John Masters, Author at Deep Something

Because Sometimes You Never Know What Someone Can Do

October 12, 2009 B. John 378 Views 0 Comments Glory, New York, Hope, Basketball, Autism

I saw this story of New York High School student, Jason McElwain, when it first aired and was touched by the story. After serving many seasons as the team manager, Jason, a person with autism, was allowed to play the last four minutes of the last game, and wound up scoring 21 points, most from outside the three point line. It’s kind of old news, but someone posted it on Facebook, which brought it back to mind, so I thought I’d link to it here. So this is your chance for a nice feel good story for the day.

Politics Congress Society

Olbermann's Special Commentary on Healthcare Reform

October 8, 2009 B. John 337 Views 0 Comments Keith Olbermann, Universal Healthcare, Healthcare Reform, Health care reform

As usual, Keith Olberman does a good job of explaining the need for healthcare reform, and explaining the public option. Olberman cites a comment by Winston Churchill: Churchill’s argument was this, “I have heard it said that the government had no mandate such a doctrine is wholly inadmissible. The responsibility for the public safety is absolute and requires no mandate!”

Featured Politics Congress

What's Wrong With Baucus Care

October 6, 2009 B. John 330 Views 0 Comments Public Option, Health Care Insurance Reform, Max Baucus

There’s no public option in Senator Max Baucus’ Healthcare bill. Instead, we are forced to buy private insurance. This is a major step backwards for the healthcare reform movement! Watch the video and call your senator at (202) 224-3121.

Congress Featured Politics

United Health Care's Extreme Profits

October 2, 2009 B. John 362 Views 0 Comments Sick for Profit, Health Care Insurance Reform, UnitedHealth Group, United Health Care, CEO Salaries, Stephen Hemsley. Brave New Films

What does UnitedHealth Group CEO Stephen Hemsley have to lose if Congress passes real healthcare reform this year? Brave New Films is launching a major new campaign to reveal the truth about the health insurance industry, and we need your help to do it. Contribute $25 today so we can create more campaigns exposing the obscene wealth of the CEOs of Aetna, CIGNA, Humana and WellPoint and the policyholders they’ve abandoned for profit.

Culture Technology

Shift Happens

October 1, 2009August 10, 2015 B. John 337 Views 0 Comments

This is another official update to the original “Shift Happens” video. This completely new Fall 2009 version includes facts and stats focusing on the changing media landscape, including convergence and technology, and was developed in partnership with The Economist.

Entertainment

Scuba Diving in a Flooded Meadow

September 30, 2009 B. John 335 Views 0 Comments SCUBA, Diving, Australia, Meadow

This is an amazing film of Scuba Diving in a Newly-Flooded Meadow.Hiking trails, picnic tables, benches and signs all under water in this very relaxing video filmed in Austria.

General Featured Places Tampa

Crazy Crash Sunday

September 28, 2009 B. John 417 Views 0 Comments Traffic, Howard Franklin

I am glad I was not on the road for most of Sunday, and even then, we stayed on surface streets and around the neighborhood. Three crashes (I-75, I-4 and I-275) all had major accidents within a two hour window Sunday afternoon that involved over 100 vehicles, and sent 14 people to the hospital. Fortunately, no one seemed to have life-threatening injuries.

Culture Music

A Still Moment for Your Afternoon

September 22, 2009 B. John 375 Views 0 Comments Crooks and Liars, autoharp, Jo Ann Smith, Amazing Grace

As if ‘Amazing Grace’ were not a lovely enough song, Jo Ann Smith takes a simple backdrop and a lot of talent and makes the song soar higher still.

Culture Music

Love This Song and This Rendition

September 21, 2009 B. John 292 Views 0 Comments Highland Cathedral, Bagpipes, Pipe and Drum Corps, Tattoo

Don’t ask me to explain why, but I just love this song, most especially this particular rendition. The song is “Highland Cathedral” and is a popular bagpipe tune written by German musicians Ulrich Roever and Michael Korb. This recording is from a Military Tattoo Bremen in 2008, and is conducted by Captain Lutz Bammler (German Navy Band “North Sea”).

Culture Movies

Informant!, The – A Movie Review

September 20, 2009 B. John 416 Views 1 Comment Joel McHale, Melanie Lynskey, Steven Soderbergh, Matt Damon, Mark Whitacer, ADM, Scott Bakula

What was Mark Whitacre thinking? A rising star at agri-industry giant Archer Daniels Midland (ADM), Whitacre suddenly turns whistleblower. Even as he exposes his company’s multi-national price-fixing conspiracy to the FBI, Whitacre envisions himself being hailed as a hero of the common man and handed a promotion. But before all that can happen, the FBI needs evidence, so Whitacre eagerly agrees to wear a wire and carry a hidden tape recorder in his briefcase, imagining himself as a kind of de facto secret agent. Unfortunately for the FBI, their lead witness hasn’t been quite so forthcoming about helping himself to the corporate coffers. This was another movie Lay and I both enjoyed.

Culture Movies

9 – A Movie Review

September 20, 2009 B. John 344 Views 0 Comments SiFi, Alan Oppenheimer, Tom Kane, Shane Acker, Action, Adventure, Animation, 9

The time is the too-near future. Powered and enabled by the invention known as the Great Machine, the world’s machines have turned on mankind and sparked social unrest, decimating the human population before being largely shut down. But as our world fell to pieces, a mission began to salvage the legacy of civilization; a group of small creations was given the spark of life by a scientist in the final days of humanity, and they continue to exist post-apocalypse. We were both impressed.