I basically don't care about the musical chairs relationships of Hollywood types, but I thought the following story was indicative of our culture in general...and that is not a good thing.'This headline was important enough to show up in the Top 20 stories of Google News recently:' "Alex Rodriguez and Cameron Diaz Get Cozy in Miami."' The piece started out:' "Don't tell Madonna, but New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez was spotted getting cozy with Hollywood actress Cameron Diaz at a pre-Super Bowl party in Miami last weekend."' According to this inane report, she was tipsy, flirty, and began "grinding on 'A-Rod', who had just broken up with Kate Hudson.' Clearly, sports is not the only thing for which you need a score card!'Generally, women who have nothing going on in their lives become groupies, because attachment to a star (even in their imaginations, much less their beds) brings them a feeling of importance.' Madonna, Kate Hudson and Cameron Diaz are all successful in their own right, so "groupie-ness" is not the issue.' Then what is?' What makes women "give it up" so easily for a guy who is good-looking, successful and has lots of money?' I guess it's the looks and success, and the feeling that even more money is always good.'There is so little dignity left in Hollywood's elite, and many political marriages are also aflame with betrayals.' Our young girls grow up next to young boys who have both misguided values and expectations.' The boys realize that respect and courtship are irrelevant when it comes to getting sex and companionship; the girls think that explosive beginnings mean something deeper.'I had one female caller who was just amazed at my admonition not to have sex as a flirtation, rite of dating, way to get to know someone, or stress releaser.' She actually was surprised when I suggested to her (and her 21 year-old "reality") that scarcity brings value.' While that is an economic issue, it also works for interpersonal relationships.' If the act of sexual intercourse is to mean anything , it has to have a context of love and commitment, and that is a scarce resource.'People wonder why they're depressed, anxious, unhappy, unfulfilled, lost, or compulsive about hookups.' There is an inherent knowledge that meaning and purpose are everything to their psychological well-being, but they are surrounded by the likes of an A-Rod and Madonna world which tells them there isn't any, except for notoriety and sexual flamboyance.'It's sad, really, because there is more to morality than just being a "rule system of the constipated," which, unfortunately, is what too many people believe.' Morality is a means by which we make human beings rise above the rest of the animal kingdom with symbols and actions:' like marriage and commitment, for example. More >>

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I got a wonderful email from Sylvia, which I want to share with you all: Dr. Laura:'This is a lesson my mother taught me, but I thought you would approve of her very good advice.'I am a southern "belle."' Though I have lived all over the world and do not possess the characteristic lilting southern drawl, I am, in fact, a belle through and through.' When raised as a girl in the south, you learn (amongst other things) a true appreciation of the beauty and power of words.' We southern girls are thoroughly schooled in the art and craft of words.' We learn, very young, how to paint a picture with words.' We learn to exploit the rhythm and cadence of language.' We speak softly in order to draw in our listener (thus focusing all attention on ourselves).' Really - who doesn't like a whisper?' We speak slowly, because anticipation makes everything more enjoyable.' Really - who doesn't like to be made to wait...just a little?'I will often send my husband an email designed to make the air around him stand still.' I can still make his mouth water with just words.' I can make his mind linger and dwell on me all day, with just a softly spoken sentence as he leaves for work in the morning.' Sometimes, in the afternoon, I'll call him up just to say "I was daydreaming about you just now.' I was remembering how sweet you are and how you still make my heart beat faster."' This is not just some idle exercise.' This is the ultimate investment in my family.' This is what makes my husband anxious to get home to me, even after fifteen years.'Through flirting, I reap a harvest of sweetness, kindness, gentleness and playfulness.' Flirting is a gift we give to each other. It keeps alive the sweetness and excitement of our early dating days.' Flirting is like a gentle touch.' It is stroking the ego of the one you love.' It is titillation pure and simple.' It is foreplay with words and humor.' Flirting is the secret that all other women know.' Flirting is the difference between "ho-hum" and "hot!"' It is something you miss when it's lacking and you often don't even realize it.' Flirting captures the mind, and where the mind goes, the body soon follows.'So ladies, flirt with your husband.' Here, let me help you out:' send an email to the one you love today and simply say "I thought of you today.' I thought that if you were a book, then I would like to read you and re-read you, over and over again."'You see, when you give sweetness, you get so much more back. More >>

British Airways passengers who refuse to submit to what is an astonishingly controversial full body scan will be barred from boarding their flights.' FANTASTIC!' And they also eliminated the ban on scanning children under the age of 18.' FANTASTIC!' Wow.' To know you're not going to have to worry about the guy next to you lighting up a bomb in his private parts is a blessing.'Now why would anyone be against this?' Well think of conspiracy nuts, "big brother" nuts, and people who are anti-Western civilization, as well as those who are anarchists.' As far as I'm concerned, they can all ride a bus or get some exercise on their bicycle or rent a little boat and cross the ocean on their own.'Oh, and by the way, the image generated by the body scanner can't be stored or captured, nor can security officers recognize individuals from viewing the images.'This is not (as some naysayers proclaim) an indication that the "bad guys" have won.' It's a technology which thwarts their means of killing us.' Issues of life and death take precedence over silly sentiments of "modesty" when our media has elevated immodesty to a perverted art. More >>

A few months ago, I saw the movie "The Bucket List." It's about these two older guys who, presumably, are terminally ill, and one of them mentions a "kick the bucket list," meaning that you make a list of all the things you want to do before you die (and then, hopefully, go do them).' The movie is interesting and well done, and well worth seeing.' It stars Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson.Since then, I've had some thoughts on and off about the concept, and decided that I don't want to have a bucket list when my time comes close.' I want to do and see and say and experience the things that matter to me waaaaay before they become an almost-Last Supper moment.' So I've been going over in my mind what it is that I would put on that list.' And I'm happy to say......nothing.I wanted an adventure on the high seas, so with a crew of experienced sailors, I'm going to be doing just that in mid-March, when we race from Los Angeles to Cabo San Lucas in Mexico.' It will take about four days or so, and we have to work, sleep, and eat in shifts 24 hours per day of sailing.' It will be grueling, cold, and sometimes scary at night if the winds are up.' The food will be "ucky," and there won't be hot showers or heated blankets.' And yet, I can't wait, because it's an ADVENTURE!' It pushes my limits and challenges me in new ways.' It's good to have adventures, as long as you don't ignore your responsibilities, and enjoy the challenges that are there.Day-to-day experiences and routines can get monotonous - that's just life.' So don't wait.' Come up with your own adventure (camping with the family, training for some physical event or whatever you want) and just do it!! More >>

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If you're a frequent listener to my radio program, you've probably heard me say to someone seemingly immersed in a petty annoyance:' "You must have a charmed and uncomplicated life to have the time and energy to be upset about something that's ultimately so minuscule."'Yeah, I know that sounds snarky, but the point is made.' If your life is filled with the awe of the sky when the sun first comes up, scurrying to do some projects for charity, coming up with ideas to support a friend in emotional need, treating your spouse as though you adored every breath they take, having daily physical activity that makes you sweat and feel great afterwards, taking on a new challenge in a hobby or education at the local community college or adult extension, having a day a week you get together with buddies to play poker, make a quilt or whatever....when your life is filled in such expansive ways, then the quirky disappointments of family and friends will be shrugged off with a small smile and a lack of real concern.'Try activity instead of pouting or letting your anger simmer. More >>

I am so proud of the CBS Television Network.' There's been a ridiculous furor over a planned Super Bowl ad featuring college football star Tim Tebow, funded by Focus on the Family.' It recounts the story of Pam Tebow's pregnancy in 1987.' After getting sick, she ignored doctors' recommendations to abort her fifth child, and gave birth to Tim Tebow, who went on to win the 2007 Heisman Trophy and guide the Florida Gators to two BCS championships.'This should be an inspirational story for women.' Not according to NOW (the National Organization of "I don't know what kind of" Women), NARAL, and other organizations which support women killing the babies in their bodies if they wanna.' These "feminista" types generally call themselves "pro-choice."' Well, it looks like they're not too happy about the promotion of women who don't make the choice to kill their baby.'When a woman's inspirational story of making the choice to avoid an abortion to take the risk of giving birth to her child becomes controversial in a culture, that culture has degraded to a horrible point.' It is frightening to me that NOT killing the baby in your body is controversial, but killing the baby in your body is not controversial.'Here's my idea:' let's make an ad for the "pro-killing baby" feminista types.' Show a brief clip of the baby being macerated and then shift focus to a happy woman who's celebrating that death and her resulting freedom.'Then let's make an ad for a woman who doesn't want her baby who goes to term and gives the baby to a stable family - a married mom and dad -- for adoption, and shift focus to a happy woman who's celebrating that life and her freedom.'Then, let's vote. More >>

Why don't I like so-called "reality" or "actuality" TV shows?'' Because they're mean.'They are intended to be mean, because "mean" is entertaining to some segments of the audience, and that scares me.''Throwing Christians to the lions and watching gladiators fight to the death used to be considered wonderful entertainment in ancient times.' And while I'm not comparing actually killing someone with humiliating and demeaning them, there is a continuum here.''Christians and slaves didn't volunteer to become fodder for death to those eating popcorn in the stands.' The people on TV do volunteer to put themselves in situations which contribute to the demise of public taste, humane behavior, compassion and sensitivity.' They humiliate themselves for attention and profit.' That they volunteer for it doesn't make doing it to them right.' It just makes them terribly pathetic.'When people go on an " American Idol "-like program in the hopes of being discovered for their talents, a simple "winning" or "losing" seems sufficient to me.' However, having judges who become popular by hurling horrendously insulting comments seems to be the real motivation for these programs.' Hurting people in front of others is an egregious act.' Televising it, or making money off of sponsors who support it, so that people at home can feel superior and powerful (because they're not the ones being attacked) is purely disgusting.'These shows bring out the worst in people.' Martians watching our entertainment media would probably choose not to come to our planet, or else just wipe us off the face of the galaxy, because of how humanity displays itself on television (much less the Internet and the United Nations).''No one is ashamed anymore.' They pass it off as giving the audience what it wants.' "It's only TV," or "it's only a way to make a living," they say.''Sad. More >>