Bush is Down...Miers is Out

Bush is "deeply disappointed in the process" of confirming a Supreme Court nominee. - Washington Post

Awww. Bush is disappointed. Is it really the confirmation process or the fact that pesky people won't let you put your unqualified friends into the highest court in the land for life? Oh I know. It's probably those damn conservatives you've spent your whole career catering to. At first, I disliked Harriet Miers for being a lawyer who's never been a judge and getting the craziest promotion ever. I just assumed she was an ultra conservative. When I heard that she isn't as hardcore as everyone knows a Bush nominee should be, I started to warm to the idea of a first-time judge in the Supreme Court. Now I'm just waiting to see who's next. Surely there's a Strom Thurman stunt double with some judicial experience out there.

I personally want to see another female nominee, and according to the Washington Post, there are a few females in consideration. So, we'll just wait. White House spokesman Scott McClellan says the next nominee will definitely not be a White House staff member. Like that should make a difference. Can you promise they won't be from Texas too?

If you can get to this link there's a list of potential nominees. A few have a history in representing oil companies, several were appointed to their bench by Bush Sr. and are known conservatives. Most are judges at least.

Babies are bad for TV & Damon Dash is a bad bad man

Hey, I miss blogging although I don't have much to talk about. I hear that many people blog about their favorite TV shows so I'm going to give that a try. My favorite show is "Girlfriends." Actually I'm not sure that I have a favorite show, there are just a those shows that I actually tune in for and the others I'll watch if I'm home and they happen to be on. TV really sucks these days. What happened to the days when we had shows like "Sandford and Son" or "Good Times" hell even the "Cosby Show" !? I watch "Girlfriends" but it's getting pretty boring here lately. Babies are the death of all great TV shows and Toni, a character on "Girlfriends" just had a baby. Babies are always a sign that the end is near. Remember "Family Ties"? Didn't they have a baby before it all ended? What about Olivia and the Cosbys? Then there was "Mad about You," a good show until the baby came. Babies can't do anything, that's why they're bad for TV.

Speaking of babies, the show that comes on after my favorite show is "Half & Half." It stars the girl who played Mary Jane in "Half Baked" and the girl who played the vice president's daughter in "How High." I think it's interesting that these co-stars both had significant roles in weed-head flicks. Anyway, that show has become way better than "Girlfriends" but they also wrote a baby into the script last year. It was born and hasn't made an appearance since! It's like the pregnancy produces so many interesting episodes that writers can't resist the "Surprise! We're having a Baby!" episode, but then they don't know what to do with the baby so they write it out of the script.

Lately I'm really into "Lost" and "Grey's Anatomy." Both very smart shows with good writing. There are no babies, although one of the ladies from the plane crash on "Lost" is pregnant. A resident on "Grey's Anatomy" had a miscarriage recently, which was interesting because the baby belonged to one of the doctors.

I've tried watching the hottest show on TV "Desperate Housewives" but it's kinda wack right now. I don't see what was so special about it. "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" is my shit. And I miss Bobby and Whitney. I dislike Damon Dash and the losers who allow him to diss them.

Did you hear that Damon assaulted the editor-in-chief of a magazine that he's part owner of? The magazine is called America. It's pretty damn tight. It's all about "urban luxury lifestyles" that most urban dwellers can't afford, but it has great interviews and photography. So, this guy came up with the idea, probably a lifelong dream and Dash bought into it. Then when the guy ran an ad from Puffy's Sean John, Dash got pissed. I guess he thinks the magazine should be all about his clothing lines which probably don't even pay full price for ad space. In early October, Dash punched the editor in his chest so hard that he flipped over a chair and had to check himself into the hospital. This happened at Dash's office. They say that Dash was upset because the mag's founder was trying to find other investors. Hmm wonder why he'd want to partner with someone other than dick-head Dame?

Tales from the Bible Belt

I play tennis. It is fun. I can hit the ball hard. Sometimes I hit the ball softly so that I can win. Anyway, I play in a league on Monday nights and tonight there were about eight or ten of us playing. Near the end of my match, which I lost BTW, I saw a few of the other ladies waving their hands around and complaining to the water guy (I'm sure he has a more official title, but he basically tells us who to play and provides water and balls). Let's call him the tennis coordinator, that's a multipurpose title. So I couldn't wait to find out what all the fuss was about. I heard him say that he'll take a certain "lady" aside and talk to her before we play next week.

Once we finished playing, my partner and I asked the other ladies what was going on. They told us that the lady playing on the court next to ours was (gasp) cursing! Now, I played next to her and didn't hear anything, but the ladies on the other side of her say they heard her. Miss Potty Mouth doesn't seem to be a pleasant person in general, and I don't think that our tennis games are serious enough to warrant cursing, but do I curse? Of course! I curse when I'm happy, when I'm sad, when I'm impressed, when I make mistakes, when I do something really wonderful... you get the point. There's a profane word for most occasions. But a few ladies in the league were completely offended by this other woman's profanity, so offended that they reported her to the tennis ball/water coordinator dude.

One lady explained to me that she and the others are Christians, which seems to mean that everyone else should avoid using words that aren't pre-approved by them. I actually started wondering if they heard anything that I had said while I played. I don't know what Miss Potty Mouth said exactly, but I know that she wasn't loud enough for me to hear her and that I'd be very upset if people reported me for cursing rather than just asking me not to. Now I feel like I'm in a church-sponsored tennis league. How far can people take their religious and cultural preferences? Now I will acknowledge that there are rules of sportsmanship that come into play here. And although I didn't hear Potty Mouth, I did pick up on her grumpy vibe. They say that she didn't win tonight, and I think she may just be a poor sport. Either way I'm a little torn.

I don't mind keeping my profanity to myself, I usually try to when I'm not around friends, but I'm not sure that everyone should be required to hold their tongue to make others comfortable. I just wonder how far it goes and which words are naughty. Damn should be acceptable, especially if you can't get your serves in. And I personally prefer "shit" when a wonderful return is just an inch too wide or long. I feel that "fuck" is a little strong for the level of competition that I'm at, but the Wimbleton and US Open people should be able to drop the F-bomb. If we're going to have rules, they should be flexible. That's all I'm saying.



Photo by AP

Lighten Up

Radar magazine online is questioning Beyonce's blackness on the November cover of Vanity Fair. I thought it was cool that she was on the cover and almost bought the magazine. But my magazine budget is getting out of hand so I had to walk away. I actually thought it was interesting that she's the cover girl for a "Hip Hop Kings & Queens" issue, but the pickings are kinda slim these days. Anywho, now that I read this story in Radar, which says that Beyonce's skin was lightened by Vanity Fair, I kinda get it. She's probably the most "acceptable" face associated with hip hop. Although I'm not sure why her complexion would be an issue for Vanity Fair. I mean, it's not like they've never had a black woman on the cover before. There was Tina Turner in 1993. She's clearly shot under white lights against a white background and VF says that the picture was not manipulated in any way, but you decide.

If the pictures aren't enough, there's an inside source at Vanity Fair telling Radar that Beyonce's image was definitely manipulated, so much so that her cover image clashed with images of her inside the magazine. So the art department had to lighten the images of on the inside too... The source says, "All the photos of Beyonce had been made so white that Jay-Z literally looked like [Sudanese supermodel] Alek Wek standing next to her, so then he had to be lightened up, too."” Crazy, I say! Hardly a scandle in these days of Photoshop, but it shows that black is still not beautiful in some segments of society.

Not Guilty in New Orleans

By now, everyone should have seen the video of cops in New Orleans beating up a 64-year-old drunk man on Bourbon Street. It's pretty clear that an intoxicated Robert Davis was being held and punched in the face by a not-drunk, younger, stronger police officer. Then when Davis resisted his beating, the cops threw him to the ground giving him a few knees and punches. At the end of the video you can see his blood running onto the sidewalk. This situation got more complicated today when the three police officers pleaded not guilty to battery charges. Um... Why is a not guilty plea even an option?

Davis has been released from the hospital into police custody and charged with public intoxication, public intimidation, resisting arrest and battery on a police officer. That's a lot of criminal activity for an old dude who was sooo drunk that he was arrested on Bourbon Street, a street famous for it's drunkards and their unruly behavior. Seriously, I didn't even know there were laws against being drunk on Bourbon Street. You can actually take your drinks to go!

Not only did these guys plead not guilty, they're using stress from the hurricane situation to justify their behavior. But some of these guys aren't even from New Orleans. On the video you hear one cop cursing out an AP editor and telling him to go home because he doesn't understand the stress that they're under. Now this dude was sincere, I believe that he was pretty stressed out, but that's hardly a justification. They also say that he punched the editor in the stomach, but I only saw him being thrown against a car. Either way, it's a sad day when cops are allowed to take their job-related stress out on citizens whether we're drunk or not. First you can't drive drunk, now we can't walk around drunk!? WTF.

Check out the video on USAToday.com.


photo by: Mel Evans

For The Ladies...

So on Tuesdays I go to a hip hop spot where local acts perform, I've probably mentioned it before. Last night belonged to this crew called 420 productions, I think. Anyway, one duo gets up and does a song about killing, bagging up drugs and pistol whipping your baby momma or something. You know, that real hip-hop shit. Then they smooth it out with a selection for the ladies. We wait, the beat drops.. it's smooth. They start rhyming, it's whatever, a little hard to understand but the beat's nice. Then loud and clear this chubby rapper's lyrics come across "I got one sucking my left nut, one on my right nut, the other getting titty fucked.." Umm.... excuse me? This song is for THE LADIES? Which ones, the deaf chicks? I wish I knew these dudes' names, Shisty and.. oh it doesn't matter. They just reminded me of the Rapping Dalmations from Brown Sugar- clueless. So now you know.

Inquiring Minds Want to Know:

Why the hell does one night in a NYC hotel cost the equivalent of half of my monthly rent on two bedrooms in NC? How the hell do they justify the cost of a hotel room in major cities? I've stayed in many hotels that charge $400/night. (Of course I never pay that rate) But I don't see anything in those rooms that justify the cost. Especially when I'm only paying 1/4 of the cost because I booked on priceline.com or got a special rate. Usually the CD players impress me and the spots look great, but they usually don't have ice machines, soda machines or free breakfast like the discount hotels. WTF? I'm paying $400 and I have to pay $2 for a Pepsi? In a can? Get the fuck outta here.

Now the last jiggy hotel I stayed in was the Topaz in DC, it was more like $250-300/night. They gave me gummy bears in a cute plastic jar shaped like a bear. I feel a certain way about juicy, chewy, colorful fruit-flavored gummy bears. They would also have allowed me to bring my cat and provided him with a water dish. Plus, their staff was super nice. I can respect their rates. But I still would have traded in my gummy bears and the plastic jar for a continental breakfast like the one at Residence Inn in Midtown Atlanta. They had the waffle machine popping, fresh fruit, whipped cream, coffee, eggs- boiled and scrambled, bagels, toast, grits, yogurt, cereal, hot swine and I'm sure I'm leaving shit out... all for like $80/night! That's all I'm asking for.

Fantasia's Durdi Liddul Seekret

So, I'm just finding out today that Fantasia (American Idol winner) revealed that she can barely read or write. She struggles to read to her 4-year-old daughter, and usually tells her she's too tired. She faked being able to read on "American Idol" by performing songs she already knew. When they gave her song lyrics to learn, she'd listen to the music and memorize the words that way. She also admits that she couldn't read a word of the recording contracts she's signed, which is the point where I'd let someone in on my secret. I'm more impressed with homegirl at this point, for not giving up and not letting her disability get in the way. But I'm saddened by the fact that she's gone this long without learning to read. I would be SO frustrated if I couldn't read.

ABC News says that one in five American adults are "functionally illiterate" (the category Fantasia falls in) meaning that they have problems reading road signs and the newspaper. Since none of them can understand what I'm writing right now, here's what I really think: There are people who are dyslexic and that's sad. But at some point aren't illiterate adults kinda lazy? I mean, let's take Fantasia for example. When she dropped out of school at around age 16, she probably had PLENTY of time to learn to read. It's my understanding that she barely worked because she had problems securing a job. There's also an issue of many people in her family having problems with reading, including her mother. Which kinda sets the tone that it's OK to be bad at reading.

You can tell me that illiterate people aren't lazy but....special. But I'll point you to the biography of Frederick Douglass, and any slave or immigrant in the States who learned to read against all odds because they knew that it was the key to endless opportunities. I think that some Americans can't read because they don't have the drive to stick with it and keep trying. Today, Fantasia is working with tutors and plans to end the cycle of illiteracy in her family. Why now? Maybe because she has a new-found confidence and understanding of how critical reading is. This proves that she had the ability to learn all along.

Fantasia says she's sharing her life and all of its dark secrets (including a rape) in her book "Life is Not a Fairy Tale" to show people that they need to keep hope alive. "I want people to just to see, all you got to do is have a little faith," Fantasia told ABC news. "Have a little faith. Don't give up."

You can check out an excerpt here: