DOUCHE OF THE DAY: VOICE OF ELMO'S EMAIL TO ACCUSER 'I Keep Talking About Sex with You'
Looks like e-mails are coming out of the woodwork left and right. Kevin Clash -- the man who voices Elmo -- had an email exchange with his accuser in 2010 in which he apologized for constantly talking about sex ... and promised to make all of his "dreams come true". In the email -- sent well after the accuser turned 18 -- Clash writes, "I'm sorry that I keep talking about sex with you, its driving me insane." He adds, "I want you to know that I love you and I will never hurt you. I'm here to protect you and make sure your dreams come true." Clash continued, "I'll have my assistant book a ticket for you to come to NY and we can talk about this in person." Clash has acknowledged having a sexual relationship with the accuser but insists it only took place AFTER the accuser was an adult and has since taken a leave of absence from Sesame Street and says he will focus on fighting the allegations. I think this whole situation is creepy. I guess the only thing douchey is that I’m reading these e-mail messages in an Elmo voice... [TMZ]
Tough choice for Obama on Petraeus' successor
In choosing a new CIA director to replace David Petraeus, President Barack Obama has a range of well-qualified candidates to choose from, although some of the most qualified were in management roles at the CIA when controversial interrogation techniques were used by agency interrogators questioning al Qaeda prisoners and the CIA was maintaining secret prisons overseas to detain members of al Qaeda. Michael Morell, a three-decade veteran of the CIA, is now the acting director of the agency and a leading contender to become the next director of central intelligence. In other news, David Petraeus to testify before committee this week, senator says. [CNN]
Widening scandal focuses on 'flirtatious' e-mails
Confused? Maybe this chart can help (BBC.com)
The top U.S. commander in Afghanistan allegedly exchanged "flirtatious" e-mails with a woman who was supposedly being threatened by the CIA director's mistress, according to a Defense Department official. Now, the commander, Gen. John Allen, is being investigated by the Defense Department, the woman who traded flirty e-mails with Allen is asking for privacy, and the home of the former spy chief's lover has been searched by the FBI. Confused? You're probably not alone. These are the latest development in the complicated and widening scandal that began with CIA Director David Petraeus and two women with military connections, and has now ensnared Allen. [CNN]
The Bruin is Hibernating and Tommy Trojan is Under Wraps, But USC Vandals Fire First Hit Against Rival UCLA
The Bruin bear is hibernating on the UCLA campus (Photo by nessanatalie/Instagram)
If you spend some time on either the UCLA or USC campuses this week, you may notice that each of their iconic statues are under wraps. It's part of the annual tradition to protect against thievery or vandalism from their rivals, and it's part of the excitement leading up to the "big game" on November 17. The cunning trickery, teasing, taunting, and lampooning is part of a long-standing tradition between the two L.A. universities. the Bruin bear is hibernating this week, though he's got a protective box around him instead of a tarp. For their part, Trojans over at USC have put their Tommy Trojan statue under wraps--with students standing guard. You can even keep tabs on Tommy Trojan thanks to the live tommy cam. Meh, go bruins!
Tommy Trojan wrapped up and under guard (Screenshot/USC's Tommy Cam)
[LAist]
In a fierce competition between two words that will continue to bug the crap out of you in 2013, the Oxford English Dictionary has named "GIF" as the American word of 2012, finally recognizing the early Internet-era filetype's significance in modern language. GIF beat out popular teen rally cry "YOLO" (for You Only Live Once) to take the Oxford English Dictionary's top honor stateside The OED declined to provide one of those handy pronunciation keys for "GIF," however, leaving open a longstanding debate over how to verbalize the acronym. Personally, we're partial to pronouncing it like "gift," but without the "T." Because "jif" is peanut butter and you don't want to look stupid in front of your tweens. Or maybe you do? YOLO. [SFist]
‘Password’ Still Tops List Of ‘Worst Passwords of 2012’
Productivity software company SplashData has recently released its list of ‘Worst Passwords of 2012’. Surprise, surprise, the top three worst passwords are still: “password”, “123456”, and “12345678”—the same three from 2011. New entries to this year’s list of 25 include: “welcome”, “jesus”, “ninja”, “mustang”, and my all time favorite, “password1”. Check out the passwords and their ranking changes online right now at 987fm dot com keyword mornings // krab dot com keyword kennedy (mention #1-4 and then the rest can be lead to the blog.):
- password (unchanged)
- 123456 (unchanged)
- 12345678 (unchanged)
- abc123 (up 1)
- qwerty (down 1)
- monkey (unchanged)
- letmein (up 1)
- dragon (up 2)
Joe Biden on Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego?
The game-show version of Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego is one of those lost, but not forgotten, gems of the early 1990s. Really, how awesome was that show? It was geography, history and jokes that an eight-year-old could appreciate. Hell, it might have even been the one example in all of recorded history of an a cappella performance not being completely terrible. But perhaps the greatest clip in the show's history is making the rounds on the Internet today. On a 1993 episode of Carmen Sandiego, host Greg Lee got a mid-show phone call from none other than Sen. Joe Biden (D-Del.). [DCist]
