Friday Foccacia
CHO me the outrage - I have to admit that I am more than a little surprised at the lack of lashback against Yahoo! and their new Shine. Ask.com recently decided it was going to be a niche search engine, dedicated to “married women looking for help managing their lives” and now Yahoo! has seemingly taken the steps to create a sight dedicated to the “Chief Household Officer” (CHO). According the story on Yahoo News, Yahoo said the site will have “attitude,” “personality,” and humor, while providing advice and secret tips like “a friend.” Maybe it is just me (and am I really the right one to be offended by this?), but about the only way I could see Yahoo! making this a bit more misogynistic, would have been if they added to that saying something like, “would be just like your best friend, only it won’t steal your boyfriend.” The only thing I can figure is that the content is good enough to keep people from being annoyed by the marketing mis-steps.
Comparison shop on the fly - So you are shopping in a store and see something you like, but you are thinking, “I could probably find it cheaper online” but that requires you to avoid the instant gratification of buying it “now” right? Well, not anymore. Amazon has now started the TextBuyIt program, which people text the name of a product, its description or its UPC or ISBN to 262966 (that’s “Amazon” on the keypad) from anywhere their cell phones work — including from inside physical stores.”
And you thought it was just to wake you up - According to a new research report, coffee may cut the risk of dementia. So, as it turns out, not only will coffee enable you to keep up with your kids, it will help keep them from driving you nuts. (I’m joking, please no e-mail defining what dementia really means)
Not Just Wrong, well beyond it - Every time I think I can’t see anything new that parent’s do that would bother me… bang… there it is. This time, it is an article in Philadelphia Magazine about mothers taking their pre-pubescent daughters in for Bikini Waxes, eyebrow waxing and other spa beauty treatments. Tell me, what are the odds of these girls not growing up with severe body issues?
Why do children have to die for common sense laws?
Abigail Taylor died Thursday from injuries sustained last June when when she sat on a wading pool drain; the suction so strong that it suck out part of her intestines. It is always a tragedy when a child dies, and always there is some knee-jerk reactions, some good and sometimes even some not so go. But when it happens for something incredibly stupid, it is all that much more infuriating.
On the heels of this incident, in December Congress approved legislation to “ban the manufacture, sale or distribution of drain covers that don’t meet anti-entrapment safety standards.” It was called the Virginia Graeme Baker Pool and Spa Safety Act [pdf], the named for the granddaughter of former Secretary of State James A. Baker, III, who was killed when she was trapped by the suction of a drain in 2002!
Now, I don’t understand why this wasn’t already a law, because it seems so brain-dead obvious to me as a parent, but can somebody explain to me, even after the first incident, and when people started lobbying for this law in 2002, it took 5 freakin’ years to get this written into law? Now, I am willing to bet if I left it at that, I would have somebody come along and say “there’s a war on and Congress had ‘more important’ things to contend with.” But if that is the case, then can somebody explain to me why Abigail Taylor had to die when over those same five years Congress sat back, played IM games with Pages, stuffed freezers full of cash, taking bribes, and making medical diagnosis via videotape. They had “the time” to do it, but it seems unless there is enough dead children for them to stop taking donations from corporations that are too cheap to manufacture these things safely, they just allow it to go on.
Why do school officials seem so stupid?
Not all of them of course, but as we push forward into an era of “zero tolerance” policies, it seems that school officials use this as an excuse to not use their heads in far too many situations. The latest one of these seemingly over the top punishments was a kid that was suspended from school for a day, barred from attending an honors dinner, and stripped of his position on the student council, because he… what? Threatened another student? No. Made unwanted sexual advances towards another student or teacher? Na Uh. No, this kid received this punishment because, he bought a bag a Skittles from another student.
Superintendent Reginald Mayo said Wednesday that the principal was just trying to keep students safe, but that he would review the decision to suspend Michael.
Yes, of course, we must keep our kids safe… from Skittles. Are you kidding me? The punishment has now been rescinded (he will have his record cleared, and given his position on the student council returned, but of course he now missed the honors dinner he was qualified to attend), I suspect that the school did this about face while staring down the business end of a lawsuit by the parents.
Look, I am all for the schools not selling candy and soda in the schools, but what the hell are these people thinking?
How not to play a trick on your kids
I don’t know what is worse, them tricking the kid by stashing clothes in an Xbox360 box. Or how hysterical they found it (even to continue to videotape it) after the poor kid starts crying.
Look, I understand that gaming consoles these days are expensive, and not everybody can afford them. There are plenty of things that rate much higher in the priorities of life. But, regardless this is just plain mean and wrong.
P.S. Yes, I know that the Video claims that the kid actually got an Xbox 360. However… First of all, I don’t believe the story posted with this. First the poster says they went out and got it the night before, but somehow the kid “peeked” and thus the reason for the “joke.” If you got it the night before, when did he have a chance to peek? Second, the look of shock on this kids face when he opens it and sees (thinks) he got the machine… well, if he knew, then this kid should be in Hollywood, because that would be the best job of acting surprised I have ever seen. Third, the promised “follow up” video was never posted. But even assuming that I am wrong about all of that, and this was a “joke” to me it was taken waaaay too far. How do you just allow the kids to continue to sit there and cry? No matter how you slice this… it still stinks.
[via Engadget ]
I would really like to know
What is it going to take to stop people from packing a supermarket the day before a snowstorm, and shopping like they are going to be homebound until spring? Does everybody just happen to need bread and milk the day before a storm?
Look if you happen to live in one of those places where the “corner store” is “follow this road five miles, make a left where old man Fogarty’s barn used to be, and head down the mountain,” well then maybe you have some justification. Or, of course if you are say advanced in years, where the thought walking on snow and/or ice instills visions of broken hips and nursing homes, well maybe you should prepare to be inside a bit longer. I even understand everybody running to Blockbuster, because of the potential of kids at home for a snow day, and needed something to keep them occupied.
Other than that, honestly people, what are you thinking? That the horse drawn carriage isn’t going to be able to get Bessie’s milk to the market? That old Mrs. Pumpernickel won’t be able to find enough fire wood to bake some bread? Just why is it that this insane habit continues today?
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