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0 of 3 Premium Clicks used this month SUBSCRIBE Print + Online Subscriber Activation | Register x Forgot Password | Need an Account? e-edition | subscribe | newsletter | deals Home News Latest Stories MADGE bust at Medford Walmart nets meth, $20,000 in cash Drug raid in Rogue River leads to two arrests Since You Asked: No formal open house for new HHS building The big what-if Jefferson State Choral Coalition plans seasonal show Crime, Courts and Emergency Services MADGE bust at Medford Walmart nets meth, $20,000 in cash Drug raid in Rogue River leads to two arrests Emergency services Fire reported twice at Eastwood home; second call was real thing No one injured as fire torches patio at Medford apartment Politics and Elections State certifies recount showing failure of GMO-labeling measure Time running out for O&C funds GMO vote recount still shows little change GMO labeling votes recounted under careful watch in Jackson County Kent Bush: First Amendment doesn’t mean what you think it means Education Traveling artist sets the stage for Ruch School amphitheater Ruch school class focuses on the natural environment Bethel Church helps families at McLoughlin Middle School Logos may offer students 'fifth year' at RCC or SOU St. Mary's plays host to youth robotics tournament Environment Monument expansion expected to increase tourism, protect resources Biologist resigns over LNG reporting failure Bird flu discovered in Winston backyard flock Jackson County holds back on enforcing GMO ban for now No fish, no funding for problem dams State News Dam problems force early fish transfer into Willamette Valley lakes Portland mattress stowaway cat back home Oregon missionary deported back to U.S. faces molestation charges Poverty rate in Oregon schools jumps since 2007 Northwest poultry producers fear bird flu outbreak may hurt exports Nation - World Obama makes Maduro’s ‘insolent Yankees’ line harder to sell Obituaries Leonard Lyle Roberts Death Notices Sidney A. Stitt Edward James Kelly Dean Seaney Weather Photo Galleries Since You Asked Videos Web Cams Mail Tribune 100 Shareable In memoriam: 2014’s notable deaths Looking back: Do you remember 2014’s biggest stories? Sports Latest Stories Tornado Title South drops tourney finale to Chaminade Aldridge comes back strong in Blazers win Balanced Beavers knock off Santa Barbara Stanford dominates Maryland in Foster Farm Varsity 541 College Sports Balanced Beavers knock off Santa Barbara Stanford dominates Maryland in Foster Farm Gutches places sixth at Midlands No. 3 Virginia pulls away from Davidson Rousing reception for Harbaugh in Michigan return Pro Sports Aldridge comes back strong in Blazers win Bryant's triple-double carries Lakers Lions’ Suh cleared top play Sunday Giants' Bumgarner chosen top male athlete Plumlee leads Nets past Kings Community Sports Business Latest Stories Rising prices bear fruit for local pear growers Dear Monty: Best start for 1st-time homebuyers Milken economist headlines Southern Oregon Business Conference Ride & Drive: 2015 Volkswagen Jetta TDI Silvio Calabi: Infiniti Q50 offers business-class driving Real Estate News Dear Monty: Best start for 1st-time homebuyers Rental owners group reports 2.48 percent vacancy rate More sales, but no change in residential housing median price People In Business People in Business, Dec. 3 Transportation Falling gas prices help spur travel at Medford airport Agriculture Rising prices bear fruit for local pear growers K-BAR ignites agriculture boom beneath Table Rocks Opinion Latest Granlund cartoon: Resolutions redux Matthew T. Mangino: Judges lament ‘Prosecution by PowerPoint’ Jim Brock: You don't have to take it anymore Our View: Caves expansion worth the wait Letters to the Editor, Dec. 31 Editorials Our View: Caves expansion worth the wait Other Views: Oregon incomes still lag behind Our View: Council is barking up the right tree Other Views: Roseburg VA director sets the right goals Our View: Thanks to four departing leaders Letters to the Editor Letters to the Editor, Dec. 31 Letters to the Editor, Dec. 30 Letters to the Editor, Dec. 29 Letters to the Editor, Dec. 28 Letters to the Editor, Dec. 26 Guest Opinions Guest Opinion: Loved one chose death with dignity in Oregon Guest Opinion: Forest thinning means water for the future Guest Opinion: Suit threatens family farms and democratic vote Guest Opinion: SOU pool decision short-sighted Guest Opinion: It's time for biologists to let OR-7 go dark Lifestyle Latest stories Dear Monty: Best start for 1st-time homebuyers Community blog: Ring in new flavors with year's last appetizers Community blog: We Don't Have To Conspire Against Good Health Mark L. Hopkins: New Year’s resolutions and more HealthStyle: New year, new you Food Community blog: Ring in new flavors with year's last appetizers Food for Thought: Tips for cooking when you have food allergies Food for Thought: Wintertime wining and dining Kitchen Call: The comfort of creamy soups Community blog: Baking contest finalists combine cookies, candies Home and Garden Dear Monty: Best start for 1st-time homebuyers Dear Monty: Can a rookie real estate agent be a good choice? Bathtub or shower: What’s best for you? Home Help: Home safety tips for a safe and happy winter season How NOT to install drywall Health Community blog: We Don't Have To Conspire Against Good Health HealthStyle: New year, new you Health Watch: Build up your glutes in the off-season Dr. Jeff Hersh: What's a monoclonal antibody? Dr. Murray Feingold: Have a happy and stress-free holiday Hiking Biking Faith (No heading) Churches, synagogs host seasonal events Bethel Church helps families at McLoughlin Middle School Milestones and Achievements Local landowners see no public good in proposed pipeline Pear Blossom queen has open heart surgery Hundreds enjoy Christmas dinner, gifts at St. Vincent de Paul SinceYou Asked: SBA would work with Mt. Ashland Ski Area about loan Fans, friends and family welcome home victorious SOU team at airport Columnist for a Day Rogue Healthy Aging Tempo Latest stories New Schneider Museum exhibits highlight First Friday Camelot's 'Fiddler' is a charmer Top 10 CDs of 2014 Ring in 2015 at a New Year's celebration near you Dobra Tea menu offers hundreds of brews Theater Camelot's 'Fiddler' is a charmer ACT presents reading of 'The Quality of Life' Meet the real Jacob Marley This Nutcracker ballet will have a superhero twist Plumbing the depths of meaning Music The Farr Side: Top 10 album count-up for 2014 Top 10 CDs of 2014 A tribute to Joe Cocker Ring in 2015 at a New Year's celebration near you SugarBeats headline an all-ages dance party at Historic Ashland Armory Community Events New Schneider Museum exhibits highlight First Friday Celebrate winter solstice with the Bad Film Society Tomaseen Foley's "A Celtic Christmas" returns to the Craterian Theater Stefan Baumann and Eugene Bennett highlight Third Fridays Dancing People Company celebrates the solstice Dining Dobra Tea menu offers hundreds of brews Food for Thought: Wintertime wining and dining Coffee shops roll out holiday-inspired drinks Over Easy serves 'pop-up' brunch Sundays Ooblies Artisan Waffle Sandwiches Tempo Videos Classifieds Jobs Autos Real Estate FEATURED » Obituaries Blogs TV Listings Movie Listings Oregon Outdoors Oregon Healthy Living Magazines & Special Sections NEWS NOW MADGE bust at Medford Walmart nets meth, $20,000 in cash ... Drug raid in Rogue River leads to two arrests ... The big what-if ... MADGE bust at Medford Walmart nets meth, $20,000 in cash ... Drug raid in Rogue River leads to two arrests ... The big what-if ... Jim Brock: You don't have to take it anymore Comment By Jim Brock More Content Now MailTribune.com By Jim Brock More Content Now Posted Dec. 31, 2014 @ 9:06 am By Jim Brock More Content Now Posted Dec. 31, 2014 @ 9:06 am » Social News “I don't have to tell you things are bad. Everybody knows things are bad… It's like everything everywhere is going crazy, so we don't go out anymore. We sit in the house, and slowly the world we are living in is getting smaller, and all we say is, ‘Please, at least leave us alone in our living rooms. Let me have my toaster and my TV and my steel-belted radials and I won't say anything. Just leave us alone.’” “Well, I'm not gonna leave you alone. I want you to get mad … I want all of you to get up out of your chairs. I want you to get up right now and go to the window. Open it, and stick your head out, and yell, ‘I’m as mad as hell and I'm not going to take this anymore!’” This is an edited version of news anchor Howard Beale's live-TV diatribe in Paddy Chayefsky’s 1976 classic “Network.” I still get chills when I watch this scene. It is both inspirational and amusing, but most importantly, it is true. Are enough Americans angry these days? Even in 1976, our excesses and our apathy kept us inebriated. While Karl Marx once called religion “the opiate of the masses,” it was soon replaced by consumerism and a woeful lack of interest in things that truly matter. And it has only gotten worse. Fast forward to 2015. It’s clear that not much has changed, except our understanding of truth. Truth has been hijacked by relativism. Our polarized nation isn't that different from Germany during the Cold War. The left-versus-right, black-versus-white and rich-versus-everyone-else discourse touches the lives of just about everyone, even if you “don’t care about politics.” Eventually, someone is going to complain about the lazy minorities on welfare who never miss a chance to pull the race card.At the same time, someone will rant about the racist, homophobic, super-rich white establishment and their sins against the working class. Those are two of the extremes — the makers and the takers. And, as usual, we get nowhere with our black-and-white thinking, figuratively and literally. On an episode of “Meet the Press” in late 2014, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and Georgetown professor Michael Eric Dyson engaged in a heated argument centered on the issue of race relations in America. In reference to Ferguson, Missouri, and the ensuing protests in other American cities, these two intelligent, articulate and successful men didn't agree on much — and they showed their less-than-flattering sides. Giuliani told Dyson that “93 percent of blacks are killed by other blacks.” “The white police officers wouldn’t be there if you weren’t killing each other,” Giuliani said. “What about the poor black child that was killed by another black child?” Giuliani asked. “Why aren’t you protesting that? … Why don’t you cut it down so that so many white police officers don’t have to be in black areas?” “Most black people who commit crimes against other black people go to jail,” Dyson said. “White people who are policemen and kill black people do not go to jail.” How many people asked the same question as the former mayor? Conversely, how many people were appalled by the question? It’s OK to admit it. That’s what we’re supposed to do, because we live in a nation that values independent thought. At least, it used to. Here is some more of Howard Beale's rant. “I don't want you to protest. I don't want you to riot. I don't want you to write to your congressman because I wouldn't know what to tell you to write. I don't know what to do about the depression and the inflation and the Russians and the crying in the streets. All I know is first you've got to get mad. You've got to say, ‘I'm a human being … my life has value.’” “Things have got to change my friends. You've got to get mad … Then we'll figure out what to do about the depression and the inflation and the oil crisis. But first get up out of your chairs, open your window, stick your head out and yell, ‘I’m as mad as hell and I'm not going to take this anymore!’” I think doing something crazy is long overdue for most Americans. Perhaps we should refuse to listen to the asinine talking points about what America “was meant to be.” Our true character comes to the surface when times are tough. So how are WE responding to the woes of the world? Maybe we need to get “mad as hell” about something that truly matters. We are strong-willed people, but we seem to be OK with letting the loudest voices in the room dictate what we think, feel, say and do. If something bothers us, we need to let someone know. We know the difference between right and wrong. It is inherent in the American spirit. The concept of morality does not adjust with inflation, and the "right thing" does not change like styles of apparel and popular music. Right is right, and wrong is wrong — PERIOD. If you need Bill O’Reilly or Bill Maher to clear up a personal conflict of conscience, a child would tell you “you're doing it wrong!” And he or she would be right. If you’re anything like me, you can justify questionable behavior by saying “If they're getting away with it, why can't I?” Or my favorite: “What difference does it make? No one else cares, so why should I?” That is how needles get lost in haystacks. That is how we lose ourselves in the mob. Sure, screaming through a window sounds crazy, but surrendering ourselves to the epidemic of apathy is certifiable. So what are you going to do? Ponder that! Jim Brock is managing editor of the Nebraska City News-Press. He can be reached at [email protected]. By Jim Brock More Content Now MailTribune.com By Jim Brock More Content Now Posted Dec. 31, 2014 @ 9:06 am » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. calendar Connect with MailTribune.com Facebook Twitter RSS Back to top Reader Services Reader Services Home Subscriptions Subscriber controls Contact us Submissions Photos Events Letters to the editor Corrections Announcements Obituaries Story ideas Since you asked Alerts Email Alerts RSS Feeds Text Alerts Advertise Media Kit Home Products and services Ad rates Advertising contacts Mail Tribune Daily Tidings The Nickel Shop Our Valley Blogs Stay Informed Email newsletter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Your privacy is important, read our privacy policy. © Copyright 2014 Local Media Group, Inc. 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