The horror.... the horror ....

Mr. Franklin needs to get a life.



http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/14/fojol-bros-deny-racism-charges_n_1515281.html?ref=food&ir=Food

Fojol Brothers Food Truck Denies Racism Charge (UPDATED)

The Huffington Post | By Arin Greenwood Posted: 05/14/2012 4:23 pm Updated: 05/15/2012 11:17 am

WASHINGTON -- The letter starts "Dear Idiots." That's the friendliest part.
On Friday, disgruntled D.C. area resident Drew Franklin, posted an "Open Letter to the 'Fojol' Bro-dawgs" on Facebook.
The letter concerns the Fojol Brothers food truck, whose proprietors sell decently-reviewed Indian, Thai and Ethiopian food while wearing fake mustaches and brightly-colored turbans, and whose fictional "traveling culinary carnival" origin story has the Fojols coming from the country of "Merlindia" to "share their family traditions with the world."
These traditions are "over-the-top racist," Franklin wrote in his letter. The "brothers" themselves are "worthy ambassadors of poor taste" and "well-meaning (if woefully misguided) white boys with a contemptible sense of humor."
Edward Said's famous critique of Western depictions of Asian and Middle Eastern culture makes it into the letter, which ends, less academically, by suggesting that the truck owners "Find a new gimmick, or else please set that ugly tin wagon on fire and drive it into the Potomac. Dicks."
"I'm more worried about the Brussels sprouts going bad than this guy's comments," says Justin Vitarello, one of the food truck's owners, who in real life comes from D.C.'s Adams Morgan neighborhood.

Jesus H.
Nothing like creating a problem where there is none.
The fact that there is more than one person complaining about this is astounding. One person complaining about this can be written off as an idiot - more than one shows that idiocy is contagious.




http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jermaine-spradley/krafts-biracial-milkbite-_b_1581506.html


Kraft's Biracial Milkbite Stirs Controversy

Posted: 06/08/2012 6:20 pm

"Who are you? What am I? Maybe you're nothing ... I'm not ... I'm valuable."
Pretty heavy introspection and melodrama are at the top of a 30 second spot pushing Kraft's latest snack venture-the Milkbite. According to their website, the Milkbite "combines real milk with whole grain granola and other tasty and nutritious ingredients, providing the same calcium as an 8 oz glass of milk." Though it sounds delicious, controversy has been brewing around the bar's ad campaign, which chronicles the depressed life of an anthropomorphic milkbite named Mel. In the campaign, Mel is depicted as the child of Milk and Granola and having been born of such diversity, he is clearly confused, trying to figure out who he is and unsure of where he belongs. "Are you milk, are you granola?" Mel asks himself.
The campaign harkens the age-old tragic mulatto stereotype which has its roots in 19th century abolitionist literature. This archetype has endured through generation after generation of western pop culture. Bernardo Guimaraes' "Isaura," Fanny Hurst's "Peola," Phillip Roth's "Coleman Silk," and now Kraft's "Mel" all remind us of how, in much of our art, biracial children are almost always depicted as perpetually melancholy, ignored, confused, and ostracized by the communities for which they believe they should belong. The problem with this sort of homogeneous characterization has always been that it oversimplifies the complexities of what it means to be biracial by painting the characters biraciality as a constant source of stress and anxiety. That in turn reinforces the notion that miscegenation, and the children born of it, are inherently unhealthy.
I don't believe this was the intention of Kraft. I don't believe they sought to tap into this stereotype and wouldn't be surprised if they've never even heard of the tragic mulatto. Still, it's hard not to look shamefully at the company when in one of their ads the brown offspring of white milk and brown granola is telling his parents "You didn't think, did you? You didn't think what life was going to be like for me. For your son." And in another spot, his biraciality is compelling him to irrationally personalize the hardships of a fictional character he and his friends are discussing at book club. "He spent 30 years in a Siberian Prison!" the snacking white guy says. "Right and I was born in this prison," Mel retorts.
And as if that wasn't insensitive enough, as if the lines of race, commerce, and advertising weren't being blurred enough, the worst ad of them all depicts Mel on a blind date with a white woman. "I just have a question ... Your profile says you're milk?" she asks, interrupting Mel. "Uh huh, yup," he responds. "You just look like ... granola," she says confused. As Mel leaves, she calls after him "Please don't go, I'm ... I'm ... I'm kinda into it." Into what we have to wonder? What exactly are we talking about here?
It's one thing for artists to attempt to depict the biracial experience in their works. We all shed a tear as Fredi Washington's Peola cried, begging her mom for forgiveness in the film adaptation of Imitation of Life. And it wasn't hard to appreciate Drew's plight as a woman struggling with her light skin in Spike Lee's Jungle Fever. These depictions of the tragic mulatto, while myopic and stereotypical, at least attempt to address the nuances of the character's struggle in a humanizing way. But when you're talking about a product that a multibillion dollar company is trying to sell, when you're talking about a Milkbite struggling with the fact that his mom is a glass of milk and his dad is a bowl of granola, you begin trivializing the lives and experiences of millions of biracial folk everywhere.
Personification for the purposes of advertising is nothing new. In that way, this ad series isn't very groundbreaking. But when you personify an already stereotypical plight, and when you do so with the insensitivity that Kraft has, you're treading dangerously close to advertising infamy. Kraft has sent direct responses to individuals who've complained about the ad on their Facebook page, and that's a start, but if they really want to do the right thing, they should consider pulling the "Mel the MilkBite" campaign in its entirety.

http://now.msn.com/money/0618-adidas-slave-controversy.aspx

New Adidas sneakers kick up slave-chain controversy

2 hrs ago

Congratulations, Nike: You're not alone on the list of Culturally Insensitive Sneaker Designs! When Adidas posted a picture of its upcoming JS Roundhouse Mids on Facebook, countless jaws dropped -- and not in the way the company intended. The shoes are inoffensive (if unattractive) until you notice the bright orange shackles that snap around the wearer's ankle which, for some, are a plastic-and-Velcro reminder of the chains that slaves were forced to wear. Several outraged commenters have renamed the shoes the "Amistad Originals" or the "Adidas Kunta [Kinte]," while IndieWire asked if the company had been "inspired by 'slave movie fever.'" Regardless of their intention, this is a major misstep for the athletic giant.
"The design of the JS Roundhouse Mid is nothing more than the designer Jeremy Scott's outrageous and unique take on fashion and has nothing to do with slavery," a representative for the shoemaker told TODAY.com by email. "Jeremy Scott is renowned as a designer whose style is quirky and lighthearted ... Any suggestion that this is linked to slavery is untruthful."

I don't know jack, you think they would look good on a golf course?

How Could ANYONE Boycott A Cookie?!?!

The usual bigots went nuts because Oreo posted this pic on their facebook:



Oh... the horror...

Still like chocolate best.

http://news.providencejournal.com/breaking-news/2012/09/cranston-bans-f.html

Cranston bans 'father-daughter' dances as violation of state law

September 17, 2012 10:02 pm
By Richard C. Dujardin

CRANSTON, R.I. -- In a move that has taken some parents by surprise, the school department has announced that it is banning traditional "father-daughter" and "mother-son" activities, saying they violate state law.
Supt. Judith Lundsten said the move was triggered by a letter ifrom the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of a single mom who had complained that her daughter had not been able to attend her father-daughter dance.

Lundsten said school attorneys found while federal Title IX legislation banning gender discrimination gives an exemption for "father-son" and "mother-daughter" events, Rhode Island law doesn't.
The new ban was brought to light Monday by Sean Gately, a Republican running for the state Senate, who said if elected he will work to change the state law.



The ACLU - preserving our precious liberties one Father/Daughter Dance at a time.

(By the way, don't these people realize that, regardless of whether this girl is the daughter of a single mother, she actually does have a father with whom she could presumably attend the dance. Biology 101.)

Get ready for the folks on Planet Wingnuttia to open a giant new can of Fake Outrage.
Obama: Romney's “A Bullshitter”

Quote :

It's no secret that there is no love lost between President Barack Obama and his Republican rival, and in an interview with Rolling Stone, the president made that even clearer.

Douglas Brinkley recounts an episode at the close of his interview with Obama, in which the president called Romney a "bullshitter"

As excerpted by Mike Allen:

Quote :

"We arrived at the Oval Office for our 45-minute interview ... on the morning of October 11th. ... As we left the Oval Office, executive editor Eric Bates told Obama that he had asked his six-year-old if there was anything she wanted him to say to the president. ... [S]he said, 'Tell him: You can do it.' Obama grinned. ... 'You know, kids have good instincts,' Obama offered. 'They look at the other guy and say, "Well, that's a bullshitter, I can tell."'"

It's the headline at Drudge Personally,I would prefer the term "Pants on fire,lyin flip-flopper"

Today's faux outrage of the day..

Yikes! A certain fat drug addled gas bag along with the wingnut horse and buggy crowd are all bent out of shape over this ad,claiming it's too suggestive.

Based on their "outrage" I say this ad should be shown non-stop on all TV stations in toss-up states.

Artie60438 wrote:

Today's faux outrage of the day..

Yikes! A certain fat drug addled gas bag along with the wingnut horse and buggy crowd are all bent out of shape over this ad,claiming it's too suggestive.

Based on their "outrage" I say this ad should be shown non-stop on all TV stations in toss-up states.

Yeah, I might find some time for "outrage" (if I ever stop laughing).



http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2223316/Lena-Dunham-says-time-Obama-US-election-video-paid-Presidents-campaign.html

'My first time was with Obama': Outrage over Girls star Lena Dunham's election video paid for by the president's campaign

By Hayley Peterson
PUBLISHED:00:49 EST, 26 October 2012| UPDATED:10:07 EST, 26 October 2012

President Obama's campaign is out with an eyebrow-raising new ad targeting young voters in which Lena Dunham, the creator of the HBO hit series 'Girls,' compares her first voting experience to losing her virginity.
'Your first time shouldn’t be with just anybody,' Dunham, 26, says in the ad. 'You want to do it with a great guy.'
Dunham goes on to explain that 'your first time' should be with 'someone who really cares about and understands women; A guy who cares whether you get health insurance and specifically whether you get birth control.'
'The consequences are huge,' she continues.
Dunham wraps up the Obama ad by describing her coming-of-age experience at the voting booth.
'It was this line in the sand,' she says. 'Before, I was a girl. Now, I was a woman. I went to the polling station, I pulled back the curtain, I voted for Barack Obama.'



I'm glad that her first time was with a guy who had a huge 'consequence'.
Incidentally, the article doesn't really say - did she bleed afterward?
Did He smoke afterward?

Ronald Reagan Made A ‘First Time’ Voting Joke 32 Years Before Lena Dunham Did

Quote :

Some conservative were outraged Thursday, when the Obama campaign posted a Web ad starring Lena Dunham, creator of the TV show “Girls,” in which she speaks about her “first time” voting, using innuendo to compare it to a girl losing her virginity.

“Your first time shouldn’t be with just anybody. You want to do it with a great guy…someone who really cares about and understands women,” Dunham said in the video, discussing such issues as health insurance, birth control, ending the war in Iraq, equal pay for women, gay marriage, and other big issues.

She then recalled her own “first time” voting four years ago: “It was this line in the sand — before, I was a girl; now I was a woman. I went to the polling station, I pulled back the curtain, I voted for Barack Obama.”

But just as every generation thinks it invented sex, a “first time” joke about voting goes way back to another presidential candidate: Ronald Reagan, less than a week before he ushered in the Republican landslide of 1980.

The Washington Post reported on Nov. 1, 1980, on Reagan’s outreach to blue-collar voters:

Quote :

What Reagan was trying to do in Illinois, Michigan and Ohio was to harvest usually Democratic blue-collar votes — the consistent target of his personal campaigning in the Great Lakes states. Whenever he is near voters who might possibly be Democrats, Reagan likes to remind them that he came from that side of the political tracks.

On Thursday night, at a working class bar in Bayonne, N.J., Reagan said, “I know what it’s like to pull the Republican lever for the first time, because I used to be a Democrat myself, and I can tell you it only hurts for a minute and then it feels just great.”

In response to the Obama campaign video, Redstate.com’s Erick Erickson wrote with outrage:

Quote :

“If you need any further proof we live in a fallen world destined for hell fire, consider the number of people who have no problem with the President of the United States, via a campaign ad, ridiculing virgins and comparing sex to voting.”

Conservative radio host Monica Crowley posted on Twitter:

Quote :

Monica Crowley @MonicaCrowley

1 of the many sick things about this degrading Lena Dunham "lose your virginity to Barack" ad? The Left thinks it's "empowering" to women.
25 Oct 12

Quote :

And John Nolte of Breitbart.com said:

John Nolte @NolteNC

Just when Obama can't diminish himself and his campaign more -- he drops ad laced with innuendo about girls wanting to have sex with him

If this intellectual giant had opted to communicate in English (you know, an actual language) rather than Ebonics, he might still be a state trooper, no?



http://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2012/12/05/ex-pa-trooper-claims-he-was-fired-over-ebonics/

Ex-Pa. Trooper Claims He Was Fired Over Ebonics

December 5, 2012 9:31 AM

PITTSBURGH (AP) — A black man fired at the end of his 18-month probationary period as a Pennsylvania state trooper says he was wrongly let go for false claims that he didn’t properly write reports, and sometimes used “Ebonics” in doing so.
A state police spokeswoman says the agency doesn’t comment on litigation.

http://www.nbcnews.com/business/arab-american-groups-say-coke-super-bowl-ad-racist-1B8191874

Reuters

Arab-American groups say Coke Super Bowl ad is racist

Arab-American groups have sharply criticized a Coca-Cola Super Bowl ad depicting an Arab walking through the desert with a camel, and one group said it would ask the beverage giant to change it before CBS airs the game on Sunday before an expected audience of more than 100 million U.S. viewers.
"Why is it that Arabs are always shown as either oil-rich sheiks, terrorists, or belly dancers?" said Warren David, president of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, or ADC.
Coca-Cola released an online teaser of the commercial last week, showing the Arab walking through a desert. He soon sees cowboys, Las Vegas showgirls and a motley crew fashioned after the marauders of the apocalyptic "Mad Max" film race by him to reach a gigantic bottle of Coke.
In its ad, Coke asks viewers to vote online on which characters should win the race. The online site does not allow a vote for the Arab character.
"The Coke commercial for the Super Ball is racist, portraying Arabs as backward and foolish Camel Jockeys, and they have no chance to win in the world," Imam Ali Siddiqui, president of the Muslim Institute for Interfaith Studies, said in an email.
"What message is Coke sending with this?" asked Abed Ayoub, ADC's director of legal and policy affairs. "By not including the Arab in the race, it is clear that the Arab is held to a different standard when compared to the other characters in the commercial," he said.
CBS declined comment. Coca-Cola spokeswoman Lauren Thompson said Coke took a "cinematic" approach with the ad, employing the characters as a nod to movies of the past.

Idiots.



http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/09/vt-paper-fry-rice-sign-caledonian-record_n_2843391.html?utm_hp_ref=media

Vermont Paper Defends 'Fry Rice' Sign Supporting Team

AP | Posted: 03/09/2013 9:11 am EST | Updated: 03/09/2013 8:55 pm EST

MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) — A Vermont newspaper defended itself Saturday against accusations of racism over a poster it published in support of a local sports team that read "fry Rice" in type associated with Chinese calligraphy, saying it meant no offense and simply wanted to play on words.
The back-page poster, printed in Thursday's editions, was intended to support St. Johnsbury Academy's basketball team in its game against Rice Memorial High School in South Burlington, the Caledonian Record wrote in an unsigned editorial (http://bit.ly/Yj75aB ).
"We sought a simple play on words in support of an extraordinary group of local student athletes. Indulging our critics for a moment, the outcry reminds us that racial and ethnic stereotypes can offend — regardless of intent," the editorial said.
The editorial acknowledged that the poster's wordplay, punctuated by the chosen font, "evoked a particular ethnic cuisine" but did not constitute racism.
"We don't concede, however, that the use of imagery with any racial, ethnic or religious inference is to inherently debase that race/ethnicity/religion," the paper said.
"A fair accusation of racism would at least pre-require the reference to actually be demeaning or degrading," the editorial said. "Simply invoking ethnic customs (food, dress, design) doesn't do that, nor does it suggest any kind of characteristic about the culture, its people or a history of oppression by the majority.
But the editorial missed the point, said the president of the Asian American Journalists Association, who had criticized the poster after it was published.
"I'm not criticizing the Caledonian Record for rooting for their home team," said Paul Cheung, the association's president. While Cheung does not believe the newspaper's intention was to be racist, it showed "a lapse of judgment and poor taste."
"It evoked a racial undertone and a negative stereotype," said Cheung, who is also interactive and graphics editor for The Associated Press.
St. Johnsbury Academy ended up losing the game to Rice Memorial.
A private school, St. Johnsbury Academy serves local students and also has boarding students from across the world, including Asia. Academy Headmaster Tom Lovett said Friday that none of the school's Asian students were offended by the poster.
"Overall, our students often see such things as a way to celebrate their culture, not demean it. And in this case, we chose to follow our students' lead and look at the Caledonian's intent, not taking offense where none was intended," Lovett said.

Since we're on the subject of idiots...

Quote :

False reports that Paul Krugman has filed for bankruptcy spread across the Internet on Monday morning.

The rumor came from the satirical news site The Daily Currant, which said that the Nobel Prize-winning economist had accrued over $7 million in debt. The fake story was picked up by Austria's Format online magazine, which then reported as true by Boston.com and Breitbart.com.

edge540 wrote:

Since we're on the subject of idiots...

Quote :

False reports that Paul Krugman has filed for bankruptcy spread across the Internet on Monday morning.

The rumor came from the satirical news site The Daily Currant, which said that the Nobel Prize-winning economist had accrued over $7 million in debt. The fake story was picked up by Austria's Format online magazine, which then reported as true by Boston.com and Breitbart.com.

Breitbarted

Quote :

OK, I’m an evil person — and my scheming has paid off.

On Friday I started hearing from friends about a fake story making the rounds about my allegedly filing for personal bankruptcy; I even got asked about the story by a reporter from Russian television, who was very embarrassed when I told him it was fake. But I decided not to post anything about it; instead, I wanted to wait and see which right-wing media outlets would fall for the hoax.

And Breitbart.com came through!

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to go give a lavishly paid speech to Friends of Hamas.

The only good thing about Breitbart.com is that it's a constant reminder that Breitbart is dead

..and since we are still on the subject of idiots, we have this gem:

Quote :

GOP Congressman Says Supreme Court Doesn’t Actually Get To Decide Whether Laws Are Constitutional

By Scott Keyes and Ian Millhiser on Mar 13, 2013

Still smarting over last year’s ruling upholding Obamacare, freshman Rep. Jim Bridenstine (R-OK) dismissed the idea that the Supreme Court decides whether or not laws are constitutional.

“Just because the Supreme Court rules on something doesn’t necessarily mean that that’s constitutional,” Bridenstine said in a Daily Caller interview posted Sunday. After accusing Democrats of “stacking the courts in their favor” — five of the current nine justices were appointed by Republican presidents — Bridenstine dismissed the idea that Congress must write laws within the boundaries set by the Supreme Court. “That’s not the case,” the Oklahoma congressman said.

Let us not try to discourage teen pregnancy, lest someone's feelings get hurt.



http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/16/opinion/i-was-a-teenage-mother.html?ref=opinion

I Was a Teenage Mother

By GLORIA MALONE
Published: March 15, 2013

“EVERYTHING’S going to be O.K., mamita,” my mother said, before walking into her bedroom and crying her eyes out.
I was 15, and I was pregnant.
Today I have a 6-year-old daughter, and I’m not a teenager anymore. But I can’t help but be affected by New York City’s controversial new anti-teenage pregnancy campaign. The posters, which appear on subways, walls and buses, feature toddlers in states of despair or discontent because they were born to teenage mothers. One ad shows a crying child with the text “I’m twice as likely not to graduate high school because you had me as a teen.” Many posters ask: “Think being a teen parent won’t cost you?”
Some people argue that these ads are a fresh approach to dealing with the problem of teenage pregnancy. But I can tell you that there’s nothing innovative about them. All they do is take the insults and stereotypes directed at teenage parents every day, and post them up around the city.
At 15, I was a good student and determined to apply to college. But after I had my daughter, my high school guidance counselor refused to see me and help me with my applications. She never expected me to graduate. Most people, even within my family, assumed I wouldn’t amount to anything and would be dependent on government assistance for the rest of my life.
But I wanted to be someone my daughter could be proud of. So every day, I woke up before the sun, drove my daughter’s father to work, my daughter to day care, and still managed to be in class at 7:50 a.m. before the bell rang. I also worked 35 hours a week at a cellphone store. I would leave school early through a co-op program that allowed graduating seniors to work and go to school at the same time. After getting out of work I would pick my daughter up from day care and go home. I was always tired, but more than anything I was determined.
I also had a few people who encouraged me not to listen to the stereotypes. People like my chorus teacher, who allowed me to show up a few minutes late to class, so I could pump breast milk first; my economics teacher, who congratulated me on having a healthy child and reminded me that he was proud of me for not giving up; and the nurse at my daughter’s doctor’s office, who told me I was doing a great job and to keep it up.
These bits of encouragement are what kept me going. Thanks to them, I graduated with honors and went on to community college. Today I am a student, an advocate for young parents and, above all, a proud mom.
The blame, shame and stereotypes expressed by so many others simply told me to give up. Stereotypes and blame do not stop teenagers from engaging in unprotected sex or discourage teenage pregnancy. They simply keep teenage parents from seeking the help and support they need. The only tools that have been proven to prevent teenage pregnancy are comprehensive sex education, birth control and abstinence.
These ads do not explain why New York City, which thankfully makes birth control accessible to youth, has only recently begun requiring that comprehensive sex education be taught in all its public schools. Nor do they offer teenage parents any support for how to get out of poverty and provide their children with a more stable upbringing. Until that happens, there will always be teenage pregnancy and teenage parents.
The least we can do is let them ride public transportation in peace.

chuckmo48 wrote:

happy jack wrote:

Let us not try to discourage teen pregnancy, lest someone's feelings get hurt.



http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/16/opinion/i-was-a-teenage-mother.html?ref=opinion

I Was a Teenage Mother

How did Sara Palin's just say no philosophy work with her kid?

You mean kids
Another domestic disaster for Sarah Palin as son Track divorces from wife who had baby just three months after getting married
Palin "family values" rears it's ugly head again! If ever a family deserved a sit-down TV episode with Maury Povich it's the Palin clan.