What what in the butt

From portraying Saddam Hussein as Satan’s gay lover to a depiction of a Virgin Mary statue bleeding from its rectum, it is no wonder that TIME magazine named South Park as one of the top ten most controversial cartoons of 2010.

Whether Tom Cruise tried to blackmail Viacom into pulling the “Trapped in the Closet” episode, or Isaac Hayes, the voice of Chef, quit because they made fun at Scientology, there are no stopping creators Matt Stoneo and Trey Parker.

Now in its 14th season on Comedy Central, the 200th episode that aired on April 14 showed the town of South Park facing a class action lawsuit as every celebrity they’ve ever ridiculed is out for revenge.

The most controversial character revisited was the Prophet Muhammad. Aware that Islam forbids any depiction of the Prophet, the creators showed him dressed in a bear suit.

In response to the episode, website RevolutionMuslim.com, an extremist Islamic website, claimed it “outright insulted” the prophet.

Member Aby Talhal Al-Amrikee added, “We have to warn Matt and Trey that what they are doing is stupid, and they will probably wind up like Theo Van Gogh airing this show. This is not a threat, but a warning of the reality of what will likely happen to them.”

Included in the message was a gruesome picture of Van Gogh, the Dutch filmmaker who was murdered in 2004 after he made a documentary on the abuse of Muslim women of women in Islam.

Detectives from the New York City Police Department are now looking into whether the failed car bombing in Times Square that occurred May 1 is linked to the warning issued by the radical Islamic group based in Queens.

Nissan Pathfinder packed with propane, gasoline, and fireworks was found Saturday evening on West 45th St. and Broadway in Times Square, near Viacom headquarters, the company that owns Comedy Central.

Despite the controversy, 71 percent of American adults didn’t agree with Comedy Central’s decision to censor South Park’s 201st episode according to a Zogby Interactive Survey.

“People need to chill out, it’s just a show. They just do it to get a rise out of people; it’s all about shock value. If you don’t like it don’t watch it,” says Thomas Vita, a junior at Penn State.

Celebrities and religious groups aren’t the only ones offended by South Park. On May 3, 20-something students at Garden City Middle School in Garden City, New York caused a stir when they reported to guidance that they had been kicked. The kids who were kicked all happened to have red hair.

“It was national Kick a Ginger day,” according to sixth-grader Howie Miller. Assistant Principal Lee warned the students that if any more kicking went on, students would get suspended.

The students were inspired by South Park’s “Ginger Kids” episode, first aired in 2005, in which the characters beat up kids with red hair and freckles. Since then, there has been a trend amongst middle school and high school student to plan a “Kick a Ginger” day whether it is by word of mouth or groups on Facebook.

“The fact that the characters are in fourth grade probably influences younger kids even more,” says Devon Trettien, a sophomore from Nassau Community College.

The content of the show is certainly debatable as the creators prove themselves to be ruthless. 17 Pulitzer cartoonists, including Nick Anderson and Matt Davies, signed a petition to condemn threats against the creators.

Their letter states that “freedom of expression is a universal right,” and cited the United States’ “proud tradition of political satire” and asserts belief in the right “to speak or draw freely without censorship.”

Creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker issued a statement in response to Comedy Central’s decision to censor the infamous episode that feature Muhammad in which they said, “In the 14 years we’ve been doing South Park we have never done a show that we couldn’t stand behind.”

“We’ll be back next week with a whole new show about something completely different and we’ll see what happens to it.”

Lindsay Lohan

Dear Lindsay Lohan,
Get help! I'm sick of hearing about your latest drunk escapades and how your life is spiraling out of control. I know they say that any press at all is good press but honey trust me, it's not. "Mean Girls" is one of my favorite movies of all time and I still consider your episode of Saturday Night Live to be one of the funniest. You have some serious talent, don't let it go to waste.
Your mother told People Magazine that you're not a bad influence on your younger sister Allie. Maybe you're not a bad influence but you most certainly can't be a good influence if you're on Page Six of the New York Post every other day.
Get your act together already and see a therapist. I'm sorry to hear that you've been fired from your latest movie, "The Other Side," but don't worry, there will be many opportunities ahead. You just have to prove yourself to the public.
Judging by the news that your father showed up with cops at your LA apartment to check on you and your sister, you don't have a good relationship with him. I've read interviews with him in the past and he seems like a fame-hungry, a-hole. I hope what your mother's telling the media today is true, that you and your sister are getting a restraining order against him. Cut out the negativity! Life's what you make it, free yourself of any and all negativity.
Just today I read that you threw a glass at Samantha Ronson's head Friday night at the LA club Trousdale. Understand something: Everything you do in public will be made known; so think before you act!
Read about the book "The Secret," I think it could do you a lot of good. Check out the website http://www.thesecret.tv/
Stop going out to the clubs every night, stop publicly fighting with Samantha Ronson and your father, get rid of the negative influences, and for gods sake get off that freakin' twitter!
Best Wishes,
Mary

Phoebe Prince

By now, most people have heard of Phoebe Prince, the young girl who moved from Ireland to Massachusetts who was bullied to death.

Not only was Phoebe the "new girl" in town, but she was from an entirely different culture. Unfortunately, her vulnerability made her an easy target for these six girls who were threatened by her brief relationship with the captain of the football team and good looks.

It is reported that on her last day at South Hadley High School, on January 14, the freshman was verbally attacked in the library, called an "Irish whore," and had a soda can thrown at her on her walk home from school. A short time after, her sister found her hanged in the closet.

It is absolutely disgusting to me that these "mean girls" would put so much energy into making someone else's life miserable through facebook, text messaging, stalking, and verbally assaulting the poor girl. It baffles me that these girls are capable of such harmful acts. I hope that the 9 teens who are being charged for violation of civil rights, criminal harassment, stalking, disturbance of school assembly, and other violations are not let off easy.

It is also bizarre that not only had Prince's family contacted school officials about the bullying beforehand, but teachers had also witnessed it themselves. In fact it was "common knowledge" around the school that Prince was being bullied and harassed. How could they just let this happen? Had they stepped in, her death could have been prevented.

It is truly a shame that this happened and I sincerely hope that everyone learns from this story. This is a wake-up call for teens who partake in bullying, and for teachers who witness it. It also an eye-opener for parents to teach their children respect and to communicate with them to know what is going on with their lives. Parents, teachers, and school officials need to listen to kids who report bullying and act fast to ensure that it ends.

In no way, shape, or form is bullying ever acceptable. Most likely there will be anti-bullying laws passed as a result of this case in which school officials will be required to interfere when they witness students picking on one another.

420, yo!

Every year on 4/20, it brings me to the question, when the hell are they going to legalize marijuana in New York already?! So far, it is legal in 14 states, including California, where it was legalized in 1996, and most recently New Jersey.

I've personally seen the benefits of marijuana--a stress reliever, pain killer, mood lifter, appetite enhancer...I could really go on forever. It baffles me that a harmless plant (nobody's ever died from marijuana!) is illegal, while alcohol and tobacco are perfectly fine in our society.

In fact in my developmental psychology class, I just learned that pregnant women sometimes smoke marijuana to relieve morning sickness and to improve their appetite. Upon further research, I learned that doctors believe marijuana isn't a teratogen (something that causes a birth defect in a child, such as alcohol and caffeine) unless combined with tobacco.

I'm not saying marijuana is the best thing in the world, I'm just saying it's not as bad as most people make it out to be. I've seen first hand that some people just can't handle it. Some use it occasionally and appropriately, while others become pot-heads and well, we all know how they are. Unfortunately my younger sister Lili discovered she enjoys smoking weed and proved that too much of a good thing can turn into something bad.

With finals only a few weeks away at Adelphi University, my younger sister was faced with a big issue, in the words of Afroman: She was ‘gonna go to class, but then she got high.’

Elisa Miller, a freshman from Garden City, New York, had to recently withdraw from two of her classes due to her excessive absences. She admits that she’s missed the classes so much that she can count the few days she’s gone with her fingers.

Not only did she have to withdraw from two classes, she is failing her psychology class and her only hope of getting any credits this semester is her Creative Writing class. Her plan to pass her Creative Writing class is to not miss anymore and to “lower her dosage of Mary Jane.”

Elisa, also known as Lili, hasn’t been going to class because she fell into the habit of smoking weed at least three times a day daily after she “discovered the best weed in the world, purple haze.”

The student claims that smoking purple haze would make her feel so laid back and carefree that she wouldn’t even think twice when she would skip class.

“It’s not that weed unmotivates me, it’s just that I don’t find it as interesting as other things,” says Miller.

On her ‘sick days’ Lili would smoke marijuana and enjoyed exercising, rollerblading, playing with chalk, and having laughing fits at the mall.

Now that she is facing the consequences of all her “nature walks” she is trying to cut back on smoking. Her plan is to only allow herself to smoke in the night after she’s done all her work, which shouldn’t be too challenging now that she only has one class to attend.

Though she had to learn the hard way, she believes it was a lesson well learned. Lili is now urging her pot- smoking friends to learn from her mistake and to get their priorities straight.

“I realized I can’t smoke so much weed and that I should try in school because this feeling I have right now really sucks.”

Let this be a lesson: Smoke responsibly! Weed can be a nice mood lifter, but it's not fun anymore when you turn into a burn out. For the record, I did not encourage her pot-smoking throughout the semester, nor did I know that it was affecting her school life in such a harmful way.

Super-Sized Mom Aspires to be 1,000 Pounds

As summer is approaching many people are counting calories and vigorously exercising to achieve their weight loss goals, Donna Simpson, however has a different goal in mind: She wants to get her weight up to 1,000 pounds. Yes, the mother of two from Old Bridge, New Jersey aspires to become the world’s fattest woman.

At 42-years-old she weighs 604 pounds and hopes to almost double it over the next two years. Though she insists she’s healthy, she can’t walk and moves around on a motorized scooter.

Simpson, who wears a dress size XXXXXXXL, relies on fast food hamburgers and fries and as little exercise as possible in order to gain the weight.

Though it is recommended that the average woman should consume no more than 2,000 calories a day, Simpson has been eating up to 12,000.

"My favorite food is sushi, but unlike others I can sit and eat 70 big pieces of sushi in one go," she told London’s Daily Mail. "I do love cakes and sweet things, doughnuts are my favorite."

Simpson already holds the Guinness World Record as the world’s fattest mother, when she gave birth in 2007 weighing in at 532 pounds. She had the help of thirty medics to deliver her daughter Jacqueline during a high-risk Caesarean birth.

Despite only being 150 pounds himself, her 49-year-old boyfriend Philippe likes Simpson’s size and encourages her to gain weight. They met on a dating site for plus-sized people. According to Donna, he’s a “real belly man.” Fans who also enjoy Simpson’s size pay to watch her eat on her website. She has the page to help pay her $750-a-week food bill.

Many mothers are outraged by Simpson’s behavior. “I wouldn’t care if she was doing this and didn’t have children. The fact that she’s a mother disgusts me how selfish she could be,” says Sheri Wilgosz, a 34-year-old mother and avid exerciser from Mineola, New York. Wilgosz says she eats healthy and exercises to be a good role model for her six-year-old daughter.

I definitely agree with Sheri here. As a mother, you're supposed to be a role model for your children. If you not only don't take care of your health, but are also TRYING to gain an unhealthy 400 pounds, what kind of message is that sending to your child?

Wilgosz isn’t the only mother disturbed about Donna Simpson’s quest to gain weight. During our conversation at the Childcare at XSport Fitness in Garden City, New York, four other mothers chimed in, agreeing that Simpson is acting selfishly and should make her kids her number one priority instead of food.

There is an interview with Simpson in the New York Post where she said she blames her daughter for not being able to gain weight as fast because she has to chase her around. First of all how the hell does she move weighing that much, and second of all, she’s not going to have a daughter much longer if she keeps that weight up.

Though she believes herself to be healthy, obesity is associated with heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure, diabetes, cancer, gallbladder disease, gallstones, osteoarthritis, gout, and breathing problems.

"I love eating and people love watching me eat," Simpson told a British newspaper. "It makes people happy, and I’m not harming anyone."
Or so she thinks.

Lesbians can dance too, can't they?

After Constance McMillen RSVP'd plus one girlfriend to her senior prom, the school officials at Itawamba Country Agricultural high school in Mississippi told her no.

The reason being that it violated their policy against same-sex couples at a dance. As it is the 21st century, McMillen and The American Civil Liberties Union urged school officials to get rid of the policy to allow her to bring her date and wear a tuxedo.

Instead, the school board announced it would cancel the prom due to "distractions to the educational process caused by recent events."

Since then, McMillen said the school has been hostile towards her for the unwanted media attention and her classmates are blaming her for the cancellation of prom.

The American Civil Liberties Union is suing the U.S. District Court to force the Itawamba Country school district to host the prom and allow Constance to bring her date and wear a tuxedo. ACLU attorney Kristy Bennett said in court today, March 22, that the district not only violated McMillen's First Amendment rights, but it was their decision to cancel the prom that caused the disruptions school officials described.

While the decision is still pending, Constance has certainly caught America's attention and is getting support from all over. She has made appearances on many talk shows and was recently on the Ellen DeGeneres show where she received a $30,000 scholarship.

The Buzz on Bee Sting Therapy

Though it may sound like an oxymoron, bee sting therapy is being practiced at a Beijing clinic where patients hope to be stung into good health. Don't get it? Me either...

The therapy, which includes placing live bees on a patient's body at certain pressure points, can be traced back to over 3,000 years ago in China. Doctors believe it is similar to acupuncture except the bees toxin is a natural medicine and the stinger is a natural injection.

Legalized in 2007, it has proved to be effective in curing diseases such as rheumatism and arthritis amongst other illnesses. The bees' poison can help blood circulation, reduce inflammation, and ease pain. Doctors say more than 90 percent of their patients have benefited from the treatment.

Despite the pain, patients have traveled long distances to try out the buzzed about treatment.