TresSugar

Barry and Levon Whisper Sweet Nothings to Their Pudding

GiggleSugar — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 12:30:00 -0700

The State was a brilliant but short-lived sketch comedy show on MTV that left us with many wonderful legacies, including that of Levon and Barry (Sagittarius). These misguided casanovas dressed in head-to-toe velour and had a soft spot for pudding. What do Barry and Levon do with $240 dollars worth of pudding? Just cook . . . and chill.

Oh Snap! Dining in Style

TresSugar — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 22:13:41 -0800

President Obama and First Lady Michelle greeted Indian President Manmohan Singh and his wife Gursharan Kaur at the Obama Administration's first official state dinner Tuesday night.

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Missouri State Rep: Do Poor Kids Really Need Free Lunches?

TresSugar — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 11:30:00 -0700

"Hunger can be a positive motivator."

- Missouri State Representative Cynthia Davis, responding to a press release from the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services on a Summer food program that provides “food during the summer for thousands of low-income Missouri children who rely on the school cafeteria for free or reduced-price meals during the regular school year.” According to Feeding America, one in five kids in Missouri often goes hungry. To watch Stephen Colbert's response, read more

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Does Your Personality Match Your State of Residence & Mind?

CitizenSugar — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 06:00:00 -0700

Think you can judge a person by the state they live in? It might not be such a crazy notion according to new research on the geography of personality. Controlling for factors like race, income, and education, the study profiled 600,000 Americans with a 44-question personality test that evaluates five traits: extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism and openness.

Using those results and cross-checking them with stats on crime and health seem to seal the deal on one's state of mind lining up with one's state of residence. High amiability means lower crime, high anxiety points to poor health and lowered life expectancy.

Of course the results spark questions like whether certain states encourage specific personalities by culture, climate, or common history - or whether we just choose to live where we feel most at home. Those questions aside, the results and the interactive maps? Fun times! Very nicely done, Wall Street Journal.

To see some of the most unusual findings, read more.

North Dakota was pegged the most outgoing state in the union.
Despite Puritanical stereotypes, New England ranked at the bottom of the "conscientious" scale.
Scoring well on the "openness" scale strongly correlates to liberal social values and Democratic voting habits - however three of the top ten "open" states (Nevada, Colorado and Virginia) tend to swing Red.
Most conscientious? Florida. (Maybe there's a tie between living in a coastal paradise and pitying others who don't?)
Anxiety isn't just tied to high-powered jobs and a fast lifestyle. States stressed by poverty, like West Virginia and Mississippi also proved highly neurotic.

Where does your state stack up? Is it possible to make generalizations about the personality of an entire state's population? Do you match yours?

Speed Read! Jennifer Hudson to Perform at State Dinner

TresSugar — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 09:30:19 -0800

Chicago native Jennifer Hudson will perform at the White House's star-studded state dinner tonight. - Washington Post
Google buys ads to explain why an offensive image of Michelle Obama comes up in search results. - Huffington Post
Should we thank Kate Moss for being frank about watching her weight? - Double X
Family returns from out of town to find home has been broken into and
decorated for Christmas. - Lemondrop
Can you write like Sarah Palin? Slate's holding a contest. - Slate
Inside a supermodel's suicide. - Sexy Beast
Octomom Nadya Suleman says she might have more children. Great. - Jezebel
New albums from Rihanna and Lady Gaga are out. - BuzzSugar
Seven lessons we can learn from Hollywood stuntwomen. - Flavorwire

States Struggling: Budget Crises Lead to Desperate Measures

CitizenSugar — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 08:01:09 -0700

If you thought your wallet was feeling light, it's not just you - states are feeling the budget crunch just as hard - with unique ways to manage the money meltdown.

In California, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has just threatened to pay state employees federal minimum wage in an effort to push lawmakers to agree on a budget. Even though minimum wage hikes up today, it would still mean thousands of workers would only take home $6.55 an hour (which is still $1.45 an hour less than CA's minimum wage.)

The budget stall comes as Republicans and Democrats battle to bridge the $15.2 billion budget shortfall California is facing. Republicans want to deal with money crisis through cuts, Democrats are angling for more taxes. Schwarzenegger says he won't sign a budget unless it contains improvements like a rainy day fund to help the state through tough times. Hmm. Just like we're supposed to have at home!

Also in the category of, "Governments! They're just like us!" Gas! Though consumers have been concerned about the price of fuel for months, state budgets - especially for driving heavy departments, like the police - are way overdrawn on fuel bills. To see how cops have to carpool, read more.

In Montana, where the Highway Patrol sometimes has to drive up to 100 miles to answer a call in their fuel inefficient Crown Victorias (a big ol' 15 m.p.g) they've busted their budget by $340,000 in gas bills alone. Where's the money coming from? The personnel budget. No new cops 'til the tanks get filled.

Over in New Mexico, they're in similar straits, and are waiting for the governor to call a special legislative session to get their gas card paid off. They're trying to though! In addition to carpooling whenever they can, one Lieutenant says, "we have asked officers to shop around and know where the cheapest gas is to buy." Shopping for gas - that won't take time out of the "keeping us safe" part of the day or anything.

Nevada is $1 million dollars over budget on gas. Their solution is getting officers to drive less. So less patrolling, more speed-trapping. If you're headed through the Silver State, watch for smokies under the overpasses - they'll be sitting there, saving fuel.

Are any of these state measures to save, smart? What's the solution when states are as pinched as taxpayers - the same ones who give the states money to begin with?

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Wild West! 22% Think States Have Right to Secede-Some Did!

CitizenSugar — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 14:30:16 -0700

Ride 'em cowboys! Here's a little poll for you state's rights-ers out there: a new Zogby poll shows that one in five Americans believe that any state or region has the right to "peaceably secede from the United States and become an independent republic." Those in the South and East agreed a little stronger with the notion of ditching the "United" part (perhaps because they've done it before?) and young people agreed with the notion much more strongly - 40 percent of them in fact.

It's one thing to believe in it - but would they support an secession effort by their state? Yup, 18 percent would buy in, with another 10 percent not being sure.

Though the South Carolina secession could be the most famous historical example of breaking away, the Times has a smashing tale of a rogue state fantasy of rebels in 1939 to grab chunks of Wyoming, South Dakota, and Montana to form a new state, Absaroka. The plan was complete with license plates, a Miss Absaroka 1939, and a visit from a foreign King (of Norway.)

If this tale, combined with the fact that 22 percent believe a state can secede - should the US be fearing for the union? Would you support an effort to secede?

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Oh Snap! Kylie Minogue Lights Up Empire State Building

TresSugar — Fri, 08 May 2009 08:30:00 -0700

Kylie Minogue lends her megawatt smile during a lighting of the Empire State Building in honor of the Coty-DKMS Linked Against Leukemia partnership yesterday in New York City.

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Diplomacy 2.0? State Department Turns to Online Groups

LibertySugar — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 11:30:06 -0800

What do Google, MTV, Facebook, Howcast, and the US State Department all have in common? They're joining forces to fight terrorism, political oppression, and crime. Inspired by a Colombian Facebook movement against FARC rebels, the US government wants to take advantage of online youth groups that promote stability, human rights, and democracy.

In early December, organizations fighting oppression and violence in places like Burma, Egypt, Uganda, Darfur, India, South Africa, Britain, South Africa, and Turkey will meet in New York City to get the Alliance of Youth Movements up and running. The US State Department has donated $50,000 to sponsor delegate travel. Observers from Iraq and Afghanistan will attend, and participants from Cuba will participate remotely.

While they're taking a break from discussing how to build online youth movements, they'll listen to guest speakers, including Whoopi Goldberg. MTV and Howcast will stream the event live. Are you happy to see the US State Department support international movements, started in the private sector, that favor US policy?

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It's Not How You Feel on the Rides - Fairs Are Going Green!

CitizenSugar — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 10:00:21 -0700

Ah, state fair season! I can still feel the bruises on my forearms from scooping ice cream at mine when I was in high school. Though they're good old fashioned fun, fairs are kind of a suck on the planet. Just because that fried Twinkie on a stick has less packaging than the one you'd open at home, the generators required to heat up the fryers, the napkins - the carnival of waste is almost endless.

Some states are working to combat the rough on the earth reputation the way John McCain wants to cut out porkbarrel spending. (Get it? McCain? By a giant pig?) The Illinois State Fair is giving a green vendor award for the first time - the Donut Family won for serving in paper instead of styrofoam - and California and Washington have installed solar panels to make electricity, and turn all of their cooking oil into biofuels. See?! That deep-fried Twinkie is good for the environment.

Recycling is beginning slowly - and given the cost to fairs to haul trash - $165,000 in Illinois for 37 tons a day for 10 days, the move toward conservation could be perfect for man, beast, and pies alike.

Are you heading to your state fair?

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