I remember watching a Bill Hicks interview when he described his censoring from the David Letterman show with the words “United States of Advertising,” which basically means that the companies that are sponsoring your favorite shows also control what can and cannot be shown during the whole time. So, it makes sense when Bill was fully censored (after being told that his show that night was great), because his jokes that night had to do with abortion. Little did he know that a pro-life company sponsored the Letterman show. That’s some serious business.

Watching commercials is something that I don’t particularly like to do, but it gives me a great insight of the world that we live in. The more I watch the more I see how those commercials reflect on the way that people behave. The same thing happens with movies. When people do something cool they say “it was like the movies.” Isn’t that strange? Movies are supposed to imitate our life, not the other way around. Come to think of it, the same thing happens with songs, magazines, etc. A commercial, however, has to be short, so all the gimmicks that we see have to be over exaggerated and memorable. Step inside the United States of Advertising.

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Popularity: 100% [?]

I have nothing against phones, or technology for that matter. I just don’t think that people should go crazy over it. There were people sleeping outside of stores, in order to be the first who get the new phone. Are you kidding me? It is also a perfect example of how you can promote anything, anywhere if you have enough money. Your news talk about it, your radio talks about it, blogs talk about it…for about two days. After a month, they will make a new, slightly altered phone and the cycle continues. After seeing a video about that new phone on YouTube, I decided to gather my “Trippin’ News” studio and do a little make over. I know that it won’t appeal to some, but still, you should see it.

Popularity: 79% [?]

For those of you who don’t know, COX is a cable and internet provider that is popular in the US (I would assume). Not only does it have an obvious travesty of a name , but COX often displays commercials telling parents how to block their children from certain “harmful” web sites:

“With Cox high speed Internet services, you get parental controls for free that will allow you to customize the level of filtering you want on your computer.  You have the option of blocking your children from visiting certain Web sites and setting up passwords so only you can access the parental control settings.  It can be so simple to protect your children from the dangers of the Internet.” (source)

So far so good. But I really, really want to know what they have to say about the half-naked “Girls Gone Wild” videos that start playing at night on the basic channels that they provide with their service? Isn’t it dangerous to get drunk and show your naked body for money.  You bet it is. And If they are so concerned with protecting your child, why do they allow drunk, half-naked, semi-idiotic females to enter your kiddie’s world late at night?

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Popularity: 61% [?]

Apparently, there is a show called “Baby Borrowers,” where they make teens take care of babies for some reason. Channels seem to be pushing the limit every day, don’t you think so? There is a show for everything nowadays — decorating your home, getting in jail, being a terrorist, etc. I think that, in the future, wherever we do, there will be a substantial risk of being featured in a reality show.

“I call this the Facebook effect” - Ocean Vice

The “facebook effect” is when people take pictures of each other not to remember the moment in the future, but to have something to put on facebook (I am sure you know what it is). The “facebook effect” is often accompanied by many phrases such as:

“Dude, let’s put those pictures on facebook”
“Hey, give me you facebook account so I can tag those pictures”
“I haven’t made a kissy face yet, don’t take my picture”
“Picture take facebook now”
“Now facebook take picture”

“Facebook take now picture”
….or a variation of the above

The “facebook effect” is a also a distant cousin of the “myspace effect.” Anyways, I suspect that, like facebook, whatever we do in the future will be connected with reality shows. Believe me, they will find a way to creep up on our lives.

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Popularity: 17% [?]

I will give you a cookie if you guess how many times Keith says anything containing the word “lobby.”
Enjoy!

Popularity: 14% [?]

It is so easy to hate media nowadays. A while ago I did a post about the teen pregnancy pact, basically claiming that it is a worthless piece of information and all about sensationalism. Today I stumbled upon this article:

“Over the weekend, Mayor Carolyn Kirk of Gloucester told The Associated Press that an initial inquiry had turned up nothing to confirm the assertions of Joseph Sullivan, who was quoted as saying that 17 girls under the age of 16 had “confessed to making a pact to get pregnant and raise their babies together.” Other officials backed up Mayor Kirk’s statement today in comments to The Boston Herald.

Doubt was also expressed by the local newspaper that had been covering the surge in pregnancies long before Time. Patrick Anderson, the lead reporter on the story for The Gloucester Daily Times, told Editor & Publisher that “the idea of the pact is not something we had reported and not something we have found.” The new element, he said, “took an already unusual story and turned it into something operatic.”

Meanwhile, leaders of Gloucester plan to hold a meeting today on the issue, though Mr. Sullivan will not be in attendance. He’s been on vacation since last week, official said, even as his name reached national prominence. As for the article in question, it remains unchanged while sitting atop Time.com’s “most popular” chart.” (The New York Times)

Isn’t it funny how everyone started discussing, complaining and arguing about something that, in all probability, is not even true.  It is all cheap hype and sensationalism intended to waste you time.  We are back in high school again.

Popularity: 15% [?]

As you might have heard, there was an oil summit in Saudi Arabia today. This is what came out of it:

“Saudi King Abdullah confirmed Sunday that his country will increase daily oil production to 9.7 million barrels from 9 million to counter the sharp rise in international oil prices.” (source)

Basically, some are saying that the oil problem is because of the increasing demand and the inability of Saudi Arabia to cope with it, while the honorable King Abdullah is blaming speculators. Either way, it is interesting to see how increasing the oil production is going to change what matters most to the common man – prices.

Many people are saying that oil is the main reason why America invaded Iraq. However, only by looking at the facts can we truly make an educated opinion about that statement. Facts:

We are discovering less and less oil fields
We are consuming 3 times more oil than the oil we are discovering
We are consuming 84 million barrels a day

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Popularity: 17% [?]

I would also suggest playing Call of Duty 4 and Team Fortress 2. Is this the best they can come up with?

Popularity: 13% [?]

According to CNN:

“Five foreign troops were killed Saturday in Afghanistan, bringing the number of NATO and U.S.-led coalition troop deaths in June to 32 — more than in Iraq.” (source)

It astonishes me how the war in Afghanistan does not receive as much coverage as the war in Iraq (at least in the US.) Everybody is talking about bringing democracy to Iraq, getting out of Iraq, there will even be a reality show about Iraq someday, but the war in Afghanistan always stays in the shadows. The general opinion about Afghanistan is that it is justified because of Bin Laden:

“After attack on the World Trade Center in New York on Sept. 11, 2001, President Bush gave the Taliban an ultimatum to hand over Mr. Bin Laden. When it refused, the United States joined forces with rebel groups that had never accepted Taliban rule, notably the Northern Alliance, which represented minority tribes. An air and ground campaign began that drove the Taliban out of the major Afghan cities by the end of the year.” (source)

Obviously, Bin Laden is nowhere to be found. He may be dead, he may have had plastic surgery, or he might be drinking tea with Chaney right now (for all of you conspiracy folks out there.) All in all, it does not matter what happened to him. What matters is that people are getting killed over a war, which is called the “war on terror.” Such a thing does not exist. You might have some success in defending a war against communists (due to Cold War propaganda), but a war against terror has as much validity as a war against Narnia.

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Popularity: 14% [?]

You know what kind of a news day it is going to be for America when the top “picks” are : “boy hit by ball at Sox game,”  “outrage over bear’s shooting,” “man gave buttocks enhancing injections,” and the usual “garnish” of NASA filler, which is a hopeful attempt to wake up anyone who has not fallen asleep yet.

On the bright side I have stumbled upon a blog called Where’s the Outrage, which has an interesting post about a surveillance bill which the house passed:

“Ending a year-long battle with President Bush, the House approved, 293 to 129, a re-write of the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) that extends the government’s ability to eavesdrop on espionage and terrorism suspects while providing a legal escape hatch for AT&T, Verizon Communications and other telecommunication firms. The companies face more than 40 lawsuits that allege they violated customers’ privacy rights by helping the government conduct a warrantless spying program after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks” (qt. from the Washington Post)

Popularity: 16% [?]

A big news story has swept the nation once again. A mysterious pregnancy pact has been made among a couple of sophomore high school girls, who apparently:

“regularly approached her (friend) in the hall, remarking how lucky she was to have a baby” link

Let’s get a couple of things straight here.  If a bunch of girls decide to have a pregnancy pact, then I think that they really deserve what’s coming for them.  To go through all this trouble, making a pact and all, and then having it broken down and televised must really hurt them right now.  And of course, you have the usual blogging intelligence suggesting that giving birth control was a part of the problem, because it encourages teen sex.  I think that the “pregnancy pact” movement would really benefit from that, because they have been living in a cave all this time and exposing them to evil sex encouraging birth control methods would just change everything.

“All it took was a few simple questions before nearly half the expecting students, none older than 16, confessed to making a pact to get pregnant and raise their babies together. Then the story got worse. “We found out one of the fathers is a 24-year-old homeless guy,” the principal says, shaking his head”

Do you know what this reminds me of? A really, really bad porn movie script that has the potential of being really, really ridiculously good.  Give me a break.  Is this that big of an issue?  Let me tell you how they decided to make that pact:

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Popularity: 14% [?]

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Popularity: 13% [?]

As you might have heard, all major stores are putting their tomatoes away because of a salmonella outbreak.  The origins of which still remain unknown.  Of course, this disaster for humankind has been covered by all major news channels and we will be presented with numerous reasons for people not to eat their beloved tomatoes.  BadGeneration presents to you a list of things you can do in order to satisfy your tomato fetish:

1. Have a tomato-throwing festival

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Popularity: 16% [?]

“Patients will live with their cancer, and die with their cancer, but not of their cancer - it will be like diabetes today”

Professor Karol Sikora
Imperial College London

Have you ever wondered how medicine will cure all kinds of deadly diseases in the future?  To me, it always seems like there is a group of people locked up in a lab somewhere, constantly trying to figured it out.  There is always a certain amount of secrecy involved in finding a cure that will benefit the humankind, but it will also upset certain corporate interests.  In the end, it is our own immune system that holds the key to a longer life.

Another issue that I find interesting is the constant use of the word “research” when describing a possible breakthrough in the sphere of medicine.  It is usually followed by the word “money.”  However, I don’t think we are ready for a world-wide cancer cure campaign, considering that there are people who are dying from hunger just in this very moment.  And I also hate it when people use Africa as the holy place of hunger.  There are people dying from hunger two blocks away from us.  It is easier to pin point what needs to be done when you are far away from the real issues.  It is when they start being pushed in your face, that you begin to take real measures.

Popularity: 14% [?]

One of the many topics that news agencies prefer to dwell on, in order to deter your attention from the real issues is gay marriage.  On and on, they would ramble about how bad it is, how God did not intend for it to happen and how the world is going to blow up if we see two men or women holding hands and loving each other, while heterosexual couples are fighting with flamethrowers and baseball bats.

To paraphrase Bill Hicks, if the opponents of gay marriage are such good Christians why don’t they just…hm…forgive gay couples.  Christianity promotes forgiveness, doesn’t it?  Now, I know that people are going to say that this is an issue about principles and the definition of “marriage.”  Well, if you haven’t already noticed I don’t really pay much attention to the terms themselves, but rather to my own experiences.  As a straight man, I can say  that gay people are obviously happier, positive and usually more open-minded than the “blessed” heterosexuals.  Gay couples have been fighting for the right to marry each other for some time now; why shoudn’t they have it?  I would really like to hear somebody’s view on that question.

Popularity: 14% [?]