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Indian Foreign Minister Reads Wrong Speech at UN

20 Feb

S.M. Krishna spoke before the United Nations about poverty and social unrest, reading from the text of a speech. Too bad it wasn’t his speech. Krishna actually was reading the Portuguese foreign minister’s prepared remarks. Once Luis Amado finished speaking, Krishna picked up a circulated copy of Amado’s speech and began speaking. He noted, with pleasure, how great it was to have two Portugese-speaking countries at the same event. India loves the Portugese language after all.

Admittedly, Amado ditched the prepared remarks for his speech and spoke extemporaneously. How confusing! The mistake was only realized when the speech referred to the need for strengthened relations between the European Union and the UN. No India in the EU. As a defense, several analysts remind us that speeches before the UN often reference broad themes and speak in generalities. They obviously never took public speaking classes!

Daily Deal Site for Marijuana Products

19 Feb

If you’re in Colorado and have a prescription for medical marijuana, you’re in luck. A new website, mmjdailydeals.com, launched in February and offers a daily deal on medical marijuana-related products. The site’s creator claims that 10,000 people have already subscribed to his service, which sends a daily targeted offer to subscribers based on their zip code. Even if the business takes off, it might prove challenging to expand. Colorado is currently the only state that allows medical marijuana businesses to operate for profit.

Here’s an example of a daily deal. There is now officially a daily deal site for everything.

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World’s Worst Place to Be Gay

18 Feb

DJ Scott MIlls

DJ Scott Mills traveled to Uganda for a BBC on being gay in that country— routinely cited as one of (if not the least) tolerant places in the world. For much of the documentary (available on YouTube), he does not openly disclose his sexuality, fearing people would not speak to him if they knew the truth. In one part, though, he meets a witch doctor who attempts to cure him of “being gay,” since people in Uganda believe it is a lifestyle choice.

The “ritual” consisted of having a live chicken rubbed over Mills’ back, then having a flame extinguished over his head. It didn’t appear that he was taking it too seriously.

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Real Life Eerily Parallels Lax Bro Stereotype

18 Feb

Those of us who studied at colleges on the East Coast are probably familiar with the stereotype of the “Lax Bro.” Now, stereotypes are often based partially on the truth, but not this much. See if these facts sound familiar…

  • Daniel Brown is a banker out of Manhattan, who makes $120,000 a year at Sovereign Bank.
  • While searching his house, cops found cocaine in a safe.
  • They were in the house to search for evidence against Brown in a sexual assault case, brought forth by an ex-girlfriend.
  • During the alleged assault, Brown beat the woman with a lacrosse stick, yelling “you ruined my Thursday night!”
  • The complaint also says that Brown “punched her in bed, smashed her face into a mirror and rammed his fist down her throat to make her throw up.”
  • As part of his defense, Brown will use a secretly videotaped consensual sexual encounter with another woman where he used his lacrosse stick with her consent.
  • He played lacrosse at Ohio State University and had a domestic violence conviction from those days.

Sounds like every one of the horrible stereotypes confirmed, in one case.

Silhouette of Daniel Brown

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Red Cross Employee Gloria Huang Sends Out Hilarious Tweet

18 Feb

This past Tuesday, Red Cross Social Media Expert Gloria Huang learned of some important news. She had to share it with her followers on Twitter. The problem? She accidentally sent the tweet from the official Red Cross Twitter account (anyone who uses HootSuite can relate to her error). Here’s what she sent:

Gloria Huang's Tweet

The company took the error in stride, and responded shortly afterward.

Because this is the internet, the story has a happy ending. Huang was not fired for her tweet, but the Red Cross actually received an increase in donations. The brewery in question, Dogfish Head, blogged about the incident and the the craft beer industry responded with donations to the Red Cross as well.  Bars began offering people free pints of Dogfish Head beer if they could prove they had donated to the Red Cross.

Go social media go!

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