Category: Culture

What Happened to Ryan Cabrera? His once enviable good looks seem to have gone the way of his career – down the tube. I’m not one usually to hate, but take a look at him before with that awesome hair and now he looks like a poor man’s version of Johnny Depp from Pirates of the Carribean.

And what is going on with those glasses?

According to Kiddlive…

David Archuletta had a little trouble with the lyrics on “American Idol” this week. But was it more than just a bad case of nerves? “Entertainment Tonight” is reporting that David may have been feeling the pressure from his father, who reportedly yelled at David during a recording session on Monday. Apparently Stage Dad Jeff wasn’t too happy with the way David was singing and even brought him to tears. And reportedly, this isn’t the first time Stage Dad Jeff has caused problems. When David was a 12-year-old contestant on “Star Search,” there were rumors that he harassed a girl competing against David so ruthlessly that he was banned from the set.

Who in the world could be mean to David Archuletta? He is sort of otherworldy in his innocence and sweetness. I’d like to pop his dad Jeff in the mouf and tell him he needs to chill out or else his son is going to end up like Britney.

Dolly Parton won’t be singing this year in SXSW because of some serious back pain. Some say that can be caused from really large boobs, is that true or more of an urban myth? It seems like after a while your body would get used to carrying those things around.

Janet Jackson had to give up her spot on SNL this weekend because of a serious case of the FLU. However, the lovely and talented Mariah Carey is stepping into her place. I don’t know which of these two ladies I love more, but when it comes to Diva’s, they are at the top of my list.

Madonna orders Timberlake to drop pants
Justin Timberlake has revealed that pop queen Madonna ordered him to drop his trousers so that she could give him a B-12 injection.
Full Story here>>

Madonna also released a new single recently called “Hey You”. They dropped it yesterday on Kiss FM. Listeners called in and most of them said, “That sucks.”

In other horrific news, this happened this morning in Dallas:

Police: Boys struggled as mom threw them off overpass into I-30 traffic

Two children struggled Wednesday morning before their mother threw them 22 feet from an overpass into oncoming Interstate 30 rush-hour traffic, Dallas police said.

Khandi Busby, 27, then jumped herself from the overpass railing on Jim Miller Road, police said.

“The children were trying to stave off from being thrown but were overpowered,” said Dallas police Lt. C.L. Williams.

Read Full Story and see video footage>>

What do these big name brands have in common? They are global brands.

When I was growing up I remember my dad saying negative comments about foreign countries taking over our gas stations. I watched a 1980’s rerun of a show with a series of comedians performing and one of them was making fun of the way Japanese people spoke and then said, “If you can’t speak the language then get the F(*$@ out of the country!” The audience applauded and whooped wildly.

When Dell first started using India for phone computer support people didn’t like it. They wanted to speak with someone that spoke English as their first language. When jobs started leaving the US we wanted to shake our fist at large corporations who seemingly only wanted to make more money.

What I found interesting about all of this is that 90% of Americans aren’t educated when it comes to Globalization, Foreign Direct Investment and International Trade. The world is changing so rapidly due to technological advances that we can’t keep up. Why is the dollar weak? Why do corporations outsource? What caused the great depression?

I’m 32 and I only recently heard of the Smoot-Hawley Act and how it affected the Great Depression. I also thought the Great Depression only impacted the US, I had no idea that it was a global phenomenon and that the Smoot Hawley Act of the 1930’s only worsened the depression by limiting international trade.

So why did I mention Starbucks, Toys R’ Us, McDonalds, Coke and Nike in the title of this post? Because they are global corporations that benefit Americans by investing internationally. Americans are so often ethnocentric that we turn our nose up when it comes to international business in America, but what if the rest of the world did the same thing? Starbucks has over 8,400 stores and 2000 of those are in other countries. There are over 150 Toys R’ Us’ in Japan alone, McDonalds has over 31,000 restaurants worldwide employing 1.5 million people and residing in 119 countries. Coke employees close to 90,000 people and they are located in over 200 countries with people consuming 1.5 billion servings per day. And I found this on Nike’s website: As of May 2006, Nike’s three main product engines – footwear, apparel and equipment – used almost 700 contract factories in 52 countries to manufacture all Nike products, employing close to 800,000 workers. It is our mission to make responsible sourcing a business reality that enhances the lives of these workers.

If any country is taking over the world it is the United States. We make the most recognizable products, we are envied around the globe for our freedoms, we are the most innovative and it is because we are made up of people from all over the world. We make the best use of resources from other countries. We have been blessed, but we need to start educating ourselves more on what is happening in our world. We need to work harder, become smarter, keep being creative in an effort to continue to be the best.