Displaying 0 To 0 Of 0 Comments So true! Hadn’t thought of that but I do agree that reality programming does appeal to the child in people. The key element of most reality programming is watching the humiliation or degradation of others. Yes, people watch American Idol and Dancing with the Stars to see people with talent but what gets as much if not more attention are the people who are failures. Kids like to see others who are worse than them, it makes them feel better about themselves to say, “Bobby was talking in class and got punished!” » Posted By AdLib On March 31, 2010 @ 4:17 pm “You can have it all!” McDonalds needs you to be a kid, so does Coke and Pizza Hut and Nintendo. Because adults consider cause and effect when they make decisions. Children are impulsive and want what they want. What has been causing the obesity crisis? The self-indulgement of adults, for themselves and their children. “Little Bobby just loves his Cheetos, how can I say no?” Because you don’t want him to lose 20 years of his life when he grows up? Adults understand sacrificing short term desires for long term achievements. Children don’t. No wonder American Capitalism doesn’t want adults acting like adults. » Posted By AdLib On March 31, 2010 @ 4:13 pm Thanks Cher! It’s the inafantilization of America. Hell, people even call their homes, “cribs”. Many people are afraid of getting old, they prefer to delude themselves into seeing themselves as young forever…and thus, immortal. How can one die if one is eternally young? And society now gives its thumbs up to adults acting like children. The reasons include that, like kids, it keeps people focused on wanting more “toys” and “candy” instead of being responsible with their spending. So corporations make a lot of money on extended childhood. And banks get wealthier as people casually dig themselves into permanent debt. How many people will ever pay off the amount of credit card and/or mortgage debt they acquire? And it is easier for the corporately owned party, the GOP, to manipulate the public into voting for and supporting what they want when they think and act like children. This is no coincidence in my mind. Gradually transforming the nation from citizens into consumers is just another phrase for turning responsible adults into malleable children. » Posted By AdLib On March 31, 2010 @ 4:06 pm What about a War on Wars? » Posted By AdLib On March 31, 2010 @ 3:58 pm Why Open Offshore Drilling is Not the Optimum Choice but the Only Choice First, it came out during the campaign that oil companies already have many leases which they have yet to explore. This was a red herring used by McCain/Palin, the oil companies are not empty handed in places to drill. As for this helping our dependence on oil, absolutely not. This will have virtually no impact. Even Bush’s Admin admitted that all the drilling they and McCain/Palin were proposing would only add about 1% in production. We import over 60% of the oil we use. AND…after the decades it will take for such leases to be at full production, isn’t it safe to say that our oil appetite will have grown by more than 1%? This is a political maneuver and a smart one but it will have no substantive impact on domestic oil production. » Posted By AdLib On March 31, 2010 @ 6:14 pm Coalition of Church and State: The Influence of the RR/Our Response They have no shame. Or morals for that manner. Which is why they’re in the RR. » Posted By AdLib On April 1, 2010 @ 9:36 pm What an incredible series and a well thought out finale! Three cheers, Sue for a remarkable exploration into the Religious Right! I will be linking to your series again and again. Part of me wants to believe that the majority in the nation has finally smartened up after the RR and Bush nearly destroyed this nation. But, as you say, they are like cockroaches, you can spray them with poison, seal every crack, hire exterminators…but they will always keep coming back. You are so right, we can never grow complacent and assume the American public is smart enough not to be fooled into supporting them. Any more than we would have assumed that the public is too smart to believe a health reform bill would create death panels. » Posted By AdLib On April 1, 2010 @ 3:28 pm Knowledge is Power, Ignorance is ____ Well…looks like the Earth hasn’t ended so chalk up one for the heathens:
Geneva atom smasher sets collision record By ALEXANDER G. HIGGINS, Associated Press Writer » Posted By AdLib On March 30, 2010 @ 10:41 am This is surprising. Bill Maher’s Religilous is on Google Video and embeddable. It does have its flaws, Maher can be glib and elitist about religion, rude and flippant towards some of those in the film but there are many interesting sections. So, if you haven’t seen it or want to watch it again, enjoy: » Posted By AdLib On March 30, 2010 @ 12:18 am My thought is that this is what they were taught as children and they see that belief as a pillar in their life. To pull that down is to destabilize themselves. » Posted By AdLib On March 30, 2010 @ 12:10 am Indeed, my friend. » Posted By AdLib On March 30, 2010 @ 12:08 am From an article on the Hadron Collider: The extra energy in Geneva is expected to reveal even more about the unanswered questions of particle physics, such as the existence of antimatter and the search for the Higgs boson, a hypothetical particle that scientists theorize gives mass to other particles and thus to other objects and creatures in the universe. Scientists hope also to approach on a tiny scale what happened in the first split seconds after the Big Bang, which they theorize was the creation of the universe some 14 billion years ago. Heuer said researchers hope by the end of this year to make discoveries into the dark matter that scientists believe comprises 26 percent of the universe. The better understood visible matter makes up only 4 percent of the universe. Dark matter has been theorized by scientists to account for missing mass and bent light in faraway galaxies. Scientists believe it makes galaxies spin faster. A separate entity called “dark energy,” making up the remaining 70 percent of the universe, is believed linked to the vacuum that is evenly distributed in space and time. It is believed to accelerate the expansion of the universe. Other possible candidates for discovery are hidden dimensions of space and time. Physicists have used smaller, room-temperature colliders for decades to study the atom. They once thought protons and neutrons were the smallest components of the atom’s nucleus, but the colliders showed that they are made of quarks and gluons and that there are other forces and particles. » Posted By AdLib On March 29, 2010 @ 11:56 pm Exactly, science is not about disproving religion while some religions are about disproving science. God can’t be disproved but representations in The Bible, such as the Earth being 6,000 years old, can be. For those who aren’t fundamentalists, there can be God and science. For those who are, science is a threat and must be rejected if their faith is to remain intact. » Posted By AdLib On March 29, 2010 @ 11:43 pm Bingo! That’s what tickles my imagination, questions that no one can answer. What if anything existed before the universe and The Big Bang? Where did that particle come from if there was no existence before The Big Bang? Science can’t answer that nor many other mind bending questions like what is there beyond the expanding edge of the universe? There is enormous room for God and spiritual beliefs all around what science offers and explains. The only problem for some is that they would have to accept that the Bible is wrong about Earth being close to 6,000 years old…and the fear of the domino theory knocking down the Bible after that makes them blindly resistant to scientific facts and theories. » Posted By AdLib On March 29, 2010 @ 11:38 pm This theory of the universe destroying then recreating in an infinite cycle has been around for some time and as unimaginable as it is, has a scientific basis that is easy to comprehend and accept as a possibility. Scientists do generally concur that the expansion of the universe is slowing, some postulate that once it expands fully, it will contract and in essence lead to the opposite of The Big Bang where all matter is drawn together…and so unstable in it’s intense compression that it would create another Big Bang and create the universe once again. The analogy would be like a wave that crashes on a beach, expands out then draws back into the ocean, only to be formed into another wave that again crashes on the beach. The cycle could be infinite and self-sustaining. It is disappointing that some see science and religion as mutually exclusive. The issue for those folks is often the need for the Bible to be literally true in every aspect. More open minded people who are not fundamentalists about the Bible can hold both the concepts of God and science at the same time. As for going back to a time before humans had a belief in God or gods, I don’t think such a time ever existed. Even early humans would look up at the stars and sun and moon and wonder what they were, where did they go, why did they exist…not to mention why they themselves existed. Fear, superstition and curiosity are primal to humans, as is the desire to comprehend. Mix these all together with existence and it explains why there hasn’t been one society of note in human history where there were not religious or superstitious beliefs of some kind about the world around them, life and death. Even Richard Dawkins will explain that he can’t say with 100% certainty that there is no God (he claims that it is his detractors who claim to have exclusive ownership of the absolute truth of existence). To those who seek truth, not validation of their existing beliefs, one must accept that even the most unlikely possibility in their mind with regards to God is still a possibility. And this will always be the case because we will never be able to get a notarized statement from God confirming exactly the way things are or which belief is right. As for your being criticized by atheists as not being their definition of an atheist, they would be just as guilty as those they disagree with if they had such fundamentalist beliefs of what atheism is. » Posted By AdLib On March 29, 2010 @ 10:47 pm Schwarzenegger has no time for the future. » Posted By AdLib On March 31, 2010 @ 2:44 pm Where would be a good place to hold a protest? I’m thinking that in front of corporate offices for banks, oil companies, health care companies, Walmarts, etc. would be good. » Posted By AdLib On March 30, 2010 @ 10:32 am Cheers, Patsy! » Posted By AdLib On March 29, 2010 @ 11:15 pm Yep, though I was tickled by the idea of the huge head masks, I think smaller may be better. How about a paper mache mask shaped like a face but the image on it is a corporate logo? » Posted By AdLib On March 29, 2010 @ 11:14 pm That’s what I was thinking. If the goal is attracting media attention, plan for success and use costumes that allow protesters to speak to people who gather and media. » Posted By AdLib On March 29, 2010 @ 11:10 pm Or Michael Steele’s credit card. » Posted By AdLib On March 29, 2010 @ 11:08 pm Too cool, Cher! I can see local and network news loving the visual nature of it! » Posted By AdLib On March 29, 2010 @ 11:05 pm Great! That was my thought as well, keep it simple, inexpensive but with maximum visual impact. As you say, it should be something that is easily replicated by people, even those who may not have the time or crafts experience. A few questions I’d have on the Day of the Dead heads are purely practical ones, are they light and comfortable for people to protest in for a while? Can people be heard clearly speaking with them on? Would a smaller mask or headpiece be better for talking with any potential reporters that may be covering it? How hot do they get? Again, these are just questions on practicality, their appearance is very cool. » Posted By AdLib On March 29, 2010 @ 9:58 pm One of my favorite movies period. The sad thing is that reality has surpassed fiction. If people saw a scene like this in a movie today, they would hardly be shocked or surprised. » Posted By AdLib On March 29, 2010 @ 9:41 pm Whoops, forgot that you think my thoughts before I do. 🙂 I wrote something similar above, personifying corps like McDonalds and Exxon as members of a family. This strikes me as ideal, people will “get” it immediately in a photo or video. No, corporations can’t legitimately sue for parody or satire of them. Of course, anyone can sue anyone else whether it’s legit or not but I can’t think of better PR then getting sued by a corp for attacking them politically for trying to dominate the American People. Then you’d see a flood of people joining and defending GROW. » Posted By AdLib On March 29, 2010 @ 9:39 pm Yes, I’m familiar with them. Love this idea too! » Posted By AdLib On March 29, 2010 @ 9:32 pm Love the box costume idea! Wonder if they have ones that look like skyscrapers or something corporate-esque. I think dressing up as corporations would look more amusing, unique and make the issue immediately recognizable in a photograph or video. Then again, having a corporate “family” of McDonalds french fries, a BofA $100 bill and a baby barrel of Exxon oil could be bizarre enough to get a lot of attention. » Posted By AdLib On March 29, 2010 @ 9:30 pm Heh! Just made a similar comment! What about a protest that’s a marriage ceremony between two corporations? » Posted By AdLib On March 29, 2010 @ 5:59 pm Riffing off of that, how about a Corporate nuclear “family”? Masks could be made of a corporation’s logo and worn along with a t-shirt with an image of Dr. Suits “Corporations Are People Too” or a high rise office building or the logo or name of a corporation. A “baby” could be fashioned out of that company’s product(s) or a baby doll could just be completely wrapped in sheets of paper with multiple images of a corporation’s logo. The protest could be as simple as this Corporate Family, (Mom and Dad holding their “baby”) protesting for the right to vote like other people can, or protesting for some other right that people have (to marry or get Social Security, etc.). What do you think? » Posted By AdLib On March 29, 2010 @ 5:54 pm Your wonderful scenario did inspire me when you originally posted it. Without having an animator who would volunteer to design this as scripted, the visuals would be restricted to whatever was available by a free animation site. I did find another site where I could create a cartoon with a child and a Mom but it does limit what you can do. Still, it could be funny and effective. It will take a bit of time to create a video that way but it is on my to-do list! » Posted By AdLib On March 29, 2010 @ 5:35 pmComments Posted By AdLib
«« Back To Stats Page
Home Stats