Weekly wrap up: Facebook, Shirley Sherrod and “Damages”
24 July 2010
Facebook topped 500 million users this past week. Twelve-year-old founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg wants to shoot for the stars and get that number to a billion by the end of next week. Maybe he said next year, I can’t remember. Are you a friend? Will you be mine?
Agricultural Department employee Shirley Sherrod was caught saying some pretty racist stuff at a NAACP banquet and got herself fired. Oh wait. No, no. That’s not right. Actually, she was sharing an enlightened moment about looking beyond race in service to others. Woops. Guess some people shouldn’t jump to conclusions, especially when it’s a conclusion reached by a conservative website and then jumped upon by Fox News. What the hell?! What is wrong with these people? Fox News! Might’ve been a good idea to delve further into the video from which Sherrod’s “racist” comments were taken. Duh.
President Obama signed into law on Wednesday the sweeping financial reform bill. Now begins the search for the right person to head the consumer watchdog agency included within. Harvard law professor and head of the congressional oversight panel for TARP, Elizabeth Warren, appears to be a favorite. Business leaders are wary however. They’re concerned about Warren’s “consumer activism” and “lack of bureaucratic experience”. I’m sorry, but aren’t those the exact qualities we should be looking at for the position?
How come as soon as the news in the Gulf turns encouraging, the story gets bumped off the front page? Honestly. That cap on the well seems to be doing its thing and there were entire days this past week when no additional oil was being spilled into the waters. Officials have even decided to keep the cap in place despite some impending inclement weather. Of course everything leading up to this point has been catastrophic, and the wells being built to stop the leak permanently aren’t finished yet, but doesn’t this news deserve more coverage than being buried on page nine?
Speaking of good news, it looks like Lindsay Lohan will only have to spend about thirteen days in jail instead of ninety. Phew.
Afghanistan is a friggin’ nightmare. Some experts believe the imminent fight for the Taliban stronghold of Kandahar province will be the deciding factor in whether we eventually leave as victors or losers. Any way you look at it, this long war’s cost has been tragic, both in lives lost and money squandered. GOP Senator Richard Luger, of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee said this: “Arguably, we could make progress for decades – on security, on employment, good governance, women’s rights, other goals – expending billions of dollars each year without ever reaching a satisfying conclusion.” He’s right. How awful. Now what?
Major flooding in China appears to have killed close to a thousand people over the last several days. Ten years ago, over four thousand perished after heavy rains. Lu Ning, general secretary of China’s flood prevention agency believes, since the country knows the summer months bring the greatest percentage of their rainfall, they should be able to prevent and prepare for such disasters. Shoulda, woulda, coulda. We learned the hard way with Katrina.
Twitter was atwitter when Sarah Palin made up the word “refudiate” in discussion about a mosque possibly being built near Ground Zero. My question is: what took her so long? Bushie came up with “misunderestimate” shortly after taking office.
The greatest news of the week? DirecTV has reached an agreement to produce not one BUT TWO new seasons of the FX drama “Damages” starring Glenn Close, probably one of the best television shows ever to grace the airwaves. FX dropped the show because of low ratings and therefore low return on their money. I have a DirecTV dish up on my roof and I will never say a bad word about them ever again. “Damages”. It’s back.
There’s quite a political and social conundrum taking place in France as the French consider banning the wearing of the burqa, the head to toe covering of women who practice an extreme form of Islam. Correction. The women don’t “practice” anything. They’re forced to wear the garment by their men, who get overexcited by the sight of even a woman’s ankle. I’ve got broken blood vessels around my ankles. How quaint to think even mine would arouse these men. Anyhow, yes, ban the burqa. Religious freedom, my ass. Who’s free? Of course, prostitution is legal in France, so they may be a little messed up when it comes to what women want for their lives, but still. Ban the burqa.
They’re still pedaling away in the Tour de France, which Alberto Contador of Spain has all but wrapped up for his third Tour victory. The race officially ends tomorrow in Paris. More importantly, the NFL has started training camp and the sights and sounds of my favorite season (football season) will be on full display August 8th in the Hall of Fame game.
Later.
Facebook topped 500 million users this past week. Twelve-year-old founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg wants to shoot for the stars and get that number to a billion by the end of next week. Maybe he said next year, I can’t remember. Are you a friend? Will you be mine?
Agricultural Department employee Shirley Sherrod was caught saying some pretty racist stuff at a NAACP banquet and got herself fired. Oh wait. No, no. That’s not right. Actually, she was sharing an enlightened moment about looking beyond race in service to others. Woops. Guess some people shouldn’t jump to conclusions, especially when it’s a conclusion reached by a conservative website and then jumped upon by Fox News. What the hell?! What is wrong with these people? Fox News! Might’ve been a good idea to delve further into the video from which Sherrod’s “racist” comments were taken. Duh.
President Obama signed into law on Wednesday the sweeping financial reform bill. Now begins the search for the right person to head the consumer watchdog agency included within. Harvard law professor and head of the congressional oversight panel for TARP, Elizabeth Warren, appears to be a favorite. Business leaders are wary however. They’re concerned about Warren’s “consumer activism” and “lack of bureaucratic experience”. I’m sorry, but aren’t those the exact qualities we should be looking at for the position?
How come as soon as the news in the Gulf turns encouraging, the story gets bumped off the front page? Honestly. That cap on the well seems to be doing its thing and there were entire days this past week when no additional oil was being spilled into the waters. Officials have even decided to keep the cap in place despite some impending inclement weather. Of course everything leading up to this point has been catastrophic, and the wells being built to stop the leak permanently aren’t finished yet, but doesn’t this news deserve more coverage than being buried on page nine?
Speaking of good news, it looks like Lindsay Lohan will only have to spend about thirteen days in jail instead of ninety. Phew.
Afghanistan is a friggin’ nightmare. Some experts believe the imminent fight for the Taliban stronghold of Kandahar province will be the deciding factor in whether we eventually leave as victors or losers. Any way you look at it, this long war’s cost has been tragic, both in lives lost and money squandered. GOP Senator Richard Luger, of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee said this: “Arguably, we could make progress for decades – on security, on employment, good governance, women’s rights, other goals – expending billions of dollars each year without ever reaching a satisfying conclusion.” He’s right. How awful. Now what?
Major flooding in China appears to have killed close to a thousand people over the last several days. Ten years ago, over four thousand perished after heavy rains. Lu Ning, general secretary of China’s flood prevention agency believes, since the country knows the summer months bring the greatest percentage of their rainfall, they should be able to prevent and prepare for such disasters. Shoulda, woulda, coulda. We learned the hard way with Katrina.
Twitter was atwitter when Sarah Palin made up the word “refudiate” in discussion about a mosque possibly being built near Ground Zero. My question is: what took her so long? Bushie came up with “misunderestimate” shortly after taking office.
The greatest news of the week? DirecTV has reached an agreement to produce not one BUT TWO new seasons of the FX drama “Damages” starring Glenn Close, probably one of the best television shows ever to grace the airwaves. FX dropped the show because of low ratings and therefore low return on their money. I have a DirecTV dish up on my roof and I will never say a bad word about them ever again. “Damages”. It’s back.
There’s quite a political and social conundrum taking place in France as the French consider banning the wearing of the burqa, the head to toe covering of women who practice an extreme form of Islam. Correction. The women don’t “practice” anything. They’re forced to wear the garment by their men, who get overexcited by the sight of even a woman’s ankle. I’ve got broken blood vessels around my ankles. How quaint to think even mine would arouse these men. Anyhow, yes, ban the burqa. Religious freedom, my ass. Who’s free? Of course, prostitution is legal in France, so they may be a little messed up when it comes to what women want for their lives, but still. Ban the burqa.
They’re still pedaling away in the Tour de France, which Alberto Contador of Spain has all but wrapped up for his third Tour victory. The race officially ends tomorrow in Paris. More importantly, the NFL has started training camp and the sights and sounds of my favorite season (football season) will be on full display August 8th in the Hall of Fame game.
Later.
JoAnn
Recently in the middle of the night, my husband found a suicide note on Facebook, that had just been posted by an old high school acquaintance- my husband reached out to him then and there – and the guy is okay now
what is this world coming to?
Yea Yea Yea Damages.
great post, as always, but my favorite is “(football season) will be on full display August 8th in the Hall of Fame game” Woohoooo….football’s coming back…can’t wait!!