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