Heads Up - Formerly "Continuing our Debate" & commentary by TK, DE &

On Fri, 03 Aug 2001 08:52:28 +0200 Joe Fleury <bidoche@bluewin.ch>
writes:
Excuse me, Marguerite, but this 'sex' thing - are you talking about
SEVERE ECONOMICAL _XCESS?

Joe

MH:  Funny thing you should bring this up, Joe because I was just
thinking this morning, as I was walking Sweet Pea on our morning jaunt,
about the XCESS of sex, and innuendos related to, in advertising (which
includes TV programming.). You know if you don't drive the right car,
live in the right section of town, use the right perfume, mouth wash,
underarm deodorant, facial cream, T-shirt, or own a pair of Calvin Klein
jeans; own the right breed of dog, eat the right foods, go to right
workout spa, root for the right sports team, then one's sex life
supposedly goes to pot. Both literally and figuratively speaking.  And
its just possible that if one doesn't use 'pot' then one's sex life isn't
what it's 'cracked' up to be.  Or is that 'could be' if one uses crack?  
 

TV programming, as well as the print news media, certainly key in on all
of the aspects of 'sex sells' even as it relates to war with heroes
depicted by actors and actresses whose abilities may lie more in their
sex appeal than their resemblance to the real people whose lives they
portray.  The late Steve Allen wrote in 1992, 'Everyone--left, right, and
middle--is perfectly aware that we are in a period of cultural and moral
collapse.  But some people don't want to concede that the popular media
bear part of the responsibility.' Even in light of the recent spate of
school shootings, like that of Columbine High in Colorado, USA, is the
media willing to admit that it has broken faith with its audience nor is
the audience willing to bring the media to accountability through voting
its dollars in the marketplace response-ably.  Yet ever more screen
visions portray violence as being sexy.             

Helen Caldicott, M.D., a physician from Australia and one of the leading
activists against nuclear missile systems during the Cold War, claims
that missile envy is little more than penis envy.  George Bush are you
listening? The call to join one of the military services is certainly
made to seem the 'sexy' thing to do as war is glamourized in movies and
through advertising spots showing virile young men in uniform.  Caldicott
wrote a book, entitled *Missile Envy* but I know her best thru my
autographed copy of her book, 'If You Love This Planet - A Plan to Heal
the Earth' written in 1992. A heroine, Caldicott was forced to retreat to
Australia and go into hiding after publishing one of the first of
revealing insights into the effects of globalization.  She wrote with
regard to journalism:  

'The Standard of Journalism these days is quite low.  USA *Today*
epitomizes the 'sound bite' mentality.  Like TV sound bites, its articles
are short, superficial, and lacking in substance, and they have lots of
colored pictures, like comic books.  Frequently, I am told by TV
commentators that they do not have time to properly investigate a story,
because of time lines, but we depend on the media to educate and guide us
so that we may save the earth.  Unusaly, I am given three minutes on the
*Today Show* to tell the American people about the medical effects of
nuclear war, while some film star is given eight.  Important news is
trivialized, and the rich, famous, or beautiful people are worshiped. 
This sort of reporting insults the American public.'  

But if Americans are insulted by this type of reporting we certainly
don't show it as the number of hours watched on TV escalates each year
along with the number of magazines sold. And nothing seems to have
changed since 1992. 

I've been told that the human has 'intelligent cells' which operate
throughout our body, not just in our brains. Obviously most of the
current population is using it's bottom part to do more than sit while
our heads are getting undue vacation time. 

Could it be that getting the world's problems solved could be as simple
as getting these priorities straight -- using our anatomical parts for
which purpose they were designed -- with an emphasis on 'top down'.     

I feel I have appropriately retitled this post *Heads Up* with the
priority being on 'top down' please. 

An added last minute thought -- 

DO YOU SUPPOSE IF WE GOT OUR PRIORITIES STRAIGHT WE COULD EVEN SOLVE THE
POPULATION BOOM?    

marguerite  

At 12,16 2.08.2001 +0000, EcoPilgrim@juno.com wrote:

It was the LAWCAPS (lawyer capitalists) who came up with GATT, and 
NAFTA.
And these 'treaties' are doing exactly what they were designed to 
do --
that is -- transfer wealth from you know who to you know who! And, 
it
would have been silly of those who designed them to do anything 
like put
exit dates on them. 
>
>God, I remember now how manipulated we all were via the media to 
> get
> >NAFTA passed. It was supposed to have been the greatest thing since 
> sex
> >for all of us.    
> >
> >marguerite  



Marguerite Hampton
Executive Director - Turtle Island Institute
EcoPilgrim@juno.com
http://tii-kokopellispirit.org