Miss America Apparently Not 'Merica Enough

Before I begin this rant, let me say that I am proud to be an American. I truly believe this country has the potential to be a figurehead and an example to societies around the globe.

Now, time to vent...

First, let me introduce you to Nina Davuluri, the 2013 Miss America winner:

Gorgeous right? Nina also has the honor of being the FIRST Indian-American to be crowned Miss America. A great day for racial equality and social progress, right? NOPE! While we as a country should have been sitting back thinking of how much progress we've made socially, more than a few people took to social media to prove that there are plenty of Americans who are about as forward thinking as a brick. 

Here are a few of the THOUSANDS of ignorant things posted on Twitter:

"9/11 was 4 days ago, and she gets Miss America?"

"More like 'Miss Terrorist'."

"Congratulations Al-Qaeda. Our Miss America is one of you."

And one moron even commented that Obama must be happy because "another Arab" won Miss America. I'm not sure what is more embarrassing: the fact that apparently if you're not a fat, stupid, white person you don't look "American enough" or that there are that many people who don't know that India is not in the Middle East or that all Arabs aren't Al-Qaeda.

I never gave a crap about Miss America until now. Now, I'm proud of our new Miss America. Not because she won, but because I HOPE she represents a more open minded future for our country. Otherwise, the ignorant racist morons win and NOBODY wants that.

#Merica

ECU = Embarassed by College Undergrads

In my 13 years of being a Pirate, I can now say I have officially felt EMBARRASSED to admit it.

Saturday was the first game of the 2013-14 ECU football season. Having a season opener at home is always exciting because you get to see the boys start the year at home and don't have to wait the extra week like we do with an away opener. And the Pirates put on quite a show starting the season with a big win against Old Dominion and our QB throwing for 5 TDs with ZERO interceptions!

But the troubles and shame happened before the first pass was thrown...

For years 99.5 The X has been the OFFICIAL tailgate station of the ECU Pirates. We've hosted our tailgate show in various places over the years but the past 4 we've been at the bottom of College Hill Dr. with the Student Pirate Club. We love getting crazy and a little rowdy before a football game too but this week was just shameful.

During our 2 hour broadcast we had one drunk chick grab our lunch off our table without asking then put it back after she got her hands all over it, a drunk guy leave his empty liquor bottles on our table... right in front of us... even though the recycling bin was literally 10 feet away, someone threw drink on the side of our van, and last but not least: a guy had to be carried away on a stretcher.

We've seen the EMT's have to attend to people over the years for heat exhaustion, dehydration, or a few bumps and bruises but never have I seen a full ambulance come in and carry someone out on a stretcher. Not only was he carried out but the poor guy was bleeding profusely from his HEAD! I was told it was from a fight which is even worse than if he fell while drunk. Drunken stupidity is bad enough but when we can't make it through 1 freaking tailgate party without a fight breaking out, that's bad.

I don't know what the solution is without making the tailgate fields so stiff and sober that nobody wants to be there unless the younger generation of Pirates pull their heads out of their collective asses and start to respect others around them.

I know that makes me sound old but honestly, if your first thought after reading that is that I'm old you're probably one of the d-bags I'm embarrassed to share my alma mater with.

Turnabout Is Fair Play

This woman just had her bike stolen.



She looks awful happy about it doesn't she? Well, it's because there's much more to this hilarious story.

Wednesday, she realized her bike had been stolen while she was visiting a friend. She called the cops but before hearing back, someone called her saying they saw it for sale on Craigslist! She called the cops again and informed them but was told they wouldn't be able to look into it till the next day. She knew if the bike was sold she'd never see it again so she took matters into her own hands.

She then contacted the seller/thief herself (who lived 2 blocks from where it was stolen) and said she wanted to BUY the bike. They met up and, after verifying it was hers without telling the guy, she asked for a test ride. He agreed and asked her NOT TO RIDE OFF ON IT! Well, that's exactly what she did.

She STOLE BACK HER STOLEN BIKE! This chick is officially a badass. Thumbs up to you Canadian lady!

Click here to see the original story on Reddit.

The Futurama Is Now!

The future of long distance travel may be closer than we think... if we can afford it.

Elon Musk, the founder of Tesla Motors and general science genius, has released designs for the Hyperloop. It's a train in a tube moved by air pressure. Think of Futurama and the personal transport tubes people zip around the city in or the thing at the bank they use to send money out to people at the drive thru. It's basically a bigger one of those.

This would cut travel time across the US by huge percentages. For example: it could go from LA to San Francisco in 30 minutes, a trip that now takes several hours. It would also cost 1/10th of what a high-speed rail line would cost ($7 billion compared to $70 billion).

The "pods" would hold 28 people and travel at speeds in excess of 750 mph! There is also an alternative design that would allow people to drive their cars into the pods with them. All of this is speculation at this point as no real world testing has been done.

There are costs and challenges ahead but this could revolutionize everything from transporting food and other goods to personal travel.

Click to read the full details on the Hyperloop at Gizmodo.com

False Advertising

Advertising by definition is marketing meant to persuade or manipulate an audience but the things advertisers get away with seems criminal... but it's perfectly legal! Here are FOUR big lies advertising tells us daily:

1. Cell phone coverage is bullcrap. Everybody from Sprint to AT&T shows off big coverage maps that make it SEEM like you'll have cell service coast to coast. Well, the problem is that they measure this by where calls are dropped and where they aren't. Here's the problem, ANYTHING can cause a dropped call from trees and buildings to electrical interference. The companies use that flexibility to ASSUME the problem isn't them and count areas as "covered" that are actually dead zones.

2. Food serving sizes are a giant mystery. Companies are constantly changing sizes of what a serving is as well as the package it comes in and many times it makes no sense. For example, Healthy Choice makes a single serving soup THAT HAS 2 SERVINGS PER CONTAINER! So you either overeat or throw away half of the soup. They aren't the only ones guilty of this, just an example.

3. Not all "health benefits" are real. Lately it seems like 2 of the healthiest things to are bee pollen and acai berries for their magical health benefits. But what are those benefits? Anybody? I'll tell you... NOTHING! Neither one has any real benefit but advertising has convinced us they do. Wrigley tried this with Eclipse Gum saying it made your mouth healthier but they got SUED by competitors because it's actually the extra saliva chewing creates that makes you mouth healthier, not the gum itself.

4. Food that SOUNDS healthy, probably isn't. Instead of pointing out what the food is made of, they point out the ONE bad thing the food doesn't have. Like Krispy Kreme saying their donuts have 0% trans fat. Really? That's the bad kind so they must be good! Well, they still have a gallon of sugar and tons of carbs in them. Delicious, but not healthy.

Basically I'm just saying, don't believe the hype. When a commercial goes off and you suddenly crave what you just saw, they just won. Try to read between the lines and question the "facts" that advertising throws your way.

Original story from Cracked.com

Freedom to Fap

Porn. Even in 2013 it's still somewhat of a social taboo even though a HUGE percentage of Americans watch regularly. It's one of those things that some people have no shame about whatsoever (I watch porn, what of it?) but others hide like a password to their bank account. Well, what if you had to let the government know you watch porn?

England is pushing for new laws that will REQUIRE people to tell their internet provider whether they watch porn. If they say "no", it will block ALL porn from their home. If they say "yes", you'll get full access to the wide world of porn. The logic they are using it that this will crack down on "the corroding influence of pornography on childhood"... which sounds like a good thing.

Really think about that though. They are making ALL citizens basically notify the world whether or not they watch porn. Regardless of whether they have kids. How does my watching porn affect any kid anywhere? IT DOESN'T!!

The other MAJOR problem with this line of thought is the fact that British people are giving their government more access to their private lives rather than cracking down on crappy parents. If a kid is watching porn underage, there is a parent to blame. NOT the internet. NOT the porn industry. NOT porn websites. If parents actually PARENTED and kept tabs on what their kids are doing online it wouldn't be a problem. Hell, most every browser has the option to block adult material or certain websites.

To me this all comes back to one simple opinion: If you're not mature enough to raise your children, STOP HAVING KIDS! If you do insist on having kids and not doing your job as a parent, accept your screwed up offspring as your fault and stop looking for someone or something else to blame.

The Death of News

News is defined as "newly received and noteworthy information." In the past, it was the responsibility of the news media to deliver that "noteworthy information" as honestly, fairly, and reliably as possible. Sadly, the advent of 24-Hour news channels (like CNN or Fox News) credibility has taken a backseat to ratings.

Take for example the crapstorm KTVU in San Francisco has gotten themselves into. While covering the recent crash of an Asiana Airlines plane KTVU asked someone from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) for the names of the pilots. Obviously without verifying any of the names, they reported the pilots names were:

Sum Ting Wong
Wi Tu Lo
Bang Ding Ow
Ho Lee Fuk

If you don't understand the problem, say those names out loud. Go ahead... I'll wait. Yea, somebody who calls themselves a reporter actually believed those were real names! The even sadder part is that they obviously did NOT fact check themselves and put them on the air. Asiana Airlines is now SUING the station for slander and said they insulted not only the company but Asians in general.

I blame the race for ratings. News stations do whatever it takes nowadays to be the FIRST to get the story out, not the BEST. The past 3 presidential elections have been "called" prematurely by news stations which were WRONG, during the Boston Marathon bombings 3 different INNOCENT PEOPLE were blasted on national news and accused as suspects with no evidence other than speculation, hell the whole nation gasped when the news took a Twitter post about an attack on the White House too seriously.

I've said it quite frequently lately but don't believe everything you hear on "the news" anymore. Don't blindly believe what they report until they start proving they have some credibility again. Stay informed and remember what Rage Against The Machine told us in the 90s, "If ignorance is bliss, then wipe the smile off my face."