News and Views with Citizen B

My Childhood Understanding of Chemistry

2010-09-26T21:56:00.008-06:00

Science is organized knowledge, said Herbert Spence. It really needs to be better organized to teach it to an 8-year-old. I can't remember which grade I was in when I learned about atoms. I loved science at the time; this discovery would create a paranoia that took some time to shake.

"Everything in the world is made up of atoms," explained my teacher. "Atoms are so small that you can't see them. But everything -- your desk, your food, even you -- is made of millions of tiny atoms." She went on to explain that all of these atoms combined to make elements, which made everything else, etc. What we saw all around us were really millions of atoms all pressed together.

I stared at my hands and my desk in amazement, trying to see all the little atoms. A good student, I raised my hand.

"How do we know the atoms are there if we can't see them?" I asked.

I think she told me about the electron microscope, but what really got my attention was her explanation of the power in atoms.

"How many of you have heard of the atomic bomb?"

Half of the class' hands went up.

"Scientists figured out how to split an atom in the 1940s. When you split an atom, it releases a lot of energy. They created a bomb from splitting an atom."

I'm sure she meant this to demonstrate the power of tiny atoms, or something like that. She failed to explain that it was a uranium atom that created the atomic bomb. To be honest, I don't remember the rest of the lesson. I was terrified.

I had seen my dad's old World War II movies, where American planes dropped "the A-bomb" on Japan and my dad telling me how those bombs wiped out Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

My tiny mind began piecing this information together. Everything was made of atoms. Splitting an atom causes an explosion, an explosion that could wipe out whole cities like they were made of Tinker Toys.

If everything was made of atoms, what if I accidentally split one while cutting paper snowflakes? What if my mom accidentally split one while cutting carrots for my lunch?! Our whole house would explode just because I wanted carrots! Was air made of atoms? What if I bumped into an errant atom and smashed it?

I could see what would happen:

OH. MY. GOD. WE WERE ALL GOING TO DIE!

I sat very still the rest of the day. I didn't want to accidentally split atoms. I anxiously watched my mother make dinner that night, fearing every time she cut a celery stick or sliced an apple there would be a big KABOOM! and we would all be goners.

This went on for weeks. I walked lightly, chewed slowly, and for God's sake did not cut anything. I figured if I was really careful I could avoid making myself the next Doomsday Device.

I did eventually realize that life could carry on normally without carelessly causing a nuclear holocaust. I can't remember if it was my mother, my father, or perhaps some confused science teacher years later who explained how exactly an atom is split and put to rest an old fear.

But for God's sake, when you have children, don't explain atoms and atom bombs to them in the same lesson, skipping crucial years of chemistry and physics.

Talkin' 'Bout My Generation

2010-07-16T10:42:00.009-06:00

People try to put us d-down (Talkin' 'bout my generation)
Just because we get around (Talkin' 'bout my generation)
Things they do look awful c-c-cold (Talkin' 'bout my generation)
I hope I die before I get old (Talkin' 'bout my generation)

This is my generation
This is my generation, baby

-The Who "My Generation"

A friend living abroad and I were talking last week; we talked about our jobs, mostly with how disappointed she is with her job in Argentina. She asked me if the job situation in the United States was looking up. I said no, there were still no more jobs in the United States than when she left. We both came to the same conclusion, a kind of petulant indignation.

This wasn't what we were promised. This wasn't what I expected.

We were told if we worked hard, went to college and got a degree, we would get better-paying jobs. I could pursue a career in something I loved- or hopefully at least enjoyed.

I know. It's childish. Adulthood is never what we expect as teenagers, but I'm not talking about the shock of "the real world"- being responsible for living expenses, planning your future, etc. This is about the job market we were expecting to fall into after our education.

I've talked to other friends of mine, people I knew from high school and from college, many of whom have come to the same conclusion at some point since finishing their undergraduate or their postgraduate. It got me thinking about my generation and what we are facing coming into a recession. Despite the fact that about 69% of students graduating high school in the United States immediately go on to a 2 or 4-year institution, more are going on to graduate school to avoid the work force for a few years. Even those in what I always considered "safe" degree paths like engineering and computer science are choosing higher education over finding a job.

Those who don't go towards even higher education find themselves in a perilous position. I knew when I graduated in 2006 with a BA degree that I was not likely to fall right into a career the way my friends with business or engineering degrees did.

But I didn't expect it would be so hard to find a job of any ilk, and that was before the largest crash in 2008. Studies find that salaries for new graduates have dropped even further, but even the salaries they list for new graduates are higher than what I've found upon graduating. I'm talking the $23,000-24,000 range. In my career, I'll be lucky to see $40,000.

With so many unemployed in the United States, the entry level positions once reserved for those fresh-faced graduates are now taken by those who have been in the workforce longer. With a college degree we can't go back to the jobs we had during college; they tell us we are over-qualified.

That's where we sit -- somewhere between over-qualified for the bar-tending and waitress jobs we had, and too little experience for the industries we got our degrees to join.

So I have seen some trends amongst people my age, beyond just retreating to grad school to wait out the recession.

Bring on the debt
If the recession was supposed to teach us anything, it was the dangers of debt. Yet, my generation has been born into debt. I'm not talking about credit cards, racked up by frivolous spending. I'm talking about the tens of thousands of dollars that it costs to get that degree we so highly prized. When we can't find that decent-paying job after graduation, we let those student loans sit, and sit, and sit. And those credit cards become necessary to afford the gas, groceries, things we need until we finally get a job. Don't forget about those extra student loans for those who go back to postgraduate degrees. We expect debt, whether that's from a credit card, a student loan, or bills we just can't quite make this month.

So we expect debt, debt that will take us decades to pay off. We are numb to it. What's $3,000 in credit card bills when you have $70,000 dollars in student loans racking up interest? With $40,000 in debt from undergrad, why not add another degree and another $40,000 in loans?

A job is a job is a job
By joining the work force late, we are not going to be racking up the experience we need for a career we want. Saddled with debt, it becomes harder to think, "I could still get a job in" whatever field you wanted to go into. Take what you can get, pay aside, even benefits aside.

Delaying adulthood
We're staying in school longer. We're joining the workforce later and at lower wages. This means we're also holding out on those big purchases the U.S. economy hopes us to make- homes and cars. Many of us still rely in some way on our parents, at least those with parents still willing and able to help. We move back home, or the parents still help pay bills.

So here we have it, my generation in the job search. It's not that we're lazy. We have a lot to contribute. We just don't know where to go or how to get there.

Citizen B's Favorite News: Pay Your Library Fines or Face Jail Time

2010-03-05T13:17:00.003-07:00

A Littleton, CO teenager got quite the shock when he didn't return a DVD to a Littleton library.

A warrant went out for Aaron Henson's arrest after he failed to appear for a court summons to answer the charge. The summons were being sent to an outdated address. Henson was arrested, his car was impounded, and paid $900 in court and jail fees.

Makes that little $1.50 late fine seem cheap in comparison, right? Come to think of it, I wonder if I have old library fines I'd be arrested for...

The Littleton mayor said that the town would be changing its policy as a result of Henson's case.

I return from the Land of Dead Blogs

2010-01-27T10:11:00.002-07:00

Dear friends, and Two Followers,

I apologize for my absence. I honestly did not realize I had not posted since September. I wholeheartedly resolve this year to post more frequently.

Since September my life hasn't changed a great deal. Still working in news (thankfully!) We just got word that we should all have jobs through March. These are perilous times for the media, so I still never know when I might be out of this job. This hasn't stopped me from forming Plan Bs in the back of my mind, including graduate school, teaching English abroad, the Peace Corps, or simply hibernating until the recession is over.

And I had a huge, family-filled winter holidays. Back in my home state of Nebraska, we were hit with a very white Christmas indeed, a three-day blizzard. Thankfully, everyone decided to arrive a day early to beat the weather. I was inside with 12 people, two dogs, and two guinea pigs for four days. So with a grand total of two feet of snow on the ground we were then treated to a week of below-freezing temperatures. What's the best thing to do when it's 10 degrees below zero? Have a wedding!

No, I did not get married. In that unlikely event, beware of flying pigs shortly before the apocalypse starts. My little sister got hitched this January. The holiday season was filled with wedding planning and preparations. We sewed trim on both of her veils by hand; each woman in the family taking a painstaking few stitches at a time. If you saw the veil you could tell which stitches were mine, as they were the knotty, bunchy ones. As with all weddings, there were a few mishaps; three days before the wedding, 40 flowers were missing out of the floral order. (After my mother raised a little hell, they managed to pull flowers from other orders to make hers complete.) My family almost forgot me on the morning of the wedding for our hair appointments. The church was heated, but not so well heated that we all weren't shivering. It started snowing in time for the reception to start. I didn't care about it snowing during the reception as much as I cared about driving home afterward in it. Driving through it the first time wasn't nearly as fun as driving back in it to pick up my drunk brother and his friends who had wandered away from the hotel while it was snowing and about 3 degrees Fahrenheit. (Did I mention Omaha has a lot of hills and I don't have a four-wheel drive vehicle?)

The wedding was lovely, even if the weather was not. To prove how much the newlyweds love winter, they honeymooned in Canada. My relatives are insane.

If another member of my family decides to get married in winter in Nebraska, I'm not going to say a word. I'm just not going. Winter weddings are for places like Australia. But in the end I get a new brother-in-law.

Now that I'm back there will be many news updates and thoughtful posts to come.

Citizen B's Headlines: At Least There Were No Canes Involved

2009-09-10T14:31:00.006-06:00

Last night, President Obama addressed a joint session of Congress about health care reform legislation. The speech was exactly what was expected- now is the time for reform, it must pass, will not increase the deficit, etc. But what made the headlines this morning was not the speech itself. As President Obama denounced the myth that illegal immigrants will be covered with federal dollars, amidst protests from the Republican side came a loud "You lie!" from Congressman Joe Wilson (R- South Carolina). He wasn't the only one getting upset at that point; he just happened to be the loudest. See the video if you don't believe me.

This morning he called White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emmanuel to apologize for his conduct, and the 24-hour news channels have been rehashing and bashing all day long. Everyone was shocked that someone would dare interrupt a president's Congressional address so rudely. Rude? Absolutely. Worst thing to happen in Congressional chambers? Definitely not.

I'll take you back to how Congress was pre-Civil War, when tempers really got heated in the House and Senate. People think the fights get dirty between Democrats and Republicans now, but back then it could literally be a bloodbath.

In 1856, Democratic senator from Massachusetts Charles Sumner took his abolition beliefs to the Senate floor. He attacked the Fugitive Slave Act in a three hour speech, which didn't really please the South. He then later denounced the Kansas-Nebraska Act (you know, that bill that was supposed to decide how new territories became slave or free states?) and called the authors of the bill names during his address to the Senate. He called Stephen A. Douglas of Illinois a "noisome, squat, and nameless animal ... not a proper model for an American senator." In the rest of his three hour speech (that seemed to be his lecture length of choice) he also made fun of Andrew Butler, the bill's second author, by mocking his speech and mannerisms. Butler had a stroke several years before. In other words, Sumner got to the point of calling his opponents ugly and stupid.

But two days later Preston Brooks, a representative from South Carolina, walked up to Sumner at his chamber desk and accused him of libel against South Carolina. Butler was his uncle, and he was a bit pissed off about Sumner making fun of him in a speech to the Senate. Brooks then started beating Sumner with his gold-topped cane, breaking the desk Sumner sought refuge under. Other congressmen tried to help Sumner, but Laurence M. Keitt also of South Carolina and Henry A. Edmundson of Virginia held them off. Brooks continued beating him until his cane broke, and Sumner crawled off covered in his own blood only to fall unconscious on the floor.

Talk about things getting ugly. Sumner spent three years trying to recover from head trauma and PTSD before returning to Senate. But when a senator from the South beats the ever-living crap out of a senator from the North, is it any wonder the mood in Congress darkened, leading to an inevitable split during the Civil War. In this light, I'm going to go with a Congressman shouting "You lie!" to the President during his speech a rude faux-pas. When the canes come out, then we should get nervous.

The 5 Greatest Songs in Douchebaggery

2009-08-18T14:56:00.009-06:00

This post is to recognize a great phenomenon in music. In popular music, the theme of a song touches on a common experience- finding love, losing love, breaking up, being cheated on, partying, drug use, hallucinations- you get the idea. But there are some songs that you hear on the radio and believe have a catchy tune or are really romantic- that is until you read the lyrics. You suddenly realize that the song is about how much of a douche bag the singer is. And so this post will list the top 5 songs that celebrate douchebaggery- the songs that make you stop and say "You're a jerk, did you know that?"

Note: Douchebag is a slang derogatory term typically used for men, and so this post will focus on the jerkiest of all songs by men. There will be a follow up post (linking to a Cracked.com article) on the bitchiest songs of all time. My criteria for making it to the list is "Would I throw a drink in a guy's face for singing this to me?"

5) Hinder- Lips of an Angel

It's funny that you're calling me tonight
And, yes, I've dreamt of you too
And does he know you're talking to me
Will it start a fight
No I don't think she has a clue

Well my girl's in the next room
Sometimes I wish she was you
I guess we never really moved on
It's really good to hear your voice saying my name
It sounds so sweet
Coming from the lips of an angel
Hearing those words it makes me weak

So he's on the phone with his ex-girlfriend while his girlfriend is asleep in the next room, and his ex is talking to him behind her boyfriend's back. And this is really sweet and romantic to him, who suddenly wishes he could leave his new girlfriend, because damn girl, you make it hard to be faithful. He doesn't even realize that not being in love with his new girlfriend is a reason to end a relationship, but more importantly, it's his ex's fault that he can't get over her. This guy needs to pull on his Big Boy Responsibilty pants and move on.

4) Uncle Kracker- Follow Me

Follow me
Everything is alright
I'll be the one to tuck you in at night
And if you want to leave
I can guarantee
You won't find nobody else like me

I'm not worried about the ring you wear
Cause as long as no one knows then nobody can care
You're feeling guilty, and I'm well aware
But you don't look ashamed and baby, I'm not scared

So this woman is willing to have an affair with him. That's a fault on her part. But now that she's doubting herself, he says "Don't worry, as long as we keep quiet, everything will be alright. I don't care if you're having an affair. You're not gonna find anyone else who is as much of a stud as me." The narcissism in the song could choke a Greek god, but the song still made it to the top of the charts.

3) Sting and the Police- Every Breath You Take

Everyone initially thinks this is a really sweet song. Women love it. Crowds go crazy for it. Actually, Sting wrote this song about stalking his ex-wife. Now read the lyrics again:

Oh can't you see?
You belong to me
How my poor heart aches
With every step you take
Every move you make
Every vow you break
Every smile you fake
Every claim you stake
I'll be watching you

Scary, huh? You've got to wonder if his ex-wife heard this song and said "Creeper! Quit looking in my window!" And despite its creepy, stalking lyrics this song is played repeatedly at weddings. Even Sting doesn't get it.

2) BB Mak- Back Here

So this song starts out with this guy whose girlfriend has left him and he's miserable. You feel sorry for him. He's out there, all alone, begging through his microphone and manufactured pop beat that she come back to him. And then these words come out of his mouth:

So I told you lies, even made you cry
Baby I was so wrong.
Girl I promise you, now my love is true
This is where my heart belongs

Ah ha! So THAT'S why this wonderful woman left him! She wasn't going to put up with his bullshit anymore. Suddenly you go from sympathy to slapping the lips off the collective face of BB Mak. Coincidentally this was their one hit. Fame doesn't last, does it?

1) The Rolling Stones- Under My Thumb

We could fill a whole encyclopedia with misogynist songs, starting with rap and working our way over to heavy metal and back to opera. What put this song at the top of the list for me was the pride in it. It's not just "bitch is gonna do what I tell her" or "women is hoes and dirty sluts." Most of Eminem's work would fall under this category. But I'm not talking about violent, misogynistic bastards. That should be a post for a later time. I'm just talking about douche bags. And here is why this song is at the top:

It's down to me, oh yeah
The way she talks when shes spoken to
Down to me, the change has come,
She's under my thumb
Yeah, it feels alright

Under my thumb
Her eyes are just kept to herself
Under my thumb, well I
I can still look at someone else

That's right. She had a mind and a life of her own, until she started seeing Mick Jagger. Now, as he calls her in the song, she's the "sweetest pet in the world," and the way she dresses is up to him. Douche. Jagger admitted in a 1995 interview that the song was meant to be a joke, and it just was a reply to a very pushy woman. While never released as a single, the song still remains a drink-in-the-face, no. 1 douchebag hit.

Citizen B's Headlines: Quadriplegic Granted the Right to Die

2009-08-15T17:04:00.002-06:00

An Australian quadriplegic was given permission by the high court to refuse food and water to die.

Christian Rossiter, 49, was left only able to wiggle one finger and one foot after numerous accidents since 1988. He is fed through a stomach tube, and even needs help from staff producing bowel movements. In his nursing home in Brightwater, staff turned him every day to prevent bedsores.

In 2008 he asked the nursing staff to remove his feeding tube and let him die. By Australian law, a patient has the right to refuse life-saving treatment (such as a Do Not Resuscitate order) but no one is permitted to aide a person in committing suicide. The nursing home staff feared they would be held liable for homicide, and appealed to the court.

Rossiter appeared in his own defense and said "I can't even wipe the tears from my eyes." He told the court about how active his life had been prior to the accidents; lying in bed all day, unable to even read a newspaper was unbearable to him.

Chief Justice Wayne Martin pointed out that in this case the patient was in full control of his mental faculties, but since he could not end his life on his own willpower, or pull out his own feeding tube to deny treatment, it was his right to have the staff carry out that wish.

Right to Life groups and even Rossiter's own family opposed the decision. They see Rossiter as taking an out rather than allowin the community to care for him. They believe that the decision sets precendent for more liberal euthanasia laws.

While it is a victory for euthanasia law, it will not make the end easier for Rossiter who will slowly starve to death.

So what's the right answer here? If Rossiter has the right to deny treatment (in this case his feeding tube) resulting in his death, why is it illegal for the staff to give him a lethal dose of morphine?

What won the case for Rossiter was that he was able to clearly communicate his wishes, something that is not often possible in many euthanasia scenarios. In those situations, like Terri Schiavo, it becomes a legal battle as to who should make the decision.

In arguing euthanasia with a friend, he asked how being given a lethal dose of painkiller was any less criminal than the dying to ask to borrow a gun to end their life.

On The Media: I thought humans were all one species

2009-07-10T15:24:00.003-06:00

We can only hope that "FOX and Friends" Brian Kilmeade made a serious word choice error. If he did not, then he needs some lessons in biology.

On Wednesday morning's "FOX and Friends" Kilmeade was discussing a study done in Sweden and Finland that showed couples who stayed married were less likely to develop Alzheimer's.

The study was done to show the health benefits of remaining in relationships. However, Kilmeade completely missed the point. He said that this study does not apply to Americans because "we marry other species." Therefore the reason Swedes and Finns are healthier is because "they have a pure society."

I wasn't aware that marrying other species was LEGAL in the United States, Kilmeade, because that would involve humans marrying other animals like goats, pigs, and fish. Does he believe people of different races are different species?

Honestly, why was he not forced to apologize for his word choice?

When Do We Stop Playing Nice?

2009-07-07T16:04:00.002-06:00

When is "playing nice" detrimental to us?

A friend of mine wrote a note listing all the things that really bothered her that she has spent years saying didn't bother her. She wrote about how bothered she is by the number of her friends marrying, by seeing photos of parties that she wasn't invited to, by writing off her nightmares as just bad dreams. I responded with a small list of my own.

How often do we tell people that something is ok when it really bothers us? It seems to me that women especially fall prey to these white lies. We are taught from a very young age to play nice. We have to be polite. If you don't have something nice to say, don't say anything at all.

These things sit on our chests for years. Is there something wrong or rude about saying "I don't like this" or "I don't want to do this"? I'll use an example. It really bothers me that one of my friends gripes on about how awful my boyfriend must be and what a louse he is because he doesn't have a job. I'm getting to a point of explosion because I can't tell her to just bugger off, and that she has no right to judge him. Doesn't she know there is a huge recession and even wait staff jobs are hard to find?

So do I just tell her to shut up because it's bothering me? Or do I keep quiet and listen to the "wisdom" of my elders (she is older than me)?

What does being polite get us anymore?

Citizen B's Favorite News: Supreme Court Rules Strip-Searching 13-year-old Girl Unconstitutional

2009-06-25T13:54:00.002-06:00

After six years, the United States Supreme Court has ruled that when school officials forced then 13-year-old Savana Redding to strip down to her underwear so they could search her underwear for suspected prescription drugs they violated her Fourth Amendment rights.

The two school officials (both women, by the way) insisted that a student told them Savana carried prescription strength drugs on her to school. The "prescription-strength drugs" they were referring to were prescription strength ibuprofen. In other words, these school officials were looking for some strong Advil.

Savana was told to strip down and shake out her underwear in search for the pills which were never found.

The Supreme Court ruled 8 to 1 (Justice Clarence Thomas found the search legal) that Savana's right to privacy was compromised and further violated by having school officials strip her down without a permit or suspicion that the "drugs" were harmful or dangerous to the school.

While the district strongly prohibits prescription and over-the-counter drugs in school, isn't this going a little too far? What are you going to do next, take away the inhaler from the asthmatic kid? Or maybe forbid the diabetic kid from having his insulin?

Furthermore, could it be legal for school officials (not police with a warrant) to strip search ANY student for any reason?

(I might also remind people that a former colleague of Justice Thomas named Anita Hill testified that he sexually harassed her at work. Two other female colleagues made the same complaints.)

No, My Face Is Not On Fire

2009-06-10T16:33:00.004-06:00

So my Facebook status quoting Madeleine Kahn in Clue apparently didn't go over well.

Writing "flames FLAMES on the side of my face..." earned me several emails and messages asking if I had been burned. Was it acid? Was it an accident? Had I stayed in the sun too long?

While trying for the umpteenth time this morning to fix our satellite, I walked back to my office after receiving a signal only to find it had gone out again when I got back. A coworker and I had a good laugh, and I said "I'm so angry. SO angry..." And the thus the quoting begin. So I posted that as my status, as that was indeed my feeling at the time.

What's more when I clarified that I had not been burned, but was quoting the film, I was rebuked and chastised. How dare I worry them and cry fire when I had not been burnt.

I believe I have seen presidential death threats on status messages that received less attention. I have written "has a gran coat on and a cake on her head" and no one assumed that I was suddenly senile wearing a large coat and pastries.

Oddly enough, I've written this same message on my status before and received "haha, love that movie" and "I was so angry SO angry...breath...heaving breaths..."

Am I honest to God the only person in the world who has seen this movie?????

Meet your Great-Great-Great-Great-Great-Great...

2009-05-19T16:26:00.002-06:00

Scientists revealed what could be the "missing link" in human evolution today.

Her name is Ida, and she is 47-million years old. While her skeleton looks closer to that of a lemur than a person's, but she is unlike any other primate-family fossil ever discovered. She had a long tail and was covered with fur, but she had a talus bone in her feet (like a person's) and she had nails, not claws. Unlike lemurs, she doesn't have a "grooming claw" on her feet, nor does she have a fused tooth on her lower jaw. At only 3 feet long, she has short arms and legs. She also had forward facing eyes like a person, giving her 3D vision and depth perception.

Unlike other ancient human fossils, Ida was recovered from a mile-wide crater in Germany. Her bones were first dug up in 1983. The people who excavated her divided her bones into two sets, fabricated the rest of the skeleton and sold the pieces separately. One part ended up in Wyoming, where Jens L. Frazen recognized the fraud. Rejoined with her original bones, Ida has been in the University of Oslo Natural History for the last two years. 95% complete, she is the most complete ancient human relative ever found.

Citizen B's Woman of the Week: Indra Nooyi

2009-05-15T09:32:00.004-06:00

Amidst the economic disaster, there are a few companies looking to their new leadership to weather the storm. On Fortune 500's list of top companies a surprising number of female CEOs are pulling in top dollars for their businesses in this market. Today, I've picked PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi as my woman of the week.

Indra Nooyi came to the United States from India in 1978 to get an M.B.A. at Yale University, much to the disappointment of her parents. This former cricket player and karaoke enthusiast earned a job at PepsiCo as a chief strategist. Her plan was to get PepsiCo off their soda-habit and onto healthy foods. She engineered PepsiCo's purchase of Tropicana and Quaker Oats (who owns Gatorade, by the way.) The company dropped KFC, Taco Bell and Pizza Hut and profits showed she had made the right choice.

When she was picked to replace CEO Steve Reinemund in 2006, she went to the other top candidate and asked him to stay on as her right hand, increasing his salary. As PepsiCo's "caring CEO" she has also pledged that the company will become more sustainable, using wind and solar power in their plants and producing more fruit juice and healthy snacks, and launch a public service campaign to fight obesity. It shows that a multi-billion dollar enterprise once so reviled for its practices and presence can turn itself around and still make a profit at the end of the day. "We bring together what is good for business with what is good for the world."

And running a major company hasn't made her lose her spirit either. She still calls her mother in India twice a day. She raises two daughters, and still sings karaoke for her employees at company events.

Citizen B's Happy News: Church Congregation Pays for Homeless Couple's Wedding

2009-05-08T11:01:00.003-06:00

This is a story that I found really touching.

Nhiahni Chestnut and Dante White exchanged vows in the Grace Episcopal Church in Washington, DC's upscale Georgetown neighborhood. They ate chocolate cake, danced to "Take the A-Train" and took off for their honeymoon at the Key Bridge Marriot Hotel in Virginia.

After the honeymoon, the couple heads back to the DC streets where they live. Both Nhiahni and Dante are homeless.

The couple met at the Grace Episcopal Church's Bible study and meals program. White has been living on the street since he was thrown out of his mother's house when he was 14. With little education, he's had a hard time finding a job and an even harder time finding love.

Nhiahni herself had struggled with keeping her life afloat after her drug and alcohol abuse problems left her on the street. She says that when she met Dante everything just clicked, and the two starting hanging out.

After nine years of dating, the couple wanted to marry. The parishioners were enthusiastic about the idea and each took up the cost for parts of the ceremony- the rings, the dress, the tux, the cake, and the flowers. One churchgoer even paid for the honeymoon.

The members of Grace Episcopal Church are looking out for this couple. They want to find affordable housing for the newlyweds. They are currently getting together money for a security deposit on an apartment and a few other things to help the couple set up a home.

I hear a lot of people say that the homeless are homeless by choice; they don't want to work. They are lazy. Especially right now I don't believe that this is true. In the case of this couple, Dante was left to fend for himself at 14, which I'd assume kills opportunities for education or work experience. Most of the newly homeless are families, a trend that is growing across the country. Schools are taking on the role of social workers, giving kids basic necessities and meals twice a day.

There are incredible stories of people who persevere through homelessness to achieve great success, such as Jeannette Walls an MSNBC journalist whose parents were transients while she was growing up, or Chris Gardner who was homeless raising his son, and on whose life the movie The Pursuit of Happyness is based.

It makes me happy that the congregation of Grace Church not only pulled off a wedding for this couple, but is looking for a home for them. That is a real show of Christian charity to me, although I wish they could find employment, training, or education for the pair.

Some Funny News For Everyone At The Bottom Of The Ladder

2009-05-04T14:02:00.005-06:00

I am a firm believer that at some point in everyone's life, he or she should work in either retail or food service. Typically I advocate this career during those teenage years where everyone has that "hot stuff" attitude and needs a job where they are the lowest of the low for some perspective. For those who have worked in these fields (and Jaxx knows what I mean) I think you can identify with a few of the following posts.

I have worked in retail before, and not high end retail. Let me tell you, everyone who has ever worked in a retail store has wanted to do this to a customer.

A customer tried to return a product at a Radio Shack in Eau Claire, WI. The 52-year-old employee wouldn't let him return the item. When the customer asked to speak to the manager, the employee began punching the customer.

I'm trying to picture how this all went down. Was the customer trying to return something he/she really couldn't return? "Sir/Ma'am, that's a clearance item. No returns. No, I don't care if you spilled beer on it and now it won't work. You can't return the item."

Or perhaps had this employee just had enough? Those of you who have worked in retail (or food service for that matter) know what it's like. People get a real power trip from yelling at you. You are the bottom of the ladder. Everyone, no matter what their pathetic job is, feels superior to you. You are there to serve them, and so they take advantage.

I'm guessing a guy who is 52 and working at Radio Shack (and is not the manager I might add) is one of three things.

Possibility A) He has a bad temper.
Possibility B) He has worked this job or kind of job his whole life. He finally has had it. That was the last customer to be rude to him.
Possibility C) He used to have an office job and in the recession lost it. He has been put back into the kind of job he worked in college or high school, and is deeply in debt. He has been working for the last 30 years of his life, and this is the only job he could get. Now he's got someone whining at him. That's the last straw, buddy.

Of course, it is more likely Possibility A or B, but I don't rule out C.

In fact, C is probably what led a man in Pittsfield to take his anger out on some Wal-Mart TVs.

26-year-old Nicholas Adornetto walked into a Wal-Mart one Thursday afternoon, took a bat from the sporting goods section, and smashed 16 flat-screen televisions.

When the police arrived, Adornetto calmly explained that he was angry with the government and was unemployed. He was just trying to relieve a little stress. He is charged with 16 counts vandalized property and one count of disorderly conduct.

Not to justify what he did (or the thousands of dollars of damage) but how good must it have felt at the time to just break all these things? How often have you wanted to just hit something when you're mad? That's exactly what these men did, although not without great consequence.

In times like these, don't you want to do the same thing sometimes?

Citizen B's Favorite News: You Think You Had a Bad Day

2009-04-30T11:46:00.005-06:00

A pregnant woman in Colorado Springs was struck by a car as she ran from a bear.

Ashley Swendsen told Meredith Vieira on the Today show that she thought the bear was really cute, and pretended it was a dog until it gave chase. She began to run, screaming for help. The path she had been walking on ran out, and she ran into the road. A driver slowed down, but hit Swendsen, and then drove off without seeing if she was hurt.

Swendsen managed to make it back home, where she and her fiance called the police. The bear made regular visits to her neighbor's yard. Swendsen identified the bear to the police and the animal was put down. Her neighbors are now angry at her for the "unnecessary" death of the bear.

Talk about a bad day. Chased by a bear, hit by a car, and then blamed by your neighbors when the bear is dead- all while pregnant. But she has a good sense of humor. She says her child will have the middle name "Little Bear" when he's born.

Citizen B's Favorite News: Justice Is Served

2009-04-22T15:14:00.006-06:00

Today a jury of eight men and four women convicted Allen Andrade with first degree murder and bias crime for the murder of 18-year-old transgender woman Angie Zapata.

A friend of mine had said that Zapata should have been open about her status as transgender, possibly preventing such a tragedy. During the trial it was revealed that the dating site where Zapata and Andrade met catered to the gay, bisexual, and transgender community, so this was no eHarmony or Match.com arrangement. In those 36 hours, Andrade also attended a court appearance for Zapata's traffic ticket. She was summoned by her birth name "Justin" with Andrade present in court. It was also revealed by the prosecution that in the course of their 700 text messages that Andrade must have known that Zapata was born a male.

I think that the hate crime charge here is important because it dismissed the defense's argument that Andrade acted out of rage. Andrade's homophobic phone conversations and awareness of Zapata's status implies that his action was premeditated; he acted based on his hatred toward transgenders.

Justice has been served.

Citizen B's Sad News: The Murder of Angela Zapata

2009-04-20T14:25:00.005-06:00

I didn't feel it was appropriate to put the label "favorite news" on this article, because this story is so tragic and gruesome.

July 17, 2008 a transgender woman named Angela Zapata was found murdered in Greeley, CO. Coroners revealed she had been bludgeoned to death, causing multiple skull fractures.

The investigation indicated that she had been killed by a man named Allen Andrade, whom the 18-year-old Angela had met over the internet. The two met on a dating website, and exchanged some 700 text messages before Andrade spent 36 hours in Zapata's apartment with her. In Andrade's confession he says that he told his girlfriend that he killed Zapata when he found out she had been born a man. He says he just "snapped" upon realizing he had oral sex with another man.

A judge recently threw out a portion of Andrade's confession where he stated that he feared members of his gang would kill him if he was involved in any homosexual sex. However, Andrade is not only facing a murder charge, but a hate crime charge as well after telling his girlfriend "all gay things need to die." He defended his actions further telling his girlfriend "It's not like I went up to a school teacher and shot her in the head . . . or I killed a straight, law-abiding citizen."

After the murder, Andrade ransacked the apartment and gave Zapata's purses to his girlfriend as gifts.

Zapata's family says Angela never hid her transgender status, casting doubt on Andrade's sudden murderous rage. In testimony today, Andrade's girlfriend Angie Tyree stated that Andrade was driving Zapata's car after the murder, and that he had expressed suicidal thoughts.

This is the second transgender murder to make headlines in my lifetime. You might remember when Brandon Teena, a female-to-male transgender was murdered in rural Nebraska. He was first assaulted and then raped by his killers John Lotter and Tom Nissen. His killers were both convicted felons who said she got what she deserved for living as a man. The police had not held the boys after the rape was reported; some believe that if they had Brandon would be alive today.

The murder of Angela Zapata is just as gruesome. I will keep following the trial. While it may appear from reading the article that Andrade will obviously be found guilty on both counts, the legal system is slippery. I hope that since justice was found for Brandon Teena's murder (John Lotter received the death penalty and Tom Nissen a life-prison sentence), justice can be found for Angela as well.

What confused me, apart from Andrade's open bigotry and indifference to his crime, is that during Angie Tyree's testimony she said she still loved Andrade. Could you still love someone after he admitted committing such a gruesome murder to you? And still love him upon learning that the reason for the murder was he was having sexual relations with someone else? Learning that the purses belonged to the victim, how could she have kept them?

Moreover, how do you defend a criminal like this, someone who doesn't believe his victim was a human being? Over the last several months there has been controversy as to the rights of gays and lesbians, specifically the right to marry. Moreover, I have heard many here in Colorado say that "hate crimes" should not be considered an added offense to assault, rape, or murder. I strongly disagree. Harming another person because of a prejudice is equivalent to a premeditated assault. Such a strong prejudice indicates to me that you have planned already what you would do to someone of a certain race, gender, sexual orientation, or religion. In this case, Ardarde has no other motive for murder other than his hatred. I hope that the jury sees the statement "all gay things need to die" as a mass death threat to the entire LGBT community, and punishes him accordingly.

On The Media: The Susan Boyle Effect

2009-04-17T09:37:00.006-06:00

If you didn't see Susan Boyle's performance on Britain's Got Talent, you might wonder why everyone in America is talking about it. It made every cable 24-hr network in the United States- but why? Why would an American audience care about a performance on a British talent show, especially when there are more pressing issues in the world.

This what is called a soft news story, or a human interest story. If you ever saw the movie Anchorman, it's exactly the story that Veronica is assigned early on in the film. The purpose of these stories, especially on days where the majority of the broadcast is violent and depressing, is to catch people's interest and be a fun, easy story to tell.

Whenever anyone pitches an idea for a story on broadcast or print news, his or her editor will ask, "Well, why should we care?" That is the question that tests the strength of the story, and even the soft must sustain it. I'll explain why this one did.

First of all, Britain's Got Talent is the parent of American Idol, both judged by the callous Simon Cowell. This is the first part of the "why we care"- Americans love to see the arrogant rebuked. Cowell is arrogant, cruel even, to those who have put blood, sweat, and tears into performing for him. For pop stars he seems this barrier necessary to cross to reach fame. American audiences cheered when Jennifer Hudson received an Oscar nod after Cowell had told her she just wasn't good enough to be a star.

The second part of "why we care" is Susan herself. She's not an American 18-year-old beauty, the kind that wins on American Idol. She's a 47-year-old woman, called "plain-looking" by one of the hosts on Britain's Got Talent. She says in her introduction on the show that she's not ever been married, or even kissed. She's not someone pegged to win.

But she has dreams. She wants to be like Elaine Paige, and furthermore (Americans love this part) she's got sass. She has a confidence. When Simon asks her how old she is she rolls her hips and says, "I'm 47- and that's just one side of me!" even as he rolls his eyes. She embodies that American spirit, reaching for that seemingly unachievable dream despite her odds.

We all love an underdog. It's a part of American culture dating back to winning our independence from Britain. So when she delivered "I Dreamed a Dream" Simon's jaw dropped and news was made. Even the teen-pop winners of American Idol never won him over so easily, and Americans fell quickly in love with the woman who toppled that staunch British critic.

There have been rumors that Susan was a plant on the show, someone who the producers knew could sing well and had her play the part of the dumpy woman. I don't think that's true. I think the producers recognized in her audition that this woman had the potential to connect with an audience in Britain and abroad. That's part of broadcasting- seeing the story in front of you.

Her sensation may not last past the week, but she got our attention for one day.

Avast, ye landlubbers! Ron Paul is boardin' yer ship!

2009-04-15T16:42:00.002-06:00

Pirates off the coast of Somalia are far from the mischievous Pirates of the Caribbean. While Captain Jack Sparrow and his mates were the heroes of the Disney high-seas adventure films, the real pirates now pose a serious threat to the USA as they capture ships and hold hostages for ransom.

Right now it is up to the US Navy ships and other international vessels to fight the pirates.

This real life drama got Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX), who you might remember from his campaign for president last year, to dig up a long-forgotten American law. His solution to the pirate problem: hire our own privateers.

The United States' constitution allows for a marque and reprisal law, where the government can hire private citizens to seize and destroy pirates, pirate ships, and pirate loot in exchange for a bounty.

This solution is an alternative to using Navy ships as a first-response to pirate ships, which cost the Navy millions in the last rescue of a US cargo ship.

In these times, I can think of a lot of people who would gladly hunt for pirates to the tune of $1 million. But are we then any different from these pirates?

Citizen B's Favorite News: Evolution Helps Those Who Help Themselves

2009-04-13T16:26:00.004-06:00

At the Berlin Zoo, home to Knut the famous polar bear cub, not all the animals are as cuddly as they look.

On Sunday, a woman in Berlin, Germany hopped the barrier into the polar bear enclosure.

As a result, the bear did what came naturally- it bit the woman repeatedly. (Well, she did jump in during feeding time.) Police pulled her out and gave her a ticket for trespassing. No one knows why she jumped in the enclosure, but she was injured several times by the bear before she was rescued.

We'll keep checking on her condition, but we may have another Darwin Award winner.

Citizen B's Favorite News: There Is No Place Like Nebraska

2009-04-07T10:19:00.004-06:00

I'm originally from Nebraska. My family have been Nebraskans for a hundred years. It's what people on the coast call a "fly over" state. If people know anything about my home it's that Warren Buffet lives there, and that the university's football team is the Cornhuskers. That is usually where the knowledge and conversation about my home state end.

Midwesterners feel like they need to play catch up with the bigger coastal states. We take great pride in our accomplishments, though those accomplishments may not snag the national spotlight. If you ask anyone from Nebraska what Nebraska is known for, they will tell you every famous person who lived or was born there: Gerald Ford, Fred Astaire, Warren Buffet, Charles Starkweather, Willa Cather, Mari Sandoz, Alexander Payne, Nick Nolte, Henry Fonda, William Jennings Bryan, General Pershing, Marlon Brando, Senator Chuck Hagel, Father Flanagan, founder of Boys Town and the Hall brothers, creators of Hallmark cards. They'll tell you Nebraska has the largest underground water supply in the continent, the Ogallala aquifer. They will also tell you Nebraska is where Kool-Aid, the 911 emergency number, the yellow school bus, and the strobe light were invented. They will brag that on September 11 the President flew to a bunker at Offut Air Force Base because it was the safest place in the country. They still laugh when they say Wahoo, NE was on the Letterman show. They boast that their football team had the first black captain in collegiate football. They have all seen "Election," "About Schmidt," and "To Wong Foo, Thanks For Everything! Julie Newmayer" a hundred times. They are proud of their unicameral legislature, and of their recent split electoral vote in the 2008 election.

Now Nebraska has another bragging point. Mainstreet.com, a financial news site, listed Nebraska as the happiest state economically. The website cites Nebraska's low unemployment rate, low foreclosure rate and low mortgage debt as the reasons for the state's cheerful economic outlook. The country's development of ethanol has kept Cornhusker farmers in much better shape financially than before. So now the state has another reason to sing "There Is No Place Like Nebraska."

(That's actually not the state song. No one knows the words to "Beautiful Nebraska" so no one sings it.)

On The Media: The Dead Solider Photography Ban

2009-04-06T13:42:00.006-06:00

In 1989, President George H.W. Bush set a policy banning photography and videography of fallen soldiers returning home at Dover Air Force Base. This ban did not restrict the Pentagon from taking photographs, but even that practice ended 4 years ago at the height of the Iraq war.

The policy has been lifted, and yesterday the news media was on hand to record the homecoming of Staff Sgt. Phillip Myers, killed in Afghanistan.

The photo at the left is from The Daily Beast blog on the issue of the war photography. I highly recommend the post, as it looks at the ban from inception to reversal.

In a country whose constitution so strongly upholds the freedom of the press, I honestly cannot conceive how the ban was permitted in the first place. If the photos of caskets embarrassed the office of the President or the Department of Defense, then they certainly should be more embarrassed by photos of soldiers and civilians injured, bleeding. Why would the government want to hide its honorable and ceremonial treatment of its dead soldiers?

In times of war, the media is even more crucial. The public wants and needs to know what has happened to their brothers, sisters, fathers, mothers, and loved ones. If we are not forbidden from covering the suicides of veterans or the publishing photos of the Iraqi and Afghani children orphaned by the war, then we should certainly have never been forbidden from covering the sad but respectful return of our dead.

Democracy cannot succeed without the freedom of the press.

Citizen B's Favorite News: Iowa Overturns Gay Marriage Ban

2009-04-03T10:55:00.003-06:00

It's a good day to be in Iowa for the LGBT community.

Today the Iowa State Supreme Court ruled that a 1998 law banning gay marriage was unconstitutional.

Iowa is the first Midwestern state to allow gay marriage. It follows behind Massachusetts and Connecticut as the only states to allow gay marriage. Unlike Massachusetts however, Iowa does not have a state residency requirement for marriage licenses.

The risk now, however, is a repeat of what happened California. The ruling cannot be overturned any time soon, but it could be in the next election.

Congratulations, Iowa! Now to convince your surrounding states to do the same.

Bedazzled: The Devil You Know

2009-04-01T15:15:00.009-06:00

Which is better- the devil you know or the devil you don't? I watched the original film Bedazzled last night (the one with Dudley Moore and Peter Cook, not the Brendan Frazier remake). The charming 1960s comedy left me a lot to think about.

An adaption of Faustus, the story is about Stanley, a short order cook who is in love with his coworker Margaret, but has never told her. He has no family, a terrible job, and no matter how much he prays God will let Margaret notice him his prayers are unanswered. He goes home to hang himself and is interrupted by the Devil (who calls himself George Spiggot.) George offers him 7 wishes in exchange for Stanley's soul. All Stanley has to do is make a wish; George snaps his fingers and says "Julie Andrews!" and it is done.

Stanley's goal in each wish is always the same- winning Margaret's love. He wishes for intelligence, for wealth, for allure and every time the Devil finds a loophole, leaving him more miserable than before, and without Margaret. Stanley wishes for intelligence, and George makes sure Margaret is not sexually attracted to him. When he wishes for allure, George makes him a pop star but his 15 minutes of fame dry up quickly.

Stanley gets frustrated, saying this game is cruel. George never gives him what he really wants. George says he's given Stanley so much more than God ever has- he gives him what he asks for. It's not his fault if Stanley is not specific. He says God won't grant such wishes because that would interfere with freedom of choice.

Stanley asks why he didn't get a choice in who his parents were, where he was born, what kind of job he got, and how he looked? How was any of that his choice?

The whole film made me think of Jaxx's recent post. She wanted to be a woman in an Austen novel. I pragmatically pointed out the problems with that plan. I played George Spiggot; she played Stanley.

I cannot think of anyone who is truly satisfied with his or her life, especially now. Everyone wishes for more money, for love, for better looks, for a different job, for success. Part of the problem with Stanley's wishes in Bedazzled and indeed our own wishes is we never specify. We just want to be happy, but often the things we think will make us happy do not. Money, fortune, fame- in every Faust story there is a price to pay for having these things.

Stanley tries one last time to outdo George. He specifies that he wants he and Margaret to be in love with each other and only each other, forever, totally faithful. He wants them to be somewhere away from the material world, somewhere simple, quiet, peaceful, with everything they need to live.

George grants his wish and turns them both into nuns. He says "You should have specified the sex part."

So what is the lesson? Is it that money and beauty will never make us happy? Or simply that the things we fantasize will never be as good as they were in our imaginations? That our lives are really not as bad as we think they are?

What have you wished for that was granted, but not in the way you wanted?

I can do what with my major??

2009-03-31T13:56:00.002-06:00

Celeb Graduates - The Daily Beast

As my friends from college struggle with their current employment or finding a job, I thought this slide show was interesting. Many of these celebrities dropped out of college; others studied exactly what you would expect. The CEO of eBay studied economics. The creators of Google studied computer science and math at the University of Maryland. It seems those people followed their career paths from college to their heights.

Some people on this list were really surprising. Rahm Emanuel, President Obama's Chief of Staff, studied dance at Sarah Lawrence before getting a masters at Northwestern in speech and communication. Natalie Portman took a break from acting to get a degree in research psychology at Harvard. James Franco studied furiously to get a degree in English with an emphasis in creative writing at UCLA. Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon.com, set out to study physics and switched to computer science when quantum mechanics stumped him. Kate Beckinsdale was a withdrawn wall-flower at Oxford studying French and Russian before she dropped out to pursue acting.

I found another list of celebrity college majors that also proved interesting. Will Ferrell studied sports broadcasting. Maggie Gyllenhaal was an Eastern Religions student.

More still from another list: Jon Stewart was a psychology major at William and Mary. Fashion designer Vera Wang left her ice skating career at 20 and studied art history at Sarah Lawrence. And singer John Legend was an English major in college before pursuing music.

So don't despair, liberal and fine arts majors. There is always a career for you, even if it is not exactly what you studied.

Citizen B's Favorite News: Let's move to Middle America!

2009-03-30T13:35:00.004-06:00

Pack up your belongings and look for a job in McAllen, TX.

Living in a farming community or a big city may be a struggle right now, but mid-size cities in the United States are actually prospering in the midst of an economic crisis. With their local banks having few toxic loans and an economy not based on manufacturing or real estate, these 400,000 people cities have dodged the worst of the recession.

While logically speaking you will find more job postings in New York City than in Huntsville, Alabama, you're more likely to keep a job in Huntsville than New York City. If banks are able to continue giving new loans in these areas, setting up a small business in a mid-size city is easier than a large one, or a very small one. In addition the cost of living is far less in Omaha, Nebraska than it is in someplace like Chicago, meaning you are less likely to go broke paying rent.

Citizen B's Favorite News: Enemy Number 1- The Fraudulent Citizen

2009-03-25T16:06:00.002-06:00

The FBI has declared the fraudulent American citizen Enemy Number 1.

Corporate fraud and mortgage fraud are occupying all of the FBI's time. Instead of catching terrorists, they are investigating 2,500 fraud cases. It leaves me to wonder how much money has been taken in these cases. How much more is it costing the government to investigate these cases than fighting more violent threats such as terrorists, gangs, and drugs? White-collar crime is often referred to as victimless crime. But are victims here? The American taxpayer whose money was swindled, who have lost savings? Or is taking the focus off of the violent criminals worse?

Citizen B's Favorite News: Give It Back, AIG

2009-03-19T15:12:00.003-06:00

The House of Representatives passed a 90% tax on the bonuses paid to executives after receiving federal stimulus money.

Chris Matthews of MSNBC's Hardball had two congressman this afternoon debating whether or not it was constitutional to put that high a tax on any person's income.

I'm going to try sparking a little debate here. Pick a side and let me know how you think this should be handled.

Side A: Tax Those AIG SOB's!

American International Group received taxpayer money, saying without it the company would fail, putting millions of Americans out of work, stopping the flow of credit in the United States.

This is taxpayer money. The taxpayers through their Congressional Representatives should decide how it is taxed the same way they vote to raise or lower other federal taxes. The purpose of the bailout was not to save executives. It was to make sure the company could continue to function, to keep credit flowing. They were "too big to fail."

These employees should not keep a bonus for failing to do their job. Tax it. Give it back to the government.

From The New York Times:

“The people have said ‘no,’ ” Representative Earl Pomeroy, Democrat of North Dakota, shouted on the House floor. “In fact, they said ‘hell no, and give us our money back.’ ”

“Have the recipients of these checks no shame at all?” Mr. Pomeroy continued. Summing up his personal view of the so-far anonymous A.I.G. executives, he said: “You are disgraced professional losers. And by the way, give us our money back.”

Side B: Call the ACLU! This Is Unconstitutional!

America was built with the principle that there should be no unfair taxation of its citizens. The bonuses were an already standing part of the executives' salaries. These bonuses, even at their highest, were not exorbitantly taxed by the government. Is it right to levy a tax against this small group of people?

From The New York Times:

The inspector general for the TARP program said on Thursday that Bush administration officials knew at the time of the November agreement between the Treasury Department and A.I.G. on bailout funds that A.I.G. intended to pay bonuses. The contract between the company and Treasury “specifically contemplated the payment of bonuses and retention payments to A.I.G. employees, including A.I.G.’s senior partners,” Inspector General Neil Barofsky told a House Ways and Means subcommittee, Bloomberg News reported.

The loan had no stipulations on executive pay. It was therefore not an illegal use of the funds to pay its employees. It was protected. Without that bonus, the employees may move on to other companies. These employees are also American citizens who pay taxes, who will spend this money on gas, food, mortgages, buying cars, plane tickets, and other goods and services. Some of these employees have already volunteered to return the entirety of their bonuses.

Passing legislation this quickly does not allow for a full debate and examination of its merits and weaknesses. It also does not allow for changes. Furthermore, it is unconstitutional to tax a citizen ex post facto, after the money was received when no such tax existed.

Citizen B's Favorite News: Watch Where You Point That Criticism

2009-03-18T10:42:00.003-06:00

I had to post this picture from PunditKitchen.com because it fits so perfectly with this article.

Tucker Carlson of MSNBC believes that comedian Jon Stewart is a horrible pundit, incorrect and annoying. This article from The Daily Beast starts by railing on Stewart for railing against Jim Cramer.

You'll remember my post about spin. This is a good time to look at the author and consider this editorial (it's an editorial, not a news article). Tucker Carlson was the former host of CNN's Crossfire, on which he got into a heated argument with Jon Stewart in 2004.

In this editorial he is angry that Jon Stewart does not ask hard questions in his program. It's as if Carlson forgot that Stewart is on Comedy Central. If Carlson thinks Stewart should be reprimanded for not asking politicians hard questions, then he really should criticize Ellen Degeneres, Regis Philbin, and The View, all of whom have had politicians on their show and talked about fluff subjects.

Since Carlson doesn't believe Stewart is a serious journalist (and he's not supposed to be- he hosts a comedy show), he seems quite annoyed that Stewart stayed after the show to continue arguing for his case. Is that passion, knowledge on the subject or is it just pride?

The Daily Show is a comedy show based on a daily news format, poking fun at the news. He has a right to an opinion just like Rush Limbaugh does. It seems to me reading this article and watching the Crossfire segment that Carlson is moping about Stewart being popular.

Citizen B's Favorite News: St. Patrick's Day

2009-03-17T10:48:00.003-06:00

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

In real Irish news today, Northern Ireland is struggling to maintain it's 11-year-old peace after two British officers were shot this weekend.

I vaguely remember the Troubles in Northern Ireland from the time I was a child. Upon reading the above article, I am reminded how many terrorist organizations are active in Northern Ireland. The Provisional IRA, the Real IRA, the Continuity IRA, and Oglaigh na hEireann to name just a few are currently active and linked to murders and other illegal activity this last year. That's more terrorist organizations in one country than I can name in Afghanistan or Iraq. (If you can name an Iraqi, Saudi, Afghani, or Iranian terrorist organization, not government, apart from Al-Qaeda, please tell me. I honestly don't know any others.) There are terrorists in the world who are not jihadists.

So before knocking back a pint of Guinness tonight, remember that Northern Ireland is still trying to maintain national stability after 3,600 deaths during the Troubles.

Citizen B's Favorite News: Escaping Abuse

2009-03-16T12:30:00.003-06:00

This is an inspiring story of a woman who escaped an abusive relationship.

Last Beating of Abuse Victim Was Videotaped

I saw Susan first appear on Oprah a few years ago. After 14 years of escalating violence, her husband had their 13-year-old son tape him beating his wife. After 51 videotaped minutes of kicking, punching, and slapping her, he screams at her that she will follow him "to a T." Her offense? She asked if she could make him a sandwich for lunch. That's almost an hour of documented domestic violence. Susan says her husband had often made an audio recording of his tirades against her so he could listen to them later. This was the first and only time he videotaped the abuse.

Now Susan's husband is serving a 36 year sentence, the longest sentence on record for domestic violence.

The videotape was not the only evidence that convicted her husband. Susan's boss started keeping a daily record of signs of abuse before confronting her employee the day after the videotaped assault. When Susan came into work the next day, her boss called the police and together Susan, her boss, and the police came up with a plan to convict Susan's husband.

Without her employer's record of Susan's injuries, absences, and victim behavior, the videotape alone would have only proved one instance of assault, punishable by one year in jail. Because someone else was vigilant and was willing to testify, Ulner Lee Still will not be able to abuse another woman or any of his children for years.

Citizen B's Favorite News: A Slice of Humble Pie

2009-03-16T11:03:00.003-06:00

I am thankful to have a job.

I've read stories of people who were barely making it who just lost their jobs. These are the people my heart goes out to, because I know that could be me at any point. I've had a harder time empathizing with people like Alexandra Penney, who moaned in her Daily Beast entries about having to sell her second house in Florida.

There were a few stories that struck me with unusual sympathy. How much sympathy do you feel for the people who made 70,000 a year who lose their jobs? Normally I would say very little. Some people have learned to have a little humility in this crisis. A friend of mine said she was really humbled when she found herself going to a food pantry after losing her job.

This story posted on CNN today about a banker who lost his cushy job and found himself advertising on craigslist.com. He talks about moving in with his 75-year-old mother. There were some details that had me cringing. (Crying while you look for a job on craigslist? Welcome to the life of the college graduate.) But the article didn't answer something. When what I will call the "fallen fortunate" find themselves looking for work with regular Americans, how do they change? Do they have gratitude? Are they thankful for their new jobs? Do they donate to charities to help others who aren't so fortunate?

What do you think? Do you have sympathy for them?

On The Media: Spinning The Subject

2009-03-12T12:35:00.005-06:00

I've read countless letters from viewers and comments from readers on every news website. I have determined that the general public does not understand "spin" in news, or in fact how news is written. I will try to explain here.

First I will explain spin. Spin is a very general term used in the media for how we tell a story. This applies to everything. Do you talk about the sub-prime mortgage crisis just in numbers- how much has been lost and by whom? Do you instead talk to the people who have lost houses and jobs as a result, making it a very personal story? Do you cover the political side, asking Congress what they plan to do about the situation? Which would you choose? Congratulations. Your choice can be called a spin.

Journalists are people. They have political beliefs, religious beliefs, families, biases, childhoods, brand loyalties, likes, dislikes, and thoughts just like every person does. The difference is we must not allow these beliefs to impose upon our work.

There are some people who are paid to be journalists for a particular cause. Their role in a news organization is to be the conservative pundit, the liberal pundit, the military expert, the science expert, etc. When you read these journalists' articles, they will have a view they are specifically supporting. If you listen to David Brooks, you will hear a conservative Republican viewpoint. If you listen to Mark Shields, you will hear a Democratic viewpoint.

This isn't bias. As long as equal time is given to each viewpoint, journalism ethics require that both pundits are given a voice. However, even hard-news stories are accused of being biased. What's funny to me is that it does not seem to matter what the story is about. Conservatives will view the news as too liberal. Liberals will view it as too conservative. It depends on what they agree with.

I will be the first to say that journalists and reporters are not perfect. We have gotten facts incorrect in the past. But I can tell you we do our damnedest to make sure that we are right. Every article, TV news segment, and radio sound bite is scrutinized by editors, producers, other reporters, and fact-checkers (that is someone's job) to be sure everything is correct. We nitpick for hours over which words are used. We call back our sources and make sure our notes were correct. During the election we counted the minutes on air we gave each party candidate to make sure it was even.

So what is considered bias by journalists' standards? If we get the Democrats' view on a policy or law, but neglect to ask the Republicans that is bias. Unless of course, our story is specifically on the Democrats' point of view, or on the Democratic Party. We may have to make that our story if no one on the Republican side of the aisle will talk to us. Is it bias to not ask what the Green Party thinks? That depends. Does the Green Party have a voice in Congress? Is the Green Party a crucial part of the story? Most likely it isn't. We have done stories on the Green Party, but the reason minor political parties do not have a lot of coverage in the mainstream media is because they are usually not making a lot of news. If the Green Party stormed Congress demanding a bill on water conservation be passed, we would cover it, and ask every Green Party member everything we could.

We cover news based on what we believe is important. I don't care if the American Socialist Party is holding a meeting on Tuesday if the meeting does not relate to the larger discourse. We pick up on what people are interested in now, and what people need to know. That is what the news does. If it's not generating interest (especially an interest to our audience), we're not printing it. It's that simple.

And yet the news does print stories on every angle of every subject. All you have to do is browse a few news sites to find journalists questioning the Iraq War from day one, or warning about the stock market crash, or interviewing politicians on earmark reform. It may not have always been front page, but if someone could find the information and found it newsworthy, it was printed somewhere.

There are very few absolute truths in this world. Politics hold none of them. If you disagree with coverage of someone in the news or of an event, then check the facts yourself, and be sure you use good sources. Write your Congressman, your Senator, or call your mayor. Call the person in question. You can actually read all bills proposed in Congress on the internet in their entirety. Read the stimulus bill, and see how you feel about it. News journalism exists to inform the public, asking the questions because the entire populace is unable to do so every day. If you think it's a spin, consider your own biases first.

Citizen B's Favorite News: When Wall Street Affects Sesame Street

2009-03-12T10:27:00.004-06:00

Big Bird may get the boot.

Sesame Workshop, which produces the popular PBS kids' show Sesame Street, announced today it will lay off 67 of its 355 employees. The show was first televised in 1968, and has since grown into an international company, producing children's programs in South Africa, India, Indonesia, Northern Ireland, Brazil, Israel, Australia, Russia, Mexico, Egypt, France, Japan- the list goes on.

I imagine these cuts are primarily administrative, although certainly a lot of good muppeteers and muppet artists will lose their jobs. This is just another example of non-profits' struggles. (For the record, Sesame Workshop brings in about $145 million a year, and takes $141 million to produce.)

As a young adult who was raised on Sesame Street, I would be very sad to see this program go. One of the most education children's programs on television, I fear what would happen if we allow programs like this to go extinct. I'm sure PBS won't let this happen. The program is one of the staples that keeps PBS on air, but even PBS has a hard time coughing up cash when no donations are coming in from viewers like you.

Citizen B's Favorite News: You Stink When You Lie

2009-03-12T10:13:00.002-06:00

While the technology is in its infancy, the Department of Homeland Security wants to identify you not only by your fingerprint, but by your body odor. They hope to develop the technology as a lie detector. That's right- when you lie, you stink.

Bloodhounds know each human scent is unique. But can a machine really tell if you're omitting an odor when you lie? What if a hapless victim of TSA was simply unable to shower because they were being held for questioning upon discovery of their lotion bottle? I think that even the innocent will sweat if interrogated.

A Simple Explanation of Bad Banks

2009-03-11T19:12:00.002-06:00

I don't know about anyone else, but I'm not a economic genius. In fact, I'm very confused by this whole recession. I'm sure some of you are too, so I've found some good explanations.

I'm a big fan of public radio and public television. This is the best and simplest explanation of sub prime mortgage crisis.

This American Life: Bad Banks

This is another good public news discussion on how to handle the crisis:

The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer: Good Banks vs. Bad Banks

Citizen B's Favorite News: An Interesting Way to Fix the Economy

2009-03-11T18:02:00.001-06:00

These guys have an interesting plan to fix the economy. Abolish the US copyright and patent system.

Michael Boldrin and Daniel K. Levine of Washington University in St. Louis are both professors of economics. They say that the US patent and copyright laws are having a negative effect on invention and therefore the US economy. Levine and Boldrin compare the modern US system to medieval trade monopolies. By creating so many laws and expensive patent applications, and punishing people for what they consider really minor infractions, potential inventors and innovators are discouraged from developing.

It's a radical idea, but an interesting one. For anyone out there who understand the law or the economy, could something like this work?

Anyone else have any radical ideas to save the economy?

On The Media: Some advertisements you will never see

2009-03-11T17:47:00.000-06:00

The media has come a long ways in gender equality. There are more women working today in news, television, entertainment, and advertising than ever before. But I'm afraid there's still sex discrimination in something.

Where are all my women's products spam??!!

I get emails all day long to increase the size of my non-existent penis, to hold erections longer, to grow back my hair. It's as if every spammer out there believes I'm a man.

Here are some spams I've never seen in my inbox:

Vagina tightening pills- no more hot dog down a hallway!
Breast enhancement- Get off the itty-bitty-titty committee!
Cheap breast reduction- Relax the back pain!
Super tampon sale- Be super-prepared for Aunt Flo!
Yeast-B-Gone- I've yet to get spam about ancient Chinese medical secrets for zapping away a yeast infection fast
And finally, the one I've never seen in my mail:
Free Birth Control Pills! Just register on this list!

I'm not saying I want spam. No one likes spam. I'm just saying I want to be spammed with things that at least apply to my sex.

Welcome to News and Views! A greeting from Citizen B.

2009-03-11T17:29:00.000-06:00

Welcome to my blog! I'm a young person in the world of broadcast journalism. I created this blog because I don't believe a lot of people understand how news media really works. Here you will find lots of posts titled On The Media, where I will explain how the news world works as honestly as possible.

This is also a personal blog, so I will post websites, bands, movies, and events that I like, and tell you a bit about myself.

Welcome, and enjoy.