So I was talking with a friend the other day and he was sharing his thoughts on the Victoria’s secret fashion show that was going to be aired that night on TV. His concern centered on the show’s tendency to focus on "unrealistic girls that mess up minds and concepts of men and women". The idea being that girls watching will think this is what they should look like, this is what is sexy, and that it glorifies the “glitz and glamour”, while guys will think this is what women should look like, this is beautiful, and skews our thinking to an extreme that is completely unrealistic.

I flippantly made a comment that it is for this same reason that we shouldn’t watch professional athletes and the like on TV. When women watch Michael Phelps on TV it is possible and perhaps even probable that it could insight lust on a certain percentage of those watching. Guys who watch professional athletes play football, baseball, basketball may have a messed up concept of what is masculine as they watch “unrealistic” guys performing and competing at a level that glorifies the “fame and fortune” of the industry.

I said this in a joking manner, but as I thought about it a bit more, I realized that there is some truth in that. Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m not defending the V.S. fashion show. I’m just suggesting that it is a bit odd that this one hour show would receive a significant amount of condemnation and criticism for something that is unabashedly promoted on our TV sets and pretty much every other form of media, 24 hours a day. I mean consider the popular shows on TV today, Grey’s Anatomy, Dancing with the Stars, LOST, and even “reality” shows like Survivor…do they not all showcase unrealistic representations of what we are told is beautiful, sexy, or attractive? So, again…I’m not saying everyone needs to watch the Victoria Secret Fashion Show online…I’m just saying that those reasons we often list as to why we shouldn’t watch the VS show, that same list could often be applied to the shows we do watch, the magazines we read, and the music we listen to.

But in the spirit of full disclosure, I do watch LOST, my wife likes Dancing with the Stars, we’ve never seen Grey’s, and we did watch the VS Fashion show last night. We both like the outfit that had all of the butterflies, but oddly didn’t care for the actual outfit the girl was wearing with it. We also thought the 5 million dollar bra wasn’t that impressive.

Anyway…that’s my thought for today.

Rush Limbaugh, William Ayers, and Jesus...

I was in the car the other day and was listening to talk radio for a bit. Now I must confess that I find talk radio to be interesting and listening in the car seems to help the time pass. I heard the tail end of the Rush Limbaugh Show and then it transitioned to the Sean Hannity Show. Now, I recognize that some folks listen to these programs and consider them to be “news” programs on the radio. The truth is that they are really just entertainment programs, driven by ratings and paid for by advertising dollars. As it stands, they seem to be doing pretty well. Rush is one of the highest paid entertainers on the radio, who recently signed a contract for $400 million dollars. Not bad for a guy with only a high school diploma. Interestingly enough, I recently learned that Sean Hannity and Karl Rove, both prominent political personalities are also college dropouts. All of us that went to college must be a bunch of suckers…but I digress.

So, I was listening to the radio. The topic of course was politics and specifically the presidential election. As one who listens to these programs from time to time, it has been interesting to watch the metamorphosis of the discussion from primaries to general election. Both Rush and Hannity were extremely critical and outright against McCain in the primaries, but since his nomination both have supported him and focused their attack on the democratic nominee. The topic of the afternoon was on the associations that the democratic nominee has had in his past. In particular one individual was mentioned, William Ayers, a professor of education and senior university scholar at the University of Chicago. In the 60’s Ayers was involved in a radical anti-war group who bombed the pentagon in 1972. (I’d be interested to find out how one goes from an anti-war radical who is participating in such atrocities to becoming a distinguished professor at one of our nation’s most prestigious universities…I mean it’s got to be a fascinating story)…anyway….

The point was being made that Obama has been in Mr. Ayers home, has served on charity boards with him, and has associations with other persons of questionable behavior or reputation, thus calling into question his character as a presidential candidate. This got me to thinking…do our associations with others and persons we choose to spend time with define who we are? Also, when we consider this from a biblical world view does this change anything? Who did Jesus associate with? Whose homes did he visit? Who are we called to associate with as the Body of Christ?

It’s just something I was thinking about. And that’s my post for today.

Illegal Immigration

Although it hasn’t been discussed much during the presidential campaign, I’m still concerned with securing our borders and monitoring the number of illegals that cross our border everyday. To me it just doesn’t make sense, we have politicians that give this issue lip service but do nothing. Some talk about building a 10 foot concrete wall. Well, forgive me, but that simply won’t do the job. Their behavior continues to be a problem with issues of "bacteria, noise, and confrontational behavior". Even in the face of this information our elected representatives have done nothing to stop the daily border runs that are made by the Canada Goose.

A Wink and a Smile...

So, last night The Office was not on and instead the network aired the Vice Presidential Debate between Gov. Sarah Palin and Sen. Joseph Biden. I was disappointed but took comfort in the fact that presidential politics are almost as funny or funnier that most sitcoms on TV today. When the debate was over, I thought both did well. Biden avoided any major gaffes and Palin didn’t repeat the embarrassing performance she put on in the Katie Couric interview. I think Palin helped her ticket and those that were supporting her before the debate, were pleased to see her hold her own.

For me what was most interesting about the debate was Palin herself. My favorites came down to three observations:

First, I thought it was interesting that she started out by making it clear that she wasn’t all that interested in answering the questions posed by the moderator. Maybe that’s part of being a maverick…showing up for a debate, but deciding not to debate and just go over the standard stump speech, mixed with prepared comments that have been drilled into her head by the campaign leading up to the debate. Her direct quote was…"I may not answer the questions that either the moderator or you want to hear, but I'm going to talk straight to the American people and let them know my track record". When she said this…I literally laughed out loud. Why even come to the debate then?

Second, I tried to keep track of the number of times she said “maverick”. I lost track. This might be a new pattern…just repeat the same word over and over. For Obama, it’s the word “change”. For Palin, it’s “maverick”. And John McCain, it’s “General David Petraus”. In the first presidential debate, I thought maybe Petraus had replaced Palin as McCain’s running mate.

Third, I was curious to see Palin use such down home language throughout the debate and when addressing such serious national issues. A few examples:
Regarding Tax cuts: "Darn right, we need tax relief"
A barometer for the strength of our economy: "I'll betcha go to a kids' soccer game on Saturday and turn to any parent there on the sideline."
On the cause of the mortgage crisis: "Darn right, it was the predator lenders."

I mean, between the “bless their hearts”, “say it ain’t so”, “I’m gonna”, “I’ll betcha”, “darn right” and “dog gone” quips, there were plenty of winks to the camera. It was endearing in a way, but almost felt like she was playing a part or character rather than showcasing to the country that she is prepared if called to step in and serve as the leader of the free world.

But who knows. John McCain says that out of the entire Republican Party, she is best prepared and equipped to be a heartbeat away from the Presidency…I guess we as a people will determine if we agree.

Back from the dead...

Take heart you three persons who still check to see if this site is updated from time to time…Phil Osepher is not dead. However, I have been away for a while and have been unable to update my blog as often as some would like. I suppose the reasons for my posting hiatus are three in number.

First, I took a blogging sabbatical. During this sabbatical, I did some research and some writing (not online of course) and just took some time for personal reflection so as to come back to with a fervor and blogging vigor that had began to wane in the months leading to my break.

Second, I got sucked into facebook. Being a little late to this online party, I had a significant learning curve and found that if I had a few minutes, I’d checkout my facebook…rather than posting the random and often incoherent thoughts that were rolling around in my head.

Third, I kind of got bored with the whole blogging thing…and just didn’t feel like posting.

But for now…we’re back in business and I hope to post on a weekly basis.

Hugs and Kisses,

Phil O.

3.7 Billion Dollars

That is what one man earned in 2007 according to the Boston Globe. 3,700,000,000.
No, not a company, one man earned that much money. Yep, a far cry from minimum wage... John Paulson, a hedge fund manager who predicted the subprime lending crisis would happen and thus resulted in massive foreclosures on home mortgages, led as the top earner among hedge fund managers. The top five managers all earned over a billion dollars in income. There’s just no getting around it…that’s a lot of money. Just for fun let’s consider how much that is…

$ 308,333,333. a month
$ 71,153,846. a week
$ 10,136,986. a day
$ 422,374. an hour
$ 7,039. a min

Now, some might feel that Mr. Paulson was overpaid…so let me pose a question: What do you suppose would justify earning that kind of salary in a calendar year?

I love SNL...