Watercooler Stories

U.S. politicians fear YouTube videos

WASHINGTON, Sept. 28 (UPI) -- Finding themselves on the popular YouTube.com Web site where embarrassing videos are posted has become a major fear for U.S. politicians.

While the site features videos of people doing stupid things by accident or on purpose, it also contains many political bloopers, whose existence races through cyberspace as fast as broadcast campaign ads, CBS reports.

One of the most recent victims to the site's popularity is U.S. Sen. George Allen, R-Va., who's running for re-election in November. He had a substantial lead in the polls but was caught on camera using a racially derogatory term for an opponent's operative.

Another victim of YouTube exposure was U.S. Sen Joe Lieberman, D-Conn., a three-term senator seen in a posting kissing U.S. President George Bush. He lost August's Democratic primary to anti-war candidate Ned Lamont.

Bush strategist Matthew Dowd told CBS there are drawbacks to the YouTube phenomenon, as it causes "people and politicians to actually be less authentic, because they worry about what's going to get caught on the Internet."

Site lets feds compare salaries

WASHINGTON, Sept. 28 (UPI) -- A new Washington Web site that lists salaries on Capitol Hill is topped by the president's $400,000, while paid interns get about $200 per week.

The LegiStorm.com site was launched last week by Jock Friedly, a former Capitol Hill reporter who felt public information should be made more public than thick books in legislators' offices, The Washington Post reported.

The site was such a hot topic on political blogs, that when it went live last week, its servers were overwhelmed and it crashed. However, Friedly had it up and running again, and visits soared as people skimmed the salaries of about 20,000 Hill employees. The data show most employees seem to make about $50,000 to $60,000 per year while most representatives and senators earn about $160,000 per year, the newspaper said.

One House staff member who asked not to be identified said he could see how a storm could develop from LegiStorm.

"I've heard some people say they're going to use this information as leverage," the man said. "There's no uniformity to what people make."

T-shirt messages less than subtle

WASHINGTON, Sept. 28 (UPI) -- Administrators at Washington area schools say sexually suggestive T-shirts are gaining popularity with teenagers and causing difficulty for teachers.

The often-subtle sexual references on the shirts circumvent the standard rules regarding clothing that expresses vulgarity or obscenity, or advertises drugs or violence, and forces administrators to evaluate each clothing article on its own, The Washington Post reported Wednesday.

Teachers said some messages, such as "Single and Ready to Mingle" or "My Boyfriend Is a Good Kisser," are considered innocent; but others including "Yes, but not with u!" and "Your Boyfriend Is a Good Kisser" are unacceptable.

"We try not to make a huge deal out of it, but we also want to be protecting the school environment," said Rick Mondloch, an associate principal at Robinson Secondary School in Fairfax County, Va. "These shirts are more risque than they were even five years ago and probably a little more blunt, so you have to be attuned to it."

W.Va. man named world's strongest

CHARLESTON, W.Va., Sept. 28 (UPI) -- A West Virginia firefighter has returned the title of the World's Strongest Man to the United States for the first time in 24 years.

Phil Pfister of Charleston, W.Va., at 6-foot-6 and 230 pounds, outlifted, outpulled and outpushed 25 other contenders in Sanya, China, ABC News reported.

"I haven't even gotten a good night's sleep yet," said Pfister, who arrived in West Virginia with the title Monday and was back at work Tuesday.

"None of this has sunken in yet," he said. "I haven't even gotten back on my feet. I've got a lot of 'thank you's' to say."

Pfister said he trained for the competition at area gyms, private homes and a closed junior high school, where he built equipment to simulate what he had to do in competition.

Wisconsin's Bill Kazmaier was the last American to win the title, holding it from 1980-82.