Twitter Mouseover Problems

Whoa! So really, I only have a Twitter because of blogging (okay, and I love a good one liner), but this shit is crazy today. I went to reply to an @, and then all of a sudden, it's telling me that I'm RT something from Unilever or something like that. Eek!

Apparently, Twitter's gone haywire with a spam-link generating bug, with the site getting about 140,000 new tweets of this variety every 10 seconds. Ouch, Twitter. Merely hovering over an affected link with automatically have you posting various smut sites in a matter of seconds, as my account is doing as we speak.

I've read a variety of things, that it will be fixed in three hours, maybe five, but Twitter hasn't released anything on their official blog. Real nice, Twitter. Security firm, Sophos, detected the vulnerability earlier today, so we'll see how long this takes to fix.

That's one hell of a whale fail right there, and I imagine there's going to be some serious Twitter withdrawal going on worldwide today. Apparently, you can still get your fix by using any number of third party sites, including my favorite, Ping.

Good luck, Twitter users! Be safe out there.

UPDATE: Twitter has finally posted something on their blog. Even if it is short and useless.

Dear Musicians, Stop Dying. Thanks.

WTF, people? First we have Peter Steele, then Ronnie James Dio, and now Slipknot bassist, Paul Gray.

Dear Musicians,
Please stop dying.
Sincerely,
That Girl With A Blog

No more half naked, racist men. No more “Holy Diver”. No more creepy dudes in leather masks. What is the world coming to!?

Dio’s death was originally hailed a hoax, but apparently not far from the truth. The former Black Sabbath member and solo artist’s Wikipedia page was initally changed to include his death around 10:00pm on Saturday, May 15th, but his wife Wendy cleared things up, stating that he was in pretty rough shape, but still kickin’. Dio didn’t die until Sunday morning. Well, dude was 67, (Weird, who ever thought he would make it this long. Isn’t today Bob Dylan’s birthday? What is he, now, 110?) AND had stomach cancer. At least that one was a little more expected that Paul Gray, dead at 38 in a hotel room. That’s how rock stars are supposed to go, I guess.

Ronnie James Dio (July 10, 1942 – May 16, 2010)

The cause of death for Paul Gray has not yet been determined. The guy just died yesterday, people. Sheesh. One of the three original band members left, he was the guy with the bass and the pig mask. Doesn’t that just make you want to take him home to mom? In 2003, Gray was arrested for drunk driving and possession following a car accident. It’s kind of surprising that he lasted this long. Well, they say that death comes in threes, so hopefully this will be the end of all this craziness for a while!

Paul Gray (April 8, 1972 – May 24, 2010)

He’s not even that creepy without the mask on! Seriously, go image search this guy…he’s like a pig/Hannibal Lecter…thing.

Peter Steele of Type O Negative, Definitely Dead

Rumor gone wild or is the angry, giant frontman of Type O Negative truly dead? From the LA Late Blog:

Peter Steele is dead at 48, news that Peter Steele has died confirmed Thursday. Peter Steele’s cause of death was heart failure learn fans today.
Here is the latest.
Peter Steele’s death has been confirmed by several individuals since last night, despite no official statement from family members. Statements of death come from fellow bandmate Kenny Hickey, Fuse Host Mistress Juliya, and a suggestive posting on the Type O Negative website.
Fans are reacting to the shocking news through a surge in twitter posts early today.
Foirst, Fuse VJ MistressJuliya posted on twitter last night the following messages: “Today is a very sad day in metal…” “End of an era.” “Peter Steele passed today. I loved my friend…our idol…my heart is with his band and family…” “@msjenncity (Steele) passed of heart failure. Just spoke to Kenny (Hickey of Type O Negative).”
Second, TypeONegative.com includes the following message today “The forums have been re-opened. Please play nice and expect statements from the band and family later today. Thank you for your understanding and support.”
In 2007, Steele made press by indicating he had now become an atheism. He told Decibel magazine as the time:
“There are no atheists in foxholes, they say, and I was a foxhole atheist for a long time. But after going through a midlife crisis and having many things change very quickly, it made me realize my mortality. And when you start to think about death, you start to think about what’s after it. And then you start hoping there is a God. For me, it’s a frightening thought to go nowhere. I also can’t believe that people like Stalin and Hitler are gonna go to the same place as Mother Teresa.”
Funeral arrangements have not been announced. Peter Steele will be greatly missed. Send your love.

But at the same time, we get this from Blabbermouth:

Despite a message on the band’s official web site that seems to suggest otherwise, TYPE O NEGATIVE frontman Peter Steele HAS NOT DIED.
The band, who are famous for their dark sense of humor, have spent much of the last few months preparing material for their SPV Records debut, which is expected to be recorded later in the year.
TYPE O NEGATIVE cancelled their U.S. tour last fall in order to allow Steele to undergo further tests after “undisclosed anomalies” were discovered during a medical exam. A February 11, 2005 update on Peter’s condition from TYPE O NEGATIVE drummer Johnny Kelly stated, “There really isn’t much to report other than he’s doing fine and his health is improving daily.”
TYPE O NEGATIVE, whose first album, “Slow, Deep and Hard”, was issued in 1991, fulfilled their contractual obligations to longtime label Roadrunner with the release of 2003′s “Life Is Killing Me”. That album debuted on The Billboard 200 chart at No. 39 in June 2003 after registering a first-week sales tally of 27,023 copies. TYPE O NEGATIVE’s best-selling album to date is 1994′s “Bloody Kisses”, which has shifted nearly a million copies in the U.S., according to Nielsen SoundScan.

Well that’s just no fun. I wanna know if the man is dead or not! I was once a Type O fan, until I saw them in Pittsburgh…my god, maybe nine years ago? Peter Steele is a flat out racist and that’s not okay. He said some overtly xenophobic things. In a venue full of people. I remember looking at the people around me and them looking back in a moment of, “Did that just really happen”? I never bought an album after that. I’ll admit, I still own everything I bought before then and break it out from time to time, but never again will I finance that band. Well, I guess now, I really don’t need to. It’s kind of a shame that all that hotness was wasted on a white supremacist.
Weird to think about Peter Steele as a dead guy, though. Guess we’ll just have to wait and see…
***Update***
Well, that didn’t take long. Confirmed by Blabbermouth:

TYPE O NEGATIVE keyboardist Josh Silver has confirmed to BLABBERMOUTH.NET that the band’s frontman, Peter Steele, passed away yesterday (Wednesday, April 14) at the age of 48. No official cause of death has yet been released, but it is believed that Steele died of heart failure.
According to unconfirmed reports, Steele had been ill for days leading up to his death.
Mistress Juliya (a.k.a. Juliya Chernetsky) of Fuse TV broke the news on her Twitter page last night, stating that she spoke to TYPE O NEGATIVE guitarist Kenny Hickey just before midnight New York time, and that Kenny confirmed that the rumors were true.
Back in 2005, many people were shocked when they logged on to the TYPE O NEGATIVE web site and saw a gravestone with the words “Peter Steele – 1962 – 2005 …. Free At Last” carved on it. According to Epinions.com, there were rumors at the time that Steele was sick (with anything from cancer to AIDS), was on his deathbed, attempted suicide … and the list goes on. Needless to say, it turned out that Steele was very much alive and the gravestone was merely a joke, albeit one the wasn’t viewed as being in particularly good taste.
Steele was born Petrus T. Ratajczyk on January 4, 1962 in Brooklyn, New York. He stood 6′ 7″ (201 cm) tall, and had a low, bass-heavy voice, which was one of the most recognizable features in TYPE O NEGATIVE’s music.
Before forming TYPE O NEGATIVE, Steele played for the metal group FALLOUT and the thrash band CARNIVORE.

YOU! Can Help Stop Violence Against Female Journalists

In light of the recent imprisonment and release of Euna Lee and Laura Ling, now is the time to stop violence against female journalists around the world.

These women who fight every day to have stories told are constantly berated and threatened just to get this information to you. It’s easy to think that this sort of thing happens only in developing countries, but it happens here, too! A recent survey found that a staggering 82% of female reporters worldwide have been threatened or attacked because of their work.

Everyday they write articles knowing that it can ultimately lead to their persecution, but they do it anyway to release the truth to the masses. It’s time to stop the silencing of female journalists.

Here’s what you can do to help:

- Ask your senators to support the Daniel Pearl Act, which helps monitor violations of press freedoms.
- Join The Committee to Protect Journalists, which helps reporters working within authoritarian governments get their voices heard.
- Visit imwf.org to petition for already imprisoned journalists.

Most importantly, remember our rights for a free press. We are all entitled to that. Whenever a reporter is silenced, so are we!

Stimulus Funded Puget Sound Clean Up

So, last night I saw this on NBC Nightly News:

Actually, I cannot for the life of me get this shit to embed, so go watch it here. Dammit.

Rather than piecing together small grants which could have taken 15 years or longer, this cleanup effort, organized by the Northwest Straights Initiative and funded by Obama’s stimulus package, can do so much more at one time, saving thousands of dying creatures trapped in these nets, like the Puget Sound King Crab in the video above.

Help support the clean up of Lolita’s former home and keep our oceans clean:

Department of Ecology
People for Puget Sound
Puget Sound Partnership

For more information on Lolita:

Save Lolita
Orca Network
Miami Seaprison

“Titan of Teen Angst, Director John Hughes, Dies at 59″

From NY Daily News:

John Hughes, whose coming-of-age movies captured an American teenage generation between Elvis Presley and Britney Spears, died Thursday of an apparent heart attack while walking on a Manhattan street.
He was 59.
Hughes, a Michigan native who lived in Illinois, was visiting his family in New York, according to a spokeswoman.
Matthew Broderick, who starred in Hughes’ 1986 hit “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off,” said he was “truly shocked and saddened by the news about my old friend. … He was a wonderful, very talented guy and my heart goes out to his family.”
Hughes’ 1984 film “Sixteen Candles” established him as the signature teen filmmaker of that decade, and made “John Hughes movie” into shorthand for a sometimes agonizing but ultimately upbeat look at teenage years.
“Sixteen Candles” made a star of Molly Ringwald, and he directed her again in two subsequent films, “The Breakfast Club” and “Pretty in Pink.”
Ringwald said she was “stunned and incredibly sad” to hear about Hughes’ death.
“He will be missed – by me and by everyone that he has touched,” she said in a statement on People.com.
Some of the actors in his films, including Ringwald, Andrew McCarthy, Anthony Michael Hall, Ally Sheedy and Judd Nelson, became known as the Brat Pack.
In contrast to raucous 1980s teen comedies like the “Porky’s” series, Hughes films were sweet, often sentimental. Their heroes and heroines, who started out feeling like misfits, were rewarded for the basic virtues of good hearts and decency.
He kept them from being simply throwbacks to some romanticized earlier age by effective use of realistic teen dialogue.
Hughes was working as an ad copywriter when he broke into showbiz by selling jokes to comedians like Rodney Dangerfield. He went to work for the National Lampoon and scored his breakthrough by writing the screenplay for the 1983 hit film “National Lampoon’s Vacation,” which starred Chevy Chase.
That film showcased Hughes’ ear for droll absurdity. When the dimwitted brother-in-law of Chase’s character is grilling dinner and says he’s using Hamburger Helper, Chase mutters that yeah, that’s good with a little meat. The brother-in-law says, “You add meat?”
His high school movies centered on the girl who doesn’t feel pretty enough, the guy who feels like an idiot, the arrogant bullies who pick on them, and the awkward moments they endure before it all works out.
Hughes’ movies also featured lavish and smart use of music.
Hughes did a few more teen movies, including “Weird Science” and “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off,” then scored with “Planes, Trains and Automobiles” in 1987 and even bigger with “Home Alone” in 1990.
After that, however, he headed for the exits. The last film he directed was “Curly Sue,” in 1991. In 1994, he retired from both the film business and the public eye – which he had never enjoyed.
His last public project was writing an independent film, “Reach the Rock,” in 1999.
Hughes is survived by his wife, Nancy, to whom he was married for 39 years, and two sons, James and John.

Wow, it really is a terrible year for celebrities. I think I speak for all the brains, the athletes, the basket cases, the princesses, and the criminals when I say that he’ll be sorely missed.

Obama, A Socialist? Really?

From Greg Gutfield, host of Red Eye:

Posters of President Obama made up as Heath Ledger’s Joker with “socialism” written below have been showing up around Los Angeles and it’s being greeted with outrage-y outrage from the typically outraged.
Some are calling it racist, others are calling it “dangerous”; I’m calling it: “Steve” — which is Greg for “boring.”
The Web site Newsbusters points out that — after all — that former President Bush had been portrayed as everything from Dracula to the Joker to worse: a Texan! And, while media hacks point out that criticizing Obama is unfair because he’s only been on the job for six months, that’s bat poop.
Hatred for Bush began the moment he took office and Sarah Palin was only around for a few weeks before lefties were wearing T-shirts with her face and a vulgar word beneath it (hint: It rhymes with bunt.)
And besides, this Obama Joker face only elevates his hip persona and it’s honest. Seriously, we live in a culture where anti-heroes have replaced heroes — hence Ledger’s joker is far cooler than Bale’s Batman. (At least the Joker didn’t yell at his mom at the premiere.)
The Joker scoffed at tradition, reveled in post-modern humor and, more importantly, was played by a dead guy. You can’t get any cooler than that, even if, like me, you do Pilates wearing only body paint.
Finally, as so many Obama-lovers point out, our president is more than a president, he’s a pop culture icon — and you can’t go more than five feet without seeing a shirt, a button or a jock strap with his face plastered on it
At least with these new posters, the media has a message.

Another cultural pop-shot on Obama. If this poster was designed to be a smear campaign for Obama, I would have to say EPIC FAIL. Reportedly, Obama had one of the highest percentages of young voters…ever.

Excuse me? Was anyone awake for Halloween last year? Did you not see millions upon million of people 13-35 dressed as Heath Ledger’s Joker?

Really, I could get into the rant again about how I’m a huge fucking socialist, but why bother when you can read it here.

Honestly, I think it’s pretty sweet. I wish people were able to have a Socialist government without spazzing the fuck out. And did you ever notice that it’s always the well-to-do who bitch about Socialism? The trickle down theory has obviously worked SO WELL, let’s keep it up! Yeah, it’s worked so well, for the already rich.


You know, even with this whole health care situation at the moment…Adam and I were sitting on the couch watching the news one morning last week and there were talking about it. If it meant that every American would have health insurance, I would gladly take a percentage out of my paycheck. If taking money out of my paycheck gives health insurance to people like say, my husband, or the vast majority of my family who does not have health insurance, I’d jump on it in a heartbeat. I live paycheck to paycheck (if my paycheck lasts that long). Think about it, take ONE percent of everyone’s paycheck and with all the money grubbing-greedy bastards out there, that would end up being a lot. Like, a whole lot. If it means my husband has health insurance, PLEASE take that one percent. I’ll tell you what, I’LL take the one percent and MAIL IT TO YOU, okay? I’ll even pay for the envelope and postage!


People are now bitching about the Clunkers fo Cash For Cars program, saying that we’re just dumping our debt onto the next generation. WTF do they think has been happening for the last hundreds of years? If the goverment was so great before, can you tell me why I have no fucking Social Security?

Jesus. Every president will be worse than the last to someone. Every. Single. Time. What ever happened to working together? What I see is a lot of people complaining and not one single person proposing other options.

It’s easy to tell someone when they’re wrong, but that doesn’t make you right!

And then, there’s this. There should just be an audio clip with children shouting, “HOORAY CAPITALISM!”.

American Reporters Freed From North Korea /slash/ Current TV

As I’m sure you all know, American reporters Laura Ling and Euna Lee have been released from captivity in North Korea and have returned home.

From BBC News:

US journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee told their families they had no intention of entering North Korea when they went to the border with China to report on the plight of North Korean refugees.

But on 17 March they were seized by North Korean border guards and accused of illegally entering the country to carry out “hostile acts”.

After more than four months in captivity, a high-level visit from former US President Bill Clinton secured their release.

Euna Lee and Laura Ling are journalists with San Francisco-based Current TV, a media venture co-founded by former US Vice-President Al Gore.

Ms Ling, a 32-year-old California native, has experience covering the conflict in Sri Lanka, Brazilian slave labour and Iran’s underground youth culture.

Ms Lee, a 36-year-old South Korean-born US citizen, is an editor with Current TV.

From the time they were captured, the two women’s families urged the authorities in Pyongyang to release them, saying they were worried about the “mental state and wellbeing” of the pair.

In a joint statement, the families said Ms Ling suffered from an ulcer and that Ms Lee had a four-year-old daughter who was “displaying signs of anguish”.

“We believe that the three months they have already spent under arrest with little communication with their families is long enough,” the statement said.

While I am trying to remain hopeful, each day becomes harder and harder to bear. I am so lonely and scared
Laura Ling, in a letter home

Ms Ling’s husband, Iain Clayton, appeared on US TV networks and read out a letter she had written from captivity: “While I am trying to remain hopeful, each day becomes harder and harder to bear. I am so lonely and scared.”

Their hopes appeared dashed in early June when a quick trial saw them convicted and sentenced to 12 years of “reform through labour”.

‘Smear campaign’

Initially, there were denials from the American side that they had gone into North Korea – and both South Korean media and diplomatic sources said the North’s guards had crossed into Chinese territory to arrest them.

But a few days after their trial, the North’s state media said the two had admitted entering the North and accepted their sentences.

Official news agency KCNA also said they had admitted getting footage for a “smear campaign” about North Korea’s human rights.

Their sentences could potentially have seen the two women working in a prison labour camp in North Korea’s notoriously brutal penal system.

It seems, however, that the two were well-treated and kept in a Pyongyang guest house, with access to consular services provided by Sweden’s embassy in North Korea and allowed to make several phone calls to their families in the US.

It was during these phone calls that the pair said Pyongyang had suggested that a visit by Mr Clinton could secure their freedom, US officials have said.

Analysts say they were probably being kept as bargaining chips to wrest concessions or direct talks with the United States.

But the US has said Mr Clinton did not discuss any other issues other than the women’s freedom during his trip to Pyongyang.

The reporters’ families, and officials in Washington, had urged that Pyongyang keep this case separate from the nuclear issue bedevilling relations between North Korea and the US.

Washington insists it will only hold bilateral talks on the nuclear stalemate with Pyongyang under the auspices of the stalled six-party negotiations – which also include South Korea, Japan, China and Russia.

Tensions in the region have soared in recent months, as North Korea has conducted a nuclear test and fired a long-range missile, drawing widespread international condemnation.

Out of all of this, what totally blows my mind? Al Gore is the chairman of Current TV!? I fucking love Current. Not that I dislike Al Gore (except for the saving the polar bears part. Seriously, fuck polar bears), but now I just feel weird. How did I not know this before? Well, I guess they’re not going to cut into a show and just be like, “HEY! Al Gore owns us”!

Current is still freaking awesome though. In case you’ve missed the boat on that one, Current TV is an alternative news channel with a great deal of viewer created content. Everything from news to podcasts to commercials…they do it all.

Check it out sometime. It’s a nice change of pace from the regular news.

Current TV

Some ACTUAL News, Please?

Between last night's news and this morning's, I have finally reached the limit on how often I can hear about Michael Jackson.

For fuck's sake people, there is actual news occurring everyday and we're missing it for what? A half-plastic, drug-addicted dead man.

Things that were pushed off of the NEWS, not the Today Show or Dateline, the regular fucking news:

1. The Iranian Election. Iranian opposition leaders have called for  the release of  people detained during the post-election protests. A "strongly-worded" statement on the Ghalamnews website has expressed their criticism of "attacks against innocent people, dormitories, and houses... and some shocking brutalities carried out by plainclothes forces supported by security forces" and also referred to the deaths of protesters "whose only crime was to object to the election fraud... at spontaneous several-million-strong demonstrations held in extraordinary peace and order. If their rights had been slightly respected or if the people had not been lied to or disrespected, the situation would have never turned to a national crisis." They have called for an end to the security-state of Iran, let's see who answers.

2. North Korea. Even after the UN Security Council condemned North Korea for the nuclear test explosion on May 25, 2009, and demanded that North Korea not "conduct any further nuclear test or any launch using ballistic missile technology," the Pyongyang government launched SEVEN missiles on July 4, 2009. On Monday, the UN Security Council has a closed-door meeting that quite frankly, no one seems to know anything about. MAYBE IF IT WAS COVERED ON THE NEWS!?

3. Chinese Riots. China's worst ethnic violence in years has been  going on since Sunday and who would've known!? More than 140 people are already dead with over 800 injured as Chinese riot police and Uighurs (a Muslim minority) clash in the streets of Urumqi. The Urumqi women have been rioting in the streets to save their husbands who have been arrested, beaten, abused, and tortured.

Everyday, we have people fighting, literally fighting to the death for simple rights, and here we are glued to our television sets because a pop-star died. It's goddamn ridiculous.

On a completely unrelated note, please remember that you can still Vote NO on the Miami Seaquarium! You can vote once per day, so keep 'em comin'!