Blogs

At any given moment, there are more internet users than there are television watchers or magazine subscribers. According to emarketer, Americans spend a per day average of 5 hours on-line, 4.5 hours watching television, 1.5 hours listening to the radio and half hour reading printed material. Considering that there are about as many internet users per day as there are US households, approximately 110 million, the internet logs more viewing hours.

The ongoing debate continues. Will the majority of online content remain free to consumers? Yes and no; if you really need a yes or no, then no. Imagine the internet as a self-contained, large emerging economy comprising of new business owners and customers in a new territory.

Everyone says life is no longer the same once you have children, and it's not what you expected. So true. Despite the millions of self-help books, guides and advice literature out there, nothing really prepares you for being a parent until you've experienced it. No, raising a dog does not count as having a child, no matter how much you think it is. Yes, I've lived with dogs, lots of them ... and cats, and turtles, and hamsters, and chicks, and whatever else my siblings and I have raised growing up.

If I want to live my life like an average person and be an average person, what would that look like? Would you want to live like an average person? According to wikipedia, "Overall the average American, age 25 or older, made roughly $32,000 per year, does not have a college degree, has been, is, or will be married as well as divorced at least once during his or her lifetime, lives in his or her own home in a suburban setting, and holds a white-collar office job", as of 2005.

Have you tasted a cup of Starbucks coffee from a Starbucks cafe lately? No, I mean really, really taste the coffee. Remove your brand loyalty lens and tell me that cup of Starbucks coffee doesn't taste like sugar water mixed with overly diluted coffee and a lot of dairy,or some other have-it-your-way blend of water, sugar and non-dairy dairy flavored with coffee essence. This stuff is giving coffee a bad name.

The Arkansas Supreme Court turned down a law forbidding teachers from having sexual contacts with their over 18 years old students, citing constitutional rights as an adult.

The ruling was related to a case against David Paschal, a 38 year old Arkansas teacher sentenced to 30 years in prison for having a five month relationship with his 18 year old student.

In a recent article posted on msnbc.com, “In praise of germs: Why common bugs are necessary for kids”, a team of researchers found that being exposed to some germs is good for building children’s immune system. They showed that young mice introduced to germs were able to keep their immune system active, to better help fend off bacterial and other infections later in life.

The article points out that parents are being told to keep everything, including their children, spotlessly clean, but that may not have to be the case. Some exposure to dirt and germs could be good for us.

A recent article posted on myfoxdc.com said an Australian poll of 1,000 women found that women prefer that their husband cooked them dinner than have sex, and nine out of 10 women prefer a cooked dinner over flowers. The article goes on to say that women prefer men to help with household chores instead of doing more manly tasks. The article is a very short summary of a study done by Emperica Research and seemed to be missing a lot of data to make this information new and profound.

Like many people, I am disgusted by the lack of disciplinary action by Penn State University over the Sandusky pedophile charges back in 1998. If something would have been done then, it could have saved nine other boys from having to go through similar traumatic experiences as the first boy did in 1998. It makes me wonder if Penn State ignored it to protect the image and financial wealth of the school.

The recent outcry over ‘pink slime’, the ground beef treated with ammonium hydroxide, which has been provided to schools since the early 80s by such companies as Beef Products, Inc, has prompted the USDA to offer untreated, fattier ground beef. Beef is treated with ammonia to destroy E. Coli, but the thought of food being treated with ammonia just didn’t sit right with some people although the FDA claims that such processing of beef is safe for human consumption.