Tag Archive | "television"
Dispatches from Central Absurdistan
1. In yet another reason to keep those shows on the air, reality TV breeds new body ideals. 2. It’ll take a lot of rats to clothe plus-size models in the latest fashion accessory. 3. Encouraging us to keep the weight on, the American Heart Association endorses Nintendo’s Wii. Please put aside your shovel and [...]
Continue reading...Time to bury the dead
Monday, May 10, 2010
The final nail in the global financial coffin was hammered into place this morning by the masters of the Eurozone. The trillion-dollar bailout Ponzi scheme to save Greece is yet another example of kicking the proverbial can down the road, hoping the taxpayers fail to notice the 800-pound gorilla fighting its way out of the [...]
Continue reading...American made
Monday, April 12, 2010
American Motors (automobiles) American Standard (plumbing fixtures) American Idol (television show) (Processed) American cheese (sic) Enough said?
Continue reading...Terminating the industrial economy: a ten-step plan
Friday, December 25, 2009
Will the ongoing economic collapse reach completion in time to save the living planet, and our species, in the absence of action on our part? Perhaps. Does that give us the right to ignore the moral imperative, hoping — or rather, wishing — peak oil causes the system to collapse under its own weight in [...]
Continue reading...The morality of imperialism, continued
Sunday, December 20, 2009
My latest post stirred considerable interest, as indicated by my email in-box as well as several thoughtful comments online. Although I tried to be clear about my position, questions continue to flow in, suggesting my no-holds-barred approach lacked clarity. I’ll try again in this post, recognizing that my position is so nuanced it is likely [...]
Continue reading...The service trap
Thursday, July 30, 2009
It is clear that some of us are committed to lives of service, and others are not. I'm sure social scientists have identified myriad patterns to justify our quirky lives, without actually explaining them, much less identifying mechanisms underlying them. And that's just as well, given the magnitude of the task. I'd rather we spend our considerable cognitive surplus on other issues. Consider, for example, how much time we spend tweeting. And then trying to determine if twittering counts at literature. (If you think twit lit is, well, literature, I think you're an idiot. But I digress.) Never mind who's drinking which brand of beer in the White House. We're so absorbed with television and the Internet and who's screwing whom in the world of celebrities, we can't bother to focus on the inordinate suffering we're causing, to humans and other animals. Sixth great extinction, including our own species? Whatev. Solving those problems will simply have to wait until after I get a tattoo proclaiming my independence from mainstream culture.
Continue reading...Time for a revolution
Thursday, May 28, 2009
If you think the economy is more important than the environment, try holding your breath while counting your money.
Continue reading...Feeding at the trough of television
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Joe Bageant's recent piece, Escape from the Zombie Food Court, is a classic. He clearly and concisely dismisses the notion that our lives are lived in anything resembling freedom. The corporate media and their primary brainwashing device, television, have taken care of that.
Continue reading...Staring into the economic abyss
Monday, April 13, 2009
We make sheep look well-informed and introspective.
Continue reading...A matter of life and death
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
A collapse in the world's industrial economy is producing the expected results, finally, too late to save thousands of species we've sent into the abyss, but perhaps barely in time to save a few remaining species, including our own. If you care about other species and cultures, or even the continued persistence of our own species, then you support our imminent return to the post-industrial stone age. Such a return saves the maximum number of human lives, over the long term.
Continue reading...
Monday, June 7, 2010
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