Foot in the mouth disease

Whether you love him or loathe him, FIFA boss Joseph 'Sepp' Blatter remains one of football's most entertaining characters, even if it is mostly for the wrong reasons.
During his 13-years on the job, Blatter has been embroiled in controversies, allegations of corruption and general idiot behaviour. Some of his blunders were the result of his big mouth and recently, it landed him in hot water yet again. A few days ago, and with the English Premier League still reeling from two recent controversies regarding racism, the great man himself claimed that any footballer who is racially abused on the pitch by another should shake hands with the perpetrator at the final whistle. The timing of his faux pas was priceless - it apparently came on the day that Liverpool FC striker Luis Suarez was charged with racially abusing Manchester United defender Patrice Evra (who is black) and just weeks after Chelsea FC defender and captain John Terry was accused of making racist comments at Queens Park Rangers FC defender Anton Ferdinand (who is also black).

Blatter's comments drew heavy criticism, particularly from footballers. Ferdinand's brother, Manchester United player Rio Ferdinand took to twitter to voice his disbelief, calling Blatter's comments 'condescending' and 'laughable', before going on to claim that football's anti-racist stance was a fake. Los Angeles Galaxy player David Beckham accused Blatter of taking a half-hearted approach to the issue and, after Blatter was forced to apologise for his comments, former footballer Sol Campbell made it clear that Blatter's actions were unforgivable and that he should 'do the honourable thing and step down' as FIFA president.

Clearly, Blatter is a man who has fallen prey to the old 'foot in the mouth disease' once too often. I'm surprised he hasn't been given a Foot In Mouth Award or, worse a Golden Bull Award by the Plain English Campaign. This is the same man whose past gaffes include unsavoury comments about gay people in regards to the 2022 World Cup, declared that female footballers should wear tighter shorts to increase the popularity of women's football and, much to the chagrin of female football fans, implemented the rule that players who remove their shirts during goal celebrations (or celebrated too wildly) were to be booked. Throw in allegations of corruption and you have a rapsheet that is sure to be longer and more embarrassing than Lindsay Lohan's.

It's long been the bane of human society, this foot-in-the-mouth tendency. Sometimes we say things that we think is funny or light-hearted when in reality it is the complete opposite. Other times we just say things that we think make us look smart but end up having the opposite effect. A good example of these include trying to cheer people up during a difficult period by trying to put a positive spin on the situation - and coming across as an insensitive jerk instead. Another example is saying something out loud just because you believe it will make you look intelligent but instead coming across as being the total opposite. You've seen it before, where people comment on something that is making news or try to make an intellectual statement only to misuse a word, come off as arrogant and insensitive or get their facts wrong. Remember Justin Bieber's Rolling Stone interview earlier this year in which he inadvertently came across as condescending when commenting on homosexuals, abortion and rape?

And then there are those who say something to insult or correct someone only to end up offending someone else. A good example of this is the Australian swimmer Stephanie Rice, whose current boyfriend is Australian rugby union player Quade Cooper. After watching a rugby union match in September 2010 in which Australia defeated South Africa, she took to Twitter to congratulate the Australian team and taunt the opposition. Unfortunately, she ended up putting the proverbial foot in her mouth instead. Her tweet that day read 'suck on that, f****ts!!!!!' Those four little words got her into big trouble, with one of her sponsors, Jaguar, severing ties with her and many people calling her classless and bigoted. She was forced to make a public apology. Exuberance can indeed be a hindrance at times, clouding our judgement and inflating our confidence. The result can be an increased chance of getting one's self into trouble.


Then there are those who try to flatter people with their compliments but end up insulting them instead. For example, telling someone that they look 'amazing' or 'youthful' for a person of their age. While it definitely serves as a compliment, the recipient might interpret that as your way of saying 'You're an old fart but at least you still look hot'. Same goes with someone's appearance, for example telling them 'Wow!!!! You've lost weight!' The other person might think 'So what? You thought I was a fat pig?' The worse would be trying to compliment someone's personal achievement only to offend them instead. Merely congratulating them would be enough, but sometimes telling them things like 'You proved me wrong' or 'That was unexpected, well done!' can be taken the wrong way.
As it turns out even if you have something nice to say, sometimes it's best to keep your mouth shut. Talk about a good deed wasted.

So where does Mr. Blatter's blunder fall under? In a way it falls under all categories. His comments came across as condescending and insensitive to anyone who has been racially abused and while it was his intention to come up with a remedy to a serious issue that would be fair to all parties he ended up insulting others instead. I guess the moral lesson of the story is to think before you speak. People tend to be mighty sensitive these days and so even the most complimentary comments could be misinterpreted and taken as an insult. So even if you have something nice or insightful to say, think before you speak.

Time to think with your BRAIN!!!!!!

According to a recent US and UK study regarding internet users, men are far more likely to fall for social networking scams than women.
The study found that on sites such as Facebook, men are more likely to accept a friend request from strangers, especially from a user whose profile picture shows a sexy, scantily-clad woman. Unfortunately, this would then lead to access to personal information and it doesn't help that men are more likely to announce their location, have a relaxed approach towards privacy settings and leave their account open for all to view.

As a guy, I think I speak for all men when I say that our confidence levels and egos go through the roof whenever an attractive female wants to talk to us and it sometimes comes at the expense of our common sense. You know how it is, you get approached by a good-looking girl, she asks you if you'd like to hook up and immediately you think 'Jackpot, baby!' and throw all caution into the wind. It's the same with social networking sites. A female user with an attractive profile pic wants to be your friend and you think 'Oh, hell yeah!' without considering whether or not the profile is legitimate. You don't stop to think this user could be a serial killer or an identity thief posing as an attractive woman to gain your attention, and then before you know it, they've either stolen your identity or tracked you down (thanks to your tendency to advertise your whereabouts and your lax approach to privacy settings) and killed you.

I guess this article makes men look like a bunch of idiots, but in our defence it's just something that we're born with. In the wild, the male of every species have several roles (ie: To hunt, gather, provide, protect etc) but their main purpose is to find a female to procreate with. People are no different, hence why men are always checking out other women regardless of their marital status. Us guys provide for and protect the family and we're expected to get married and have children. Sure, civilisation frowns upon the idea of a man cheating on his wife or partner but in the wild, animals are rarely monogamous. Most of them have children with one female then move on to the next. Any man who tells you that such urges never crossed their mind is lying to you. The way I see it, we all have that urge but some of us are better at controlling it than others. Society just wants us to control our natural urges because that's pretty much what separates us humans from beasts. Hence why women often refer to men as 'animals' and 'beasts' and worse, 'neanderthals' whenever we act up. I guess it also explains why men tend to break things, chew with their mouths open, get into fights, forget to clean up after themselves and not bother making themselves presentable unless it is absolutely necessary.

Time to start thinking with your brains, guys. When it comes to social networking, you can't afford to get too reckless. Just because some user with an irresistible profile picture wants to be your friend doesn't mean you have to add them right away. If you have never heard of this person until now, have no mutual friends or interests in common and/or if they don't have many friends to begin with, don't just accept their request right there on the spot. And if upon accepting them you find that their profile and activity looks suspicious, unfriend them right away! Better to be safe than sorry, guys.

And if you are currently in a relationship and are still doing this, you'd better hope to God your significant other doesn't find out, for it must be noted that in the wild, the female of the species can be much more deadly than the male!

It all comes down to you

Before I get this blog underway, I just want to say that I will not dedicate an entire blog on the big drama that is Kim Kardashian. Firstly, too many things have already been written about her and her divorce and so I'd pretty much sound like someone else and second of all, for anyone wondering why I didn't write a 'Saving Kim'-style blog, it's because to be honest she doesn't need saving. The woman made around $18 million from her wedding to basketball player Kris Humphries and allegedly the couple earned around $250,000 for every day that they were married. I'm guessing that she'll probably make more money from this divorce and still commands a generous sum from store and social appearances and any business ventures and endorsements that has her name on it. So even if the public stop caring much about her and she fades away from our consciousness (as it did her former 'bestie' Paris Hilton), she won't be missing anything other than more chances to hog headlines and attention. Hence, she doesn't need any of my help.

Ok, now that I've got that out of the way, I'd first like to share a recent article I read in the paper. According to studies conducted by the University Of Queensland School of Psychology, people who played violent video games, particularly fighting games, did so at the risk of losing their empathy. The study involved 144 participants who first played the game Mortal Kombat and then played a tennis game. They were then asked to rate their own empathy after playing. The participants admitted that they felt 'dehumanised' after playing Mortal Kombat and so the study concluded that prolonged playing of such games could turn people into violent, aggressive, unfeeling people, since these players would eventually begin to relate to these characters.

Like most guys, I too was a huge fan of violent games. I loved the Street Fighter series (which isn't exactly gory and violent, but still a fighting game nonetheless), played Mortal Kombat a fair bit and was an absolute fan of first-person shooters. I played them from hours on end. I will admit now that those feelings of coldness and extreme aggression has crossed my mind but you know what? I've never used it on anyone. I've never killed, maimed or seriously injured anyone because I know that it's not the right thing to do.

I wrote a blog a few months ago about taking things too literally, and I think the same could be applied here. I was taught from an early age the difference between right and wrong, as well as the fact that one shouldn't take everything they see and hear on TV, radio, video games and all that too literally. While I enjoyed playing these violent games, I also knew that I shouldn't try to re-enact what I saw on the game screen for real. Seriously, I get quite annoyed when 'experts' try to blame video games, movies, music and all that for rising crime rates and anti-social behaviour. Sure, they CAN contribute but it really comes down to the individuals themselves. Are they smart enough to not imitate everything that they see and hear? Or are they dumb enough to take it to heart and get themselves into trouble? My parents also made sure that I didn't play these games until I was old enough to do so. That way I could play them and not allow myself to take things to heart.

So while it's true that excessive playing of violent games can contribute to monstrous behaviour, I don't think these games should be to blame for turning people into monsters. Such a thought makes non-violent fans of these games look bad and could potentially lead to a ban in these games - which could lead to more than a few fans becoming murderous! People just need to know the difference between right and wrong and be smart enough not to take everything you see and hear too literally. Seriously, people, it all comes down to you.