Judging the book by it's cover

Has your self-esteem ever taken a blow after looking through a People Magazine? Hollywood stars today are taking drastic measures to achieve the "ideal body". Their images are sending signals to Americans that in order to be successful we should look the same. However, for many Americans, these Hollywood style bodies are unachieveable (if not unhealthy) as it takes expensive gym memberships, and tons of pricy diets in order to get Hollywood results.

Do you feel that body images are a measure of success? More importantly, do you think the criticism stars receive communicates negative feelings about our own self-images? I was shocked to look through the magazine and see the criticism Courtney Cox was getting for body. To any mere mortal's eye, her body appeared flawless; however, to the critic's eye perfect is unatainable. If the stars' bodies aren't good enough, then who's body is?

Misunderstandings

According to http://www.archaeolink.com/language_barriers.htm, there are two types of communicators: those who judge and those who perceive. Judgers get things done. They answer questions with suggestions and offer advice. They are very decisive in their answer. They like to see things decided. Perceivers, on the other hand, do not give advice. Their answers are usually in the form of another question so they can perceive the situation better. They are not decisive and do not like to make the decisions. Misunderstandings occur when these two types of communicators interact because one's answer to a question is not what the other is looking for. How are these two types supposed to interact?

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Do you think our various forms of technology are helping or hurting our human communication and interaction? For example, is it harmful that we'd rather watch a marathon of the show Friends than actually go out with our real life friends? Is it unhealthy that our emotion in a text or IM has been reduced to two symbols resembling a smile? : ) Or on the other hand, do you think things like tv, the internet and cell phones are simply broadening our horizon of communication?

I own a cell phone, computer, tv, and radio.  Though sometimes I feel like those things are vital tools, other days I feel as though I'm becoming more and more of a hermit, relying almost exclusively on these things for communication. What are your thoughts?

The Expectations of Americans

My mom and I have been debating for the past few months about the expectations Americans have for their government, and specifically for the president. America has elected a new president who took office just days ago, and I think you will agree that everyone has high expectations for Obama. Do you think he can/will fulfill all the expectations we have placed on him? Do you think those expectations are realistic? What are the expectations you have for Obama?

So how did Barack Obama do in his inaugural address? Can anyone really set a tone for a presidency in such a short speech? Both Kennedy and Reagan created a lot of buzz about their visions in one speech. Did Obama succeed? What do the pundits say? If he did not succeed, what reasons account for that?