Pope Benedict XVI recently addressed an academic audience at the University of regensburg on September 12th, 2006. The speech generated an enourmous amount of attention when the Pope referred to Islam and the Islam religious violence.

What many of us did not catch is that Pope Benedict XVI discussed the Book of Genesis and “in the begining was the logos…and the logos is God.”

Modifying the first verse of the Book of Genesis, John began the prologue of his Gospel with the words: In the beginning was the logos. This is the very word used by the emperor: God acts with logos. Logos means both reason and word– a reason which is creative and capable of self-communication, precisely as reason. John thus spoke the final word on the biblical concept of God, and in this word all the often toilsome and tortuous threads of biblical faith find their culmination and synthesis. In the beginning was the logos, and the logos is God, says the Evangelist.

For everyone out there who believe money cannot buy you happiness then I immediately assume these are the types of people who fill up gas and pick up a few “quick picks” or “gopher fives.” It’s a common occurence with many friends of mine and as common as buying a pack of smokes when you fill up gas.

It turns out money can really buy you happniess but the amount of money you have (or win) is very important. A new research study conducted by the Journal of Health Economics suggests that the ideal winnings for happiness are between $2,000 and $225,000. “A long term sustained impact in the overall happiness of the winners” is achieved within this range. I don’t know about you, but having a gigantic $250 million dollar Powerball check handed over would suit me just fine.

Then again, This study reminds me of Jack Whittaker, the winner of the largest Powerball Jackpot of the time at $314.9 million. He was arrested twice for dunk driving after and $545,000 was stolen from his SUV outside of a strip club. Then his granddaughter was abducted. Sounds like hell to me!

Steretypes really do have an impact on results a new study reveals. A new ABC study shows us that before taking an exam you really shouldn’t watch ditzy females on television. The study showed that women who watched commercials with stereotypical ditzy females before taking a math test scored 38 percent lower than women who didn’t see the ads. The study also revealed that Asians, when reminded they do well in math, actually perform better in school. The study also revealed you could control a black person’s test scores prior to taking a test by telling he or she how they’ll perform.

During these times of increasing smoking bans no one would imagine seeing this. Thanks to a machine called Art-o-Mat, cigarette machines are back in style. More than 80 cigarette vending machines across the country have been placed in the Whitney Musem in New York, MOCA in California, and Whole Foods in Washington. The machines dispense contemporary art cigarette packs and cost just about the same as a regular pack. Five bucks will get you hand designed jewelry, small watercolors, mini sculptures, miniature oils, and other contraptions with the pack. The revenue is divided up between the artist, machine vendor, and the venue. A new and interesting way to look at marketing cancer I must say. For smokers, the artistic vending machines are more about discovery and a cultural approach.

Not everyone is out to make a buck for only themselves. A blog called Donate Your Coke Codes was started for charity purposes rather than personal gain. The concept behind the promotion is to Donate Your Coke Codes for Coca-Cola’s Coke Rewards promotion to help buy Brandon McKnight, a child at St. Jude Children’s Hospital surrfering from cranial pharyngioma a present. The points are recruited through a Coke Blog and so far they have collected over 1,400 points in 45 days. Only 14,000 total will get that poor kid a brand new 32 inch Bravia LCD Television.

Although not related to Marketing or Advertising this story was too funny to not share. Apparently, a Greek bank robber armed with ninja throwing stars finally ran out of ninja juice when he was arrested Tuesday. In total, it was the ninja’s 11th bank robbery. The ninja made away with $63,590 over the past few months. The unmasked robber was made famous for threatening to throw razor sharp, palm-sized stars made famous by Japanese Ninja Warriors. The cops out ninja-ed the culprit when they followed him home and made the arrest. Sneaky sneaky greek police.

Today, is my first day of school for the Fall Semester at Minnesota State University. I am only registered for 13 credits with 36 left until I graduate with a Bachelor’s in Marketing. I am still deciding whether or not to persue a MBA - Master’s Degree. I love the marketing professors and I hate the english teachers here. My first class today is for Marketing 302 - Market Research and Analysis. My guess is that they will have me doing spreadsheets and data entry. I’ll keep everyone posted and check back for some interesting articles that I’ve been day dreaming about writing all day.