A few years ago I had a discussion with a woman who, like many women I suspect, voiced a certain disdain for the profession of erotic dance. When asked why the moral indignation, she indicated that only certain 'types' of girls would ever do 'that' kind of thing.
Me being me and forever tilting at the windmills of people's narrowly held preconceptions, suggested that the 'type' of girl who would strip for money was the smart type. This woman's daughter was at that time being a good girl with a good job in an office where she was bringing home less than $200 a week, which is what an erotic dancer would bring home on a slow night.
So here we are several years later and I read the following news item:
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Stripping can be lucrative, students told at career day
Last Updated Fri, 14 Jan 2005 12:57:37 EST
CBC News
SAN FRANCISCO - A speaker who told Grade 8 students at a career day that they could earn a good living as strippers may not be invited back, the principal says.
Management consultant William Fried told girls at a school in Palo Alto, Calif., on Tuesday that they could earn $250,000 US or more a year by stripping and exotic dancing – depending on their bust size.
Fried has given a popular presentation called The Secret of a Happy Life at the Jane Lathrop Stanford Middle School for three years.
The school's principal, Joseph Di Salvo, said Friday that Fried may not be invited back after he included "exotic dancing" on his list of 140 potential careers.
"It's totally inappropriate," said Di Salvo. "A couple of students egged him and he took it hook, line and sinker."
Fried later told reporters that he made the comments, but defended their accuracy.
"It's sick, but it's true. The truth of the matter is you can earn a tremendous amount of money as an exotic dancer, if that's your desire."
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I'm not quite sure if Mr. Di Salvo's parting broadside about the facts of how lucrative stripping can be is sick or not, but isn't it amazing how the truth is so often kept from us in the name of descency and morality. What could be more moral than to advise on careers that will lead to a fat bank account, fatter even tha the average doctor or lawyer.
Saturday, January 15, 2005
Friday, January 07, 2005
New Year's Bageantry Interview, Part Two
I'd never heard of Joe Bageant before today, but if you can wade through the interviewer's convoluted questions, the answers are well worth the reading.
(DV) New Year's Bageantry, Part Two
(DV) New Year's Bageantry, Part Two
Monday, January 03, 2005
I Took An Ink Blot Test & Surprised Myself
Under the guise of my favorite genius Albert Einstein I took an ink blot test to find out if I'm fit for a straight jacket. I guess I'm not as crazy as I think I am which is a relief seeing that Prozac has been found to be dangerous to your mental health.
Not surprising that yet another drug manufacturer, in this case Eli Lilly & Company has lied and covered up its knowledge of potentially fatal side effects of drugs that pour billions of dollars into corporate coffers.
It seems the corporate world knows no bounds in the pursuit of profit. Collateral damage in the form of suicide, or heart attack seems acceptable when a drug like Viox can go from zero to $4 billion in the matter of a few years.
Speaking of corporate ethics, if you can find a copy, by all means watch a Canadian documentary titled The Corporation. The movie looks at the history of the corporation, and asks the question: If the corporation were person who approached a psychiatrist for diagnosis, what would that diagnosis be? You may or may not be surprised by the answer.
Not surprising that yet another drug manufacturer, in this case Eli Lilly & Company has lied and covered up its knowledge of potentially fatal side effects of drugs that pour billions of dollars into corporate coffers.
It seems the corporate world knows no bounds in the pursuit of profit. Collateral damage in the form of suicide, or heart attack seems acceptable when a drug like Viox can go from zero to $4 billion in the matter of a few years.
Speaking of corporate ethics, if you can find a copy, by all means watch a Canadian documentary titled The Corporation. The movie looks at the history of the corporation, and asks the question: If the corporation were person who approached a psychiatrist for diagnosis, what would that diagnosis be? You may or may not be surprised by the answer.
Friday, December 31, 2004
Boston.com Global analysts dispute perceived US generosity
More of the truth slips out from between the cracks the net news. I couldn't have asked for a more perfect illustration of how distorted or incomplete information alters our perception of what is true and what is not.
A little more comparative math for the unconvinced:
Us, Stingy?
It's All Relative
By DAVE LINDORFF
Cost of one F-22 Raptor tactical fighter jet -- $225 million
Cost of the ongoing U.S. war in Iraq--$228 million/day
Amount spent by Kerry and Bush campaigns -- $400 million
U.S. aid to Yushenko camp in recent Ukrainian conflict -- $30+ million
Estimated cost of Bush's Second Inauguration and Ball -- $ 40+ million
Amount of U.S. tax cuts under Bush -- $1 trillion
Cost of the U.S. Iraq War in 2004 -- $147 billion
U.S. reconstruction aid budgeted for Iraq (though never spent!) -- $18 billion
Amount the U.S. initially in aid to Indian Ocean tsunami victims -- $ 10 million
Amount U.S. offered in tsunami aid after being chastised by UN official -- $35 million
Seeing as it's New Year's Eve and there is much to do to prepare for the festivities, I'll let you, the reader decide if it's worth delving into the stinginess behind the crowing.
Let's hope that 2005 is a more compassionate, more honest year.
A little more comparative math for the unconvinced:
Us, Stingy?
It's All Relative
By DAVE LINDORFF
Cost of one F-22 Raptor tactical fighter jet -- $225 million
Cost of the ongoing U.S. war in Iraq--$228 million/day
Amount spent by Kerry and Bush campaigns -- $400 million
U.S. aid to Yushenko camp in recent Ukrainian conflict -- $30+ million
Estimated cost of Bush's Second Inauguration and Ball -- $ 40+ million
Amount of U.S. tax cuts under Bush -- $1 trillion
Cost of the U.S. Iraq War in 2004 -- $147 billion
U.S. reconstruction aid budgeted for Iraq (though never spent!) -- $18 billion
Amount the U.S. initially in aid to Indian Ocean tsunami victims -- $ 10 million
Amount U.S. offered in tsunami aid after being chastised by UN official -- $35 million
Seeing as it's New Year's Eve and there is much to do to prepare for the festivities, I'll let you, the reader decide if it's worth delving into the stinginess behind the crowing.
Let's hope that 2005 is a more compassionate, more honest year.
Thursday, December 30, 2004
Dubya stingy?
Truth, absolute truth, relative truth or a smattering of truth?
Dubya claims America not stingy, pointing out that magnanimous America spent $2.4 billion on food, cash and disaster relief last year. Oh so true.
What he failed to mention was that America spent $13.6 billion on Hurricane disaster relief, most of which went to his Bro's fiefdom of Florida. Also true but unmentioned.
Don't get me going on how much America spent to kill 100,000 Iraqis since the first Gulf War. Don't get me going on the $7.4 million per HOUR the current inhumanities in Iraq is costing US taxpayers. At that rate, if Amerika would stop the war for 5 hours, they could pay their stingy $35 million in promised Tsunami relief without driving the country further into debt.
The truth of the matter is that Amerika IS stingy when it comes to humanitarian relief. When you consider Canada with 10% of the population has anted up $40 million (CDN) it's all to obvious that dubious defense of his stinginess is a little short on reality. But then again Amerika has become like that.
Dubya claims America not stingy, pointing out that magnanimous America spent $2.4 billion on food, cash and disaster relief last year. Oh so true.
What he failed to mention was that America spent $13.6 billion on Hurricane disaster relief, most of which went to his Bro's fiefdom of Florida. Also true but unmentioned.
Don't get me going on how much America spent to kill 100,000 Iraqis since the first Gulf War. Don't get me going on the $7.4 million per HOUR the current inhumanities in Iraq is costing US taxpayers. At that rate, if Amerika would stop the war for 5 hours, they could pay their stingy $35 million in promised Tsunami relief without driving the country further into debt.
The truth of the matter is that Amerika IS stingy when it comes to humanitarian relief. When you consider Canada with 10% of the population has anted up $40 million (CDN) it's all to obvious that dubious defense of his stinginess is a little short on reality. But then again Amerika has become like that.
Wednesday, December 29, 2004
Let's get this Blog on the road
World Truth Exchange seems a pretty heady title for a blog. It has a nice ring to it though. Sounds solid, something akin to the new York Stock Exchange only trading in a different commodity than corporate stocks and bonds.
What I hope this blog will become is a forum where people come to share the truth of their feelings and beliefs concerning the plight humanity faces at the hands of those who would bend, fold, spindle and otherwise mutilate the truth to ends that do not support the greatest good for all human beings.
I have discovered over the years that there is no such thing as absolute truth. Indeed, all truth is relative to the person observing events as they unfold, and that everything one holds to be true can change with glacial slowness or in less than the blink of an eye.
An example of glacially paced change would be the acceptance of women as being equal to, and in some ways superior to men. This truth is more accepted as being absolute in some parts of the world more than in others, yet continues to move forward as a universal belief. In the blink of an eye I can see what nonsense belief in the tooth fairy is.
Ask any of my friends. Ask my wife. Truth and honesty are very high values for me. All the more so as I believe that it is only through truth, honesty and compassion will we as a species will survive for very much longer.
What I am looking for are others who share the belief that only the truth shall set us free. I state freely that I have no truth to dispense, other than my observations of the human condition and how the lack of truth and fundamental human justice only serve to cast us in the roll of either oppressor or oppressed.
What I hope this blog will become is a forum where people come to share the truth of their feelings and beliefs concerning the plight humanity faces at the hands of those who would bend, fold, spindle and otherwise mutilate the truth to ends that do not support the greatest good for all human beings.
I have discovered over the years that there is no such thing as absolute truth. Indeed, all truth is relative to the person observing events as they unfold, and that everything one holds to be true can change with glacial slowness or in less than the blink of an eye.
An example of glacially paced change would be the acceptance of women as being equal to, and in some ways superior to men. This truth is more accepted as being absolute in some parts of the world more than in others, yet continues to move forward as a universal belief. In the blink of an eye I can see what nonsense belief in the tooth fairy is.
Ask any of my friends. Ask my wife. Truth and honesty are very high values for me. All the more so as I believe that it is only through truth, honesty and compassion will we as a species will survive for very much longer.
What I am looking for are others who share the belief that only the truth shall set us free. I state freely that I have no truth to dispense, other than my observations of the human condition and how the lack of truth and fundamental human justice only serve to cast us in the roll of either oppressor or oppressed.
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