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[Carrie McLaren <temporary181 AT stayfreemagazine.org>]

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