What they are watching... Episode XXI

Our look at what the teens and tweens of America are watching. We peer into their world through the lens of Youtube. You may have caught some of our earlier episodes, if not, follow this link [and scroll down past this post].

This video from Yung Humma is blowing up. He introduces the portmanteau "smang." We can't decide if Yung and his buddy, Flynt Flossy, are being facetious in the manner of the Steam Punk movement, ala Professor Elemental, or keeping it real.

Girl survives fall from Golden Gate Bridge

Witnesses reported seeing a sixteen year-old girl, who has not been publicly identified, go over the side of the bridge at 10:56 a.m. Sunday morning. It has not been clarified whether she fell or jumped from the popular suicide spot. According to ABC News the girl survived the 220 foot fall off of the bridge span into the river making her the second teenager to survive the trauma this year. In March, a sixteen year-old male leaped, only to survive the experience unharmed when he was fished from the San Francisco Bay by a surfer.

Flip-flops are bad for your feet

This is something we long suspected at the Clarion Content, and not just because we find it offensive to look at men's hairy toes all Summer long.

Perhaps somewhat surprisingly, there has been a lot of research conducted regarding flip-flops. Recent studies have found that flip-flop wearers tend to grip their footwear tightly with their toes, which causes shorter stride length and improper force when their feet hit the ground. This transfers stress up the leg. Overcompensation to fight against this trend can lead to painful plantar fasciitis.

The key, choosing flip-flops with good arch support, don't buy the cheapest ones you can. And don't wear them all Summer long, mix it up a little.

Read more here from Dr. John Whyte, Chief Medical Expert and VP, Health and Medical Education at Discovery Channel, writing for the Huffington Post.

Seen on Twitter today

Here are a couple of the fun and funny things that have crossed our Twitterscape today.

"Housewives experience the highest rate of sexual harassment in the workplace."

---Kelly Oxford

"If you think nobody cares if you're alive, try missing a couple of payments."

"Behind every successful man is his woman. Behind the fall of a successful man is usually another woman."

"Women might be able to fake orgasms. But men can fake a whole relationship."

---Al Bergette

"To be hated for what I am is better than to be loved for something I am not."

---Girls & Her Deals of NYC

What they are watching...Episode XX

Our look at what the teens and tweens of America are watching. We peer into their world through the lens of Youtube. You may have caught some of our earlier episodes, if not, follow this link and [scroll down].

This fascinating video was filmed by students at East Chapel Hill High School. It tracks cultural recognition. It is an eye-opening look, don't get to caught up on the youthful respondents, ask yourself how much better your friends would do.

Charity

The famous 12th century Spanish Jew pictured above, Moses ben-Maimon, is more commonly known as Maimonides. The Clarion Content's editor has long been fond of the code of charitable giving that he wrote. Maimonides wrote a lot of things in his time, Abraham J. Heschel once said, "If one did not know that Maimonides was the name of a man, one would assume it was the name of a university."

The Clarion Content likes the code of charitable conduct because the by-laws of dignity imply there is a grace to giving charity properly. We like this guidance.

Maimonides on Charitable Giving (paraphrased)

The highest degree of charity, exceeded by none, is that of finding a person a job, gainful employment, a business or a craft, an opportunity to provide for him or herself, that leaves them henceforth no longer dependent on the aid of others.

The next step beneath that is anonymous charitable giving where the giver does not know whom the recipient is going to be (only that the cause is good) and the donor remains anonymous, that is, he or she does not take credit for the charitable giving done publicly, anywhere. It is anonymous charity.

The next step beneath that is anonymous charitable giving where the giver does know whom the recipient is going to be. The identity of the donor is still anonymous, but the donor has direct how, where, and/or to whom the charity is to be distributed.

The next step beneath that is where the recipient of the aid knows where it is coming from, that is to say the giver proclaims somewhere publicly that they are giving the charity, but they are not told the exact how, where, and/or to whom the charity is to be distributed.

The next level is a where the giver and the receiver both know each other, but the giver gives the charity, help, aid or assistance before the recipient even has to ask for it.

The next degree lower is the giver who gives charitably only after the poor person asks directly, e.g., they are shamed into it.

Maimonides says the next degree lower than that is the person who gives less than can really afford to or should give, less than charitably, but at least they do not begrudge what they give.

Finally, the lowest degree is those who give less than they can afford to give, and give that begrudgingly and morosely.

Of course, below that would be those who give not all.

Food for thought.

Passover, a fresh take

Check out this bemusing modern take on how the exodus from Egypt would have gone down in our era of social networking revolts.



Hey Jews, recognize that Passover ditty playing in the background?

Credit to a denzien of Riverdale, NY for sending this our way.

Twain masters meeting

They say never the twain shall meet. Are they right? Or can we close this energetic web that is our time defiant singularity?

Charlie Sheen in motion

Charlie Sheen is not standing still. He has yet to recover his "Two and a Half Men" gig, and at the Clarion Content we like Bill Simmons suggestion that Rob Lowe would be a near seamless replacement.

Meanwhile Charlie and team #tigerblood had their first live show last night. It was widely panned by the critics and apparently booed in Detroit. Tough crowd in a downtrodden city, Bree Olsen and Natalie Kenly making out to open the show was applauded, somewhere shortly after that Charlie lost his way. At the Clarion Content we do not see this is a reflection of Sheen's lack of talent. Rather, the way we read the reviews, Sheen was punished for his lack of investment in good writers. People did not like his impromptu rants and Sheen admitted too much of his material was unscripted. Reshowing clips from his interviews, sounds and feels stale.

Sheen needs a good team of writers to channel his neurosis. He should be free flowing in an unremittingly self-parodying way. If he is going to get up on stage, he cannot be Sean Penn ranting his opinions at people. The masses are far more delighted by the Reality show paradigm, from Jersey Shore to someone like Kacey Jordan publishing her life and adventures on Twitter. When Charlie was #winning he was a firehose of moments, events, and adventures, the culture was participating in the Sheen experience. What was he going to do next? Society just couldn't look away, we had to know.

Can he recapture that? Probably not. But could a team of good writers do him up a brilliant self-parodyingly funny one man show that he could do every night? Definitely. Sheen can act. Team #tigerblood just needs to find the right sharp pens and it will be #winning again.

Can I help you with that?

Seven New York State IT (information technology) workers had asked that question many, many times in the course of doing their jobs. Now after revealing that the seven of them are who bought the $319 million dollar winning Mega Millions lottery ticket, the question will be put to them. All their friends, neighbors, acquaintances, co-workers and relatives will now be asking them, "Can I help you with that?" referring to the $19.1 million checks the state employees will each receive after taxes. Anyone in Wisconsin jealous?

The winners range in age from twenty-nine to sixty-three. The ticket was bought in Albany, New York.

Read more here, including the crazy side story about the man who almost purchased the winning ticket.