In order to gain a better understanding into the world around you, you must see how others view the past, present, and future. These five books will do just that. They have sparked much controversy over time; yet continuously intrigue the minds of their readers in a very positive way. Although these books are very different from each other, they all have writing strategies that cause the reader to really think about what the author is trying to say, as well as how they personally would react in the situations presented.

1. Beloved by Toni Morrison

What is real love? Is real love a justifiable reason to kill your child to give them the best alternative to their future? Morrison takes on the aftermath of slavery in a way that makes the reader reevaluate the decisions and circumstances they are able to make today, and how they would be altered if he or she were a slave. The book consists of mystery, history, and supernatural circumstances.

2. The Prince by Niccolò Machiavelli

The Prince is a book that can be read either as a satire or a straightforward guideline of how a successful king or leader should act. Machiavelli did not explain any of his motives behind this book while he was alive, which allows us to draw our own interpretations. Tupac made the ideas of Machiavelli famous when he took on the persona of Makaveli. The underlining theme for this book is an entertaining way to understand how countries were ran in the 16^th century, and seeing how our leadership is not that much different.

3. Unchristian by David Kinnamn and Gabe Lyons

Unchristian is a book that is based on surveyed information on how people today view Christians. This book is a great book for either Christians or non Christians to see how our society has changed over time in regards to religion and how it is viewed. It is a very eye opening text that examines the misunderstandings on both sides, as well as the false assumptions and stereotypes. This very factual text allows readers to get a better understanding of where the society of the U.S. is heading.

4. Malcom X Autobiography by Malcom X and Alex Haley

Malcom X is notoriously connected with any variation of black pride. He was very outspoken, and was very influential throughout his life. But if you are at all like me, that was all I knew about him. His Autobiography allows readers to see his life from the source. The book includes his entire life, including an epilogue by the co-author explaining Malcom’s assassination. It allows the reader to think about how much people’s past influences their future and their lifestyle, including Malcom X.

5.Helter Skelter by Vincent Bugliosi and Curt Gentry Charles

Manson is still currently serving life imprisonment, which he was sentenced to in 1972. This book discusses the Manson Family, which was led by Charles Manson. The details to how Manson gained so many followers and power, as well as his personal actions causes the reader to understand the severity of his actions. Bugliosi, one of the authors of this book was the prosecutor, and gives first hand experience of Manson, his followers, and the murders they committed.

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Over the years, Urban Outfitters, a store best known for catering to hipster culture and fashion, has managed to offend quite a number of groups including the Jews, African Americans, Native Americans, and the gay community. The last controversy stirred up in April when the company churned out shirts with a six-pointed star on it that greatly resembled the Star of David patch worn by the Jews as forced by the German Nazis. Just 2 months later, they have successfully angered many religions with the use of the hamsa symbol in one of their collections.

The hamsa, also known as khamsa, depicts an open right hand and is commonly used as an amulet in many societies. Throughout history, this symbol of protection has been believed to provide defense against the evil eye and can usually be found made into jewelry or wall hangings. The hamsa, used by the Muslims and Levantine Christians, has also found its way into the Jewish tradition after its widespread use in the Islamic world. Thus, there is a slight variation in their names, with the symbol being known as the hand of Fatima, the hand of Mary and the hand of Miriam, respectively.

The new hamsa designs have sparked the outrage of Internet users who are now circulating the pictures around social media networks. Many claim that they are boycotting the company while urging others to do the same. With words like ‘insulting’ and ‘dumb’ being associated with Urban Outfitters, it does seem like the company’s latest attempt at being edgy is about to blow up in their face. It does not help that one of their designers have apparently claimed to state, “Fashion makes racism cool.”

For some, Urban Outfitters’ use of the hamsa was justified. Parul Sharma, a Mumbai based author, states that while the religious symbol may not be a fashion statement for one person, it could be the case for others.

Mehreen Kasana, a student based in Lahore, Pakistan furiously disagrees. “My religion is not a fashion statement. Do not wear the Khamsa or any other religious symbol when you don’t know what it signifies and aren’t part of that faith. Commodifying someone’s belief is disrespectful and pathetic. The instant reaction to someone’s offense in this case is, “Oh lighten up! It’s just a shirt!” No. It isn’t. It’s an insult and people will call you out on it. If you still choose to trivialize someone’s faith, don’t expect us to be nice,” she says.

Urban Outfitters may have well stirred up another controversy for themselves in an attempt to garner attention, perhaps taking the phrase ‘any publicity is good publicity’ to heart. For a brand so focused on making a statement, commonly showing disregard for the boundary between art and respect for other religions,this may well be the recipe for success.

In previous cases, after mounting pressure from the public, the company discontinued the production and sale of some of their items bearing sensitive nature, although it is still unclear what actions will be taken for this controversial product.

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WQHT (97.1 FM, “Hot 97″) is an American radio station in New York City that primarily plays mainstream urban hits, with a few pop-leaning titles on occasion. It is a famous radio station in the hip-hop community across the country, and it is also known for the drama and controversies that occur surrounding its staff and guests. And this past weekend wasn’t any different.

On Sunday evening at hip-hop’s biggest concert the Hot 97 Summer Jam Concert, just hours before she was slated to perform, Nicki Minaj pulled from performing along with Lil Wayne – the president of her label Cash Money Records. The reason? Lil Wayne was angered by disparaging comments made by Hot 97 morning host Peter Rosenberg about Minaj’s song ‘Starships’ in which he suggested that the song was not “real hip-hop.”

“I know there’s some chicks here waiting to sing ‘Starships’ later. I’m not talking to y’all right now,” he said. “F— that bullsh-t. I’m here to talk about real hip-hop sh-t.”

After hearing that, Lil Wayne then canceled Minaj’s performance in a tweet: ”Young Money ain’t doing summer jam,” he tweeted, referring to his rap crew, which includes Minaj who also tweeted: ”I go above and beyond for my fans. But won’t ever go against wayne’s word. What he says, goes,” she tweeted.

In another tweet, Minaj hanked other cities for hosting her: ”I’d like to thank the staff @ philly & boston summer jams for treating their guests w/respect! Had a blast,” she tweeted.

Rosenberg, the self-described “Jewish Johnny Carson,” tweeted: “Tonight just got interesting.”

Hot 97 DJ Funkmaster Flex then backed Rosenberg during the concert, taunting Minaj for recent weaker sales. ”You don’t go gold. It’s all your fault,” he said. “I’m dedicated to tearing you down.”

On Monday night, Minaj called in to the station to explain her decison to pull out of the concert which turned into an hour long heated debate with DJ Funkmaster Flex. Minaj apologized to her fans and promised them a free concert in the New York area this summer. She then made it clear that she had been deeply offended by Rosenberg’s comments.

“When you want our team to come to your show, treat us with respect,” she said. “And that’s all we’re asking.” Later she added: “When you disrespect Nicki Minaj, you’re disrespecting my fans. I don’t have a problem with anyone saying what they have to say to me. But don’t make fans feel inferior in any way for their personal taste in music.”

Minaj also felt that he had singled her out because she’s a woman.

“If that’s not some bitch-ass s**t – for this person to single out the only female on the bill, I’m holding it down for women,” Minaj said. “I respect men who are real men, but if all you do is take shots at women.”

Talking to the morning show crew at the rival hip-hop radio station Power 105.1 Minaj stated that she wasn’t even going to perform ‘Starships.’

“After all this has been said and done, I wasn’t gonna do ‘Starships’ and I think people know that,” she told the crew, The Breakfast Club. “I’m way smarter than that. I know what people wanted to see…It was horrible timing. It was in bad taste.”

Minaj also said she was disappointed because she had a Summer Jam set planned that included surprise performances from Brooklyn’s Foxy Brown and Harlem’s Cam’ron.

“We had an amazing, amazing show, and that was the only disappointing thing,” she said.

Fellow Summer Jam performers Nas and Lauryn Hill slid into the headliner spot and, according to Rolling Stone, pulled together an impressive set that included the Fugees’ “Ready or Not” and “If I Ruled the World.” As rumors surfaced claiming that Hill was invited to Summer Jam as Minaj’s guest and therefore shouldn’t have performed, Hill took to Twitter to clarify the situation and to support Minaj’s decision not to perform.

“No disrespect to Nicki, but I need to clear up an inaccuracy,” she wrote. “I was not scheduled to be a special guest on her set at Summer Jam, I was invited by Nas to perform with him.

“I don’t have details on exactly what transpired between the station and the artists, but I do support artists standing by their beliefs, and walking with integrity. We have to find a better way to commercially exploit music, while giving artists their proper respect.

“This cannot be done while taking their contributions for granted, or trying to control the scope of their growth and power through threats and fear tactics. We can do better than this, there is a better way, or else ‘we’ (the proverbial we) find ourselves in danger of being hypocrites!!!”

As for the Hot 97 staff, Rosenberg refused to apologize for his remarks stating, “There is a get me to apologize movement, to which I can say, I’m absolutely not apologizing, because I didn’t do anything wrong,” he said on Monday evening. “I’m not going to change my stand because I’m at Summer Jam. I’ve been saying it for six months.”

While DJ Funkmaster Flex admitted that Rosenberg didn’t pick the right time and place to say that, he also faulted Lil Wayne for asking Ms. Minaj and the other artists on his label to boycott the show, thus depriving Ms. Minaj’s fans of a chance to see her.

The station’s program director Ebro Darden also appeared on one of the station’s morning shows on Tuesday to make it clear that he stood by Mr. Rosenberg. He said though Minaj’s records were not popular, the station had supported Ms. Minaj for years because she hails from Queens. However, he believes that Rosenberg had a right to disagree with her foray into pop music with ‘Starships’.

“That’s a hip-hop show,” he said referring to Summer Jam. “When artists want to go out and make songs for other formats, that’s their prerogative, but that doesn’t mean our hosts have to like it. It was not a direct shot at her, at her personality, at her as a woman — there was no sexual reference, there was no disrespect…It’s a real hip-hop stage, and in real hip-hop, things get said.”

Image Courtesy of   Nicki Minaj

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Every second Tuesday of September a small town tucked in the middle of Spain, Tordesillas, holds an annual event that draws 45.000 visitors. A bull is lanced, speared and harassed to death by 500 men in the name of culture and tradition, this event has been happening since 1453.

‘El Toro De La Vega’ is one of the many controversial ‘Blood Fiestas’ that take place in villages and cities all over Spain every year. ‘Blood Fiestas’ and ‘Bullfighting Shows’ are different though both of them use, or according to animal rights activists abuse, bulls in order to carry out these kind of festivals.

While bullfighting shows take place in a bullfighting ring commonly known as ‘plaza de toros’ and have designated bullfighters or Toreros, ‘Blood Fiestas’ normally happen on streets, squares or entire towns where people gather to enjoy themselves.

Bullfighting and blood fiestas are considered part of Spain’s cultural patrimony and therefore millions of Euros are granted every year by The EU, central government, and local authorities to support what they claim is Spain’s unique art form.

Some of these bull-related events are worldwide known such as ‘San Fermines: The Running Of The Bulls’ where bulls and runners zigzag down the narrow streets of Pamplona but some others like ‘El Toro De La Vega’ involve what detractors state is an out-dated form of animal torture that shouldn’t be happening nowadays.

Tourists and even locals are often unaware of the real damage and harm the bull has to go through in Tordesillas because of a well-designed shielding campaign that surrounds the event.

There are several non-written policies that prohibit the use of cameras especially when the bull is being taken down, which endangers even more the work of the many photographers, journalists, not to mention undercover activists. Last year ‘El Intermedio’, a popular Spanish TV show sent a crew to Tordesillas with one goal: find some locals who were not in favor of this event.

The results were astonishing, on camera everyone seemed to agree with the tradition and the few who didn’t would only confess under the condition that their faces had to be blurred out and their names kept secret. Every year animal rights activists collect signatures and schedule various demonstrations to show their disapproval of the event.

They post videos, share ideas, and a couple of days before the event is set to be held, they show up in Tordesillas facing the local hostility of those who defend their right to enjoy their traditions. ‘Afligido’ (Spanish for sorrowful) was the 1300-pound bull that was previously hand-picked for this year’s edition.

Last September 13^th a lancer on foot struck the fatal stab that brought Aflijido down to a cheerful crowd that applauded the lancer’s courage. The lancer will be honored at the town hall and dub local hero before his neighbor’s eyes.

On his way through the village, Aflijido wounded two people but it was later announced that both men’s injuries were not severe unlike 17 other participants, that had to receive medical treatment after a woman pulled a pepper spray bottle out of a bag and attacked some of the attendees.

She was believed to be an undercover protestant that hid in the crowd before she turned on the audience, causing respiratory problems and panic attacks. The activist was arrested after some Toro de La Vega supporters held her down and unleashed their rage on her.

Tradition or cruelty? While supporters and activists duke it out on the streets, demonstrations and debates, Afligido has already lost this battle.

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The Supreme Court unanimously rejected Troy Davis’ appeal. Davis was killed at 11:0PM EST  in Georgia. Troy Davis’ case was long and complicated. Davis has been scheduled for execution four times, appealing the decision successfully each time.

Although Davis was scheduled to die at 7 PM EST on Wednesday night, a last minute plea by Davis’ lawyers to the Supreme Court, caused a delay in his execution while the Supreme Court weighed in on the controversial case. Troy Davis reportedly was strapped to a gurney waiting to die for four hours.

Hundreds of protesters gathered outside the jail while dozens of riot police officers barricaded the jail and arrested those that crossed the line. During the lengthy delay, Davis’ family remained quiet outside the jail. The slain officer’s family waited inside to watch the execution. Laura Moye, an organizer with Amnesty International, was on prison grounds all evening long.

“We are just profoundly saddened and upset,” Moye said. A prayer circle had formed around the Davis family earlier in the evening and remained through the execution. “We knew that it was a long shot,” Moye said. “Troy Davis has always had difficult odds. He’s faced executions three times…We always held on to our hope.

We got this far by believing in the power of human rights. Now it seems there’s nothing that can intervene to stop this execution.” “People are trying to rally around this family. Everybody wants to be there standing in support of the Davis family,” Moye explained. “A lot of people standing in disbelief.”

All around the world, protesters held demonstrations. Residents around the world tweeted, “Dear Georgia,” reminding the state that the world is watching their decision. Earlier in the day, many people weighed in on the impending execution. Moye said that the support Davis’ case has received from the public has been very moving. ”What is a miracle in this case is so many people have raised their voices,” Moye said.

Troy Davis was convicted of the 1989 killing of an off-duty police officer, primarily of witness testimony. Since that time, Davis has maintained his innocence and the majority of witnesses have recanted their testimony. A group of former death row wardens wrote to Georgia authorities calling on them to halt the death sentence due to doubts about Davis’ guilt.

Among the group was the former warden in charge of the Georgia death chamber. ”While most of the prisoners whose executions we participated in accepted responsibility for the crimes for which they were punished, some of us have also executed prisoners who maintained their innocence until the end,” the wardens wrote in a press release.

“It is those cases that are most haunting to an executioner.” Meanwhile, the family of the murdered officer and the case’s original prosecutor have argued strenuously for Davis’s execution, and have asserted that there is no doubt that he is guilty of the murder.

Image Courtesy of  http://www.flickr.com/photos/death_penalty/

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At 51 Kathy Griffin has worn every single hat in the Show Business, the former D-lister, in reference to her Emmy Award winning reality show My Life On The D-List, is now a media mogul who collects Emmy, Grammy, GLAAD Media Award nominations while penning some New York Times best-selling books, hosting events or raising awareness about LGBT issues.

Reading up on her website we find out that she has been making audiences laugh for years discussing Hollywood gossip and celebrity blunders but according to her detractors she’s far from funny. Her act could be described as a commentary on Celebrity lifestyle, Show business scandals, Top-secret spilling and a lot of cursing that will target anyone from Oprah Winfrey to a whole religious group.

Her infamous moments include her Emmy speech mentioning Jesus Christ, her swearing on CNN, open feuds with radio phenomenon Ryan Seacrest or derogatory comments on Sarah Palin and her daughter. She claims to have been banned from most of the shows on National Television, kicked out of A-List events and confronted by celebrities at after-parties.

But is it all valid for a laugh? Where is the line between funny and offensive? Do we take some jokes too seriously? Comedians have always stirred up some, or a whole lot of, controversy in the name of comedy. It worked out just fine for Chris Rock, George Lopez or even Jay Leno.

As for the female headliners Chelsea Handler landed a TV gig that will pay her rent forever and Joan Rivers is one of the busiest artists out there. But what is so different about Kathy Griffin that enrages some so many people and yet maintains a growing loyal army of fans? It seems like no other comedian has been so honest about their social status, fans believe her stories and haters are horrified by her jokes but she seems to be frank to all audiences.

There’s  even more to Kathy Griffin’s enchanting side, she is also one of the biggest LGTB rights advocate, she lent her voice to the Repeal Don’t Ask Don’t Tell campaigns where she would march with the crowds and even perform for the troops in Irak and Afghanistan. Let alone her mother Maggie, whose rising popularity and old-fashioned way of thinking may sweeten  and  smoothen her daughter’s image.

2011 has been a extremely successful year for Kathy Griffin who made a Broadway debut, landed roles on Glee and Drop Dead Diva and by the end of the year Bravo will have aired 4 of her comedy specials. She’ll strut the red carpet on September 18th as an Emmy Nominee and while the world discuss her artistry she will be laughing all the way to the bank.

Funny or not, it seems like Kathy Griffin knows what she is getting herself into. The day after the Emmys her special Kathy Griffin Emmys Aftermath will premiere on the TV Guide Network, just another excuse for spilling all kinds of inside details from a star-studded Show, classic Griffin.
Helga Esteb / Shutterstock.com

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A new, less invasive scanner has been installed in airports around the United States.

With controversy still surrounding the Transportation Security Administration’s decision to install airport scanners that allow TSA employees to see through the clothing of individual passengers, the new scanner has been installed in airports in Salt Lake City, Utah, Miami International Airport, and a number of other airports around the country.

It is believed that this new scanner will help assuage the numerous complaints that have been voiced since the original scanners were installed in March of last year.

Rather than showing the body specifics of any particular individual, this new scanner simply shows an avatar of a human. If there is any suspected weaponry or dangerous materials on the passenger, the locations of these objects are shown on the screen as small yellow boxes using an Automated Target Recognition program.

For instance, if a passenger had a suspicious object in his or her pants pocket, a yellow box would show on the screen in the same area. If anything suspicious shows up on the screen the suspected area is searched and the passenger is subject to a pat down. If there is nothing of note detected by the scanner, the screen shows “Ok” and the passenger is free to go.

The original airport scanner was introduced amid concerns by a number of individuals about the safety and privacy of travellers. Many complaints were directed at the use of an x-ray machine on such a wide number of people. Concerns were raised that the radiation produced by the x-rays could pose a number of health concerns.

However, TSA had done testing on the machines before installation and when they were first introduced the assistant administrator for security operations stated that the level of radiation emitted by these scanners “is equivalent to the amount of radiation that a passenger would receive in two minutes of flight.”

Despite assurances that the radiation levels were safe for the majority of passengers, concerns remained. The most controversial aspect to the original scanners was the fact that the image shown on the scanners revealed the nude body of the person being scanned.

The TSA tried to maintain the anonymity of the individual being scanned by having one TSA employee with the person being scanned, and another TSA employee viewing the image of the passenger. Despite the efforts by TSA to maintain an individual’s privacy to the extent that they could, many people still objected to the invasive nature of the scanners.

For individuals who are still not comfortable with the new scanners, or who are pregnant or concerned about the low levels of radiation admitted, they can still choose to have a pat down instead of going through the machine.

Now that these new scanners have a more generic picture for passengers, it helps to preserve the anonymity of the individual being scanned. It also saves costs for TSA since the image no longer needs to be screened in a separate location by a different TSA employee.

This less invasive procedure, if adopted more widely, will help to preserve the privacy of travellers, while still ensuring that their trip is safe for all involved.

Image Courtesy of  http://www.flickr.com/photos/33671002@N00/

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A series of civil lawsuits have been filed by various family members of those killed or injured in an accident two years ago on the Taconic Parkway in New York State. The suits were filed in an attempt to place responsibility on those involved in the incident.

On July 26, 2009, while driving the wrong way on the Taconic Parkway, Diane Schuler crashed her van into an SUV, killing all but one of the passengers in her vehicle, and all three passengers in the SUV.

All told, the incident claimed the lives of Diane Schuler, her three nieces, ages 5, 7 and 8, her two year old daughter, Guy Bastardi, 49, Michael Bastardi Sr., 81, and Daniel Longo, 74. The only survivors were Diane Schuler’s five year old son, and both members of a third vehicle that was struck.

Initially Guy Bastardi’s sister filed a lawsuit against Diane Schuler’s estate for her negligent driving, and against the owner of the van, Diane’s brother, Warren Hance. Now two years later, Shuler’s husband Daniel Schuler has followed suit and right before the two-year statute of limitations expires, filed several lawsuits in a final attempt to place the blame for this accident on someone other than his wife.

He has sued the state of New York for not placing clear enough signs on the exit ramp to the Taconic Parkway, as well as his wife’s brother, Hance, because he was the owner of the van that Diane drove that fateful day and there may have been some mechanical failure with the vehicle that ultimately resulted in the tragedy.

Additionally, Hance and his wife, Jackie, have sued Schuler’s estate for the dangerous driving and fear that driving induced, which resulted in the deaths of their three young children. Longo’s brother, Joseph, has also filed a claim against Schuler’s estate for the wrongful death of his brother.

Initial toxicology reports from the autopsy indicated that Schuler had a blood alcohol content of .19, which is more than twice the legal limit in the state of New York, as well as high levels of marijuana. Daniel Schuler and Schuler’s sister, Jay, contended that she was not a drinker and she would never knowingly place her family at risk.

They spent thousands of dollars on lawyer Dominic Barbara and private investigator Thomas Ruskin to try to help clear her name of responsibility. A wide variety of theories were proposed including low blood sugar due to diabetes, an embolism, a stroke, a brain virus, an abscessed tooth or a migraine.

Eventually, as it came out in the recent documentary There’s Something Wrong with Aunt Diane, an independent lab retested Schuler’s blood to determine if the first toxicology report was accurate. In addition, the lab matched Schuler’s DNA to the toxicology report and determined once and for all that she really had alcohol and marijuana in her system at the time of the accident.

This was a difficult blow for Daniel, who felt sure that she must have had an abscessed tooth, and she wouldn’t have intentionally drank, especially with children in the vehicle. Daniel handled this new information by supposing that perhaps she self-medicated because she was in immense pain and accidentally drank too much vodka, or that she became delirious and thought the vodka was water.

In any case, there are several facts that cannot be denied. Diane Schuler, for reasons that may never be known, on the day of July 26, 2009 made the decision to ingest a large volume of vodka, later smoked several joints of marijuana, and, with five small children in the car, drove the wrong way on the Taconic Parkway for 1.7 miles before crashing into Guy Bastardi’s SUV, resulting in the deaths of eight individuals.

Perhaps with these new lawsuits, and the possibility of new information that it can uncover, the families of those involved can find some peace of mind and come to terms with their losses.

Margo Harrison / Shutterstock.com

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Crystal Harris publicly stated she is not turned on by Hugh Hefner; the man she dumped almost at the alter. Crystal Harris was Playboy magazine’s Miss December 2009 and said she is not turned on by the founder of the Playboy adult entertainment empire.

“I was over it. I just like, walked away. I am not turned on by Hef. Sorry”, Harris said.

Questions and confusions have come up as to why the runaway bride had suddenly stopped the wedding at the last minute. Harris insists there was a lack of sex and attraction.

“Hef doesn’t really take off his clothes. I have never seen him naked”, Harris admitted to the radio presenter Howard Stern. She also disclosed that she left Hefner and his Playboy Mansion because they only had sex once during their two year relationship and the old man only lasted a really short time.

The Playmate has already spent her fake wedding day partying in Las Vegas. She also tried to sell $90,000 engagement ring that Hefner let her keep. Press said that Harris gave the ring to a jeweller to get it appraised in California, but after a party weekend she returned to the Playboy Mansion and tried to give the ring back to Hefner who still told her to keep it.

Harris opened a floodgate of a huge controversy and created a big scandal when she called Hefner a “two second man” on Howard Stern’s radio show.

Everybody started defending the Playboy’s owner, even his former girlfriend and Girl Next Door Kendra Wilkinson. Kendra said, “She just totally made herself look like crap. She looks like trash. I mean, it’s disgusting. She needs to keep her mouth shut, and be a bigger person. ” She believes Crystal Harris has no chance to affect Hefner after all the drama he has been through. She prays for her mouth to shut.

After becoming the object of a lot of criticism, Harris made an apology via Twitter which Hefner accepted.

The 85 year old magazine mogul has been married twice before. Despite his efforts to make people believe that he is actually heartbroken, the press had discovered his brand new girlfriend, Shera Bechard, a 27 year old model who was Playboy Miss November 2010.
Joe Seer / Shutterstock.com

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Rihanna recently made headlines for her controversial new music video for her song, “Man Down.” The video opens with a shot of Rihanna hiding above a crowd in a train station, appearing nervous yet determined. She spots a man, pulls the trigger, and leaves. Then the song begins.

At first, the plot is unclear as most of the video involves Rihanna walking around a small Caribbean community, playing with children and kissing the elderly on the cheek. This is the video that’s been making everyone furious?

Near the end of the song, she is dancing at a party and spots the man who she will eventually shoot. He approaches her and is very persistently groping her. She then pushes him away multiple times and she finally leaves the party alone, but does not realize that he is following her. When she does turn around, he pushes her into an isolated area and she tries to escape, but it does not work. The song fades out with him leaving the scene with his shirt ripped and Rihanna is crying on the floor, implying that she has been raped.

The final shot is Rihanna searching frantically through her drawers in her home, until she finally pulls out a gun.

The outrage that has followed the release of this video is due to the fact that Rihanna has had a very public history of domestic abuse from singer Chris Brown. He was seen beating her in a car, and then photos were released of Rihanna’s face, swollen and bruised.

Melissa Henson, director of communications and public education for the Parents Television Council, said in a press release that: Rihanna’s personal story and status as a celebrity superstar provided a golden opportunity for the singer to send an important message to female victims of rape and domestic violence.” Additionally, the PTC is calling for television stations BET and MTV to ban the video.

On June 1, Rihanna responded to the criticism by tweeting, “I’m a 23 year old rockstar with NO KIDS! What’s up with everybody wantin me to be a parent?”  She went on to say, “U can’t hide your kids from society, or they’ll never learn how to adapt! This is the REAL WORLD!”

Though she got a restraining order from Brown, Rihanna has never been an avid spokesperson for domestic abuse, and has received a lot of criticism for not speaking out about the issue. Additionally, her previous single “S&M” includes the line “sticks and stones may break my bones, but chains and whips excite me.”

It is very confused how this song received virtually no outrage (aside from the video being quietly banned from many television stations), but Rihanna taking revenge on someone who hurt her is creating such a strong divide among the public.

On the one hand, women who look up to Rihanna may take this as encouragement to take revenge on those who have hurt her. On the other hand, the anger festering within victims of abuse is often bottled up, and ignored.

This video could also be an artistic expression of those feelings that Rihanna held inside during the period of time. Even the lyrics “I didn’t mean to end his life, I know it wasn’t right” are far better than other songs on the radio, which are also about murder and other not-so-friendly themes.

While Rihanna could probably use a better PR team, there are far worse music videos featuring misogynistic themes, and vulgar lyrics that the PTC could spend time criticizing, instead of this one.

Helga Esteb / Shutterstock.com

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