Thursday, February 4, 2010
2-4
posted at 6:47 PM | Permalink | 2 comment(s)
Two dreadful news items, for very different reasons: one, that ten missionaries - if that's really what they are - have been charged with kidnapping Haitian children in the midst of the worst catastrophe that country has ever known and that's saying something in their case - which inevitably makes me wonder if the Haitian government is simply taking advantage of a juicy newsy item (children + orphans + parents *are* alive . . .) to keep itself on the front page or if a group of creepy people were making financial and personal hay out of the situation and operating a child trafficking enterprise cloaked in the almost untouchable cape of religious do-gooders; and two, that the MTA may raise fares despite having duplicate books (not according to rumor but according to a judge's finding) in an economic time when lots of people who need public transportation are out of work or unable to work overtime because it's been cut back and there are few if any raises even of the cost-of-living kind and there was a not-inconsequentially large fare hike only a year ago.

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Saturday, January 30, 2010
Advertising
posted at 8:11 AM | Permalink | 8 comment(s)
Not sure I understand the logic behind accepting the "I didn't have an abortion" ad but rejecting the "gay dating" ad. If "free speech" and "they handed us a check" are the bases for accepting the former, why isn't that the same reason for accepting the latter? It's not as if they're not both subjects that would be difficult for parents to explain to very young children, if very young children in the audience is the concern, but other than that, what's the problem? Many of us don't like all the medical ads - the endless, endless medical ads - but certainly don't expect them to be pulled even if I assembled all kinds of documentation to show that drug companies cause ill health (and plump up their bottom lines) by focusing on illness instead of wellness (not to mention the assault on our personal attempts to stay healthy). The point is that advertising is first and foremost a business transaction: you pay, you run your ad. I guess you can't espouse the overthrow of a government or anarchy or whatever, and shouldn't show truly horrible things, but otherwise, what the heck.

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Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Is it just me?
posted at 9:26 AM | Permalink | 0 comment(s)
The images in "Toddlers and Tiaras" scare me. I'm willing to be convinced otherwise but it seems to me as if the whole enterprise derails childhood by making it almost impossible for a child to be carefree or to understand instinctive preferences and tastes because by essentially artificiality and smoothing-over.

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Saturday, January 16, 2010
Question
posted at 9:18 AM | Permalink | 3 comment(s)
Isn't it just as ridiculous to assert that the earthquake is a blessing - special love from God for those in the path of the devastation - as to say that it's the devil getting his due in exchange for extricating themselves from French rule?

You can't make up things like this. First there was Pat Robertson's inane commentary and now there's the other extreme (which I heard this morning spoken aloud - I am truly not making this up). One is reminded of being told in elementary school by the nuns that misery and suffering such as childhood leukemia, polio, being beaten by your parents, etc. all show God's special gift to those who suffer. Seriously that's what we were told. Wear a hairshirt and add to your suffering because the more you suffer with grace and sweetness the more God knows you love him and then he'll love you more and will show his love by giving you . . . yup, more suffering.

The fact is that horrible horrible things happen sometimes. It completely s^%&s and it's terrible and it would be great if each bad thing provided impetus to figure out ways of preventing bad things in the future. But I cannot believe it's a devil getting his due or a deity seeing what people can endure so as to give them extra special rewards like testing them further with more bad things nor to give them extra special rewards in heaven.

And why exactly is this kind of thinking different or sillier than suicide bombers who believe they'll gain forty virgins in heaven?

I know there is an intense, vital, passionate urge to explain things but sometimes a cigar an earthquake is just a cigar an earthquake.

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Wednesday, January 6, 2010
The internet
posted at 9:13 AM | Permalink | 0 comment(s)
Mistakes are made. We know that. It's a big wide complex world nowadays and the internet ceo just can't keep up with every single thing. Errors will be made. Diligence will fall through the cracks sometimes. Can't be helped. But John Singleton's birthday (today) was either 41 or 50 years ago. I wonder which. Do you suppose this is what comes of lying about one's age? Well I for one have no knowledge of such things nor the consequences.

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Tuesday, December 22, 2009
When writers write attack
posted at 5:24 PM | Permalink | 0 comment(s)
Indeed this is amusing and it's certainly understandable, and no doubt we would all want to do it, too. But it's a bit alarming and altogether unseemly and a bit unauthorly. Besides, I am willing to bet a fairly large gob of money that she cherishes - and would demand - her right to say what she thinks when the shoe opinion is on the other foot side.

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Friday, September 18, 2009
Smoking ban moves outdoors
posted at 5:58 PM | Permalink | 5 comment(s)
The Nanny of New York (a/k/a Mayor Bloomberg) reportedly wants to ban smoking outdoors as well as in. Normblog has written a - presumably sarcastic - piece on same.

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Saturday, May 30, 2009
Question
posted at 12:21 PM | Permalink | 0 comment(s)
What is a British network thinking, signing octomom to a contract for a reality show? (Details here.) They say it's a really just a quasi-reality show because filming won't be non-stop; is that better? And anyway, who knew there was a distinction to be had between "quasi" and "real" reality shows? And mostly: why give her even a tiny bit of attention?

It can't be much longer until a man and a lion are put into an arena and told to fight to the death, on live television. (Everything old is new again, eh what?)

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