HFCS Corn Wars: A Surprise That’s Far from Sweet

“Mom, go to SweetSurprise.com right now!” yelled my daughter in an urgent commando bark. Before I could even protest her lousy timing, I got a “NOW! I’m not kidding! GO! GO!” she shouted at me like a drill sergeant. Sheesh. Well, when she’s right, she’s right. Turns out ABC Family was running not one, not two, but EIGHT rotations of … [Read more...]

Young Innovators: Get Out of the Garage and Into the Marketplace!

Calling all social media wünderkind, changebloggers, and humanitarian twitterati and digerati of the millennial set (yes, this means you, Alex Steed) there’s ‘gold in them thar’ hills!’ (ok, that phrase comes from either a Yosemite Sam cartoon or a cowboy parody, but either way, it shows it’s in my lexicon, revealing I’m WAY too old to … [Read more...]

Stage-Crafting Politics: Media Literacy Tips for Kids

Aug. 22, 2016 Update Excellent post by Diana Graber at Cyberwise "What to Tell Kids When Adults Behave Badly" which sadly validates, via Southern Poverty Law Center, how we've unraveled 15 years of anti-bullying education in schools with the crass, raunchy bluster of our current political climate. See "The Trump Effect: The Impact of the Presidential Campaign on our … [Read more...]

The Power of a Pen, The Story of A Sign

“Sometimes all it takes is a stroke of a pen. A beautiful film by Alonso Alvarez Barreda.” This was the caption for the amazing video I received via Facebook from my NextNow collaboratory friend and founder Bill Daul...And in my overloaded chaos I might have missed it if he hadn’t added, “worth 5 minutes of your time, I promise. Trust … [Read more...]

America the Beautiful: An “R” Rated Movie You WANT Kids To See

Teens and tweens have heard more raw verbiage on school grounds in any given day than Eve Ensler's little snippet in America the Beautiful that garnered the documentary an ‘R’ rating. (trailer here) That ‘R’ is for the reform needed in movie ratings, since even the most graphic visuals of plastic surgery could have shown on ER or CSI prime time on any … [Read more...]