A Massachusetts sporting club is donating $10,000 to children’s charities as part of a deal settling criminal charges in the death of an 8-year-old boy who accidentally shot himself in the head with an Uzi during a gun fair.
There were so many points of failure in this story (the organizers’, the former police chief’s, the gun club’s, the father’s, and the poor 15 year old boy who was supervising Christopher) that it’s hard to know where to begin casting the blame. Christopher Bizilj deserved so much better than what happened to him. Mistakes and lapses in judgment happen all the time, but I honestly don’t know how his mother, Suzanne Bizilj can stand the knowledge that when their child was handed a loaded Uzi, her husband was preparing to take pictures, rather than to help his son hold the firearm.
The post in question, entitled “Bible Ignored, Trainer Dies,” is about Tillikum, the Sea World killer whale that killed trainer Dawn Brancheau. I somehow think that enacting biblical-style revenge the first time this animal killed a human wouldn’t have been the best idea ever, but I’m just a godless heathen, so what do I know? I think that maybe just never putting her in a position where this could happen again (release or just removal from areas where humans might be) would be enough, but then again I’m just not into killing things.
Seriously?? | Nicole | March 3, 2010 6:47 pm | Comments Off on Probably not satire, but who can tell anymore?
As if the whole Evgeni Plushenko thing wasn’t funny enough on its own (and it is), the matter has become even more bizarre, what with the involvement of Russian president Vladimir Putin (his public message to Plushenko said “Your silver is as good as gold.“), and Plushenko posting on his web site that he actually won a platinum medal. Oh. My. God. This guy is like the king of all sore losers, even going so far as to create an entirely new medal to commemorate his imagined awesomeness. (via Virginia & Josh)
I’m wonder if yesterday’s post made it sound like I hate children, which actually couldn’t be further from the truth. I like kids, and kids really like me. I’m the Baby Whisperer. You give me a fussy kid and me holding them generally quiets them down pretty quickly (note: this only works on babies who don’t know me very well – I guess my charm is in my newness). I just try not to be all, “Won’t somebody think about the children??” when it comes to a everything. I think that sometimes people give up too much in the name of protecting children, to nobody’s benefit.
Unless, of course, protecting children is exactly what you’re supposed to be doing. In which case, you’d better earn your keep. I just read the most horrific story about Our Little Rugratz, a daycare center in Jersey City that left behind a two-year-old after a field trip to New York City. Are you kidding me? My 19-year-old cousin was in Manhattan on Saturday and wouldn’t even let me leave him in Chinatown, where he was supposed to meet up with his friends.
How is it possible that people in charge of multiple children didn’t count obsessively to see if they had everybody? Kids wander off all the time, so if they’d known that they were missing one child, that would have been more understandable. But they didn’t. They left Emily Grogan in New York, and didn’t realize it until several hours had passed. Oh. My. God. And the first indication that parents Amy and Joseph Grogan had that something was wrong was when Amy went to pick up Emily. I’m so sorry that her parents had to go through that, and completely understand why the Grogans have pressed charges against Iris and Luis Pietri, the owners of the daycare center.
I rarely make it to Brooklyn, but I like the few areas there that I’ve been. It’ s a nicer place than blogs make it sound (I think, judging by friends who live there and love it), but some of its residents sound pretty freaking nuts. I laughed pretty hard when I read this post on Gothamist. The Double Windsor, a Winsor Terrace bar, has banned the entry of people under 21 after 5 pm. And some parents are upset about that. Why?? That’s the whole point of bars; it’s happy fun adult time, with alcohol. I feel like the mouth of hell is about to swallow us all or something, because for once all of the Gothamist comments were 1) on topic and 2) coherent.
Why don’t I feel bad about this? Kids get everything. They get toys, they take naps, and they don’t have to pay taxes. Can’t we grown-ups have something of our own?
Jack McFadden, a man who cause an uproar in Park Slope when his restaurant, Union House, banned strollers thinks this makes perfect sense. And he’s the father of a 10-month-old baby. He even said one of the smartest things I think I’ve ever read: “If people would just use some common sense and consideration, there wouldn’t have to be rules.” I totally agree with this, as it is applicable in so many situations. Sadly though, common sense just isn’t as common as one might hope.
As is to be expected, there are some parents aren’t happy about it. I don’t get it. I never went to a bar until I was old enough to drink. It wasn’t a big deal. When my parents went out to n0-kids-allowed type places, I’d go visit with a relative or a babysitter would come over to my house. Babysitters! Remember those?? Stimulate the local teenage economy and hire a babysitter already!
As loath as I am to agree with the New York Post on anything at all, I have to say that they got this story right. Why is Mayor Bloomberg’s technology commissioner claiming to live in Florida full time? And to save $3,000 a year in taxes? That’s insane. She makes over $200,000 a year by herself, and I’m sure her husband has income, too. There’s no excuse to be so cheap. Of course, today her husband informed the good people of Florida that she is not, in fact, a full-time resident, and hasn’t been since 2001. It’s not as though this was a case of oversight; they actively claimed that she still lived year round in Florida; she had a Florida driver’s license; and she voted in Florida elections. Seriously???
Was it worth the talk of fraud and loss of reputation? I will never understand politicians.
I recently saw Zoolander again for the first time in ages. I was really surprised by how much I enjoyed it; sometimes, after not having seen a movie in a long time, you realize that it wasn’t as good as you remembered. That wasn’t the case in this situation, which is good, because I have a lot of good memories of watching and quoting Zoolander with my brother.
One of the most awesomely far-fetched parts of it was Mugatu’s line of clothing, Derelicte. It was homeless chic, where they went straight for the homeless look and abandoned chic altogether. At least, I thought it was far-fetched. Fast forward to Vivienne Westwood’s new menswear line, which looks like it should be named “Derelicte 2.0: Now With More Dirt.”
This New York Times article was sent to me by Virginia, my #1, and possibly only, reader (just kidding, Mom). It’s about Michael Hicks, an 8 year old whose name is on a TSA watch list. (Hey, TSA: Good job on improving the way that travelers’ names are checked against government watch lists.) He is scrutinized and subject to extra searches when he flies. Not his parents. Just him. They patted him down when he was 2 years old. Who could do that? How does that make any sense?
I laughed when I read the article, because it is ridiculous to think that any rational person could look at an 8 year old and suspect him of plotting some sort of aviation-related terrorism. But then I got serious; it’s awful when you think of what this child and his family have gone through. It’s even worse when you think that he’s been getting this treatment since the age of 2. I know what toddlers practice their own special brand of terror (my nephew’s nickname isn’t Satanski for nothing), but seriously? This just illustrates the complete lack of logic behind TSA policies, and shows why the TSA justifiably gets such a bad rap.
Also, I was terrified by the story of Mario Labbé, an adult male with the same problem of having his name on a watch list. He was always questioned when he flew, and they always asked him the same thing. He got sick of it, and was able to fix the entire solution by changing his name. To François Mario Labbé. That’s it? That’s all it took? He changed his name just a little, and all the hassles ended? Although he shouldn’t have been on the list in the first place, I’d feel better knowing that it would take more than a trip to the municipal building for people whose travel plans raise justifiable concerns to evade heightened scrutiny. Where’s the followup? The intergovernmental agency cooperation?
The TSA was created in a hurry to allay people’s fears after 9/11, not out of careful strategy. I’m sure that a lot of TSA workers do want to help make air travel safe, but the system also seems to involve a worrying amount of pseduo-science (Only people with something to hide don’t look you in the eyes), racial profiling (Hey, you there, in the brown skin…), and plain retardedness (What were you planning to do with 101 ml of liquid, comrade??? The limit is 100!). For all that some justified people are pulled out of line or questioned further, it is inarguable that a lot falls through the cracks.
The TSA is probably not a good organization to work for. Their mission is vague, scary as all get out, and potentially dangerous. The Transportation Security Officer, which is the main point of TSA contact for many air travelers, is the poorest paying position in the organization. These factors naturally limit the pool of applicants, and thinking for a moment about who that leaves to work for the TSA explains a lot about people’s perceptions of TSA officers. Kip Hawley, a former head of the TSA, famously called airport screening positions a dead end job. Yeah, no kidding.
Reading and thinking about the TSA is depressing the crap out of me, so I’ll stop now.
I don’t care if it means that I’m ancient, but I cannot get on board with that Ke$ha song “Tik-Tok.” I guess I should have been tipped off by the fact that every time I’ve seen it mentioned online, it isn’t accompanied by an mp3 or video. That’s a sign, right? Even the people whose jobs it is to talk about stuff like this don’t actually want to hear it.
Just to be clear, it’s not that I hate all new music indiscriminately. I know what I like, but there’s always room in my heart, and on my mp3 player, for some new tunes. I like good pop, and I’m pretty much a lock when it comes to fun party songs. So, even if it didn’t replace “Just Dance” in my heart, it was entirely possible that I wasn’t going to hate “Tik-Tok.”
But the reality is far different (and worse) than what I’d imagined. The song is Autotuned to death, so much so that I have no idea whether Ke$ha can actually sing. I’m not rushing to listen to any of her other songs to find out, either. Plus the lyrics are lazy. As if that wasn’t bad enough, it also features the most insipid, Valley Girl-sounding talk/singing since Moon Unit Zappa (and that was parody; what’s Ke$ha’s excuse?).
I contrast the awful “Tik-Tok” with “How Do You Do,” by Natasha Bedingfield. Why? I’m not going to pretend that these songs have anything in common, but the former is awful and popular, while the latter is good and (at least according Amazon mp3 and iTunes, where it can’t even be purchased) not popular. I heard it the other day while I was at the mall, and was totally blown away by it. I was trying to converse with my friend and still listen to the song at the same time, so that I could memorize the lyrics and buy the song when I got home (that’s right: I’m so old, I BUY my music). I thought that I recognized Bedingfield’s voice, but I wasn’t positive. I googled her name and what I remembered of the lyrics, and came up with nada. I thought that maybe I’d been wrong, but then I remembered the “if you won’t say it, I will” line, and when I gooogled that, I hit the jackpot. It seems that this song was included on an import CD that failed to go far. I’ll have to buy the CD if I want the song, and I’m almost willing to do that.
Anyway, I’m sure that there are people who will prefer “Tik-Tok” to “How Do You Do?” and those who will not like either of them. But just to make it easy for you to form an opinion, I’m including both of the songs below. Neither of these videos are really videos; they’re just the songs.
“As a business, we mourn the loss of any member, but the fact remains that our members demand the high standard of beauty be upheld,” said site founder Robert Hintze. “Letting fatties roam the site is a direct threat to our business model and the very concept for which BeautifulPeople.com was founded.”
Jesus. That’s cold. The professional first half of that quote left me completely unprepared for the part where he thought that using the term “fatties” was a good idea.
Children, Just awful, Seriously?? | Nicole | 
March 12, 2010 11:37 am | 
Comments Off on An 8 year old kid + a loaded Uzi = Bad, bad things 
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