Photo courtesy of Brickhead Videos/Flickr

As of recently, Russia has gone on a blocking frenzy this year. So far they have gone after social media sites Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. Facebook and Twitter have been quite complying to the Russian government, but YouTube is putting up a fight. Andrew Kramer’s article describes a few particular links or sites that the Russian government has it out for.

There is a specific YouTube video that the Russians want taken down, but YouTube is adamant about the video being intended for entertainment and should not be restricted. YouTube filed a lawsuit against the Russians over it. The video is harmlessly depicting how to make a face wound out of makeup materials and a razor blade. The Russians somehow think this is a control over child pornography and promotes drug use and suicide. I have not seen this video considering there are various different versions of how to make a fake wound, but if it is anything like the videos that I’ve seen, that is ridiculous. How can a video about making a fake wound be about pornography, promote drug use and/or suicide? I do not understand how the Russians can perceive a video like this into an act of pornography.

I sat down with one of my good friends Christopher Herlihy and talked about his passion for cooking!

Photo courtesy of flickr/Nikolaos Chatzis

Oscar Pistorius the Blade Runner is a double amputee athlete. Before the age of one he had to have both of his legs surgically removed. Oscar did not let this condition put him down and neither did his family. His condition was never an issue in the family considering they went water skiing and other unheard of sports from a person in such a condition. When Oscar grew up he went on to win numerous medals from the Olympics and the Paralympic Games, while setting world records at the same time. This man was an enormous role model for children and adults around the globe. Everyone saw Oscar lead the South Africans in the opening ceremony of the Paralympic Games this past year. He was an inspiration that has sadly been demoted to a criminal.

At dawn on Valentine’s Day he was arrested for shooting his girlfriend dead in their home. This man who overcame such obstacles in life has a very sinister and dark side. According to the police, these violent tendencies have escalated for years. It is heartbreaking to realize that he has gone down in such a horrible manner. There is still an investigation going on surround his girlfriend’s untimely demise. In the mean time the media are pointing the finger at Oscar and whether or not he is found innocent or guilty his name and reputation will forever be tainted with this horrible act. Children, paraplegics and others alike are ashamed of Oscar at these turn of events. I do not believe even if he is found innocent his career or reputation could ever recover. It is always terrible to see a star cut down in the prime of their career.

In this podcast, I went down to the Humane Society of Stillwater and interviewed Candace to see what she had to say about the shelter.

There was an article posted where a father bribed his 14-year-old daughter $200 to  stay off facebook for five months. I have a hard time believing that it would come to that to get his child off facebook. It does not say if she had much of a problem on facebook in the article written by Salvador Rodriquez. Even if your child had that much of a problem on facebook I do not believe that using a bribe would be a good idea. The father’s name is Paul Baier and he posted the following contract on his blog.

(Courtesy of Paul Baier)

Now bribing your child to do things that they should do in the first place is one of the worst things to do as a parent. You are teaching your child that bribery is OK and how you expect her to act, being paid to obey her parents. How is this a good message? Yes, you can still pay your children to do small housework chores, like mowing the lawn, mopping the floor, etc. There is no comparison to the small housework chores and bribing your own spawn. Bribery is terrible, so why are you attempting to teach your child that bribery is OK? Yes, the situation is different from bribing a political candidate, but it is still the same concept you are teaching her. I think this father needs to sit down and reevaluate what he is doing as a father, consider the ramifications of his actions. Yes, it will probably get his daughter off facebook for five months, but she will go right back onto the billion user site immediately afterwards. My question to Paul Baier is this: in the long run, is it worth it?

(Photo courtesy Football Schedule/Flickr)

Colin Kaepernick, age 25, is the starting quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers, who played and lost in the Super Bowl this past Sunday, Feb. 3. Colin replaced Alex Smith in November of last year. He was a huge shock to the team, he is a 6’4″, 230 pound man, the fastest in probably any sport making him “perhaps the most dangerous and unpredictable offensive force in the game.” Originally he wasn’t even supposed to be in football, considering he was drafted to the Cubs and offered numerous Division 1 scholarships in baseball. Since Colin became the starting quarterback for the 49ers, he has become a bit of an icon.

He comes from adopted parents and expresses absolutely no interest in meeting his biological mother and father. Low and behold, the biological mother comes out of hiding and publicly states that she would love to meet her son. I wonder why she decides she would like to see him now? Could it be because of his new-found fame? I see no other reason it isn’t. Even though she desperately wants to meet him, it appears Colin is adamant in his disinterest of his biological mother.

Since starting, Colin has become famous for kissing his bicep with a tattoo saying ‘FAITH’ during football games. The fans started calling this “Kaepernicking” and sharing it on Twitter constantly. Since then, he has decided to trademark this phrase. Since his parents had previously lost two children to heart failure, Colin wanted to help this cause. He called up his parents and wanted their help on which particular charity he should donate money to. They eventually decided that Camp Taylor was the charity they were going to use. Once Colin trademarked his #Kaepernicking phrase, he started selling merchandise with the word. He tied the T-Shirts he was selling right into Camp Taylor, with the charity being the home of Kaepernicking. All the proceeds from the sales of the T-Shirts are going directly towards helping Camp Taylor. Colin still has a long career ahead of him in the NFL, but he sure is making a good start. I can’t wait to see more from him.

Photo courtesy of  Flickr/DJ Flickr

According to society, parents all over the United States, as well as the world, are converting to unconventional ways of raising their children. Instead of the mom staying at home, the dad is taking care of the children while the mom goes to work five days a week. While the media is blowing up the stay-at-home dad, their group only consists of roughly four percent of all at-home partners. The Wall Street Journal says that Mr. Mom is dead, but how is that so? If the dad is staying home, then how is the stereotype of Mr. Mom dead? Dad’s may have been trying to fill the mom’s shoes, but only because it was the courteous thing to do. The parent that would end up staying home full time would be obliged to pitch in with keeping the house clean enough to when the full time working parent doesn’t have to clean up when they come home. But the article says that the dad’s are not necessarily cleaning and giving the child guidance, but letting them figure the world out themselves. This may be OK to do in certain situations, but I sincerely doubt these fathers are not attempting to guide these children like the article says.

When people stereotype women they definitely hate it, but when the man is at home and is doing all the grunt work then those criticisms are harmful to them as well. When people like Betsy Shaw post an article  demoralizing stay at home dads, it is ridiculous. She says these men do not clean the house enough or ever, that they are always playing  dangerously with the child, etc. Her tone portrays that she believes men should not be the primary care giver. Her argument is based on the 50’s version of women. She expects the man to do everything that she would do if she were the stay at home parent. Newsflash honey, all people are different, especially genders. They cannot read minds and do as you wish without setting expected guidelines.

If you have a stay at home parent, expect there to be bumpy roads, you cannot anticipate everything to come. If the father stays at home, then set a couple guidelines that you would appreciate done when coming home. Also, don’t overbear the man too much, because he will turn. That goes for you too boys, cross the mother one too many times, expect a blow out. It is common that the mother would want to spend time with the child, considering she probably feels a bit replaced. The world has the notion that the mother should be home to take care of the child right? Well this isn’t always available, but it doesn’t mean the woman doesn’t hate that she is unable to stay. In turn, it is similar with how men are at least a tiny bit unhappy that they are staying home instead of working. In an ideal world, we would not need jobs and could take care of our children without having to work 60 to 80 hour work weeks. On another note, stop calling them ‘Mr. Mom,’ it’s just rude.

Just last week, on Jan. 18, 2013, Lance Armstrong admitted to doping. Can you believe it? After seven straight Tour de France wins he admits he doped? After fighting it so diligently just a couple of months ago? As soon as he gets his lifetime ban he admits on Oprah that he doped. Then he goes to bash his teammates that testified against him about how they got only a 6 month ban, and he got the death penalty. I find this rather difficult to believe. I think the poor man just gave up and admitted to everything  just so he would not get banned for life. This is not to say that I don’t think he is an arrogant SOB.

Rick Reilly received an email from Lance saying I’m sorry, which did not sound all that sorry to him. And I applaud Rick for chewing Lance Armstrong out publicly. Good for him! It’s all about the lies

So Lance goes onto Oprah and sings it to the world that he doped. He tells the sob story of admitting to his 13-year-old child about doping and cries on television. That was his plan all along, to get sympathy. “Don’t defend me anymore.” I think that about sums up the interview with Lance, don’t defend him. The man gave up, if he is truly innocent like I believe, and he is throwing pity at everyone trying to not get banned from USADA for life. It is disgraceful. Oprah’s Interview with Lance Armstrong

During his interview, he did one stupid joke that probably put everybody off his sympathy vote. “I called you all these things…but I never called you ‘fat.'” Really Lance? Really? I absolutely love how Oprah just stares at you while you are pausing for laughs. But you don’t just end the joke there, you have to REPEAT it to make sure everyone understood it. I give Oprah a standing ovation for just shutting you down and moving on. That was just disgraceful Lance. Lance’s failed fat joke

Lance really is an arrogant man and he deserves that lifetime ban that he is receiving because of his cowardice to fight that he is innocent. If he truly is innocent, which I have always believed but am a bit wary of now, then he really needs a reality check. You cannot go onto national television, with Oprah nonetheless, and say you doped and not look remotely sorrowful for it. It’s ridiculous. Lance, you have disappointed the world, your family, and me.