TresSugar

Microsoft Changes Race in Photo, Then Apologizes

TresSugar — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 11:00:00 -0700

If you're going to change someone's race on your corporate website (which you shouldn't!), you might want to do a better job with the Photoshop. Microsoft got itself in a bit of trouble when its Polish-based unit altered a photo on its website by replacing a black man's face with that of a white man's but forgetting to change the color of the man's hand.

Microsoft's US web site had the original photo of two men: one black, one Asian. But apparently Poland isn't ready for that. Some point to Poland's ethnic homogeneity as a motive for the (sloppy) alteration, and in the meantime Microsoft has apologized.

What do you make of Microsoft's offense?

Polish Twins Swapped as Infants Get Damages From Court

CitizenSugar — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 11:30:43 -0700

When Kasia and Nina were two weeks old they came down with pneumonia. Their parents took the identical twins to a Warsaw hospital. While being treated, staff accidently mixed up Nina with another baby girl Edyta.

Edyta and Kasia were returned to the original parents, and doctors told them that the girls were not identical twins as first suspected. They also mentioned that Nina's slight foot deformity had miraculously gone away. (Don't trust miracles?)

Fast-forward 17 years, and the real Nina and Kasia had a chance meeting in Warsaw, after a mutual friend recognized their similar appearances. The two realize they must be twins, and a DNA test confirmed it.

The discovery took a heavy toll on the families, and a Polish court has just awarded the families over $500,000 in damages. The medical authorities were also forced to admit their error. Do you think the families deserved a monetary award?

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UN Climate Change Meeting Not So Easy on the Environment

LibertySugar — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 09:30:16 -0800

Thanks to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, 13,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide will join the Earth's atmosphere. More than 10,600 people plan to attend the two-week summit in Poznań, Poland, where delegates will discuss issues such as the greenhouse effect and weather pattern changes. Energy used to get the attendees to the talks, or used to heat and light the venue, will contribute to the very problems they seek to solve.

This doesn't mean participants aren't trying to be green - many traveled long distances by train or bus to keep emissions down. Delegates who skipped air travel will reduce their greenhouse emissions by six times. In addition, Poland plans to buy carbon offsets for the conference, meaning the government will pay to reduce pollution elsewhere.

Do you think purchasing carbon offsets helps quiet accusations of hypocrisy, or would delegates find an alternative to a pollution heavy conference if they really practiced what they preach?

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Front Page: Rice Signs Missile Deal, Taliban Assaults US Base, Sudan's President Denies Genocide

CitizenSugar — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 06:57:25 -0700

Rice Signs Missile Deal:
Against strong opposition from Russia, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice signed an agreement with Poland to locate a missile defense base on Polish territory. The Kremlin called the act "hostile" though US officials say the defense system is aimed at threats from countries like Iran and will not target Russia. Rice says, “Missile defense, of course, is aimed at no one. It is in our defense that we do this.”

Taliban Assaults US Base:
Taliban insurgents, in the most serious attack in six years, perpetrated a coordinated assault on one of the largest US military bases in Afghanistan. At least 10 suicide bombers and another 100 insurgents killed 10 elite French paratroopers. It was the single deadliest loss for foreign troops since the Taliban was removed from power in 2001.

Sudan's President Denies Genocide:
Sudan's president denied that his regime is responsible for carrying out genocide in the Darfur region. The Hague indicted Omar al-Bashir last month on genocide charges, but he says the numbers are exaggerated, "genocide like the International Criminal Court claims is nonexistent." The prosecution said the militia directed by al-Bashir's government killed 300,000 ethnic Africans and displaced 2.5 million.

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Immigrant Takes Unimproved SAT, Gets into All Ivy Leagues

LibertySugar — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 06:00:36 -0700

Lukasz Zbylut, who came to America only five years ago with a limited understanding of English, has secured admission to all seven of the country's Ivy League schools. The Polish immigrant chose to accept admission to Harvard, where he plans to study politics, law, and philosophy. Of the 21 schools Lukasz applied to, only MIT rejected him. Nobody's perfect!

So what's his secret? Lukasz's success may have to do with the fact that he does not use social networking sites, instant message, or watch entertainment television, which he says is a waste of time. He does, however, watch cable news - totally not a waste!

As for the rest of college bound Americans, the new and improved SAT, rolled out three years ago, isn't actually improved. Just like the last test, scores have a lower correlation to performance in college, than high school GPAs. As before, combining SAT scores with GPA does more accurately predict success; but the added writing section only improves correlation by .01.

I hope next year's students don't find out the extra test section is basically a waste of time! And, I have a feeling we'll be hearing about Lukasz Zbylut again on the political circuit.

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Polish President Steals Wedding Video, Bashes Grooms

CitizenSugar — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 09:00:20 -0700

You're minding your own business, when all of a sudden you find out the president of Poland using your wedding footage to bolster his argument against gay marriage and saying that your life would be "against the universally accepted moral order in Poland and force our country to introduce an institution in conflict with the moral convictions of the decided majority of our country."

That's exactly what happened one New York man, Brendan Fay. Upon learning that Polish President Lech Kaczynski had interwoven the video of his wedding into a speech warning against the dangers of adopting the new EU constitutional treaty that could open the door to same-sex marriage in Poland, Fay fought back. Describing the experience he said, "I started getting translations of the phrase the president used as the image appeared... My reaction was just really... I thought, 'oh my God, what an insult.'"

An insult he wasn't going to accept. To see what he did, read more. Fay has filed a complaint against the president with the Polish consulate. He said, "Our images clearly were being used in a campaign by the president of Poland against lesbian and gay persons, and fostering intolerance and fear among the people of Poland."

The story has brought to light some of Kaczynski's historical positions on homosexuality. For instance as mayor of Warsaw, he refused to grant parade permits for gay rights marches. Kaczynski's twin brother has also served as prime minister during which time he said, "it's not in the interest of any society to increase the number of homosexuals."

Can you imagine seeing your wedding video co-opted and used in a political speech? Is Fay right to fight back?

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Dumbass Of The Day

GiggleSugar — Tue, 29 May 2007 14:45:03 -0700

Our Dumbass of the Day is Ewa Sowinska, a spokesperson for children's rights in Poland. She wants psychologists to figure out whether or not the Teletubby Tinky Winky is gay, cuz if "he" is she thinks he shouldn't be on public television. The fear? Perhaps that kids are gonna go gay or want to run around in purple fuzzy suits while carrying clashing purses. Look, if you're for children's rights, give them the right to love superfreaks. Leave Tinky Winky alone!

Is It Unseemly That Filmmakers Are Calling For Polanski's Release?

TresSugar — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 10:00:00 -0700

There's no question that Roman Polanski is one of the greatest living directors. It's also clear that he's had tragedy in his life: he survived the Holocaust as a child in Poland and grieved the murder of his pregnant wife Sharon Tate by Charles Manson followers in 1969.

But no matter how mishandled his legal case was in the '70s after he plead guilty to having unlawful sexual relations with a 13-year-old after giving her champagne and part of a quaalude - he has evaded punishment and lived a life of luxury as a celebrated artist in Europe for over 30 years. I was taken aback when I read that 138 people in the film industry, including Woody Allen and Martin Scorsese, have signed a petition voicing their opposition to his recent arrest in Zurich, Switzerland, on his way to a ceremony honoring him.

Is there something unseemly about a group (largely made up of men) in a notoriously sexist industry standing up for someone who hasn't been punished for his sexual crime against a child? Is the fact that Polanski is an artist somehow a mitigating factor? I found it particularly galling that Woody Allen - who had an affair with his partner Mia Farrow's adopted teenage daughter and is now married to her - spoke out about what film producer Harvey Weinstein is calling "a terrible situation"? But that's me - what do you think?

Irish Women: Abortion Is a Human Right

TresSugar — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 04:00:00 -0700

In Ireland abortion is illegal unless the pregnancy endangers the life (not just the health) of a woman. Three Irish women have sued their country in the European Court of Human Rights, claiming that the ban violates their human rights - one woman was undergoing chemo when she became pregnant; another had her children taken away by the government after she became pregnant because she couldn't care for all of them; and the third faced a dangerous ectopic pregnancy. All couldn't receive legal abortions in Ireland.

The government will present a staunch defense. Ireland contends that the European Convention on Human Rights does not confer a right to an abortion, and that member nations would never have voted for it if it did. Two American prolife groups were also allowed to file briefs with the court. To see what they have to say, read more.

The American groups argue that there is no international right to abortion, and that unborn children should be guaranteed the protection the typically prolife Irish people gave them.

The same human rights court considering the Irish abortion case previously ordered Poland to guarantee legal abortions if a pregnancy threatens a woman's health, is a result of a crime, or if the fetus is seriously malformed. The court could order Ireland to do the same thing.

Do you think that women have a right to an abortion under these circumstances? Should the human rights court go even further than this?

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Water Taxi: Company Bottles New York City Tap Water, Sells It

CitizenSugar — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 13:30:06 -0800

I've always known (for like the last year) that the larger the water system, the cleaner the water. But Tap'dNY has taken New York City water to a new level: It's selling it. People even buy it!
The five boroughs actually have some of the healthiest water in the country. So healthy that the Environmental Protection Agency said it didn't need filtration (though Tap'd does filter) in 2007. And it's long been hailed the special ingredient in the city's bagels and pizza crusts.

Hope to taste that fresh Upstate water after it's flown through the sinewy pipes of Gotham? Forgetta 'bout it. The water is only sold in New York. City. Because, you know (everyone knows!), New Yorkers don't have faucets.

Since we're all caught parched and water bottleless at some point, I'll entertain the idea that Tap'dNY makes sense. To find out how, read more.

The green idea behind Tap'dNY is that it's local. It's pumped in a warehouse in Brooklyn and bottled 12 miles away in New Jersey. It's a lukewarm environmental tactic, considering 80 percent of water bottles go to rest in landfills. Yet at least one merchant has canceled its order of Poland Spring because the Maine-based (Nestlé-owned) company cannot keep up with its new competitor.

Are you drinking it up, or will the idea run dry?