N.B.T. ~ You Stupid Fathead

August 31st, 2010 by IamDraven

THIS pissed me off SOOOOOOOOOOOOO much.  SO much in fact that I had to sign up to leave a comment.  (listed at end of page copy)

Is Weight Watchers Biased Against the Overweight?

Lynae Remondino lost 118 lbs. and seven dress sizes, and she credits Weight Watcherswith some of that. But Weight Watchers won’t credit her efforts enough to hire her as a national trainer. Even though Remondino is an educator by profession and has taught thousands of people in hundreds of classes, she was told in no uncertain terms that her body mass index is too high — in other words, she’s just too darn heavy to work for the international weight loss giant.

This from the same people who hired Jennifer Hudson as their national spokesperson. “I can’t help but question their integrity,” Remondino says. “This is a company that is all about relating to people who are overweight and trying to help them — they just choose not to hire those same people they’ve helped.” Not even for behind-the-scenes work, apparently.

“All right, I admit it, I’m still a big girl, but I went from a size 24 to a size 12, which is a size smaller than the average American woman,” Remondino notes. “It’s not as if I’d be the national face of the company.”

The position she applied for was not a public one in which she’d be working with clients; she’d be running training programs for Weight Watchers employees. Her duties would include teaching in classrooms, holding webinars, giving computer-based training and creating an upbeat, fun and motivating training environment. These are Remondino’s proven strengths, and she has years of experience training people in customer service, sales and leadership.

But it appears that Weight Watchers doubted her ability to “provide professional leadership and serve as a positive role model.” There was that one line in the list of key skills and behaviors that said, “Maintenance of weight within two pounds of the body mass index (BMI) healthy weight goal range.” Remondino admits not having noticed that line when she applied for the job. Even if she had, since she’s perfectly healthy — works out nearly every other day and is the same weight as she was when she was 18 — she didn’t think it would make much of a difference.

A weighty question

Remondino’s BMI turned out to make a huge difference, and ended up being the deal breaker. She had applied to a job posting online for a National Trainer at Weight Watchers, and when the hiring official saw her credentials, she was so excited she called her within half an hour of receiving her e-mail. “Things were going really well. I’ve taught classes on interview skills and have strong people skills, so I know when there’s good chemistry,” said Remondino, who noted that the interviewer even read her the current trainers’ schedules, so she would know what hers would be like.

It was when the interviewer got to the BMI question when things headed south. Remondino questioned the legal grounds for asking this, but provided her height and weight so that the interviewer could calculate her BMI. “I’ve kept my weight off for five years and I’m in good shape, partially thanks to Weight Watchers. I thought the fact that I’d shared with the interviewer that they’d helped me lose 118 lbs. would only be in my favor.”

Not so. At that point, Remondino was told she would not be able to continue the interview process, but that she should call back if she ever reached the Weight Watchers BMI standard. Remondino shared with the interviewer that she wished her luck in finding the right candidate, but that she would most likely never be that weight and was content as she was. “What’s wrong with a healthy size 12?” she wonders.

“They didn’t even meet me — they couldn’t see that I’m engaging, that I carry myself with confidence, that I shake hands and look people in the eye, and that I truly walk their walk.”

Yes, but Is it a legal matter?

Remondino has no intention of filing a lawsuit, and understands she would have no legal recourse even if she wanted to. But she’s concerned about the message this experience is sending. “What are we teaching our children with this kind of behavior?” she asks. “You have to be a certain size and fit into a certain mold not just to be considered pretty, but to even get a job. This is the kind of behavior that encourages eating disorders.”

What she thought was a blessing turned out to be a curse. Remondino had been laid off from her training position with a major corporation about a year prior, and was making ends meet with contract work, but had just learned that the project would be cut short. “I thought this Weight Watchers opportunity, no matter how it turned out, was a sign that everything was going to be all right.”

Instead, she’s been substantially demoralized. All that hard work and effort to lose the weight of “a whole other me” seems to have been for nothing. “All that talk of wanting to help people who are overweight doesn’t seem very sincere when they penalize you for not being their idea of the perfect size,” she says.

But, with her innate sense of optimism, she’s not going to let this experience define her. She’s turning down proffered legal advice and getting on with her job search. “I just hope Weight Watchers rethinks their policies after this,” she says. She says she’s sure they had no idea of the damage they could do, but hopes that now they are a bit more now.

“It’s sad to see all these comment without people knowing what they talk about.  Weight Watchers is NOT a diet.  The ‘member at goal’ is set according to your BMI.  If you have a note from your doctor then you can have a different set goal but unless you fall into those ranges set by the company you can not work for them.  It’s a 15 lb spread for each range.  Technically this woman is NOT qualified to work for WW, and is using her weight as an excuse.  Yay for her losing weight.  I commend her, but she doesn’t fit the ocmpany standards.  That’s not descrimination that’s being UNDERQUALIFIED.  Just because you lost SOME weight and kept it off does not mean that you are in a healthy range. 
And for all those now deciding to do Nutri System of Jenny Craig, have at it.  Enjoy people prepackaged food and people telling you what you can eat AND making you pay for it instead of cooking it yourself.  Last night I had an ice cream cone, and tonight I’m having pizza for dinner.  And I’ve lost 28+ lbs in 3 1/2 months on Weight Watchers.  It’s a LIFESTYLE change for healthy living that teaches you how to have everything in moderation instead of someone telling you what you can eat.  How well did Jenny Craig work for Kirstie Alley?  And she’s rich enough to afford the program 24/7. 

::climbs down off her soapbox::”

N.B.T. ~ Uh, I think there’s been an accident…

June 12th, 2010 by IamDraven

So one Saturday afternoon two girlfriends go together to take a class.  (And girlfriends as in besties, not lesbians you darling perverted readers of mine.)

Say said class is finished and they gals are on there way to hit a shopping sale before one goes home to ready for a party and the other goes to work.  While noticing a traffic jam, one uses her reasoning skills to ascertain there must have been an accident and nothing is being done on scene.

Would those two gals sit there and wonder what was going on and start rubbernecking or getting out and standing on the car’s seat to try and see something, or honk their horn in annoyance like most of the other people around them?

Or would the make sure help was on the way by checking the 911 website, then when help is officially dispatched, text someone working at the local trauma center to alert them about said accident and would begin notifying people and media, and calling to check a scanner report? (Mainly because they were too far back in the traffic to be first responder.)

Photobucket

The two girls in the SUV on their way to the store?  One’s an IAFF registered, MIC-U trained EMT who happens to work in said trauma center, and the other one is an editor for the local paper (YDR).

Which do you think they did?

Our Father… (Who Art A Cowboy’s Fan)

April 23rd, 2010 by IamDraven

I am a Dallas Cowboys fan.  A long suffering Cowboy’s fan.  My boyfriend is a Baltimore Raven’s fan.  Thankfully this does not cause us bloodshed during football season.  I’m even a good girlfriend and have a Raven’s jersey that I will wear when at his house and he’s watching a Raven’s game.

Last night, all that changed.  The NFL draft is causing me to be punished.

The Dallas Cowboys moved up in the draft Thursday to select Oklahoma State wide receiver Dez Bryant.

The Cowboys, needing a safety and offensive line depth, elected to go for a wide receiver with the 24th pick of the first round. Dallas switched first-round picks with the New England Patriots, moving from the 27th overall pick.

In exchange for the 24th selection, Dallas gave up its 90th pick (in the third round) for New England’s 119th (in the fourth round).

The selection of the 6-foot-2, 225-pound Bryant means the Cowboys will have a top-three receiving corps of Miles Austin, coming off a 2009 Pro Bowl year, Roy Williams, who has struggled in his two years with the Cowboys, and veteran Patrick Crayton.

The Cowboys also have young receivers Sam Hurd and Kevin Ogletree.

“If all goes well — not trying to talk noise — but if all goes well, we’ll have the best wide receiving corps in the league,” Williams said. “Dez is a big dude, he can play. He will help us win some ballgames.”

Jerry Jones’ selection has much to do with what he didn’t do in the 1998 draft. He passed on wide receiver Randy Moss and instead chose defensive end Greg Ellis from North Carolina.

Jones has regretted that decision since, trying to find a permier wide receiver in free agency. He signed Terry Glenn, Keyshawn Johnson, Terrell Owens and traded for Joey Galloway and Williams over the years.

Bryant was considered by many the best receiver in this draft, an All-American in 2008 when he turned 87 receptions into 1,480 yards and 19 touchdowns..

I offered to wear the Raven’s jersey to bed tonight, but I was informed that I need to say two Hail MArty’s and two Our Father’s.  But Erik style.

‘Hail Mary, full of grace, the lord is with thee, blessed is the fruit of thy arm Touchdown, hail mary pray for us fans now and at the two minute warning…Amen’

‘Ozzie Newsome, who art in the front office, we trust you with our draft, thy super bowl come, thy will be done, in the stands as in the vip suites, give us this day our next MVP and forgive us our doubts as we mock those who doubt us and lead us not into a losing season, but deliver us from the steelers, for thine is Ravens, the fans, and the superbowl forever and ever.’

I thought this was hysterical and had to share. :)

N.B.T. ~ Bow Chicka Wah Aaahhhhhhhhhh

March 24th, 2010 by IamDraven

Would you watch a porn with her in it?

I mean, she’s not bad.  I’ve seen a lot uglier chicks who are porn ‘actresses’.  Besides, it’s not like she hasn’t already had a lot of people ‘inside’ of her after having 14 kids…

I was driving home last night and my iPod was dead so I was listening to the radio.  They said the president of Vivid porn offered to pay off her mortgage if she agreed to do a movie for them.  Apparently she is very far behind on her payments and was staring down foreclosure.  I can tell you what, even with no kids, if someone offered me that kind of money to get porked, (after getting E’s permission) I’d be all about it.  I just wouldn’t expect anyone to watch it except for some of my creepy ex boyfriends. 

I know Ed would watch an OctoMom porn.  I bought that guy BluRay ‘Palin’ porn for his birthday last year.  He’ll watch anything.  But what about everybody else?  Would your eyes melt from your head?

CHOKE!

February 23rd, 2010 by IamDraven

Technically this could be a N.B.T., or a Quityerbitchin’ (Healthcare) but I’m going to use it as a Need A Laugh? and a commentary instead,

Does Takeru Kobyashi look like he’s choking?

In case you haven’t heard there is a big push from Pediatricians calling for hot dogs and other ‘choke happy’ foods to carry warning labels or have their shapes changed. 

Now don’t get me wrong.  I have seen and worked on chocking children.  It is not pretty.  It’s even uglier when they don’t survive.  But a lot of it is idiot parents.  Why are you giving a two year old toddler an entire hodtog?  Grapes are also bad too.  That’s why you cut them!  A lot of this is common sense on the parents part to give your child age appropriate food and WATCH THEM while they eat.  They are not your mini mes, they are CHILDREN.  Try to pick up a pink pong ball with a vaccuum.  See how it sucks right into the hose?  I magine that as a hot dog and your childs wind pipe.  DING DING DING.

They put warnings of cancer and death on cigarettes and people still smoke, so warning labels on foods?  For food alergies yes, but wanting to change the shape of hot dogs?  That’s just plain ridiculous.

N.B.T. ~ I Guess You Can Get Pregnant By Swallowing…

February 3rd, 2010 by IamDraven

This is actually from Discover Magazine, not The Onion!

 

Oral conception. Impregnation via the proximal gastrointestinal tract in a patient with an aplastic distal vagina. Case report.

[Ed. note: There is no abstract, so we're including most of the original article below. It's a bit long, but trust us--it's worth the read!]

“Case report:
The patient was a 15-year-old girl employed in a local bar. She was admitted to hospital after a knife fight involving her, a former lover and a new boyfriend. Who stabbed whom was not quite clear but all three participants in the small war were admitted with knife injuries.

The girl had some minor lacerations of the left hand and a single stab-wound in the upper abdomen. Under general anaesthesia, laparotomy was performed through an upper midline abdominal incision to reveal two holes in the stomach. These two wounds had resulted from the single stab-wound through the abdominal wall. The two defects were repaired in two layers. The stomach was noted empty at the time of surgery and no gastric contents were seen in the abdomen. Nevertheless, the abdominal cavity was lavaged with normal saline before closure. The condition of the patient improved rapidly following routine postoperative care and she was discharged home after 10 days.

Precisely 278 days later the patient was admitted again to hospital with acute, intermittent abdominal pain. Abdominal examination revealed a term pregnancy with a cephalic fetal presentation. The uterus was contracting regularly and the fetal heart was heard. Inspection of the vulva showed no vagina, only a shallow skin dimple was present below the external urethral meatus and between the labia minora. An emergency lower segment caesarean section was performed under spinal anaesthesia and a live male infant weighing 2800 g was born…

…While closing the abdominal wall, curiosity could not be contained any longer and the patient was interviewed with the help of a sympathetic nursing sister. The whole story did not become completely clear during that day but, with some subsequent inquiries, the whole saga emerged.

The patient was well aware of the fact that she had no vagina and she had started oral experiments after disappointing attempts at conventional intercourse. Just before she was stabbed in the abdomen she had practiced fellatio with her new boyfriend and was caught in the act by her former lover. The fight with knives ensued. She had never had a period and there was no trace of lochia after the caesarean section. She had been worried about the increase in her abdominal size but could not believe she was pregnant although it had crossed her mind more often as her girth increased and as people around her suggested that she was pregnant. She did recall several episodes of lower abdominal pain during the previous year. The young mother, her family, and the likely father adapted themselves rapidly to the new situation and some cattle changed hands to prove that there were no hard feelings.

Comments
A plausible explanation for this pregnancy is that spermatozoa gained access to the reproductive organs via the injured gastrointestinal tract. It is known that spermatozoa do not survive long in an environment with a low pH (Jeffcoate1975), but it is also known that saliva has a high pH and that a starved person does not produce acid under normal circumstances (Bernards & Bouman 1976). It is likely that the patient became pregnant with her first or nearly first ovulation otherwise one would expect that inspissated blood in the uterus and salpinges would have made fertilization difficult. The fact that the son resembled the father excludes an even more miraculous conception.”

Original article can be seen HERE

N.B.T. ~ An Ass To Die For

December 10th, 2009 by IamDraven

You’ve got to be kidding me.  I’ve got body issues, and I’m not a former beauty queen.  Some people are never happy.  If I were her I would have had my teeth fixed before my butt!

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (Associated Press) — A 38-year-old former Miss Argentina has died from complications after undergoing cosmetic surgery on her buttocks.

Solange Magnano, a mother of twins who won the crown in 1994, died of a pulmonary embolism Sunday after three days in critical condition following a gluteoplasty in Buenos Aires.

Close friend Roberto Piazza said the procedure involved injections and the liquid “went to her lungs and brain.”

“A woman who had everything lost her life to have a slightly firmer behind,” he said.

Magnano’s burial Monday was shown on Argentine television.

Dr. Gonzalo Cortes y Tristan said she arrived at his hospital with an acute respiratory deficiency. Her condition deteriorated until she suffered the embolism.

Courtesy of The Huffington Post

N.B.T. ~ Gang Rape FAIL

December 2nd, 2009 by IamDraven

Fail

We understand why the mainstream media would want to take every opportunity they can to let the world know that they’re on Twitter.  After all, Twitter’s “hip,” right? Sometimes, though, they can get a bit overzealous, go on a blind, tweeting rampage — and commit a massively hilarious fail in the process.

Such is the case for one local TV station in Mobile, Alabama that had the great idea of putting up live news tweets on their electronic roadside billboard, which featured three of the channel’s anchors. Good idea, except when the headline involved three people accused of gang rape, which ran directly opposite the trio of statically smiling broadcasters. The implication, of course, being… well, obvious.

The station probably feels embarrassed about the blunder, but then again, there’s no such thing as bad publicity. If they really wanna turn this lemon into lemonade, they could even make it into a regularly recurring joke, and take advantage of the potential for humor that running text alongside an awkward family photo offers
Courtesy of Switched.com

N.B.T. ~ Ohana Means Family. Family Means No One Is Left Behind – Or Forgotten

October 29th, 2009 by IamDraven

Everyone who knows me knows I’m adopted.  Although I was placed with an awesome family, I’ve never forgotten that I was an orphan and I’ve always longed to find my biological family, just to fill the empty space in my heart/soul/life.  With the news that the woman we believe to be my birth mother dying from gun shot wound when I was 18, I was devastated.  I just kind of buried it, didn’t finish fully grieving on it.  I could imagine going through what these two men just had…

Ron Ryba was a high school football star when he gave up his newborn son for adoption in late 1975. A few weeks later, Phil Bloete was adopted by a New Jersey couple. When the two men finally met decades later, they thought their long search for answers was over. Instead, they have more questions than ever.

Ryba, a Cockeysville, Md., businessman, had wondered for decades what happened to the boy he and his high school sweetheart, Kathy Butler, turned over the Catholic Charities of Trenton, N.J.
“I wanted him to know that he was born out of love and I had given him up as a gift,” Ryba said, who explained that he and the baby’s 16-year-old mother decided their son deserved a better upbringing than they could provide.
The young couple eventually split up and married others. They have children of their own and, although they stay in touch, live separate lives, according to the Baltimore Sunyou. Over the years, Catholic Charities sent Ryba baby pictures and reports assuring him the child was doing well.
Ryba and Bloete, a high school English teacher, started writing to each other through Catholic Charities five years ago, when the younger man decided he was ready to meet his biological parents. In 2004, they went to a Philadelphia Phillies game and immediately bonded in what they thought was a long-awaited father-and-son reunion.
The two grew so close that Ryba decided to add Bloete to his will last year. The results of the DNA tests Ryba’s lawyer required shocked everyone.
Two sets of tests showed there was “zero percent chance” Bloete was related to Ryba or Butler.
“Now I realize we don’t know who or where our son is. And then I realize Phillip has no origins,” Ryba said in a Baltimore Sun interview, recalling the moment the test results were confirmed.
“I am just looking into a little bit of history about where I came from, what my actual birthday is, and so far, I don’t know,” Bloete told ABC.

Both men feel let down by Catholic Charities, which has been unable to come up with any information to untangle the mess.
There could have been a mix-up at the hospital or at the agency, Catholic Charities of Trenton’s Executive Director Francis Dolan said to ABC.
“It’s a very frustrating situation. … I share the frustration,” Dolan added.
Ron Ryba and Phil Bloete are not father and son, but they are friends bound together by a heart-wrenching mystery. Where is Ron’s son? Who are Phil’s birth parents? They remain determined to find out.
“We’ll just take this journey together; we’ll do it together,” Ryba said.

NBT-Like Ralphie Said, “It’s An Acquired Taste.”

October 13th, 2009 by IamDraven

A Florida woman and her boyfriend face child abuse charges after they allegedly forced her 8-year-old daughter to eat soap as punishment for saying a naughty word.

The girl suffered an allergic reaction after being forced to chew on the soap for 10 minutes, Florida Today reported, citing Palm Bay police.
Adriyanna Herdener, 32, and Wilfredo Rivera, 41, were arrested Friday and charged with neglect of a child and child abuse. They face court hearings in November.
“[The girl] used an expletive and the boyfriend had her eat soap,” Yvonne Martinez, spokeswoman for the Palm Bay Police Department, told Florida Today.
“It caused the girl’s mouth and throat to swell. But they didn’t provide immediate medical care,” Martinez said.
The pair eventually took the child to a hospital after she continued to complain about pain in her throat, Florida Today said. The hospital notified police.
The girl and an 18-month-sibling were placed in state care.

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