Give Thanks With a Grateful Heart

I trust that you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving whether it be with you friends, family, or both. This Thanksgiving was a "first" and hopefully the first of many to come where we had a blended family sitting at the table. We were accompanied by Damien's Mom, brother and sister, as well as my sister and our cousins. It was the first holiday I've spent with my cousins since 2004.

I am so thankful for those family members in my life that are willing to forgive....rebuild...and reconcile.

I am thankful for my husband being the man he is and the man he will become - because he's humble to know growing and learning don't stop when you're 34. (almost 35! hehe!)

I am thankful for my Jesus - for giving me an opportunity beyond my own understanding and for choosing me.

I am thankful for you. All of you. I pray for you daily and you bring a type of understanding to my life that I would not have otherwise. I thank God for the opportunity to hear your stories and bless my life with them. I am also incredible thankful for those that have been enlightened on the pornography world and have decided to make a change for themselves.



Be Blessed this holiday season :)

Genuinely in Christ,
Justine

Would AT&T Survive Without Porn?

An excerpt from Pamela Paul's book, Pornified.


"The adult film industry is so successful - and attractive to new entrants - partly due to the high profit margins. Selling sex is cheap. Most pornographic films cost between $5,000 and $10,000 to make, a pittance compared with the $150 million budgets of Hollywood blockbusters. Even the highest-quality smut films, like some of those aired on the Playboy Channel, cost only $100,000, a fraction of the cost for an indie film festival effort.

Pornography is an extremely profitable endeavor not only for the producers but for cable operators and satellite television as well. Pornographic programming now accounts for 25 to 30 percent of all pay-per-view revenue, about $1 billion in total per year. Whereas companies like Comcast and EchoStar have to pay CNN and Showtime for their content with the money they raise from subscriber fees, content from Playboy and other adult channels is provided free, and only a small fraction of the profits from cable subscribers- between 5 and 20 percent- goes to the adult entertainment supplier. In 2002, Comcast reportedly made $50 million off pornographic programming. Analysts estimate that AT&T Broadband probably makes between $8 million and $20 million per month on adult entertainment. "These companies very much keep it below the radar screen," explains Michael Goodman, a cable and satellite TV analyst with the Yankee Group in Boston. "But when push comes to shove, adult content can be the difference between making money and losing it. And right now, there's an awful lost of money being make on it."

Television pornography also pays off big in the travel industry for chains such as Holiday Inn, Marriott, Hyatt, Hilton, and Sheraton. Given that half of all hotel guests order pornographic pay-per-view movies, the industry is hot for porn. Such films on pay-per-view comprise 80 percent of in-room entertainment revenue and 70 percent of total in-room revenue. Hotels keep from 5 to 10 percent of the revenue for each $8.95 movie a guest orders (with the remainder going to companies such as LodgeNet or On Command, which provides the programming)."

Carrie Prejean

I am not going to debrief this story because I am trying to make my posts shorter! ;) If you search "Carrie Prejean" on CNN.com, you may catch up with the story before or after reading this post. This is a hard hot topic to post on simply because there is so much "he said, she said" going on back and forth between Carrie herself and the press. What I like to do with cases like this is WIPE AWAY ALL THE B.S.!!!!!!! If you'd like to talk about all the 'he said, she said', fine....... but I actually am not posting about this to comment on....her comment on gay marriage, her reactions to the press attacking her, the reason behind why I feel she got fired, whether I 'agree' with her book, her religious beliefs, yada yada.

I am writing about this story because I just can't help identifying with her story! A young woman, trying to find her place in the world, realizing she has a 'gift' of a nice body and face....struggling every day just trying to live as a 'Christian' in a hateful world, knowing that she, herself, isn't perfect in her 'walk'.......for whatever reason decides to pose for some nude photos......for whatever reason sends a guy a graphic sexual video. If I didn't know any more of this story, I'd say so far she's making decisions like many, many, many, MANY, MANY, MANY teen/young women out there right now!! Except for the fact that her path lead her to become Miss California USA. All of the sudden she's in spot lights and an idol for little girls. All of the sudden she probably realized she shouldn't have made some former decisions....but now she's in too deep........

All I really have to say on the issue is Carrie Prejean is dealing with her persecutors to the best of her ability. Both of us being 22...........I just couldn't imagine the level of persecution she goes through so far above my own. I may agree or disagree with how she's dealing with the criticism or what she's saying.......but I will say that there's a piece of my heart that feels for her. Involuntarily, I know exactly where she's coming from and know exactly why other people don't.

If she is lying - she shouldn't. If she is still hiding things - it'll get found out. If she hasn't fully accepted the responsibility of her actions - Well.......she'll learn.

We ALL have to go through different processes in order to fully learn the lessons of life. She's going through one in National News, on National Television.

I'll definitely pray for her...............you should, too.