:: blame the extended gestation.... ::

:: Sunday, August 17, 2003 ::

Context, subtext, excess
Poor Little Rich Girls, Throbbing to Shop

"Educators say that the popularity of the "Gossip Girl" series is linked to the success of television shows that celebrate high-end consumerism. 'The girls who are reading `Gossip Girl' are staying up and watching `Sex and the City,'' said Angelina Benedetti, the head of the young adult division of the King County Library System outside Seattle. 'They know about Blahniks and Dolce & Gabbana. These images wouldn't resonate if the kids didn't already have the context'."

And mass consumerism doesn't bother me?? I dunno... thats always bothered me (the fact that it doesn't bother me that is). And then she nails it for me, how could it, it already resonates.

The sale of one hand clapping.

:: Jim Nichols 8/17/2003 11:48:00 PM [+] ::
...

This is your parents money; this is your parents money going down the drain. Any questions?

Tuition costs went up .7% in July, which makes a 6.5% increase for the quater. As Dean Baker noted in his prices byte [8.15.03], this is only going to get worse as public schools start taking the hit from slashed state budgets.

:: Jim Nichols 8/17/2003 11:17:00 PM [+] ::
...

Stalin would be proud

Justice Department just released a new report: 5.6 million americans (1 in 37) are in prison or have served time. That is the highest incarceration rate in the world. Nice, espcially for the wealthiest nation in human history. Plus you have to consider the fact that one in four are for mostly nonviolent drug-related crimes.


"By 2010, the number of American residents in prison or with prison experience is expected to jump to 7.7 million, or 3.4 percent of all adults, according to the new report."
US notches world's highest incarceration rate CS Monitor 8.18.03

:: Jim Nichols 8/17/2003 11:04:00 PM [+] ::
...

Wow, i've been away for a long time. I'm not really planning on using this for much; but I have realized that I could use it to keep up with articles and stuff... it was good for that at least. Who knows with school being as crazy as it is I might not even make it through the week.

:: Jim Nichols 8/17/2003 10:54:00 PM [+] ::
...