Murder via Craigslist

Craiglist was a relatively unfamiliar concept to many people until a few years ago. How can we tell that the phenomenon has been integrated into mainstream American society? It has been exploited for murder and robbery.

In June 2007 Christian Morton responded to an ad for a car in Dallas, TX. The "sellers" Kendrick Demus and George Carter had posted the ad and planned to rob responders to get the $2000 asking price. In Morton's case, after the thieves demanded money, he was shot and killed.

In a more publicized"craigslist" murder, Katherine Ann Olson replied to an ad for a babysitting job. Police later found her bound and shot to death in the trunk of a car a few blocks from the home of Michael John Anderson, who posted the ad.

So does this foretell the beginning of the end of what started out as a positive website with so much potential?

The sad part is craiglist has a European equivalent that is even more widespread - most popular in London - called Gumtree. Gumtree.com is exactly like Craigslist in that it has parallel sites for different cities, has posting areas for jobs, items for sale, personal ads, etc. But Gumtree, even though it used in London - one of the most diverse cities in the world, and a city with a high crime rate - was never exploited the way craiglist has been exploited by Americans.

Sadly, craiglist may never enjoy the success that gumtree has in Europe. The reason is simply that Americans cannot be trusted to not kill each other.

Sexting: A Teen Felony?

Sexting: Sending a text message that contains a naked picture of yourself.

Sooooo many questions! If you sext someone, can you still wear your chastity/purity ring? If you send it to someone besides your boyfriend is it cheating? What if he sends it to someone else - is that a threesome? I jest. But not really.

In fact, what has surfaced as the pertinent question in this situation is "Is it child pornography?"

According to Slate.com:

"Last month, three girls (ages 14 or 15) in Greensburg, Pa., were charged with disseminating child pornography for sexting their boyfriends. The boys who received the images were charged with possession. A teenager in Indiana faces felony obscenity charges for sending a picture of his genitals to female classmates. A 15-year-old girl in Ohio and a 14-year-old girl in Michigan were charged with felonies for sending along nude images of themselves to classmates. Some of these teens have pleaded guilty to lesser charges; others have not. If convicted, these young people may have to register as sex offenders, in some cases for a decade or two. Similar charges have been filed in cases in Alabama, Connecticut, Florida, New Jersey, New York, Texas, Utah, and Wisconsin."

WOW.

So this is in no way considered an innocent mistake - these kids have literally turned their lives upside down and they will pay for the consequences of their teenage stupidity for years.

Now in a case where these images are abused (shown against the sender's consent; used for bullying, etc) then it is understandeable that the offending party should be have repercussions. But police officers are saying the kids who choose to send the pictures of themselves should be prosecuted to show them the severity of distributing what, to many, is considered distributing child pornography.

Some say this is a new trend in child pornography. Others see it as teen folly, to be cringed at one day in a retirement home cafeteria. But at the end of the day, who is hurt in all this? Who suffers? The kids. No one yet knows how difficult it will be for them to find a job while registered on the sex offender's list. They certainly can never work in a school or a daycare. And they will be charged with child porn felonies, so for the rest of their lives they will have to tick that box on job applications. In an effort to protect kids from predators, the law has somehow turned on them and caused severe repercussions to 14- and 15-year olds whose biggest concern in life is getting asked to prom.

The debate amounts to two questions: Can you be the child and the predator? And if you can, if you prosecute the predator, are you still protecting the child?

My question is since when did freedom of speech only apply when you turn 18? These children are American and allowed, by law, to express themselves. That alone should rule out their prosecution on felony charges. That said, there SHOULD be consequences. They should be put in counseling, suspended from school and have their phones confiscated and thier parents called to comply with this rule. They most likely did not know they were being child pornographers. EDUCATE THEM. The whole world is still dealing with massive changes in the way we live our lives with the introduction of popular new technology. These issues didn't exist when school policy was written - they didn't exist until camera phones were created about 4 years ago.

Anya Hindmarch for Target

I love Anya Hindmarch and have been searching for a bag from her for months. I almost bought a white hobo bag (reminiscent of the indescribably gorgeous Gucci Indy bag) and in my search for her Summer line, I came across "Anya Hindmarch for Target" What what??

It turns out she has designed a few handbags for giant (lower-end but lovable) US retail store, Target. After looking into it, I found out Target has a little-known "label" called GO International. Ladies who love designer names are probably familiar with the line. Every season they have a few pieces by high-end designers at Target prices. An AH bag usually costs about $395; at Target one of her bags is selling for $49.99. Fundamental difference: Anya Hindmarch bags have "Anya Hindmarch" stamped in the buckle or front design; on the Target bags, "AH for Target" or "Anya Hindmarch for Target" is stamped.

I was awestruck, but obviously skeptical. The bags follow Anya Hindmarch's design ideas, but use lower quality materials. I will go check them out in-store but am not getting my hopes up. After all, the best parts about designer bags are the thick, soft leather and the solid detailed trinkets.

BUT the deflated economy will probably see a lot of people joining me in the line at Target for lower-end high-end items. GO International, started in 2007, is probably just realizing the potential of their label.

Frost/Nixon - A Must-See for Every Journalist

Frost/Nixon is an excellent movie whose story is not lost on anyone who has ever done an interview for broadcast. It follows the dream of a journalist who was hungry for recognition and ratings, who put his career and personal prosperity in jeopardy to score an interview with Nixon after he resigned. And not just any interview, a no-holds-barred interview costing Frost $2m. The twist is that the $2m came out of his own pocket, not backed by any network and Frost was a British journalist with experience in Australia, nothing related to American politics. No one believed he would be able to get a decent soundbite from a political figure as versed in semantics and as slippery as Nixon.

Of course, if you know anything about history or journalism then you know how the story ends. It is an amazing triumph for a man who no one believed in, and to be fair, at one point I almost wasn't sure how the story would end :).

One thing to note is that the movie does dramatize the situation Frost was in by a lot. It portrayed him as a big-time talk show host with little-time experience, when, in fact, he had done numerous hard-hitting interviews. I have to wonder how Frost, who now has his own show on Al-Jazeera English: Frost Over the World, feels about it.

But as the movie is made, it is still inspiring to any journalist. It makes us proud to do the research, put in the time, study the techniques, and eventually emerge triumphant with the golden soundbite. The "I may have made mistakes" statements that mean so much. I recommend all my journalist friends go see it (among others) and I, myself, would like to see it again. But I don't want to give away too much here...

SUPERBOWL SPOILER ALERT: The Steelers won the Superbowl today!!!!!!!!!!! It was a nail-biting, edge-of-your-seat-then-crawling-toward-the-TV game that went down to the last 5 seconds. They won their 6th Lombardi trophy, and their coach is the youngest to ever make it to the Superbowl, let alone win it. It was such a great game and there were moments when I thought they were going to lose it. ALTHOUGH, part of me can't help but notice that President Obama predicted the Steelers would win...and he seems to have an eerily magical touch...

Blagojevich aka Nixon

Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich was impeached and found guilty of trying to sell the senatorial seat vacated by Barack Obama. I'm sure you've heard about it - he made SURE of it. In fact, he skipped the first day of his trial to go on a media blitz in New York, starting with the ladies on The View!! *Best Moment*: when Joy asked him to do a Nixon impression and say "I am NOT A CROOK!" and he totally refused. Smart man! That sound bite would have been played over and over and over right now. The similarities between Nixon and Blago can't be denied. The speech in this clip could almost be used word-for-word by Blago...

He made a great effort to avoid the impeachment trial, raising hell over the fact that he was not given his 6th amendment rights and he couldn't bring witnesses to testify to his innocence and it was all a conspiracy because real corrupt politicians in Illinois didn't like all the "wonderful" work he was doing for the people. Right. BUT at the end of the day, if you read the 6th amendment, it says "In all criminal cases" which means NOT in impeachment trials. His was a case of the legislature deciding whether he was still the best person to take care of Illinois, not whether he was going to jail - so the 6th amendment doesn't apply here.

He was given an undetermined amount of time to defend himself and NOT ONCE did he deny the charges of corruption or deny that he was trying to gain financially from the available senate seat. He did not provide affidavits from the supposed witnesses he wanted to call. Instead he spent almost AN HOUR talking about his immigrant parents, his children thinking he was corrupt, the great work he has done, detailing EVERYTHING HE HAS DONE (aka his JOB). I wish I knew how to play the violin so I could play along to the tune...

He will go down in history and when corrupt politicians have no defense but insist on their innocence, it will forever be known as Pulling a Blagojevich. So now Illinois is Governor-less (to my knowledge) and if his eventual appointee, Roland Burris (who I met and questioned on his policies toward Arabs, and who I consequently dislike immensely) is not honored as senator, Illinois is also Senator-less (aside from Durbin). I can't wait to be back in Chicago next week!

Fab Five: Texas Cheerleading Scandal

The trademark phrase of American optimism is "Only in America!" Well this is well and truly an example of American elitism. 5 "Mean Girls"-type cheerleaders in Texas, near Dallas ran McKinney North High School. It helped that one of the girls was the principal's daughter. They told teachers to shut up, used offensive language and hand gestures, they skipped school and were subject only to their own rules while other students were forced to follow school policy.

Why? Because they were cheerleaders and because Linda Theret, the principal who was in charge of a whole school of kids could not even handle her own kid. They say everything is bigger in Texas - like egos and hypocrisy?

The girls went through 5 cheerleading coaches in 3 years. No one wanted to deal with their "Untouchable" personas and massive, unchecked egos. Then the girls took it one step too far with one of their new coaches, Michaela Ward. They ignored her attempts to teach them, they stole her phone and sent explicit messages to her husband and a fellow coach at the school. Mrs. Ward resigned then went straight to the media to inform the public about the school. An investigation was made into the principals conduct allowing the girls to run rampant in the school and giving them preferential treatment.

It was during the resulting school district investigation that pictures came out of the girls on MySpace, all minors, in a store holding explicitly shaped candles and one of them in a compromising position with the candle. There was also a photo of the girls drinking under age. All of them were given 15-day suspensions from school. Now here is where it is interesting.

Even though it was understood that the girls were bullies and were running the school, they were allowed to stay. Principal Theret was offered a deal to resign: $75,000 and a glowing recommendation. Now, really, does that seem fair? Would you want this woman in charge of your school? She can't control one 16-yr old girl, let alone a whole school. And how are those hiring at other schools supposed to know about her past failure when she has a letter saying she did a great job???? She should not be allowed to work in the school system and she should have DCFS monitoring her daughter and her other children. Way to go Texas...

Slumdog Millionaire

Slumdog Millionaire

I watched this movie today in theaters. At points it is sickening and it makes you want to turn your face away. The things people have to do for the "privilege" to live when so many of us take this as a given is shocking. It did portray India as a third-world country with intense human rights violations, like many Indian critics complained - although there was one scene that showed the development of the slum area the boys grew up in to be a newly built business center. Rife with corruption and a complete lack of value for human life, it will undoubtedly wedge a seed of mistrust in Americans regarding the region. Americans will think of the slums whenever they see or hear about India.

I have to say, it is a heart-warming story that makes you smile and really think for days afterward. I am glad I watched it in the theater in America because I knew just about everyone in there was on the same page. When the last question was revealed, the whole theater simultaneously gasped out loud! It was a great moment. But immediately after watching the movie, in the rush for the ladies room, I overheard numerous people say the movie put them off visiting the region. Where people once saw an area of meditation and calm spirituality, they now saw politics, corruption and injustice. It is not fair to say this was an inaccurate portrayal of India because it is not by any means a lie. But it did not delve into the business and commerce side of India. Since it is not a tourism ad, I don't see why it would.

It was shocking and disturbing to many Americans to see the movie and in the beginning a few people got up and left because it was very heavy. Americans do not like to see people struggling with basic life and the horrible, inhuman things these kids had to go through. It still makes my heart ache. And while we all like to think "I should do something about this, I would like to see this change" sadly I think the only change will be a drop in Indian tourism revenue.

But, on the bright side, the movie won 5 Critic's Choice Awards and 4 Golden Globes. Don't let it be said that America did nothing...