Alright, LISTEN. I’m man enough to admit it.

Sometimes I read Fox News.

Mostly for the lolz. And ’cause you and I both know, if you wanna get the scoop on freaky actions perpetrated by the cream of the crazy crop, Fox News is like…the Wal Mart of low, low prices taste.

But the following story - jacked from Fox - isn’t distasteful. It is, however, about extra-small condoms for little Swedish boys whose bodies are telling them yes yes yes and brains are telling them no no no to wrapping that ish up! So you might be offended.

I quote:

A leading condom manufacturer in Switzerland has created extra-small condoms for boys as young as 12 years old, the U.K.’s Daily Telegraph reported.

The condom, called the Hotshot, was produced after family planning groups and the Swiss AIDS Federation campaigned to have the condoms made following several studies that showed adolescent boys were not using proper protection when engaging in intercourse.

Uhh, what?! I’d score this as follows:

Read the full story

BROOKLYN!

Need a job? How about one with a good wage, flexible schedule, that serves a good cause and includes paid training. Sounds pretty good, right? Too good to be true? Not so much. Turns out Brooklyn is desperate for census workers.

According to Brokelyn.com, a tipster informs them that there aren’t enough people in their database to fill all the jobs that are open.

“…the local office based on Fulton St, which covers the neighborhoods reaching from DUMBO to Clinton Hill & Prospect Heights—Red Hook to Sunset Park (and everything in between) is currently facing a shortage of applicants.”

So get at it, and do it soon. Most jobs are paying $18.75 per hour, part and full-time schedules, evenings and weekends available.

“All people have to do is call 718-360-5150 to schedule to take the test. Or, show up at the Big Branch of the Brooklyn Public Library at Grand Army Plaza between 1:30 and 1:45 this Sunday, with two forms of ID (Photo – Passport, License, State ID plus a Social Security Card, or Birth Certificate.) It’s that simple. Due to the shortage, just about any passing score will net a job.”

And while you’re out there doing the job, you’ll learn more about our beloved borough and its rich diversity. Again, from the source:

“I’ve been working for the Census on and off for a while, and it’s an interesting job. I highly recommend it, especially for people who are interested in Brooklyn and people.”

So what are you waiting for?

For more info about the census and why it’s the most important 10 minutes you can spend this month, check our new video.

And don’t forget to get that Numbers Don’t Lie Mixtape from DJ Willie Shakes. Take our census pledge and get your free download here!

See that, giving you free music and job hookups. Who loves you? Pledge today.

99problems.org’s DJ Willie Shakes is hitting the streets of America to talk to folks about Census 2010. Check out our promo of his trip to Philly and Pittsburgh. Census forms hit your mailbox (not your inbox) in March!!! It only takes 10 mins to fill them out. Do it! It’s super important.

The women of last Thursday’s She’s So Fresh show aren’t just dynamic onstage. Check the conversations I had the pleasure of engaging some of them in before their sets

Dante. I asked the fly Ms. Dante about her take on today’s youth and her message especially now given the state of our youth’s education and economic crisis. The one question that I asked that stuck out: How do you feel about Obama? Her Answer? “Change takes Time.” Dante alluded to the fact that all good things come with time, elaborating on how our country didn’t get messed up overnight so it sure can’t be fixed overnight, stating you have to wait. Coming from a personal place she touched briefly on the violence that today’s youth face and believing kids need an escape from all the negative constantly surrounding them Dante said she tried to focus on the positive making uplifting “feel good music.” Those are words we can all get behind!

Anomolies. Established in 1995, these women have been vibing together for 15 years! Fifteen years ago I was 11. SO my question is, How in the world do these ladies manage to still look so good? Anomalies broken down is “No Mo Lies”. (Word!) They told me that their group was formed out of a need to see more of them and their voice reflected in the art form they loved. I got into hip hop five years after Anomolies was founded. I remember being sixteen and going to shows where there was hardly a female base-but there were a few female emcees holding it down here and there. I can’t imagine what it was like for these young ladies imagining the number to be drastically slighter when they started. Seeing the same few faces every show, they naturally gravitated towards each other and over the years have been refortifying and nurturing each other’s solo interests and projects with astounding success. They even started out rocking in one of my school’s building’s - Parson’s! The order of appearance? Tara who held it down as an attendee of  the New School, then Helixx Armageddon, followed by Kuttin Kandy, Pri and lastly Invincible. Some things from our conversation that stood out: The Anomolies consider their selves to be more of a collective than just another group. they all embrace solo projects and see this collaboration as an invaluable opportunity to pool resources and give support. Holding it down for fifteen years, you could add that they are community. They have been around since 90s hip hop evolved from many different genres with a voice to the formulaic after industry got involved and took it over, destroying a huge part of the art and voice that created the form. This shift contrary to silencing hip hop drove many underground where that voice and those genres still flourish today evidenced by my young love of underground hip hop to the youth that you will still see going to shows all over the world today. Having worked with kids they know that Apathetic Youth is a misconception. If they could see anything given to the youth? 1) mentors 2) Opportunities to open their eyes and expand their worldview 3) More avenues for them to use. Pri the Honey Dark knows firsthand how valuable these tools are in an education system that is consistently failing and giving up on kids. Having fought with the school board about the “Certificate of Completion” that NY appears to  hand out liberally to students that teacher’s can’t be bothered to teach, Pri knows that many of these children can learn. Her son is a beautiful shining example of  that face. Having been diagnosed with Autism, Pri’s son was destined to be yet another victim of this certificate. But she fought back and schooled her son at home, allowing him the inalienable right to learn and become everything he can be. Her son has since graduated and is looking forward to college. You can hear more about this inspiring story in the following article written by Pri herself : Pri’s Words For more info about the She’s So Fresh Showcase I attended check this: Where My Ladies At? She’s So Fresh III!

Top 10 Stories of 2009

2009 is almost a wrap, but it wouldn’t be proper to let it pass without paying homage to the stories that made us ask “Did that really just happen?” Whether it was C.Breezy putting hands on Riri, a runaway balloon watch or Oprah spotted at Marcy projects, much of what was current could be figured out in 140 characters or less on Twitter, the social media site that changed the journalism game in ’09 — but even a Tinkerbellesque trending topic couldn’t keep Michael Jackson alive. We lost a lot of special people this year – but they’ll be remembered. Now lets take a moment to reflect on 2009:

Chrihannagate

2009 turned Chris Brown and Rihanna into this generation’s poster children for domestic violence when the aftermath of Clive Davis’ pre-Grammy party resulted in an entirely different kind of bash. Chrihanna dominated tabloid covers and the talk show circuit, and kept people talking about herpes, illicit text messages and baby blue bowties.

Vick Back in the NFL

If you thought his year in the pen marked the end of Michael Vick’s NFL career, well you thought wrong. After serving his time, PETA’s least favorite quarterback headed back to the field to suit up for the Philadelphia Eagles. Guess his dog days are over.

Kanye’s Big Ego

Armed with a bodacious bi-sexual and a bottle of Hennessy, Kanye invoked international ire after crashing the VMA stage as America’s sweetheart Taylor Swift tried to claim her prize. Amber Rose may be forgotten by 2010 however “Imma let you finish but …” might just rank as the most famous last words of the decade.

Long Live The King

Many doubted Michael Jackson could recover from huge debt, accusations of child molestation and just plain old eccentricity, but death restored his fortune and legacy perhaps more than any comeback concerts ever could. 2009 saw some of America’s best talents (Farrah Fawcett, Steve McNair, Patrick Swayze, DJ AM) take their last breaths, but only one was the King of Pop.

All Hail Hov

Jay-Z aligned his Blueprint3 release with an unprecedented branding plan (who didn’t see those HP and Rhapsody commercials?). The result? BP3 became S Dot’s eleventh #1 album, knocking Elvis from his throne. Oh and did I mention he brought Oprah to Marcy projects and keeps President Obama on speed dial? Forget about running “this town,” Hov runs the globe.

Bernie Madoff

If the recession wasn’t bad enough, thousands of Americans were royally ripped off by Bernie Madoff, whose Ponzi scheme literally made off with billions of dollars from investors, proving thievery definitely isn’t just a black thing. Wall Street caught a bailout but Madoff will never make bond, after being sentenced to 150 years behind bars in 2009.

Cheetah Woods

Golf’s great black hope set the tabloids afire after his wife’s Nordic fury sent the Cablinasian in a Cadillac into an Ambien-fueled one-car collision. The fallout from the accident placed Tiger at the epicenter of a 14-sidepiece pussy pileup, sidelining the golf great and costing him endorsements.

Balloon Goon

One of the strangest hoaxes in American history happened this year, when a Colorado man named Richard Heene succumbed to a thirst for fame so great he’d ask his son Falcon to con an entire nation by faking his disappearance in a runaway balloon. P.S. I’d like my hour of CNN watching back please!

Twitter Takes Off

Diddy and Solange helped drive the charge to make Twitter the most popular social media site on the block. It didn’t take long before Chris Brown, Bow Wow and Soulja Boy were proving 140-characters is more than enough to make an ass of yourself.

Jailhouse Rap

With Remy Ma, Da Brat and Prodigy already behind bars, lyricists in lockup are not a new phenomenon, but rappers went to jail in droves this year. T.I., Max B, Boosie, Gucci Mane, Lil Wayne and C-Murder were among the MC’s either sentenced or sent packing, while Shyne was freed only to be deported to Belize.

Top 10 Viral Videos of 2009

Thanks to sites like YouTube, World Star Hip-Hop, OnSmash and FunnyOrDie, there was never a dull moment in 2009. Videos of Pretty Ricky gyrater Spectacular and wannabe rapper Bangs spread faster than H1N1, while another clip put Charles Hamilton on the wrong side of a punch seen ‘round the world. Whether it was just plain silly, simply inane or “Pause” worthy, if you watched, laughed and passed it onto your friends, you were part of what made it a viral video. There were way too many to count this year, but sharing is caring, so here’s ten of my faves:

Prop 8: The Musical

“Prop 8 - The Musical” starring Jack Black, John C. Reilly, and many more… from Jack Black

“Hairspray’s” Marc Shaiman decided to tackle America’s hot button issue of gay marriage in musical form and virtually every comedian in Hollywood teamed up to take on the topic.

Bangs Take U To Da Movies
Bangs put Sudan on the map, with his take-you-out YouTube pleas. Poorly edited photo-shopped imagery and near tone deaf vocals couldn’t keep this Bangs video from becoming one of the biggest viral hits of the year.

Khaled McDonald’s Ad Khaled’s on air promos for McDonald’s hit the “Pause” button hard, as he proclaimed the joy of that “cream hitting your face.” It probably wasn’t meant to be funny, but Miami’s favorite radio DJ’s signature delivery proved priceless when he finally said something other than “We Da Best!”

Booty Pop Panties For all those babies without back, “Booty Pop” promised bigger bootys to all the cuties suffering from “noassatall”. It’s no wonder the Whooty (white girl with booty) was at an all time high this year, with even Martha Stewart and Kelly Ripa adding testimonials to this popular informercial.

Ballers and Rappers - Jasiri X Jasiri X has had dozens of entertaining videos this year, but his latest one, “Ballers and Rappers” is perhaps the most inspiring.

David After Dentist It shouldn’t be so funny to watch a little kid suffer the effects of dental anesthesia, but little David’s post-surgery high proved so hilarious that millions tuned in to watch.

Tiger Woods Reenactment While Tiger Woods publicly claimed his wife never put hands on him, most of the media – especially in China, seemed to think otherwise. This cartoon re-enactment of Tiger’s imprinted an image of a golf club wielding Elin Woods that can never be erased.

Charles Hamilton Gets Smacked After landing a coveted spot on the cover of XXL Charles Hamilton fell all the way off when a video emerged of him disrespecting, and subsequently being socked by, his assistant and one time love interest Briana Latrise.

Evian Babies Creepy yes, but Evian’s diverse special effects-created cast of babies breakdancing and roller skating to “Rappers Delight” proved uber popular in ’09.

SNL On A Boat SNL’s Lonely Island singing antics continued into 2009, propelling T-Pain’s fame to even greater heights by teaming with the King of Autotune for their rap/sung sketch about living the high life.

Just hopped off a video announcement from Lisa P. Jackson, Administrator for the Environmental Protection Agency and definitely a top pick on the short list of D.C. insiders who are really taking their title/mission to heart.

On what is coincidentally (purely surely) the first day of the international COP15 summit, the EPA announces that their thorough (musta been really thorough) analysis of all the available facts leads to one simple conclusion: greenhouse gases “threaten the public health and welfare of the American people.”

There’s more:

“These long-overdue findings cement 2009’s place in history as the year when the United States Government began addressing the challenge of greenhouse-gas pollution and seizing the opportunity of clean-energy reform,” said EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson.

Great talking point from Mrs. Jackson and my instinct thinks she’s legit. When asked on the call about the timing of the EPA’s announcement, when House reps have indicated no movement on environmnetal legislation until early Spring (months from now), Lisa Jackson said the EPA did not want to wait to get the ball rolling and hoped that Congress would “follow the ball.”

Translation: watch out, world. Apparently it’s not a pre-requisite of American political power to actually lose total touch with the land and your people!

Keep it up, Mrs. Jackson.

This is a few days old i.e. another epoch in internetz time but I bet when society crashes and we burn our laptops for plastic scented warmth, we’ll kill for the chance to one more snarky blog post, to tag one more pic of the person we were before Nature takes our headphones off and smacks us back to the Ice Age.

By which I mean, is anyone really surprised that not only do we have to confront the awesome, shame-on-us specter of global destruction as a simple truth - we are consuming the world, will we do anything about it? - but also as a classic opportunity for government conspiracy, what we don’t know will kill us, of course the Man is savvy to the fact that famine and hedonism are mutually exclusive and you’ll catch more of us flies if you act like the honey is gonna flowwwww forever.

Turns out “[t]he world is much closer to running out of oil than official estimates admit,” with the United States quite specifically called out for encouraging a false representation of 1.) how much oil is undiscovered [how do they know?!] and 2.) how much we’ve got left in our fields.

Consensus is growing that this roller coaster we call Life™ is already over the hump, we’re hurtling down hill to a NEW epoch the people at the Center for Egregiously Named Memetics call Peak Oil. When you hit Peak Oil, your oil production enters a phase called “terminal decline….” yeah, it looks kinda like this:

Read the full story

I am disgusted to learn that Van Jones resigned from his position of Green Jobs czar for the Obama Administration.  I do not know what to think about our country.

I am a Southern Man, born in North Carolina, raised in Mississippi.  My history is slavery, is grits, is catfish and racial distrust, confederate flags and soulful music that hits you in your guts.  I am not an anarchist, and I dare you to come inside the ‘conservative stronghold’ of Mississippi and call me one.  I am no radical, I am a lover of freedom and truth, of intelligence and change meaning growth, meaning the desire to do what is right even in the face of incalculable danger.

I was not born loving America, but it grew on me.  I was born like all organisms, outside of identity, inheriting the genes and attitudes of my forefathers and for that I thank my parents, two beautiful, wonderful Mississippi natives who grew up in a time when family, when community, meant everything.

Sound familiar?  That’s the America we all love, right?  The America that has been co-opted by certain individuals, people who hide behind some cloak of political party, hide behind the walls of commercial entities that, increasingly, appear to me to be the threats and dangers to Truth, to Justice, that we are so afraid of.

America, what have we become?  Honestly, honestly, does anyone think Glenn Beck is the answer?  He sits behind his desk.  His interns - unpaid, low paid, low wage sycophants - develop our news and Glenn Beck adds the fire.  But he is no pastor, this is no religion and this is nothing we can believe in.  His language is the language of oppression, of fear, and I refuse, I absolutely refuse, to be afraid.

I am America.  I am some small and burning part of it, and I am flawed, I am self centered but I try to uphold the greatest tradition, the most beautiful idea of which humanity ever conceived: the belief in Honor. Read the full story

Saw something crazy over on Huffington Post today about midwestern states and ten degree rises in temperature by 2010; farmers will be effed, oh they will be seriously effed (and what do farmers grow? Food. And who eats food? We do!), but the best part of the article is the classic regurgitation of what could surely be the epitaph on civilization’s uncelebrated tombstone: “[S]enators from Kansas, which will be most ravaged by climate change, are unlikely to support legislation addressing it.”

Let me try to understand. And yes, it has been said; I know I beat my head against it with nearly every environmental article I read. The planet is boiling, and our elected officials ‘are unlikely’ to support legislation addressing it?

What should we do to pull their heads out of the clouds and get them down here on the ground where the birds and bees are dying, crops are failing and all of Earth’s alarm bells are shrieking out our danger? Not that many of us can can hear, we’ve all got fingers in our ears, we use our chemically whitened teeth to rip the plastic off our burgers/ipods/American Apparel V-neck Summer Tees.

Feels kind of like life in an ivory tower; close the shutters, turn on your central air, and you can easily forget that your kids’ kids’ kids are gonna spend their days dressed in retro leather drinking irradiated water and scrounging pre-apocalyptic twinkies from the ruins of this little thing called Life.

Read the full story

If you were around Greenwich Village anytime during the end of June, chances are you caught glimpses of flashy colors, costumes and rainbow flags. Gay Pride festivities in New York span an entire week, with parties, parades, rallies, and festivals to celebrate and commemorate a landmark event in gay rights.

This year’s “Pride Week” was awe-inspiring not only in terms of the celebrations put on by the LGBT community, but also in the wider political context of this year’s festivities– especially the parade. With marriage equality a pivotal topic of contention between the gay community and conservatives, this year’s festivities were decidedly more pointed at the issues gays still face, rather than fun and frivolity. It was a widespread hope amongst the gay community that this year’s parade would sway some of the silent or indecisive voices on the issue of gay equality in their favor. The hope for change was even stronger this year than most; adding to the weight of the event was the 40 year anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, which took place on June 28, 1969, and spawned the Gay Rights Movement in The Village. The riots were, at the time, the gay community’s only response to continued police harassment and raids of known gay bars. Read the full story

The unemployment rates you hear on the news are misleading. The overall unemployment rate is currently at a shocking high of 9.6%–but the ethnic breakdown of this figure is still more disturbing.

According to a study released July 15 by The Economic Policy Institute, minorities are significantly more likely to be jobless than their white counterparts. Part of this can be attributed to the recession, which has taken its toll on non-white communities the worst.

Yet even this cannot account for the shocking unemployment gap that exists. African-Americans typically suffer unemployment rates that are twice as high as their white peers, while Hispanics come in at 1.5% more than Whites. For example, currently in Alabama there is a 5.8% unemployment rate for whites while for African-Americans it jumps to 15.1%! In Louisiana, African-Americans were three times more likely to be jobless. And the same is true for Hispanics, who’s unemployment rates are suspected to be higher than reported (it is thought that many illegal aliens would have feared taking part in this study).

The bad news is that the unemployment gap between whites and minorities is increasing. The good news, however, is that there are tentative plans to improve the situation by imposing a small tax on stocks to create extra resources for job creation in these hard hit communities.

Find out more about the inequalities of unemployment rates, and how you can GET INVOLVED at http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSTRE56E83L20090716.

It’s unthinkable that a kid is killed in a drive-by while at an Anti-Violence Rally. Yet that’s precisely what happened to 13 year old Tamrah Leonard in Trenton, New Jersey last Sunday! Abomination! How is society not outraged at this heinous act?

Sadly, it was not an isolated incident.The economic recession has had an adverse affect on homicide rates, which are skyrocketing. Homicide is now the leading cause of death among young African American youth, and the number two cause of death for all other youth aged 10-24. Dire straits mean that desperate youth are becoming increasingly likely to resort to violence. At the same time, decreased funding means that many after-school programs–which have been proven to get youth off the streets and lower crime rates–are at risk of being reduced or eradicated entirely.

Thankfully, outreach programs provide hope that change is on the horizon. Find out more about these matters of life-or-death, and WHAT YOU CAN DO TO HELP, at http://www.campusprogress.org/fieldreport/4284/killing-the-programs-we-need-most.

It’s amazing how much our generation is addicted to Facebook–so much so that we are driving up the rate of internet usage in cell phones. A new study by CCS Insight has found that a third of 16-36 year olds access Facebook through their cell phones on a regular basis. It’s more popular than MySpace, Bebo, and Twitter combined. And the number of users is only going up; by the end of the year it’s predicted that almost 45% of youth will be accessing the net from their cells.

So not only is the stalker in all of us exponentially increased by having Facebook available at all times in our back pocket, but our addiction is lining the pockets of cell phone companies as well–accessing internet each month costs an average of $30 more than just a phone plan.

Find out more about our all-consuming drive for 24/7 technological access at http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8149652.stm.

Been feeling sick lately? According to the New York Times, it might not be heat or a flu that’s to blame, but rather, your house. A steady increase in crystal meth use coupled with loose clean up laws means that more and more people are moving into homes contaminated with meth, remnants from former meth labs. This leaves unsuspecting home buyers with two choices: pay astronomical costs for a cleaning, or suffer the consequences of exposing their family and pets to high levels of a potent drug.

Since when is moving into a new home a cause for worry instead of celebration? And how the hell is no one responsible for ensuring old meth labs are cleaned out properly?

Find out more about this this teeth-rottin’ facial disfigurin’ menace at http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/14/us/14meth.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss.

My friend recently interviewed for a job at a large economic firm in New York. While researching the company, he turns to me and says, “The CEO is a woman. Isn’t that weird?”

Rare? Perhaps. Weird? Absolutely not.

In fact, studies have shown that having more women in senior positions isn’t simply “fair,”  it is more profitable. According to studies conducted by Ernst & Young, Columbia University, McKinsey & Co, Goldman Sachs, and Pepperdine University, companies with more female senior members yield higher profits.  In fact, Pepperdine University found that Fortune 500 firms with women in charge profited 18 to 69 percent more than other companies.  In examining the top European companies, McKinsey found that more gender diversity led to higher stock performance. Similarly, “Catalyst, a research firm focused on women and business, found that Fortune 500 companies with three or more women in senior management positions score higher on top measures of organizational excellence. In addition, companies with three or more women on their boards outperformed the competition on all measures by at least 40 percent.”

Still not convinced? Let us put the numbers aside and be a little politically incorrect. Read the full story

We’ve all heard about the “childhood obesity epidemic,” but the truth is it’s not about kids who are too lazy to exercise or parents who are too lazy to cook healthy food. It’s about the ways that we’ve built our communities and designed our food system over the last fifty years. Why don’t our schools stay open after hours so that families have a safe place to hang out and play? Why don’t local stores offer anything besides liquor, cigarettes, and junk food? The 40 youth leaders who run werefedup.com get that obesity is a lot more complicated than people making bad choices, and they’re doing something about it.

Let’s tip the scales after the jump! Read the full story

Clowning is no laughing matter for Tommy the Clown (born Thomas Johnson). Instead, it’s a way to combat deeper issues like gang involvement, boredom, hopelessness, violence, and inactivity.

Born in Detroit, T.J. moved to LA as a teenager, where he soon found himself in trouble with the law. He had plenty of time to reconsider his life’s direction while spending 5 years in jail, where he decided to turn his life around. He’s done that and more–he’s changed the lives of youth around the world.

How? By clowning. It started out as a favor for a friend’s kid’s birthday party, but soon evolved into a way to help at-risk youth, youth who were in danger of falling through the cracks the same way that T.J. had been. Young people were allowed to join his clown/krump/hip hop crew on the condition that they did well in school, stayed out of gangs, didn’t do drugs, and acted as positive role models. In 15 years, this has grown to become a world-wide phenomenon, with 60+ dance crews in LA, performances across Europe, Asia, and the Americas, and motivational lectures in schools across the country. It has also spawned a new form of street dancing (y’all know it as “krumping”) and even a 2005 movie by Dave Chapelle, called “Rize”.

Tommy is more than just a red-nosed, smiling face–he’s entertained millions, inspired thousands to get off the couch and off the streets, trained, guided, and helped countless urban youth, and spread a message of peace to us all: “You got problems? Don’t fight no more. Bring it to the dance floor.”

For years eating disorders have been considered a “white girl” problem. However, it has become more and more obvious that illnesses such as anorexia and bulimia do not discriminate, affecting males and females of all races.

According to Doctor Noelle Kerr-Price, eating disorder specialist, “One thing to keep in mind that we don’t even really know the full extent of how many people have eating disorders because many cases aren’t reported out of shame or people are misdiagnosed– if they are diagnosed at all. And those are the fortunate ones with access to health care and other recovery resources.” Kerr-Price, along with many other eating disorder specialists, argues that shame from other community members may prevent many minorities to fessing up about their EDs. Not to mention the problem of cost. The high cost of treatment can make it unrealistic for people with low-incomes. Even for those with health insurance, many policies have limits regarding care for mental illnesses. Some treatments can cost up to $10,000 a week, even forcing families to take out second mortgages. EDs may not be only for rich kids but the treatment sure is! If people of low-income backgrounds are ashamed to seek help or simply can’t afford it, they will not be accounted for statistically. Read the full story

Ahhh Generation Y. The Generation that grew up with lyrics our parents can’t decipher and technology they don’t understand. Just what exactly is Gen Y? Basically, if you’re born between the early 80s to the early 90s, you’re a part of it. But here, let’s allow Urban Dictionary to further define us: according to one editor of the site, we are “hyper-active, hyper-sexed, ADD-affected psychopath crack baby offspring of Baby Boomers, also known in popular parlance as Generation Y.” Ouch. That’s a bit harsh, doncha think?

I do. I love my generation. Which is why I was pretty damn pleased to find an article on 80 Million Strong detailing just how awesome our generation is (props!). Never mind the claims that we are pampered, narcissistic, consumer-driven, useless versions of Gen X. According to Forbes Magazine, we are the “altruistic generation.” F%#* yah! This is what I wanna hear (and yup, I’m aware that I’m living up to the self-absorbed stereotype of Gen Y. Just call me a cliché and get on with it).

The best part is, there’s evidence to back up the article. A study by the Center for Work-Life Policy found that we are driven, dedicated, and devoted to social welfare. And this is reflected in our workplaces: 88% of Gen Y women and 82% of Gen Y men believe it’s important to be able to give back to community through work. And we expect our employers to back us up. Which is why we are seeking out employers that offer us the opportunity to help, whether by giving us time off to volunteer, or devoting a percentage of profits to a worthy cause. Read the full story