Wednesday, December 2, 2015 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
Of a certain age...
By Diane Goble
Columnist
I haven’t had a TV for
years — and rarely do I get
to watch one for more than
a few minutes just in pass-
ing — so imagine my shock
when I was house-sitting
recently, and decided to turn
on the TV and flip through
the channels.
It’s all advertising ... like
a continuous barrage of com-
mercials with a few minutes
of jokes or news stories in
between! The majority of
commercials seem to be for
pharmaceuticals to combat
all the symptoms and dis-
eases all the people who
watch TV apparently have
(else why would people con-
tinue to watch these repeti-
tive infomercials day in and
day out?). It’s like there’s
some kind of sick symbiotic
relationship that feeds on
itself. The more you watch,
the sicker you get.
The symptoms these
commercials describe are so
vague or general that anyone
might think they have some
disease and must need that
medication. Unconsciously,
we make doctor’s appoint-
ments and insist we must
have this amazing new won-
der drug. Hmmm ... drug
overdoses caused more
deaths than motor-vehicle
crashes in 2013.
I heard an advertisement
for a medication claiming to
cure some illness, but in the
meantime I may have head-
aches, nausea, vomiting, sei-
zures, paralysis, rectal bleed-
ing, suicidal feelings or sud-
den death. Really? Are you
insane? And with all the per-
sonal products that are being
advertised, how does one
watch television with their
darling grandchild these days
when you have to explain
why a four-hour erection is
painful for Grandpa?
I was pleased to see com-
mercials with male under-
wear models strutting their
stuff. You’ve come a long
way, baby! But the clothing
being advertised ... really?
This whole leggings with
six-inch heels is just weird,
but then, to me, clean jeans
is dressed up. $300 purses
with some French guy’s
name on it ... please. It’s
like Barbie and Ken have
come to life and are liv-
ing in McMansions, driving
Porsches, and need to change
clothes every two hours.
Then I came upon FOX
News and it about scared the
crap out of me! Where do
they find these characters?
It’s like a reality show gone
haywire. Is it brain damage
or a deliberate attempt to
incite riots among the popu-
lace? I mean just because
I don’t have a TV doesn’t
mean I don’t keep up with
what’s going on around the
world, but if I watched that
nonsense every day, I’d be
digging a well-fortified,
heavily armed underground
bunker preparing for any of
a dozen different end-of-the-
world scenarios.
So another thing about
being a certain age ... those
of us who grew up realizing
that duck and cover under
our school desks wasn’t
going to save us from a
nuclear bomb know that fear
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is a way to control people,
and TV is being used to do
just that. People need to
wake up and smell the cof-
fee. This is not real life!
The air-raid siren has been
replaced by FOX News, and
it’s just a cover for the strug-
gle for power and control
(over our lives) among Big
Government, Big Business,
the Illuminati, or whatever
they call themselves. We’re
like mushrooms. They keep
us in the dark and feed us
manure. They control our
minds and we don’t even
see it.
Go outside and take
a walk. Look at that
beautiful blue sky.
Breathe in that positive,
uplifting energy.
Hopefully one day, before
we become too senile, we
wake up and realize we want
off the treadmill. One way
to do that is to turn off the
TV and get back to real life,
including family, friends,
and community. Go outside
and take a walk. Look at that
beautiful blue sky. Breathe
in that positive, uplifting
energy. Thank the flowers.
Talk to the trees. Dance like
no one is watching. Sing
with the birds. Read a book.
Shed the old worn skin and
stretch your imagination out
into the universe. Become
one with the source of your
being and know that you are
loved.
21
Give the gift of life
this holiday season
This holiday season, the
American Red Cross urges
individuals to give something
that means something — a
blood or platelet donation.
This simple, potentially life-
saving act can give patients in
need another holiday season
with loved ones.
“During the winter
months, and especially
around the holidays, blood
donations tend to decline,”
said Daphne Mathew, com-
munication manager of the
Red Cross Pacific Northwest
Blood Services Region. “The
Red Cross encourages peo-
ple to make an appointment
to donate blood or plate-
lets and give a meaningful
gift to a patient this holiday
season — the gift of life.”
Blood donors with all
types, especially O negative,
B negative and A negative,
are urged to give. Platelet
donors and those with type
AB blood are also continually
needed.
To make an appointment,
download the free Red Cross
Blood Donor App, visit www.
redcrossblood.org or call
1-800-RED CROSS (1-800-
733-2767). Donors can use
RapidPass to complete their
pre-donation reading and
health history question-
naire online, on the day of
their donation, from a com-
puter or laptop. Visit www.
redcrossblood.org/RapidPass
to get started.
A blood donor card or
driver’s license or two other
forms of identification
are required at check-in.
Individuals who are 17 years
of age (16 with parental con-
sent in some states), weigh at
least 110 pounds and are in
generally good health may be
eligible to donate blood. High
school students and other
donors 18 years of age and
younger also have to meet
certain height and weight
requirements.
... donate blood ... and
give a meaningful gift
to a patient this holiday
season — the gift of life.
— Daphne Mathew
Because more than 80 per-
cent of blood donations are
made at blood drives, orga-
nizations are needed to host
blood drives this winter to
help ensure a sufficient blood
supply for patients in need.
More information on hosting
a blood drive is available at
www.redcrossblood.org.
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