are you a joiner?

i admit it:  i have a need to belong.  mostly in geeky ways.  i consume memberships, i follow, and worst of all I PAY FOR IT.   i have a membership to cafe press, where any joiner can get his or her fill of tshirts displaying his or her current cause or obsession.  why do we feel the need to consume our own identities and display them for the world to see?

bazinga.  or, well, at least that's what my shirt says.  no seriously, from now on i'll label my musings (aka thoughts i share just because i can) as "bazinga".

extenZe shirts

disclaimer:  something we were talking about in class wednesday, NOT something I covet--believe me!

And another favoirte:

pharma harm

 i'm excited about our conversation concerning big pharma tomorrow!  it just gets me so angry that this industry that is supposed to help us is often hurting us.  seriously, there is no reason to have an ad campaign for any medicine these days, especially considering that none of the information provided in print ads or commercials s actually useful.  or (for other "readers digest" fans) it is in the smallest fine ever, just to give us the impression that the companies want us to be informed.  seriously, there is no difference in the validity of a viagra ad or an extenze ad.  let's watch:
ExtenZe:

Viagra:
Viva Viagra!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Scowretu2yc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XH1aa-RhYX4

headline: health care, insurance, big pharma

in light of the history making vote on health care reform that took place this weekend, we'll spend this week discussing the nations health care system. 

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

In the United States alone, the average person uses 50 pounds of tissue paper per year, using up about seven trees worth of paper. Paper represents over one-third of all municipal waste and roughly 9% of greenhouse gas emissions in the country. With increasing concerns for the destruction of forests, it has become more important to reduce paper waste.
So tell me, why is that people waste so much paper by insisting on drying their hands with paper towels following their going to the bathroom? The other option provided, a technological solution mind you, is the annoyingly loud and energy consuming air-dry-unit. Please, someone explain to me what's wrong with using the back, sides, or front of one's pants? I can understand a woman in a fancy dress or slacks, or a man in a fancy suit, but college kids still wearing their pajamas from the night before? Or a person wearing jeans? It seems that most perform this task rather mindlessly with little consideration for the environmentally destructive action their participating in (needless production and all that comes with it).
Perhaps the next time you wash following your using the toilet, you should consider using your clothing to dry your hands instead of the environmentally unfriendly means provided. Conditioning is a fact of life and we should try our best to recognize those little things that we we're mindlessly conditioned to do so we can stop doing them. Give some feedback. What do you think about the wasteful means for drying ones' hands? Are you willing to dry your hands by simply flicking the water from your fingers down into the sink (2 or 3 quick flicks), and then with little effort, simply wiping the remaining water onto the pants your most likely going to wash after wearing once or twice anyway?

idiocracy

in class on monday and wednesday, we got a chance to view the movie "idiocracy".  of course, i want a bit of insight on what you thought about the film.  any comments are welcome, but specifically responses to these two questions:
are we (the US) headed towards an "idiocratic"society?
why does my judge (films writer/director) choose commercialism specifically as one of the main causes of an all-out idiocracy? is it fair?