DennisMansfield.com

NOW & "THE" Super Bowl 44 Focus on the Family Ad

   In case you haven't heard,Terry O'Neill, current president of NOW had much to say; to quote LA Times website... "I am blown away at the celebration of the violence against women in it," she said. "That's what comes across to me even more strongly than the anti-abortion message. I myself am a survivor of domestic violence, and I don't find it charming. I think CBS should be ashamed of itself."

WOW, did we all watch the same commercial? I mean I was stuck in snowmaggedon, but CBS are you listening? I think you are in trouble. BIG trouble. I'm flying today, but I bet CBS is practically shutdown with all people boycotting their programming. I feel really bad for KBOI TV in Boise, everyone please take candles down to the station.

Den

March 11th to September 11th - 6 months of a lifetime of memories

When 9-11 forced itself into a permanent place in our collective minds eight years ago, my family and I had no idea that this very date in '09 would have as significant a place as it does. Here it is 9-11-09.

In a sense, it is a placeholder for me...a memory marker.

Just as families felt the horrible loss of their loved ones 8 years ago, my own heart hurts for the loss of my oldest son...6 months ago today.

What I am learning in my intensely fresh grief...and in observing the mature grief of others who loved and lost dear ones in NYC those many years ago...is that death dates should play only one role in our lives.

Rose Kennedy said it well, regarding the dates of her sons' deaths. She chose to remember the dates of each one's birth and celebrated their lives, accordingly.

So, today I choose to remember my son, Nate Mansfield, as the vibrant man of passion who fully lived his life beginning when he was a boy of mischief and in fun.

He crammed more life into his 27 years than most of us will ever have lived in our own long lifetimes. I invite you to join me in celebrating his life on this date.

Nate Mansfield memorial: slidshow presentation from Colin Mansfield on Vimeo.

BSU and KTVB – Equally Yoked?

[Disclaimer – this is not a post by Dennis]

First and foremost I'm glad we have KTVB Channel 7. Their news program is tops, I always go there first for my local coverage of news! If you haven't tried the website via your cell phone go try now…it is amazing (of course you have to have a decent cell phone).Coverage of weather is also great! The coverage of local high school sports is pretty cool, and I'm sure they get the high school teen and parent crowd for that. Their new(er) 24/7 channel is nice to have when you miss the normal news program time slot. But, do you cringe, when after you've seen ESPN's coverage of BSU and you have to watch BSU play on KTVB?

September 1st: Kathleen Susan's Day

Heroes don't always come dressed as soldiers or firemen.

Many times they aren't men at all.

From my earliest years as a little kid, one of my heroes has been my sister, Kathleen Susan Mansfield Wright.

When I was little, she was always "big". 7 years has a way of doing that to kids, doesn't it. She was a teen in the 60's when I was just a poser-teen at the end of the decade.

As life grew, she grew too. College then marriage, then kids and grandkids.

Throughout these years, Kathy showed me by her example that I should always be involved, too. Like Sarah Palin, Kathy was on her local city council and then served as Mayor ...of Charlotte, Michigan.

September 1st is a special day for me, as I've always associated it with Kathy and her impact on so many people's lives, including my own life.

Each year comes and goes, new school years start up, kids advance a grade, grandkids too.

Each year Kathy continues to show me how amazing a woman of virtue and confidence she is.

Thanks, Kath, for living your life "out loud" and for loving your siblings, among whom I am honored to be. Year after year, decade after decade you've proven to me that there really is no glass ceiling...only goals and hope. Anything can be accomplished. Thanks for showing me that by example.

You are loved,

Den

Sarah Palin: From"Who's She?" to "Who's Who" and BTW...Hillary Who?

I'll be adressing some thoughts on poltics and high school on Monday's blog, but until then...

I find it interesting that in a brief but powerful political week we've seen two women capture the attention of the world. Hillary Clinton, as she left the scene and Sarah Palin, as she arrived on it.

It's like we are watching a "Who's She?" become a "Who's Who"...right while we are seeing the political world ask itself "Hillary Who"?

How fitting that it is happening during the first week of high school, all across the nation...'cause it all feels sort of high school-ish, doesn't it?

The "cracked ceiling" about which Hillary repeatedly spoke now has a new female to possibly break it. But Sarah Palin doesn't seem to be the right "kind" of female, does she?

Somehow, many don't want to accept her. She seems to be the wrong type of woman from the wrong type of party with the wrong type of look. It's like the "ugly" people of high school are trying to have their revenge...or so it seems.

Two females, two stories. One goal? I'd hope so...but maybe not.

Why do I sense I am listening-in on a series of catty conversations at a middle-aged female sleep over, with Janice Ian's one hit wonder, Seventeen, playing nervously in the background, ad nauseum?

It's really a sort of reverse-Seventeen, though, this time around. Suddenly in politics, a pretty (and smart) female Republican VP seems worthy of mocking. Or is it just me that feels this way?

Den

"I learned the truth at seventeen

That love was meant for beauty queens
and high school girls with clear skinned smiles
who married young and then retired."

Governor Sarah Palin, GOP VP - what will women voters do?

Unbelievable!! John McCain chose a woman VP - Governor Sarah Palin of Alaska...wow.

McCain may have ultra-syncopated the political rhythm of our times.

The case can now be made that the 18 million cracks in the ceiling will be broken by a conservative, pro-life, hockey-mother....

John McCain knows strategy...and he knows combat...and he knows how to win elections. His choice was superb.

Now, the question for the male and female feminists of America is whether Sara Palin is "female enough" to be supported by them....or whether it's not REALLY a matter of  being a woman in high office, after all - it might be a variation on the theme from Animal Farm: "All animals are equal, but some animals are MORE equal than others." Hmmm...we'll see.

Welcome to a new world. This ain't your Geraldine Ferraro's Oldsmobile. BTW: Gov. Palin is a University of Idaho graduate...a little slice of Idaho.

Here's a little bit of Fox News background on Sarah Palin's history. Alaskans have a bumper sticker that says: "Coldest State. Hottest Governor" How funny....

Den

Child-rearing 401: Get ready to dump your guilt...

Sharon Begley penned  a deeply thoughtful and scientifically interesting article in this week's Newsweek Summer Double Issue. For those of us who have had our unfair-share of hard "kid-stuff" along the way, the article offers some out-of-the-box thinking about child rearing.

For all you who have had easy kids, skip this article. You won't be able to relate....unless it's to "figure out" your sweet baby's cousin, who has 666 tattooed on his toddler forehead. The rest of my tattered and bruised brethern, read on...

Den

But I Did Everything Right!

If there is one thing experts on child development agree on, it is that kids learn best when they are allowed to make mistakes and feel the consequences. So Mom and Dad hold back as their toddler tries again and again to cram a round peg into a square hole. They feel her pain as playmates shun her for being pushy, hoping she'll learn to back off. They let their teen stay up too late before a test, hoping a dismal grade will teach her to get a good night's sleep but believing that ordering her to get to bed right now will not: kids who experience setbacks rather than having them short-circuited by a controlling parent learn not to repeat the dumb behavior.

But not, it seems, all kids. In about 30 percent, the coils of their DNA carry a glitch, one that leaves their brains with few dopamine receptors, molecules that act as docking ports for one of the neurochemicals that carry our thoughts and emotions. A paucity of dopamine receptors is linked to an inability to avoid self-destructive behavior such as illicit drug use. But the effects spill beyond such extremes. Children with the genetic variant are unable to learn from mistakes. No matter how many tests they blow by partying the night before, the lesson just doesn't sink in.

The discovery, reported last December, is part of what is fast becoming the newest frontier in studies of why children turn out as they do. Since the first advice book for American parents appeared in 1811, the child-rearing industry, as well as researchers who have made child development a science, have assumed that, although every child is an individual, there are certain universals. If parents are too take-charge about homework, the child becomes disengaged and eventually gives up; if they are warm and affectionate, kids don't act out. But while most children do respond the way research shows, there have always been "outliers," kids who don't turn out the way experts promise.

After years of ignoring those children, a few scientists now realize that they are telling us something that promises to revolutionize our understanding of child development. In an echo of "personalized medicine" (matching drugs to people's DNA), scientists are finding that how parents treat their children is filtered through the prism of DNA. Parents may intuit that, as they notice that what worked with one child is failing abysmally with another, but now science is pinpointing exactly what combinations of nature and nurture spell gridlock.

What does "it" matter? - 50,000 page views later

Get this, on September 2nd of 2006 we launched this blog with the following text:

What is "it"? There have been a lot of "its" in the past and many quotes like "it's the economy stupid" and many others. For this website the "it" for now is an attempt in fusing politics, culture, business, personality, religion, you and me.

No longer will there be a perceived hidden agenda - you'll get the straight scoop right here. There has never been a hidden agenda in my life; I like to lay myself right out there. Along with some friends there is a plan to bring many thoughts and plans to help businesses succeed, to help people reach their true potential and see a fusion of different perspectives become a stronger entity.

You'll see video, documents to download, links to other sites and people that speak into this dream - hang on & hope you like "it"!

Well....it's been 23 months since that first post (and 50,000 pageviews later as well - we hit that today.)


I'm sure that's not a big deal for some folks, but on this blog, it's fun to see us tip the scales at 50,000. ( I think that's more than the total number of election votes I've ever received - tee hee)


We've had a bunch of posts and we'll have a bunch more....

Keep hangin' on...and thanks for joining us, lo these many , many days/weeks/months and now years.

Den

 PS: Let me know which ones may have been "favorites", ok?
I just may sprinkle this month of August with a few "Best Of's"

Fear Not: Dr. James Dobson's comments on Sen. Obama

Dr. James Dobson's reported comments in the Boston Herald (and elsewhere, I am certain) caused me to tackle a tough thought or two today. It's not profound, by and measure; but it is personal.

For the decade of the 90's I headed up the Idaho family policy council that worked in association with Dr. Dobson's Focus on the Family non-profit organization, once located in Pomona, Ca but then located to Colorado Springs in the autumn of 1991. After a near-decade, I left it on good terms with Dr. Dobson, his staff and with the Idaho Board's blessing to pursue a year-long (and ultimately unsuccessful) race for US Congress in 2000.

It's now been about the same amount of  years - since I became disengaged from Dr. Dobson's organization(s). How fitting to reflect back...

I've had time to revisit on my own behavior during those years; in fact, I've written publicly in this blog about some the changes. In many ways, I feel like a free man - free of fear. Not because I no longer am working with Focus on the Family, but because I've had the chance to simply focus on the God who made the family.

A subtle but significant change.

More than that, even; I'm just living differently, enjoying folks who were invisible to me in that recent past.

Is that because I was some insensitive Right-Winger connected to the Christian Conservative political movement and now I am not? Is it because I was taking "orders" from Dr. Dobson and marching to his tune? That's ridiculous, if you've ever met Jim and Shirley Dobson. Both are kind, compassionate people - both with a strong sense of purpose and a deep and honest love of Jesus.

Or could it have been something else? Hmmm. Could be all, but I hope not. I think I was just afraid.

Hollywood is calling....cut, print, it's a wrap.

Thought you might like to see what some friends of mine are up to....Den

Casting Call

The Studio Corp to Hold Open Auditions For Children’s Program Lucky Kat News

Boise, ID – June 5, 2008 – Delfino Media Group, based in Los Angeles. CA, will hold its first casting call for Lucky Kat TV, an international web based children’s news program at The Studio Corp, a Boise based visual media agency.  Preteens between the ages of 10 and 13 are invited to participate in a screen test in front of a panel of producers for a chance to win a news anchor role and a potential Hollywood contract. 

The Auditions will take place on Thursday June 12^th, 2008 from 2pm to 8pm at The Studio Corp located at 1522 W River St in Boise, ID at the corner of River St and Americana Blvd.  Parking will be available across the street from the location at the intersection of River St and 15^th. 

Brandon L. Hull, The Studio Corp Producer/Director, was the first to recommend Boise as the prime location for the Lucky Kat News program. "By partnering the capabilities of The Studio Corp with the artistic excellence of Delfino Media Group I envision a historic merger between Boise’s developing visual effects industry and some of the greatest visionaries in Hollywood. My personal and working relationship with the producing team behind Lucky Kat convinced me that their vision of creating a safe and entertaining place for kids to use the internet made Boise the ideal shooting location for Lucky Kat News," Said Hull.

Steve Wilzbach, VP of Development and Production at Delfino Media Group and an Emmy award winning producer, met Hull while they were working together on various animation projects at Warner Brothers, including Looney Tunes: Back in Action, Osmosis Jones and The Iron Giant.  “We wanted to be able to give kids living in the rest of the country an opportunity to experience something that they normally wouldn't get a chance to participate in unless they were living in LA or NY.”

About Lucky Kat TV

Lucky Kat TV is a safe website that provides children with an integration for education and entertainment. 

It helps students work on fundamental educational skills and personal character values in fun and creative way while recognizing a parent’s need to supervise their child's internet activities.  Lucky Kat's positive motto is "believe in you".   By bringing quality stories and activities, lovable characters with morals, and superior animation, the goal is to empower children to become better human beings, both educationally and socially.

About The Studio Corp

The Studio Corp is a multimedia production agency that specializes in HD video, corporate photography and graphic and web design.  With a 25,000 square foot facility, including a soundstage and the largest green screen in the state of Idaho, The Studio Corp has the capacity and talent to take on Idaho’s growing multimedia needs.

To learn more about The Studio Corp, contact Director of Marketing Jamie Maben at (208) 367-7402 or visit www.thestudiocorp.com

To learn more about Lucky Kat TV, visit www.luckykattv.com

To learn more about Delfino Media Group, visit www.delfinomediagroup.com