Malone, it seems, uses the stage name "Raven" to lure callers into sexual fantasies. Talented at voice mimicry--and creative with content--Malone, or "Raven," has received three love letters and a marriage proposal during his eight months on the job, according to Time magazine.
But Malone, described by Time as a 165-pound member of the national guard and a father of four, is the one who feels cheated.
Saying that he has been denied raises and promotions because he is a man, Malone filed suit and was granted a hearing by the state Equal Rights Commission.
"There was a point when I thought Raven was going to take over my life," Malone told Time, describing his work. "After I hung up the phone, I had to take a shower because I felt so dirty."
Payoff For The Pig Bowl
January was the month of gambling fever. For example:
. Paul Simon, the Democratic Senator from Illinois, lost a bet and, as payment, replaced his standard bow tie with a neck tie for one day.
. The Buffalo Bills' super bowl loss cost New York Gov. Mario Cuomo a crate of buffalo wings (sent to Virginia Gov. L. Douglas Wilder, who had wagered a Virginia ham on the game).
. Homer Simpson was struck with gamble-mania after discovering that his daughter Lisa had an uncanny knack for picking winners.
. And in a bet between two slightly lower-profile characters, the sheriff of Sacramento California drove the city's police chief to work, shined his shoes and answered his phone calls last week to pay off a football wager.
According to the Associated Press, the county sheriff was the chief's temporary aide because the city police department beat the deputies 48-9 in their annual "Pig Bowl" football game.
For the record, gambling is illegal in California.
Federal Aid For McDonald's
McDonald's got $465,000 from the Agriculture Department last year for ads, paper tray liners and counter displays promoting Chicken McNuggets to customers around the world.
Campbell Soup Co. spent part of the $450,000 it got from the government to remind the people of Japan, Korea, Argentina and Taiwan to have a V-8 juice. Joseph E. Seagram and Sons touted its Four Roses whiskey in Europe and the Far East with $146,000 from the department.
The three companies are among dozens of well-known corporate giants that have collected money under a USDA program to find new overseas markets for American food, candy, bourbon, wine, ginseng, cotton, mink pelts and bovine semen.
The Program has a budget of $200 million per year, the Associated Press reported. THE Quote OF THE WEEK
"Skip asked me, would I like to teach a class. I said, you know, yeah, maybe, depending on my schedule." Spike Lee, referring to the conversation when Henry Louis Gates Jr. asked him to teach a class.