17 posts tagged “news”
When I walked in the break room this morning for my daily consumption of milk and coffee (mostly milk with a splash of coffee for flavor, I guess), CNN's bottom ticker said that PETA is asking President Obama to be kinder to flies. Apparently, the President had killed a fly during an interview because said insect was buzzing in his ear. What he should have done, PETA contends, is capture the fly in the room and set it free outside - presumably to live the rest of its hours in peace.
Ugh.
I like PETA. I think, for the most part, it's a good cause. There are, of course, radical crazies in every group that taint the public perception of the rest of the members, but, generally speaking, PETA gets a nod from me. I think animals should be treated ethically. I don't know enough about scientific research to cast an opinion there, but, generally speaking, if testing on animals can be at all avoided, I agree that it should.
There. There's my overall opinion of PETA.
But trying to save flies? Seriously? What are they going to do next - insist that we lower the speed limit to 5 miles per hour so that little bugs don't kamikaze into our grills and windshields?
I live in Florida, where insects probably outnumber humans at least 3 billion to one. About half of those, I'm sure, are flying, and half of those are mosquitoes! Since I (unwillingly) feed several hundred mosquitoes each year, I'm not opposed to killing the little buggers. And I'm not about to apologize for all the bugs I clean off my windshield each day, either.
So, PETA, please find another species to save before you become a total laughingstock. It's hard to take your organization seriously when you make ludicrous statements like these.
I read this article this morning about 10 children hospitalized after a daycare employee mistakenly gave them windshield wiper fluid, thinking it was Kool Aid.
After being sufficiently appalled at the error (How on earth do you not smell the chemicals as you're pouring it into cups? And how could you miss the writing on the label?), I realized there are a lot of beverages that look like other things, just because of the unnatural food dyes. Someone could have put it in a locker room refrigerator, thinking it was Powerade or Gatorade. If the wiper fluid was green, it could have even been HiC!
This has steeled my resolve to keep The Boy on (soy) milk and water for as long as possible - and certainly for as long as he's in daycare. I may open the list to tomato juice and watered down apple juice in the coming months, but only at home.
And nothing with really crazy colors. That's just a recipe for disaster.
Her rationale? She "was unable to discipline her son".
Ridiculous. Absolutely ridiculous.
Okay... I just read that farmers in the EU are upset about low dairy prices. I completely understand this; if you're a supplier, low prices are bad.
But I just bought a gallon of milk not four days ago and paid almost five dollars for it.
Is there any way North America could possibly import milk from Europe? Maybe in refrigerated tankers?
I'm just sayin'.
...when the first news story you hear when you wake is that business in the local strip clubs is down.
What kind of a world do we live in where a stripper can't make a decent living?
I feel I can say things like that since I've known (of) him since he was doing weekend evenings on KROQ. I think I might have met him once or twice, too, but since he's just Carson and certainly not of the same caliber as Jed the Fish, Kevin, Bean, Tami Heidi or even Richard Blade, I wouldn't have considered it of great importance.
Needless to say, imagine my un-surprise when I woke up to this news. Sell-out that he is, Carson has decided to ignore the plight of the WGA and hire non-union writers so that he can continue with his show.
And make more money.
And continue to be the sell-out loser I always knew him to be.
What a jackhole.
Film & TV writers are on strike, which means everything except reality TV could halt production. Do you support the strike? Are any of your favorite shows in jeopardy?
I completely support the strike, and as I'm not a big fan of reality TV, it looks like I'll be reading more books once the scripts for my favorite shows run out. And all my favorite shows depend upon great scripts and great writers, so it's just a matter of time before the TVs in my house go dark except for the news.
This morning, on the Today Show, Matt Lauer interviewed a 12-year-old from England who is allergic to just about every food imaginable. The poor thing has a tube attached to his stomach so that he can hook himself up to a feeding bag every night.
So, it could be a whole lot worse than just needing to cut out gluten from my diet so that Baby C's eczema doesn't flare up. He could be allergic to everything. At least he's doing well with rice cereal, apples, avocado and butternut squash (that's all we've tried so far).
I can take great comfort, then, in knowing that as difficult as it may be to completely cut out wheat and gluten from my diet, it could be worse. A whole lot worse.
Some Americans of Latin American descent are apparently bristling at the general labels of "Hispanic" and "Latino" when asked about race, according to CNN.com. The reason? Not all Hispanic people are from Latin America, not all Latinos speak Spanish, and each of the nations that makeup these labels are very different from each other.
Um... Does the word "Duh" mean anything?
I have dealt with this sentiment for at least 20 years now, since I was old enough to understand the whys and hows of cultural differences. It doesn't mean it's right, but I don't get angry or offended when someone asks me if I'm Asian.
I'm Filipino. Or rather, my parents are from the Philippines. Why is this a big deal? It's not, except that Filipinos can be considered Hispanic by the general definition (Spanish-speaking - much of the national dialect is comprised of Spanish words - with Spanish surnames). Geographically, the Philippines is very close to China and not too far away from Japan, so by that definition, Filipinos are Asian. Culturally - and by this, I mean the most native language, customs, artwork, manner of eating, means of cooking, style of housing, etc. - the Philippines has much more in common with Hawaii and Tahiti than with China, Korea, or Japan.
So, what is the Philippines? The Philippines is a country comprised of a group of islands in the Pacific Ocean. It's been occupied by several countries during its rich history, including Britain, Spain, and, yes, the United States.
If there's really an identity crisis, it stems - not from the others' lack of education - from one's desire to share information and educate those around us.
I don't mind if someone says that I'm Asian. I would be quite surprised if someone said I was Hispanic. And I would be a little impressed if someone asked if I was Polynesian. But these are just labels.
And I've never been one to place much emphasis on a label to define my identity.
I'm a little late writing about this topic, but I've been trying to figure out exactly how I feel.
When Columbia University agreed to let Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad speak to some students, I think the University President was out of bounds to introduce him to the crowd the way he did. Calling out his guest's (because Ahmadinejad was a guest) record - both documented and unsubstantiated - and essentially calling the man a monster was no way to introduce him.
I always thought the whole premise of academic freedom has been to accept a variety of facts varying opinions and form one's own conclusions from that information. I'm actually rather embarrassed that he was treated so callously.
Look, I don't agree with what the man says, but I also don't believe I get the full story. So much of the news is delivered in sound bites and three-second tags that it's almost impossible to get the full story unless you happen to be there yourself. But I do happen to agree that the University President was rude in his introduction.
If this is what interesting speakers (and by interesting, I mean people with ideas, opinions, and possibly histories that differ from the masses) can expect as a guest lecturer, I shudder to think of how many minds will be conditioned to remain closed and not be allowed to grow and thrive.
