Oh, R....thank you so much for always having my (our) back. Especially on a day like today (for you).

So sorry Alex.Hope it all gets resolved soon and that both your work and living situations work out as you would like.

In regards to what you were talking about, I was mainly addressing my opinion that young people today can understand more than we give them credit for.  The rest of it was just general lamentation.

Which was in no way my point, but okay.

I agree, I have met many young people of this generation who are more together than I was at that age. I think that if our society and humanity in general fails, which I think it ultimately will, it will not be because of generationally slow decay of wisdom or intelligence. It will be just because there are too many people inhabiting our planet and raping her resources.  I think we will fail because technology has allowed us to replicate at a rate unhealthy for our species and anything unfortunate enough to encounter us.

I believe they do, yes There's a lot of YA books written about dystopic futures where it's up to the teenagers to say "hey, this sh*t isn't right" and fix it. Which, if you think about it, is a pretty appealing message for people that age.

I think you underestimate what savvy media consumers kids are these days. Growing up in a media-saturated world, they've learned to tell the difference between (for example) the glossy, sanitized violence of your typical action flick and something like this or Saving Private Ryan. There's no "yeah, take that, bad guys!" music, no catch phrases, no smirking over the fallen antagonists. She doesn't suddenly develop amazing kung fu powers or abruptly go bloodlust-berserk. Katniss does what she does because she's given no choice. She uses her skills to survive in a world that's turned against her. She makes the best of the choices given to her.

I think your cynicism here is preventing you from looking deeper. The Hunger Games is no more about cheering on violence against kids (or by kids) than Nineteen Eighty-Four is about the rat helmet.

 
Me and the housemate get along GREAT. But her daughter had to move back in with her - then she asked if she could  move her cat in a week later (it was living at her bf''s). The two old female cats were finally to the point where they were getting along and staying out of each other's space. Now this new (sweet) tomcat very aggressively wants to play with them and get all up in their face and come into my room and onto Ceili's cat tower — and now she's all riled up again and hissing at both cats.
 
And the house is just a small condo. I purposely chose it because I can really only stand living with ONE person in such a small space. And she and I get along just fine....which is the sad thing.
 
I also liked the fact that there was a guest room that I could use for doing massages and for my family/friends coming to visit. Now that's gone.....
 
*sigh*
 
I was asked about all the changes up front, but how could I possibly tell someone a) No, your daughter can't move in and b) No, she can't have her cat with her
 
See what I mean?
 
 
Oh, and my last day at my job is Friday. I put in my 2 weeks - but it's fine. It was time for a change. I'll go back to temping until another permanent one happens. And it will.
Thanks

Do you believe the 12-18 year-old set gets that message? I think it more likely they simply incorporate the violence and the acceptance of it because it fits well with all the other reinforcement they get in that direction from pretty much everything being sold to them as "entertainment" these days.

No doubt you'll disagree.

Do you believe the 12-18 year-old set gets that message? I think it more likely they simply incorporate the violence and the acceptance of it because it fits well with all the other reinforcement they get in that direction from pretty much everything being sold to them as "entertainment" these days.

No doubt you'll disagree.

You may be missing the point somewhat.

It's about rising up against the dystopia that would produce such a horror (which comes in more in the later books). There's nothing in there that glamorizes the killing: the heroine certainly doesn't exult in her role or revel in her victory. She only does it to spare her sister from being drafted into the games, which are designed so that the decadent ruling class can continue to oppress and exploit the rest of the country.

Excellent. This is great news...I really needed some good news....

i get it.

Just watched The Hunger Games on Netflix. I was disturbed by the premise of the film when I heard about it, and I was more disturbed at the watching of it, particularly because it is extremely popular among the age group of the primary characters. The spectical of children murdering one another for entertainment and the spectical of that being a popular film bothers me. A lot.

Here and everywhere else, it is sometimes hard to tell the difference between someone with a strong contrary opinion and a troll. 

Well....it almost killed me on several occasions, almost made me homeless on several occasions.....made me want to kill myself on several occasions.....but I finally paid off all that junk my asshole ex-husband left me with.  Go me!   And it only took 9 years.  lol

I said f*ck it and used my over-draft protection to make that last payment.  You know.....just to go in the hole one more time for old time sake.  lol

Nice!

woohoo!! way to go, ralph!