TresSugar

A Lethally Choreographed '80s Gang Fight

GiggleSugar — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 16:00:00 -0700

The following is from an ABC after school special circa 1985 about street gangs. This scene was supposed to strike fear in the hearts of young children, but it must have only made them laugh. A lot. Or at least I hope it did. "Sashay, sashay, punch" may pass as gangsta in TV land, but not so much in reality- where thugs don't dance, they pose for cameras. Don't misrepresent.

White Dudes & Gang Signs

GiggleSugar — Sun, 16 Sep 2007 00:00:00 -0700

A little while back, there was an entertaining slide show depicting white chicks & gang signs. Well, here's a gallery of their male counterparts. These dudes are rough, tough, too cool to smile and, let's be honest, they got the latest curfews in town. Booyah! So who's your Slim Shady now?

View 9 Photos ›

Source

TREND WATCH: White Chicks & Gang Signs

GiggleSugar — Fri, 09 Mar 2007 11:01:49 -0800

If you're old school, you say "cheeeese." If you're a young white chick, you give a smirk and flash a gang sign. So what's, like, the dealio? C'mon now, it's an indirect means showing off a brand new manicure. They don't break skulls, they break nails.

glumbert.com - White Chicks & Gang Signs

Très Cool! Babies Cry in Their Native Language

TresSugar — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 02:00:00 -0800

I've always found it fascinating that dogs "bark" in different languages. Though we say "ruff ruff" in English, that same noise is expressed as "ouah, ouah" in French. Now here's something even cooler: German researchers have started to think that babies' wails sound different depending on what language their parents speak.

The scientists observed 60 babies born to families speaking French and German and found that the infants could be absorbing their parents' accents from inside the womb. In the last three months of pregnancy, babies have already begun to memorize sounds, and based on the analysis of the babies' cry "melodies," the sounds mapped closely to the parents' accents:

The French newborns cried with a rising "accent" while the German babies' cries had a falling inflection.

Writing in the journal Current Biology, they say the babies are probably trying to form a bond with their mothers by imitating them.

The findings suggest that unborn babies are influenced by the sound of the first language that penetrates the womb.

Fascinating, right? Now I want to hang out with a big international gang of babies and see if their cries all sound different. Wait, that means being trapped in a room with a bunch of crying babies - nevermind!

Someone Cared! Woman Called 911 in Richmond Rape Case

TresSugar — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 11:22:01 -0800

Margarita Vargas, an 18-year-old woman from Richmond, CA (and a graduate of Richmond High) was the lone person who called 911 on the night a teenager was gang raped outside her high school while a homecoming party was still going on. It's alleged that at least 20 people watched and did nothing. Vargas says that her brother-in-law came home and told her he'd seen a woman being raped; it was Vargas who insisted they call the police.

It might seem pretty sad that we're applauding Vargas for doing what people should do, as she said, "without thinking twice," but you'd be surprised how often people are apathetic. So many people are saying, "What do you expect of Richmond?" but I can say, as someone who was grabbed on the streets of San Francisco in broad daylight and ignored when I asked for help - apathy happens everywhere, in all communities. (Just read about the bystander effect.)

Many years ago, I was walking down a busy street in a popular business district in a "good neighborhood" and a man grabbed me inappropriately. I had just bought coffee, so instinctively, I poured it in his face and grabbed onto him, hoping to get him arrested. As I grappled with him, trying to make eye contact with people walking by, riding by on their bikes, driving by, and yelling, "Someone help! This man attacked me!" no one did anything. Eventually, I couldn't hold the man any longer, and he got away, perhaps to assault someone else later. Helping out is rarer than you think, so kudos to Margarita, who even walked over to the school to make sure the police had arrived.

Rape Victim Asks Community to Use Anger to Bring Change

TresSugar — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 14:00:00 -0800

Adding something positive to a very dark situation, the 15-year-old girl who was gang raped outside her homecoming dance in Northern California asked her supporters to channel their anger toward making sure nothing like this happens again. Speaking to a few hundred people gathered on campus, the victim's pastor read these words on her behalf:

"We realize people are angry about this. But let the anger cause change, change that is necessary to keep our children, our neighbors and our friends safe."

The school district is implementing tougher security following this incomprehensible act of violence. Sadly, the school had been pushing for tighter security measures but didn't have the funding to do so until now. Even still, some worry that fences and lighting won't be enough.

This story has deeply disturbed many of us, so I can only imagine how those in the community must feel not only angry, but scared and confused. After the news that some of the victim's peers are defending the alleged rapists on MySpace, it's comforting to see that there are also many people who support her. Why do you think it took a gang rape watched by 20 people for something to be done to protect young girls at the school?

Teenage Girls Support Alleged Richmond Rapist on MySpace

TresSugar — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 15:21:49 -0800

The news about the gang rape of a teenage girl in Richmond, CA, outside a homecoming dance while others watched and did nothing continues to get crazier.

A seventh suspect (the oldest so far at age 21) was arrested today, but even as details about the horrific crime continue to come out, one of the youngest accused rapists, who is 15, seems to have unlikely supporters: teenage girls on his MySpace page.

It's not clear if they think he's innocent, but they hope he's freed and that anyone who "snitched" on him gets theirs.

"F*uck the system. F*uck the snitchz. Free Cody," writes Vanessa.

What is going on here? Typical teen confusion? Are young girls oblivious to their own vulnerability? Are they repressing their knowledge of their vulnerability by supporting an accused rapist instead of a female rape survivor? Or do teen girls just learn to hate themselves and each other at an earlier age? Help me out - I am genuinely at a loss for words.

Front Page: HPV Vaccine Reminds Girls of Sexual Risks

TresSugar — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 08:00:43 -0700

A new study shows that the HPV vaccine reminds girls of risks associated with sex, such as contracting STDs, instead of giving them a license to be promiscuous as some people feared. - Salon
Wal-Mart is now selling affordable coffins. - BBC News
A Dutch court has told 14-year-old Laura Dekker that she is too inexperienced to sail around the world by herself, and she will be placed under the guardianship of child protection authorities until next year. - New York Times
A sixth person has been arrested for the gang rape of the 15-year-old California girl outside her homecoming dance. - CNN
Harvard Professor Henry Louis Gates and Cambridge Police Sergeant James Crowley sat down for another beer this week, this time without President Obama. - Huffington Post

Front Page: Michelle and Jill Have a Night at the Ball Game

TresSugar — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 08:00:51 -0700

Michelle Obama and Jill Biden attended game one of the World Series last night, watching the Phillies beat the New York Yankees. - Huffington Post
The US economy grew for the first time in year last quarter, with GDP expanding at an annual rate of 3.5 percent. - New York Times
There's growing speculation that Michael Jackson's This Is It could win an Oscar. - AP
Friends of the girl who was gang raped outside her school's homecoming dance are blasting school officials over lack of safety. - CNN
Kenya will hold a census of its gay population with hopes that the information will boost HIV prevention. Homosexuality is a crime in Kenya, punishable by 14 years in jail. - BBC News

Ad-Rageous: Obama to Get "Willie Horton-ed" for Gang Vote?

CitizenSugar — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 11:00:46 -0700

You can't escape with a degree in political communications without becoming intimately involved with at least one of the trilogy of defining moments in campaign TV: The "Daisy" ad, the Checkers Speech, and the Dukasis downfall, Willie Horton. The man behind one of the ads about the furloughed felon-turned-rapist (not the slick ad, the um, more basic one) has brewed up a serving for the new millennium - and it's aimed right at Barack Obama.

Pointing a finger at an Obama vote against extending the death penalty to gang-related murders, conservative activist and producer Floyd Brown is fund raising to get his encore ad on the airwaves. Currently running on his website ExposeObama.com, the ad aims to draw a parallel between Obama's crime vote and the war on terror saying, "when the time came to get tough, Obama chose to be weak. . . . Can a man so weak in the war on gangs be trusted in the war on terror?"

Though presidents have little to do with issues of crime, safety is a theme that resonates with voters. To see Brown's thoughts on Obama, and the original Willie Horton ad, read more.

Brown says:

There are many, many different votes that Barack Obama has taken over the course of his state Senate career that are going to show him to be absolutely missing in action when it comes to the question of controlling violent crime. If he thinks it is not a significant issue, then he should talk to Michael Dukakis.

Obama's campaign and others dispute the way the ad suggests that Obama's vote made him responsible for the gang-related deaths of three youths. FactCheck.org has called the death penalty ad "reprehensible misrepresentation." Obama recent record appears focused on addressing what he sees as the root causes of crime, including doing away with or modifying laws that set mandatory minimum sentences like those in drug cases. McCain has maintained a tough-on-crime position for decades, including strict sentencing and a focus on the rights of victims.

Does this new ad pack heat - or is the connection drawn, tenuous at best? Will this "Horton" hear a who?