Bravo to Captain Zachariah Fike of the Army National Guard for founding Purple Hearts Reunited, an organization dedicated to returning Purple Heart medals to families of veterans whose medals were lost or stolen. According to a report on NPR's "Here & Now": "(The families) would receive a registered piece of mail with this Purple Heart. A lot of the effects were not returned to the family, so this was all they had — it became that tangible item that they could touch and feel and display in their homes."
Boo to the continued use of racist mascots for various sports teams. The most high-profile example of this phenomenon is in Washington, D.C., where the owner of the Washington NFL team has refused to change the team name and mascot, which is considered a racial slur. Another focus of controversy is a high school in California which has as its mascot an "angry Arab." These names based on outdated and incorrect stereotypes need to go. Bravo to the Change.org petition that calls on Victoria's Secret to make Carmen Carrera the brand's first transgender model. Carrera competed in "RuPaul's Drag Race" during the show's third season as a gay man but began identifying as a heterosexual woman in May 2012. Boo to the closing of Blockbuster stores. The company announced it will close its 300 remaining retail stores and also stop its mail-order DVD service. At its peak, Blockbuster had 9,000 stores. It will continue to have 50 franchised stores after the closure. Bravo to Rep. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., who's taking on a feat none of her other congressional peers have accomplished. After training every day for a year, Sinema will be competing in the Ironman Arizona — an arduous race that consists of 2.4 miles of swimming, a 112-mile bike ride and a full 26.2-mile marathon — this weekend. Boo to the damage caused by super typhoon Haiyan. The powerful storm hit the Philippines on Friday, leaving 10,000 people dead, more than 600,000 displaced and more than 9 million people affected, according to Reuters. The U.N. has reported that some survivors had no food, water or medicine. Aid efforts from the World Food Programme, among other providers, are currently underway. Bravo to Disney for developing beloved classic "The Princess Bride" as a stage production. Because it was just announced Monday, it's unclear yet if it will be a play or musical like "Beauty and the Beast" or "The Lion King," but it's inconceivable that it will be anything but fantastic. Boo to the All Pakistan Private Schools Management Association, which has chosen to ban the book "I Am Malala." The Association represents 40,000 private schools in Pakistan and said in a statement, "Through this book, (Malala Yousafzai) became a tool in the hands of the Western powers." Yousafzai is known for surviving an attempt on her life by alleged members of the Taliban. Bravo to a rabbi in New Haven, Conn., who returned $98,000 that he found in a purchased desk to its rightful owner. Rabbi Noah Muroff purchased a desk from Craigslist in September and discovered the cash when he took the desk apart to fit it through a doorway. The large sum was apparently inheritance money belonging to the woman who sold him the desk.
Boo-ravo to a federal judge who ruled that New York City's emergency plan failed to protect almost 900,000 disabled residents during Hurricane Irene in 2011 and later Superstorm Sandy in September 2012. According to the ruling, these plans were in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act "through 'benign neglect.'" This case is the first of its kind to go to nationwide and could trickle down to other local governments nationwide.
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