This seems to have received a little more press than when I first found it, but a city in California shut down a little girl's lemonade stand because she didn't have the proper permits. I'm not sure if this is just an isolated incident, but even so, really? Let the kids sell lemonade. Everything will be fine.
There's a huge plastic patch in the ocean. It seems to be made up of little pieces of plastic from trash and debris, but it's hundreds of miles long. I'd really like for the planet to get to be saved, but sometimes it seems like we've already done too much damage.
Two things about youth and sex: 1. The magazine Christian Today, has published an article about how since its tough to be abstinent until marriage, they should just marry younger. Cause that won't cause anymore problems. 2. Candie's has been doing this since I was in high school, but the whole "I'm sexy and don't need to have sex" thing, seems a little contradictory. Let's all think back to 'virgin' Britney and what a great influence she was. Just let girls be girls and stop telling them they need to be sexy. Geez.
Palin won't shut up about the Death Panels. What really worries me is she may be gaining somewhat of a following. People seem to like her. Not a lot, not yet, but if this country's relationship with our president doesn't improve over the next few years, maybe she has a shot. That's scary.
Also in tech news, there was recently a Twitter blackout. And if you didn't notice, everyone freaked out. Here's the thing, I'm on Twitter (@Samicorn), I get it. I'm not super into it, but I understand the appeal and often usefulness of it. But the thing is, it's really new, and it frightens me how reliant we've become on this and other technologies that are also really really new. We jump on anything that's new and cool whether or not we figure out if it's good or resilient or whatever. It's all so new, we don't know all the pitfalls. What if the Internet were to just go down for a day? Wouldn't it be epic?
The number of Americans on antidepressants has doubled in 10 years. This isn't so worrisome on its own, because I know there are people who really need these types of medications and they can really do a world of help. I worry that it's not the people who need help who are causing the rise. In all likelihood, it would seem that people either just don't want to deal or function so they take the easy way out. And ultimately this boils down to me comparing us to Orwell's 1984.
There's a study that basically says if we really want to save the planet, we need to have less children. That's kind of a 'duh' statement in my opinion, but it bothers me because people aren't going to do that on their own. They'll keep living and doing without thinking, so the only way to change that would be to put a law or regulation in place, and I know in this country, that would not go over well at all.
I know I'm a bit of a pessimist. However I keep myself sane by surrounding myself with shiny things and cute creatures. So if I've depressed you at all, watch this! It fixes everything!
So, I spend a lot of time on the Internet reading various news sites and blogs and whatnot (especially lately because my job means I do nothing in the summertime). And I'm constantly running across things that freak me out or greatly disturb me, and considering the fact that I've already accepted that we as a species are doomed, these types of articles only solidify this thought. So here, I've randomly collected some things that I would like to share with you, not so much for your enjoyment but more for your daily dose of 'oh-crap-things-are-fucked-up.' Enjoy.
Fish are shrinking. Not just in numbers (which is a problem in and of its own) but also in size, which is going to create problems for us and numerous other creatures.
With the economic crisis and high unemployment rates and all, people are starting to work for free. This article points out some reasons why that's good for both businesses and workers, but it seems to me that this is the kind of thing that will throw the whole employment system out of whack.
I was just introduced to this Tumblr blog by my friend Ryan, and it shows some very interesting parental specimen. I highly recommend clicking through it, but prepare to be somewhat perturbed.
There's always been idiotic talk of Obama not being a citizen, but for some reason as of late, that story has picked up some steam and now it's all about whether or not he's a 'natural born citizen.' This isn't going to go far enough to actually kick him out of office, but it worries me that just enough people will be convinced that he's not legit, because let's face it, most people are pretty stupid.
Also on the Obama, because of this whole Gates debacle, he's having Gates and the arresting officer over for beers. Sounds totally cool to me, I'd love to have beers with the president. What worries me is the amount of coverage now being dedicated to the types of beer the men will be drinking, and whether or not they are appropriate choices. Come on people, seriously?
That's all for now, but I'm sure if I give a few more days, there will be plenty more troubling things...
I apologize if some of these are a little old, but if they seem to be, good for you for reading the news!
