The American Jobs Act - WTF?

So last week, President Obama introduced his American Jobs Act, meant to help our failing economy and put Americans back to work.

We are on the White House’s official mailing list (do you think we’ll get a Christmas card?) and we received a synopsis of the Jobs Act and what it is meant to do. So we thought we would take this opportunity to translate it, Burnandrotinhell.com style.

White House: First, it provides a tax cut to small businesses, not big corporations, to help them hire and expand now and provides an additional tax cut to any business that increases wages.

BARIH: We know you’re not that stupid, Americans, and you realized the little guy gets shafted all the time, while bankers make out like bandits in this country. So we created an incentive for the guy who owns the pizzeria up the block, even though he is so far in the hole from this economy being crappy for years that he won’t be able to take advantage of it. Oh, well, at least we tried!

White House: Second, it puts people back to work, including teachers, first responders, and veterans coming back from Iraq and Afghanistan, and construction workers repairing crumbling bridges, roads, and more than 35,000 public schools, with projects chosen by need and impact, not earmarks and politics.

BARIH: Please ignore the fact that we will be putting a lot of bad teachers back to work for now and compensating them for being sucky! That’s a separate problem! At least they will be working! Please also ignore that what we are doing here is copying FDR’s Public Works Program from the Great Depression and passing it off as our own brilliant idea! (Hey, does this mean we are in another Great Depression…hmmmmmmm.) By the way, these bridges, roads, and schools were crumbling even in the best of times! What does that say about us?

White House: Third, it helps out-of-work Americans by extending unemployment benefits to help them support their families while looking for work and reforming the system with training programs that build real skills, connect to real jobs and help the long-term unemployed.

BARIH: Let’s forget about reforming the system so that people can’t cheat the system, like work off the books and still get unemployment and food stamps. We’ll take care of that some other time. Let’s also take taxpayer money to send the unemployed back to school to make up for the education they didn’t receive the first time around because the education system in this country bites.

White House: Fourth, it puts more money in the pockets of working and middle class Americans by cutting in half the payroll tax that comes out of every worker’s paycheck, saving families an average of $1,500 per year. And it removes the barriers that exist in the current federal refinancing program (HARP) to help more Americans refinance their mortgages at historically low rates, save money and stay in their homes.

BARIH: Ok, bitches, we saved the best for last. We know you figured out that you will probably never collect Social Security because the whole system will be bankrupt in 2037. And we don’t want a revolution because you’re all pissed. I mean, this is the United States, not France, and we swallow everything that is dished out to us. So, you’ll only be putting in a little over 3.5% of each paycheck into a soon-to-be bankrupt system, instead of over 7%. Feel better now?

The White House also wants you to know they now have office hours on Twitter, using the hashtag #WHChat. Now that’s progress.

Coming Soon: Why Spongebob Squarepants Can Be Hazardous to Your Health

POSITIVE STEPS, BUT WE'RE STILL NOT EQUAL

Last week, a gay marriage bill was signed into law in New York. It goes into effect in 30 days. After that, gay couples can marry in the state, just like everyone else. Hurray! It has been a long wait for this blogger.

In practical terms, what this means is, married gay couples will be able to automatically inherit from each other under state law, can file joint state tax returns, and be considered next of kin when there is a medical emergency.

So, all is well and good in the gay New Yorker's world now, right? Far from it. While NY passing a gay marriage bill is monumental and historic, gay married New Yorkers still will not have equal rights under the law.

The reason for this is that gay married New Yorkers will still not receive the over 1,000 federal benefits that straight married couples receive.

Some of these federal benefits include:

1) the ability for a surviving spouse to receive social security survivor benefits
2) the ability to file joint federal tax returns
3) the ability to take advantage of federal estate and gift tax exemptions afforded a heterosexual surviving spouse.

In addition, unlike heterosexual spouses of deceased veterans, homosexual spouses will not be afforded health care, death pensions, educational assistance, home loan guarantees, and bereavement counseling. Gay spouses of living military personnel are not afforded any benefits given to heterosexual spouses of living military personnel, including health care, family relocation assistance and family separation pay.

Also, gay spouses of federal workers are still not permitted to receive health insurance or retirement plan benefits of a deceased federal employee.

The issue that concerns this blogger the most is the social security survivor benefits. Consider this scenario: A young gay couple gets married in NY this year. Both are about 30 years old. They have children. One spouse stays home to raise them, and the other works out of the home for 35 years, paying into the social security system. At age 67, that spouse dies. The surviving spouse will not be entitled to even one cent of her deceased spouse's social security. Instead, the government gets to keep it. Is that fair?

President Obama has waffled on the gay marriage issue. Before he was elected, he was all for civil unions for gay couples under federal law. Now, he says gay marriage is an issue to be decided by the states. Basically, this means he doesn't give a crap about gay couples having any federal benefits. He cares more about not rocking the boat for the 2012 election. And that sucks.

I am very grateful for what the NY legislature has done. It is proof we have come a long way as a society. But apparently, the fight is not over, and we have a long way to go. It's ok, though, we're prepared.

DIETS TO DUDS, BECAUSE WE ARE SICK OF POLITICIAN STUDS

The only big thing in the news so far this week that caught our eye is the Anthony Weiner scandal. We can’t write about it, because writing about a man named Weiner who took all kinds of pictures of his penis is just tooooo funny, and bizarre, that the entire blog would be two words, “Nuff said.”

So what we did instead was investigate some cool downloadables to get everyone motivated to improve their life. We are firm believers in thinking positively about life. That’s really the main reason this site was created, because we wanted to give people a place to vent and release. If you can’t let go, you can’t move on and make it better.

So here are a few of our top picks:

The owners of this site struggle with extra pounds all the friggin’ time! Now the pressure is on to look great since it is bathing suit season. For a diet to help you look great all summer, check out this link.

Making money is part art, part mindset. One of the owners of this site has been dabbling in securities since age 17. Last year, one of her teams competing in the NYC Stock Market Game beat out 1,446 teams to take first place. She believes in calculated risks. One good calculated risk with big reward potential is investing in penny stocks, that is, stocks that sell for a few pennies a share. Pick the right stock, and you can quadruple your money in a few days. A good guide for getting you into this type of investing is at this link.

The job market is disgustingly tight right now. Politicians keep talking about the “recovery” that took place in our economy last year. You know what? They are full of crap. The stock market is down 500 points in the last couple of weeks, and unemployment rate is still at 9%. Mind you, that’s reported unemployment. If we were to factor in everyone else who is looking for work, the rate would be more like 12%.

To get a job, you need a great resume. It sums up your life on one page, so it has to set you apart from the pack. The resume writing program we found has been featured on ABC News, in the Wall Street Journal, in the New York Times, and many other places. They guarantee to get you hired in 90 days. If you want to check it out, then click here!

Tattoos are a very popular form of self-expression. This Burn blogger has two tattoos and is contemplating another one. Tattoos let you say who you are, and they are a great reminder of what you stand for every time you look at them. To find the perfect tattoo design, check out the thousands available at this link

It has been said clothes make the person. We don’t necessarily agree, but what has definitely been proven is that a person’s impression of you is formed in the first 30 seconds they meet you. Logic would dictate that a lot of that impression is therefore based upon what you’re wearing, since you can’t get a whole lot out of your mouth in 30 seconds. To get your style going, check out this link, featuring designer names at 70% off:

OK, well we hope this has been fun and helpful. We’ll do this from time to time, depending upon what’s in the news (or not). Let us know if you liked our picks!

Haven't We Done This Before?

Today marks the official launch of Burnandrotinhell.com! That’s right, we said official! A couple of months ago, we beta test launched the site, and all hell (no pun intended) broke loose. There was a Fox 5 'Web Scandal', international news coverage, suspensions, a firing, evidence of hypocrisy and over 2,400 Burns posted.

Many of you do not realize that almost every action you take on the site can earn you 'burn points'. Each time you post a burn, you will earn burn points. Each time you 'rate' a burn up or down, you will earn burn points. Each time, you comment on a burn, you will earn burn points. Each time you 'share' your burn, or another burn, you will earn burn points. Each time you give the finger to someone, you will earn burn points. And each time someone rates your burn, you will earn burn points. You will go up burn 'levels' and obtain new burn titles. And that will also earn you more bonus burn points. I think you get what we are saying, right?

As of today, our site is thoroughly tested and our custom gift store is completed. That means you can now trade in your 'Burn Points' for discounts on cool stuff, like t-shirts, travel mugs, and caps. We are also adding big ticket items for you heavy Burners! Soon an Ipad 2 will be available in the store, for you to trade your burn points for!

If you have any questions about using the site, be sure to visit our new FAQ page. It will tell you everything you need to know so you can start Burning and racking up those points.

We have a crazy burn 'Leader Board' so you can see where you rank on a daily, weekly, monthly, and all time basis. We plan on handing out a bunch of free sponsored items to those who rank high on those leader boards.

We are excited, and hope you are excited, too. If you ever want to drop us a note and give us suggestions and comments, visit our Contact Us page. We read what you have to say every day.

I mean, that’s the whole point of the site, right? It gives you a voice so you can vent about anything, anywhere in the world that is pissing you off, even us! We want you to be heard and we want to hear you!

So what are you waiting for? Click here to start burning, and earning burn points now.

Happy Burning!

The Burn Team

DEAR OPRAH!

A letter from a member of the burn team to Oprah:

Oprah,

you don’t know this, but you are a part of my family. I have watched almost every episode of your show for the past 25 years. When I was a teenage girl, afraid to come out of the closet for fear of what my family and friends would say, you were there for me. You were the one who comforted me, supported me, and loved me through all the pain and stress.

At that time, there weren’t wonderful and miraculous organizations like ItGetsBetter.org, or The Trevor Project. No one talked about being gay in the late 80’s. However you, Oprah, put LGBT people on TV, and that’s what saved me from serious depression. You showed me that I wasn’t alone, and that the world was a big place with room for everyone.

I lost many people when I eventually came out, Oprah. They weren’t ready for what I had to say. I spent a lot of time locked in my room crying. But even then, I knew everything was going to be ok, because every day on TV, you said it would.
Today is your last show. So I am asking myself, what am I supposed to do? I am going on 42, and I still love you, Oprah. 4PM in New York will never be the same again. It will be a big, blank hole.

Maybe the better question to ask myself is, what would you want me to do? I think you would want me to pay it forward. I am trying to do that here, with Burnandrotinhell.com. I am trying to give a voice to people who don’t normally have one. I am trying to provide people with a place where they can go and let off steam and discuss what’s bothering them, and maybe laugh and have some fun doing it.

I hear some people need this site. I see that many people use it every day. Others use it once in a while, and others, just once. But all these users know it is here, for them when they need it. That is the important part. Just like you always say, “This is what I know for sure.”

I bet you many others feel the same way. We would love to read your comments on how you feel about Oprah's last day of her show.

The Burn Team

SKECHERS IS SKETCHY!

Have you heard about Skechers Shape-Ups for girls? We all know Kim Kardashian pushes the Shape-Ups for women in the video below, crediting the sneaker with tightening her legs and rear end. That is actually the purpose of this particular line of sneakers – to tone you from the waist down. Now, there is a line of Shape-Ups for girls. The smallest size is 2, which is the shoe size of a typical 7 year old girl. It’s bad enough adult and teenage women in this country obsess over their weight and looks. Do we really have to create products to make little girls who are nowhere near puberty worry about it?

Skechers claims that the purpose of their Shape-Ups line for girls is to promote fitness in kids. In interviews, company spokespeople have said that promoting the sneaker is in line with Michelle Obama’s campaign against childhood obesity. If that is the case, why are there no Shape-Ups for boys? Don’t boys need to stay fit? Or is having a fat ass just a girl problem?




Thanks, Skechers for adding to the brainwashing of the American female. Women and girls are already bombarded with messages every day on TV, in magazines, and movies, that say you are worthless if your body fat percentage is over 4%.

That having being said, this female author is now going to throw out her Skechers and eat a donut.

What do you guys think?

Comment here on this blog or Burn on Burnandrotinhell.com!

I’ll Huffington, and Puffington, and Blow Your Freedom Down!

AOL recently finalized its $315 million acquisition of the Huffington Post online news website recently. The result is that the new AOL/Huffington Post are GRADE A WIMPS!

We learned from a Burnandrotinhell.com member and frequent AOL blogger yesterday that as a consequence of the merger, AOL changed the rules for its political blogs. Not only that, but AOL /Huffington Post is screening (that means BIG TIME CENSORSHIP, PEOPLE!) all posts. AOL bloggers used to be able to have their political posts go up in real-time without screening.

Now, everything is screened, and what is even more insulting is that users can now be booted for using words like “moron.” AOL apparently doesn’t want anyone to be too offended. What’s the point then in letting people post? Maybe the new policy should say “You can only post here if you are going to talk about daisies and pretty ribbons, so that no one’s feelings will be hurt, ever.”

Gee, it doesn’t seem anyone was too worried about “Huffington posts” that the owner of this site would find offensive when she was a headline story a few weeks ago. If we recall correctly, she was called all sorts of things by the people posting comments. Wow, it’s amazing how getting money from a merger changes everything.
So what is an AOL blogger to do?

Well, they can keep doing what they are doing now, and use the finance articles as a make-shift political blog. Or, they can really be able to express themselves, and go to the Politics section of Burnandrotinhell.com and Burn, baby, burn!

You think the government is taking our country in the wrong direction? BURN!

You think oil prices are too high and part of an international government money-making conspiracy? BURN!

Why doesn’t anyone talk about BP anymore ? All that oil down by Louisiana that killed all the wildlife is gone? No, it isn’t, BURN!

Does Donald Trump do his own hair and will he keep it that way if he is elected president? BURN!

What’s your political beef today? We want to know! Click here to post your burn now.

Happy Burning!

Bad Tipper Burn List: Are You A Bad Tipper?

A deli delivery guy named Larry Fox from Williamsburg, NY started a blog called “15%” a few weeks ago. It is a blog about bad tippers. In the blog, the posts contained names and addresses of some of the worst offenders in NYC, including the staff of the TV series “The Good Wife” who only gave Larry a 5% delivery tip.
Larry’s stance is that delivery people should make at least a 15% tip on a delivery. Many people, he says, will tip two dollars for a delivery whether the order is $10 or $100.

Larry, we at the Burn Blog are embarrassed to say we were under the impression a couple of dollar tip for a delivery was OK in NYC (although those cheapos at The Good Wife sure could have added a few more bucks!). Sometimes a delivery guy just has to walk around the corner to bring you your food here. Is this worth a 15% tip? I mean, you are not serving it, just bringing it. When it rains or snows, this blogger always tips more to delivery people. I respect that it sucks being outside in inclement weather, and I am especially thankful for not having to go outside those days.

Wait staff in restaurants, no doubt, should always get at least 15% unless the service is horrible. Even when I have had nightmare service (thanks, Firebird!), I have never left a penny under the plate. I always leave at least couple of bucks. Maybe that’s stupidity or over-generosity on my part.

Did you know it is perfectly legal to pay less than minimum wage to wait staff, the idea being that a good portion of what they are paid are tips and tips are considered to be part of their salary? For example, in NYC, the minimum wage is $7.25, but for wait staff, it is $4.60.

People in the food and beverage service industry depend on tips to live. This is a fact. This, however, doesn’t mean all tipping is created equal. A fifteen dollar tip to bring two bags of food around the corner to my house? No, I don’t think so, Larry. However, if you are in a restaurant, and you don’t want to tip accordingly, you should stay home and make yourself some Mac N’Cheese.

Tumblr was really pissed at Larry and told him to take the addresses of the bad tippers down from his blog, which he did. We checked out 15% this morning, and it says under the title “Fin”, “I haven’t updated for three days, and in case you haven’t figured it out, this blog is dead again.” Larry wrote an article this morning which says he was fired for having created the blog, which he said was a means to hold people accountable for their stinginess.

Well, Larry, JOIN THE CLUB! It totally sucks to get fired because you create a forum intended to hold people accountable for being jerks! We may not totally agree with your take on tipping practices, but we 100% agree with the importance of making the world accountable.

That’s why we created burnandrotinhell.com! We support you, Larry! We will not let your idea die!

If any of you out there have some bad tipper stories you want to post, please feel free to 'burn' them in the Rude People section of burnandrotinhell.com. If we get enough posts on this subject, we will make a separate “Bad Tippers/Bad Service” category.

Were gonna give away a few t shirts to those with the best bad tipper burns, so click here to make your first 'burn' about this topic.

Should Osama Bin Laden Burn and Rot in Hell!

We are so glad Osama Bin Laden is finally dead. It has been almost ten years since he killed three thousand people in downtown New York City. One of the people almost killed that horrific day is the mother of the member of the Burn Team who is writing this blog.

" This is how my day went on September 11, 2001. While I was vacuuming the bedroom in my house, my mother called me from her desk at Merrill Lynch in the Wintergarden North Tower building of the World Trade Center. I normally can’t hear the phone over the vacuum, but this time I did. She said that a plane just hit one of the towers of the Trade Center, and that she and her coworkers had watched it hit out of the office window. She asked me if I thought she should leave work and come home. I told her yes, of course. I thought she had learned this lesson in the 1993 bombing of the Trade Center, that you need to get out fast when something like that happens. Then she said that Merrill Lynch didn’t officially tell them they could go, and that she could lose a day’s pay or a personal day if she just left. I told her to get out anyway.

About ten minutes later, she called me from the lobby. She said she was so nervous about the plane, that she forgot her purse upstairs on the 30th floor where she worked. She wanted to go back to get it. I told her to forget the purse, get out of the building. Then I didn’t hear from her again.

A few minutes later, the first tower of the Trade Center collapsed. Then the second tower collapsed. I could not reach my mother. My dad had called me from midtown Manhattan. “Have you heard from your mother?” he asked me. “Not since right before the Towers fell,” I told him. Hours passed. I was hysterical crying on my bathroom floor. My neighbor heard me crying from outside the window and she rang the bell. She hugged me but she could not calm me down.

The phone rang at about 1:30 in the afternoon. It was my mother. She was yelling into the phone. She had seen severed limbs lining the streets, and she was covered with ash. But she was ok. She was going to walk over the 59th Street bridge and make her way home. Yes, she had gone back for her purse. She made it out of the building a few minutes before the first Tower fell. I was so grateful.

I walked my dog. I turned the corner, and my neighbor was in front of her house crying on the lawn. She thought her husband was dead. She had three small children. She soon found out she was right, he had been killed. It was now just the kids, and her. No more daddy. They would never find his body, and they never got to say goodbye.

I have mixed feelings today, happiness and worry. I am thrilled someone so evil is no longer on the planet. I hope people who experienced loss on September 11, 2001 feel a little bit better, somewhat vindicated, like justice was served. I also hope Americans are safe. I hope there is nothing left to fear. But as much as I want that, I know it is unlikely".

So for now, we will have to settle for the fact that Osama Bin Laden surely will Burn and rot in hell. And we will have to see what the future holds for all of us.

What do you think the future will hold in terms of security? And, do you think Osama Bin Laden should burn and rot in hell? What is your 9-11 story?

Click comment, and let us know.

Thanks,

The Burn team

Do NOT Burn McDonald's, Burn The Parents!

The owners of this site have children. They are trim and healthy. Every couple of weeks, they go to McDonald’s in New York City for a Happy Meal. Once they know they are going there, they get very excited because in their meal will be a small, high quality toy. It makes us, as parents, happy, too, because the kids get to eat something they enjoy and the new toy puts smiles on their faces. All that happiness for about five bucks a child! What’s better than that?

About a week ago, New York City councilman Leroy Comrie, Jr. introduced legislation to ban toys from certain kids’ meals at fast food chains. The toys would be banned from meals that don’t meet the nutritional and calorie requirements outlined in the legislation. A bill similar to, but less strict than the New York City one passed last year in San Francisco.

The rationale behind the NYC bill is that the toys in some instances are rewarding kids for making poor food choices. Do children make food choices? Children make food requests. Adults make choices for the children. Sometimes, parents don’t mind that their child eats a fatty, high calorie kid’s meal at a fast food chain. So this argument for the legislation doesn’t hold much water. Whatever happened to personal responsibility in the United States? What happened to the responsibility of parents for their children? You know, about 8 years ago, a group of obese kids sued McDonald’s on the premise that the restaurant made them fat. At that time, the case was laughed out of court.

What has changed in our country that legislators are introducing bills like this, and that they are actually getting passed? Why are we in a trending toward attacking the provider of the product who is open and honest about what they are selling, not the parents who should be monitoring their children?

What do you think about this? We want to know. Click here, or the comments link to let us know what you think.

100 T Shirt Giveaway!

We promised to give away burn and rot in hell t shirts to the first 100 members who register to the site, and we have finally sent the last shirt out.

This member sent us this burn picture with him giving us the burn finger, and we got so excited we gave him a bonus 500 burn points.

Send in a picture giving us the burn finger, holding up a sign that says " I vent, therefore I am -burnandrotinhell.com " and you will be featured on a future burn page, and earn yourself a quick 500 burn points too.

Burn points can be accumulated by interacting on the burnandrotinhell.com website. Every comment, reply, up rating, down rating, burn post, share to social media, and execution of other site features, will earn you a certain amount of points. These burn points can eventually be traded in for anything in our gift shop.

The gift shop is coming real soon. It will have t shirts, all sorts of burn branded merchandise, and random sponsored items. Websites will donate goods, such as amex, visa, or master card gift cards. Some may offer electronics, such as ipods, laptops, or even an ipad2.

Until then, we encourage all of you to burn baby, burn. Where else can you get something off your chest, and earn free stuff for it?

The Burn Team

Catholic Teacher Suspended Over BurnandRotinHell.com

Burnandrotinhell.com received some news coverage last week. Fox 5 was calling it a teacher website scandal. The president of JEVRA, LLC, & Owner of the burn website, Elizabeth Cucinotta was teaching at St. Francis Prep School for four years, and loved her teaching job. That is until they suspended her with pay, and threatened to fire her if she did not remove the categories "Bad Teachers", and "Bad Students" from the site. When she refused, she was fired.

The site was created to give people a place to vent, and to encourage freedom of speech rights. "The world is angry now, they need a place to vent, to get things off their chest, and hope it all just goes away" she said. "It feels good" she added.

When she was asked how she felt being sent home, she said she was very surprised. Before she started the site she even went to a priest and told him the name of the website on two occasions and was not given any indication that it was going to be a problem. Days after she got it up and running she says she was called into the principal's office and suspended. She was asked if she would take the website, or her job back if asked to chose, and she said. "They suggested I take them down today, which I won't do". She was eventually fired.

The school issued this statement to Fox 5: "Miss Cucinotta has been suspended pending an investigation for a potential violation of the school's mission and the teacher's obligation to fulfill that mission." Some students said they agree. Some rallied outside with signs that said "Free Ms C". Fox 5 asked her what she has to say to the administrators who suspended her. "Burn and rot in hell," she said.

The www.burnandrotinhell.com website has been up only 2 weeks, and had over 12,000 members, and 240,000 page views.

Here is the news footage that was aired on Fox 5:

Welcome To The Burn Blog

Finally the Official Burn Blog is here! We have been waiting to create a place for those of us on the Burn Team to vent to all of you readers, and now we have it. The immediate success of the burnandrotinhell.com website is proof that many people have feelings inside that they’d like to get out into the open. Many of you want to be able to share safely and anonymously. You now have the place to do so!

The Burn Team would like to welcome everyone to our sites. Feel free to 'burn' whatever you feel. Register an account or post anonymously—either way works! We encourage you all to get all of that bottled-up stress out into the open, and tell it to "Burn and rot in hell!". We also encourage you all to rate other burns on the site, and make comments about how you feel about other burns. It will make you feel better. Try it.

While you interact with the site, you will earn burn points. We will launch a gift shop shortly, and you will be able to trade your burn points for gifts and/or discounts. The shop will consist of Burn-branded items and goodies like iPads, computers, video games, and other cool things donated to us by sponsors, such as Mafialife.com, and more.

This Burn Blog will be our method of updating you on what is going on with the site, as well as venting our official opinions and thoughts. We will also launch contests, surveys, polls, and other cool events from here, to keep you all of you updated.


Happy burning,

The Burn Team