The More Things Change

The following video short is from a comedy written, directed by, and starring, Charlie Chaplin.

First released in October 1940, Chaplin plays two characters who look strikingly similar - a Jewish barber and a dictator who looks like Adolf Hitler. Near the end of the film, after a series of bizarre incidents, the dictator gets replaced by his barber look-alike, and is taken to the capitol where he gives this rousingly optimistic speech.


The Greatest Speech Ever Made from GenCept on Vimeo.

I posted this video because it's amazing to me how a speech given over 70-years ago to address world conditions at that time, can be so closely relevant to current world conditions. This same speech could be used now as a rallying cry for change, just as it was intended to do back then.

I would love for the world to change as Charlie Chaplin described. But cynically, I believe people will always put their own self-interests above all else. As you can see for yourself, over 70-years later and we are right where we started. The more things change, the more they stay the same. Human nature will never change, and history is always doomed to repeat itself.

If my opinion sounds too cynical for you, then ask yourself, what is it about people and society that has really changed since then? Does greed and hate ever pass? Can altruistic people ever rule?

Are Your Kids Slomming?

The herd mentality is a dark and powerful force that pressures many adults to conduct themselves foolishly and inappropriately. Just imagine how that force must affect your kids?

Every teen's daily life is filled with that kind of pressure, some of it good, some of it bad. By staying involved in their lives you can influence them to rise above those negative peer pressures, to make smarter decisions, and to become better adults.


Slomming from Morgan Griswold on Vimeo and Above the Influence

Turning A Blind Eye

I recently watched the movie, Sleepers, and it got me to thinking about those sorry-ass human beings at Penn State who turned a blind eye, or passed the buck, after witnessing or becoming aware of the alleged rape of young boys being perpetrated at their "institute of higher education".

I keep thinking of how those brave, strong, heroic athlete-types must have cowered in fear of losing their jobs or being blackballed if they didn't turn a blind eye to their leader's alleged depraved crimes.

I keep thinking of how college students, our future leaders, could possibly dismiss such horrendous crimes and then support the alleged perpetrators by rioting after they were brought to justice.

I keep thinking what's in store for those young boys as a result of allegedly being continuously raped for years because everyone selfishly turned a blind to the abuse?

But even worse, I keep thinking of the image of our society those young boys must have had in their minds while they were being abused, and when they realized that their "heroes" dismissed them as being an expendable part of the business of college football.

I wonder if those abused young boys envision the same bright future for themselves as the rioting college students do, or if they'll instead turn to violence or drugs in order to treat their "collegiately-damaged" sense of self-worth? What do you think?

Happy Veterans Day

To celebrate Veterans Day I'd like to post this interview of Frank W. Buckles, the longest surviving American veteran of World War I, whom after being blessed with excellent genetics and considerable luck for surviving the entire 20th century, passed away earlier this year at 110 years of age.


Buckles from Sean Dunne on Vimeo.

A Glimpse Into The Future

Has anyone seen this United Healthcare commercial? I only first saw it this morning myself.

Notice anything unusual about it?

Like how they seem to be saying that they can provide a service that your community pharmacist cannot? That perhaps your local pharmacist wouldn't have caught a potential serious drug interaction without an insurance company's intervention? That you may be putting yourself at greater risk if you go to your community pharmacist, and are not a member of their plan?

Of course, it goes without saying that I support any effort to prevent medication mishaps, but doesn't anyone else see how this could be viewed as potential way for a mega-corporate insurance company to remove the "expensive" community pharmacist from the picture, and improve their bottom line?

Like I've been saying from the start, save your money, live below your means, and be prepared for the corporate world to eliminate what they believe to be a costly liability, instead of a valuable asset. You!

Doctors Of The Darkside

The feature-length documentary, "Doctors of the Dark Side", exposes the scandal behind the torture scandal -- how psychologists and physicians devised, supervised and covered up the torture of detainees in US controlled military prisons. The stories of four detainees and the doctors involved in their torture reveal the terrible cost of putting doctors virtually in charge of detainee interrogations.

Here's a review of the film after it's premier at Georgetown University School of Law in October.

AYK DOC IS CD9

Don't you know what that means, AYSOS?


PDFA "Teen Lingo" from Chemical Effects on Vimeo and DrugFree.org