Friday, December 31, 2010

Family under the microscope

Celebrities are disastrous role models for vulnerable children

It's the season for the children to clamour on Saturday night to watch one or other of the reality TV "entertainment" talent shows, culminating in the Christmas final and anointment of yet another "star". Is it harmless fun or should you be trying to get them to watch something more wholesome? Should you also be refusing to fork out for the celebrity magazines and other commercial exploitations of the modern idols who clutter our media?

The good news is that the studies suggest that most young people do not engage in celebrity worship. Three kinds have been identified. About 15% of young people have an "entertainment-social" interest, just chatting with friends about their celebrity and enjoying what they offer. This does not seem to do any harm, or be a sign of any.

The 5% who feel that they have an "intense-personal" relationship to the celebrity may see them as their soul-mate and have frequent unwanted thoughts about them that border on the compulsive. They are at heightened risk of depression and anxiety. In the case of mid-teenage girls, they are also more liable to be unhappy with their bodies (often idolising a woman with a "better" one).

The 2% with a "borderline-pathological" interest are liable to say they would spend several thousand pounds on a napkin or paper plate the celebrity used, or are willing to do something illegal if the celebrity told them to. This group are most likely to be seriously disturbed.

On the whole, celebrity worship seems to be more an effect of prior difficulties than a cause of them. Perhaps more significantly, a remarkable study of the narcissism of celebrities themselves strongly suggests that our role models are far from desirable as people for our children to emulate. Although done in America, the study almost certainly would apply here.

Full-blown narcissism is a state of "me-me-me" attention-seeking grandiosity. Feelings of worthlessness and invisibility are reversed and compensated for by exhibiting their opposite. The study measured narcissism in 200 celebrities, and in 200 young adults with MBAs. These results were compared with a nationally representative sample using the same questionnaire.

Sure enough, the celebrities were significantly more narcissistic than the MBAs and the general population. There were four kinds of celebrity included in the sample. The most narcissistic were the ones who had become famous through a reality TV show (particularly high on "exploitativeness" and "vanity"), next came comedians (highest on "exhibitionism" and "superiority"), then actors and, least of all, musicians.

Interestingly, the narcissism was not correlated with how long the celebrity had been famous, strongly suggesting that becoming famous was not making them narcissistic ? it was already the case beforehand. The celebrities were significantly more narcissistic than the MBAs. These latter were chosen for comparison as a group known already to be that way inclined. Sure enough, in turn, the MBAs were significantly more narcissistic than the general population.

People who get to the top or into the public eye tend to be narcissists. It is most unfortunate that they are the very ones who the young are strongly encouraged and inclined to emulate. Watching them cavorting about on TV (or, indeed, being bossed about by MBAs at your workplace) is a disastrous role model for the vulnerable.

The sort of people who are ruthless, self-seeking and workaholic also tend to be desperate and lonely. If your child reads about their idols, they will have noticed how miserable or messy their lives often are. It can't hurt to point this out.

Narcissism and celebrity study: Young, SM and Pinsky, D, 2006, Journal of Research in Personality, 40, 5, 463-71.


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Executive Order -- Adjustments of Certain Rates of Pay

Release Time: 
For Immediate Release

    By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including the laws cited herein, it is hereby ordered as follows:

    Section 1.  Statutory Pay Systems.  Pursuant to the Continuing Appropriations and Surface Transportation Extensions Act, 2011 (H.R. 3082), which I signed into law today (the "Continuing Appropriations Act"), the rates of basic pay or salaries of the statutory pay systems (as defined in 5 U.S.C. 5302(1)) are set forth on the schedules attached hereto and made a part hereof:

    (a)  The General Schedule (5 U.S.C. 5332(a)) at Schedule 1;

    (b)  The Foreign Service Schedule (22 U.S.C. 3963) at Schedule 2; and

    (c)  The schedules for the Veterans Health Administration of the Department of Veterans Affairs (38 U.S.C. 7306, 7404; section 301(a) of Public Law 102–40) at Schedule 3.

    Sec. 2.  Senior Executive Service.  The ranges of rates of basic pay for senior executives in the Senior Executive Service, as established pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 5382, are set forth on Schedule 4 attached hereto and made a part hereof.

    Sec. 3.  Certain Executive, Legislative, and Judicial Salaries.  The rates of basic pay or salaries for the following offices and positions are set forth on the schedules attached hereto and made a part hereof:

    (a)  The Executive Schedule (5 U.S.C. 5312–5318) at Schedule 5;

    (b)  The Vice President (3 U.S.C. 104) and the Congress (2 U.S.C. 31) at Schedule 6; and

    (c)  Justices and judges (28 U.S.C. 5, 44(d), 135, 252, and 461(a), and section 140 of Public Law 97–92) at Schedule 7.

    Sec. 4.  Uniformed Services.  The rates of monthly basic pay (37 U.S.C. 203(a)) for members of the uniformed services, as adjusted under 37 U.S.C. 1009, and the rate of monthly cadet or midshipman pay (37 U.S.C. 203(c)) are set forth on Schedule 8 attached hereto and made a part hereof.

    Sec. 5.  Locality-Based Comparability Payments.  (a) Pursuant to section 5304 of title 5, United States Code, the Non-Foreign Area Retirement Equity Assurance Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-84; 5 U.S.C. 5304 note), and the Continuing Appropriations Act, locality-based comparability payments shall be paid in accordance with Schedule 9 attached hereto and made a part hereof.

    (b)  The Director of the Office of Personnel Management shall take such actions as may be necessary to implement these payments and to publish appropriate notice of such payments in the Federal Register.

    Sec. 6.  Administrative Law Judges.  Pursuant to section 5372 of title 5, United States Code, the rates of basic pay for administrative law judges are set forth on Schedule 10 attached hereto and made a part hereof.

    Sec. 7.  Effective Dates.  Schedule 8 is effective January 1, 2011.  The other schedules contained herein are effective on the first day of the first applicable pay period beginning on or after January 1, 2011.

    Sec. 8.  Prior Order Superseded.  Executive Order 13525 of December 23, 2009, is superseded.

BARACK OBAMA

THE WHITE HOUSE,
December 22, 2010.

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2010 Rewind: A Year to Remember

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Ahhh... 2010 was a very good year for news stories galore. Folks and their shenanigans never gave us a news-less day. Life-altering situations, pearl-clutching gasps, history book fodder, and moments that were world-changing made 2010 a year that many of us will never forget!

Here are some of this year's scandalous and off-the-beaten-track headlines that made you couldn't get enough of...


1) Seattle Officer Punches Girl in Face During Jaywalking Stop: I Would Have Punched Her, Too

Seattle Police Department got put on the map when an officer punched a young girl right in her smacker (pictured above). The teen and her friends were jaywalking, they were approached by a cop, some words were exchanged, and the rest was caught on video. The NAACP got involved, the police chief defended his employee's actions, the victim probably nursed a sore lip and the lesson that is supposed to be learned here was probably ignored.


2) Four Teenagers Charged in Beating Death of Chicago Student

Senseless murders are commonplace practically everywhere on the map. But last September, who didn't tear up after reading about the murder of 16-year-old Chicago resident Derrion Albert, an honor student and all-around nice guy, who was brutally beaten up by four hooligans for trying to help a friend who had gotten caught up in a melee. The beating is a true example of self-hatred taken to entirely obscene and pitiful level.



3) Students Punished With Paddling, Suspension for Prom Dresses

So you think you've heard everything? WRONG! Were you as angry as I was when you read the story about the 25 students at Oxford High, in Calhoun County, Alabama who violated their school's strict prim and proper, anti-hustler's ball, prom dress code (pictured above). The teens were allowed to party but had to pay a steep price after all was said and done. The head honcho at the school principal, Trey Holladay, gave them a bizarre choice -- either a three-day suspension or a paddling for breaking his rules. Which would you have chosen?



4) Kim Kardashian's Sex Tape Comes Back to Haunt Her...Reggie's Mom Says, 'No Marriage!'

We all seem to love those Kardashians, especially Kim. Okay confess, how many of you ate it up when you heard that Kim's ex, Reggie Bush didn't put a "ring on it" because his mommy forbade him? Reportedly, Reggie's mom and his family are pretty low key, conservative folks and the sex tape starring Kim and her other ex Ray J, did not exactly set well with them all. Apparently, Reggie's mom just couldn't forgive and forget the tape. It doesn't matter now, Reggie and Kim are kaput and the sex videotape has probably been transferred onto a DVD. Rewind, rewind, rewind.


5) Britain's Brainiest Family is Black and Has 9-Year-Old High School-Bound Twins

These kinds of stories just make you proud! A set of 9-year-old twins, Paula and Peter Imafidon, prodigies who are about to enter high school and make British history as the youngest to do so. The couple's oldest daughter, Anne-Marie, is now 20, but at age 13, she won a British government scholarship to take undergraduate courses at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. Christiana, 17, their other daughter, is the youngest student ever to study at the undergraduate level in any British University at the age of 11. Youngest daughter, Samantha, now 12, passed two rigorous high school-level mathematics and statistics exams at the age of 6. When brains were handed out, the Imafidon family were certainly out there front and center.


6) Inner City School Gets 100% of Its Black Men in to College

Just think, a public, all-male, all-African American high school in the city of Chicago called "The Urban Prep Academy for Young Men," located in Englewood was able to get all of their 107 seniors accepted in to 72 different colleges across the country. The model school that nurtures young minds and breaks down all mental barriers should serve as a blueprint for especially urban learning institutions. All you need is a dream and it can be done.


7) Bishop Eddie Long Pictures Paint an Uncomfortable Image

There were some interesting photos which surfaced of poor Bishop Eddie Long (who looks great in spandex BTW), who has been accused of luring four young men into sexual relationships when they were teenage members of New Birth Missionary Baptist Church. Bishop Long who is long known for not holding his tongue when he speaks of his revulsion of gay people was depicted on cell phone photo shots wearing clingy spandex that outlines his muscular frame. Did he allegedly send the accusing victims the shots because he wanted to show off his good fashion sense or did he want to drive the point home that working out is a must? Whatever the case, the mega church leader is still in a sink or swim situation. Someone throw the good bishop a life-preserver!

8) Love Handles Save Woman's Life

Here is an interesting case where being overweight can actually be a good thing. Samantha Lynn Frazier was strolling into a local Atlantic City, New Jersey bar when she heard two loud blasts. The 35-year-old woman suddenly felt a sharp pain on her left side. When the baffled woman grabbed her midsection and gazed down at her hands, she noticed that they were bloodied. When she was taken to a nearby hospital. the attending physicians told the Florida resident that the extra fatty layer deposited around her waist was actually her saving grace. No sirree, no more Weight Watchers anything for Ms. Frazier, fat is where it's at baby!

9) I Married a Loser: Why Didn't Anyone Tell Me?

Successful women who get betrothed to, then eventually marry men who, well, aren't exactly the pick of the litter eventually do come to realize that they married losers. Take famed 'Stella Got Her Groove Back' writer Terry McMillan and her ex Jonathan Plummer, celeb Star Jones and Al Reynolds (hmmm...now what do these two ex-hubbies have in common besides failed marriages?), Whitney Houston and Bobby Brown; these women who have great careers and big social circles ended up with men who were not on par with them. It's unfortunate that when it comes to logic versus emotion, the latter seems to win out all of the time!

10) Father Fights to Overcome Stroke for Son

At only 43 years young, Reginald Thomas (pictured above with son) suffered a massive stroke. Talk about drive, determination and a overwhelming devotion to his 8-year-old son, Thomas, a single dad who was left paralyzed on one side of his body and speechless, was hell-bent to get himself well enough to care for his child. The prognosis was bleak. Yet two months later, and after exhausting therapy sessions, he began walking with a cane and could speak again. He lost his job but all is not sunk; Thomas can see some light at the end of his tunnel. He is considering a North Carolina move to start over and will continue to be there for his son whom he adores. Who says there aren't enough good black men out there?


11) Woman Stabs Husband Over Bad Sex

Michelle Thomas, 26, had sex with her common-law husband and was not satisfied, so she stabbed him with a pair of scissors. Her man refused to press charges or seek medical treatment. I betcha this won't be the last time ole Shelly goes for those paper cutters!

12) Aimee Michael: Daughter and Mother Get Long Prison Sentences for Hit and Run

Aimee Michael (pictured above, left) was the cause of a massive car accident in Atlanta, a chain reaction that caused the deaths of five people, including a newborn baby, a 6-year-old and a 9-year-old. After being sideswiped by another car, Michael's BMW hit another car, causing it to collide head-on with another vehicle. Michael is going to prison, because after causing this terrible accident, she fled the scene and tried to cover up the evidence. Aimee Michael's mother, Sheila (pictured above, right), was given eight years in prison for her role in the cover up. The lesson learned here is that driving is a privilege which should never be abused.

13) Fitness Chain Sues Tiki Barber, Calls Him 'Worthless'
Cad-about-town Tiki Barber was hit with a $1-million lawsuit by a fitness company that has rendered him "worthless overnight" as its spokesperson, because he cheated on his pregnant wife Ginny. The couple is now history and Barber should hold his head down in shame whenever he steps into the light of day!
14) Maia Campbell Arrested
Beautiful, talented and the product of a privileged family, Maia Campbell (pictured above) somehow took a very wrong turn from an acting career that could have spiraled upwards. She wound up on drugs and everything in her life faded to black. The 33-year-old has seen the inside of a jail cell more than once and if she does not try to get some help pronto, she might just meet a fate that is tragic.
15) Haitian Parents Reunited With Baby Rescued From Rubble
Four days after Haiti's earthquake, infant Jenny was rescued from the rubble and pulled from the arms of a dead woman. The baby was brought to the University of Miami medical center in terrible condition, and doctors did not expect her to survive, even though doctors called her "a miracle." On April 7, Jenny was reunited with her parents, who had believed she was dead. Talk about chills!

16) Old White Man Beats Young Black Man on Bus: Video Storms the Web

An allegedly racist comment by an elderly white man (pictured above) sparked a fight on an Oakland, California bus that spread all over YouTube. The comment involved the 67-year-old man asking a young black man to shine his shoes. There was a great deal of yelling back and forth before the elderly man moved to the front of the bus. The younger man followed him, and before long, a fight broke out, but it didn't quite go as expected. To the surprise of everyone, the older white man landed a flurry of punches that caused numerous injuries to the face of the younger man. The old man has become a legend on YouTube since the incident took place. Everyone is the age of their heart and this senior was about the same age as his young opponent!

 

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taylor swift eminem megan fox rush limbaugh and kathryn rogers hilary duff and mike comrie

2011 Resolution #2: Play Music

In an effort to talk about the power of goal-setting along with some methods of setting and achieving goals, I?m going to discuss my three resolutions for 2011 this week. Another of my 2010 resolutions was to learn to play the piano, which is something I feel is coming along very well. For 2011, I’ve [...]

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Spare Change: Stock-Market Genius Edition

I’m a stock-market genius! On December 1st, I wrote about an idiotic USA Today article, which tried to convince readers that investing on the first day of the month was a sound strategy. “Stock investors looking for a trading pattern that all but guarantees a profit need look no further than the first trading day [...]

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More Things 2011 Should Leave Behind

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Yes, there is more to leave behind in 2011. Hopefully you have checked out yesterday's list and here is the rest!

But first, here are some Honorable Mentions that didn't make the cut, but still need to be left behind as well.

Antoine Dodson
Skinny jeans on Men
All news articles about single black women
Blue tooth devices in your ear
Celebrities in tax trouble
Facebook


Now where did I leave off?

12. Fake A** Disability (FAD)

There is no doubt that there are some people who have disabilities that render them unable to work. HOWEVER, if I meet one more person who is on disability for a "learning disability" or because your back is too bad from that accident "back in 1986," I'm gonna scream. Never mind, since you've been on FAD you've had two kids. You can get arrested on an assault charge for fighting in front of your building, but can't get a job? Somehow you and your ilk feel as though you should be living off the rest of us workers and I am sick of it. Where's your pride? In 2011 please say no to FAD.

13. Law & Order Spin-Offs

It's been like 78 years. Special Victims, Criminal Intent, Los Angeles, United Kingdom. You've had a good run. Just let it go.

14. Obesity

Big and beautiful my a**. At least one person, Michelle Obama, has had the balls to come forward and actually tell the American people to their faces: "You are too fat and so are your dumb kids." Good for her. It is true! Hey everybody, I implore you to take 5 minutes and look at yourself in a three-way mirror. I want you to take full account of what you see. I even challenge you to take a picture of yourself in that mirror with one of your fancy phones. I then want you to ask yourself, "Do you like what you see?" Not, does my man like it, or does my woman like it? But do YOU really like what you see? Or is it actually pretty gross?

It's time we all embraced our health and and decided we want to live long, strong vibrant lives. All this "thick" and "stocky" and "husky" and "big beautiful woman" and "whole lotta man" foolishness was real cute in 2010 but in 2011, its time to decide that we want to toss out destinies tied to diabetes and blood pressure meds and finally proclaim that we want to live better.

If your friends, your man, your woman, your mama, your daddy, your friends won't tell you, I will: Obesity. is. not. hot.

15. Tattoos about the face or neck

What is really the big disconnect here? When did tattoos on your neck and face become hot? And are they REALLY hot on anyone other than a professional athlete, rapper or ex-con? And even in that group, in ten years they will look just as stupid. With that in mind I want to let you know that all of you grown people, who have chosen to get tattoos above your clavicle, look a hot a** ghetto mess.

I'm just saying it because no one really wants to tell you, because unlike clothes or a hair style or even a gold toof in front, you can't change it, and you're stuck, so telling you will really accomplish nothing except making you feel bad. But please know, without any shadow of a doubt, tattoos about the face or neck are the precise reason why your a** cannot get hired. It's not discrimination, it's not the recession, its because you have a DUMB A** PAIR OF LIPS ON YOUR NECK. I wouldn't hire you either. Grow up in 2011.

16. Drug Commercials

It seems that every week, there is some new ailment that I need a new drug for, that I am supposed to ask my doctor about. Nowadays if my mouth is dry, or my legs are restless or my eyelashes aren't full enough, I'm supposed to ask my doctor to give me some drugs. We've become a nation of wusses who treat the side effects of one drug with another drug. Was it really that difficult to get to sleep in 2010 that we needed 5 different sleeping pills? Never mind many of the drugs have side effects worse than the problem they are treating. Are you really willing to withstand side effects like compulsive gambling, suicide, night terrors, or eating raw bacon, just to remove the dark circles under your eyes? Forget the drugs, I have an idea, next time you're sleepy: count sheep, b**ches.


17. 3D-F*cking- Movies

There was a time when a movie being in 3-D was a special event. You were so excited to wear your little red & blue 7-11 paper glasses to a picture show. 3-D was a huge deal and going to see a 3-D movie was a momentous occasion, you never knew when the next 3-D would come out so you made sure you didn't miss this one.

Now I can tell you when the next 3-D movie is coming out: ANY FRIDAY OF 2010.

I mean, good lord. I actually find it hard to recall movies that WEREN'T in 3-D anymore. Don't get me wrong, 3-D is cool but I thought it was intended to be used in films where its novelty and effect would best complement the on-screen content. Like Jason, in Friday the 13th, shooting that friggin' arrow in your eye in Part 3. Now THAT's 3-D. Having some asexual animated creature merely appearing in front of me for shits and giggles, I could do without. Call me when you can put Idris Elba in my lap. Now THAT would be a special feature. But I digress...

And now, 3-D television is around the corner. Soon we'll have Bad Girls fighting, Idol auditions, and Jersey Shore trash getting drunk right in our living rooms. Can't wait.

18. Closeted and Con-men Clergy

First of all, do not hate on my alliteration. What more is there to say? From the Catholic priests having butt-sex with little boys to mega churches allowing their members to be foreclosed upon while the pastor drove Bentleys, it's been a rough year for religion in 2010. Decent people who run decent churches have been eclipsed by the hit parade of creeps, crooks, and crazy men proclaiming to be messengers of God who have proceeded to craft a message, not for the benefit of the congregants, nor for the benefit of God, but for the benefit of himself. The preacher offers to pray for those being foreclosed and in return he'll "pray for you." A growing number of these bastards are leading to the disillusionment of a generation and a community who sees churches as institutions who exploit the very communities that support them.

19. Crazy, Dumb and/or Retarded Political Candidates

Lord knows I love reading up on the fanciful exploits of former senatorial-candidate AKA my future baby daddy (oops!) Alvin Greene. No, it isn't lost on me that Greene isn't the coldest beer in the fridge. And usually, someone like Greene is an anomaly, but this year, he barely even stood out among the groundswell of kooks suddenly deciding to run for office. Greene, O'Donnell, Angle... PLEASE, go back to whatever you were doing in 2009, we can't take you anymore.

I guarantee you, most of these folks weren't thinking about politics, nor could they spell it, before a black man became elected president.


20. Fussing and Fighting

This year we have we have witnessed unprecedented efforts on the part of some that some to create disharmony. In 2011, we must make a decision to work together.

Whether it's in the halls of Congress, your kid's school, your job, your relationship, your family or your neighborhood -- we've all seen the progress we make when we agree to work together.

Not sell out, not give in, but compromise. In a country where we've created a cottage industry of disagreement, if we have learned anything in 2010, it's what can happen if we actually put away our ultimatums and pouty whines and actually work together. We can never get what we want all the time (except maybe if you're Rihanna, Beyonce, or Jay-z).


So... in the interest of creating the best lives we can for ourselves in the best country in the world, I encourage you to work together in the coming year.

I know you hate him or you hate her. I know you should have had that job. I know that guy ripped you off. I know they lied to you and that car was a piece of crap.

But consider what peace of mind is worth to you?

Is it really that bad if your daughter gets home 30 mins later than your custody agreement?

Is it really a capital offense if your woman spoke to her ex as she passed him by at a restaurant last week?

What is peace worth?

That's what we should ask ourselves as a society.

Whether it's a domestic disagreement or world affairs, at the end of the day, we must all ask ourselves how do I want to live? Is being right more important than being happy? Is a political victory worth your integrity? Is winning that argument worth another night of strife? Is your ego worth the adoration of your son or daughter? I don't know about you, but I'll take peace any day.

Why don't we all try for peace in 2011? I have a feeling if we all try for peace, we can't lose.

Happy New Year People.


 

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Emma Roberts' Nobu Night

Looking to satisfy her growling tummy, Emma Roberts was spotted picking up some takeout food in Los Angeles yesterday (December 30).

The ?Hotel for Dogs? actress braved the chilly weather as she hit up Nobu restaurant and looked cute and casual sans makeup.

In career news, Emma?s new movie ?Twelve? was released on DVD in stores this past Tuesday (December 28).

Also starring 50 Cent, Chace Crawford, and Rory Caulkin, ?Twelve? is about a young drug dealer who watches as his high-rolling life is dismantled in the wake of his cousin's murder, which sees his best friend arrested for the crime.

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