'Florida Man', The Postal Service, and The Whitest Sentence Ever Written

The only Twitter you'll ever need to follow - If there were a sweepstakes for bat-shit craziest State in the Union, Florida would win hands down. It seems everyday a news headline comes out of the Sunshine state like 'Florida man, arrested for getting drunk and punching a manatee' or 'Florida man, arrested for trying to return a used enima set to CVS pharmacy'. With all that craziness it's good to know it's all documented in one handy twitter feed for you. Introducing @_FloridaMan

Some quick highlights urr lowlights from Gator country...


Florida Man
@_FloridaMan

Real-life stories of the world's worst superhero.
Everywhere, FL

Florida Man ‏@_FloridaMan
Florida Man Accused Of Masturbating In Front Of Girl, Claims He Was Fixing Hole In His Pants | http://bit.ly/XwmVkZ

Florida Man ‏@_FloridaMan
Florida Man Gave Teller Full Name While Robbing Bank | http://bit.ly/YPMA9q


Florida Man ‏@_FloridaMan
Florida Man Said He Was Within His Rights After Shooting Neighbor's Cats | http://buff.ly/Y7f7r0

Florida Man ‏@_FloridaMan
Florida Man Robs Girl Scouts Selling Cookies | http://bit.ly/ZARk1A

Florida Man ‏@_FloridaMan
Florida Man Spent Six Months Posing As Deputy To Impress Girlfriend; Actually Works At Pizza Hut | http://on.wtsp.com/YXcHsS

Florida Man ‏@_FloridaMan
Police Say Florida Man Tried To Eat Bag Of Meth | http://bit.ly/XDuvIh

Florida Man ‏@_FloridaMan
Florida Man Arrested For Throwing Taco Bell Burrito At Brother-In-Law's Face | http://bit.ly/XX4zth
  
Are We Sure We Want To Get Rid of the Postal Service? - The US Post Office is our favorite whipping boy when we want to conjure the image of some incompetent, bumbling bureaucracy. But consider this, last year the USPS delivered 160 Billion pieces of mail to 330 million Americans, and 99% of the time they got it right. What other industry whether public or private can boast a 99% accuracy rate at that volume?

If you think about it, our USPS is a modern marvel. It connects Americans across 1.3 million square miles with each other and to the economy. It practically invented the science of logistics and supply chain management that are used in business today. It brought new technology such as digital scanners, and automated sorting to practical use. It's what allows a letter sent from Fairbanks, Alaska to New York City in less than 4 days.

Now you may say yeah that's nice but people don't write letters anymore, so no wonder they're losing money. But the USPS would be pulling a profit had Congress not done something stupid back in 2006 as reported by Jesse Lichtenstein from Esquire. They made the USPS pay into it's pension and healthcare fund 75 years into the future. Most private companies and Gov't only pay up to 30 years in the future and would be like having to pay 20% of your paycheck into a retirement account you could not use until 75 years from now. And why? Because private shippers like UPS and FedEx lobbied Congress to the tune of $100 million last decade to make it a planned failure so when the postal service goes bankrupt they could privatize it and grab the estimated $80 Billion in revenue the USPS makes every year.

Currently that letter from Fairbanks to New York would be the price of a postage stamp at $0.46. Try sending it UPS or FedEx for that distance and within 4 days and it would cost at least $6. When you factor in part of the economy directly dependent on mail delivery like Amazon or catalogs, the USPS helps generate 8.5 million jobs and $1 Trillion for the private sector. Imagine what an increase in shipping costs would do the economy if turned over to private shippers. But surely UPS and FedEx would never raise prices unincumbered from Congressional oversight just to ensure profit, right? Sometimes we don't know how much things mean until they are gone.

So here's that comprehensive, groundbreaking study of porn stars you probably didn't ask for - A researcher in England named Jon Millward shows what happened when statisticians have too much time on their hands. He recently released a study of 10,000 porn stars culling data from IMDB and results are below (don't worry safe for work)

The most common bra size is 34  


The most common hair color for female porn stars is brown. Brunettes (including black and brown hair) outnumber blondes nearly 2 to 1

The most common female role appearing in a film title is "teen." "MILF" and "wife" come in second and third.


The most common female porn star first name is Nikki. The most common male first name is David.

The average porn star weight is 117 lbs for women, 167.5 lbs for men.

The average porn star height is 5'5" for women, 5'10" for men.

Majority of porn stars came from California   

So here's that revealing, all access reality show of Ke$ha you probably didn't ask for - MTV announced the debut of Ke$ha My Crazy Life. The hook here is come for the craziness but stay for the weirdness like the one segment where she drinks her own urine. There's one way to be the new Mentos Breath Freshner spokesperson.

Well Better Late Than Never - Mississippi became the last of the 50 states to ratify the 13th amendment of the US Constitution (the one that says people are not property so no slavery) in February of THIS year. Nothing like waiting 148 years after the Civil War to finally affirm the abolition of slavery. Apparently it did ratify it back in 1995 but never got around to actually notify the Office of the Federal Register which would have made it official. It was brought to their attention after a ole Miss University professor saw the film 'Lincoln' and did a little research. Given that state's history of race relations I'm sure that's not ALL embarrassing.

Politico asks if it's too early to start thinking about the 2016 Presidential election - Although it was a rhetorical question the answer of course is an unequivocal yes. Yes it is too early. Like 3 and half years too early.

Quite Possibly The Whitest Sentence Ever Written - A hacker made a brazen and daring technological feat by breaking into George W. Bush's personal e-mail and revealed a bombshell to website thesmokinggun.com...the real reason we invaded Iraq? An affair with Condoleezza Rice?...umm, nope..some 'interesting' artwork (see below) but mostly proof that wealthy, white male plutocrats are very boring people.
 

One of the exposed e-mails came from Jim Nantz, CBS Sports play-by-play broadcaster, and hero for the upper class, country club set. That intrigued the sports blog deadspin.com to look into that matter and they discovered the writers at thesmokinggun had inadvertently created an important cultural artifact of the English language: Quite possibly the whitest, most WASPiest sentence possibly ever written.


From the original story:
Both Hemingway and Nantz corresponded with Bush, 88, about playing golf and visiting the Bush compound in Kennebunkport, Maine.

Let Issac Rauch from deadspin take it from here:
We'll never have a whiter sentence than one recounting correspondence between two WASP icons—George H.W. Bush and Jim Nantz—about making a golf trio with some guy named Hemingway and hanging out at a compound in Kennebunkport, Maine. What do you think those guys talk about? Braided belts? Saltines? The dangers of women's soccer? We can only hope someone leaks those conversations as well, so we can use the paper they're printed on to make drywall.

One Truly Is The Loneliest Number - In this month's edition of what the hell can you do with a geography degree, we have Dorothy Gambrell of Psychology Today who did analysis of Craigslist's 'missed connections' where people try to find some hottie they saw out in public but couldn't get their number or something. Her analysis is mapped below, and apparently if you live down South WalMart is the new single's bar. New possible pick-up lines include:
'Mind if I buy you a 12 pack of sprite on sale for $2.99'
'I saw you across the Layaway counter and your eyes just roped me in'
'Enough with small talk, why don't we take this party over to Sam's Club'
'Uhh, wanna f**k?'


About that Gay Pope Rumor - Master blogger Andrew Sullivan (gay himself) posited that Pope Benedict XVI was probably a closeted gay man given the unusual living arrangements in retirement. He will be sharing an apartment with Georg Gaenswein at the Vatican who was his personal secretary and were apparently very close. Add on rumors from Italian newspaper La Rupubblica of a 'lavendar mafia' running things behind scenes that was about to be exposed. Already on thin ice with his role in covering up child abuse scandals, the prospect of a 'gay cabal' scandal apparently was the other shoe (red lavendar from Prada) to drop, forcing his resignation.


I'm very skeptical. Just because the Vatican hierarchy enjoy dressing up in glitzy costumes and have high camp rituals does not make them gay. Nor does the fact the College of Cardinals are all a bunch of dudes who like to hang out drinking beer and discuss other people's sexuality while in a gay bathhouse sauna. Or the time they said women can't be priests because 'uh ewwww, girls'  No the pope isn't gay at all.

And if he were, a majority of Catholics would be 'oh, that's cool. I got no problem with that' So the Catholic hierarchy could perhaps evolve on the issue.

What if I told you an obscure mathematical process could prevent the next mass shooting? - Some people might remember the show 'Numb3rs' where a mathematical genius teamed with his older brother FBI agent to solve complex crimes and prevent ones from happening by use college Algebra. As convoluted and far-fetched the series may have been in general, using math to solve or prevent crime wasn't far off. In statistics there is a technique called data mining that uses various mathematical formulas to comb through millions and millions of data records from bank, credit card, and internet records to find patterns that can predict human behavior. And in the wake of the Sandy Hook tragedy, there actually exists a quantitative tool that can be employed immediately to prevent the most feared of all random violence, the deranged mass murderer carrying a gun.


Credit card companies have algorithms that can flag problematic purchases to prevent potential fraud or theft. Say you use your card mostly at Target for groceries or basic household items, and then all of a sudden your card is on a shopping spree at high end jewelry stores in Beverly Hills. The credit card company will stop or hold the transaction until they can verify you are actually the one doing the purchasing. How did credit card companies know to act? Because a mathematical algorithm said those jewelry purchases were out of the ordinary from your normal behavior and something was wrong.

As tech writer John Pavely demonstrated on the Huffington Post, in the same way this can be applied to an algorithm to detect possibly then next James Holmes, Seung-Hui Cho, or Jared Loughner:

- We know mass shooters, fit a certain demographic profile, mostly white, exclusively male, and generally between the ages of 18 to 35.

- We know mass shooters were not frequent purchasers of firearms and ammunition until right before their sprees. Unlike normal gun owners who would have a regular purchasing pattern such as coinciding with hunting season, gun club memberships, etc.

- We know many had behavioral problems so add in scripts for anti-depressants or anti-psychotics, fees for mental health services, admits to psychiatric hospitals such as Cho, the Virginia Tech killer was just months before his spree.

- We know many mass shooters were exceptionally bright but very troubled with many dropping out or expelled from college prior to their spree. This also included many run ins with the law or school officials for disruptive or unusual behavior.

Add in these variables to a predictive algorithm and it could alert law enforcement and gun sellers to potential trouble. Take Holmes, the Aurora shooter who was withdrawing from grad school at Univ. of Colorado, had visits with three mental health professionals at his school's health service, and bought several guns including a AR-15 assault rifle and 2 Glock handguns all within four months of his movie theater rampage. So when Holmes tries to buy 6,000 rounds of ammunition off the Internet the algorithm could shut that transaction down and force Holmes to demonstrate in-person to a gun store clerk or police officer that he is indeed of sound mind. Which a gun club owner in Byers, Colorado most definitely did not when he rejected Holmes' application for firearm training.

Many civil libertarians and gun owners will understandably decry how invasive of privacy this can be but here's the deal, banks and credit card companies have already perfected and use data mining and share these predictive algorithms with retailers and marketers to sell you stuff. And this includes Gov't agencies like Homeland Security and the FBI to track potential terrorist cells when they buy things like one-way airline tickets, large quantities of industrial materials that could be used in a bomb, and you guessed it firearms. But unless the gun industry can somehow effectively manage to prevent guns from ending up in the wrong hands, and in lieu of any effective gun control. Data mining is the least disruptive, cost effective method to separate lawful gun owners from those about jump off the deep end and do harm.

It's Your Completely Unnecessary Guide to the 2013 Oscars

First something of a disclaimer, back in college when I had something called free time and could engage my cinephile hobby. I would have seen every movie and performance on this list and could have given you complete breakdown of each category. But alas adult responsibility came along now I'm limited to occasional Netflix and anything playing on basic cable. So in full disclosure I really haven't seen many of the nominees, BUT that's OK. Because I suspect many of the actual Oscar voters have not either and at least I have the integrity to admit it.

The likelihood of winning is measured in 'Jack' units or how many Jack Daniels drinks you would need to consume to get the swagger of Jack Nicholson before appearing on stage ranging from 0 representing Just Happy To be Here, to 4 meaning grab your sunglasses, smirk, and the thank you list cause your headed to the podium baby! The 'Jack' units will appear in the ( ) along side nominee and each category ranked most to least likely.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Anne Hathaway, Les Miserables (4)
Sally Field, Lincoln (3.5)
Helen Hunt, The Sessions (2)
Amy Adams, The Master (1.5)
Jacki Hunt, Silver Linings Playbook (1)


Back in 1984, Sally Field became America's sweetheart for her now famous schtick after winning for Places In The Heart with 'You like me! You really, really like me!' Now its Anne Hathaway's turn with the 'Oh my Gosh, Oh My Gosh! Can't Believe I Won' schtick but probably falls short since Taylor Swift has pretty much patented the 'Oh My Gosh! Oh My Gosh! I can't believe I won....a People's Choice Award...for actually showing up....with the only other nominee being Chris Brown'


FUN BONUS FACT #1
Wait a minute you say, isn't Fields' famous line 'You Love Me! You really, Really Love Me!' Nope. Similar to Casablanca, where its most memorable line 'Play It Again Sam' was never actually said in the film and is an example of mis-remembering before the era of YouTube and 24 hour 'info-tainment' channels.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Alan Arkin, Argo (3.25)
Robert DeNiro, Silver Linings Playbook (3.25)
Tommy Lee Jones, Lincoln (3.25)
Philip Seymour Hoffman, The Master (1.5)
Christopher Waltz, Django Unchained (1.0)

This category features nominees who have all won before and is a toss-up between Arkin, DeNiro, and Jones that essentially foreshadows of who will win Best Picture. That is if you believe the theory that Oscars for acting ride the coattails of whatever will win Best Picture. My theory is what all three frontrunners have in common is they show up at awards looking like old curmudgeons about to tell some damn kids to get off their lawn. Thus the winner is whoever has the sour-puss face that launches a thousand internet memes. Based on Golden Globes, edge goes to Jones.


FUN BONUS FACT #2
Some people felt Hoffman could be a dark horse, but since his character is based on L.Ron Hubbard and the film essentially bears a not-so striking resemblance to Scientology with a not-so-flattering storyline. In response the cult IRS recognized tax exempt religious organization has used its enormous Hollywood power to black list Hoffman and ensure that film never sees the light of day. For proof of their clout just look at how Scientologists made Tom Cruise the preeminent, most bankable star in the universe....oh...right...that was 15 years ago. Never mind

BEST ACTRESS

Jennifer Lawrence, Silver Linings Playbook (3.75)
Jessica Chastain, Zero Dark Thirty (3.5)
Emmanuelle Riva, Amour (1)
Quvenzhane Wallis, Beasts of the Southern Wilds (0)
Naomi Watts, The Impossible (0)

Basically this is a two horse race between Lawrence and Chastain for who will have the hottest, sweat inducing, 'Holy S**t look at her' outfit of the night. Early favorite is Lawrence whose red gown last year at made even gay men tell their straight friends 'Holy Mother of Pearl!'.
  

On a related note Lawrence and Chastain are also known as really good actresses and are also the favorites with Lawrence playing a crazy person versus Chastain who plays CIA analyst who helped hunt down Bin Laden. It's a toss-up but Lawrence wins by a bra size and gets to tell Kristen Stewart she can go ahead and have that MTV movie award and Nickelodeon's Kids Choice Award for best actress. Because her and Oscar will be over at the grown-up table discussing future projects.

FUN BONUS FACT #3
Most of the action beforehand will be on the red carpet but discerning viewers will be tuned to E! to count how many times actors pull Ryan Seacrest aside asking 'So dude, when Julianne Hough dumps you...I mean you guys break up for some reason, is it alright if I go out with her?'

BEST ACTOR

Daniel Day Lewis, Lincoln (4)
Bradley Cooper, Silver Linings Playbook (2)
Hugh Jackman, Les Miserables (1)
Denzel Washington, Flight (1)
Jacquin Phoenix, The Master (0)

Lewis' method acting is legendary, such as staying in character for the duration of filming. Lincoln was no different as Lewis reportedly went to strip clubs in his stove pipe hat asking the ladies if they had ever met his friends Jefferson and Jackson while making it 'rain' on stage. Though Lewis is sure lock there were solid other performances such as Joaquin Phoenix delivering his strongest performance since his last appearance on Dave Letterman. And Denzel Washington managing to put cocaine in a positive light while extolling the virtues of flying commercial jet airplanes while high. And Bradley Cooper will join the exclusive Hollywood club, one with the few actors who can go toe to toe with George Clooney when playing the game 'Wait, Did I or did I not sleep with her?'


FUN BONUS FACT #4
There always embarrassing sartorial moments when actresses have roughly the same dress. Such potential 'Bitch, stole my look' issues this year include Dakota Fanning and The Olsen Twins, Miley Cyrus and Susan Powter, along with Jennifer Lopez and a El Camino

BEST PICTURE
Argo (3.9999)
Lincoln (3.9998)
Silver Linings Playbook (2)
Zero Dark Thirty (1.5)
Les Miserables (1.5)
Django Unchained (1)
Life of Pi (0.001)
Beasts of the Southern Wilds (0.0001)
Amour (0)

Early prognosticators had Lincoln as the runaway favorite but like Geraldo Rivera in an brothel, climaxed way too soon. Argo was like Carly Rae Jepsen's sex appeal in that it may not register at first but slowly grows on you until suddenly you're like 'Wow!' Plus you have to admire Ben Affleck resurrecting his career like a modern day Lazarus from the tomb of Gigli. Silver Linings Playbook is the dark horse but being edgy and funny represents the antonym of typical tone deaf Oscar voter.

Several of the other films had some noticeable flaws.
- Zero Dark Thirty was bogged down by controversy around scenes of torture such as where Jessica Chastain CIA character is out in a hot desert but at no point is inclined to wear a bikini much to the consternation of male audiences.
- Les Miserables was accused of not quite living up to the stage production along with the historians challenging authenticity noting peasants in 17th century France were not generally given to break out in song philosophically reflecting their plight in life while contemplating broad societal implications of justice, religion, and love within French society, all while they were literally shoveling shit.
- Life of Pi was deemed a little too fanciful in that a tiger and boy in the same boat generally would not coexist together.
- Django Unchained was criticized for making light of slavery and racial tensions and the media nearly had a fainting spell when they learned a very important figure in cinema had very important objections. But upon learning it was only Spike Lee the controversy subsided but not enough to keep Leonardo DiCaprio's from getting snubbed. Apparently someone in Hollywood is still bitter over Leo being an arrogant prick in the late 90's
- Amour was foreign which meant no one saw it except 5 hipsters at an alternative theater in Austin, Texas and as of yet no one has been confirmed to have seen Beasts of the Southern Wilds.

So while the smart money says Hollywood will crown Lincoln because it always loves a good Historical, epic, biographical tale like Ghandi or Lawrence of Arabia. Enough old, uptight Oscar voters have passed on to allow something a little more stylish like Argo to sneak through and claim the prize.

FUN BONUS FACT #5
Look for past Oscar winner Cuba Gooding Jr. appearing in commercials to remind any winners who get their trophy by sheer, dumb, serendipitous luck that in 20 years when your career has crashed and you need cash. Fast. The helpful people at Cash for Gold can turn that Oscar Gold into cold hard cash! Show me the money indeed!

AND A SUPER BONUS FUN BONUS FACT
Everyone is expecting a cutting edge, comedy routine from host Seth MacFarlane but that probably wont happen since Hollywood and celebrities in general are humorless, lifeless, soulless egomaniacs who are incapable of laughing at themselves. And I do mean literally incapable because all the Botox and facelifts make it physically impossible to laugh. But more likely he'll join Dave Letterman, Jon Stewart, and Ellen DeGeneres forced to pull punches and hold back resulting in a disappointing act. And a somewhat partly funny Seth MacFarlane is lot like a straight thinking, sober Amanda Bynes. Just not that fun.

It's Your 2012 Rossy Awards!!!!

These awards originated out of my fraternity from college, and celebrated all of our best (or worst) moments drunkenness, debauchery, and just plain moments of stupidity. Today we're grown up and so to have The Rossys as we hand out to celebrate best in salacious achievements throughout the World!

The Prestigious Rossy

The Anthony Weiner Award for best use of a cell phone camera - Philadelphia traffic judge William 'Big Willie' Singletary decided the best way to get out of a impending parking ticket was to show the meter maid a cell phone picture of his junk and let it do the talking for him. Needless to say 'Little Willie' was not persuasive enough for the meter maid who still gave him the ticket or the State of Pennsylvania who removed him from the bench for lewd conduct.

Best Cross Dressing Moment Not Seen On RuPaul's Drag Star - A 24 year-old male in Savannah, GA was arrested for a string of car thefts in the area where he, while dressed in a wig, makeup, and women's clothing would test drive the car then not return. It was sort of like Volkswagon's Sign and Drive event except for the part where (s)he would sign to buy the car. Police found the dude (who looked like a lady) because he left his driver's license (not in drag) with his(her) actual address. Though the the car theft crime spree was ended at only three, as a consolation the Savannah Police spokesman noted 'He actually doesen't make a bad looking woman', so there was that.

Best Law Enforcement Moment Not Seen on 'Cops' - A 27 year-old woman in Middletown, CT called police to report she had been a victim of fraud. Namely that was she given given the anti-depressant Seroquel instead of the pain-killer Percocet from some local teens during an illegal prescription drug transaction. Shortly afterwards as local police were announcing a major bust of a prescription pain-killer traffiking ring run by local teens, they noted it all started with a non-rhetorical question 'What are you high?'

Best Culinary Moment Not Captured On The Food Network - A man upset over the long wait for his food order at a Denny's restaurant in San Antonio, TX decided to voice his dissatisfaction by going one step further than just speaking with the manager but setting fire to the Christmas tree in the lobby and subsequently burning down the restaurant. No one was hurt but said arsonist did get away presumably without ever getting his Grand Slam breakfast with a side bacon that he just had to have. Food writers noted that the best step to avoid slow service and poor food was choosing not to eat at a Denny's in the first place.

Best Sports Moment Not Captured on ESPN - Detroit Red Wings minor league hockey prospect Riley Sheahan was arrested in Grand Rapids, MI for drunk driving with a blood alcohol level of .31 which was over three times the legal limit. However more concerning to the Red Wings organization was he arrested while dressed in a full size teletubby suit as the character Tinky Winky plus the fact it wasn't even Halloween.


The Willard Scott Award for most akward weather forecast moment - On February 19, the weather forecast in Britain was its fairly, usual dismal self with snow in Scotland and northern England, and near freezing tempratures for Wales and Southern England. And of course rain everywhere, since when does it not rain on the British Isles. For BBC1 10:00 newscast, weatherman Alex Deakin summed it all up as 'bucketloads of c**t' (which in polite circles is referred to as 'C yoU Next Tuesday'). On a possibly related note many pubescent teenagers were seen outside after the forecast, looking upward and asking if anyone see it yet?

The Best Moment In Drunken Hookup Failure - Police in Panama City, FL were called to a home by a 15 year-old girl who dialed 911 because her 36 year old Mom was having sex too loudly with her new boyfriend in the next room. No charges were filed since there no statute for anything that falls under the 'Ewww, that's gross' realm and complainant's mother had already been advised to 'get a room' at the bar earlier.

The Happy Hour Went An Hour Too Long Award - A man in Hull, England angry for being tossed out of a bar for smoking decided to express his anger to management by returning an hour later with a running chainsaw. In what could only be described as one hell of a nicotine fit, the gentleman smoker managed to reduce most of the pub's fine Oak paneled bar top to a pile of firewood in the span of about five minutes before police could arrive to stop the 'English Pub Chainsaw Massacre'. Afterward friends of the chainsaw bandit noted they were always a little hesitant to bum a cigarette off him.

Best Fight (Non-Drinking Category) - Three daycare workers in Dover, DE were arrested for running a fight club in the day care using pre-schoolers as combatants and included actual betting on the victors. In a related note, the same workers were also nominated for the Worst People Ever award.

Best Fight (Drinking Category) - British MP (Member of Parliament) Eric Joyce was banned from the pub inside the House of Commons and fined 3,000 pounds after headbutting a fellow MP in a disagreement over Scottish politics which ironically in Scottish parlance is also known as a 'Glasgow handshake'. Political commentators and pundits disagreed on the potential fallout for Mr.Joyce since the incident involved two of the three things Scottish love: drinking, fighting, and soccer.

Best Beat Down by a fictional character - In Seattle a intoxicated man was beaten up by a group of little people dressed as Leprechauns for dancing with one their women (a banshee perhaps?) and annoyingly asking them where he could find a pot of gold. The insuing brawl left the full sized man bloody and bruised and said leprechauns disappeared into the June night possibly by hopping a rainbow back to Ireland. General Mills confirmed Lucky the Leprechaun from their Lucky Charms had not gone rogue and the grumpy old troll from Dora the Explorer also had an alibi. So the biggest mystery is what leprechauns were doing in Seattle in Summer, so in response police advised revelers downtown 'Be Wary Ye Travelers'

Best Moment of Sheer, Unadulterated Stupidity - In the supply and demand economics of marijuana sales, a parolee in Florence, SC found himself with a common problem among drug dealers, what happens when you have too much product? His solution was to offer the excess bud to his cell phone contacts. Among those in his contact list offered a good deal on the weed was the man's parole officer, who accepted the offer to score some discounted weed sent some police officers over to complete the transaction and the arrest which violated his parole and sent him back to prison.

The John McEnroe Anger Management Award - A man in Newport, VT after being released from jail for arrests on drug possession and resisting arrest decided he still had some unfinished business with police. Still fuming over his arrest the man returned to the station with a monster truck and proceeded to smash all 7 of the department's patrol cars before speeding off in something right out of a monster truck show. Police were unable to mount a pursuit because all of the patrol cars were completely destroyed. In quite possibly the understatement of the year, a resident named 'bigfoot' when interviewed by Howard Stern radio show described the assailant as 'one crazy motherfucker'

Best Riot (Not involving European Soccer fans or a Chuck E Cheese) - Sending out e-vites on Facebook can be quite convenient. For a 16 year old teen in Haren, Netherlands whose parents were going out of town, seemed like a good idea to invite a few friends over for some beer and typical teenager hijinks. Unfortunately she accidentally made the e-vite public as in ALL of Facebook and teenagers being teenagers (which is to say being assholes just for the sake of being assholes) made it a point to spread news of the party to as many people as possible on social media dubbing it Project X similar to the movie.

The end result was 6,000 people showed up for the intimate gathering at the girl's house. When told to leave, the crowd took the party elsewhere, mainly to the town square where the party devolved into looting, arson, and ultimately a drunken confrontation with a hundred riot police. When the night was over 34 people were arrested, several injured, and several hundred thousand dollars damage. Not to mention the 16 year old whose party invite started it found herself being in REALLY, REALLY REALLY big trouble with her parents.

The Charlie Sheen Award for epic achievement in partying - The German Men's field hockey team decided to celebrate a Gold medal in the London Olympics by renting out a party boat to cruise the River Thames. Apparently the resulting party was host to some serious bro antics because the German team got a damage bill for 630,000 British pounds. Among the damages were stains from champagne (among other things), holes burned in the apostrophe from cigars, and literally a ton of broken glass from beer bottles. Plus the German ingratiated themselves to their British hosts by urinating in the river and there may or may not have been prostitutes on board.

The Fly The Friendly Skies Award - VietJet airlines (when you want to fly Vietnam in style!) was fined a whopping 20 million dong (actually it's only $960 in American dollars) for staging a bikini/strip show on a flight from Ho Chi Minh City to Nha Trang. The impromptu strip show was not normally part of the flight though many passengers would consider an upgrade over stale peanuts. The Rossy committee would like to acknowledge that fact Vietnam's currency is named 'dong' when combined with any sort of element of stripping is guaranteed comedy.

The Silvio Burlusconi Award for best in politician hootenanny - Wang Minsheng, head of the Communist Party of the Lijiang povince in China saw his budding career come to abrupt halt after tweeting pictures of himself involved in a six person orgy. Reportedly in addition to the disgrace of resigning, Wang had to endure people who would hum the classic 80's song 'Everybody WANG Chung tonight....' whenever he was around.

Most.Unnattractive.Orgy.Ever

The Biggest, Most Massive Twitter #FAIL of the Year - In our new category this year, the Rossy committee introduces the biggest Twitter #FAIL of the year. In what arguably is the most competitive category seeing as millions of people on Twitter and everyday so many managing to make themselves look like a twat for tweeting something stupid. It truly takes a tweet of unbelievable ignorance, ego, or vapidity or some combination of all three to truly claim this award.

This year we recognize @CelebBoutique who sent out this tweet an hour after the Aurora, CO mass shooting at a movie theater that killed 12 people:

Someone forgot to check the news before tweeting

AND FINALLY WITHOUT FURTHER ADO...

The Rossy Hall of Fame Inductee of 2012 - The good people of Kingston, Ontario like to kick off the Holidays with the Eastern Ontario Santa Claus Festival. A joyous event featuring hot chocolate, Christmas trees, and of course a parade featuring the big man himself. However this year the Grinch made an unannounced visit in the form of a 24 year-old intoxicated man who dressed up as Satan complete with spikey hair for horns. This grinch then went around to every kid he saw and broke the news there actually is no Santa Claus and topped it off by running onto the parade and flipping Santa the middle finger during the parade.

Police update

In this modern adaptation of the Grinch, he gets arrested for drunk and disorderly conduct. However, no charges can make up for destroying the Christmas dreams of dozens of little kids in Eastern Ontario. For this however please join the Rossy committee as we applaud this fine act of debauchery as he joins other notable winners in this circle of honor:

2011 - Charlie Sheen for WINNING
2010 - Man who masturbated to a Sport's Illustrated Swimsuit issue in the magazine aisle at Wal-Mart in Florida.
2009 - Man in Cairns, Australia who broke into sex shops and 'utilized' sex dolls then put them back in the box
2008 - Ernest Borgnine who told Fox and Friends on live television the secret to longevity was masturbating a lot.

12 Days of Christmas, Curse of the Reply All Button, and how The Roadrunner explains the election

First off, on a serious note - Most of you who know me or read me know my blog is primarily driven with some current events, some data wonkery, but mostly levity and humor. Obviously after the horrific tragedy in Newtown, Connecticut at Sandy Hook Elementary there is no way to even attempt any humor but I feel before proceeding with my usual gluttony of snark I wanted express my prayers and condolences to those families who lost loved ones in the massacre.

Working in public health I tend to view mass shootings through the lense of an Epidemiologist or Sociologist. Which is to say studying the interaction of several factors that combine to create this tragedy and treat it as a public health problem. What these crimes represent is the lethal intersection of two things: people with serious, untreated mental illness who have easy availability to lethal firearms. I could write a thesis but here are just a few quick thoughts:

- We can call the shooter crazy because nobody in their right mind wakes up one day and says casually 'Hmm.. you know what I feel like doing today? Killing a lot small kids.' What separates Adam Lanza and the 27 other previous mass shooters from say a mafia hitman is that that the mafioso kills with a specific intent and purpose. Plus that purpose is rational (bump off competition, kill a informant, etc.). Plus the mob had a code, no killing of women, children, or innocents. Not saying it's morally right, just saying it's rational. These no mass shooters on the other hand had no rational basis for what they did.

- We have a mental health problem in this country because we lack a sufficient mental healthcare system in this country. Our choice is to create an extensive mental health safety net through expanding Medicaid and mandating private insurance coverage for it. Yes that involves higher taxes and premiums, but the alternative is the societal cost of lives lost in mass shootings like the Sandy Hook massacre by lunatics where a mental health safety net could have intervened and prevented them from harming others.

- We need to destigmatize mental illness. Just as someone can't help having the Genetic diseases or Cancer, neither can someone help having Bi-Polar depression or personality disorder. Why view mental healthcare different from regular healthcare?

- People collectively in what I call the American gun culture (sellers, manufacturers, and owners) need to understand we can no longer pretend that the erosion of gun control over the past 20 years which facilitated easy accessibility to powerful firearms without any accountability where they end up did not play any role in this tragedy. The gun industry has pushed for laws which make getting high powered firearms and ammunition easier than getting Advil Cold and Sinus. They also wanted repeal of the Assault Weapon Ban, they got it, but an unintended consequence is the mentally deranged and criminals having access to semi-automatic weapons to commit violence. The gun industry bears some responsibility in how those weapons are used.

- To all the armchair commandos stating if we simply arm all Americans with concealed weapons in public we can stop mass shootings. To a non-gun owner that sounds like a extraordinarily idiotic idea.

- The biggest threat to responsible gun owners may end up being the Nat'l Rifle Association (NRA) itself. For the past 30 years it has turned into a conspiracy factory ginning up fear and paranoia among gun owners for the profit and gain of gun manufacturers. It's also been the most powerful lobbying presence in Congress.

- However post Sandy Hook feels like a paradigm shift or tipping point because the NRA will be going up against a much more powerful group: The Mom lobby. There's going to be a conversation about gun violence after this incident so the gun industry would be wise to choose their words and pick their battles very carefully, because now might be a good time to compromise on a few things. Finally to quote Dennis Miller: 'Of course that's just my opinion, I could be wrong'

It Is Now Officially Impossible To Have An Affair - Remember when they said technology would make life less complicated and more simpler? Try telling that to Gen. David Petraeus who had to resign as head of the CIA over an affair which was discovered through what else? e-mail. When our head spy, the man in charge of keeping the nation's secrets can't even keep his own affair secret we can now pronounce 'in the 21st Century it is impossible to have an affair so let's not even try'. It also doesn't help when your lover (who is not your wife) threatens another woman (who also not your wife) because she's perceived as getting too friendly. Who would've thought a participant in an affair would lack self-control?

(Petraeus Flowchart if you need it)

FUN BONUS FACT - All things considered, Petraeus was doing a good job as CIA director and some thought he should not have to resign simply due to a sex scandal. If you want to know how uptight Americans are about sex, there is a legendary story among people in the intelligence community about the time the Soviets tried to blackmail a French Ambassador in Berlin, Germany during the Cold War. Presented with photos of himself in an compromising position during an affair, the French Ambassador was told to either spill sensitive information to the KGB or risk having the photos released to the French media and his wife. Without missing a beat, the Ambassador replies 'Well then I'll take one of these, and two of those. And send this one to the media, it has my good side.'

When Bad 'Reply All' Things Happens To Good People - Microsoft announced for its new e-mail package Outlook it will allow the option to disable the 'Reply All' button. This is welcome news to anyone in an office because nothing pisses off co-workers than getting 20 unwanted responses to an mass e-mail because people hit 'Reply All' instead of just 'Reply' to the original sender. It's also good news for an New York University (NYU) student who replying to an standard administration e-mail (RE:Opting Out of Your 1098T') about tax forms accidentally hit Reply All...as in all 39,979 NYU students.

In what became known around University circles as 'The Replyallcalypse' many of the other recipients decided to do what any college student with ample free time, beer, and keyboard would do..be a dick and hit Reply All to give their two cents. Replies varied from Nicolas Cage film clips, asking to borrow everything from movies, to pencils, to weed and finally ending in death threats to whomever Replied All again. It got so out of hand that NYU had to shut down their e-mail server until it could delete the Reply All responses and disable it from being used mass e-mails.

Now that Fantasy Football is over, it's time for an new fantasy league - I'd like to submit my idea for the Fantasy Celebrity Arrest League. A fun game adults and children can play and unlike football will last all year long! It works like this, you and your friends pick a starter celebrity like you would for various football positions from various categories of entertainment who are most likely to get arrested or do something stupid. When they do you earn points and whoever has the most points at the end of the year wins...absolutely nothing...except the glory of being able to predict human behavior. So here's how my fantasy celebrity roster would look like:

Actress: Amanda Bynes (back-up Lindsay Lohan)
Actor: Gary Busey (back-up Charlie Sheen)
Comedian: Katt Williams (back-up Andy Dick)
Singer: Chris Brown (back-up LeAnn Rimes)
Athlete: Ryan Leaf (back-up Pacman Jones)
Reality Star: Steve O from JackAss, (any cast member from Jersey Shore)
Team category: Real Housewives Of Orange County

Don't Look Now, But Nazism May Be Making a Comeback In Europe - Over in Greece which has been on the verge of economic collapse since financial crisis they recently had an election and a political party called the Golden Dawn won 7% of the popular vote. That normally would not be cause for concern except it would be the American equivalent of a Ku Klux Klan or Neo-Nazi Party winning 7% of Congressional seats. As documented in GQ by Chris Heath, when not running for election The Golden Dawn members in their free time enjoy the ethnic cleansing of various neighborhoods in Greek cities by burning down the homes of non-Greek immigrants and intimidating them to flee. Which is much like infamous Nazi 'brown shirts' or Sturmabteiling in who did the same to Jewish neighborhoods in pre-war Germany.

And here are some other disturbing similarities to Pre-War Germany:
- Golden Dawn attracts many young members where Greeks under 25 where unemployment is over 50%
- Their flag bears an eerie resemblance to the Nazi Schwastica
- Their growth feeds off the economic upheaval in Greece
- They like to scapegoat Greece's immigrant community for all the country's troubles
- Greece is not exactly known for political stability creating opportunity for fringe groups to seize power. If other parts of Europe go downhill economically like Greece this new strain of facism could spread like a virus.

Let's hope those who do not learn from history will not necessarily be able to repeat it

In Case You Did Not Already Hate that brat from 'Two And a Half Men' - August T. Jones the lucky little bastard child star chosen to play the half part in 'Two and Half Men' recently on Christian web video called his own show filth and implored people not to watch because it would corrupt their mind. Of course later after a talk from Uncle 'Charlie' about what happens when you bite the hand that feeds you, Jones quickly walked back his comments. Considering he makes $250,000 an episode to be the straight men to Ashton Kutcher's comedic genius (written with obvious sarcastic sneer) August Jones just showed why increasing taxes on Millionaires next year is politically expedient.

When Economists Have Too Much Time On Their Hands - A senior analyst from PNC Bank from actually sat down and calculated what it would cost to buy the items from 'The 12 Days of Christmas'. His estimated tally was $104,000 most of which could be attributed to the '5 Golden Rings' given the skyrocketing cost of gold. Other academics were quick to point out flaws in his study such as the '9 dancers dancing', is that regular folk dancers, or strippers? For the '8 Maids a Milking', is that regular cow milking or 8 prostitutes dressed a German farm girl to do some 'milking' (wink, wink, nudge, nudge). And would the '6 Swans a Swimming' include someone to clean up all the poop? And what in the hell exactly is a 'partridge in a pear tree?'

This really goes to show that in statistical modeling of price estimation, unexplained variance is a real bitch.

How The Roadrunner Explains the Obama's Re-Election - People of a certain age might remember the the Roadrunner cartoons from the Looney Tunes shows. This was where Wile E. Coyote was always trying to nab the swift, elusive Roadrunner for dinner and no matter how complicated or elaborate, the Roadrunner always managed to elude the traps erected for him and leaving it to blow up in the face of Wile and also helps explains the Obama victory over Romney.


Historically speaking it is very hard to unseat a sitting President running for re-election. Only three times in the last century has an once-elected President running for re-election (so not counting Ford) been denied a second term (Hoover '36, Carter '80, Bush Sr. '92). What all three had in common was a dismal Nat'l economy so it made sense to think Romney (Wiley E. Coyote) lying in wait with that giant boulder would roll right over an unsuspecting Obama (The Roadrunner). But instead election night Obama simply let the boulder wrap right around and crash back into Romney and his Billionaire backers. Here's why:

1.Money Can't Buy Elections - Republicans thought Citizens United court case which overturned campaign finance reform would allow them to use unlimited money mainly from Billionaires and corporations to buy themselves Congress and the White House. However, as blogger Gregg Easterbrook noted a candidate with good ideas and organization is far more potent than a blank check.

beep, beep

2.A little too cocky - Much like Coyote thinks his traps are foolproof, Karl Rove thought carpet bombing the airwaves in swing states would destroy Obama. Instead Rove failed to understand that in the era of the DVR, most people will fast-forward right through them because no one really watches TV in real time anymore. And those without DVR's simply drown out the commercials since they've become so bad they're almost self-parodies. Instead Obama put their money into grassroots organization and Get Out The Vote efforts which were the difference maker in Ohio, Florida, and Virginia.

beep, beep

3.Voter suppression blew up in their face - At the state level especially the swing ones like Pennsylvania and Florida, GOP passed voter ID laws thinking it would curtail minorities from voting because of flawed thinking that minorities were less likely to have driver's licenses. Instead this had the opposite effect, as it motivated minorities even more to vote, evidenced by people who waited 8 hours in minority areas of Miami essentially giving the middle finger to Florida Gov. Rick Scott. Meanwhile the voting bloc the GOP needed to vote, the elderly often had difficulty voting because many do not drive and no longer have licenses to show as ID.

beep, beep

4.Data Analysts outperformed political consultants - While Romney relied on expensive political consultants to craft negative TV advertising with outlandish themes. Obama had two secret weapons, data mining where you cull through millions and millions of consumer records to find trends and predictive modeling where you use those trends to design advertising to achieve maximum effect. The result is when Obama did do TV advertising it was brutally effective, like the one showing Romney singing 'America the Beautiful' embarrassingly offkey as a backdrop while facts about his record at Bain Capital which shipped tons of jobs overseas and hid money in the Caribbean scroll across the screen. Romney never recovered from that one

beep, beep

Keep your eye on the fiscal cliff negotiations and disregard what the pundits say on who won, who lost meme. Because most likely it will end with Obama telling House Republicans afterward...'beep, beep motherfuckers!'

Six Stats That Explain the 2012 election

Here are six quick hits I got out of the election and I'll keep it brief since most people like me are probably sick of it and ready to move on:

61% - That was the percentage of the White vote needed by Romney to win the election. When exit polls showed him only at 59% and having only 28% of the Latino vote I know he was toast. The GOP can no longer be the party catering to old white men.

18 - The number of female Senators that will be present when Congress convenes next January which represents the most ever in American history and spells beginning of the end of white male privilege in this country. I also believe having more women in the upper chamber may finally break partisan gridlock since women always seem to be more likely to collaborate.

67% - The number of single, unmarried women who voted for Obama and sent a very loud message to male lawmakers: We can govern our bodies without your help thank you very much. Republican Senate losses in Indiana, Missouri, and North Dakota which were supposed to be easy wins can all be attributed to their candidates extreme views on abortion and reproductive rights.

59% - The percentage of people aged 18 to 29 who voted for Obama. Chuck Todd NBC analyst noted 'this election all comes down to three things: demographics, demographics, demographics'. I normally think about 60% of what Chuck Todd says is complete garbage but as a demographer myself he is absolutely right. As mentioned above, when you factor in the Non-White gap, gender gap, and age gap the GOP is sitting on a demographic timebomb and in about 10 to 20 years time may find themselves going the way of the Whig Party.

32 - The number of consecutive Statewide ballot losses gay marriage equality proponents accumulated up until yesterday when Maine, Maryland, Washington affirmed gay marriage while Minnesota shot down a anti-gay marriage amendment. The tide has officially turned on marriage equality and in ten years Chick Fil'A will really wish they hadn't donated all that money to virulent Anti-Gay groups.

$6 Billion - The amount of money spent by outside groups (10 to 1 in favor of the GOP) on the election. What did that money buy: Loss in Presidential election and net loss of 3 Senate seats. You don't have to be a business person to know that a horrible return on investment. It's good to know money still can't buy you elections. Though it's still probably a good idea to get a Constitutional Amendment barring corporate influence in our electoral process.

How Hurricanes are Great for Brainstorming (A Few Lessons Learned from Sandy)

If you've ever dealt with a hurricane you know it can be the most excruciating 24 to 48 hours you'll ever experience. The sound of winds pounding your house and not knowing if the next gust of wind will be the one that peels back your roof, sends a tree through your house, or water through your basement. Whether if the power goes out how long will it take to come back on.

Thankfully we got through unscathed but many parts of the East Coast did not. That time period you spend in a hurricane can get you thinking about a lot of the important stuff. Like how could one storm knock entire region of the US on its ass. Here are some lessons learned:

Seaside Heights

Global Warming Is Real and it's Already Happening - Prior to Hurricane Irene last year it had been 60 years since the Northeast was hit with a major storm. And there was perhaps a false sense of security that hurricanes were about as rare to the actual Jersey shore as sobriety was to the cast of MTV's 'The Jersey Shore'. I won't get too climate wonky here but there were two things that essentially protected the Northeast from violent storms.

First, the ocean temperature around the Jersey shore/Northeast was colder than down South. While this didn't always make for good swimming, it did provide a barrier since hurricanes need warm water to thrive and most storms simply fizzled out before reaching the Big Apple much like Tim Tebow. Second, the jet stream was like a good wing man at the bar, always helping to deflect any problem storms out to sea and pawn them off to the unsuspecting Canadian Maritime provinces.

That's About Right

Now with ocean temperatures rising and melting arctic ice causing the jet stream to shift, those protections are now gone. While scientists, can't 100% prove it was global warming, 2 hurricanes in 2 years should lead to an obvious culprit.

Ronald Reagan might have been wrong - Just as they're no atheists in a foxhole, there really are no small Government libertarians in a natural disaster. While Reagan said the scariest phrase he ever heard was 'I'm from the Gov't and I'm here to help', these past few days these that phrase to many people meant lifesaving help was on the way. While a lot of things Federal and State Gov't do is debatable, disaster response and emergency management should not be one of them. Why having things like FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) is even controversial is beyond me. Every state in the Union is susceptible to some sort of natural disaster whether its tornadoes in the Midwest, Earthquakes on the West Coast, wildfires in Mountain West, or Texas in and of itself. No one is bigger than nature and I find it amusing all these rugged individualists are the first ones to complain when Gov't left them to their own devices and now find themselves in a World of s**t.

Helping evacuate including pets

Jersey City

Wouldn't It Be a Good Idea To Bury Powerlines? - Although the show 'Revolution' is riddled with more plotholes than swiss cheese, it's basic premise is correct that society without reliable electricity will inevitably collapse. So why not bury our powerlines like we do with water, gas, sewer, and cable lines? Much of the power outages are result of trees falling on power lines so why not just bury the powerlines if trees are around. Because of Sandy people are looking in upwards of a week or more without electricity, while a minor inconvenience for people who can't access internet porn. But for hospitals, schools, businesses, first responders, etc. electricity is kinda of needed.

The Power of Sharing

And while were' at it, why not completely revamp our National electricity grid seeing as it dates back to the 50's and is rapidly deteriorating and becoming obsolete. Or perhaps embrace alternate forms of energy like solar and wind. One thing that won't run out in a hurricane is wind powered electricity.

America needs to rediscover its love of civil engineering - Infrastructure isn't sexy. Does a politician score points with voters by saying they overhauled an old sewer system or built a new bridge to alleviate traffic? Nope but when we lose it or it suddenly fails (ie: St.Paul, MN bridge collapse, New Orleans levy failure, etc.) it becomes disastrous for everyone. Remember when we used to build great, cutting edge public works projects like bridges, tunnels, airports, mass transit, and the Interstate freeway system? This contributed to the common good by allowing easy flow of goods, people, and most importantly ideas between places. Yes, it cost money but in the end we all benefited because things like running water, sewers, and public transportation all contributed to increased quality of life.

Lower Manhattan Subway

While the Dutch may be more known for legalized weed, prostitution, and really good beer. It's their system of levies, canals, and dams which effectively tamed the North Sea that is a true engineering marvel. Notice the Dutch only fret about storm surges when they're being sarcastic about storm coverage in the US and stoned out of their gord: 'ohhh..noo...the water gonna get us (feigning panic)...quick get my clodhoppers...I may have to swim to the red light district! (to loads of laughter)....hey where'd my joint go?'

Since sea levels are expected to rise and it only took a nine foot wall of water to bring Lower Manhattan to its knees. Perhaps learning from the Dutch at how they planned Amsterdam, we can implement for New York, Atlantic City, and other low-lying shore points to prevent the flooding that occurred during Sandy.

Isn't it kinda of stupid to build luxury homes right on the beach? - The largest monetary damage to come from this storm will be all the luxury homes that have cluttered the entire Jersey shore and sit unoccupied for most of the year except summer to be rented out one week at a time at exorbitant prices (for contrast see Outer Banks, NC). These gawdy, overbuilt palaces often exceed $1 million dollars and now after Sandy are essentially floating in the bottom of the ocean or reduced to a large wood pile. Their owners will obviously want to rebuild but not by private insurance but using Federal disaster funds since most insurers figured out long ago homes built on a beach make really inviting targets for Mother Nature thus not wise to cover.

North Wildwood (or what's left of it)

But before that happens we have to utilize a concept called smart growth, where any new construction should be built in harmony with natural surroundings and sustainable which means stop building homes in low-lying flood prone areas. And if the real estate developers insist on having properties with a waterfront view, then create construction codes mandating it have certain amenities like being able to withstand 100mph plus winds and being elevated above any potential storm surge level. Oh yeah one other little thing, mandate owners of said homes must either have flood insurance or ability to pay for it out of pocket if destroyed. Because it not fair to taxpayers that they must now subsidize a beach house where a hotshot Wall Street exec can sneak off to snort coke off a hooker's ass while his wife tends to his real house in North Jersey or Long Island.

Long Beach Island

The human spirit is alive and well - While East Coasters are often stereotyped as being gruff, inpatient, and kinda dickish. It took me only one week after moving from Ohio to Philadelphia to learn that the stereotype was actually..well...sort of accurate. But this week for every story of heartbreak there's a story of people helping out their fellow humanity. Even as many areas are still without power, society has not descended into chaos with rioting and looting everywhere. Instead people have largely banded together to help each other get through these trying times.

If one thing this storm has taught all of us is that we are all in this together. And only by working together can we all survive and prosper as many instead of merely get by as an individual. Perhaps no greater example than the NICU nurses of NYU Hospital who when the power went out carried 20 sick babies down nine flights of stairs. Many of these babies were dependent on respirators so nurses manually supplied oxygen while huddling these babies in warm blankets down darkened stairwells and hallways to waiting ambulances and stayed with them until they reached safety at other hospitals.

NYU NICU Nurses

There are thousands of these stories like this around the Mid-Atlantic region. Many selfless heroes who when confronted with an unimaginable situation rose to the occasion for themselves and their fellow human beings. They say adversity doesn't build character it but instead reveals it. So I can proudly say my adopted home State of New Jersey has plenty of it.

If I moderated the Debate (Or 16 Questions That Should Have Been Asked but Weren't)

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