• Victoria's Secret apologizes for Native American-inspired look

    Jamie Mccarthy / Getty Images

    Is this lingerie look offensive? Model Karlie Kloss, in an Indian-inspired outfit, walks the runway during the 2012 Victoria's Secret Fashion Show on Nov. 7.

    By Hilary George-Parkin, Styleite

    Victoria's Secret received plenty of well-deserved recognition for their role in helping out with Hurricane Sandy relief efforts in the week leading up to their annual fashion show, and this year's Nov. 7 spectacle was every bit the glittery, star-studded bash that we've come to expect.

    But all is not well in lingerie land after the company sent American model Karlie Kloss, 20, down the runway in a feather headdress, buckskin bikini and turquoise jewelry. The outfit, meant to represent Thanksgiving, sparked outrage within the Native American community for its misappropriation of cultural attire.

    Antonio De Moraes Barros Filho / Getty Images Contributor

    Model Karlie Kloss apologized for donning a Native American-inspired feather headdress along with turquoise accents.

    The controversy came mere days after band No Doubt pulled their video for "Looking Hot", which featured singer Gwen Stefani dressed up in similarly stereotypical garb. And just last year, the Native American community criticized retailer Urban Outfitters for use of the word "Navajo" in product names, including "Navajo Hipster Panty."

    Aptly-titled blog Native Appropriations points out that, beyond merely jumbling all American Indian cultures into one mish-mash, the Victoria's Secret outfit is especially hurtful to a group of women who face widespread sexual violence:

    Besides the daily harm of these ongoing microaggressions for Native folks, the sexualization of Native women continues to be an ignored and continuing epidemic…So Victoria's Secret, now is the time to apologize. It's not too late to cut Karlie's headdressed outfit out and leave it on the editing room floor. This isn't "fun," this isn't a "fantasy" character. This is about our cultures, our bodies, and our lives. Native people demand and deserve far more respect than this."

    Victoria's Secret has indeed apologized and agreed to remove the look from their Dec. 4 broadcast. The company sent the following message this Saturday via Facebook and Twitter:

    We are sorry that the Native American headdress replica used in our recent fashion show has upset individuals. We sincerely apologize as we absolutely had no intention to offend anyone. Out of respect, we will not be including the outfit in any broadcast, marketing materials nor in any other way.

    The apology has received almost 10,000 likes and 700 retweets, as of noon Monday, since it was posted.

    Kloss likewise apologized on her personal Twitter: "I am deeply sorry if what I wore during the VS Show offended anyone. I support VS's decision to remove the outfit from the broadcast."

    This isn't the first time Victoria's Secret has found itself in hot water over a controversial outfit. In Sept., the company pulled a geisha-inspired outfit that was being sold on its website.

    What do you think of the controversial Native American-inspired outfit? Is it indeed offensive? Share your thoughts!

    More from Styleite:
    Navajo nation sues Urban Outfitters for tribal print panties
    How Victoria’s Secret rescued the National Guard
    Victoria’s Secret slams Kate Upton: ‘We would never use her’

    Slideshow: Victoria's Secret Fashion Show 2012

    Jamie Mccarthy / Getty Images

    Victoria's Secret put on a wild, whimsical and sexy fashion show, complete with dramatic wings and celebrity guests.

    Launch slideshow

     

  • English teacher behind viral video: 'Kids have to stumble'

    Veteran English teacher David McCollough.

    The English teacher behind a viral video defended his speech to Wellesley High School seniors, saying it was not meant to belittle students, but to exhort the Class of 2012 to pursue distinctive lives.


    "These kids were headed out the door, we were about to release them into the wild, and I wanted to give them something that they would bring with them and might prove helpful," David McCullough Jr. told NBC’s Nightly News on Monday. "It's also what I've been saying for 26 years in the classroom, so there was essentially nothing new in my message."

    McCullough, who readily admits he doesn't have a Facebook account, said he wasn’t ready for worldwide reaction after a video of his unusual speech went viral last week.

    In his commencement address to Wellesley High School earlier this month, McCullough delivered some sobering words: "None of you is special. You are not special. You are not exceptional."

     

     

    The educator also called the graduating students "pampered, cosseted, doted upon, helmeted, bubble wrapped... nudged, cajoled ... feted and fawned over and called sweetie pie." 

    'You are not special,' English teacher tells graduating Mass. students

    McCullough rattled off statistics, saying numbers were stacking up against the graduating class. He said half of the class would be divorced and life wasn’t going to revolve around their every whim.

    Wellesley High School teacher tells graduating students "you're not special."

     

    He told NBC News it was important for teens to embrace failure rather than always striving to avoid it. Creativity, he added, should be for the good of others because "selflessness is the best thing you can do for yourself."

    "I really was speaking just to those 400 something kids, and I, perhaps naively, had no idea that the entire electronic world was eavesdropping, and that's part of what has been so startling to me about the reaction," he told NBC.

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  • Video shows woman, 80, nearly falling out of parachute harness

    TheChive.com

    A woman nearly falls out of a parachute harness in this undated video over Lodi, Calif.

    By Miguel Llanos, NBC News

    A video of an 80-year-old woman who nearly falls out of her parachute harness after being pushed to jump has surfaced online, but the owner of the Northern California business where it was filmed said he had no details about what happened.

    Published by TheChive.com, the video was taken by The Parachute Center in Lodi, Calif., as part of its services for customers. It shows a woman only identified as Laverne as saying she had turned 80 and decided to celebrate by jumping tandem with an instructor. 

    The Daily Mail in London dissected the video into still images that show the woman in various stages of distress.

    It also quoted a British expert as saying the woman could have easily fallen out of the harness.

    "She was very close to slipping out," said Tony Butler, technical officer at the British Parachute Association. "You can see from the video the instructor was trying to get to the harness and cling on to it."

    "At the start of the clip she is reluctant to jump and they were in a bad position with her holding onto the door frame as they left the plane," he told the Daily Mail. "Things like this have happened in the United States before and there have been two fatalities."

    Msnbc.com contacted the Parachute Center and a man who identified himself as Bill Dause, the owner, said the video was "real old, well over a year ago" and that he had no further information about the incident.

    TheChive.com told msnbc.com that it was "working on getting more info" about the video's origins.

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  • Principal: Errors get Nevada high school ranked 13th in US

    By Sevil Omer, NBC News

    A Nevada principal has a lesson for U.S. News and World Report, which ranked his high school 13th best in the nation: It’s wrong.


    Principal Jeff Horn says the magazine used incorrect data to place Green Valley High School of Henderson, Nev., just outside Las Vegas, above nearly 22,000 other public schools, elite prep and technical academies nationwide. The publication released its "Best High Schools" rankings on Tuesday.

    "This is a great school and there are a lot of amazing things happening around here,” Horn told msnbc.com on Tuesday. "But the information it was based on is incorrect."

    According to the Las Vegas Sun, the rankings published online showed Green Valley with 477 students and 111 teachers, a 4 to 1 ratio. Horn said Green Valley has 2,850 students and a student-teacher ratio closer to 24 to 1. The school also has a 64 percent pass rate on the Advanced Placement exams, not 100 percent as reported in the rankings, Horn said.

    “My son first pulled up the report online and was reading it when he said, ‘Did you know you had 477 students?’" Horn said, adding “That's when I started reading it and saw the inaccuracies. Not only were there inaccuracies, but other things were skewed as well.”

    Robert Morse, director of data research with U.S. News and World Report, told The Associated Press that the publication was aware of the discrepancy.

    "We're looking into it," he told the AP.

    According to the AP, Morse said the publication gathers enrollment numbers from the National Center for Education Statistics' Common Core of Data database. The federal statistics center, run through the U.S. Department of Education, collects and analyzes school data from state and local officials, the AP reported.

    Watch the Top Videos on msnbc.com

    Officials with the Education Department didn't immediately return messages seeking comment from msnbc.com.

    It's unclear where along the process mistakes were made. Horn said he wasn’t aware of any school official providing data to the publication, and he said he told the local newspaper that he also noticed what appeared to be skewed enrollment figures for other high schools in southern Nevada.

    The Las Vegas Sun reported that U.S. News was correct in reporting 17 school districts in Nevada, but made an error when it reported 5,864 full-time teachers and 123,697 students. The Clark County School District has nearly 18,000 teachers and more than 308,000 students, the Las Vegas Sun reported.

    Said Horn: “We’ve been getting calls from our local news stations congratulating us and I have had to correct them."

    Watch the Top Videos on msnbc.com

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  • Weapon-friendly attire: New $65 gun-concealing Chinos

    Woolrich

    Clever or concerning? Woolrich's Concealed Carry Chinos and Elite Discreet Carry Shirt feature a hidden chamber pocket and velcro flaps to help hide and easily access a weapon.

    By Jada Wong, Styleite

    Have you ever thought to yourself, “Self, why don’t more brands design gun-friendly apparel?” Because if so, Woolrich can solve all your sartorial woes! Introducing the latest in “covert fashion”: the Elite Concealed Carry Collection features pants and jackets with specially designed pockets to conceal your gun and your plastic handcuffs. Nope, not a joke.

    New York Times reports that the clothing company started selling $65 chinos with additional pockets and stretchable waistbands to hide firearms because of an increase in people with permits. Currently, 49 states have laws that allow people to carry firearms in a concealed manner.

    Instead of trying to explain what Woolrich’s gun-concealing pants look like, here’s the full product description for the Concealed Carry Chinos:

    These pants are ideal for situations where discretion is important. The Elite Concealed Carry Chinos have the clean profile of a standard pair of pants with no external cargo or utility pocketing, but offers the added advantage of of a hidden chamber pocket strategically constructed to reduce printing. It is made of 7.8-ounce 98% cotton/2% stretch twill fabric. It has a comfort waist with elastic side panels with three-ply, dual-chamber pocket bags. An inner chamber is accessible through an invisible zipper and allows for discreet carry option. Outer chamber provides provides conventional pocket function and additional benefit of reduced printing. Two knife openings. Reinforced crotch.

    But the gun fashion doesn’t stop at your lower half; there are shirts with Velcro slits! As per the product description:

    The Elite Discreet Carry Shirt may become your favorite everyday casual shirt simply for its comfort, but we think you’ll also appreciate the features that make this far more than your average shirt. What sets this shirt apart are the “breakaway” side vents and false bottom button, for easy rapid access to essential gear on the waist. Back bi-swing venting with polyester mesh for a relaxed feel, even on the hottest days.

    But on a more-serious level, why is there even an increase for gun-concealing attire? According to the Times:

    Gun experts suggest that there are many reasons for the growth in the number of people with concealed-carry permits. They say it is partly due to a changing political and economic climate — gun owners are professing to want a feeling of control — and state laws certainly have made a difference.

    And we thought crop tops were the scariest trend of the season.

    What do you think of these new pants? Let us know in the comments section!

    More from Styleite:
    Are These The World’s Most Sexist Pair Of Pants    ?
    Oops! Did Kate Moss Forget To Zip Her Pants?
    Would You Wear A Pair Of ‘Picnic Pants’?

  • 'Wasn't the best thing I had ever done': Ex-traffic cop in porn flick fights for job

    A California traffic cop who was fired after appearing in a porn film while on duty and in uniform is trying to get his job back. KNBC-TV's Joel Grover reports.

    By NBC News and msnbc.com staff

    A former Los Angeles traffic officer said he was “totally unaware” when he was asked to appear in a porn movie while on duty and in uniform last year and now wants his job back.

    “I was caught totally unaware, by surprise,” John Dancler said during his appeal to the Los Angeles Civil Service Commission on Wednesday.

    Dancler was fired in July 2011 in the wake of an NBC4 investigation, which showed him and another traffic officer in a porn movie while on duty and in uniform, NBCLosAngeles.com reported.

    View NBCLosAngeles.com's video of commission proceedings

    “I could not believe what was going on, it was really surreal,” Dancler said during the hearing.

    The NBC4 porn investigation went viral around the world last spring. The NBC4 team also uncovered a longstanding pattern of traffic officers who were convicted of crimes on the job, including soliciting prostitutes and shoplifting, but none had ever been disciplined, as recommended by city policy.

    Read original investigation by NBCLosAngeles.com

    Dancler said he was responding to a call for backup help in 2008 when a porn actress and her crew approached him, asking him to engage in lewd acts with the blonde woman.

    Dancler admitted under questioning he had made a mistake.

    "It wasn’t the best thing that I had ever done," Dancler said.

    When asked if he informed others about the exchange on the streets, Dancler said “No.”

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  • Bin Laden, Japan disaster top 2011's news stories

    A look back at the triumphs and tragedies of 2011.

    Reuters file

    Saudi-born dissident Osama bin-Laden addresses a news conference in Afghanistan, where he and his organization are based, in a May 26,1998 file photo. News of bin Laden's death on May 2 was the top news story on msnbc.com in 2011.

    By msnbc.com staff

    The killing of Osama bin Laden by Navy SEALs at his hideout in Pakistan was the top news event of 2011, followed by the earthquake and tsunami disaster in Japan, according to a ranking on msnbc.com by page views as of Dec. 20.

    Here's a look at those events and the three other stories with the most page views:

    1. The May 2 death of bin Laden, the al-Qaida leader who masterminded the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Several stories about his death generated more than six million page views each, but a story that detailed how the U.S. used intelligence about the people in bin Laden's circle, including his personal couriers, was by far the No. 1 single story:
    How the US tracked couriers to elaborate bin Laden compound 

    NBC's Bruce Hall takes a look at Osama bin Laden's transformation into the alleged mastermind of numerous world-wide terror attacks.

    2. Japan's earthquake and tsunami on March 11 left nearly 20,000 people dead or missing. The quake triggered a tsunami that caused massive inland flooding and crippled the Fukushima nuclear reactor, sparking the largest nuclear disaster since the 1986 Chernobyl disaster in Ukraine. Here are the two stories on Japan's tragedy that got the most attention: 
    Vast devastation, search for survivors after Japan quake 
    Japan overwhelmed by scale of quake damage 

    The search is on for thousands of people still missing in the aftermath of the most powerful earthquake to ever strike Japan. The quake triggered a devastating tsunami that was responsible for at least several hundred deaths. NBC's Kaori Enjoji reports.

    See The Year in Pictures: 2011

    3. An article on the murder acquittal on July 5 of Florida mother Casey Anthony, who had been accused of killing her toddler daughter, had the second-most page views on the site. After a trial that lasted six weeks, a jury found Anthony not guilty of first-degree murder, aggravated child abuse and aggravated manslaughter of a child, but guilty of four misdemeanor counts of providing false information to a law enforcement officer. With credit for time served, she was released July 17. 
    Casey Anthony found not guilty of murdering daughter  

    A Florida jury found Casey Anthony not guilty of killing her 2-year-old daughter. Watch the video of the verdict.

    4. The July 23 death of 27-year-old British jazz-soul singer Amy Winehouse, whose problems with alcohol and drugs began to overshadow her brilliant musical talent.  
    Singer Amy Winehouse found dead in London home 
    Images: Amy Winehouse: 1983-2011

    Grammy winning artist Amy Winehouse was found dead in her London home on Saturday. NBC's Kurt Gregory looks at her life.

    5. Charla Nash, the victim of a chimpanzee attack, revealed her new face after a transplant. Nash was getting out of her car in 2009 when her friends' pet chimp went berserk and attacked, leaving her without a nose, eyes or lips. After a remarkable recovery, she showed off her new face during an interview on TODAY.
    Chimp attack victim reveals her new face

    NBC's Meredith Vieira sits down with Charla Nash, who recently underwent a face transplant that's helped her regain the life she had before being brutally attacked by a chimp.

     

    Which story resonated most with you this year? Vote below or sound off on our Facebook page.