You know one thing I hate about AOL? The news on both the welcome page and aol.com is sooo outdated. I read about something Monday and find it on AOL on Wednesday, usually under some idiotic link in the form of a question that presumes you're going to be shocked and awed by the news. . . the very OLD news.
Someday soon AOL might get around to breaking the news that Truman beat Dewey.
Anyhow, I knew about the Jamie Lynn Spears pregnancy very early yesterday morning. Spears, the 16 year old sister of Britney and star of a Nickelodeon show "Zoey 101", is more than 12 weeks pregnant.
I have 4 kids, including 3 daughters,so I'm not going to judge too harshly while I knock on wood. Mind you, knowing their parent's sex drive, I've often said the minute they have their period the girls are going on the shot. Heck, I'd put Smiley on the shot if there was a male equivalent.
I don't want any grandbabies out of wedlock.
That being said, mistakes happen. Hard to believe in an age where condoms are cool and 8 dozen different methods of birth control are available, but then again some folks electrocute themselves watching TV in the bathtub.
So no, I'm not going to blast her or her family. And the 'redneck wh*re' comments that follow some news articles are living proof that allowing the public to instantly respond to hard news stories (see CNN.com) is idiotic.
But . . to quote the article:
"It was a shock for both of us, so unexpected," she said. "I was in complete and total shock and so was he."
This isn't The Blue Lagoon. She didn't grow up on a desert island without adults or the media. Presuming she isn't an utter and complete moron she is at least vaguely aware of how babies are made.
So all well and good that you decided to keep the baby even at the cost of your fledgling acting career. I admire your pluck. But don't sell me that crock of sh** explanation.
Let me be both blunt and crass, so anyone with sensitive ears walk away:
Jamie: : You [bleep]ed a guy without a rubber, he left a [bleep] behind and you got pregnant.
If you are going to face the music, might as well admit you helped pick the song.
But seriously, good luck and God bless to her. I hope they wind up happy and well adjusted.
************* ************
While I'm on a roll, let me say I'm disgusted by the current U.S. Cellular commercial.
In it a woman explains that her Dad is illiterate and that she worried about him when she went to college. Thank heavens for U.S. Cellular tho', because the helpful staff at their store is willing to read him his mail whenever he wants.
It's almost beyond words. I want to vomit. I want to boycott them. I want to curse the ad agency who wrote it and the schmucks who signed off on it.
It is 2007. LEARN TO READ YOU BLEEPING BLEEP. And yes, some people fall behind and skate by in school and wind up screwed and illeterate as adults. In fact I know a man my father's age who is illiterate
.Tough s**t.
If it's a matter of pride, what's worse - having your daughter read you your mail or asking a tutor for help? What's worse - admitting you can't read or not being able to follow a menu? What's a better way to spend your time - watching the NFL network or trying to improve yourself?
Spare me.
Barring severe learning problems - no, even with them, although with more empathy - there is no excuse not to learn to read sometime in your life.
And shame on U.S. Cellular for pretending it's OK.
Maybe this civilization is on the way out after all.
Well, the only way she could be shocked is if she was not regular, which could be for some women. They could have used birth control, remember it is only like 98% effective...things do happen. Women do skip sometimes due to stress or eggs not releasing great etc. All kinds of reasons it could actually be.
ReplyDeleteFrom an email from twiilnight:
ReplyDeletereally enjoyable posts....might be too crass on the one for some of your readers lol . .
i really enjoyed the flashback post of our love for xmas cards
and you missed the whole nineteen/sixteen thing w/ the jamie lynn saga...and i think that's the main point.....at least [redacted] someone your own age/maturity level, so the older guy doesn't come off like a complete pervert
You wrote:
ReplyDelete"So no, I'm not going to blast her or her family. And the 'redneck wh*re' comments that follow some news articles are living proof that allowing the public to instantly respond to hard news stories (see CNN.com) is idiotic."
OK... I can see where you are coming from here, but then you make a hypocrite out of yourself in Rant #2!
I have an 18-year-old nephew with an I.Q. of 110 - normal-ish, or normal plus. Yet, his reading level is 2nd Grade, 3rd Grade, TOPS! Why? Lots of reasons, some of which are his fault, MOST of which are not. He has ADHD (Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder). His is a severe case. What's more, he has Tourette's Syndrome, a neurological disorder causing mild to severe uncontrollable vocal or motor tics. AND... he suffers from severe dyslexia (Surely, you've heard the joke, "Have you heard about the agnostic dyslexic who wonders if there really is a doG?").
He was drugged up to the eyes with Ritalin and various other psychotropics. Later, it was discovered that his severe behavior problems - which got him kicked out of school several times - were caused by the drugs. In other words, they did him more harm than help. And his Tourette's tics caused him to suffer even more humiliation and social ostracizing; kids can be very cruel.
We now know that he was grossly overmedicated, and his special education teachers, who supposedly were trained to handle learning disabilities, didn't really know their asses from their elbows.
I fear for his future. He is now making some bad choices, but considering his life experience so far, perfectly understandable ones.
You have sympathy for teens who get pregnant out of THEIR bad judgment, but lack any for people who are illiterate through lack of teaching, bad teaching, neurological problems, or other reasons that aren't their fault.
SHAME ON YOU!
"You have sympathy for teens who get pregnant out of THEIR bad judgment, but lack any for people who are illiterate through lack of teaching, bad teaching, neurological problems, or other reasons that aren't their fault.
ReplyDeleteSHAME ON YOU!"
Let's address this in order, forgetting about the rather childish finale.
a) lack of teaching and bad teaching are shameful but can certainly be addressed, by the non-reader, at some point in his or her life. At the very least a 50 year old man should have the gumption to covertly sign up for a class through a local outreach program.
No one said anything about 'neurological' problems, but on that score - I know plenty of folks with ADD, ADHD, psychological issues, and/or medical problems that can read, hold a job, etc. I think it's a far worse predjuice to limit them because of pre-conceived notions, i.e. "the soft bigotry of low expectations'.
That said, if there is a legitimate medical/mental reason inhibiting the ability to learn, no one expects or judges that person.
BUT . . . I have no patience, understanding, empathy, or respect for a healthy adult who makes no effort to rectify her illiteracy, and I think its a poor society that ignores or condones such people.
At any rate, thanks for the comment.