Radio Regulations?

Dear Radio,

Why is it that in Christina Aguilera's song Keeps Gettin' Better, she can sing

"So baby yes, I know what I am
And no, I don’t give a damn
And you’ll be loving it,

Some days I’m a super bitch
Up to my old tricks
But it won’t last forever"

and the radio does not censor the word bitch, but when Katy Perry sings her song Hot N Cold, they silence it out? (In one case, I heard a little cuckoo birdie over it, which was hilarious.)

"You change your mind
Like a girl changes clothes
Yeah you, PMS
Like a b*tch
I would know"

This makes no sense to me. And Christina says it four times in her song, as opposed to Katy Perry's one. Do not use the excuse of time of day. I have heard these songs back to back during afternoon rush hour traffic sung exactly this way.

I don't think it's fair. What sort of standards practice do you have? The same rules should apply to everyone.

Love,
A concerned listener.


End Blog.

KC Star Letter to the Editor

I don't read the paper much, and I don't visit it online much, either... but we usually have a paper floating about the lunch tables at work and the two coworkers I was eating with today were perusing its pages. So, I was reading bits and pieces over their shoulders and those things pointed out to me.

I read a letter to the editor that made me really angry, so I pointed it out to my friends so that I wasn't the only one seething over it. They were equally as angry, because unlike the author of the letter, they were educated in this matter. (I found it for you online at http://www.kansascity.com/309/story/832962-p3.html and have copied it below.)

Sexualized culture promotes rape

The Star’s article “Motive may never be known” (9/15, Local) questioning how Edwin Hall went from juvenile delinquent to rapist and murderer turned a blind eye to the obvious.

The abduction, sexual assault and murder of Kelsey Smith is more evidence of the negative effects of a highly sexualized culture on communities. Rapes have increased in Kansas City by 45 percent. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that 26 percent of teenage girls have a sexually transmitted disease.

It is cause and effect: garbage in, garbage out. We can’t afford to be indifferent and dismiss as harmless fun the pervasive flood of highly sexualized commercials, videos, TV entertainment, Internet porn and sexualized music, all exacerbated by emerging handheld communication technologies. The pornification of America has changed everything.

Kelsey Smith was likely one more tragic victim of fantasy-driven criminal behavior. The public will never know? Wake up and smell the coffee. We all know. Denial and desensitization are the issues we should examine.

Phillip Cosby

Executive director, Kansas City Office

of the National Coalition for the Protection

of Children and Families

Overland Park

Really? Really Phillip Cosby? There are a million fallacies about what you have written.

I'd love to know where you got the statistic that rapes have increased in Kansas City by 45 percent. LOVE to know. Because, as one who works on these sorts of crimes, I have not seen an increase like that. Maybe you need to be more specific. Rapes have gone up 45 percent since when? The 1920s? Maybe. But you could counter argue that women just weren't reporting it back then.

Besides that one little "fact", I'd like to point something out to you regarding criminology. Rape isn't about the sexual act. It's about power and control. It's violent, not sexual. So, your argument is completely STUPID.

I banish you from writing letters to the newspaper, now and forevermore!

Secondly, I looked up the National Coalition for the blah blah blah...* of which Phillip Cosby is the Executive Director.

Do you know what their mission is? "To protect people from the harms of pornography and the sexual messages of today's culture." Oh, come on!

I for one, am sick of people not taking responsibility for their actions. Edwin Hall is a rapist and a murderer and you, Phillip Cosby, are blaming his actions on all of society. No. This is Edwin Hall's fault. There are millions of people out there right now exposed to the same horrible cell phones and television and commercials and music that he was and they seem to behave appropriately. All of society is not running amuck raping and murdering each other. This is not a cultural problem. Rapes and murders happen everywhere - even places where they don't have televisions and internet pornography.

People should hold themselves accountable for their actions. It's not a question of the "pornification of America" or what sort of pressure society is putting on the populous, but rather having good moral and ethical character to know that rape and murder are wrong and abstaining from them. Our culture has not desensitized us to that and entertainment has not brainwashed society to turn a blind eye to these actions.

If they had, Edwin Hall wouldn't be in jail for the rest of his life.

Oh no! Someone take my cell phone away from me! I'm feeling the urge to rape and murder! Is that prime time television coming on? Oh Noooooooooo!


End Blog.

*This site is uber religious. The offices are bases in Kansas. Enter at your own risk. As a gauge of how crazy they are in their religion, they have a section under their links to five different homosexuality recovery websites.

The Chipotle Ban

Last Tuesday I went to Chipotle, my favorite lunch venue. I ordered the same exact thing that I always order: Chicken burrito, rice, black beans, medium green salsa, sour cream, cheese, guacamole. I also picked up some chips for my coworkers (I don't like the lime flavor). When I got back to work to eat my meal, there was not a speck of chicken on my chicken burrito. I double checked the order and my receipt. Both had the word chicken. Coworkers informed me that the chips were also stale.


"How can you not put chicken on a chicken burrito?" I ranted. "I'm still hungry!" I exclaimed. "I'm banning Chipotle!" I threatened. "I'm writing Chipotle a letter!"

In fact, I actually did have a sit out on Chipotle last Friday. When it was suggested, I made everyone go to Planet Sub instead. That's how serious I was about my missing chicken. And, I did write them a letter.

Dear Chipotle,

I've absolutely loved the Waldo Chipotle store in the past; they had quality food and excellent customer service under manager Angela Manning. I've always ordered online and picked up my food and Angela has known me the second I walked in the door, always greeting me with a friendly smile. It felt like my Cheers. I ate there so often she recognized my voice on the phone when I'd call to confirm my order.

Lately I haven't seen much of Angela, and I don't know if she's left the store or has different work hours, but since her observed absence, the overall quality has gone down. I love Chipotle and still frequent the store, but will likely go there less after today's meal. I ordered a chicken burrito and chips and when I got back to my office to eat, there was no chicken in my chicken burrito. Even my receipt claimed it was a chicken burrito, but not a bit was found. It was sad and unsatisfying and when I turned to my bag of chips for solace, I found them stale. It was a disappointing meal that left me hungry - the first time in history Chipotle has done so.

I miss the quality that I had grown to love from that store. I don't know when I'll be able to return, for fear of more holes in my burrito tortilla shells and the dreaded missing meat. I don't want to stand in line to supervise the making of my meal, especially when it's been done so superbly in the past.

Tell Angela I miss her. She was always my favorite part of giving up the money to pay for my food anyway.

Today I got a reply email from Dawn Dillon. It seems her job title is Mojo Mama.

Nikki,

I'm sorry we have disappointed you at our Waldo location. I am not aware of where Angela may now be, perhaps she received a promotion and moved to another location. Regardless, you should still be able to count on the service you receive and feel confident that your food will be made correctly. We will check into this further right away.

I would be glad to replace this chickenless meal with another so please give me your address when you have a moment. I will mail you a burrito buck to use.

Thank you for writing to us. We'll see if we can find Angela and will pass along your message to her.

Sincerely,

Dawn Dillon
Mojo Mama
Chipotle

I'll let you know if I ever get my burrito buck. I emailed her my address tonight. Also, I really do hope that they track down Angela. She was really good at her job and I doubt she was ever recognized for it. That place is not the same anymore.

I wonder if I'm on some sort of Chipotle watch list now. How many free burritos do you think I can get?


End Blog.