This comment is evidence that the internet in its most free and open form should not be restricted.

Lamar Smith Rage is a post from: The Inquisitr

It goes without saying that in an era when everyone is on Facebook and knows how to do screenshots, you should be careful what ugly parts of your personality you reveal in the undoubtedly public space.

But as controversy swirls in one Michigan jurisdiction, another question has arisen after an injudicious Facebook post by a mayor- should an elected office be resigned if it’s found that the person elected to the position holds prejudicial views about a certain group of people? It seems the answer is obvious- how can someone serve a group of constituents if they don’t like black, Latino or gay people? One would think they really can’t. But mayor of Troy, Michigan Janice Daniels is hoping her constituency (which inevitably has some gay residents) will forgive her openly hateful comments on Facebook just a few months ago when gay marriage was legalized in the state of New York. Daniels- who had not yet been elected Mayor of Troy- said something I hope many people reading this post will find shocking and appalling in 2011:

“I think I am going to throw away my ‘I love New York’ carrying bag now that queers can get married there.”

Since the post was uncovered last night by local blog “Keep Troy Strong,” calls for Daniels’ resignation have come from all over the country. But Troy’s mayor thinks that it’s okay to say things like that and still remain in an office where she is expected to serve residents, queer and not queer alike. She hedged:

“I may have said something like that… I probably shouldn’t have used that kind of language, but I do believe marriage should be between one man and one woman.”

Daniels also says she “regrets having said it,” and added:

“I’m hoping because I’m expressing my regret, that people will accept that I’m human… And that’s what I’m asking for is forgiveness.”

While mistakes are understandable, it’s difficult to forgive what appears to be clear animosity toward a group that includes literally millions of tax-paying Americans. It’s not that she used the word “queer,” albeit derisively, but she also indicated ill-will towards the entire State of New York for granting gay couples the same civil rights enjoyed by their straight counterparts. While most scandals that end political careers, minor and major, seem to be down to personal business, there’s no way in the world someone who feels that way should be in a decision-making position. Do you think Daniels should resign her post as mayor?

Janice Daniels, Michigan Mayor, Faces Calls For Resignation After Gaycist Post on Facebook is a post from: The Inquisitr

A recent vodka billboard ad in New York City has been pulled after a flood of complaints were lodged that the ad was anti-semitic.

In the ad the billboard read:

“Christmas Quality, Hanukkah Pricing.”

In their complain the regional director of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) said:

“In a crude and offensive way of trying to make a point that their vodka is high quality and inexpensive, the billboards evoke a Jewish holiday to imply something that is cheap and of lesser value when compared to the higher value of a Christian holiday.”

The ADL goes on to state that the billboard “reinforces anti-Semitic stereotypes.”

In defending the ad the creator (a Jewish man himself) says that it was celebrating the “understated” holiday of Hanukkah. The creator tells CNN:

“As a Jew growing up, the only thing we could say was we had eight nights, and Christmas had only day, so we had eight days for the price of one,” and ”With our brand, our message is you can get more for less, eight nights versus one, and we don’t need to wrap ourselves in fancy packaging.”

Do you buy the ad creators reasoning behind why the ad stated what it did? As a Jewish man he should have realized immediately that the billboard would spark Jewish spending stereotypes.

[Billboard Image via ADL]

Anti-Semitic Vodka Billboard Pulled After Sparking Outrage is a post from: The Inquisitr

The latest patch for Call of Duty: Black Ops seems to have made the game less playable, with many PlayStation 3 owners reporting far more serious connection issues.

In a thread on the game’s official forums, scores of PS3 players have attacked Patch 1.04′s disastrous effect in a whirl of anger and misspellings, accusing it of causing significantly more freezing, disconnections, and lag. A selection of their comments include:

“[The patch] just made the gameplay more worse than it was. Gamefreezes after 5 minutes gameplay. While you dont have gamefreeze you get everygame a connection interrupted. Framerates fails etc. etc.” – Fiko

“I never had matchmaking issues before, now I do. Connection interrupted is happening 3x more often than before. Haven’t had a PS3 freeze or transmission error yet. Managed to complete about 5 games in 2 hours.” – purehatred89

“Been trying to get in a game for over 30 min. WTF is the best they can do. Great game made horrible beyond belief. Im disgusted.” – Johnny_Law

“It is now 5 48 eastern time. I last played a full match before 3:20… thats two hours of waiting in lobbies only to play a game that lasts about 3 kills before freezing up” – octavias

And so on. While the odd positive comment appears in the thread, it’s mostly bile and (justifiable) whining. The Xbox 360 and PC versions of the game seem to be free of such issues.

However, Treyarch community manager Josh Olin insists it is the routers of those complaining that are causing the problems, telling one angry gamer on Twitter, “That means your Router has a strict NAT, causing your lag. It’s not the game.”

To placate matters, he added that Treyarch still wants to hear from Patch 1.04 victims. “We are listening to you,” he stated, “and we’ve been busy working on updates based on feedback from the community. We have already deployed a number of updates, and there will be many more to come.”

This isn’t the first time Black Ops has had problems with its online mode – last month, players of the PC version accused the game of being “unplayable“.

[Black Ops Forum, via Eurogamer]

New patch makes PS3 Call of Duty: Black Ops WORSE is a post from: The Inquisitr

Mall purveyor of teenage dissent Hot Topic has revised their stance on the ‘Rage Guy’/'Race Guy’ t-shirt flap after just a day, opting to keep the shirts in stock after decision-makers at the chain determined that backlash against the sale of the internet-sourced t-shirts was a “hoax.”

Citing KnowYourMeme.com, Hot Topic made this statement on their Facebook page announcing that the shirts won’t be yanked from Hot Topic locations or the chain’s website after all:

After many hours researched and many communities identifying this as a hoax, we’ve made the decision to continue carrying the “Rage Guy” t-shirt. It is NOT racist.

Check out the link below with updated info.

Per KnowYourMeme, the retailer made this statement in between the first announcement and the second:

A little meme update for you all. The whole “race guy” was a hoax. Period. People need to get a life.

We refuse to cave to bad people doing bad things. Any other negative comments on our fans’ posts will be deleted.

Check out this article by geekosystem.com: http://www.geekosystem.com/hot-topic-ends-fffuuuuuuu-shirts/

Comments from other Facebook members on Hot Topic’s wall indicates that they’ve not given up on pressuring the retailer to pull the shirts just yet, but Hot Topic has yet to address the “Rage Guy/Race Guy” shirt issue since yesterday’s final statement on the matter.

Update: Hot Topic changes mind, will continue to sell ‘Rage Guy/Race Guy’ shirts is a post from: The Inquisitr

Say what you want about 4chan, they get shit done.

The internet doesn’t take being stolen from for profit very lightly. As a whole, the reaction towards corporate entities or businesses using their memes, jokes and collective creativity to shill stuff at the mall frosts their balls. So when an enduring meme popular on 4chan, Reddit and funny pictures sites showed up on a t-shirt at Hot Topic, the “rage guy” rage ignited.

You might know him as the FFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUU guy, or if you’re a Redditor, you’ll recognize him from the r/fffffffuuuuuuuuuuuu subreddit. The meme is broad and depicts a stick figure enduring any number of life’s hassles (or triumphs), generally a four-square comic ending in “FFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUU” or “F*ck yea” or “Everything went better than expected.” There are also rage girls (distinguishable by bangs and a hair bow), and approximately twenty-kajillion incarnations of the comic are posted daily around the interwebs.

Amusingly, 4chan used one of their baser defining characteristics to get Rage Guy t-shirts yanked from Hot Topic in record time. Via Reddit is a call sent out to anons to briefly change Rage Guy to “Race Guy.” The plan was to circulate the new racially offensive versions of the meme, including to news organizations who would be all over Hot Topic selling racist t-shirts like a fat kid on cake.

It worked. Hot Topic posted this message on their Facebook page announcing the nearly-immediate discontinuation of the Rage Guy shirt from their stores and removal from their website:

Rage Guy is the character Hot Topic sells, see the original post from 1 year ago. The character focuses on interesting situations, check out the image gallery.

Race Guy is the newest iteration posted this afternoon, today (the character everyone is talking about).

Who created Race Guy? We don’t know. Who created Rage Guy? We don’t know. We sold the shirt because it is pop culture and the series was funny. Why not let our customers express they’re interest in meme’s? So now what? Well, Hot Topic is the last company to support racism. Hell, we support diversity and wear it proudly. Now that the character represents racism because of these unknown creators – we will no longer be selling it.

After tonight (11/17), it will be removed from our website. Next week, it will be removed from our stores.

4chan cows Hot Topic into pulling ‘Rage Guy’ shirt in record time is a post from: The Inquisitr

When questioned about Reddit’s role in the inception of what would become the “Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear,” Jon Stewart may have understated the role of the internet a bit.

Reddit founder Alexis Ohanian questioned as to Stewart to what degree internet enthusiasm inspired the rally, to which Stewart answered that it “didn’t hurt.” (Ouch.) Colbert also downplayed the importance of Reddit (where it appears the idea originated) when asked, saying that the internet “didn’t affect” rally attendance one way or the other. (Of course, upwards of 10,000 New Yorkers were bussed to the National Mall on blog-sourced buses, but…)

Today, Drew Curtis of Fark posted an angry open letter ripping into The Daily Show not only for not giving credit where credit is due in regards to the rally, but also for mining Fark and Reddit for comedy topics without ever once mentioning either site on the show. Curtis begins:

Did you hear that Reddit? All that work you put into getting the word out, organizing meetups, and convincing people to go “didn’t hurt”. All that initial support in getting the ball rolling on this rally a few months back was great, but it wasn’t a factor. Thanks for your meaningless and futile support that Comedy Central really didn’t need at the end of the day to get a surprise crowd of 250,000 people to the rally. Did you hear that Internet? You had no role in this either, it was all Comedy Central all the way.

After accusing the network of not really admitting the idea for the rally belonged to the internet, Curtis goes on to accuse Comedy Central writers of snatching yo’ memes up:

Why am I so bent about this? First and foremost, because a friend of mine got smacked down on live TV by a guy he helped, and I can’t stand by and do nothing about it without at least saying something. But also because Daily Show writers have been doing essentially the same thing to me, every single day for the past 10 years. They use Fark every day to source material, and haven’t mentioned Fark on air even one single time. It’s the same attitude toward Reddit: “sure doesn’t hurt, but not a significant contribution.” Thanks to Fark, your writers don’t have to go far to fill your shows up with material for you to use. Every writer I’ve met thanks me vociferously for Fark and tells me how much easier it makes their jobs. Sure that’s not worth a daily mention, but I would think at least one in the last 10 years. It has yet to happen. I’ve learned to live with it, but Alexis is my friend and he does not deserve this kind of treatment. Especially considering the effort Reddit put into promoting the rally.

Curtis ends his letter by suggesting to Comedy Central that if they continue to leech off the internet, the unwashed blogging masses could turn against them for their next initiative. He also says flat out that Comedy Central did do the bulk of the work in promoting the rally, just that the internet also played an invaluable role in making it what it ultimately became. (Attendance is believed to have been in the hundreds of thousands.)

Do you think Stewart and Colbert’s comments were ungrateful and out of line? Does Reddit deserve more credit for the success of the rally?

/oblig

Drew Curtis smacks down ‘Daily Show’ for stealing from Fark, Reddit is a post from: The Inquisitr

Constance McMillen, the girl from Mississippi who was banned from her prom for planning to bring a same-sex date, then later “allowed” to go only to be redirected to a fake event while almost all the other students partied at a secret undisclosed location, was awarded a settlement after the ACLU sued the Itawamba school district on her behalf.

While the school agreed as part of the settlement to “follow a nondiscrimination policy,” the district contends that it has been in place all along despite the nationwide attention drawn to the whole “no lesbians at the prom” flap:

McMillen’s lawyers filed notice Monday in U.S. District Court to accept a judgment offer from school district that will pay $35,000, plus attorney’s fees. As part of the agreement, the district also said it would follow a policy not to discriminate based on sexual orientation in any educational or extracurricular activities or allow harassment based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

School officials contend that their agreement to follow the nondiscrimination policy merely reaffirms inclusiveness rules the district already had, said school board attorney Michele Floyd. She said the district’s insurance company will pay McMillen.

McMillen, who eventually sought to finish out her senior year at a school in Jackson, Mississippi, has relocated to Memphis. She says she is attending Southwest Community College, and plans to use the settlement money to pay for her education. Of the incident, McMillen speculated to NPR:

McMillen said she thinks the case resonated with so many people because “prom is a common theme and everyone knows how it feels to want to go to prom. With my story, even if people didn’t agree with being gay, they understood. They figured out how cruel some people can be.”

School who banned lesbian teen from prom ordered to pay $35,000 is a post from: The Inquisitr

As we reported not too long ago, a Mississippi teen was cruelly redirected to a fake prom with only a handful of students in attendance while all her classmates partied nearby- because her peers and their parents were snitty that she’d requested a ticket for a same sex date.

While McMillen’s peers seemed proud of their actions and shamelessly posted pictures of their straight-only prom all over the internet, the openly gay teen took the high road, even going so far as to chastise supporters for lambasting her classmates on Facebook. Ellen DeGeneres invited McMillen to be on Ellen, and gave the teen a $30,000 scholarship, but Constance has other supporters, too.

McMillen was named as a Grand Marshal of New York City’s late June pride parade this year, parade organizers Heritage of Pride have announced. McMillen’s lawyer confirmed that the teenager will be attendance for the parade on June 27th in Manhattan. McMillen also plans to attend a “promlike event” on May 1st in San Francisco, so it appears that her classmates in Fulton, Mississippi can indeed suck it.

[NYT]

Constance McMillen, lesbian teen sent to fake prom, named Grand Marshal of NYC pride parade is a post from: The Inquisitr

Rumors that the teenage lesbian from Mississippi who was banned from attending her prom only to be re-directed to a fake prom with a mere five other students in attendance have been confirmed, quite hatefully, by McMillen’s classmates.

A classmate of Constance’s named Lindsay Begley wrote a rather lengthy explanation of why she and her classmates are a bunch of horrid bigots, and if following this story from the outset hasn’t brought back the wretchedness of the highschool hierarchy, Begley’s message certainly will. (And if you’re the type of person who would throw rocks at McMillen and call her names, you can join the Facebook group “Constance, quit yer cryin’.”)

Begley says:

**Open Minded Readers Only**

I am a senior at IAHS, and I’ve known Constance for the last 6 years. Please hear our side of the story before you decide on our fate.
The party we had in Evergreen (the county neighborhood I live in) is 30 mins away from the school. we rented out the community center, hired vendors, decorated, and our parents ran the security/chaperone staff- but it wasn’t prom. Prom was at the country club where constance and 7 other students were. The reason the senior class boycotted the actual prom was not because we hate gays. We wanted a drama-free gathering to celebrate 3 great years and 1 lousy one together, and we wanted to lay low. We also wanted to do it without the main cause of the lousy. What people are failing to realize is that much of the fault of this whole stink lies with Constance, not her mistreatment by the school district, but her crazy-reckless need for attention. It sounds mean and horrible and like we planned it all specifically to embarrass Constance, but we didn’t. We let her have her prom with her girlfriend and her tuxedo and we went to party it up in the “boondocks” not because we wanted her rights violated, but so we could salvage what has turned into a total fiasco. As a whole we didn’t support her decision to throw the district under the bus, or her insinuations that we’re all just a bunch ‘a hicks driving around in beater pick up trucks spitting tobacco and burning crosses. IAHS is one of the top schools in the state and I’m proud of that, and I’m proud that we took a stand and just said you know what? forget it, we have just as much right as you do to have a party for ourselves. So we did, and now we’re getting flack because poor Connie’s ego got a bit of bruising. She’s playing the lesbian card to prove she ALWAYS gets what she wants. This time, we didn’t just let her.

Take it as you will, because I’m sure it sounds like we faked her out, but understand this- the decision NOT to attend prom had nothing to do with the school or with Constance’s sexual preferences; it had everything to do with proving we weren’t going to let her and the ACLU steamroll us into doing what Constance wanted. We flexed the muscle of the majority and we’ll suffer the consequences.

Still don’t see why the en masse actions of McMillen’s classmates were so shameful, bigoted and horrible? The same thing happened to a black girl 45 years ago in Birmingham. Have you been buying the story that these kids and their parents just wanted a “drama free” prom? You can read some of their Facebook comments after the event here. Still okay with it? The blog Global Shift explains how this kind of institutionalized discrimination parallels the “separate but equal” racial struggles of the past:

Of course, this goes beyond helping the football team shove a science nerd in a locker; we’re discussing an active and willful plot to publicly separate and shame McMillen and (presumably) Itawamba’s other socially “undesirables” from fraternizing with the mainstream popular kids. The kind of emotional depravity that could justify for a mob mentality to ruin one girl’s high school prom rivals the Old Culture South’s reliance on separate but equal to avoid racial integration (which, apparently, few of the school district officials and none of the Itawamba parents knew had been overturned 56 years ago byPlessy v. Ferguson).

Below are some screencaps of students gloating after the event. Would that real life were like 1980s teen movies and these creeps were treated to some John Hughes style comeuppance.

Followup: Constance McMillen’s classmates confirm prom ruse, the fact that they’re bigoted is a post from: The Inquisitr

If internet reports are correct, the teen who went to court for the right to attend her prom is Mississippi with a same-sex date was redirected Friday night to a “fake prom” with only five other students in attendance.

While Constance McMillen and a handful of other students attended the “prom,” the balance of the students attended a prom from which McMillen was deliberately directed away from and then deliberately excluded from attending:

The judge declined to force the school district to hold the prom because a parent-sponsored, private prom was being organized — and the understanding was that McMillen and her date were invited to that event. But Hampton says McMillen was never invited and organizers made it very difficult for her to find information on the time and location. That prom was later mysteriously canceled, with the Friday night event at the country club officially replacing it.

McMillen confirms that version of events, and says that the prom she attended was also attended by students with “learning difficulties”:

Two students with learning difficulties were among the seven people at the country club event, McMillen recalls. “They had the time of their lives,” McMillen says. “That’s the one good thing that come out of this, [these kids] didn’t have to worry about people making fun of them [at their prom].”

It’s difficult to imagine that all the other students would be able to keep their yaps shut forevermore about the secret prom, and reports on the Facebook group supporting McMillen’s efforts to attend her prom say that other students uploaded pictures from the “real prom.” If the picture above is accurate and taken on the night of the fake prom, it would appear that more than seven students were in attendance.

While the real, secret prom was likely parent sponsored and private (ruling out ACLU intervention) a commenter on the Advocate’s coverage of the incident who identifies himself as Christopher Bingham has a novel solution for discouraging similar behavior in the future:

We live in the age of the internet. Surely the people who organized the other party have names and if it was country club, or a church that hosted they have names too. The kids that orgnanized the event and thir [sic] parents should be known to the world. As an employer, I know I wouldn’t hire anyone who organized something like that – and the internet is forever. There are surely lots of jobs in the fundie world for this kind of sewage, but not so much in the rest of the world. A future enmployer should see the names of these kids much like what you get when you google “santorum.” the only person who has risked anything is the young woman who sued. The other side should have some consequences for their actions as well.

Constance McMillen, banned from prom for being gay, says district staged “fake prom” is a post from: The Inquisitr

Remember in high school when you goofed off at Field Hockey and Coach Lally made the entire team run for twenty minutes?

This story is kind of like that, but instead of acting like a schmuck, Constance McMillen is gay. And instead of Coach making the team run laps, her lesbianism is the reason the Itawamba Agricultural High School in Fulton, Mississippi is canceling the prom for everyone. The school didn’t come out and say, “well thanks to your gayness, no one can go to the prom,” but they did cite “distractions to the educational process caused by recent events” in a statement about the decision. Because the prom itself is totally educational and not at all distracting.

McMillen reacted in a way any kid would react when their request to bring a date caused the whole prom to be taken away:

“Oh, my God. That’s really messed up because the message they are sending is that if they have to let gay people go to prom that they are not going to have one,” she said. “A bunch of kids at school are really going to hate me for this, so in a way it’s really retaliation.”

Of course, the prom isn’t really canceled, it’s just canceled in a way to exclude the gays:

The school board’s statement canceling the official school prom also included a suggestion that a private group could organize an independent prom instead. Ms. McMillen said that’s their way of getting around the issue.

“If they set it up privately they probably aren’t going to allow gay people to go, and there is nothing that you can do about it,” she said. “I’m going to have to change schools or something.”

What a compromise! The anti-gay folks involved get to be martyrs for political correctness, they don’t miss out on any opportunities to pick on the girl and the prom goes on anyway! Just with no pesky gay people!

Is it wrong to hope that Clinton Kelly, that guy who does weddings after Bridezillas is on and other reality-tv fabulousness experts swoop in and give this kid and all her supporters a better prom than her podunk town ever could have thrown? And that at the door they have a no homophobes policy?

Being a lesbian ruins the prom for everyone is a post from: The Inquisitr

Poor David Kiely- his moment of internet fame came while he inadvertently viewed some racy pics during a financial news segment.

Kiely became the unwitting star of a viral video when an otherwise boring as a coma stocks-type news segment featured the poor dude reading an e-mail with some pics of Miranda Kerr attached. As soon as the man views the images, he turns around and realizes that the ogling has been caught on live TV. The whole of the internet pointed and laughed at the guy after the segment aired on Tuesday in Australia (which is like Monday here or something) but since the video went viral, there have been rumblings of a set up.

In what may be kind of a huge dick move, it’s said that a colleague of Kiely’s sent an email with the pics attached and an addendum to “turn around” or something to that effect- exactly what the video appears to depict. A viral story is what threatens Kiely’s job and possible future prospects- could a viral campaign save him? British site Here is the City is urging readers to e-mail Kiely’s employers and ask them not to sack the fellow for what may have been a very douchey practical joke. They make a concise, straightforward case on the matter, asking readers to email mediaquery@macquarie.com and let the company know “we love David.”

Anyway, we are now officially starting a campaign to get the client investment manager back to work, because:

1. He seems like a nice bloke

2. The pics weren’t hardcore

3. He has suffered enough

4. There’s just too much political correctness in this world anyway

Mainstream news outlets like the BBC and Reuters have picked up on the campaign, so hopefully Kiely won’t be sacked even if he wasn’t the victim of a prank and just wanted to see boobs. (Although some people think you should feel worse for his “female co-workers.” I would like to take this opportunity, as a female, to say that many of us would never wish to deny men the opportunity to view titty pics whenever the chance presents itself. “Never turn down a chance to sleep, have sex, be on TV or look at boobs,” Gore Vidal would have said if he were straight.)

At least one person is benefiting from the sudden attention, though- Google searches for Miranda Kerr were up 100% after the video became popular.

Web rallies to save banker caught out looking at topless pics during news segment is a post from: The Inquisitr

Right wing blogs and Fox News have seized upon the story of Matthew Whalen, a 17-year-old Eagle Scout and honors student from Troy, NY who has accidentally become the poster boy for the idiocy of “zero tolerance” policies in schools and workplaces.

If you’re unfamiliar with a zero tolerance rule (they were just gaining steam when I got out of school, myself) it’s a kind of policy designed to stamp out a particular type of thing, but it really only succeeds in creating situations like these. Young Matthew is a boy scouty, military type, and his chief of police grandfather gave him a survival kit to keep in his car. Containing items like a MRE and a tiny keychain knife, the kit is ostensibly there to be used in case of a remote crash. Like a good Eagle Scout, Matthew kept the kit in his car, locked away, and didn’t waltz around the hallways of his school brandishing it in a black trenchcoat.

No matter. Thanks to zero tolerance policies, this kid- who has never been in trouble and serves in the National Guard- now may see his chances of attending West Point (where he’s wanted to go since first grade) jeopardized. Way to encourage obedience, schools!  In an extra measure of douchebaggery, the school tried to get police involved but there are no laws against always being prepared. The smiling man in the picture above, Lansingburgh Central School District Superintendent George J. Goodwin, reviewed Whalen’s original five day suspension, handed down by an assistant principal. Instead of letting the suspension stand as is or quashing it, Goodwin tacked on an additional fifteen days after reviewing a record of a hearing to decide Whalen’s fate.

Now, instead of attending a whole month of his senior year and preparing for college, Whalen gets just 90 minutes of instruction daily by a tutor. True to the policy of zero thought put into decisions, Goodwin commented with a statement seemingly plucked straight from a corporate speak generator:

“The district also has an established policy of zero tolerance with respect to the possession of weapons of any kind on school property or in school buildings,” said Goodwin. “We believe this policy allows us to fulfill our duty of maintaining the safety of our district’s educational environment for our students, faculty, and community members.”

Lansingburgh Central School District decision perfect argument against zero tolerance policies is a post from: The Inquisitr

Daily Fail Mail writer Jan Moir’s article, originally titled Why there was nothing ‘natural’ about Stephen Gately’s death, has taken over Twitter, spawned a Facebook group and crashed a website that handles press complaints.

The piece, now titled A strange, lonely and troubling death…, has spawned the Twitter hashtag #thedailymailisgay and angry tweets about the article’s implications are coming at the rate of hundreds a minute. Moir’s conclusions are cringe-worthy, embarrassing to read and brings to mind the feeling one gets when an off-color remark is overheard at a party.

The general tone permeating the piece implies that Gately died, essentially, of his gayness. That homosexuality is somehow an inherent moral disease that eats away at a person, making the sudden death of an otherwise apparently healthy 33-year-old man not necessarily shocking. The fact that Gately was found by a man other than his partner (who stayed the night!!!) and that he’d >gasp< smoked cannabis sometime that evening are held up as proof that his death was not only to be expected, but it’s implicit that it was somehow deserved. What does one expect, hosting strange gay men for sleepovers and puffing the magic dragon? Nevermind that the UK as a whole is booze-soaked and marijuana has no recorded fatalities, he was a pot-smoking homo!

Reaction to the piece was quick and painful across the blogosphere. Twitter big shot Stephen Fry opined, “I gather a repulsive nobody writing in a paper no one of any decency would be seen dead with has written something loathesome and inhumane. . . .” and Brit news parody site satirized Moir’s angle with a similar hateful dismissal of her career:

One Mail reader told us, “All she did was speak the truth about Stephen Gately’s unusual death, because every Daily Mail reader knows that the gays can only die if you drive a wooden stake through their heart.”

“His death is very suspicious, maybe someone should think about interviewing all the immigrants, eh?”

Should you doubt Moir’s homophobia or want to give the woman the benefit of the doubt, pay close attention to this portion. While Moir’s implications are hateful and hurtful, she wraps it all up in a discriminatory bow at the end. Overlooking the much more plentiful instances of straight on straight violence, Moir doesn’t pass up the opportunity to cast aspersions on the many happy gay couples both in the UK and abroad:

Another real sadness about Gately’s death is that it strikes another blow to the happy-ever-after myth of civil partnerships.

Gay activists are always calling for tolerance and understanding about same-sex relationships, arguing that they are just the same as heterosexual marriages. Not everyone, they say, is like George Michael.

Of course, in many cases this may be true. Yet the recent death of Kevin McGee, the former husband of Little Britain star Matt Lucas, and now the dubious events of Gately’s last night raise troubling questions about what happened.

Daily Mail article on Gately’s death sparks social media outrage is a post from: The Inquisitr

YouTube user Rockerchic4God, also known as Arlene from True Blood Ann Minch, couldn’t get any Bank of America employees pay attention to her when she had problems with her account.

So she turned to YouTube. After being laid off, Ann had her interest rate jacked up from 12.99% to 30%. Bank of America refused to negotiate the rate that she said would have been more reasonable if offered from a loan shark. Accusing the bank of “raping and pillaging” American public and destroying the middle class, Minch calls for a debtor’s revolt. Ann gives the CEO of Bank of America two choices: restore her interest rate or make her a payoff offer she can’t refuse.

The strategy worked. The video, now at nearly 350K views, got the attention of Bank of America’s senior VP of “existing credit card accounts”- as well as media outlets like Fox and Friends. The man, Jeff Crawford, allowed her to say her piece and allowed her to “negotiate some sort of agreement.” Crawford said that he blamed the high interest rates on two late payments, although one was in response to the rate hike. He tried to get her to agree to 16.99%, but Minch angrily pointed out that the Fed is giving the banks a 0% interest rate, so 12.99% is more than enough for her to be paying.

Minch reports that as of the second video, her interest rate is showing online as 23.99%. She also notes that Crawford didn’t even request that she stop her media assault. Minch says in her follow-up video that she will continue in her efforts, starting a website called Debtor’s Revolt to help people who are currently being overburdened by skyrocketing interest rates.

Watch Ann’s videos, below:

YouTube user gets B of A to respond with calls for “debtor’s revolt” is a post from: The Inquisitr

A new, free-to-play online game is causing ripples of outrage across the internets, thanks to its depiction of the homeless.

The French-developed Clodogame (literal translation: Trampgame) tasks players with becoming “king of the streets,” with the eventual goal being to move in to the Palace of Versailles. Players start as a penniless tramp, and must attack other homeless people, pickpocket, and steal from sweet machines, public toilets and laundrettes to reach their goal. Users can choose a pet or learn to play an instrument to maximize their success at begging, all while keeping an eye on their alcohol intake. Yeah, it’s pretty tasteful.

While I’m usually against censorship, I’ve got to say this seems pretty damn crass. I’m all for parody and satire if there’s a genuine, well-considered message behind the mocking, but this seems like controversy for controversy’s sake.

That said, I’ll admit that I’ve yet to try Clodogame out myself, so I’ll reserve my final verdict for now. Maybe I’ve finally become a humorless old grump. Jim “I hate political correctness” Sterling at Destructoid would probably suggest so – he sticks up for the game in this post, remarking:

“The game sounds pretty damn brilliant, and I wish there was an English version. Of course, some people take the Internet too seriously [...]“

Hm. Meanwhile, Red Cross spokesman Jean-François Riffaud has commented:

It’s a disgrace, it’s degrading, it’s humiliating to make the homeless the butt of derision. The image portrayed is exactly the one against which we’ve been trying to fight.

I’m with Jean-François on this one, at least for the time being. If I play Clodogame and find it to be a cutting, multi-faceted piece of social satire, I may change my mind on that. Right now, the game’s exploitation of highly vulnerable people for entertainment’s sake just reminds me of Bumfights. Okay, stepping down from my soapbox now …

[Clodogame, via GamePolitics]

New online ‘tramp game’ sparks outrage is a post from: The Inquisitr

A British father was shocked to find a kind of “lemon party” on his kids’ candy wrappers.

The Haribo Maoam sweets seem to feature some cartoon fruits in some compromising positions. Simon Simpkins, the outraged daddy in question, described the realization in an adorably understated British way:

‘The lemon and lime are locked in what appears to be a carnal encounter.

‘The lime, whom I assume to be the gentleman in this coupling, has a particularly lurid expression on his face.’

Of course, had the controversy occurred in the states, someone would have pointed out that with all that stubble, that lemon is clearly also a dude. Not only are these candies promoting citrus-sex to our children, but homosexual citrus-sex. This is serious business.

Personally, I think the cherry lime wrapper is much more depraved. Not only does it obviously depict a threesome, but Mr. Lime is drooling and the second cherry appears to be licking his foot. I won’t even speculate on what the lime is doing to the cherry with its tongue. I’d like to take this opportunity to posit that this is what happens when socialism gets into the candy. You have been officially warned.

[Source: Daily Mail]

Haribo Maoam candies cause British uproar is a post from: The Inquisitr

Were you getting excited about the new episodes of Futurama we’re finally getting?

Not so fast. 20th Century Fox thinks all the fangirls and fanboys can interface with their asses by biting them and they’re looking to recast pretty damn much every single voice actor on the show. In a statement, 20th Century Fox said:

“We love the Futurama voice performers and absolutely wanted to use them, but unfortunately, we could not meet their salary demands. While replacing these talented actors will be difficult, the show must go on. We are confident that we will find terrific new performers to give voice to Matt and David’s brilliantly subversive characters.”

The call sheet that’s been spreading across the internet seeks to replace John DiMaggio, Phil LaMarr, Katy Segal and Maurice LaMarche, meaning that among other characters Fry, Leela and Bender will all be newly voiced. DO NOT WANT, 20th Century Fox.

This move seems especially poor considering it was fan geekdom alone that resurrected the show in the first place. The kind of people who watch Futurama are the kind that will not take new voices well and dude, it’s risky enough to resurrect a show that’s so loved and so long off the air. Is it just me, or is this like if they brought back Family Guy without Seth McFarlane? I mean, in fairness, the resurrection of Family Guy went pretty well. This, this does not look good. Let’s hope it’s just some form of Hollywood hardball and fans are the hostages.

Anyway, read it and weep, honey. Full text of the casting call, below. And if you’re reading this, 20th Century Fox, you may bite my glorious golden ass.

Thursday, Jul. 16, 2009, 5:54 PM Pacific

FUTURAMA
Voice Over
Episodic
1/2 hour animated comedy for Twentieth Century Fox Television
SAG

Creators Matt Groening and David X. Cohen
Casting Director: Scott Muller
Shoot/Start Date: August
Pay Rate: TBD
Location: Los Angeles

SUBMIT ELECTRONICALLY
OR
FOR SUBMISSION OF AUDIO ONLY (MP3S ON CD PLEASE) KING OF THE HILL
ATTN: SCOTT MULLER
15821 VENTURA BLVD.
ENCINO, CA
91436

VOICE AUDITIONS MAY BE SENT IN THE FOLLOWING WAYS:

1. MP3 AUDIO AUDITIONS ONLINE IN WHATEVER MEANS IS CONVENIENT FOR YOU.

2. MP3 AUDIO AUDITIONS ON CD.

3.EMAILED AS ATTACHMENTS TO: FUTURAMA@SCOTTMULLERCASTING.COM (NOTE: PLEASE USE THIS METHOD SPARINGLY, ATTACHMENTS NOT TO EXCEED 5 MB) AUDITIONS SHOULD BE SENT ASAP AS WE WILL BE MOVING QUICKLY. PRODUCER SESSIONS WILL BE HELD AT A DATE TBD.

We are starting casting immediately for Futurama, a half-hour animated comedy created by Matt Groening and David X. Cohen. Descriptions of these established characters follow, along with links to clips of previous episodes for reference.

SERIES REGULAR ROLES:

[ PHILIP J. FRY (FRY) ]
Fry, a 20th century slacker, works as a pizza delivery boy. On December 21st, 1999, he is cryogenically frozen and wakes up 1000 years in the future in the city of New New York. Through a series of events, Fry tracks down his great (x30) nephew Professor Hubert Farnsworth and lands a job at the Professors Planet Express delivery company as a delivery boy. Fry bunks with Planet Expresss beer-swilling robot, Bender. Fry is constantly trying to win the heart of Leela, the companys ship captain…SERIES REGULAR

http://www.comedycentral.com/videos/index.jhtml?videoId=164702&title=flashback-freeze (Episode 5ACV03)

[ TURANGA LEELA (LEELA) ]
Leela, a sexy Cyclops, is the captain of the Planet Express delivery ship. Leela is in charge of every company mission, having her hands full keeping Fry and Bender in line. Her early years were spent in an orphanage where she was a bit of an outcast for having one eye. She took up kickboxing and other similar sports to make up for the lack of friends. She still has problems with men and often gets jealous of Amys (her co-worker) popularity among the opposite sex. She has a soft spot for Fry but is unsure of anything further than that, due to Frys clumsy advances…SERIES REGULAR

http://www.comedycentral.com/videos/index.jhtml?videoId=162824&title=leelas-timeline (Episode 4ACV02)

[ BENDER BENDING RODRIQUEZ (BENDER) ]
Bender, a cigar-smoking, booze-guzzling, kleptomaniac robot, had a successful career in bending girders but tired to kill himself when he found out the girders were being used for suicide booths. He was saved by Fry and later took a job at Planet Express. To be able to function properly, Bender needs the chemical energy from alcohol. Excessive drinking is mandatory or he will become sober and unable to control his body. Magnets stuck to his head make him sing like a folk singer…SERIES REGULAR

http://www.comedycentral.com/videos/index.jhtml?videoId=188899&title=bender-the-drone (Episode 5ACV05)

[ PROFESSOR HUBERT FARNSWORTH (PROFESSOR) ]
Professor Hubert Farnsworth is the owner of the Planet Express delivery company, which he uses to fund his strange scientific experiments. He also lectures at Mars University on the mathematics of quantum neutrino fields (he made up the name so no one would dare take the course). He is technically 160 years old, but to avoid being picked up by the sunset squad and taken to the near death star he says he is only 150…SERIES REGULAR

http://www.comedycentral.com/videos/index.jhtml?videoId=217636&title=back-in-action (Episode 5ACV01)

[ DR. JOHN ZOIDBERG (ZOIDBERG) ]
Dr. Zoidberg, a lobster-like alien, left his home planet of Decapod 10 to become a rich doctor but instead became the Planet Express staff doctor (doesnt pay so well). Zoidberg, who is usually shunned by the rest of the Planet Express crew, is always in search of his next meal. His skill as a surgeon, and basic knowledge of human anatomy, are often called into question. He secretly desires to become a stand-up comedian…SERIES REGULAR

http://www.comedycentral.com/videos/index.jhtml?videoId=147743&title=love-lessons (Episode 2ACV05)

FUTURAMA RECURRING ROLES:

[ MOM ]
Mom is the very old, very rich, very ruthless founder of Moms Friendly Robot Company. She has three sons: Walt, Larry, and Igner, who work for the company and help Mom do her dirty work. Many years ago, Farnsworth worked for Moms Friendly Robot Company, and they had a fling, which ended when Mom kept turning Farnsworths cute inventions into mad, killing machines…RECURRING

http://www.comedycentral.com/videos/index.jhtml?videoId=147736&title=mothers-day (Episode 2ACV14)

[ ZAPP BRANNIGAN ]
Zapp Brannigan is a 25-star General of the Democratic Order of Planets and has been responsible for several successful wars including a triumph over the pacifists of the Ghandi Nebula. He is always accompanies on mission by his hapless assistant Kif Kroker. Behind all his bravado he is a wimp who is not very intelligent. He once slept with Leela, a fact hat he constantly reminds her of…RECURRING

http://www.hulu.com/watch/60311/futurama-zapp-in-the-shower (Episode 2ACV17)

[ KIF KROKER (KIF) ]
Kif Kroker is a hard working, long suffering alien Lieutenant of the DOOP who does all the hard work and takes the rap for problems usually caused by Zapp Brannigan (his superior officer). Zapp considers Kif to be his most loyal friend however, Kif in fact views Zapp as an imbecile. He is smitten with his current girlfriend Amy. He has no bones and is supported by a system of inflated bladders…RECURRING

http://www.hulu.com/watch/4471/futurama-kif-is-pregnant (Episode 4ACV01)

Good news everyone! They’re trying to ruin Futurama. is a post from: The Inquisitr