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stayfree - Stay Free | 8 August 2007

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  • From: Carrie McLaren <temporary181 AT stayfreemagazine.org>
  • To: stayfree AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Stay Free | 8 August 2007
  • Date: Tue, 7 Aug 2007 16:26:37 -0400

Par usual, here are highlights from our blog. For images, links, and more stories, visit http://blog.stayfreemagazine.org



STAY FREE! INTERVIEWS GEORGE SAUNDERS

George Saunders' short stories, with their characteristic absurdity and wit, have always taken aim at the ridiculous in American culture--from amusement parks to cure-all consumer products. Since 9/11, however, his work has taken on an even sharper political edge. His 2005 novella The Brief and Frightening Reign of Phil--which started out as a children's book but turned into a parable about genocide--pursued the logic of power to its ultimate conclusion, while occasional pieces he's written for Slate and The New Yorker have offered modest proposals that similarly dissect the machinations of the "new normal." What if every single American went to Iraq and helped out with the mundane chores of daily life? What if we could kill all the people who want to kill us without, somehow, making more people want to kill us? What if we all simply refused to fight and went about our business?

We talked to Saunders about 9/11, the war, TV, Buddhism (of which he is a devotee), and hope. --Jim Hanas

Continued at:
http://blog.stayfreemagazine.org/2007/06/george_saunders.html



STUDY: BABY VIDS MAKE KIDS DUMBER

A new study in the Journal of Pediatrics finds that infants ages 8 to 16 months who watched baby videos were found to have significantly reduced vocabularies; and the more they watched, the less they knew. For every hour per day spent in front of the tube, the infants scores on a language text dropped precipitously....
http://blog.stayfreemagazine.org/2007/08/baby-video-stud.html


HOW (NOT) TO ADVERTISE BABY VIDEOS

One thing you'll never see on the website for a baby video company? A picture of a baby watching a video. Instead, you'll see kids petting farm animals, playing in the sun, and reading books-everything but sitting glassy-eyed in front of the tube....
http://blog.stayfreemagazine.org/2007/08/baby-video-ad.html


THE INTERNET MAKES US DUMBERER

The Pew Institute issued yet another study about how stupid Americans are, and how we are getting stupider. At what point do the scientists decide Americans are as dumb as possible and stop studying this? Check back in November 2008, I guess....
http://blog.stayfreemagazine.org/2007/07/the-internet-ma.html


RITALIN SIDE EFFECTS: HONEY, I SHRUNK THE KIDS!

Is your child acting up? Would it be easier for you if that child were, say, smaller? Then we have the drug for you: Ritalin! "After three years on the ADHD drug Ritalin, kids are about an inch shorter and 4.4 pounds lighter than their peers, a major U.S. study shows.... "
http://blog.stayfreemagazine.org/2007/07/ritalin-stunts-.html


THE WAR ON EMOTICONS

The New York Times reports on military officials' habit of using emoticons for "plausible deniability"...
http://blog.stayfreemagazine.org/2007/08/emoticons.html


PHARMA FOND OF FRAUD-COMMITTING PHYSICIANS

Apparently, doctors who have been disciplined for fraud are finding second careers running clinical trials for drug companies. According to the New York Times, one such doctor, before being hired directly by drug companies, was cited by the FDA for violating protocol in every study he managed! When a suicidal patient refused to be enrolled in one of his trials, he discharged the patient from his hospital--and the patient committed suicide shortly thereafter...http://blog.stayfreemagazine.org/2007/06/im_not_a_doctor.html


THE LIBERTARIAN RESPONSE TO SICKO

Carrie discusses some of the most common criticisms of Sicko, as they appear in news articles posted to Yahoo's iatrogensis list.
http://blog.stayfreemagazine.org/2007/07/the-libertarian.html


CONDOM-FREE TV?

In the latest morality play from the Puritans that run network television, CBS and Fox are refusing to air certain ads for Trojan condoms. Because they won't show advertising for condoms? No, because they won't show ads for condoms that promote f---ing.
http://blog.stayfreemagazine.org/2007/06/condom_ads.html


UH, CARTOON NETWORKŠYOU'RE SUPPOSED TO *PAY* FOR ADVERTISING.

Did Cartoon Network's marketing team learn nothing from their Aqua Teen Hunger Force Boston bomb scare debacle? Apparently not, because now they're resorting to splog: comment spamming on blogs...
http://blog.stayfreemagazine.org/2007/06/uh_cartoon_netw.html


NOWHERE TO HIDE FROM OUTDOOR ADVERTISING

The latest in really, really creepy consumer monitoring comes from the outdoor advertising industry. They are developing cameras that will be placed in billboards so that they can watch people as they read....
http://blog.stayfreemagazine.org/2007/06/creepy_billboar.html


THE OFFICIAL WHINY BLOG POST OF NEW YORK

I heard a radio commercial this morning that concluded with, "That's why, in our opinion, Subaru is the official car of New York." Corporations routinely pay huge sums to be recognized as the official so-and-so of whatever. But apparently Subaru believes if you toss in an IMHO, you can circumvent those pesky contracts and fees....
http://blog.stayfreemagazine.org/2007/07/the-official-wh.html


SUPERSIZE RETURNS TO MCDONALD'S

The New York Times recently reported that Supersize drinks are back -- only now the 42 oz. behemoth is known as the "Hugo." McDonald's you may recall, abandoned its Supersize menu right around the time that Morgan Spurlock's movie Supersize Me came out...
http://blog.stayfreemagazine.org/2007/07/supersize-me.html



  • Stay Free | 8 August 2007, Carrie McLaren, 08/07/2007

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