Archive for March, 2012
The New World Order: Rush Limbaugh vs. Empowered Women in the 21st Century
Freedom of speech? Its a thorny topic. Do people have the right to be hateful, misinformed, even misogynist? Does free speech include allowing emotional and psychologies bullies, like Rush Limbaugh, to use the airwaves for name calling? In the United States it is free speech uber alles, but other countries have different perspectives. In Canada you can’t engage in hate speech, just like you can’t punch people in the face. Whatever your position, however you think about it, Rush certainly is a magnet for controversy.
The Last Days of the Lilliputians
Are you an angry student? Are you pissed off? Does your education lead you to look at the world and say WTF? Well welcome to our nightmare, the world as it is, and not how it is presented by the corporate media. But what are you going to do with that anger? Riot in the streets? Burn some police cars? Throw some bottles? All I can say to that is, grow up and get some analysis, get some hutzpah, and join a cause. You don’t like the way the world is working? Get together with some others and make some change.
The Moral and Empirical Decline of the GOP – Losing Touch With Reality, Economics, and Values
We like to see the world in black and white, good and evil, right and wrong, usually with our side being on the side of right and the other side being on the side of wrong. Therefore, it is refreshing to see an individual embrace more of a “new energy” perspective on things where a supporter on the side of “right” says ‘hey, wait a minute, we need to look inside for a moment.” That is just what this sociologist does as he examines not only what’s great, but what is not so great, in America’s Grand Old Party (GOP). Now if we could just get the left to do the same.
The Sacred and the Profane: Religion, Military Occupation, and Intolerance in the Age of Reason
War. Hmm. What is it good for? Absolutely nothing. Say it again. Ya, right. Actually, war is good for something. It is good for our western, resource hungry, consumer system. War allows us to control the resources in other countries, and allows to take those resources as we see fit. We were friends to the Afghan people when the Soviets controlled the oil (and we didn’t like that), and now we’re enemies because we want the oil just as bad as the Soviets, with predictable consequences of growing hatred, violence, and social disintegration.
The emotional abuse of our children: Teachers, schools, and the sanctioned violence of our modern institutions.
You never stop to think that sending your kids to school can be a problem, but it can be. From the residential schools of First Nations infamy to the violence of straps and the horror of school yard bullying, schools are not always safe places. The truth is, children can experience physical, emotional, and even sexual abuse at the hands of students, teachers, priests. ministers, reverends, etc.. The research demonstrates that abuse of all forms undermines self esteem, lowers social productivity, causes depression, and contributes to long term social problems. Isn’t it time we recognized the horror and stopped hurting our children?
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