critical thinking

there are two kinds of idiots in our climate

Part whatever in a series...

in what may have to be an on going theme, i post another comment on critical thinking...



that is not a great picture. i mean it is ok, but nothing special. i took it, and post it here for one reason only.....

imagine standing in front of this view. imagine that it is about 40 degrees. imagine that you have just learned that the weather is so cold and the growing season so short that the trees in the distance stand only 3 feet tall, even though they are 400 years old. imagine that you just learned that 3 glaciers feed into the lakes in this valley. imagine that all you can smell is pine, and the ice floating on the water. you can actually Smell the ice....

now imagine that you stepped into the edge of the lake, in about 8 inches of water, in sandals, and then turned and yelled at the tour guide who told you all of the above information, "You didn't warn me that it is cold water!"

cause about 4 seconds before i took that picture, that is what i watched a woman do.

it boggles the mind.

the stupidity goes on

"“John McCain stood up to the President and sounded the alarm on global warming five years ago. Today, he has a realistic plan that will curb greenhouse gas emissions,” an announcer says in the ad. The 30-second spot also says that McCain’s plan “will help grow our economy and protect our environment.”"

As mentioned below, the "realistic plan" includes drilling for less than a years worth of oil that we won't see for 17 years. By destroying ANWR.

I missed the realistic part. And the protecting the environment part. And the part where giving more cash to the already loaded oil companies is an economy grower. And the part where that cuts emissions.

OK, not one word of the plan actually relates to one word of the claims. Except as an antonym.

McCain, not just fail, Epic Fail.

"mens tastes never change"

get with the program

there was a post, a few days back, about a new ad campaign in brazil. the goal seems to be to shame women into losing weight. cause, ya know, we don't already do that. i feel like it isn't working.....



the translation, i am told, is "Forget about it. Men's preference will never change. Fit Light Yogurt." this is so wrong, on so many levels....

first of all, if the point of the ad is to make people say "oh yuck, i don't want to look like that! i better get some yogurt!" it is failing with a large part of the audience. comments on the other blogs i saw talking about this ranged from "rrrrowwwrrrr!" to "where do these women live? brazil? i am moving!" to "i sure wouldn't kick her outta my bed!"

so ya. disgusting.

be yourself. just like everyone else...

secondly, there is the question of body image. is it possible that these women might be happy the way they look? i mean what if that is just how they naturally are? not everyone is a size two. i am pretty sure. in fact, even many women who wear size two aren't size two. a lot of people have touched on the subject of the unhealthy body image that prevails in ads and hollywood, and they all know better than i do, and i can't really add any quality to the discussion, but the message is still not out there i guess, cause, well we get ads like this....



so while i am not an expert, or even qualified to speak up..... well, count me as one of the mob that is yelling their support.

creating beauty... and?

but there is a point that i haven't read anyone touch on yet, and since it crossed my mind, that is the fork in the road we are taking intrepid travelers... strap in tight, sign post up ahead.



the question for me is, "how much photoshoping was used to make these models plus sized?" seriously, has anyone wondered besides me?

what if these women in these ads don't look like that, but rather are the size nothing waifs that generally model and some art director made them heavier?

now i don't know if that happened. for all i know the images are untouched. a good photoshop artist wouldn't leave any signs after all..... but i am looking at the american beauty picture again, and there might just be a few problems around the lower arms and neck. again, i am no expert, and even experts can be fooled, but there might be some issues in the shadows and texture there.

so lets assume that my eyes and low resolution are not combining to make me a fool for a few moments. imagine if you will an industry that actively seeks people far thinner than the norm, then uses makeup, lighting, hairdressing and even image editing techniques to make them into something far too "perfect" to be real. then they promote those images as an ideal beauty that men should pursue and women should spend endless amounts of money to try to attain. and THEN they need to promote the things that will (in theory) make the women looking at these ads into the "perfect" models in their ads.

...so rather than finding an "average" woman, they use the same tools they have been making illusions with for years, but to the opposite effect.

are we, and the advertising agencies that pray on us, that sick?