, or baring that perhaps a school in a needy part of town?

So I fear the pitch that is certain to come, and fear too my horror at seeing my classmates (even if only a few) respond. But I shall be brave, and most likely attend.

In vogue these days is the proud enunciation of political independence. Party membership is eschewed, as is voting the party line. Behind this, I believe is a pretentiousness that is astounding and wholly unfounded. Dennis Miller is a prime example of this. He was recently on The Daily Show espousing his belief that global warming is not all that bad. He claims to have seen the research. Simple question, why on earth would a comic believe that he is in any way qualified to judge the merits of climatology research? Does he really think he’s got a clue compared with the zeitgeist of intelligent and well trained scientists who have devoted their education and careers to the field and who almost unanimously believe there is a crisis brewing?

The audacity of any one of us questioning the science of which we know next to nil is amazing. The frequency of this behavior is mind-boggling.

But the audacity shows up for countless other politically important topics. We are supposed to be informed citizens, but the fact is, on almost every issue, the facts are beyond our training, expertise or attention span. That is why we have representative government, so that smart people can be elected to spend the time required to make tough decisions.

In California, we have taken this independence to an even greater absurdity. Almost every important issue is now voted on by referendum instead of through the legislature. This is about as horrible a form of democracy as I can imagine. “Let the people decide” is the ethic, but the “people” are, by and large, idiots on the issues. We are not experts in landfill placement, stem cell research, education, criminology, or economics. But for some reason we are expected to be one every Election Day. So instead of careful consideration of the facts presented by experts, we get independently minded fools, educated on issues through sound bites and empowered by talk radio who delude themselves into thinking they are making an informed decision. And democracy suffers because no one is held accountable to the bad decisions; no compromises are struck to soften the blows; and disjointed governance results.

It is time to return to party loyalty, stop thinking that the masses should know about, or care about, every single issue and place the burden of governing on the representatives. If they blow their chance, they’ll get their comeuppance at the next Election Day.

iSnob is of course a play on the popular Apple practice of putting 'i' in front of everything. It is interesting that iSnob has not yet been used, but just about everything else has been i-ified. A quick check of domain names already registered with 'i' tells you how popular this weird trend is:

Dot-coms already i-ified include: iApple, iBlog, iComputer, iDog, iEasy, iFood, iGod, iHorny, iJob, iKite, iLemon, iMoon, iNut, iOpen, iPark, iQuit, iRack (which surprisingly is not a muslim porn site), iStop, iTrash, iUmbrella, iVixen, iWash, iX, iZoo.

Even iEar, iMouth, iNose, and my favorite iEye (My son's favorites: iFart and iFarted) ARE TAKEN!

I challenge you to find words that have not already been snatched with an 'i' in front.

A few out there (it seems in New York) claim that iSnob is actually a term for those who think themselves superior because they own an iPod. But that is way too limited. The 'i' is usually thought of as meaning information or internet. So why would iSnob refer only to iPod? Indeed, it really refers to a snobishness that transends one device. The placement of an 'i' also makes the words self-referential (iSnob, uSnob, weSnob).