The Catcher in the Dictionary

Maybe it's all too fitting that a California school district tried to ban the dictionary for its explicit comments just days before the famed JD Salinger died. Salinger of course was the author of The Catcher in the Rye, one of the most banned books in American schools. And because of his death, his famous novel from1951 about adolescence and growing up is back on the top 20 over at Amazon. It's interesting, I know all about the book but have never read it. Maybe I'll have to pick it up. Regardless, someone down in southern California made a complaint that the famous Mirriam-Webster's dictionary was too explicit and not age appropriate for younger children. One of the offending entries was for "oral sex" which was defined as oral stimulation of the genitals. Now you see, I can't really get outraged with this one, because it's just too stupid. Words aren't offensive, it how they are put together and what their intent is that can cause damage. I daresay that words like "penis", "masturbation" and "orgasm" have been in the dictionary for quite a few years. It doesn't make the dictionary or encyclopedia dirty or unworthy. I'm sure there is a portion of the population that disagree, but they're not on the internet and definitely not reading my blog. Fox News (Jan 27, 2010) - California School District Reverses Dictionary Ban After 'Oral Sex' Flap Embarrass. -verb 1. To cause confusion and shame; disconcert; abash. As in: A California school district was EMBARRASSED after it tried to ban America's classic dictionary from 4th- and 5th-grade classrooms because it worried the book contained "age-inappropriate" words. After conducting an investigation of the very wordy book, Menifee Union School District has reversed its decision and invited Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary back into bookcases at Oak Meadows Elementary School. ... Read the full story here... Bil An Outraged Dad

Political Correctness at McDonald's

Which Culture Should We Insult Today? This is one for the books. McDonald's created a series of 12 zodiac toys for their Happy Meals for the Chinese audience. The Chinese zodiac runs according to the full year in a 12 year cycle. Each of signs of the zodiac is represented by an animal, like the snake, rooster or monkey. And one of the signs is a pig. Which is verbotten to Muslims. So McDonald's decides to change the Chinese zodiac and replace the pig with Cupid. Can you imagine how the board meeting went: "Well, we can't insult the Muslims, so let's insult everyone else in China. Yeah, that's the thing to do." It's like someone representing the astrological zodiac using a frog instead of a bull for taurus.  Oh yeah, that would go over big. CNN (Jan 25, 2010) - McDonald's frantic backpedaling: The pig toy fiasco There is such a thing as being too culturally sensitive. The Straits Times reports that fast food giant McDonald's opened up a virtual beehive in Singapore when it deliberately omitted pig characters from its latest toy promotion, earning the ire of netizens and Chinese customers. The pig toy was suppose to be part of a 12-character Doraemon set depicting the animals of the Chinese zodiac calendar. However, management at the Golden Arches decided not to include the pig toy to avoid offending Muslim customers, and had a Doraemon Cupid toy in its place instead -- a move which seriously upset Chinese customers keen on collecting all 12 toys in the series. A flurry of irate emails and demands by collectors and customers followed, and now the fast food giant has reversed its decision, adding a pig toy back to the promotional line-up (Updated January 25, 2010). ... Read the full story here... Bil An Outraged Dad

Corner Parks are Now Responsible for Global Warming

Sometimes, I think these people should just shut up. In an effort to help the global warming cause, the University of California Irvine is releasing the results of their study that says that the park down on the corner of your street is contributing to the carbon in the air.  Yes, the green space actually helps to retain carbon, but the amount of carbon it takes to maintain the parks is greater than the amount of carbon it saves.  That's when you look at the mowing, fertilizing and other lawn care maintenance that goes on. I'm not going to dispute their findings, but did they really consider the impact their study would produce?  Look at just some of the headlines that already being produced:  "Urban 'green' spaces may contribute to global warming, UCI study finds", "City Parks May Be Bad for the Environment" and "Urban 'green' spaces not so environmentally friendly". In this world where few people read past the headlines, the impression is that city parks are bad and we should get rid of them.  Even worse, when you read the full articles, that's what the conclusion is.  We shouldn't have city parks. This is such a lame brain news release. Anyone who has the slightest doubts about global warming will be laughing at this.  How could they not?  How could this be taken seriously?  Talk about fuel for the fire.  This damages the global warming cause more than aids it.  Taking care of greenspaces are things a simple thing that the average joe can do and can relate to.  Now they are being told that greenspaces are bad. Let's take the study to its rightful conclusion, something that seems to be sorely lacking:  If you get rid of the park, what will replace it?  A family home?  A store?  A factory?  It's going to be something because they are not going to leave it as an overgrown path of weeds.  And then the real question becomes, what takes up more carbon, a playground or a factory? Duh. Studies like this do more damage to the global warming cause than good.  These people need to move past raw data and look at real life and real consequences. Like I said, I think these people should just shut up.  UCI (Jan 19, 2010) - Urban 'green' spaces may contribute to global warming, UCI study finds Dispelling the notion that urban “green” spaces help counteract greenhouse gas emissions, new research has found – in Southern California at least – that total emissions would be lower if lawns did not exist. Turfgrass lawns help remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere through photosynthesis and store it as organic carbon in soil, making them important “carbon sinks.” However, greenhouse gas emissions from fertilizer production, mowing, leaf blowing and other lawn management practices are four times greater than the amount of carbon stored by ornamental grass in parks, a UC Irvine study shows. These emissions include nitrous oxide released from soil after fertilization. Nitrous oxide is a greenhouse gas that’s 300 times more powerful than carbon dioxide, the Earth’s most problematic climate warmer. “Lawns look great – they’re nice and green and healthy, and they’re photosynthesizing a lot of organic carbon. But the carbon-storing benefits of lawns are counteracted by fuel consumption,” said Amy Townsend-Small, Earth system science postdoctoral researcher and lead author of the study, forthcoming in the journal Geophysical Research Letters. . . . Read the full story here... Bil An Outraged Dad

Quebec suspends all new Haitian adoptions

I know, that got my hackles up at first also. What a headline considering the earthquakes. But then you read that the UN has requested countries be careful about any adoptions since it is hard to verify any personal information of the kids. Which can lead to child smuggling. Like what happened as a result of the tsunami in 2004. Disgusting. Just when you think we cannot sink any lower. There is a certain corner of hell reserved for child smugglers like that. Montreal Gazette, Jan 20, 2010 - By CHERYL CORNACCHIA The Quebec government has put on hold all new adoption applications of children in Haiti as part of an international effort to prevent a repeat of the child smuggling that occurred after the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. On Monday, a United Nations agency urged caution with any new adoptions, given that the events unfolding in Haiti make it impossible to verify the personal and family situations of children. ... The federal government has announced it will expedite those pending applications by fast-tracking the visas and other paperwork that come under federal jurisdiction at the end of the international adoption process. Read the full story here... Bil An Outraged Dad

Jesus Rifles for Everyone

This makes two religious articles in two days. Somebody is going so smite me if I'm not careful. This story is about an American manuafacturer of rifle scopes engraving coded references to Bible quotes next to the serial number. Trijicon is a Michigan company that has putting these reference on their scopes for many years. It seems that gun enthusiasts have known and approved of this practice for years. ABC News - Coded references to New Testament Bible passages about Jesus Christ are inscribed on high-powered rifle sights provided to the U.S. military by a Michigan company, an ABC News investigation has found. The sights are used by U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan and in the training of Iraqi and Afghan soldiers. The maker of the sights, Trijicon, has a $660 million multi-year contract to provide up to 800,000 sights to the Marine Corps, and additional contracts to provide sights to the U.S. Army. U.S. military rules specifically prohibit the proselytizing of any religion in Iraq or Afghanistan and were drawn up in order to prevent criticism that the U.S. was embarked on a religious "Crusade" in its war against al Qaeda and Iraqi insurgents. Read the full story here... I think this is so cool but so wrong at the same time. They say there are no atheists in a foxhole. I can see that and I can also see how having some Biblical connection for Christians would be comforting. It's almost like having your weapon blessed and feeling like you are invincible because you are protected by your God. Which of course is why it is so wrong. Any non-Christian would have the opposite reaction. Almost like the weapon is cursed. You can't mass produce something and expect it to please everyone. Religion is too touchy and is not something to be easily dismissed. Bil An Outraged Dad

Pat Robertson was Right

Gasp! That's right. I find myself in the in unenviable position of saying that Pat Robertson was correct in saying that Haiti is cursed. No, I don't personally think Haiti is cursed. Nor do I like Pat Robertson or his holier-than-thou type of religious preaching. However, Robertson is a religious leader speaking on a religious show to religious people. He is giving his spiritual view on the country of Haiti and honestly, I think he could say he wanted to (within certain limits) if could justify it within a religious context. Let's look at the facts, or rather the commonly held historical facts. Something that no one seems to care about these days. Haiti was once a slave colony of France. On August 14, 1791, a sacred Voodoo blood ceremony was performed to invoke Satan so that he would exterminate the French from the island. The Haitians eventually bought their way out of slavery and formed a country 13 years later. So from a Christian point of view, Haiti is cursed. Hey, in the every day Catholic mass we say that anyone who isn't a Christian will never make it to heaven. That's pretty opinionated also. But there's more. Because in Robertson's lifetime, in 1991, Haiti renewed it's pact with the devil when its new president Aristide, a defrocked Catholic priest, reinstated the 200-year-old pact with the devil. Not in a secret ceremony, but in public so that everyone knew that Voodoo was still the official religion of Haiti. American Daily, 2004 - Government Of The Devil, By The Devil, And For The Devil By Tom Barrett (03/11/04) "Haiti is the only country in the entire world that has dedicated its government to Satan. Demonic spirits have been consulted for political decisions, and have shaped the country's history." Thus speaks Reverend Doug Anderson, who grew up in Haiti with missionary parents, and served there along with his wife Dawn as a missionary until 1990. The leaders of Haiti make no attempt to hide their allegiance to Satan. Haiti's government is a government of the devil, by the devil, and for the devil. It is a matter of well-documented historical fact that the nation of Haiti was dedicated to Satan 200 years ago. On August 14, 1791, a group of houngans (voodoo priests), led by a former slave houngan named Boukman, made a pact with the Devil at a place called Bois-Caiman. All present vowed to exterminate all of the white Frenchmen on the island. They sacrificed a black pig in a voodoo ritual at which hundreds of slaves drank the pig's blood. In this ritual, Boukman asked Satan for his help in liberating Haiti from the French. In exchange, the voodoo priests offered to give the country to Satan for 200 years and swore to serve him. On January 1, 1804, the nation of Haiti was born and thus began a new demonic tyranny. Read the full story here... Listen, Pat Robertson can say that the grass is red for all I care.  It doesn't mean that grass is red. And I'm not going to get upset if he says it's red either. His observations about a curse causing an earthquake are about as relevant as any religious reader representing his views. But at least he did base his conclusion on fact. Bil An Outraged Dad

Unicef Calling

Knock, Knock. Who's there? Well it wasn't Unicef. The guy at the door had all the Unicef identification and even a nice sized placard with the Unicef logo. And I bought it. But no, I didn't give him any money. I had just given the last of my spending money to a local charity on Sunday. So even though it was just after the earthquake in Haiti, I couldn't donate. On the evening news that night they even talked about fraud artists.  But it wasn't until the next morning when I spoke with my brother that I put it all together. I finally called Unicef today and no, they do not have canvassers in the area. Dang, now I hope that guy comes back. Bil An Outraged Dad

But, but, I believed...

Mark McGwire admits using steroids AP, New York - Mark McGwire finally came clean, admitting he used steroids when he broke baseball's home run record in 1998. McGwire said in a statement sent to The Associated Press on Monday that he used steroids on and off for nearly a decade. "It's very emotional, it's telling family members, friends and coaches, you know, it's former teammates to try to get ahold of, you know, that I'm coming clean and being honest," he said during a 20-minute telephone interview, his voice repeatedly cracking. "It's the first time they've ever heard me, you know, talk about this. I hid it from everybody." Read the full story here... Yeah, I believed him when he said he didn't take steroids.  I really did.  Even after everyone came out and contradicted him. No matter what his detractors came up with, I somehow managed to rationalize a way that he was innocent. I guess I'm too much of an optimist.  I like to believe the best in people. This one hurts.  I'm so angry I could spit. Bil An Outraged Dad

30 Years of Global Cooling?

Who is this guy? Professor Mojib Latif, one of the world's leading climate modelers and one of the authors of the U.N.'s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report, has publicly stated that the world is now in store for 30 long years of global cooling. His study is based on analysis of natural cycles in water temperatures in the Pacific and Atlantic oceans. Wait, it gets better The professor goes on to say that he is not disputing global warming or his previous findings. This mini ice-age is just a 'blip' on the whole global warming trend. Daily Mail, UK Britain's big freeze is the start of a worldwide trend towards colder weather that seriously challenges global warming theories, eminent scientists claimed yesterday. The world has entered a 'cold mode' which is likely to bring a global dip in temperatures which will last for 20 to 30 years, they say. Summers and winters will all be cooler than in recent years, and the changes will mean that global warming will be 'paused' or even reversed, it was claimed. Read the full story here... A blip of 30 years? At just what point do the scientists throw in the towel and say they just don't know what the frak is going on? How can the models predict all this global warming without showing the blip? We'll see if this news items hits the Mainstream Media or if it is quietly overlooked becauce of 'space issues'. But suppose it gets widespread reporting. I give it a week before some politician manages to find a way to tax the situation. Bil An Outraged Dad

Racial Profiling at its Worst?

Joan Rivers Kicked Off Newark-Bound Flight for Suspicious Passport So it's early January, just over a week since the Underwear Bomber, and Joan Rivers is booted from a plane because of a suspicious passport. She's 75 years old! In what possible category do you put her that might possibly say she is a risk to the ariplane? There is none. She's white. She's old. She's a woman. I'll even throw in that she's Jewish, but that one's not obvious to everyone. Whereas 100% of the airplane terrorists in the past 10 years have been young Muslim men. She's not even close. I'll grant you that all this happened in Costa Rica where they probably have never heard of Joan Rivers. But honestly, just what did they think she was going to do? Talk someone to death? I know the reason put forward is because her passport had "aka Joan Rivers" under her Joan Rosenberg name, but I don't buy it. If someone's going to fake a passport, why make it look different from everyone else's. If they thought it was a fake, why not withhold it and report her? I don't know what else was going on, but the full story has yet to be told. NBC, New York Joan Rivers has been known to look kind of scary at times, but no one's ever mistaken her for a potential terrorist – until now. The ever-hysterical plastic-surgery poster woman was kicked off a Newark-bound Continental flight from Costa Rica on Sunday after a security agent deemed the two names on her passport suspicious, according to published reports. Rivers' passport has her listed with two last names – Rivers, which she adopted before she went into show business, and Rosenberg, the surname belonging to her late husband. Read the full story here... Bil An Outraged Dad

Chicago Police May Scrap Entrance Exam

It's affirmative action gone all wrong. You might as well lower the physical requirements for firefighters so that more women can join. Oops, they've already done that. But the Chicago Police Department doesn't want to just lower it's standards, it wants to eliminate them. Couldn't they at least leave in the part where they check if any applicants know how to read? Duh! NBC ChicagoThe Chicago Police Department is seriously considering scrapping the police entrance exam, sources tell Fran Spielman. Dropping the exam would bolster minority hiring and avert legal battles, according to one source, while others confirm that the exam could be scrapped to open the process to as many people as possible. However, the lack of an exam would make Chicago the lone major city without one, and experts contend that the exam is integral to eliminating unqualified applicants. Read the full story here... There's a minimum intelligence to any job. But what about the psych part of the exam to see if they should be police officers? I totally believe in balancing out any group of workers in terms of race or sex to reflect the population. But this is stupid. It should be offensive to any group that is supposed to benefit from the elimination of the entrance exams. It says you are not smart enough to belong, but we will take you anyway. Bil An Outraged Dad

Thou Shalt Shoplift

A priest in the UK says it's okay to shoplift. Because it's better than prostition or suicide. And he tells his Catholic flock that it will not break the 8th commandment. This is wrong in so many ways. A lot has been written about this guy. Read the original article here: Daily Mail, UK - Poor people who are desperate for cash have been advised to go forth and shoplift from major stores - by an Anglican priest. The Rev Tim Jones said in his Sunday sermon that stealing from successful shops was preferable to burglary, robbery or prostitution. He told parishioners it would not break the eighth commandment 'thou shalt not steal' because it 'is permissible for those who are in desperate situations to take food that they might not starve'. ... 'I would ask that they do not steal from small family businesses, but from large national businesses, knowing that the costs are ultimately passed on to the rest of us in the form of higher prices. ... He added: 'The strong temptation is to burgle or rob people - family, friends, neighbours, strangers. 'Others are tempted towards prostitution, a nightmare world of degradation and abuse for all concerned. Others are tempted towards suicide. Instead, I would rather that they shoplift. ... Read the full story here... Why is this wrong? Let me count the ways: 1. Authority Figure Just like a teacher, policeman or politician, the priest has a large influence over his flock. It's not Joe Blow on the street corner telling you something. Your priest is someone you trust and have been brought up to believe in. If your priest says it is so, then it must be true. It's a "get out of jail free" card. But I want to leave religion out of this for a minute. Because even if you are not Christian, an authority figure says it's okay to steal. That's like giving carte blanche to anyone in some kind of difficulty to steal from someone else. It's a general pass to the public to do what they want. I can't wait for the first court case where the defendent uses this as a defense. 2. The iPod Generation In this world of short attention spans, anyone who hears about this priest and his dubious ethic hears "it's ok to steal" and nothing else. How many people who hear the message actually followed up on the story? Only the easy part, the part about stealing sinks in. 3. It's All Relative The priest says that stealing is better than prostitution or suicide. So it's all relative. With this logic, you could say that beating your wife is better than killing her. Or using marijuana is better than using ccocaine. Or stealing a motorcycle is beter than stealing a car. You can justify anything that way. You could say that female genital mutilation is ok in some African countries because the law doesn't persecute against it. That would be like saying that the act is ok over there, but not here. Wrong! It's not right wherever it is done. Listen, your moral compass should be unquivering. If you think it's wrong to steal, it's wrong to steal no matter what the circumstances. You don't change you beliefs based on what is going on around you. Bil An Outraged Dad

Tiger Woods is Being Treated Unfairly

Okay, I lied... Look, what Woods did is total reprehensible. There is no defending it. But I'm upset with the media. They put him up on a pedestal and now that he is shown to be flawed, they are tearing him down. And they are not just attacking him; they are treating him like some kind of failed preacher. Woods never said he was perfect. He never told people to be faithful to their wives. He didn't preach about going to church every Sunday. Or anything. In fact he is a very private man who is in the spotlight because of his golf ability. Does he deserve to be criticized? Absolutely. Does he deserve the 'fallen hero' death watch? No. The news was all Woods for a couple of weeks. It's still a news items if he is spotted anywhere. Leave the guy alone! He's a public figure so he deserves some scrutiny, but not this much or this type. I don't want to read about it. Just give me a small-type headline when they get the divorce. And by the way... An interesting fact that few reports have looked into is the voting for the Athlete of the Decade. Woods won, but over half the votes were cast after his revelations. So here is something I have never seen discussed. How about he got the votes by the reporters because the scandal didn't change their view of him? BECAUSE THEY ALREADY KNEW! Duh, most of the women he had an affair with were cocktail waitresses. You know, the same waitresses that served the reporters. Do you think none of the reporters knew he was entertaining women in his hotel room? Of course not. In fact, it was probably a well-known in-joke. "I'm shocked! Shocked that there is gambling going on here!" Where's that discussion? That the same reporters that are contributing to Woods' crucification had known all along and said nothing. Gimme a break! Bil An Outraged Dad!

Much Ado About Anything...

WTF? That's what kind of blog this is. It's not about Tiger Woods or Britney Spears or the latest Balloon Boy shenanigans. The site is about articles in the news that make you do a double-take and wonder what is happening to the world. If it's splashed across the headlines, then you probably won't see it here. Unless I've got a different spin on things than what you are seeing elsewhere. This blog is not about politics or race or feminism or any one topic. But nothing is off limits. If I think something should be discussed, then it goes up. Your comments are more than welcome and I would love to get a good discussion going. Just keep it clean! Bil An Outraged Dad!