Chris Brown Breaks Down, Alicia Keys Wins At 2010 BET Awards

Los Angeles, CA, United States  – Chris Brown got to participate in the Michael Jackson tribute at the BET Awards after all. It was, however, a year later than the other stars. After his participation was refused at least year’s awards following the highly-publicized domestic “Disturbia” with Rihanna, Brown took the stage for a tribute to King of the Pop which left him, and audiences, in tears.

Just two days after the anniversary of his death, brother Jermaine Jackson introduced Brown as he danced to MJ classics like “The Way You Make Me Feel,” “Remember the Time,” “Billie Jean,” and “Smooth Criminal.” Brown made some of the biggest news of the night after falling to his knees for a reflective, tearful rendition of “Man in the Mirror.” The audience helped him finish the cover with a sing-along.

Brown also picked up the Fandemonium Award later in the show. “I just want to say, I let you all down before and I won’t do it again,” he told the audience.

Kanye West opened the show with an appropriately powerful performance of his new single, “Power.” Alicia Keys performed a medley of hits including “No One,” “Try Sleeping With a Broken Heart,” and “Un-Thinkable (I’m Ready)” before picking up awards for Best Female R&B Artist and for Best Collaboration with Jay-Z for “Empire State of Mind.”

Nicki Minaj picked up two awards for Best Female Hip-Hop Artist and Best New Artist. Beyonce and Lady Gaga took home the award for Video of the Year for “Video Phone,” while Rihanna took home the Viewer’s Choice Award” for her video “Hard” with Young Jeezy.

John Legend was given this year’s Humanitarian Award, previously awarded to stars like Wyclef Jean, while Prince was the recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award.

Number Of Childless Women Spikes Since 1970s

Washington, DC, United States  – Almost one in five American women never have children, a trend that has increased sharply since the 1970s, according to recent study.

A Pew Research Center report found that the proportion of childless women between the ages of 40 and 44 was 18 percent in 2008. This is up 80 percent from 1976 when it was 10 percent. In 2008, there were 1.9 million childless American women, compared with almost 580,000 in 1976.

The most educated women are among those most likely never to have kids, but that trend is declining. In 2008, 24 percent of women ages 40 to 44 with a master’s, doctoral or professional degree did not have children. That is down 6 percent since 1994.

The racial gap for childless women is narrowing, but white women are still the most likely ethnic group never to have children.

Canada, India Ink Nuclear Cooperation Deal

Toronto, Ontario, Canada (AHN) – Canada and India signed on Sunday a nuclear cooperation agreement. The agreement allows India to access Canada’s nuclear industry as Delhi expands its nuclear market.

The deal was inked by Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. The signing seals the discussion made by the two leaders in India last year.

Harper and Singh also signed three memoranda of agreement. The MOUs will:

• encourage the continued development of synergies between Canadian and Indian schools
• improve dialogue on bilateral investment in earth science and mining
• facilitate cultural exchange programs between the two countries.

The signing ceremony was held after the end of the G20 Summit in Toronto.

Harper said in a statement, “Our two countries are laying the foundation to take relations to the next level motivated by our close friendship and complementary economies. The initiatives signed today confirm that we are serious about expanding our relationship.”

By Ryan Stone

There have always been running jokes about actors joining politics. From Ronald Reagan, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Al Franken to Jesse Ventura and Sonny Bono–everyone has a chuckle reserved for those showbiz dynamos that decide to put their acting skills to the test by addressing the American people. But lately, something else has been happening. Native politicians are now embracing the drama, forging symbiotic links with the twenty-four-hour entertainment spectacle…and raking it in.

The industry is pervasive. It fed President Barack Obama $5 million in his first inaugural year when it  fed former President Bill Clinton only $500,000 in his last. It shuttles a cool $12 million through Sarah Palin’s front door and gives Rush Limbaugh $400 million, should he complete his current contract. Keith Olbermann makes a stable $7.5 million each year for his time behind the desk, and Glenn Beck brings in around twice that much.

This has nothing to do with you and yet…you care.

You are the politics consumer, the person that works for the industry and pays right back into it, with both your cash and time, giving away your meager labor twofold to watch a political drama that purposefully alienates and leads you on to no certain conclusion just so it can continue to suck you dry.

As much as that sounds like a soap opera, unlike a daytime soap, these actors pretend that their actions can effect your life. And a few, like Obama, might be convinced that they will actually change all this for the better. It’s a grotesque and sad predicament to watch someone like the President, a man that  does not realize he is stuck on a stage, pretend that the people are not already well-seated: the rich in the low and away, the segregated poor up in the peanut gallery. The President shouts and waves his arms, saying he’s going to make things better for them while people nudge each other and say, “This is a good show.”

As you read this, you engage in more of the same political binge eating. Right now, you are focused on trying to rate the experience, rather than discern and act on its meaning. As late writer David Foster Wallace put it when he commented on this use of behavioral conditioning in television, the reason for all this finger pointing is to call attention to something. The consumer, however, just sits and stares at the finger rather than acting.

People are content with all this staring because they feel like they have done something meaningful by ingesting all of the political knowledge streaming before them. For example, had I stopped writing several paragraphs back, there would be the inevitable, “Did you know that President Obama made $5 million last year?” Or, “I can’t believe Rush Limbaugh makes that much money.” There would be more finger-staring, more binging. But the whole meaning is that you, the paradoxically overfed yet malnourished political consumer should be outraged to the point of action. The pornography industry, which made $23 billion in 2006, is fed in the same manner by people that pay to vicariously experience something which they can get in person for free. As long as the politics consumer is paying to hear someone talk about change, they will not be outside actually changing things themselves.

Organize protests. Hold occupations. Start parades. Boycott. Choices abound.

But as long as consumers keep idolizing and idealizing talking heads as gurus and visionaries rather than seeing them for the money-making machines that they are–until everyone stops placing these elite, detached politicians on platinum pedestals–there will be no one that can save Americans from the social inequity they’re paying to create.

Bristol, United Kingdom – For the first time ever scientists were able to extract vital stem cells from sections of vein removed for heart bypass surgery. Researchers found that these stem cells could potentially stimulate new blood vessels to grow in damaged heart muscles after a heart attack.

Nearly 20,000 people annually undergo heart bypass surgery which involves taking a piece of vein from the person’s leg and grafting it onto a diseased coronary artery to divert blood around a blockage or narrowing.
Typically a longer section of vein than is needed for the bypass is taken and stem cells can be found in this section. In test studies on tests in mice, the cells proved able to stimulate new blood vessels to grow into injured leg muscles.

Paolo Madeddu, Professor of Experimental Cardiovascluar Professor Madeddu who led a research team investigating the theory said, “This is the first time that anyone has been able to extract stem cells from sections of vein left over from heart bypass operations.”

He goes on to say, “These cells might make it possible for a person having a bypass to also receive a heart treatment using their body’s own stem cells.

Researchers believe they can also multiply these cells in the lab to make millions more stem cells, which could potentially be stored and used to treat thousands of patients.

Additionally it brings the possibility of ‘cell therapy’ for damaged hearts one step closer and, importantly, quite possibly could lead to the development of drugs which could achieve the same end.

Mexicans Say Arizona Law On Immigration Violates Human Rights

Victoria, Tamaulipas, Mexico – Mexican politicians and civil rights advocates continued this week criticizing Arizona’s new law that gives police authority to question anyone who might not be a legal U.S. resident about their immigration status.

The law also would impose tougher jail sentences and fines on illegal immigrants.

Eugenio Hernandez Flores, governor of the Mexican state of Tamaulipas, called on the U.S. Congress to overturn the law. He said it would violate the human rights of Mexicans who travel to the United States seeking jobs. “A law that will not solve anything about the problem of immigration, a law which violates the civil rights of our countrymen,” Hernandez Flores said about the Arizona law during a meeting with U.S. Consul General in Nuevo Laredo, Donald L. Helfin, and the Mayor of the city of Laredo, TX, Raul Salinas. “This proposal [to reform U.S. immigration law] is urgent because it has cost many lives and caused repression to people who are seeking an opportunity to improve their conditions in life,” Hernandez Flores said.

The Mexican governor said he is organizing a meeting in the fall with the governors of U.S. states along the border to discuss and protest the Arizona law. Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer signed the law Friday after saying her state’s lawmakers were forced to act on their own because the federal government was ignoring illegal immigration problems. About 460,000 illegal immigrants are in Arizona, according to federal government figures. President Barack Obama has called the law “misguided” and asked the Justice Department to review whether it is constitutional.

Critics in Congress and the Obama administration say it will lead to racial profiling.

Despite protests and threats, Brewer said her state would proceed with training of law enforcement personnel on what constitutes the “reasonable suspicion” required to stop and question suspected illegal immigrants.

Immigrants who fail to show documents proving they are legally in the United States could be arrested, jailed for as much as six months and fined $2,500. The law also makes it a crime to hire illegal immigrants for day labor or to transport them. Some protesters at a rally in front of the state capitol Sunday said they would stage marches in the streets and refuse to cooperate with police.

The Catholic Archdiocese of Mexico criticized the Arizona law in publications and in church sermons on Sunday. Bishop Felipe Arizmendi said Arizona lawmakers had approved a sinful law that criminalizes undocumented workers and that classifying them as criminals is a terrible step backward.

He said the immigrants do not travel to the United States to kill or rob but because of economic necessity.

Much of the work that Americans refuse to do is being done by immigrants, Arizmendi said.

In another sign of disagreement with the United States, Mexican politicians criticized a suggestion last weekend by former President Bill Clinton for Mexico to use a strategy to fight drug traffickers similar to Colombia. Colombia receives U.S. government support of its military in its effort against drug cartels. Mexican politicians rejected the idea, saying any U.S. military involvement in their drug war would be foreign intervention that interferes with their sovereignty. Clinton made his suggestion during a speaking tour in Mexico City and Acapulco. Mexican Interior Secretary Fernando Gomez Mont said only Mexicans should determine Mexico’s strategy for fighting organized crime. He also said the United States should be ashamed of its role as the world’s biggest consumer of drugs, which Mexican leaders say encourages violence and smuggling by gangs.

Officials: North Korean Torpedo Sank South Korean Ship

Seoul, South Korea – According to U.S. and South Korean military officials, a torpedo attack caused a South Korean war vessel to sink last month.

The United States believes the ship went down after an underwater blast near the hull of the ship. The torpedo itself did not make a direct hit on the South Korean ship.

South Korea supports the United States’ conclusion, reports stated.

According to reports, an unnamed military official submitted an intelligence report to South Korean President Lee Myung-bak stating North Korean submarines attacked the 1,200-ton vessel – the Cheonan – with a torpedo weighing approximately 440 pounds (200 kg).

Approximately 39 sailors were killed in the attack.

Pyongyang has denied any involvement in the incident.

]]> http://maroonweekly.com/2010/04/news-briefs-7/feed/ 0 http://maroonweekly.com/2010/04/on-the-hill-8/ http://maroonweekly.com/2010/04/on-the-hill-8/#comments Fri, 30 Apr 2010 06:09:11 +0000 Maroon Weekly http://maroonweekly.com/?p=1953

Slip Of The Tongue

By Autumn Dawson

Well, it has been an interesting semester, and the next one promises to be even more so. We have financial reform (headed by a government that is how far in debt?) to look forward to, a climate-change bill that companies are already predicting will move more manufacturing plants over-seas (just what we need, more jobs vanishing), and a long list of other exciting “changes” to look forward to.

You idiots out there did vote for “Change We Can Believe In,” didn’t you? Did no one ever stop to think what that change might be? Of course not! That would have required the sheeple to think. And God knows (am I still allowed to reference God in this country?) thinking is not a preferred activity for sheeple.

But enough sheeple bashing for the moment, let’s turn to the president. I would like to leave you all with some of the more…interesting actions and comments made by our darling commander in chief. Words to keep you warm and cozy at night…

“Whether we like it or not, we remain a dominant military superpower.” -Obama (April 22, 2010; Nuclear Security Summit)

Are you freaking kidding me? WHO doesn’t like that America remains a dominant military superpower? The people that have something to lose because of that power, that’s who! What does the president of the United States of America have to lose because our military remains a superpower? Anyone?

“Over the last 15 months we’ve traveled to every corner of the Unites States. I’ve now been in…57 states.” -Obama (May 9, 2008; Campaign event in OR)

Huh? 57…when the hell did America get 57 states? But maybe he was tired. Maybe he was too hungry to think straight and recall what every child attending pre-school in the United States of America knows. Maybe he was confusing our country with his 57 states of Islam.

April 27, 2008 at a campaign event, while standing beside Bill Richardson and Hillary Clinton, Obama stood with his hands clasped in front of him during our American anthem. Not once did he lift his hand. And he wasn’t alone; he could see that others were honoring our flag with a salute. He chose not to, just like he has chosen to never wear an American flag lapel pin. Just as he chose to, after not shaking hands with the firefighter caretakers of the 9/11 memorial, callously toss his flower at the memorial.

This is our president, not king. He was elected. How? Of course, I suppose the how doesn’t really matter. All I can say is that in one year Obama has managed to do more damage to our country than the Bush Administration did in eight. Where does it end? When we are no longer the superpower—which isn’t far off—that our president seems to despise?

God—and to hell with anyone that that word offends—I hope not.

Anarchists, Gypsies and Gays, They are Texans, too

by Ryan Stone

A cowboy is a rustling, roping rider that scours the plains in search of adventure and justice. Or she’s a nine-to-fiver that kicks back at a local bar at the end of a long, hard week and isn’t surprised when a fight breaks out because there are gays in her bar.

Gays are flamboyant, sexual gypsies and butch women that hate all men. Or they’re shy teenagers afraid of the judgment of their family and friends, frightened of the very real threat of physical violence and hatred that conservative and religious groups have ready to hurl on them by the bucketful.

A gypsy is a seductive dancer and fortune-teller that reads palms and rides around in a caravan. Or she’s also a nine-to-fiver with a big, sedentary family that is targeted by nationwide law enforcement programs built on the assumption that all Romani (the actual, non-pejorative version of “gypsy”) are anarchists and thieves.

An anarchist is a hooded kid that smashes windows and wants revolution and wants it now. Or she’s a middle-age, middle-class mother that also works 9 to 5 and that sees the government as stifling and unnecessary but also sees revolution as a cultural movement and not one that necessarily includes hurling bombs and smashing windows.

Texas is home to all of these. It is a state of unnoticed diversity, containing gays, Romani, anarchists, feminists, left and right libertarians, as well as soldiers that are opposed to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. While the privileged of Texas may treat them all with indifference and annoyance, the truth is that your neighbors and families are all made of people that don’t fit into the conservative Christian stereotype that the rest of the nation uses to judge this “many-starred” state.

These stereotypes are built on a lack of recognition, both personally and on a governmental level.

A recent movement called Queer the Census sought to have gays included in the national census, acknowledging that they are a growing and active demographic with many tough issues pending in courts and public forums nationwide. Even though many people, both state and nationwide, still harbor strong feelings and advocate violence against gays, there can be no peace and acceptance for them until their own neighbors and fellow Texans treat them as brothers, sisters, and equals.

Anarchists, still thought to be wild, black bloc, bank-smashing machines, are Twittering at protests, starting free grocery stores and community gardens, constructing free housing–and not just in Texas, but throughout the world. Yet they are often met with ridicule and anger by Republicans and Democrats, violence by police, and general distrust by the very people they seek to serve. While the general media applauds Iranians Twittering about police brutality in their cities, law enforcement in the United States actively seeks out and prosecutes anarchists that Twitter about experiences in their own country. There will be no real freedom in Texas or anywhere else until they, too, are accepted, acknowledged, and understood as the beautiful and fearless people they are.

The Romani, of whom there are upwards of 20,000 in Texas alone, are a deeply familial and generally religious people, targeted by law enforcement no less than anarchists, and are more marginalized than even gays. Thought of in the same fairy tale vein as trolls and elves, many well-meaning people do not realize that Romani are people that live among them, people that are afraid to reveal their own race for fear of ridicule and retaliation. They are a people with a rich, cultural history that predates Texas by thousands of years, and until Texans accept and celebrate them as equals, this will continue to be a very large state with an embarrassingly small heart.

Fungus Which Causes Ringworm Gaining Prevalence In Metro-Area Elementary Schools

Kansas City, MO, United States (AHN) – A new study found that nearly 7 percent of elementary school children across the bi-state, Kansas City metropolitan area are infected with the fungus Trichophyton tonsurans (T. tonsurans), the leading cause of ringworm in the United States.

Findings from the largest study ever conducted on the fungus are published in the latest issue of Pediatrics. The organism has become the leading cause of scalp infection in the U.S., and is seen in growing prevalence in inner city areas. Susan Abdel-Rahman, Pharm.D., lead study author and professor of pediatrics and pharmacy at Children’s Mercy Hospitals and Clinics said, “This study supports what I and many of my peers are seeing – children with scaly, itchy scalps and hair loss are prevalent in metropolitan areas.”

If the fungus isn’t treated ringworm can lead to permanent hair loss damaging a child’s self image. Some early research has shown that it may worsen seemingly unrelated problems such as asthma and allergic rhinitis. Previously microsporum species were the main cause of ringworm usually passed to humans from cats and dogs. However, T. tonsurans has emerged as a growing threat and is spread directly between humans and is difficult to screen for and treat. The study which included 10,514 children in grades K through 5 across 44 schools found that 6.6 percent of the children evaluated tested positive for the ringworm infection. Findings also revealed that infection rates showed disparity based on age and race, with African American children at greatest risk. Additionally over 18 percent of African American children evaluated in kindergarten and first grade) were infected, with that number dropping to 7 percent by the time they reached fifth grade.

In contrast, infection rates in Hispanic (1.6 percent) and Caucasian children (1.1 percent) were significantly lower. The reason for the dramatically higher prevalence in African Americans is not clear.

Current treatment regimens for T. tonsurans require a course of oral antifungal medicine typically for six to eight weeks until the symptoms subside. However, in many cases the fungus isn’t completely eradicated.

U.S. Makes Gains In Global Views Tauted As “Obama Effect”

College Park, MD, United States (AHN) – Views of the United States have improved over the last year while many other countries have become negative. A poll spearheaded by the BBC analyzed 28 countries and noted that for the first time in the poll’s five year history the United States’ influence in the world is seen as more positive than negative. According to GlobeScan Chairman Doug Miller whose firm conducted the poll said, “People around the world today view the United States more positively than at any time since the second Iraq war. While still well below that of countries like Germany and the UK, the global standing of the US is clearly on the rise again.”

Steven Kull, director of the Program on International Policy Attitudes who also aided in conducting the research said, “After a year, it appears the ‘Obama effect’ is real. Its influence on people’s views worldwide, though, is to soften the negative aspects of the United States’ image, while positive aspects are not yet coming into strong focus.” 29,000 people were surveyed and asked to give their viewpoint on the influence of different countries in the world to be mostly positive or mostly negative. The U.S. scored as being seen positive on balance in 20 of 28 countries. 46 percent of respondents said the U.S. has a mostly positive influence in the world.

The previous year’s ratings showed that negative ratings of the United States dropped nine points on average across the countries surveyed both years. The data also showed positive ratings of the United Kingdom and Japan are down three points, Canada down six points, and the European Union down four points. Other data showed that Germany is highly regarded in with an average of 59% positive followed by Japan (53%), the United Kingdom (52%), Canada (51%), and France (49%).

Iran was shown to attract mostly negative views in all countries polled except Mexico and Pakistan.

The First Step to Banning Firearms

By Autumn Dawson

This past week, Obama took the first major step towards banning guns from all United States citizens. How, you might ask, could this actually happen? What about the 2nd amendment? How could my elected congressman actually vote for this?

Simple: they won’t have to.

By signing international treaties on gun control, the Obama administration can use the US State Department to bypass the normal legislative process in Congress. Once the US Government signs these international treaties that Obama just announced his support of, all US citizens will be subject to those gun laws created by foreign governments.

Yes, you read that correctly. We will be subject to gun laws not created and voted on by our congress.

International laws that were adamantly opposed by the Bush administration, who preferred to use national gun control legislation. International laws that have been developed and promoted by organizations such as the United Nations and individuals such as billionaire businessman George Soros—who has claimed that, “The main obstacle to a stable and just world order is the United States.” This is also the same man who earned the titled “The man who broke the Bank of England” in 1992, the man who made it his personal mission to ruin the Bush Administration because America had gotten “too big for her britches,” and whose name has been linked repeatedly to Obama’s. Anyone else ever wondered who pulls our President’s strings? But I digress.

The Obama administration is attempting to use tactics and methods of gun control that will inflict irrevocable damage to our 2nd Amendment, before US citizens even understand what has happened. Obama can appear before the public and tell them that he doesn’t intend to pursue any legislation in the United States that will lead to new gun control laws; and all the while, his Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton is committing the US to international treaties and foreign gun control laws.

And you thought the under-the-table deals used to get the healthcare legislation passed was bad.

Just wait until the entire legislation process is behind closed doors–closed doors in another country. Because, if this happens, there will be no publicized gun control debates in the media or votes in Congress. We will wake up one morning and find that the United States has signed a treaty that prohibits firearm and ammunition manufacturers from selling to the public. And in the meantime, our dollar is plummeting (as George Soros foretold in 2003, China owns most of our debt), our President is for world order, and we—the American people—may not be allowed to purchase firearms come 2012 (when their international legislation is set to be created).

And yet, a large percentage of this country is still blindly following the puppet—I mean, President. So, let me put a message out there: Sheeple…calling all sheeple…Wake up! This is not a joke. This is big money quietly destroying the nation we call home. The nation untold numbers of men and women have died so that we might call ourselves free. Please, don’t let all those lives go to waste.

Four People Murdered by US Soldiers During Birthday Celebration and Covered Up

By Ryan Stone

Irony is dead.

On February 12, when US soldiers shot two men, two pregnant women and a teenager in a house in Afghanistan, irony died as its story bounced flat between CNN and the New York Times, their deaths dubbed as “honor killings,” speculated on as if “the Taliban could be responsible.”

Irony is dead, its wounds cleaned up by the guilty soldiers, the bullets removed from its body, the true nature of its murder concealed by the Pentagon, its true fate ignored by major media.

Irony is dead, killed by soldiers in July 2007 when they, hovering in an Apache over New Baghdad, saw photographers with cameras and claimed that they were carrying AK-47s and RPGs.

Irony is dead, gunned down from above by soldiers that begged permission to engage the victims’ rescue van even as the heads of two children bobbed in its passenger side window.

Irony is dead, its eyes closed by the soldier that said, “It’s their fault for bringing their kids into a battle.”

Irony lay limp, its body that of a wounded Reuters photographer struggling to crawl to freedom.

Irony has been dead for a long time, one of its last gasps coming to light April 5^th when Collateral Murder and WikiLeak decrypted the Apache’s aerial footage and released it virally, attaching a full-length transcript of the soldiers’ chatter and general indifference to committing a massacre.

Irony is dead, having been born in the protests and circumstance of Vietnam, used as a tool to end that war and a drug to endure this one.

And that’s fine. It’s time. Irony’s usefulness has long since passed.

The truth, however, is very much alive. It is because of courageous journalists in Iraq, people Twittering at summit protests, college kids being gassed, tasered, having their cameras smashed by police officers, and Reuters photographers being shot by soldiers; it is because of their actions that you have the freedom to know and, by knowing, to choose.

Go to YouTube and type in “Wikileaks leaked video of civilians killed in Baghdad.” Then say your peace for irony, feel it slide out of you like the numbing force it is, take a deep breath, and be free.

You are going to watch innocent people die and hear soldiers laughing about it.

And then you are going to stop this war.

Dedicated to Saeed Chmagh and Namir Noor-Eldeen

]]> http://maroonweekly.com/2010/04/two-reuters-staff-murdered-by-us-soldiers-and-covered-up/feed/ 0 http://maroonweekly.com/2010/04/laid-off-for-voting-obama-in-aggieland/ http://maroonweekly.com/2010/04/laid-off-for-voting-obama-in-aggieland/#comments Fri, 16 Apr 2010 05:10:39 +0000 Maroon Weekly http://maroonweekly.com/?p=1855 Laid Off for Voting Obama in Aggieland

by Chris Zebo

If you’ve ever browsed the popular political message board on TexAgs.com then you already know that the rousing group of redasses posting there don’t bite their tongues.  Some writers on the board take (anonymous) liberties to be as puerile, bigoted and  unsophisticated as those irrelevant comment tirades you find under YouTube videos.  As you’d suspect, visitors to the forum can find the usual Fox News Obama-bashing subject threads, the talking-to-death points, like the birther conspiracies, Obama the Socialist threads, the Tea Party rancor, and–of course–the colorful debates about the new health care bill.

The health care debate reached new lows here in Aggieland last Wednesday, though,  when a story broke about a dermatologist in BCS who had recently announced laying off an employee for having voted for Obama.  CBS News broke the story (at least nationally) and the Houston Press released a blog called “Alleged Aggie Doctor Brags of Firing Obama-Voting Employee.”

Richard Connelly, the blogger who covered the story for the HC in the paper’s popular Hairballs section, found the story on the TexAgs.com political forum before it was taken down.  Within three days, there were over 500 comments made in response to the posting on HC’s website, igniting a firestorm in Texas, around the country and, especially, in Aggieland.

The controversial posting was made by a contributor on TexAgs with an avatar named “dermdoc.”  Apparently, the story goes like this: dermdoc’s medical practice was suffering financially and he (dermdoc) was recently forced to make some cuts to his staff.  He chose to lay off, before others, an Obama supporter because he believed the downturn in his business was result of the health care bill passing.  Here is the post as it existed before it was taken down:

Subject: “Laid off my first Obama voting employee today.”

“Our reimbursement rates are spiraling downward, taxes are projected to go up with Obamacare, so I did it.

This is for you crag.

On another note, my internal medicine doc for 20 years is retiring over this Obamacare crap. I am really starting to get pissed……”

As you can imagine, the dialogue (if you can call it that) that followed dermdoc’s post on the TexAgs.com site deteriorated to cyber fist fights quickly.  But there were some on dermdoc’s side that tried, as valiantly as they could, to justify the lay off.  One contributor wrote:

“To those of you complaining…STFU. DermDoc is a business owner and had to make a business decision. As somebody said, elections have consequences and the person they voted for, and whose policies they support, directly led to their job loss.”

On the other side of the debate (since there are only two anymore), some argued the obvious rebuttals.  But many more were concerned with how the national media’s coverage of the story would impact Aggies and Aggieland in general.  One person wrote:

“What I…care about is if this turns into national media coverage that makes A&M look like an isolated colony of pugnacious cornbrains (like dermdoc), rather than a consistently excelling center for education and research. I’ve said it a couple of times now, I think the current political environment is pretty ripe to support such coverage. Translation: dermdoc is playing with fire, and it’s our school’s reputation that is going to suffer the most damage if his cute little episode gets out of hand.”

As the controversy escalated and as the media dug deeper and finally found out who dermdoc really was (he is a doctor in the area, although his name has not been released), dermdoc allegedly began getting threats to his family.

But then, in an interesting turn of events, just as the story was reaching its fever pitch, dermdoc returned to the spotlight and released this message:

“there was no layoff of anyone at my office. Any of you reddit dweebs can check my employment records or call my office on Monday.

IT WAS ALL A TROLL!

I was merely making a hypothetical because of frustration with decreased reimbursements and future increased taxes.

It is really hard to believe that simply by posting a topic on the internet that I could make newspapers, several national talk radio talk shows-WITHOUT ANY VERIFICATION.

Whatever. What has the US become when you have entire web sites of people sitting around just waiting to screw with people and their families without even checking out the source.

Granted, all of this is my fault but any “Ag” who would screw with other Ags or this website because of one unverified post needs to seriously check out their life.

All you lefties can call off the preemptive strikes on me or my family, my wife actually was the one who made me do this because she feared for our safety.

I am done.

But many still had their doubts.  One writer on the board wrote:

“Dermdoc wasn’t trolling to purposefully get a rise out of people. He was doing it to prove a point and look like a tough guy on Texags. Why are you congratulating him. He just lied to make himself look like a bad ass, not play a massive joke on the board.”

Another writer added:

“I’m still kind of doubting that this was a troll.

I bet he actually did it, but had no idea it would backfire as it did. First he just took the thread down, then after sitting for a while he figured he should log back in and pretend like it was all a joke?

Who would seriously ask to see your employment records? I bet you are counting on no one doing it!”

Regardless of whether it was a troll or not (and it probably was), dermdoc was at least right about one thing: journalism is really bad lately. 

]]> http://maroonweekly.com/2010/04/laid-off-for-voting-obama-in-aggieland/feed/ 0 http://maroonweekly.com/2010/04/soapbox-taking-green-back/ http://maroonweekly.com/2010/04/soapbox-taking-green-back/#comments Fri, 09 Apr 2010 03:14:01 +0000 Maroon Weekly http://maroonweekly.com/?p=1818

by Ryan Stone

Statistics show that red light runners are mostly male, under the influence at the time of the infraction, and generally terrible drivers even when they’re not plastered. If a different kind of poll were taken on the subject, those same statistics would also show that red light runners are probably mostly from Bryan-College Station.

In this demographic, full of die-hard patriots and flag-wavers, it’s interesting to see those same republic worshipers turn into amateur anarchists when it comes to driving. Yes, waiting for a green light may be a less glamorous way to save lives than bombing a peasant village, but it’s actually more effective. Saves peasants and Americans.

Unfortunately, the social contract in BCS has been rewritten without any kind of “American” hearing. There were no votes on the matter, just a gradual shift when a lot of people simultaneously decided to enter intersections after their lights had already turned red. So there’s no reason to call everyone together, no sense in holding a referendum to change the matter, since it would be pointless because the actual laws never changed. Democracy herself already deemed green the color of go. Unfortunately, terrorists have taken that from us.

So, how do we stop these freedom haters?

Honk. If the light’s green, go. Lay on your horn. Scare the living piss out of those people. They should be scared.

Cut them off. If someone gets stranded in the middle of the intersection because they turned left ten seconds after their light turned red, it’s not your fault.

Curse. In addition to relieving stress, this is also a great way to try out new words. If the person running the light has kids in the car, they’re bound to learn some colorful new colloquialisms. Education’s been in kind of a slump, anyway.

Be American. You’re probably saying, “Couldn’t I put someone in danger by driving straight at them while honking and cursing?” If someone’s made it dangerous for you to drive on green, they’re destroying America (or planning to). It’s ok to put them in danger. It’s actually legal to break into their houses, depose them, and sell their kids to Wal-Mart. At that point, it may be necessary to explain to everyone in the neighborhood that this was a preemptive strike and that the parents were planning to kill them all.

Know your rights. What’s more interesting to an outsider than this town’s blatant disregard for red is the sheer amount of the meek and lowly that go along with it. Even if red has gone rogue, it still won’t ever usurp green’s position. It will never be legal to drive on red. So, if you’ve been longing for a creative and pyrotechnic way to let off some steam, simply drive when your light turns green. If you happen to survive the giant pileup and resulting mass-dismemberment, you’ll be pleased to find that it was all the fault of the guy that ran the light, no matter how much local custom allows for driving on red. Then, there’s only one truly American step left to take.

Sue. People that love red are communists, and everyone needs to be on the lookout for those. But America’s true color is the green of capitalism. And nothing is more capitalist America than a big, juicy lawsuit taken up by an attorney that calls himself The Hammer or The Slammer or some other hamburger-sounding name. And once Captain Sue has gotten his 60 percent, you’ll be left sitting on a fat pile of Ben Franklins while the commie’s kids are working doubles at McDonald’s to pay for their parent’s new arms.

So, if you’ve ever seen Faces of Death, Two Girls One Cup, or that YouTube video of the soldier kicking a puppy, then you should be well prepared for all of this. There’s nothing more American than war, and that’s just what this is.

It’s time to take back green.