September 2009 Archives

No sex in the champagne dorm room say officials at Tufts University. The school has banned sex in a dorm room while one's roommate is present. A practice students colorfully refer to as "sexile" as in exile.

You know what? Makes perfect sense to me. Thankfully, I never had to deal with a roommate having sexual interweb while I was present. I probably would have stabbed them both in their sleep been really peeved if it did happen. I moved off campus after 1st year anyway, couldn't deal with all the college shenanigans... but anyway, check the video for the full story.

Oh, one more thing. If you've ever had sex in a bunk bed of a college dorm room while your roommate (or someone else's roommate) was there, you're effing nasty. Unless of course it was a threesome, that's perfectly acceptable.

Nod to Kanye West.

I'm just joking (obvious). But seriously, as more and more details about this debate come to light and we move away from the bullshit and lies, it's become clear to me that this is a fight of the haves vs the have nots.

Only thing is some dummies out there don't realize how quickly you can go from have to have not when an unexpected illness kicks in or you lose your job...

CNN reported today that the Senate Finance Committee rejected two amendments to include a government-run public health insurance option in the only compromise health care bill so far.

The amendments by Democratic Sens. Jay Rockefeller of West Virginia and Charles Schumer of New York were opposed by all 10 Republicans on the committee and a few Democrats, including committee Chairman Sen. Max Baucus of Montana.

Baucus explained that he liked much about the idea of a public option but that he knew a health care bill containing the provision would fail to win enough support in the full Senate to overcome a Republican filibuster.

Rep. Roy Blunt (MO) is not intimidated by accusations of racism. To prove this he told a joke at the Values Voter Summit last Friday that characterized the government as a bunch of golfers chasing around a golf-ball-stealing monkey.

Here's the punch line, in Blunt's own words:

Almost from the day the first ball was hit on this golf course something happened they didn't anticipate: monkeys would come running out of the jungle and then grab the golf balls.

And if it was in the fairway, they might throw it in the rough. And if it was in the rough, they might throw it -- they might throw it back at you!

And I can point to great and long detail about how many things they tried to eliminate the monkey problem, but they never got it done.

So finally for this golf course and this golf course only, they passed a rule and the rule was, you have to play the ball where the monkey throws it.

And that is the rule in Washington all the time.

Imagine that you're a couple that's having trouble conceiving a child. So one day you decide to go to a fertility clinic and have them fertilize and implant an embryo for you. Then you get the call you've been waiting for. You're pregnant!

And in the same breath you find out the clinic accidentally implanted you with another couple's embryo.

Well, that shit really happened to this couple!

That's how they get you.

Watch the video.

CNN.com posted an article today about two MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) students who developed a program they claim can accurately predict sexual orientation based on a person's Facebook friends.

"Project Gaydar" scanned the profiles of more than 1,500 Facebook users who identified themselves as gay, straight, or bisexual. Analysis revealed gay men had a higher proportion of homosexual friends than straight men.

The discovery that gay men have gay friends isn't a surprise. But, using this information, the Gaydar program was applied to 947 men who chose not to identify sexual orientation in their profiles. While the students could not confirm the accuracy of all 947 predictions, they personally knew 10 of the men were homosexuals and the program identified each of these men as gay.

Take a moment to re-read that last sentence and tell me it doesn't sound REALLY stupid.

On its face this was a poorly conceived study. But giving the kids at MIT the benefit of the doubt, I want to point out that it was an even more poorly written article. In the final paragraph the writer makes a point about statistical analysis revealing more about us than we may want to disclose in our online profiles.

Okay, I'll buy that. But if the point of the article was about privacy then that should have been flushed out a lot better. Because I'm left with the impression that the privacy angle was an afterthought and the only reason CNN highlighted this study is because it came out of MIT.
 
And regarding statistical analysis, this is simply a really bad example. People are on social networking sites to communicate with people who have similar backgrounds, lifestyles and interests. Gathering obvious information to make predictions about a persons sexual orientation, which you can only confirm were accurate 10 out of 947 times, is not analysis. It's called stereotyping.

Do better, MIT.

Hell, do better CNN too.

Not to sound like a know-it-all, but whose idea was it to let the criminally insane dude go on a field trip? Not smart. A 47-year-old schizophrenic male escaped while on an outing at the fair. He had been under the care of a state hospital after admitting to strangling an elderly woman. They say he's dangerous, they say be on the lookout. They also say his medication will wear off in a few days. Bonus.

For shits and giggles, check out actor Affion Crocket's hilarious parody of "Run This Town" titled "Hunt Chris Down".

More than 120,000 children wait for permanent homes in the United States every year. And what are some American's doing? Adopting monkeys, of course.

TLC has a new program debuting Oct. 4 called "My Monkey Baby" which follows an elderly couple that has decided to take on a 40-year commitment to raising an eternal toddler, a monkey named Jessica Marie.

The channel boasts the show will offer "an extraordinary look into the real-lives of people parenting monkeys in America," explore the strength of the parent/monkey bond and reveal whether or not a monkey can really become a child substitute.

Blank stare.

I have not yet seen the documentary in it's entirety. I did, however, find this YouTube video, but I was done when the "daddy" of "Jessie" said, "You don't call Jessie a monkey, that's my daughter."

Apparently Channel 4 featured a documentary on the same topic, saying "it's a new form of family life, and thousands of Americans are raising a monkey as a member of their family."

I'm still trying to figure out if TLC will be re-airing the documentary or if they are turning the documentary into an on-going series. But why do I get the feeling that these folks raising monkeys are the same people who believe in Sarah Palin's talk about death panels for the elderly?

And the Award for Best Show of Bitchassness at the VMA's goes to: Kanye West.

So, if you don't already know, yesterday at the VMA's while Taylor Swift was accepting an award for Best Female Video, a self-important and intoxicated Kanye West stepped onto the stage, took the microphone from Swift and ruined the teen country star's moment by professing that Beyonce had one of the best videos of all time. He then shrugged his shoulders and walked off stage.

What can I say about this spectacle that hasn't already been said? We all know Kanye was out of line and there's really no excuse for his actions. We all know he's got a big ego. We all know he tries incredibly hard to mask his insecurities with superficial things, a fact that his arm-piece skintight snakeprint jumpsuit wearing girlfriend Amber Rose only serves to accentuate. We all know he has no respect for women. And we all know that Kanye West really, truly believes his opinions are so vital that they must be voiced, often at the most inappropriate moments. Some might call that sort of behavoir childish, girly even.

These descriptors for Kanye are nothing new. But the trend of characterization online today has gone far beyond the obvious adjectives one might use to describe Mr. West, delving into the back-alleys of racism. There's at least 2 million incidents of Kanye being called a nigger in the past 24 hours.

One question: Why ya'll have to go there?

Contrary to what some believe, nigger is not a term used to call a black person ignorant. Nigger is a term used to characterize an entire race of people as ignorant, criminal and undesirable.

When nearly 2 million people use the word nigger to characterize a black person at their worst, I refuse to accept the notion that this country does not have a race problem. 

I actually read a comment where a person suggested that Kanye's actions were criminal; that he assaulted Taylor Swift. I could go on and on about how the perception of actions by blacks are always construed as more aggressive or criminal than whites, and how issues like racial profiling and greater penalties under the law for possession of crack cocaine than the powdered form stem from that perception... but I won't go there.

I will say that South Carolina Rep. Congressman Joe Wilson got off pretty easy by comparison. And his rudeness towards the President during his Health Care address to congress and the nation bears more weight than some rapper dissing a country singer at the VMA's. Or at least it ought to.

By the way, Kanye later apologized via his Web site. Doesn't really change anything in my mind.

Here's the video...

MTV Show

Innovation? Personal responsibility? Patriotism? Yup, those sure are socialist talking points.

If you haven't heard yet, a back-to-school speech given by President Obama last week has spurred some negative comments from conservatives that detected a thinly veiled push towards socialism in Obama's call for students to stay in school.

During his inspiring speech at Wakefield High School in Arlington, VA, President Obama urged students to work hard and take personal responsibility for their futures. He said the future of American depended on their success, and that no matter the circumstances, they all had something to offer.

To drive home his point, he offered personal stories of three young adults who overcame adversity to forge a path towards higher education, including one who suffered brain cancer and numerous treatments that affected his memory, forcing him to work even harder to stay on track in school.

In Obama's words, "There is no excuse for not trying," he told the students. "This isn't just important for your own life and your own future. What you make of your education will decide nothing less than the future of this country. What you're learning in school today will determine whether we as a nation can meet our greatest challenges in the future," the President said.

In the days to follow, what was the bigoted conservative reaction, you ask?

"Thinking about my kids in school having to listen to that just really upsets me," suburban Colorado mother Shanneen Barron told CNN Denver affiliate KMGH last week, before the text of the speech was released.

"I'm an American. They are Americans, and I don't feel that's OK. I feel very scared to be in this country with our leadership right now."

You know, I thought conservatives promoted individual accomplishment.

So why are they lambasting this overtly conservative speech?

Well, I have to conclude they are all a rotten bunch of evil racist bigots. Sorry, but I can't think of any other explanation.

Former President George H.W. Bush delivered a nationally televised speech to students from a Washington school in fall 1991, encouraging them to say no to drugs and work hard. Conservatives didn't have a problem with that.

They didn't have a problem with Bush Jr. magically reading "My Pet Goat" upside down to second-graders while the World Trade Center Towers crumbled on 9/11 either, but go figure.

Source: CNN.com

So, Maia Campbell is a cracked-out prostitute? Really?

Well, no.. not really. At least, that's not the whole story.

A lot of my favorite urban blogs are reposting a very unflattering video of Campbell, who played Tiffany Warren in the 90's sitcom "In The House" with LL Cool J.

The video shows her in an automible being antagonized by a "reporter" for an urban website that I won't mention, and the interviewer seems to want to entice Campbell into illicit benhavior. Campbell responds with profanity and appears out of control, but remains seated in the vehicle throughout the incident. (I won't include the video here, but you can Google it.)

Though many blogs are making fun of the incident - as people apparently delight in seeing others fall from glory - the truth is the former actress suffers from bi-polar personality disorder/schizophrenia.

It's not so funny now, is it?

Bi-Polar disorder and schizophrenia are very serious mental illnesses that cause tremendous emotional suffering for the persons it affects, their families and friends. Some people have said that she has been off her meds and recently appeared in a number of disparraging videos surfacing online. It's also been said that the former actress has reverted to other drugs over the years, likely in an attempt to cope with her mental illness.

Campbell has been in the news a few times over in the past 2 years for run -ns with the law, from alleged prostitution to alleged theft. It's important to note that 2 years ago she also suffered the death of her mother.

So, putting it into context, this shouldn't really be headline news. But if you look online the video is being reposted and tweeted more than anything else today.

Covering a story is one thing, but it's important to report the truth and not a one-sided sensationalized headline. She's a real person, this is a serious issue... and for the record, I hope whoever was antagonizing Campbell in the video gets his nuts cut off.

Post script: Campbell's mother, BeBe Moore Campbell wrote a book - 72 Hr Hold - which is loosely based on her experiences with Maia. I recommend it if you want to get an idea of what's really going on here.

In news that will make you want to hurl, last month Fred DeNegri was trying to get some low-calorie refreshment but found something disgusting in his Diet Pepsi can.

Gutted frog.

DeNegri was grilling in his backyard tiki bar in Ormond Beach, Florida, when he popped open a can of Diet Pepsi, took a big gulp and started gagging, his wife, Amy, said.

He emptied out the can down a sink but something heavy remained inside. His wife took over and shook the can over a paper plate until something resembling "pink linguini" slid out, followed by "dark stuff," Amy DeNegri said.

"It was disgusting," said Amy DeNegri, 55.

The DeNegris took pictures before calling poison control and the FDA, which showed up the next day to examine the can in question and collect it for lab testing.

The couple received a copy of the completed report last week from the Food and Drug Administration Office of Regulatory Affairs, which concluded the foreign matter appeared to be a frog or a toad.

"The animal was lacking internal organs normally found in the abdominal and thoracic cavity," the report notes.

A second, closed can from the same 36-pack of Diet Pepsi from Sam's Club, was also submitted for testing, according to Amy DeNegri. No abnormalities were detected, the report states.

The FDA also conducted an investigation at the local Pepsi bottling plant in Orlando from August 4 to 11 and "did not find any adverse conditions or association to this problem," spokeswoman Siobhan DeLancey said.

Pepsi says the FDA results "affirmed" the company's confidence "in the quality of our products and the integrity of our manufacturing system."

"The FDA conducted a thorough inspection of our Orlando facility and found no cause for concern. In this case, the FDA simply was unable to determine when or how the specimen entered the package," according to spokesman Jeff Dahncke.

When asked if Pepsi believed it was not responsible for the animal getting into the can, Dahncke said, "We have addressed the facts of the investigation and stated our position. It's not appropriate for us to comment beyond that."

Original report by CNN.com

And the Award for Crazy Face of the Day goes to... Roger Stephens of Stone Mountain, Georgia.

Stephens, 61, allegedly slapped a stranger's crying toddler in a Walmart store in Stone Mountain because she wouldn't stop crying, CNN.com reports.

He was arrested Monday and charged with first-degree cruelty to children. An incident report obtained from police in Gwinnett County indicated Stephens did not know the 2-year-old girl he stands accused of hitting.

The confrontation happened shortly before noon at the Walmart in Stone Mountain, a suburb of Atlanta.

According to the arresting officer, the child's mother said her daughter was crying as they walked down one of the aisles.

The mother said a stranger later identified as Stephens approached them and said, "If you don't shut the baby up, I will shut her up for you."

A few moments later, while the mother and the crying child were in another aisle, Stephens allegedly grabbed the girl and slapped her across the face.

Police said he hit her four or five times. "See, I told you I would shut her up," the suspect allegedly told the mother.

Stephens, a Stone Mountain resident, is being held by the Gwinnett County Sheriff's Department.

I've heard of people getting fired for a number of things: not showing up to work on time, stealing overtime, smoking weed. But sending an email in all caps? Really?

An accountant, Vicki Walker, recently won a lawsuit against New Zealand-based ProCare, where she was fired in 2007 for sending emails with text formatted in a variety of red, bold, and all caps fonts. ProCare has been ordered to pay New Zealand dollars $17,000 (US $11,500/€8000)  for unfair dismissal.

Walker had sent emails to fellow workers within the company, usually with "stern and detailed" instructions on how forms should be properly filled out. Her boss felt that her emails were "confrontational" and caused "disharmony in the workplace" and in December of 2007 she was fired without warning.

Walker, sued for wrongful termination and won the case. The money awarded was for lost wages and for other unspecified harm caused due to the firing.

Walker claims that the one email used in evidence was in regard to how her team should fill claim forms, and specifies a time and date highlighted in bold red, and a sentence written in capitals and highlighted in bold blue. It reads: "To ensure your staff claim is processed and paid, please do follow the below checklist."

I don't like passive aggressive people anymore than the next person... and this whole situation reeks of passive-aggressiveness. Walker was too passive aggressive in her emails. And her boss was too passive aggressive to sit her down and discuss with her the fact that her emails were off-putting or downright upsetting to her co-workers. But seeing as how he didn't do that, and Walker reportedly suffered a number of hardships during the past 2 years of joblessness, like not being able to keep up with her mortgage payments, I think she should've gotten more money. She might still, she's taking them back to court.