Like my friend Linda, I didn’t think anything about a woman having a heart attack could be at all funny. Actually, I think it would be funny only to women, because a “typical morning” for a man tends to be very different from that of a woman. Anyway, this short video gets the message across while letting us chuckle a bit–if somewhat uneasily. Judge for yourself:
[Thanks to Linda Younts for this one.]
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This short video is so heartbreaking. If the child threw rocks, set off a bomb, or yelled obscenities at the Israeli soldiers, what adults–the real ones at blame–taught him to do that? If the child was simply guilty of being Palestinian while walking down the street, what adults–again the real ones to blame–taught this soldier such hate and cruelty? Hatred begets hatred; cruelty begets cruelty. Why would parents perpetuate such inhumanity? Over land? Politics? A God who must, by now, have shed oceans of tears over the situation? So heartbreaking.
See video at www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=599613566824335. There are about 10 seconds of a newsperson (not in English), then the video.
The debate continues–“off or on?” Consider this: by turning off your computer at night you’ll use about 75% fewer kilowatts. This makes a big difference in an office, where computers use more electricity than all other equipment put together, but it also helps at home.
“I just use sleep mode,” say some people. “It costs me only about $50 a year more than turning off the computer, and computers don’t like to be turned off and on too often.”
Wrong. Watch this short video Why You Should Never Leave Your Computer On to see what sleep mode and on/offs mean to your computer. You can help the Earth AND avoid expenses at the same time!
[For more easy, money-saving, Eco-friendly tips, download a FREE copy of Green Riches: Help the Earth & Your Budget. Go to www.Smashwords.com/books/ view/7000, choose a format, and download to your computer or e-book device. Or download a free copy from your favorite e-tailer.]
If you’ve heard about the video featuring a swearing, racist little kid, don’t bother with it. I thought it was media hype rather than an actual video, so I made the mistake of searching for it. The first one (yes, there are multiples, with different kids) was one minute of an 18-month old who, according to Mom, was trying to say “bucket” but somehow turned the “b” into an “f.” The adults around him laughed, encouraging him–until he was told to stop and began crying and angrily hurling his new-found phrase at the people around him.
That was the mild one: one phrase and no racism.
I clicked on another…the kid looks around age 3. He used words that would, as they say, make a sailor blush, plus racial insults at at least two groups (I watched only about 30 seconds of it–there may be more racial slurs). Again, the adults thought it was all tremendously funny, and they encouraged him. Unlike the first video, which garnered few written comments (mainly explaining the “b” vs. “f”), this one has a multitude which express approval and appreciation for how funny it is. Of course, this second video came out at least three years ago rather than recently.
I have trouble understanding why adults act this way. Why they create vulgar racists at such a tender, impressionable age. Why they think it’s all so funny. Why they think it’s okay to denigrate people who are different from them.
I have a feeling that these same adults will have no clue later when they have trouble with their teenager, shaking their heads and asking themselves why he is the way he is.
Remember the excitement as a young kid of getting together with a couple of your friends to play? Maybe one would bring a ball, another his dog. You’d run around, devising games and new rules as you went. When you were tired, you’d stop, sit under a shade tree, and complain about your siblings or a mean teacher. In other words, you’d hang out together, enjoying each other’s company.
Contrast that to what was on TV’s 7 on Your Side earlier this week. The segment compared video games for parents thinking about getting one for their child for Christmas. What interested me, though, was the scene: three young boys, presumably friends who had come together to play, sit in a circle, each totally absorbed in his own video-game world. No words or glances were exchanged, no sharing of what was going on in the device clutched in any of the young hands. No indication that any of them knew that anyone else was present in that intimate-looking circle. In short, no interaction.
Me and my video game. Who needs friends?
Here’s a protest I can relate to. It seems that Greg Karber didn’t like it when A & F’s CEO Mike Jeffries said that only “cool kids” and “only thin and beautiful people” should wear their clothing…and Greg was determined to get even. But he wanted to do something positive, at the same time, to, as he says, “Turn this negative urge into something that might be positive for society.” His answer was to go to thrift stores and buy all the used A & F clothing he could find, and give it to the homeless in Los Angeles. (Note that A & F never donates damaged or substandard clothing but burns it instead.) He hopes his action will be an inspiration to others. I hope it will do what he wants it to do, PLUS call attention to the needs of the homeless. That would be a double win.
Some people accuse Greg of using the homeless to re-brand A & F, so that people stop thinking of them as special or “cool.” Sounds to me like the accusers think of a homeless person as a non-person, incapable of being “cool” in his or her own right. Also, if the homeless wearing an identifiable label degrades or defames those behind the label, a whole lot of organizations had better get out there and yank the clothing off of those people’s bodies. (Think 49ers, Giants, Gap, Old Navy, Obama, Bush, Ghandi, and Holy Family Parish.)
By the way, Greg is a So. CA film maker, so of course he posted a video online (http://www.christiantoday.com/article/abercrombie.fitch.homeless.video.receive.af.clothing.greg.karber.effort.rebrand.controversial.brand/32494.htm). – No comment from me on the video.
Glacier calving: This impressive real video shows the power of nature and puts into perspective what is happening to our magnificent glaciers. It’s worth 4 1/2 minutes of your time to watch.