Ignorance is bliss-or is it?

Sometimes I wish I believed in prayer.  I wish that I could plead, I wish that I could sacrifice, I wish that I could count beads or light a flame and a great omnipotent being would be coerced or convinced to grant my desire.  Some people think that you can pray for anything and that sometimes those prayers are granted.  They pray for trivial things, such as a new house, a car, for air in a nearly flat tire, or that they won’t be late for work.  My favorite example of this is expressed well in the old Janis Joplin’s song, “Oh Lord, won’t you buy me a Mercedes Benz”.  For those of you too young to remember Janis Joplin, her gravelly voice belting out those words was unforgettable.  The lyrics are:  

“Mercedes Benz”

 Oh Lord, won’t you buy me a Mercedes Benz?
My friends all drive Porsches, I must make amends.
Worked hard all my lifetime, no help from my friends,
So Lord, won’t you buy me a Mercedes Benz ?  

Oh Lord, won’t you buy me a color TV ?
Dialing For Dollars is trying to find me.
I wait for delivery each day until three,
So oh Lord, won’t you buy me a color TV ?  

Oh Lord, won’t you buy me a night on the town ?
I’m counting on you, Lord, please don’t let me down.
Prove that you love me and buy the next round,
Oh Lord, won’t you buy me a night on …

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Interested in really living simply?

Check out the Simple Living Network, a non-profit website (absolutely no commercials) that provides lots of information on how to pare down your material excesses.  The site is run entirely by volunteers, who sincerely try to practice what they preach.  Here's the basic approach, as indicated on the home page:…

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Spoof ads, anyone?

Madison Avenue is so clever these days that most commercials are, to some extent, fun to watch. Adbusters.org is working hard to top Madison Avenue, though, with its own spoof commercials.  Some of these are quite well done.                           You'll find more of Adbuster's spoof ads here.  Here's what Adbusters…

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The effect of media images of sexed-up girls and women posing as adolescents

According to a recent report by the American Psychological Association,

Inescapable media images of sexed-up girls and women posing as adolescents can cause psychological and even physical harm to adolescents and young women.
According to this APA report, the pressure of this "sexualization" can lead to depression, eating disorders, and poor academic performance. See, also, Yahoo's article on this report. What are the sources of these images? The report points to these examples:
Advertisements (e.g., the Skechers “naughty and nice” ad that featured Christina Aguilera dressed as a schoolgirl in pigtails, with her shirt unbuttoned, licking a lollipop), dolls (e.g., Bratz dolls dressed in sexualized clothing such as miniskirts, fishnet stockings, and feather boas), clothing (thongs sized for 7– to 10-year-olds, some printed with slogans such as “wink wink”), and television programs (e.g., a televised fashion show in which adult models in lingerie were presented as young girls).
It is difficult to not notice this modern smearing of the boundaries between female childhood and adulthood. Our media is obsessed with presenting images of women acting like little girls and little girls forced to act "sexualized." What's the difference between "sexualization" and healthy sexuality? According to the APA report, "sexualization" occurs when
a person’s value comes only from his or her sexual appeal or behavior, to the exclusion of other characteristics; a person is held to a standard that equates physical attractiveness (narrowly defined) with being sexy;

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Who gets assassinated? Who owns the country? Why won’t we improve education? Ask George Carlin.

This is a 13-minute presentation Carlin delivered on August 28, 2006. According to Carlin, as the country continues to deteriorate, “Nobody seems to notice.  Nobody seems to care.” Comment posted at the video site:  “As in feudal days, it seems that the jester is the only one left allowed to…

Continue ReadingWho gets assassinated? Who owns the country? Why won’t we improve education? Ask George Carlin.