For those of you who don't know Rachel Ray is a television host. She has a couple shows on food network (one is a travel show and the other is a show where she cooks in under thirty minutes). Rachel also has a talk show on NBC. Due to her success and popularity she became a sponsor for Dunkin' Donuts. A commercial for Dunkin' was pulled because Rachel was wearing a black and white scarf. A scarf? A panic went out because the scarf (pictured above) makes her look like a 'terrorist sympathizer'. So is Rachel Ray a terrorist? I've found that she has terrorized me for years with her crappy television shows and terrible recipes. One could make a case that she wants us all to eat doughnuts and spaghetti soup until we die. And perhaps she's trying to kill us all by not recommending her viewers to wash their raw chicken before cooking with it. But seriously, does Rachel Ray want Americans to die? No, that's ridiculous. Personally I can't stand Rachel but it is beyond crazy to think she is a terrorist sympathizer. If Rachel Ray is a terrorist then so is Britney Spears for trying to sell me Pepsi (that stuff is gross). Face it if Rachel does want American's to die it's from poor nutrition and not from bombs. We should all hate Rachel for her poor tipping skills on her show 40 dollars a day and not for her black and white scarf.
Ever heard of the show "My Super Sweet 16"? It's a popular MTV show that features bratty teenagers getting extremely lavish birthday parties. This is just a sample of the new American craze: spoiling children and teens with parties costing more than a lot of people make in a year. We're talking upwards of 100,000 dollars. Sometimes into the millions. The party features a celebrity entertainer, a designer cake, designer clothes, and of course a brand new car at the end of the party. Yes, parents are creating memories, but they're also creating monsters. These kids have outrageous expectations and if even one of those isn't full filled they crumble into whinny babies. In the most horrifying episode of My Super Sweet 16 a girl gets a brand new high end car for her birthday. When her parents showed her the car she went into hysterics because she didn't want the car on that day. She wanted to get it on a different day. I'm sorry but if someone wants to buy me a brand new car they can give it to me whenever the want. If someone woke me up at three in the morning after not sleeping for a week just to give me a car, I wouldn't mind. Heck, if you wanted to give me a brand new car in the middle of my most important final exam, I'd be leaving early. Sorry professor, I will be taking a C and the keys to my new car.
Here's a video I found on youtube that accurately depicts what this article is about. I personally don't know if this is staged or not. But there are girls and families like this in real life.
I find this display of wealth disturbing on multiple levels. I feel as if there is a segment of America that perpetuates a stereotype that American's are stupid, spoiled whores. I personally despise that stereotype and do not believe that most American's fit into that category. I think that American's as a society should look down on this particular kind of behavior, instead of celebrating it. There's nothing super or sweet about destroying your children with money.
But hey, maybe I'm just bitter because on my 16th birthday we went to war in Iraq. My designer clothes were from a department store. My designer cake was from Costco (customized to say "Happy Birthday Sara"). And instead of having 50 cent as my special guest I had Grandma. And as for my car, about a year later I got my Grandfather's old car. Hot stuff I know. Honestly, I was just happy to be 16. I didn't care if my cake was designed by a celebrity chef, or Costco. Though Grandpa's car wasn't sexy it was safe. I loved that car, no matter how much it looked like a boat it always worked. And who needs 50 cent? Sure Grandma isn't as good at rapping but I love her. Those things don't sound very glamorous or memorable, but the were special to me. I was more grateful to see my Grandma and my sheet cake a lot of those spoiled kids are to have such lavish parties. The fact of the matter is, it's not the kid's fault. Their parents made them this way. And my parents made me appreciate what I have. In fact whenever I feel as if my parents think I am too spoiled I force them to watch an episode of "My Super Sweet 16". I always get a big hug afterwards.
It is always horrifying and shocking to me when people do not take suicide threats seriously. Recently a college student at Virginia Tech committed suicide. Obviously a university can't prevent a student from killing him or herself if they are not aware of the problem. But in this case Virginia Tech had been made fully aware of his troubles. It is a university's job to protect students, and I feel as if this is a problem not just at Virginia Tech but in other schools.
Sadly it has almost become a joke. Even I'm guilty of laughing at someone when they say they're going to transfer to William and Mary. We always say, "Don't go there. Everyone who goes to William and Mary either becomes a coke head or commits suicide." Though friends and I joke, it is only to make light of something that troubles us.
I have had my own personal nightmares happen. When I turned to my university I felt horribly failed. I've seen my own university be unresponsive to suicide threats. I feel as if universities don't put student safety high on the priority list. It seems to me that colleges are like cops at the scene at the crime. They cannot prevent horror only clean it up.
Colleges need to put student safety at number one. They need to start taking all that money they nickel and dime from students and put it into student counseling and trained professionals who can deal with these kinds of situations. Instead of university police officer doughnuts who doesn't know if he should wind his ass or scratch his watch.
If you are a college student and have a friend or family member who you are worried about call state police. Because your college might not be there for you.
There has been a lot of speculation on who McCain is going to choose as his running mate. The buzz has been a Condoleezza Rice McCain ticket. This would be a great way to snag the African American and women vote on the Republican side. Though there is a great chance that Rice would not pass under the scrutiny of the American people. I have visions of awkward videos of her in front of the 911 commission repeating in circles.
The speculation is over. Rice has officially ruled out the option. She wants to go back to Stanford. *"I very much look forward to watching this campaign and voting as a voter," she said. "I have a lot of work to do and then I'll happily go back to Stanford." I am not sure why, but I feel relieved.
Lately, it seems as though Hillary has had some problems with fibbing, generally stretching the truth, and sometimes out right lying. We all know how much work lying is, so our good friends over at SomethingAwful.com have created a tool that'll take care of it for her.
This is one of the many tall tales that it created: "Hillary Clinton lies awake at night crying because America doesn't love her as much as she loves America, and it hurts."
If you haven't heard, To Catch a Predator is a special segment on Dateline NBC. The concept of the segment is simple. Dateline works with the police and a special group of people called perverted justice. Perverted Justice is a group of adults who go online into chat rooms and pose as curious under age kids around the ages of 12 and 13. They have explicit conversations with adults and invite the adults to come over to their house "while their parents are away". Camera's are set up and a decoy is set in place. The decoy is a boy or girl over the age of 18 who is suppose to (and usually doesn't) look around the age of 12. The men enter and have a brief conversation with the decoy. At an opportune time Chris Hanson, the host of the show, pops out of a corner with a witty line. After an interview Chris Hanson reveals that he is a host of a television show. Then the predator is asked to leave. At this point he is arrested and hauled away.
I, like many Americans, have become entranced with this show. Even though nearly every episode is the same, I wait with anticipation for the next installment. This show is disgusting, horrifying, and shocking. I cannot get enough.
You're probably wondering what exactly these guys get arrested for. They are arrested for soliciting a minor for sex. This means they can arrest the predator upon arrival. The interview is completely gratuitous and for viewing pleasure only. I have no problem with this.
Though all of the predators that show up to the house are arrested a lot of the charges do not stick. This is due to the conspiracy like nature of the whole set up. Not to mention Dateline has a habit of overstepping their boundaries when it comes to the investigation. But the show isn't really about a select group of predators being brought to justice.
The show is about a message. The message is watch your children. Talk to them about chat rooms. And if you're thinking about soliciting a minor for sex, it might be a large man wearing a 'perverted justice' shirt. It's about thinking twice and being smart. This show has shown me a world I, luckily, did not know existed. Though there is no way to know for sure, I firmly believe that it has saved lives. So, though the show might not be very effective at locking up a certain group of men (I say men because every predator on the show is a man). It is about the viewer. It encouraging men to stay away from a particular temptation and it is about minors staying safe.
In a recent poll I found on CNN *76 percent of the country is ready for a black president. Shouldn't it be 100 percent of America? This number makes me gag. Sure, I guess I can accept the fact that there will always be a degree of racism and sexism in this country but I feel as if that number is still far too low.
Please don't make the mistake of thinking I look down on people for not supporting Barack Obama. I realize that just because you don't want to vote for him that doesn't mean you hate African Americans. The same can be said for Hillary. If you don't support her, that doesn't mean you hate women. Of course, if you don't support either of those candidates, because of their status as a minority I think it's time to review your beliefs.
