Category Archives: Social Commentary

March 14, 2011 · 10:55 pm

The Following People Are Going to Hell | My Southern Gothic Life

New post is up on my other blog…

Now I don’t even believe in Hell, but I do find the idea comforting at times.

I like to think there is some sort of devine retribution for those who commit truly heinous acts against their fellowman- or their tastes and sensibilites.

I used to make mental lists of people I wanted to be in First Class on the first intergalactic, passenger carrying, nuclear missle, but I couldn’t think of anyone I hated enough to seat them next to Kathy Lee Gifford.

Instead, I’ve gone back to the simple idea that these people will spend eternity burning in hell.  Please note:  All these people are supposedly still living, therefore there  is time for them to atone for their sins.

Click here for the List:   The Following People Are Going to Hell | My Southern Gothic Life.

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March 6, 2011 · 11:01 am

College the Easy Way – NYTimes.com

Another excellent article from Bob Herbert.  He’s fast becoming one of my favorite columnists.

This confirms a fear I’ve had for a while now:  That college has become the equivalent of a 4 year resort vacation for far too many students.

Admittedly, I had a lot of fun at College.  But I also learned more in one concentrated period than I would have thought possible.  It also laid the foundation for life-long learning and intellectual curiosity.

College also validated my natural tendency to question everything.  It helped to develop the critical thinking skills that made this possible.

That History Degree from a Liberal Arts program at Washington and Lee University has meant more in the course of my life than I can articulate.

This is also more validation of my fears we will one day be turning the nation over to a generation of Slack Jawed Idiots, or SJI’s as I lovingly call them…

Please click the link at the bottom to read the entire column.  It’s worth your time.

Intellectual effort and academic rigor, in the minds of many of the nation’s college students, is becoming increasingly less important. According to the authors, Professors Richard Arum of New York University and Josipa Roksa of the University of Virginia: “Many students come to college not only poorly prepared by prior schooling for highly demanding academic tasks that ideally lie in front of them, but — more troubling still — they enter college with attitudes, norms, values, and behaviors that are often at odds with academic commitment.”

Students are hitting the books less and partying more. Easier courses and easier majors have become more and more popular. Perhaps more now than ever, the point of the college experience is to have a good time and walk away with a valuable credential after putting in the least effort possible.

What many of those students are not walking away with is something that has long been recognized as invaluable — higher order thinking and reasoning skills. They can get their degrees without putting in more of an effort because in far too many instances the colleges and universities are not demanding more of them.

MORE:   College the Easy Way – NYTimes.com.

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March 4, 2011 · 9:01 pm

Building Better Kids | Mother Jones

Fascinating article from Kevin Drum at Mother Jones….

A strategy that places greater emphasis on parenting resources directed to the early years is a strategy that prevents rather than remediates problems. It supplements families and makes them active participants in the process of child development.

Remediation strategies as currently implemented are much less effective. This is the flip side of the argument for early intervention. Many skills that are malleable in the early years are much less so in the teenage years. As a consequence, remediating academic and social deficits in the teenage years is much more costly….For high quality early childhood interventions, there are none of the trade-offs between equity and efficiency that plague most public policies. Early interventions produce broadly based benefits and reduce social and economic inequality. At the same time they promote productivity and economic efficiency. They are both fair and efficient.

via Building Better Kids | Mother Jones.

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March 4, 2011 · 7:43 am

Chapter 51: Sex in the South: Part 1- Setting the Stage | My Southern Gothic Life

There is a new post up on my other blog:  My SouthernGothicLife.com

Here is the intro and a link to the full post:

To put it bluntly, when we were growing up, we knew sex was everywhere in the South.  It was poorly hidden, but not a topic of socially approved conversations.   Or at least it once wasn’t…

We came from, perhaps, the last generation to be fed totally screwed up information about sex.  At least, I hope so…

MORE:   Chapter 51: Sex in the South: Part 1- Setting the Stage | My Southern Gothic Life.

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March 1, 2011 · 7:42 pm

Use It Up, Wear It Out – Consumers Hold On to Stuff Longer – NYTimes.com

Some positive news on the environmental front…

I hope this becomes long term behavior and we move away from being such a disposable society…

Of course, in a Consumer driven economy, this is a mixed blessing to the economy…

Throw away the cellphone after two years? Not so fast. Ditch the flat-panel TV for an even thinner model? Maybe next year. Replace the blouse with the hole? Darn it!

Walt Truelson of Portland, Ore., has stopped replacing his car as frequently as he used to and has switched to paying for cellphone minutes as he uses them, rather than subscribing to a monthly plan.

Consumer spending has picked up, but for some Americans the recession has left something behind: a greater interest in making stuff last.

For a number of products — cars, phones, computers, even shampoo and toothpaste — the data shows a slowing of product life cycles and consumption. In many cases the difference is mere months, but economists and consumers say the approach just may outlast a full recovery and the return of easy credit, because of the strong impression the downturn made on consumers.

It is hardly the stuff of generations past, those stung by the Great Depression, who held onto antediluvian dishware and stored canned goods until rust formed on the lids. But for the moment, many citizens of a throwaway society are making fewer visits to the trash and recycling bins.

via Use It Up, Wear It Out – Consumers Hold On to Stuff Longer – NYTimes.com.

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February 28, 2011 · 7:53 pm

Raleigh No. 3 in Gay Parents – NewsObserver.com

This kind of blows the old Jesse Helms image of North Carolina to hell…

Thank God!

From the Raleigh News and Observer:

Raleigh is one of the highest-ranked metropolitan areas in the nation for gay parents. Nearly one-third of the same-sex couples who live here are raising children under the age of 18.

The American Community Survey says Raleigh has the third-highest percentage of same-sex couples with kids among metro areas that have a population of more than 1 million. San Antonio is first, with 33.9 percent of same-sex couples raising children, and Jacksonville, Fla., is second, with 32.4 percent.

Southern cities tended to rank high in the survey, which was conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau and used population and housing data collected between 2005 and 2009.

Gary Gates, a senior research fellow at UCLA Law School, said he thinks the traditionally conservative South has more gay parents because people in the region tend to come out later in life, often after marrying and having children in heterosexual relationships.

Some cities with the highest concentrations of gays, such as San Francisco, aren’t ranked that high when it comes to same-sex couples with children, Gates said.

Ian Palmquist, executive director of Equality North Carolina, a gay rights organization, was not surprised to hear Raleigh ranked so high.

“Gay people from the more rural communities move to the Triangle because it is much more friendly and more supportive,” he said. “We know there are many same-sex couples raising children in North Carolina.”

Palmquist added that the same things that make North Carolina appealing to heterosexual couples also make it a good choice for same-sex couples.

via Raleigh No. 3 in gay parents – Family – NewsObserver.com.

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February 20, 2011 · 12:44 pm

The Human Cost of Budget Cutting – NYTimes.com

Great article from Bob Herbert on the impact of the budget wars on real people.

Since we no longer have a free, functioning press in this country- it’s all corporate owned and entertainment focused- these stories are not being told.

Frankly, what is being done to the poor by the Rich and the Government is immoral.

There is just no one to call them on it…

Community action agencies were established decades ago to undergird the fight against poverty throughout the U.S., in big cities, small towns, rural areas — wherever there were people in trouble. It’s the only comprehensive antipoverty effort in the country, and the need for them has only grown in the current long and terrible economic climate.

President Obama’s proposal to cut the approximately $700 million grant by 50 percent is an initiative with no upside. The $350 million reduction is meaningless in terms of the federal budget deficits, but it is enough to wreck many of these fine programs and hurt an awful lot of people, including children and the elderly.

It seemed like just a moment ago that these programs were held in high esteem by the president, a former community organizer himself. Community action agencies received $5 billion in stimulus funds to train people to weatherize homes. They ended up being ranked eighth out of 200 federal programs that got stimulus money in terms of the number of jobs created.

Now, suddenly, these agencies are dispensable.

The block grant money from the federal government is highly leveraged. The agencies secure additional public and private funds that enable them to support a wide network of programs that offer an astonishing array of important services. These include Head Start, job training and child care programs, legal services, affordable housing for the elderly, domestic violence intervention, and on and on.

When these kinds of programs are zeroed out, the impact is profound. Jobs are eliminated and vital services are no longer available. Poverty and its associated costs to governments increase. In terms of budgets, it’s the definition of being penny-wise and pound-foolish. ABCD, for example, has been very effective in preventing evictions, working diligently with landlords, tenants and others to keep individuals and families from becoming homeless. When such efforts are successful, they not only keep individuals and families in their homes, they keep taxpayers from having to foot the very expensive bill of housing individuals and families in shelters.

via The Human Cost of Budget Cutting – NYTimes.com.

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Filed under Politics, Social Commentary, The Economy

February 17, 2011 · 6:50 pm

Facebook Adds New Relationship Categories to Reflect Civil Unions and Domestic Partnerships

It’s about time….

New York, NY, February 17, 2011 – The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD), the nation’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) media advocacy and anti-defamation organization, today applauded Facebook for adding ‘In a Civil Union’ and ‘In a Domestic Partnership’ options to user profiles. The option is now available for users in the U.S., Canada, the United Kingdom, France and Australia.

“Today, Facebook sent a clear message in support of gay and lesbian couples to users across the globe,” said GLAAD President Jarrett Barrios. “By acknowledging the relationships of countless loving and committed same-sex couples in the U.S. and abroad, Facebook has set a new standard of inclusion for social media. As public support for marriage equality continues to grow, we will continue to work for the day when all couples have the opportunity to marry and have their relationship recognized by their community, both online and off.”

GLAAD was among the organizations that met with Facebook to advocate for this change.

via Steve Rothaus’ Gay South Florida.

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February 14, 2011 · 5:56 pm

10 States With the Worst Eating Habits | | AlterNet

Very interesting article…

Funny how the worst states are the mainly very Republican states.  I wonder about that correlation….

Americans are fat and getting fatter by the year. Recent data reported in medical journal Lancet showed that BMI (Body Mass Index), a recognized measurement of obesity, is higher on average in America than in any other nation.

The obesity problem, however, is international. The report in Lancet states that “In 2008, 9.8 percent of the world’s male population were obese, as were 13.8 percent of women. In 1980, these rates were 4.8 percent and 7.9 percent.” US eating habits and diets have been exported, many experts say. Nations which before had relatively lean diets which were high in grains and fruits  now consume many more soft drinks and hamburgers.

This trend toward poorer diets has caused obesity to be the most written-about health problem in the United States. Fat Americans are more likely to have diabetes, coronary artery disease, strokes, and certain forms of cancer. Less well reported are links between obesity and dementia, obesity and postmenopausal estrogen receptors, and obesity and social status. Thin people, apparently, are more likely to be chief executives and billionaires. The problem of obesity is so acute that the number of studies about its causes and solutions grows by the day. The journal Health Affairs reported last year that overall obesity-related health spending reaches $147 billion in the US, about double what it was a decade earlier.

More:   10 States With the Worst Eating Habits | | AlterNet.

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February 8, 2011 · 8:34 pm

Opinion: Will Clamshell Packaging Ever Change?

I hate this stuff…

You know it’s bad when they make special “clamshell openers” you can buy for $10 at Bed Bath and Beyond.

From David Fagan at AOL….

Think about it: Have you ever met a single person who didn’t launch into a five-minute tirade when asked to comment on the subject of clamshell packaging? You know, the annoying, seemingly indestructible material that protects, say, a flash drive better than the Army protects Fort Knox and is responsible for thousands of emergency room visits every year?

Maybe you haven’t heard of “wrap rage,” but you’ve probably felt it when trying to open seemingly impenetrable clamshell packaging of toys and electronics.

Yet, even though almost everyone on the planet hates them with a passion usually reserved for ex-spouses, and the folks at Amazon.com get so many complaints about them they actually have a guy who specializes in handling only clamshell complainers, it certainly seems most companies just don’t care.

And, even if they did, the manufacturers of the packaging apparently share the same ambivalence, as only a handful of companies have changed the way they ship and package their products since clamshells were introduced more than a decade ago.

Yet the hospital visits keep climbing.

After nearly severing my carotid artery trying to open a new Bluetooth ear piece, I decided to try and find out why this scourge of the consumer electronics world just won’t go away. After all, no matter how many benefits this type of packaging might provide to a company, they can’t outweigh the cries of the huddled, bleeding masses … can they?

Here are the top three reasons we’ll never get rid of clamshell packaging:

More:   Opinion: Will Clamshell Packaging Ever Change?.

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