Friggin’ hilarious… and a bit true as well :)
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Tag Archives: culture
everything is amazing – nobody is happy
Posted in general, philosophy, technology, www
Tagged busyness, complacency, consumerism, culture, life, technology, truth, web, wisdom
school, fashion and irony
My wife and I were purchasing shoes at Hannah’s today (don’t ask), and felt empathy for the mother-of-teenaged-daughter, whom we overheard saying, “It’s school, not a fashion show…”
Among the many things no doubt blurring the distinction between the two would be Hannah’s latest catch phrase: “Life is your catwalk.”
true beauty
…is sometimes found in surprising places.
gambling during a recession?
This morning, a Breakfast programme discussed the less-than-commendable notion of borrowing funds to invest during a recession…
…and my wife just now walked in the door from a work-leaving do (for non-NZ readers, ‘do’ means ‘event’ or ‘party’), which involved walking through the Sky City building, and mentioned how surprised she was to see how busy the casino was.
Interesting.
Tagged culture, current event, ethics, life, morals, temptation, wisdom
buses, religion and life
Prof. John Stackhouse’s post (here) on the recent “bus campaigns” is quite good and balanced I think.
Apparently, the board of a Vancouver bus company has the following regulation on bus ads:
“No advertisement will be accepted which promotes or opposes a specific theology or religious ethic, point of view, policy or action.” Continue reading
Posted in philosophy, www
Tagged atheism, belief, consumerism, culture, current event, ethics, life, morals, religion, worldview
american millionaire stimulus?
Recent US stimulus package = nearly a trillion US dollars.
Compare that with a comment I randomly saw on this post:
10% of 10 million US millionaires’ funds = a trillion US dollars.
American millionaires investing in the American economy? A novel concept indeed.
Full comment quote:
1 trillion is taking 10% of the net worth of ten million millionaires and yes 10 million millionaire households is about what we have in the United States as of 2009.
Oh my gosh, have we accidentally through the magic of math discovered how to stimulate the entire economy without increasing the debt to the tax payer? A one time flat tax, ooops I mean millionaire stimulus to invest in America, the wealthiest are known to spend the least hence lets re-allocate that money where it matters…
lol – now that is a joke, American millionaires investing in America.
((note: the comment below this one links to an article saying there are only 3 million millionaires in the US – but it’s still an interesting thought!))
Tagged consumerism, culture, current event, ethics, politics
stinking stimulus
Anyone who has a knee jerk (i.e. less than critical) reaction to political events in general and the recent U.S. stimulus package in particular, should shut up and think before ranting.
That said, I just don’t like the thought (much less the passing) of the new stimulus package (and I’m not at all anti-Obama – to be crystal clear). $US838 BILLION – on what I can’t help but see as a kind of massively over-sized whallop to a horse that is eventually going to die. Yes, I’m aware of the complexity to all this, and No, I don’t think there are any quick fixes. But I still cannot understand or begin to support spending nearly a trillion dollars on trying to preserve the “American Way of Life” ™.
What kind of precedent are we setting for future generations? What are we saying to the rest of the world – much of which is living in some mild or severe form of poverty; a different kind of poverty indeed to the ‘poverty’ some are facing in ‘developed’ nations around the world.
Some may think, “Oh, but financial prosperity for the ‘rich west’ will enable them to be generous to the ‘poor rest’…” That kind of capitalistic mentality (a.k.a. ‘the rising tide will lift many small boats’) is utter Bull. Greed does not engender generosity.
Instead of our bank account levels needing to go ‘up’, we need our standard of living to go ‘down’ to a realistic and sustainable place. And as long as ‘going out and spending money to stimulate the economy’ is part of doing your ‘patriotic duty’, then I think I want to be unpatriotic.
Tagged advertising, change, consumerism, culture, current event, death, discernment, ethics, evil, justice, life, morals, politics, poverty, stewardship
wisdom for a divisive issue
Obama’s recent statements on the 36th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, remind us all (like it or not) of the immensely divisive issue of abortion. The article says… Continue reading
validated
I admit it. I began to tear up at the end of this 15-minute short video called ‘validated‘ (couldn’t work out how to embed it) … :)
costs here and there
Want to have a baby in New Zealand? That will cost you… nothing at all. Diane and I have had various scans, midwife services, ante-natal classes, additional support and of course, the birth and subsequent more-than-normal care (heck, we’re even going to be reimbursed for the cost of petrol/gas to and from the hospital!) for our precious 7-week premature Thomas – all payed for by taxes payed by us and the rest of New Zealand. So, yes, nothing is free, but these burdens are shared by the whole country here…
Want to have a baby in the United States? You’ll probably want insurance. I’m told a common cost for having a baby is around $10,000. Who on earth would have ever thought that something so sublime as childbirth should ever have to be something you have to be insured for!!??
Then again, maybe New Zealand makes up for it in wireless internet charges? In the US, you can go to nearly ANY cafe and enjoy free wireless internet – here, I’m paying $3 per hour ‘thanks’ to Tomizone… :)