Watercooler Sensation

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Families Are Boycotting Ronald And The ‘Happy Meal’

• Recently, the American Family Association launched a boycott against McDonald’s, after the fast food franchise joined the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce. [Washington Post]
• Last week, The Wonk Room discovered the website “Boycott McDonald’s,” an American Family Association initiative that criticizes McDonald’s for not staying “neutral in the cultural war over homosexuality.” [Wonk Room]
• And the best thing about the site? The comment section. [Boycott McDonald’s]
• So whether you’re for or against the boycott, come together and read these interesting comments left on the Boycott McDonald’s site, pulled by The Wonk Room—enjoy!

Comments: [Wonk Room]

• “Sorry, but my shadow will no longer cross the threshold of the golden arches. Good bye. I need to lose weight and save money. This is just the impetuous I needed.”
• “I recently saw two young teenagers making out. I figure McDonalds is no longer my kind of place. I think the sixteen year old worked there.”
• “McDonald’s, You are suppose to be a family restaurant. I believe that it is inappropriate for you to speak for or against gay issues. Ronald should be neutral.”
• “Gay rights? Gives a whole new meaning to “Happy Meal” doesn’t it? Now not only is McDonalds food bad for your health but it is bad for your morals too!!!! We won’t eat there again unless they change their policy.”
• “I wanted to leave a comment, but there is no way to type a comment in.”

As if the movie “Super Size Me” wasn’t enough for McDonald’s.....we just feel bad for Ronald.

Hollywood Men Show Us The Money

• Here comes Hollywood’s A-List. Sorry ladies – you’ve made strides in the past few years, but acting is still a man’s game. [USA Today]
• Highest paid actor in Hollywood: Will Smith, who has parlayed blockbuster hero into about $80 million a year.
• #2: Johnny Depp. Combining his roles in big-budget roles like Pirates of the Carribean with his collaborations with Tim Burton, he brings in $72 million a year.
• #3: A tie between Shrek and Donkey…er, sorry, we mean Mike Meyers and Eddie Murphy, who each earn approximately $55 million a year (even with bombs like The Love Guru.)
• #5: Rounding out the list, our hearts still go on for Leonardo DiCaprio, “the unique movie star who can get $20 million for work in R-rated adult dramas, which, because of viewer age restrictions, have limited ability to generate big box office numbers.”

Here’s that double standard we were talking about; “collectively, the big screen’s leading men took home an estimated $487 million this year, compared with the leading ladies’ haul of $244.5 million.”

Slydial: Saving You From Awkwardness Since 2008

• Breaking up is hard to do, but theres a company looking to help you out.
• Slydial basically lets you connect directly to another person’s voicemail, eliminating the chance that they can pick up and force you to talk to them. [ABC]
• You call their number, listen to an ad, and voila! You’re free to break up, admit an affair, or otherwise clear your chest.
• Recipients should then get a voicemail notification, and sometimes they will see a caller’s number show up as a missed call, too.
• Slydial is quick to come up with other uses for their service, including business communications and spouses in different time zones.
• The company rolled out a private test phase of Slydial in March, and has added about 5,000 users since then. The service opened to the general public in a “beta” testing phase on Monday.
• While you can already send direct voicemails, its generally limited to subscribers of the same service. Slydial makes it possible to do on any major wireless network.

Stop being chicken and just talk them.

By the Numbers

Ooops. FEMA is reporting that federal officials vastly overestimated the value of hurricane relief supplies given away earlier this year. The General Services Administration, which manages federal property, over-counted cases of toilet paper, plastic sporks and other cutlery, mistakenly counted a single item as being worth as much as multiple items contained in a package of goods....and we don’t mean by a couple of dollars. Take a look at the numbers. [CNN]

$85 million

The original GSA estimate of all items.

$18.5 million

What the total estimate should have been.

$36 million

Original estimated value of an entire case of sporks

$36,000

The actual value of an entire case of sporks

$1.5 million

Original estimated value for packs of toilet paper

$18,000

The actual value for packs of toilet paper

$6.3 million

Original estimated of plastic cutlery kits

$25,000

The actual value of plastic cutlery kits

Celebrities: Unfiltered

“To be that incredible in a movie that’s this huge, that’s about so many things, is really an accomplishment,” she said. “In a way I feel funny thinking about the Oscars when he isn’t alive, but at the same time I’m a member of the Academy and I would vote for him. In order to be a good actor you have to find a place where you are free, but it’s very unusual to be absolutely free in the way that he was in this movie. It was inspiring working with him.”

— Maggie Gyllenhaal on Heath Ledger’s performance as the Joker in “The Dark Knight”[People]

Speed Round

UH-OH BATMAN

“The Dark Knight” star Christian Bale denies allegations he assaulted his mother and sister the night before the European premiere of his film, “The Dark Knight". After being questioned by police yesterday, he was released without being charged. [CBS News]

“THANK YOU FOR BEING A FRIEND”

Estelle Getty, who played Sophia on TV’s “The Golden Girls,” has died at the age of 84. Getty suffered from advanced dementia for several years. [CBS News]

SPEARS IS IN THE RED

The Britney Spears Foundation has a deficit of nearly $200,000. The foundation’s Form 900 tax filing shows that Spears came up short $195,445 for the year 2006. [FOX News]

BUT THE PAPS STILL LOVE HER

Two photographers who tried to snap shots of pop star Britney Spears from a fire access road on a hillside near her StudioCity home were arrested Monday afternoon on loitering charges.[LAT]

IT WAS A MISTAKE

Teen pop sensation Miley Cyrus is stepping back into the spotlight, promoting her new album “Breakout". While speaking with “Good Morning America", the teen sensation spoke about her covershoot for “Vanity Fair", calling the provocative photos of her published in June’s Vanity Fair magazine a “mistake.” [ABC News]

OVER THE HILL TO IRAQ

As if they weren’t already overexposed in the media— The Hills‘ terrible twosome Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt are set to perform for soldiers in Iraq, with John McCain as their travel agent. [E! Online]

LEAP OF FAITH

Bill Murray will take a flying leap next month, when he jumps out of a plane at the Chicago Air and Water Show. According to the mayor’s office, the Lost in Translation Oscar nominee’s special appearance will raise money for the USO of Illinois as part of the show’s 50th anniversary. [People]

LITTLE BLUE PILLS

Turns out, they may help women after all. While Viagra hasn’t been shown to increase desire, new findings show increased satisfaction for women on antidepressants. [CBS]

TWITTER

Not just good for updating your friends on every single minute detail of your life they probably don’t care about, now the service is being used by customer service reps to stop bad publicity before it spreads like wildfire on the internet. [ABC]

TATTS

Ever wonder who is most likely to have regrets about their body art? Recent research shows that candidates for tattoo removal were more likely to be women who were white and single with some degree of college education and between the ages of 24 and 39. [ABC]