Of a certain age...

I haven't had a TV for years - and rarely do I get to watch one for more than a few minutes just in passing - 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 commercials 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 diseases all the people who watch TV apparently have (else why would people continue to watch these repetitive 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 appointments and insist we must have this amazing new wonder 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 headaches, nausea, vomiting, seizures, paralysis, rectal bleeding, suicidal feelings or sudden death. Really? Are you insane? And with all the personal 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 commercials with male underwear 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 living 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 populace? 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 is a way to control people, and TV is being used to do just that. People need to wake up and smell the coffee. This is not real life!

The air-raid siren has been replaced by FOX News, and it's just a cover for the struggle 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.

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.