In fifth grade, I vowed to say No to Drugs. More correctly, I was forced to vow to say “No”, or I would not be allowed to walk the stage at fifth grade graduation (which would have been social suicide, of course). So, I did, and my little fifth grade self truly believed that I would never take a shot of tequila, smoke a joint and I was absolutely never going to eat fungus that grows on cow sh!@#t. Ever.

Let’s just say, without giving too much away, that my fifth grade self would probably be a little disappointed in my 21-year old self. Woops!

However, up until this point, whatever drugs I did choose to poison and/or pleasure my body with (depending on how you look at the situation), I always thought I had full control of when/where/how they were getting in my system.

I was wrong.

An Associated Press investigation that spanned a five-month period found that 24 major metropolitan areas have drugs in their drinking water. Yes, the stuff that everyone claims is safe to drink and/or at least okay to use to wash our hands and rinse our mouths with after brushing. Well, it’s also teeming with a large range of prescribed and over-the-counter drugs – from sex hormones in San Fran to over 56 different types of pharmaceuticals and their byproducts in Philly.

Disgusted yet? It gets worse. Read More »

When I first stumbled upon this article, I thought it sounded like a load of crap. Women taking separate busses? Women actually wanting to ride public transportation without men? Really?

Really.

According to the Associated Press and Time, Mexico City recently segregated its busses because of how badly men were treating women on public transportation. Subway platforms were already segregated, but the bus situation continued to bring in complaints.

Mexico’s “ladies-only” buses are characterized by pink signs on the windshield. Now, instead of having to worry about a swift smack on the ass, our sisters can chat, primp, and pay attention to their kids. Before the change, men’s behavior was so bad that one woman reportedly carried a sewing pin to stave off the creeps, and said she has used it twice in one month.

Much to my surprise, women’s only buses are not a new idea. They have been used in several countries, including Brazil, India, and Japan.

So let’s hear it for the women of Mexico City who spoke out to fix this problem. Because honestly, being groped on the way to work is not how anyone should have to start their morning.

• Apparently, the kids are calling it “juking” these days. But back when I was in high school it was just called acting real slutty and awkward. (Chicago Sun-Times)

• Students could learn a lot from this kind of dedication. Minus the dying. (Yahoo News)

• Jack Hanna and a flamingo got stuck in a turnstile. For real. (Associated Press)

• I don’t think South Park or Family Guy would think this comic was all that funny either. (WTNH)

• Cosmopolitan Magazine and its evolution over the past thirty years! Prepare to feel stunned and better looking than the cover model from 1987. (Jezebel)

Surprise!

Kids our age aren’t as downright angry at the world as everyone previously thought! We aren’t totally disaffected and kind of care about the world! AND we REALLY love our microwaves!

I haven’t quite decided if this MTV/AP poll that was just released is dead on about our generation (or the way 13-24 year olds think in general) or total bullshit. They only polled around 1,300 of us, making the margin percentage error about plus or minus 3%.

There are a bunch of different news articles that are using the survey to make a general consensus of what makes us happy… that are parents do and that money does not. But, after reading through the WHOLE thing, this is what I found most interesting:

Drinking makes us very happy, somewhat happy and neither happy nor unhappy…which means, we like to drink! (SURPRISE!)

Sports, sex and religion make us happy! So do our parents!

We are somewhat unhappy with the way things are going in the world. (Finally a generation that gives a somewhat of a shit about the world.)

We’d be happier if we had more money, like hanging out with small groups as opposed to large ones and aren’t really religious but believe in a higher power. We participate in school clubs and activities.

We believe that there are things we can control that contribute to our happiness.

But when asked how happy socializing online makes us, 2% of people gave the answer very unhappy. Uh, isn’t that something we can control? Read More »