What Wall Street Reform Means Where We Live

Here are a few highlights courtesy of Whitehouse.gov:

• There's now a single agency responsible for looking out for consumers: the Bureau for Consumer Financial Protections. Instead of seven agencies dealing with these issues part-time, one agency will be in charge of establishing clear rules of the road for banks, mortgage companies, payday lenders and credit card lenders.
• Mortgage brokers won't make a higher commission by selling people mortgages that they can't afford. This was a major factor in the recent housing crisis. Now brokers and banks have to take into consideration a borrower's ability to repay before giving a home loan.
• You’ll be able to get a free credit score if you’re denied a loan, an apartment, or a job because of your credit, so you won’t be turned down without knowing why. Right now, you get one free credit report a year, but you can’t see your credit score for free, even if a lender or employer rejects your application because you have bad credit.
• No more bailing out banks with our tax dollars, no more "too big to fail." If a company's in trouble because of risky gambles, it will have to liquidate -- and do so before it can take down the rest of the financial system.

Stay tuned for more...

Not Ever

Rape Crisis Scotland takes on the victim-blaming ethos that excuses sexual assault.

See also the comment in the British medical journal The Lancet titled: Key to prevent HIV in women: reduce gender-based violence.

Monologue | One More Call

Here's another free script from the Sketches: Mainly on Sex collection for my youth worker and drama friends. 

The piece is titled One More Call and it's a somber monologue from a school administrator about what happens when kids don't look out for each other.

I hope One More Call strikes a chord with you. If so, tell your youth worker and drama-geek friends where to find it, with my compliments. 

The text is below. If you like it, download the free script for One More Call, with discussion questions. 

Enjoy! And let me know what you think.

Mr. Potter

 This is not why I got into education, OK? If I have to call in one more child sex abuse case...

Which is a joke. I’ll make that call before the month is out.

Did you know that 70% of teenage pregnancies are fathered by men over 20? 70%. It’s ridiculous.

Some guy comes along with a car and a part time job and he’s not all pimply and awkward so, what — he makes a girl feel like a woman? And of course he wants her to act like a woman, right? No way! He wants her to act like a girl. He wants her to do whatever he says. He wants oral sex and vaginal sex and whatever kind of sex he can get and he’ll be tender or demanding or whatever it takes to get what he wants. Oh, and he wants to keep it a secret from her parents. Real mature.

Speaking of oral sex, if I have to tell one more parent I just pulled her seventh grade girl off some boy behind the gym...

HealthCare.Gov is Up + Running

This week, HealthCare.gov went live.

Here's a fourish-minute video describing how to move around the site, which includes details on what's changing (and when) and current state-by-state availability of health coverage keyed to specific individual, business and family circumstances.

Monologue | Coming Clean

As proprietor of The Tiny Company Called Me it's my responsibility to set delivery dates and prices for my work. I always try to find a win/win schedule and price and, in that spirit, I'm happy to deliver the script for a monologue about sexual responsibility immediately and for free. 


The piece is called Coming Clean and it's in the voice of a youth worker who talks about his own sense of responsibility around sexuality.


If you're a youth worker or some kind of drama geek, I hope the timing and price—to say nothing of the quality of the piece—will strike you as a clear win. If you're not, I'll hope you'll find it an entertaining read. 


It will seem like a win from my side of the transaction if you tell a few youth workers and drama geeks where to find Coming Clean and if they download it and use it to engage kids in a conversation about telling the truth and living together responsibly.


So, read Coming Clean here and then download it free, complete with discussion questions—normally that costs two bucks.


Enjoy! And let me know if you if you like it (or hate it).

WARREN

I want to come clean with you about something tonight. OK? Is that alright with you?

Standing before you is living, breathing, proof that it is possible to grow up in this culture without falling into alcohol and sex — please, hold your applause till the end.

You may find this hard to believe, but I’ve never been drunk. People talk as if that’s inevitable — something they might as well do so they can check it off the list. Well I’m here to tell you it’s not.

And the only person I’ve had sex with is Sarah, my lovely wife. Stand up, honey; let the people greet you. Sure, you can clap for my bride. Isn’t she beautiful? Yeh.

Sex is another experience about which some people say, “Well, I may as well just get it over it over with.” Isn’t that romantic? Trust me: sex is worth the wait...Every time. (Rim shot sound effect) Thank you, thank you very much — I’m here every weekend.

Happy Father's Day from Louis C.K.

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The Besties | Chew on That

Monologue | Mango Sex

One of the nice things about being The Tiny Company Called Me is I get to make decisions I once upon a time had to negotiate with others when I was part of someone else's overhead. Of course this is also one of the challenges in being The Tiny Company Called Me, but that's another story.

Today I've decided to give away some stuff to my youth worker friends...at least the ones who use comedy, drama, and other kinds of storytelling to engage the people they're trying to help into adulthood.

First up, Mango Sex, a monologue about sexual responsibility. Normally, it costs two bucks, but you can download it free, complete with discussion questions.

If you're not a youth worker or storyteller, you might enjoy this piece anyway. It's mildly humorous and, who knows? maybe you know someone who would like it.

Jules, it should be noted, is a 15 year-old sophomore. Pity the fool who tries to date this girl.

JULES

OK, I don’t wanna get struck by lightning or anything but look: Do you seriously want me to believe God would make something as cool as sex and then tell people to stay away from it? I mean, really?

Because I find that hard to believe. I think that’s like God saying, “Don’t look at the mountains, don’t go in the ocean, don’t eat the apples.”

Oh, wait, I guess that’s the argument isn’t it; That whole apple thing. I don’t know where that comes from. Someone with an inappropriate love for apples I guess.

If I wrote it, it would be “don’t eat the mangoes.” You ever have a fresh ripe mango? I gotta tell you: if sex is better than that, don’t count on seeing much of me once I get started. I mean, please: mango sex? I don’t see why God wouldn’t want that for everyone.

Torture: Are You Convinced?

THE CALL FOR A COMMISSION OF INQUIRY by the National Religious Campaign Against Torture

The United States must never again engage in torture. Torture is immoral, illegal and counterproductive. It causes profound and lasting harm, especially to its victims but also to its perpetrators. It contradicts our nation’s deepest values and corrupts the moral fabric of our society.

We call for an impartial, nonpartisan, and independent Commission of Inquiry. Its purpose should be to gather all the facts and make recommendations. It should ascertain the extent to which our interrogation practices have constituted torture and "cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment". Understanding the causes, nature and scope of U.S.-sponsored torture is essential for preventing it in the future and eliminating it from our system without loopholes. U.S. law will determine the extent of any criminal culpability.

As people of faith, we know that brokenness can be healed – both in individual lives and in the life of the nation. All religions believe that redemption is possible. Learning the truth can set us on a path toward national healing and renewal.

Kids | Who Are They Really?

Interesting commentary from Martha Irvine at Associated Press this morning: Kids labeled 'generation next' before they grow up. Ms Irvine takes on the cultural propensity to put people—whole "generations" of them—in boxes and leave them there.

At a loss for something more original, many call them Generation Z, because they follow Generations X and Y.

They've also been referred to as Generation Net or "iGen," since they've never known a world without the Internet.

That's the one point most everyone can agree on -- that they are the tech-savviest generation of all time, so much so that even toddlers can maneuver their way through YouTube and some first-graders are able to put together a PowerPoint presentation for class.

But beyond that, who are they, really?

Most people agree it's just too early to know for sure. But that hasn't stopped marketers from trying to figure out this young crowd of consumers. Or employers from attempting to prepare for them in the workplace.

Nike Writes the Future

Ben Stein: When You're Right, You're Right

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