"Jedi Mindfuck" (Video)

A dad filmed his four year old watching 'The Empire Strikes Back', just as Darth Vader tells Luke Skywalker that he is his father.  His reaction is priceless.

13 Year Old Girl Arrested Yesterday At #occupywallstreet, Apparently 18

Dozens of news outlets were reporting that the above, unidentified female that was arrested on the Brooklyn Bridge was 13 years old.  She has since been identified, only as "Katie".  According to people that claim that they know her, she is, in fact 18.

This is (allegedly) a link to her DeviantArt page.  It has quite a few photos from the protests, which were last uploaded yesterday.

Breaking Out Of Zip Ties (Video)

For any readers that may have accidentally tied their wrists together while protesting at Occupy Wall Street, Occupy Boston, Occupy Albuquerque, Occupy Phoenix, or any other locations in the United States.

I have found a couple of videos that show you how to remove yourself from those cumbersome zip ties that tend to get around your wrists during such protests.  Coincidentally, they are also the same type of restraints that many police departments carry with them during mass demonstrations.

Pay attention, and remember:  We are the 99%.



And for duel restraints...

The #occupywallstreet Interview Fox News Will Never Air (Video)

For the last week, Fox News has made a point of intentionally making the Occupy Wall Street protesters appear to be a bunch of disorganized, incoherent hippies.  Bill O'Reilly's production crew has gone out of their way to make the thousands of protesters in the streets of New York City to look like morons.  With a mix of careful editing, and a process of selecting the perfect drug addicted performance artist to interview, they have posted a nightly montage of what appears to be the endless stream of uneducated burnouts standing up against capitalism, without rhyme or reason.

Fox News was in Liberty Square again today, interviewing for Greta van Susteren's show.  As you'll see, the interviewer is giving the protester the opportunity to "put any message you want out there, to give you fair coverage".  This is what he said:



Yeah.  That will never see the light of day on Fox News.

ESPN Drops Hank Williams Jr. From NFL Telecasts After He Calls Obama Hitler

Whether you are a country music fan or not, if you watch football, you know that Hank Williams Jr.'s 'All My Rowdy Friends Are Coming Over Tonight' is a staple of Monday nights.  The song has been the theme of Monday Night Football since 1991.  Well, according to a statement from ESPN today, hope you enjoyed it while it lasted, because you'll never hear it on the network again.

Why?  Because on this morning's Fox and Friends on Fox News, Williams compared President Obama to Adolf Hitler.  That's right.  Just watch:  (Sorry for the obligatory pre-clip advertisement.  It's beyond my control.)



Even the anchors from Fox and Friends had a puzzled look on their face.  Then again, why are you discussing politics with someone that calls himself "Bocephus"?  Can someone explain that name to me?  Is it an inside joke?  Am I not white enough to get it?

This afternoon, ESPN released the following statement:

“While Hank Williams, Jr. is not an ESPN employee, we recognize that he is closely linked to our company through the open to Monday Night Football.  We are extremely disappointed with his comments, and as a result we have decided to pull the open from tonight’s telecast.”

Who knows what Williams' political views really are.  Considering his comments today, it's probably not hard to guess.  I have never been a fan of his.  To me, he has always come across as somewhat racist - one of those people that glorify the South, and likely supports the flying of the Confederate flag.  Just look at the lyrics of his song, 'If the South Woulda Won'.  It's pretty easy to see where he stands.

I'm glad to see ESPN take a stand in this matter.  It may be a small step, but Williams is surely receiving a large sum in royalties from Monday Night Football broadcasts of his song.  Looks like the bulk of his income is going to be coming from county fairs and backwoods casino shows for a while.

Update:  According to TMZ, Williams has issued a statement regarding the comments made earlier today.  He isn't apologizing for what he said.  Rather, he's saying that his comments were "misunderstood":

"Some of us have strong opinions and are often misunderstood. My analogy was extreme – but it was to make a point. I was simply trying to explain how stupid it seemed to me - how ludicrous that pairing was."

He continues, "They’re polar opposites and it made no sense. They don’t see eye-to-eye and never will. I have always respected the office of the President.”

Williams Jr. adds, "Every time the media brings up the tea party it’s painted as racist and extremists – but there’s never a backlash – no outrage to those comparisons… Working class people are hurting – and it doesn’t seem like anybody cares. When both sides are high-fiving it on the ninth hole when everybody else is without a job – it makes a whole lot of us angry. Something has to change. The policies have to change.”

Nice try, but you're not getting your contact back anytime soon. 

Introducing The Free Flexor, The Shake Weight For Men (Video)

"THIS is not an ordinary workout.  THIS is not boring."  (THIS is a large, misshapen dildo.)

Don't forget to cup the balls...



"Once you start to get that momentum swinging, it starts to go deep.  You can feel it."  LOL.  In case you were wondering, yes...it's real.

Craigslist Ad Of The Day (NSFW)

Some background:

Comedian Louis C.K. was performing a sold out show at Brooklyn's The Bell House last Friday night.  Tickets were only $10 apiece.  Can you believe that?

"Don" had a pair of tickets to the show, but was unable to go (you'll see why), and decided to sell the tickets online at face value.  He did have an unusual request for those interested in purchasing the tickets, however.

Take a look at the ad after the jump.  ***Warning:  NSFW on account of language. (He's not happy with his wife.)

Watch President Obama's Speech To The Human Rights Campaign (Video)

Last night, President Obama spoke at the 15th Annual National Dinner of the Human Rights Campaign.  The Human Rights Campaign has been on the front lines of the battle field for LGBT rights in recent years, and the President's comments at last night's dinner were highly anticipated.  The most often asked question leading up to his speech was, "Would he officially endorse marriage equality?".

While I'll discuss the specifics of his speech in greater detail tomorrow, I thought I would post the video of it this evening for those who were interested in watching.  For some reason, the video and audio are out of sync.  I apologize.

Joe Solmonese, the President of the HRC, delivered a wonderful introduction to President Obama.  Obama, for his part, started things off on the right foot by saying,

"I also took a trip out to California last week, where I held some productive, bi-lateral talks with your leader: Lady Gaga.  She was wearing 16 inch heels.  She was eight feet tall!"  

Sunday Confessional: Forty Three Cents

It has been a rough weekend.

On Friday night, Jessi was chasing after Lennon, trying to put her into time out.  Lennon went under the dinner table.  Jessi followed, and twisted her knee.

When Jess was in high school she mangled the very same knee to the point where a number of screws and a plate had to be placed in it.  She has a nice, huge battle wound to prove it.  She woke up yesterday in severe pain, with her left knee swollen as all hell.  There was a little pocket on the outside of the knee that looked like it was full of fluid.  Didn't look good.

After an hour of negotiations, I managed to convince her to go to the ER, and get things checked out.  Our friends, Lori and Zac, were nice enough to meet us at the hospital and pick up Lennon.  They took her to Jessi's parents' place.

29 Year Old Deaf Woman Hears Her Voice For The First Time (Video)

Eight weeks ago, 29 year old Sloan Churman heard something for the first time that most of us take for granted - her own voice.  She was born deaf, and though she has been wearing hearing aids since the age of two, they can only do so much.  Recently, she received an implant called an Esteem by Envoy Medical.  It's implanted in the middle ear, and uses the eardrum as a microphone.  It picks up sounds through the ear canal and naturally reduces background noise.

Take a look at the video.  It's very touching.



From what I have read, the Esteem is virtually invisible.  It also works much differently than a Cochlear implant.  If you haven't seen this video before, it is of an 8 month old little boy named Jonathan.  Doctors are testing a Cochlear implant that has just been placed in his ear canal.  When they turn it on for the first time, look at his reaction when he hears his mother's voice.  It's amazing.



This is what advancements in technology are about.  At the end of the day, it doesn't matter how thin your cell phone is, or how many apps it has access to.  The clarity of the latest high definition televisions aren't important.  None of those things are improving the day to day life of those who need it the most.  A child born deaf today may never have the need to learn sign language or to read lips.  Think about that for a moment.  They can function, and thrive, on a level playing field in a hearing world.  What does the next twenty years have in store for the medical field?  Will disabilities and sensory loss be a thing of the past?

Jon Stewart Takes On Fox News' Selective Outrage

As some of you may know, during last Monday's episode of 'Dancing with the Stars', Nancy Grace had a "wardrobe malfunction".  Her right breast was hanging out of her dress, on live television, for the better part of a minute.

Immediately, word of the nipple slip spread like wildfire.  Every media outlet in the nation was reporting on the celebrity judge's embarrassing moment.  Even Fox News weighed in on the controversy.  Now, you would think that a woman's bare breast, shown repeatedly on national television would spark outrage by the pundits at Fox.  After all 'Dancing with the Stars' is supposedly a program that is going to be seen by "many children".  It airs at 7PM on Monday and Tuesday nights, on a network owned by the Disney corporation.

Not exactly.  The story received all of a ten second mention.  It was more along the lines of, "Supposedly this happened last night.  I wasn't watching the show, so I can't tell you if it did or not."  It was mentioned that Chaz Bono was dealing with a painful knee injury.  To segue into the next segment, one of the anchors mocked Bono by saying, "That's one part of Chaz that hasn't been operated on."

Watch the offensive clip, as well as Jon Stewart's reaction:



Fox News:  A bunch of middle school bullies with communication degrees.

9 Banned Books That Your Child Should Be Reading

Banned Books Week is typically the last week of September.  It was started in 1982, by First Amendment activist Judith Krug, as a way to keep written material publicly available so people can develop their own opinions and conclusions.  As a way to bring attention to this week, I thought I would compile a list of some of the books that have been banned by school libraries in recent years.  These are books that, as adolescents, many of us read ourselves.

Fox News Calls Maced Protesters "Overly Dramatic" (Video)

Earlier this week, I posted video of a New York City police officer, later identified as Anthony Bologna, macing a group of peaceful women taking part in the Occupy Wall Street protests.  Within the last week, the video of the assault has been viewed on YouTube over 1.2 million times, as well as by millions worldwide on various news programs.

When Fox News add their two cents to the story, they immediately discredit the protesters.  Anchor Megyn Kelly starts by saying that, "I see these women screaming.  It's like they've been shot in the face."  She then accuses them of "playing it up" for the cameras.  Take a look:



Said Kelly, "They've been there all week, and they were looking for publicity.  They got it in the end."

"Fair and Balanced", people.

Craigslist Ad Of The Day

From a June 24, 2005 Craigslist post in the San Francisco, California, area:

"Dear Red States..." A Letter From The Blue!

"Dear Red States...

We've decided we're leaving. We intend to form our own country, and
we're taking the other Blue States with us.

In case you aren't aware, that includes Hawaii, Oregon,Washington,
Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois and all the Northeast. We
believe this split will be beneficial to the nation, and especially
to the people of the new country of New California.

To sum up briefly: You get Texas, Oklahoma and all the slave states.
We get stem cell research and the best beaches. We get Elliot
Spitzer. You get Ken Lay.

We get the Statue of Liberty. You get Dollywood.
We get Intel and Microsoft. You get WorldCom.
We get Harvard. You get Ole' Miss.
We get 85 percent of America's venture capital and entrepreneurs. You
get Alabama.
We get two-thirds of the tax revenue, you get to make the red states
pay their fair share.

Since our aggregate divorce rate is 22 percent lower than the
Christian Coalition's, we get a bunch of happy families. You get a
bunch of single moms.

Please be aware that Nuevo California will be pro-choice and
anti-war, and we're going to want all our citizens back from Iraq at
once. If you need people to fight, ask your evangelicals. They have
kids they're apparently willing to send to their deaths for no
purpose, and they don't care if you don't show pictures of their
children's caskets coming home. We do wish you success in Iraq, and
hope that the WMDs turn up, but we're not willing to spend our
resources in Bush's Quagmire.

With the Blue States in hand, we will have firm control of 80 percent
of the country's fresh water, more than 90 percent of the pineapple
and lettuce, 92 percent of the nation's fresh fruit, 95 percent of
America's quality wines (you can serve French wines at state dinners)
90 percent of all cheese, 90 percent of the high tech industry, most
of the U.S. low-sulfur coal, all living redwoods, sequoias and
condors, all the Ivy and Seven Sister schools, plus Harvard, Yale,
Stanford, Cal Tech and MIT.

With the Red States, on the other hand, you will have to cope with 88
percent of all obese Americans (and their projected health care
costs), 92 percent of all U.S. mosquitoes, nearly 100 percent of the
tornadoes, 90 percent of the hurricanes, 99 percent of all Southern
Baptists, virtually 100 percent of all televangelists, Rush Limbaugh,
Bob Jones University, Clemson and the University of Georgia.

We get Hollywood and Yosemite, thank you.

Additionally, 38 percent of those in the Red states believe Jonah was
actually swallowed by a whale, 62 percent believe life is sacred
unless we're discussing the death penalty or gun laws, 44 percent say
that evolution is only a theory, 53 percent that Saddam was involved
in 9/11 and 61 percent of you crazy b*****ds believe you are people
with higher morals then we lefties.

By the way, we're taking the good pot, too. You can have that dirt
weed they grow in Mexico.

Peace out,
Blue States"


Though it was written more than six years ago, the post is more relevant than ever.  I'm curious as to who originally wrote it.  They did their homework.


Thanks to Unreal Americans for the link.

Balloon Hats For Charity?

Addi Somekh and Charlie Eckert have devised the most ridiculous humanitarian effort known to man.  They have been traveling around the world for the last three years, making balloon hats for people.  You read that correctly.  Balloon hats.  They have made nine trips, visiting a total of 34 countries since 2008.  Their mission?

"Addi Somekh and Charlie Eckert travel to different places in the world in order to make balloon hats for people and take photos of them.

The goal is to show people all over the world laughing and having fun, and to emphasize the fact that all human beings are born with the ability to experience joy."

Here are a couple of photos of folks "experiencing joy":

"For fuck's sake, get this thing off of my head.  Couldn't you have just brought us some food?"

These children appear to be so much happier bathing in their own feces, now that they're wearing balloon hats:

"Who needs clean drinking water, when you have balloon hats?  We're experiencing joy!"

This is how rich douchebags help the world - by spending thousands upon thousands of dollars making balloon animals for starving people, with no access to medicine or safe drinking water, and taking pictures of them.  Think of what they could have done with that money.  If they would have simply sat on their asses, played video games, and made a donation to Doctors Without Borders or the International Red Cross, they would have accomplished so much more than what they actually have with their lives.

And to make matters worse?  They're accepting donations to continue their "work".  Not only that, but Addi has turned this project into a motivational speaking business.  His client list has included Oprah, Disney and Wired magazine.  Are you fucking kidding me?  This guy mocks people in need, and he becomes a motivational speaker?

I'm not linking to their website, because I'm disgusted by what they do.  I am going to post one of their videos, though.  It shows their broken (in my opinion) philosophy, as well as a number of the photos they have taken over the last couple of years.  At the end of the video, it shows a link to their page if you're interested.