- Now THIS is the kind of TA college dudes want in their
math class. A TA who shows a little T&A is just what the doctor(al)
candidate in the making ordered when slogging through that über-boring algebra
or trigonometry class and that’s precisely what a University of Iowa teaching assistant
“accidentally” did when sending out an email to the entire class last week. The
female TA sent still shots from what appear to be a sexting session with a male
special friend as attachments to an e-mail she mass emailed to the entire
pre-calculus class she helped teach to business students. The e-mail reads: “Hi
Class, I attach the solutions for number 76 and 78 in this email.” And no, she
did not include the solution for problem No. 69, so don’t even ask. As would be
expected, the images created an immediate stir on social media sites and the
embarrassed TA informed university officials what she had done. Oddly enough,
she is no longer assigned to their class and has been tasked elsewhere in the
department. University spokesman Tom Moore confirmed the assignment change and called
the incident unfortunate for all involved, which is of course blatantly untrue.
It’s fair to say that virtually all guys in the class would describe the
incident as anything but unfortunate and yet, the woman told university
officials she regrets her mistake. She is far from the first person to
accidentally attach the wrong file to an email, but she is also a shining
example of the reality that if you don’t take or keep nude pictures of
yourself, then nude pictures of yourself will never end up online. The best
part of the entire story is the TA trying to conduct class the next day as if
nothing had happened, a solution that obviously didn’t last long……..
- As if poor people didn’t already have enough to worry
about……now this? A new study led by Dr. Joan “Feel Good News” Luby of the Washington
University School of Medicine in St. Louis found that exposure to poverty in
early childhood is linked with smaller brain structures later in life. Yes, nurturing
can offset poverty's negative effect, but can poor folks really afford enough
nurturing to sufficiently overcome their low-class status? Luby and her team
conducted MRI exams on impoverished children and found that these children had
smaller white and gray matter volumes compared with normative values in early
adolescence. The researchers also found that poverty was a significant
predictor of left hippocampus volume and left amygdala volume. They discovered
that something as simple as supportive parental language during a laboratory
task conducted with preschool age children positively influenced left and right
hippocampus volumes later in life and therefore benefitted brain growth. The
education level of parents did not have any influence on brain development in
the study, meaning well-educated parents who pick crappy professions that pay
them little money don’t help their children’s brains. While all of this might
seem very abstract, the results should benefit future research into how early
adversity can influence human development throughout a life span. It may not be
on the same level as childhood exposure to lead, alcohol or drugs, but is
clearly matters. The 145 children in the study were all ages 6 to 12 and they
had all been followed since preschool. They were all culled from a pool of children
who participated in a preschool depression study. Parents were also involved in
the study and they were evaluated annually regarding stress during preschool
years. Both parents and children were interviewed when the children reached the
age of 9 and he assessment of supportive or hostile parenting was made after
evaluating parent/child interactions during a task. "The finding that the
effects of poverty on hippocampal development are mediated through care-giving
and stressful life events further underscores the importance of high-quality
early childhood care-giving,” the authors concluded………
- There is always a use for the most abhorrent and
mind-numbingly bad music…as proven by the past few years at Guantanamo Bay.
Don’t even bother asking how many terrorist confessions – both legit and those
fictional ones created solely to avoid more torture by song – have come out of
cranking Bieber, One Direction and Katy Perry to Gitmo’s captives…it’s a lot.
But perhaps no use of terrible music is more inspired than the efforts of
sailors who are using the song stylings of none other than Britney Spears to scare off Somali
pirates off the coast of east Africa. These intrepid protectors of the high
seas are spinning the likes of Spears’ ear-assaulting “hits” “Oops! I Did It
Again” and “Baby One More Time” to ward off new-age swashbucklers and keep
ships safe. Merchant Navy officer Rachel Owens, who works on supertankers off
the east coast of Africa, explained how the original concept came about. "Her
songs were chosen by the security team because they thought the pirates would
hate them most,” Owens succinctly stated. “These guys can’t stand Western
culture or music, making Britney’s hits perfect. As soon as the pirates get a
blast of Britney, they move on as quickly as they can.” It’s a great riff on
the ol’ retail store trick of playing classical music to send annoyed teenagers
scurrying to the exists and while Spears has made plenty of awful music since
those two songs and a more modern slant would be nice, what works is all that
matters. "Pirates will go to any lengths to avoid or try to overcome the
music,” said Steven Jones, of the Security Association for the Maritime
Industry, before dropping a real zinger. "I’d imagine using Justin Bieber
would be against the Geneva Convention." Hey-oh! Look at Steve-O, dropping
comedic bombs on the masses. If the sailors need more ammo, Spears will drop her
new album, “Britney Jean,” on Dec. 3……….
- For anyone who has ever been invited to a boring wedding
involving two people they barely know and has therefore been compelled to drop
$25 on a wedding gift for two near-strangers, an unidentified (and sorta
masked) man in Cyprus has exacted a measure of revenge. This maniac, wearing a stocking
over his head, dashed into a Cyprus wedding reception in the town of Limassol and
- in plain view of the stunned newlyweds and their guests - made off with a bag
filled with cash and checks from guests. Cypriot brides and grooms, like their
American counterparts, often count on such sacks of loot to help them get off
on the right foot in their new life. What’s interesting is that with security
at weddings decidedly lax virtually anywhere in the world, very few thieves
ever attempt to burst into a reception and Electric Slide their way through the
crowd, pilfer the cash and Chicken Dance their way out the door before anyone
can stop them. In Cyprus, such bags often contain thousands of euros and with
the island mired in a deep economic crisis, they are more important than ever. No
suspect has been officially identified, but police spokesman Andreas Angelides
said authorities have detained a man who fits the culprit's build and other
general description and are still investigating. However, they have not yet
found the bag of money, raising the possibility that the thief either hid it
somewhere nearby or was working with an accomplice who made off with the cash
unseen……..
- The Carolina Panthers are an angry bunch this season.
Considering their three-game winning streak and sudden status as NFC playoff
contenders, Ron Rivera’s crew should be much happier. Instead, combustible
receiver Steve Smith is vowing to punch opposing defensive backs in the mouth
if he sees them on the street and safety Mike Mitchell is calling out the
commissioner for allegedly making him a target for fines. Mitchell lobbed a
verbal scud at NFL commissioner Roger Goodell on Monday after he was fined $7,875
for taunting on a fourth-quarter play in which St. Louis Rams quarterback Sam
Bradford suffered a season-ending knee
injury. Mitchell doesn’t sound like a fan of the commish’s push to take some of
the über-violence out of football. Roger
being Roger, I guess," Mitchell said. "To be honest, I think there is
a little bit of a targeting system they have out. I think I'm one of the guys
they'd been looking for, but I'm OK with that." According to Mitchell,
this is his fifth fine of the year, including the preseason, totaling close to
$45,000. Although monies from fines are generally distributed to local
charities across all American professional sports leagues, Mitchell believes
his payments went elsewhere. Right in Roger's pocket. Right in his pocket. On camera,
right in his pocket is where it's going,” Mitchell deadpanned. He then noted
that two of his fines came on plays in which he wasn't penalized,
including his shove that sent Bradford out of bounds. He was fined for standing
on the sideline with his arms spread wide after the hit, unaware that Bradford
was injured. In his world view, the fine came because it involved a
"big-name quarterback." Mitchell is in his first year with the
Panthers and he’s working on a one-year deal, so perhaps some of his anger
comes from paying fines out of a salary much smaller than many of his
teammates. "I'm just being targeted because I play football and am
physical," Mitchell said. "I'm not out here cheap-shotting guys or
doing dirty plays like you've seen people from Detroit do. I'm not going to
name any names, but I'm not out here doing those things, so why I'm getting
fined I have no idea.” Fines or not, Mitchell has a definite reputation around
the league for being a borderline dirty player but insisted he has made an
effort to cut back on the personal fouls that hurt his team……..
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