GorillaOffTopic, Everything But Gorilla Trades

The Internet can be a great tool for communication, and yes, we love that fact most of the time. But sometimes the web can be a harmful and harsh medium for those who wish to exploit others and harass them in a public forum for all to see. We have all heard of cyber bullies and now these types of people have a perfectly legal and legitimate way to publicly and anonymously humiliate whomever they choose, via a nasty web site called JuicyCampus.com. The Gorilla has been hearing a lot of buzz about this site lately since it is causing hoards of controversy. The website is a free service for college students and is supported by advertising. It was originally meant to be used as a way to network within the college community. It was a way at first, for students to find study partners, discuss current campus events and happenings, and to share cool places to hang out etc.

Now the site has turned into a nasty “dish all you know” gossip site, which focuses primarily on exposing campus bad girls (and some boys) in the most hateful disgusting and disturbing way; all the while naming specific names.  So, who do they think they are, and more importantly, how can they get away with this? New Jersey State Attorney Anne Milgrim is currently addressing that very question at this time and is in the process of subpoenaing documents for the site. She claims that the site is in violation of the state’s Consumer Fraud Act by the suggestion that it “does not allow offensive material,” but does not provide any enforcement of that rule and there is no way for users to dispute the material or report it. The site is being investigated following reports that a college student was being harassed by the comments and the posting of her personal information, including her address.

“There’s an unbelievable amount of offensive material posted and absolutely no enforcement,” said Milgram, noting insults about students’ appearance, race, and sexual history, as “just the tip of the iceberg.” The Gorilla went to the site and was stunned by its content. It ranged from racial slurs to religious persecution, and included explicit sexual comments and descriptions as well, and even went as far as posting phone numbers and names of people. The site has expanded recently to include over 50 college campuses, including Princeton University. Students at many schools have responded with outrage and disgust at seeing peers smeared in such a way. The student government at Pepperdine University in California voted overwhelmingly to request a ban on the site even though the university has a policy against banning websites. So what does the owner of JuicyCampus have to say? Well, he seems relatively unconcerned by the backlash stating, “like anything that is even remotely controversial, there are always people who demand censorship. However, we believe that JuicyCampus can have a really positive impact on college campuses, as a place for both entertainment and free expression.”

Really? And what “positive impact” does this site have the Gorilla wonders? Other than the fact that quite obviously the guy is making a lot of money on advertising perhaps! If the negatives outweigh the positives, maybe it’s time to close the doors. This is a case of “free speech” gone amuck!

We have all heard about cool, high-tech devices for the future, and the Gorilla wants to share his recent discovery with you. Chances are, you have probably heard about the walk up credit card machines that let you simply place your credit card in front of the scanning light beam, and presto, you’re done.  The Gorilla recently used one, and was somewhat impressed. But at High-Tech Burrito, a Bay Area food chain, you don’t even need to do that. If you are craving a warm juicy burrito, all you need is your hunger and your forefinger. This is no joke. Many new and trendy restaurant chains are getting on board with the new technology, which is simpler than ever to use. The High Tech Burrito chain is one of over 2100 stores in 44 states to use the new finger touch system. The company is called Pay By Touch, and it uses biometric identification- or body-based measurements unique to each person- instead of cash or credit cards to pay. The technology is cutting edge convenience for customers, but critics feel it is an invasion of privacy and may infringe upon identity security. 

“Paying by card is antiquated,” Pay By Touch COO John Morris said from the company’s headquarters in San Francisco. “It’s a constant from a long time ago. But people love [biometrics], people love the convenience — it’s like a free service that speeds them through the line. They like the security of it. He goes on to make a very good point that with a check, for instance, it is in the hands of several people before it goes into your account and many people see it and see the personal information on it. With the Pay By Touch System, it is very personal and extremely secure.  The system works like this: When a person enrolls in the system, one fingerprint from each hand is scanned and the information is then stored in a top security IBM data center. But what about security? Well, Pay By Touch has that covered. To prevent a data leak, Pay By Touch hires “ethical hackers” to try to break in to the system. The Gorilla was a skeptic at first, but once he read all of the extensive data on the system and its meticulous security measures taken in order to prevent security breaches, he must concede that the Pay By Touch System is simply genius. Just one question though….can they scan a Gorilla’s finger too?

Vegetarians everywhere will not be too fond of the fact that the FDA has just approved the cloning of certain livestock in order to produce higher grade meat to consumers. The Gorilla has several friends who are vegetarians for more than one reason (most concerning the cruel and inhumane treatment of livestock) and this is sure to set those people into a tailspin. But for those who love their steak and red meats, this will come as great news to them. It is a meat lover’s dream to be sure, and it will all but guarantee the most juicy succulent steaks as a result.

The process started a mere 10 years ago with the successful cloning of “Dolly” the sheep, and although there hasn’t been much successful cloning of sheep since then, scientist have successfully cloned cattle and other animals with great success. As a result, the FDA has approved the cloning of meats and milk from cattle, pigs, and goats, saying it is now safe for human consumption. But how safe is it really?  

Reports of organ abnormalities, early deaths of clones, and higher-than-normal susceptibility to disease have caused concern among consumers and activist organizations that say there is insufficient scientific data to support the FDA’s announcement. But scientists argue that the meat is as perfect as meat can possibly be, and most claim that is much safer by far than meat from normal cows.  “With cloning you get a genetically identical animal to the animal that you want to clone,” says Leah Wilkinson, director of Austin, Texas-based livestock cloning leader ViaGen. “With normal breeding … you have two parents — it’s a sharing of genetic material, and you get whatever combination comes out.”

But still, Americans are a tough bunch to convince with almost 65% of respondents to a 2006 survey conducted by the Pew Initiative on Food and Biotechnology, stating that they would “rather not eat it.” The Gorilla will have to concur with the 65% at this particular juncture, because in his opinion, the need for “perfection” has gone just too far. Many people are not fans of cloning and for them it is a moral issue, simply because they feel it crosses some very delicate lines. The world has done okay without ”perfect” meats and milks thus far and many people have had a great, juicy, near-perfect steak, despite cloning.  So the Gorilla must ask….why does the human race continually feel the need to fix things that aren’t even broken?

What is a role model? That was the topic of discussion the Gorilla heard on the radio this morning. However, there was a lot of controversy regarding the issue. The DJ was taking calls from listeners. Some people said that kids should not look to celebrities or sports figures as their “role models” since so many are basically “lying, corrupt cheaters” (not the Gorilla’s words of course).  So here- let’s lay it out there for everyone.

Let’s take, for example, someone like Britney Spears. This example pretty much speaks for itself, does it not? We certainly wouldn’t want to epitomize someone like her, who has had her share of public trauma and drama. Not a good example for our kids…agreed. But what about her little sis, Jamie Lynn then? Many of the younger crowd, who watched her on Nickelodeon turned to her as their role model. She was the younger, more innocent version of her older, now trashier sister; or so we thought. She is currently pregnant at 16, so now what? There goes that role model.

Moving on; if you were a big baseball fan, you probably loved all-time homerun champion, Mark McGwire. Kids hailed him as their “hero” and adults loved him equally. Unfortunately his admission of steroid use caused him shame and humiliation and his fall from grace lost him a place in the coveted baseball Hall of Fame. (Even the Gorilla felt sorry for him in a way.)

So who can we hail as our “hero” or our “role model” these days? Isn’t there anyone we can hold in high esteem and look up to? Tiger Woods perhaps? After all, he is one of the Gorilla’s favorites, and he seems to be a decent person. But like the Gorilla, each and every caller to the radio show had a suggestion and each and every person suggested solicited skepticism from the DJ, who seemed to find something wrong with everyone.

Then the Gorilla got to thinking about the question he asked at the beginning; what is a role model? Then he thought back to his childhood and the answer was easy; it wasn’t anyone “perfect.” We didn’t expect perfection back then. It was anyone who you, a kid, wanted to be like simply because they were totally awesome! They were people like Jackie Robinson and Roberto Clemente. (He was an all-star baseball player who died tragically going to help the Earthquake-ravaged  Nicaragua). There were no performance enhancing drugs back then. Guys weren’t on steroids and frankly, not many people would have cared if they were. There was not the media circus there is now to fan the flames of negativity either. Hey, a kid certainly didn’t care if an NBA star slept with hundreds of girls and bragged about it. All he/she cared about was that they helped win the games. It was about taking the ball from one end of the court to the other and slam-dunking it! 

There is something these days called TMI or “too much information” and it’s simply ridiculous. Do we all really need to hear that the guy/gal that we thought was a “heroic” individual smoked pot once, 10 years ago? Listen folks, the point here is that a “role model” doesn’t have to be perfect and hey, nobody is. They should be someone- anyone- that sets a generally good example and inspires us as individuals. It doesn’t even have to be someone famous; in fact, most real-life heroes and role models are teachers, coaches, and yes, even parents. These individuals, while they are certainly not the picture of perfection, are wonderful examples for our kids to look up to and that, my friends, is what a “role model” is all about! (Just don’t get carried away with all the logistics!)

The world is a strange place. In many cultures throughout the world there is an African proverb that is commonly exercised. It is the theory that “it takes a village to raise a child.” Hilary Clinton, as many of you know, wrote a book about this proverb. The premise is just what you think it would be: Parenting is not just the responsibility of the two people a child is born to, but rather the responsibility to help raise and nurture our children falls upon all those involved with that child throughout it’s life; parents, teachers, coaches, neighbors, police officers, ministers, dance instructors and everyone in the community. The Gorilla agrees wholeheartedly with this theory, although, he feels the bulk of the responsibility should absolutely fall on the parents.

Why then, are so many parents relying on drugs- specifically antidepressants- as a way to handle their young children’s emotional needs? The Gorilla was astounded to read recently that the use of psychiatric drugs by preschoolers has increased by more than 50% in girls and more than 60% in boys, according to recent studies. Preschoolers? Are you kidding? We all know that Attention-Deficit Disorder (ADD) is rampant among kids and so the number one prescribed hyperactivity drug is, of course, Ritalin. The number two and three were Prozac and Zoloft. Again, this is for children ages 3-6.

Now barring severely emotionally challenged kids, who have a diagnosed psychiatric disorder, why are doctors allowing parents to put these very young kids on drugs? Surely there must be an alternative to this methodology. The question is: Are we medicating our children as a way to avoid the time it takes to parent properly when there is a problem? What did parents do 10-20 years ago when their 3-year old was acting up? We didn’t all run out an get a doctor to write a prescription now did we? No, we certainly did not. Is this a ”quick fix” for parents, who just don’t take the time to assess their children’s emotional needs? Yes, there are behavioral issues that sometimes are out of a parent’s control, but medical professionals and psychiatrists say that even severe cases can be corrected with proper discipline, and reinforcement from the parents that their kids are loved. (Hey the “Supernanny” has proven that!) But for those that don’t have access to one very in demand Jo Frost, it can be difficult. But still, not impossible.

Supernanny Jo, believes that most parents just don’t know how to parent properly when their kids have behavioral problems- even severe behavioral problems, and acknowledges that many parents resort to drugs as a way out. She claims that proper parenting and a tough-love approach is the key, and NOT drugging kids. Think about it; if your kids are depressed or acting out of control, why would you give them drugs that have warning labels on them that say “may cause thoughts of suicide?” Now does that make sense to you, parents? The Gorilla is not the only one who feels strongly about this issue. 

Child mental health professionals from Bradley Hasbro Children’s Research Center in Rhode Island and 11 other institutions have developed recommendations for specific disorders to help clinicians who are considering medications for children ages 3 to 6.  ”These guidelines emphasize the importance of a family-focused assessment by clinicians with experience working with young children, the use of psychotherapy as the first line treatment for young children with severe psychiatric disorders, and the value of careful monitoring of symptoms and side effects when treating young children,” said lead author Dr. Mary Margaret Gleason, of the Bradley Hasbro Children’s Research Center. The guidelines were recently published in the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and are meant to decrease the use of  medications by using the applied guidelines laid out in the approach. These guidelines will be strongly suggested to physicians as a way to deter them from prescribing these medications.

With almost 15 million kids and teens using anti-depressants, it is about time someone got involved to suggest an alternative. And parents, there are options out there. Talk to the “village” who is in constant contact with your child. Talk at length to their teachers to pinpoint behaviors that can be addressed and corrected. Talk with parents of kids who your kids play with regularly, and have them be honest with you about your child’s behavior. Many times parents just don’t take the time and are embarrassed to ask questions or be vulnerable, but hey, when it comes to your kids, it’s worth the effort. For the most part, that “village” of people wants to help and cares about your kids too!

Oh the ailing economy! The U.S. is in a terrible state of economic affairs right now, and Americans are feeling the crunch. Gas prices are ridiculous, real estate has tanked. It is nearly impossible to get a mortgage these days and for many that have a home, they are in danger of losing it to the banks. Many more already have lost their homes, forming a whole new kind of epidemic: adults moving back in with parents. The Gorilla is not talking about twenty-somethings here, he is speaking about older adults moving back in with their much older, retired parents, after losing homes, jobs, and more.

Imagine being 52-years old and having to move back in with your seventy-something parents, who as it is, are living off of their hard-earned retirement and life savings. We live in a society where parents are naturally giving and will do almost anything for their kids- even their grown kids  But how good can this be for the parents? The Gorilla wondered the same thing and the simple answer is- it isn’t. 

Parents “jeopardize their financial freedom by continuing to subsidize their children,” said Karin Maloney Stifler, a financial planner in Hudson, Ohio, and a board member of the Financial Planning Association. ”We have a hard time saying no as a culture to our children, and they keep asking for more.” Many financial planners report dealing with this same issue more and more and are becoming more like “financial therapists” than financial advisors, teaching clients how and where to draw the lines with their grown children. For many, the situation is just temporary. One woman said that she was living with her parents due to losing her long time job to the wobbling economy and necessary lay offs her company had to make. She says she is trying to buy a home and needs 3% to put down, and right now only has 2%. It is costing her parents approximately $1,000 per month for her to live with them. (Not to mention the stress on the elderly parents of now having her to worry about her).  The woman, named Joanne Bauer, says she is certainly trying and says, ”I’ve had people say to me, ‘Oh God, I could never do that,”‘ she said. “But you take humble steps in order to move forward.”

And humble steps they are indeed! With the ailing economy weighing so heavily on everyone, there will obviously be sacrifices for many, and for now, we must do what we have to do to get by as a society. To that the Gorilla says…hang in there. Eventually this too shall pass.

Everyone suffers from different levels of stress. Many people have extremely busy, hectic lives, filled with worry and anxiety. Add to that a little depression, and it’s not a pretty picture. Now, throw some kids into the mix, and it can be downright disastrous from time to time. So how does all this stress and anxiety affect your children? Other than the obvious emotional damage it does, research has proven it can do a whole lot more than that- it can actually make your kids sick, too. Nice. With all your problems you really needed that guilt trip! But unfortunately, it is true.

A study at the University of Rochester found that overly-stressed parents make their children more vulnerable to sickness. Sickness levels were found to be significantly higher in children whose parents suffered from excessive stress or anxiety. It also found links between stress and immune system activity in the children. While most of us know that stress causes all kinds of illnesses, it was not known until now that children’s immune systems can suffer by way of the parent’s stress and emotional state.

The results of the study were recently posted in the Brain, Behavior and Immunity Journal. The research followed parents of 169 children for 3 years, who were exposed to extreme stress on a regular basis and found that ” the total number of illnesses was significantly higher in the children of parents with higher levels of ‘emotional stress.’” So does this mean that we are doing irreparable harm to our kids? Are we ruining them for life because of our stressful lives? Well, don’t panic quite yet, parents. 

According to Dr. David Jessup, a researcher in stress and health at Bristol University, he thinks the answer is “not so much”, and says: “I believe that children are highly resilient, and their systems are sufficiently robust to cope with this.” He goes on to comment that, “Although it is a good study, parents should not let it worry them unduly.” So, the lesson for the day is: Calm down people. Try some yoga, meditation, or some kind of therapy for heaven’s sake, but whatever you do, don’t let your children see you stressed out or anxious all the time! Get a grip so that they don’t get sick.

Most of us spend our entire lives pursuing happiness. Why? Well, have you ever notice that happy people just seem to have it all going on? No really, the Gorilla considers himself to be a relatively happy guy, but he knows someone else who is just so darned happy all of the time and quite frankly, there are days when it is simply nauseating. Oh c’mon, you know someone like that and just admit it, there are times when you just wanna punch the guy in his happy-loving face. Well, of course, the Gorilla is just joking. But, on those bleak stressful days when you are late for work, spilled coffee on your shirt, and you just had an argument with your wife, HE is not the guy you want to run into on your way into the office. Him, with his smiling face, that little skip in his step, his perfect teeth- no coffee on this guy’s shirt, no sir. Not the happy guy. Everything just seems to go his way. So, what’s up with that anyway?

Well, rest assured, there is a reason and it doesn’t have to do with anti-depressants! New studies reveal that happiness is largely out of our control. One study, performed by researchers at the University of Edinburgh, suggests that genes may account for 50% of the variation in people’s levels of happiness. Other determining factors have to do with genetically predetermined personality traits, such as ”being sociable, active, stable, hardworking and conscientious,” says co-author Timothy Bates. In addition, Bates says these “happiness” traits generally come as a package, and he says that “if you have one, you’re likely to have them all”. The study published in Psychological Science involved 973 pairs of adult twins and found that, on average, a pair of identical twins shared more personality traits than a pair of non-identical twins. And when questioned about their happiness, the identical twin pairs responded much more similarly than other twins, suggesting that happiness and personality have a strong genetic component.

The study went on to suggest that innate personality traits actually cause happiness. According to survey data, which represented 2 million people in more than 70 countries, happiness typically follows a U-shaped curve: among people in their mid-40s and younger, happiness trends downward with age, then climbs back up among older people. Well, the Gorilla doesn’t know about you, but that would seem like common sense! Life is much more carefree for the young (barring war-torn and impoverished countries), and by the time we are 40ish-60ish, let’s say, we have all lived long enough to have experienced plenty of hardships and drama. But yes, those that just seem naturally happy certainly are lucky to have the ability to be so on a regular basis. Even though the Gorilla jokes about “that happy guy” at the office that we all secretly loathe, it is not because of who he is, (he is probably a really nice guy) but it is because he has something that-let’s face it- we all want….genuine happiness!

Oh the glamour of television! The beautiful stars of our favorite television shows look so stunning and perfect. The Gorilla is a big fan of TV sitcoms and high drama and even reality TV (he just loves The Apprentice). Even the Donald looks decent on TV, but that is not likely going to be the case in the very near future, as TV goes HD! Hi-Def is the big dread of the hottest stars on the tube because as you may imagine, our very perfect vision of them (compliments of normal TV quality), will no longer be so perfect.

Age spots, dark circles, bad skin, wrinkles….they will all be crystal clear when HD is near! Even a local TV news anchor crew the Gorilla watches, was discussing their apprehension over the new very detailed and concise picture the Hi-Def image will provide! One of the female anchors wanted to inform the public of her “imperfections” that will be apparent once the switch is made to the Hi-Def format, but stated that “it is a good thing because people have an unrealistic image of perfection with the current TV format.”

But, is it a good thing? Perhaps it is, since too much emphasis is already put on society to look perfect. Some think the more realistic HD format will awaken young teens to the fact that the celebrities they so want to emulate have basically all the same flaws as they do! Well that is certainly a good thing to be sure, but hey, are we sure we want to see all of Brad Pitt’s pock marks and Cameron Diaz’s bad skin, up close and personal? Maybe it’s selfish, but the Gorilla kinda likes the glossy, treated, almost ethereal looks of the TV stars because it represents a kind of magical world of fantasy and yes, perfection. Let’s face it, there isn’t a lot of it in the real world these days, so the glamour of Hollywood can take us away and make us dream a little dream of all things wonderful and surreal! Okay okay, so maybe that’s a bit corny, but you get the idea.

The point is, the Gorilla wants to imagine that indeed Angelina Jolie, (who he doubts he will ever meet in person) really is as gorgeous as she is on the TV screen! You can call the Gorilla shallow, but hey, a guy is still a guy even if he is a primate.  The same could apply to the ladies as far as Brad Pitt or George Clooney is concerned! The public wants to see that good-looking airbrushed face, after all- that is certainly what we pay for isn’t it? But back to the many issues of the tween girls of our society;  yes, yes, there certainly is a lot of unrealism with celebrities, so if the Hi-Def format helps these girls with their poor self-image,  then the Gorilla will have to (reluctantly) concede the point. Bye bye, Angelina’s perfectly proportioned bod, I guess we all must make sacrifices.

A father recently asked his teenage son for someone’s phone number. The boy had called the number dozens of times and yet, he could not remember it offhand. He said he had to “go look at his phone” since it was stored in there. When asked why he could not remember a number that he has called dozens of times, the young man replied, “why would I need to remember it myself when my phone does it for me?” A typical thought response from a typical technologically-reliant teen. And let’s talk about texting. Everyone is doing it, including adults. It is an easy convenient way to send messages to one another and it is cheaper than a phone call.

That is if you use it correctly. We have all seen the clever TV ads, which show a teenage girl and her mom (and even her Grandmother) talking in text; they are saying things like ”idk” (I don’t know) and “omg” (oh my Gosh) and “lol” (laugh out loud). Technology makes it so easy for anyone of us to take shortcuts. Even most word processing documents on computers have “spellcheck.” In the good ole’ days, we actually had to go find the dictionary and look up the word to know how to spell it correctly; an extra step that really made us work harder and think- even if it was just a little bit more. And let’s not forget about the ever-impressive Google search engine. Google is the little tool that makes us feel a whole lot smarter than we really are. People everywhere are becoming “Google Smart,” and The Gorilla himself admits that he sometimes feels helpless without it.  

So with all of this technology; cell phones; Blackberrys; computers; the question is: Does technology help or hurt? If kids aren’t regularly accessing the memory centers of their brains to remember things such as phone numbers, and they are relying on shortcuts for spelling, important dates, or phone numbers, then what do we have to look forward to for the next generation of kids? Will we have a bunch of tech-dependent dummies walking around running the planet? After all, if these kids can’t even remember a couple of phone numbers, what kind of expectations should we have?

Cell phones can store up to 500 phone numbers or more. Blackberrys can remember appointments and birthdays so why do we have to? Though, we must admit, it is great to constantly have these mental plug-ins at our fingertips, should we worry that we may become mentally crippled if our technology is suddenly out of reach? Now the Gorilla isn’t saying that this kind of silicon uploading to our brain is a bad thing, but there must be something said for learning about history through reading a book from cover to cover. All of that time taken to read may seem consuming and inconvenient yet, it is like slowly marinating a steak, only the steak is our brain. Suddenly the brain is fully aware of facts and stories, and can recall- all by itself- dates and names and yes, even numbers. Imagine that! So yes, let’s have our tech-buzz with a side of convenience, but hey why not throw in some good old fashioned books, the art of actually hand writing a letter, and the use of a dictionary from time to time? Oh poor Encyclopedia Britanica!  Where are they now?