The Problem with Titles (Never-ending Politics Edition)

Watching the coverage of the 2012 American Presidential race, you see a lot of talking heads. Lots and lots of talking heads. People with all sorts of titles and degrees and such going on television to give their expert opinion on why this person or that person is, like, totally awesome. But, when I watch some of these people get on television, I kinda have to wonder why certain folks are introduced in certain ways.

An example: Sarah Palin. Anytime, on any network (despite political affiliation), that she is discussed, she is called Governor Sarah Palin. Typically. It's not Former Governor Sarah Palin or Author Sarah Palin or Fox News correspondent Sarah Palin. It's Governor Sarah Palin. As though she is currently taking time out of her very busy schedule being all gubernatorial to be talked about or interviewed. When, truth be told, she is not actually a governor.

But, the same is said over and over with other people. Newt Gingrich is called 'Mr. Speaker' as though John Boehner doesn't exist. He hasn't been the Speaker of the House since the mid-90s, and the reason he stopped being Speaker is because of gross misconduct and ethics violations. Yet, during debates or political wonks' discussions, there it is, "Mr. Speaker."

Why do we do this?

Movie Review: The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore

Oscar season is upon us! The nominees have been announced, and many folks are thinking "Huh?! I've never even heard about most of these movies!" It's about this time of year, however, that - because of that very question - I find some of the best movies of the year I would never have heard of otherwise. Por ejemplo: The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore.

This film is about 15 minutes long, and is currently nominated in the Best Animated Short Film category. The plot is fairly straightforward, but after a few views you begin to see several layers to the film. There is a pretty obvious tale of someone discovering the importance of books, and that it is important to continue telling our stories in order to keep them alive. But, then there are several more lessons contained in 15 minutes of Mr. Morris Lessmore.

Introducing: The Pagan Podlist

Everyday, more people are discovering podcasts. They make us laugh, inform us, and make our house cleaning and daily commutes a bit more fun. But, it's rather difficult to find new pagan podcasts to enjoy. Worse, though, is finding a show and realizing that, while people were raving about how good it was on a message board or another podcast, it hasn't put out any new episodes in 6 months, a year, or more.

Introducing:

The Pagan Podlist! 

The Pagan Podlist seeks to provide a simple list of all the currently-producing pagan shows. All shows that appear on The List are checked periodically to ensure that only shows producing new content appear. Hopefully, this resource will help you find new shows and eliminate the frustration of hunting iTunes, Podcast Alley, and social networking sites just to find shows. 

If you have a podcast, and you would like to Get Listed, please use the form on the Contact Page. Your show should appear soon!

Feel free to spread the word! The URL is http://www.PaganPodcasts.com. Let your favorite podcaster know they should Get Listed so that other people can enjoy their show, too! 

Love and Lyte,

Fire Lyte

Jaguar Inductees: The Cast of Magic Mike

There is a movie coming out this movie. It's called Magic Mike. Supposedly, it's loosely based on actor Channing Tatum's origins as a stripper. Since this is a Jaguar induction, however, details don't matter. Supposedly it's a drama. Supposedly it's supposed to be very cool and very edgy. All you need to know is who is in this movie, which will tell you why you'll want to see this movie.

Delightful pics below! Welcome to the Jaguar Club Adam Rodriguez, Joe Manganiello, Alex Pettyfer, Matthew McConaughey, Channing Tatum, and Matt Bomer! Summer can't come soon enough.

Love and Lyte,

Fire Lyte

The Pagan Secret Retrospective (Mea Maxima Culpa Edition)

August 2009 was the date I published an article called "The Pagan Secret." In November of that same year, it became the second article of mine published on WitchVox.com. To date, it is one of the most-read, most-discussed, most-debated articles I've ever put on the interwebs. And, from time to time, it is rediscovered by someone reading my back catalog of articles, and I'll get an email either praising it as a standing up for tradition or condemning me for my obvious inadequacies, youth, and brash statements.

Today, I received an email from someone that read as follows:

Episode 66: Inciting A Changing Riot

Episode 66 of Inciting A Riot: the Podcast finds us Inciting A Changing Riot! We’ll be talking about some changes coming to the Riot, looking at a refocusing and recommitment to the purpose of the show and blog.

News: HIV+ Student denied admission, Afghan woman must marry her rapist, Homeland Security Sno-Cones, Iran has our spy drone, the mouse in Mt. Dew, Witch Killing, 2^nd Earth

Word of the Day: Parochial

Gripe Department: The Top 17 Things to Leave in 2011

Music: Shake It Out - Florence + the Machine

Spirituality: Times they are a-changin’ at the Riot, and the Chief Rioter in charge is changing with them. Also, if you listen carefully, you might hear Fire Lyte apologize.

Poetry: How to write a political poem - Taylor Mali (from the book The Spoken Word Revolution)

Please continue to vote for the show on Podcast Alley. Vote, subscribe to, and rate the show on iTunes. Join the TwitterRiot by following me @IncitingARiot. Enter the Swag Contest through a donation on PayPal or purchase of swag through the CafePress.com swag shop. Check out my art on FireLyte.Etsy.com. Send any and all feedback to IncitingARiotPodcast@gmail.com!

Love and Lyte,

Fire Lyte

Home Page: http://www.IncitingARiot.com

Podcast Alley: http://www.podcastalley.com/podcast_details.php?pod_id=86829

Etsy: http://FireLyte.Etsy.com

iTunes: http://www.itunes.com/podcast?id=337689333

Twitter: http://twitter.com/IncitingARiot

Swag Shop: http://cafepress.com/IncitingARiot

Project Pagan Enough: http://www.incitingariot.com/p/project-pagan-enough.html

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Understanding SOPA & PIPA (from New Left Media)

Okay, so you've heard about SOPA and PIPA, right? Yesterday, Wikipedia was blacked out for 24 hours in protest of the proposed legislation. Twitter and Facebook were abuzz with talks of SOPA. (In the pagan community, I've even seen a boycott of Cat Yronwode and Lucky Mojo, because she and her business support SOPA and PIPA.)

But, what is it? I mean, if you've very carefully followed the news - attempting to sift through all the massive quantities of spin attached to the reporting - and read all the articles and discussed it with someone who can translate legalese, then you probably know, but what about everyone else? The problem with legislation such as this is that it is written in language few people speak (the aforementioned legalese), and then it is boiled down to a sound bite that is then fed to the public. What sound bite you ask?

SOPA/PIPA are designed to stop online piracy. 

This legislation is protecting copyright.

This legislation would stop the unlawful spread of someone else's copyrighted material.

If you're lucky, you've heard the part about making sure authors/musicians/artists get paid for their work, instead of it becoming a free source online. To a normal person, this sounds like the issue of book piracy we were just discussing, right? Except, that's not really what the law is set out to do.