we all have our prejudices about AIDS– and the reason why it has started to spread across the world. in some corners of the world, specifically China, there are other contributing factors to this. in the current issue of the economist, the article “anatomy of an epidemic” brings some interesting new information to the debate. Read it here. for those who don’t want conservative or liberal filtering to world news…i highly recommend the economist. it’s worth the price.

i will refrain from commenting on the article here because it speaks for itself.

Technorati : AIDS, China

is anyone else cheered by the sight of toys we remember from our youth being popular again? i’m not that old…but seeing rubik’s cubes (take the stickers off..it’s easier), cabbage patch kids, and care bears brings back good memories. having said that, life before broadband internet, tricked-out computers and game systems and satellite tv/ radio couldn’t possibly have been as good. it probably wasn’t. but there was something very cool about the primitive computers and game systems. in case we plead intentional amnesia about the decade that was the 80’s…here’s a quick list of “totally rad” and simply awful trends that happened during those years.

Rad(not in any particular order)

• pretty in pink (classic molly ringwald)
• the princess bride (many quotable lines)
• the atari 2600
• the rubik’s cube
• tasteful mesh
• Ronald Reagan
• the decline of communism
• the cosby show
• michael j. fox
• fishnets

Awful

• the mohawk (bad idea in any decade)
• leg warmers and headbands
• michael jackson’s one glove
• the overuse of spandex
• mullets

if you want to relive the decade, try some of these fun links.

http://www.80s.com/

You might be a child of the 80’s if…

http://www.fast-rewind.com/

http://www.80stees.com/

Technorati : 80’s, mohawks, mullets, rubik’s cubes

Former ABC network news anchor Peter Jennings finally succumbed to cancer. Network news won’t be the same without him. Whatever anyone may think of his political leanings, he seemed to be a genuinely good person. So for that reason, he will be missed. Read about it here on FNC’s website. If you prefer a different news source, here are the links to it on CNN and MSNBC . It’s worth noting that the story is from the AP on all three sites…so there’s really no difference on this story.

Technorati : peter jennings

civilized societies have laws and restrictions on self-destructive behavior. this is a good thing. a permissive society is a society in chaos. it denies that moral absolutes exist.it cannot successfully function when individual rights always supercede those of the community as a whole. i’m not talking about property rights or the 2nd amendment. you should have the right to own property without worrying about government giving it to private developers to build a strip mall. guns are ok for law-abiding citizens to have. (although i would have to think about why a law-abiding citizen would need an UZI, but i digress…)

i’ve said all this to make this point — we shouldn’t encourage people in self-destructive behavior. this is what we would be doing if drugs and prostitution were legalized. in communities where there is drug dealing and prostitution, those communities are negatively affected. what we are talking about is not simply some misguided individual making bad choices for himself/herself. others are affected by those bad choices.

prostitution exists because men think they can’t control themselves. more often than not, they are cheating on their wives or girlfriends. and what about the women that are paid to perform this “service”? let’s not kid ourselves. most of the time, it doesn’t end like “pretty woman”. doesn’t anybody care about these women? i’m guessing that most prostitutes would rather be in a different career track, but they convince themselves that they could never succeed in any other profession. that’s very sad. the women deserve better and the men should be ashamed that they use women this way.

in the same way, legalizing drugs would be just as detrimental to society. what happened when abortion was legalized? more abortions happened. are abortions totally safe? no. complications happen sometimes. you can’t make the case that legalizing drugs makes them safer. it just makes them easier to buy and sell.

think about the implications of allowing people to wander around in a drug-induced haze. there is no good reason to take illegal drugs. none. if they’re lucky, they will only end up getting fired from their jobs. in a worst case scenario, these people will end up driving motor vehicles and causing accidents. as far as controlling drugs and prostitution by legalizing it, how is Amsterdam doing with that anyway?

Technorati : drugs, libertarians, prostitution

welcome to my blog!

this blog will be primarily about sports, life, and politics. i believe that talking heads on tv and ideologues, both conservative and liberal, tend to distort the debate on political issues. i will try to inject a common sense perspective on these topics and others of interest to me.

feel free to post your comments as well. if you want to know more about me, more details will be posted soon. enjoy the rant! lisa

the cynic in all of us questions the value of mega-concerts such as live 8. we rush to question motives and whether hypocrisy exists in all the rhetoric dished out during the show. it’s a natural skepticism. it is a legitimate question whether all the stars put their money where their mouth is, and they definitely should. however, the cynic that dismisses the whole thing as celebrities trying to validate their fame and fortune by promoting a worthy cause is missing part of the story. i don’t know whether live 8 will be the catalyst for meaningful change it desires to be, but if it can provide a wake-up call to those who have been discouraged by the monotony and prosaic reality of everyday life, that’s a worthy achievement. I believe that this at least is possible.

perhaps we have lost our ability to believe in something bigger than ourselves. we can easily lose sight of the bigger picture when we get bogged down in the details. we look at the fortunate fools who still believe and trust in the power of a big dream, and we are envious. we are envious because we used to be where they are. we know better now. we are smarter, too smart to believe, to dream, or to act like our lives mean something. here’s to the ones who haven’t become jaded and cynical enough to settle for being ordinary. dreamers with a plan can change the world. we have seen it throughout history. we can’t all be singers, or actors, or people with a great big stage to influence huge crowds of people. but we all have a part to play. we all can make a difference where we are. this is too easily forgotten. if i take nothing else from live 8, i take this: don’t lose the belief in the impossible. that is what makes us feel alive. that is what keeps us from being ordinary and settling for an existence that can never satisfy us.