God, Please Save These Troubled States

It's not often that I agree with Corolla, but he has a pretty great point. Plus, Allred annoys the shit out of me.

Story:

This morning Gloria Allred, who represents four "victims" of Michael Richards, made a phone call to Adam Carolla. Blabs about her judge mediation deal (Richards "needs to suffer"), Adam brings up the point that what if these people were fat instead of black. Gloria says she wants to stay focused on the issue of race, as there's not enough discussion of racial issues in society. Adam questions whether compensation is appropriate. Gloria argues that this could possibly be a career enhancer for Richards, a la Hugh Grant. Adam thinks he's being punished already.

Gloria asks Adam if he thinks her clients are victims and then it starts to get heated...


ADAM: I don't know how to decide who's a victim and who isn't by words that are said to them, because that's up to them.

GLORIA: Well, it seems to me that's easy.

ADAM: No, it's not easy. It's easy for you because you want money. If somebody calls me a cracker and I'm very hurt by that, then maybe I'm a victim. If someone calls me a cracker and it doesn't bother me, then I'm not a victim. So I can't tell you who's a victim. I can tell you who's a victim of arson, I can tell you who's had a bone broken, I can't tell you who's been victimized by words.

GLORIA: Then I suggest with all due respect that maybe you should review a little bit about civil rights and how African-Americans have been taunted and hurt by use of the N-word, which is WHY WE DON'T USE THE FULL WORD ANYMORE because we know that it is hurtful.

ADAM: Well, many black comedians use the full word on stage.

GLORIA: And with all due respect, if you think you could compare the hurt that a white person would feel as a result of the use of the word "cracker" against him and the hurt and African-American would feel by the use of the N-word, you think there's some equivalency between that? Give me a break!

ADAM: Well what about if I'm morbidly obese and someone calls me a fatass?

GLORIA: Okay, again you have...first of all, morbid obesity is a physical condition and you know, I'd hope no one would make fun of anyone on a count of that.

ADAM: Well they did in my hypothetical question, so please address it.

GLORIA: I'm telling you, I want to focus on racial issues.

ADAM: Oh, because you know this would hurt your argument, that's why you don't want to address it.

GLORIA: No, because I think --

ADAM: Of course if you had a logical answer for my hypothetical question, you would give it at this point, but you don't, so you won't.

GLORIA: Well, you know what? If you would like some free legal advice --

ADAM: You can't answer a hypothetical question? Gloria Allred, you're not capable of answering a basic hypothetical question?

GLORIA: Well, you know what? I don't need to be answering that on your show when I want to talk about racial --

ADAM: Of course, because you have no answer. Because you have an answer that would hurt your argument.

GLORIA: You obviously don't think that issue's important enough

ADAM: Oh, there you go. That's right, imply I'm a racist. That's a good way to get out of not answering a very basic question.

GLORIA: I didn't say you were a racist.

ADAM: Very smart card you played, Gloria Allred. Every time somebody has a question, every time somebody has logic to corner you, you play the race card and get them on the run.

GLORIA: There's no race card here in play.

ADAM: It's not gonna work. Either answer the question or I'm gonna get off the phone.

GLORIA: Thank you very much, goodbye.

Ha, PWN3D maybe?

It's no surprise that the Vatican can't separate fact from fiction. They've been doing it for centuries.

Story:

Mary's pregnant, and it couldn't have come at a worse time. Tongues are wagging and she'll have to be a tough young woman to raise this child.

That's the ancient story -- and the modern one, too.

Keisha Castle-Hughes, the young actress of Maori descent who two years ago received a best-actress Oscar nomination for her role in the New Zealand-based film "Whale Rider," stars as Mary in "The Nativity Story." After the movie was completed, rumors about a possible pregnancy led Castle-Hughes to confirm in early October that she is, as biblical accounts would put it, "with child."

She's 16. The father is 19, a longtime boyfriend she met at school in Australia, where she now lives. They're not splitting up, but they're not immediately marrying, either.

Media outlets across Australia and New Zealand have heavily covered the story. Apparently, Castle-Hughes' family is embarrassed, but they've agreed to support her in her decision to raise her child.

Vatican officials were not as understanding. According to news reports, they are not thrilled to have the issue cloud their enjoyment of the movie. So Castle-Hughes was dropped from the invitation list for the Vatican's world premiere of the movie today.

Many Catholics have criticized the snub by sending letters to the editor and writing e-mails and Weblogs.

Catherine Hardwicke, the movie's director, said in Australian newspapers last week that facing the situation was "very brave" of the actress. "She knew the whole world would be talking about her and gossiping, but she still stood up and said, 'I want to have this child; this is the right thing to do.' "

A good for Castle-Hughes. I would hope that a religious organization that is supposed to be born from love and acceptance of other people, regardless of their sin, would embrace the actress. However, it is hardly surprising to see them turn their nose in the air simply because of bad press and bad imagery.

Because, God forbid, someone has sex! God forbid someone has a child!

What a load of crap.

Not so much "shocking" as it is....just extremely weird.

Story:

Medium star Patricia Arquette recently confessed to USA Today that she had a "human baby-teeth" necklace made from her 17-year-old son Enzo's first set of teeth. The Emmy winner admits that the necklace is not yet complete and says she'll add her 3-year-old daughter Harlow's teeth when they begin to fall out.

Ok. Something about this is endearing and cute....right?

WHY DOES THIS CREEP ME OUT SO MUCH?

I'm about to state the obvious in just a moment.

Story:

Rep. Tom Tancredo, the leader of the anti-illegal immigration faction in the U.S. House, spent a recent weekend at The Breakers in Palm Beach.

Ninety miles to the south, he found a symbol to bolster his belief that unfettered immigration is endangering the United States: Miami, he told a conservative online news site, ``has become a Third World country.''

In South Florida to attend Restoration Weekend, a gathering of conservative activists, the Colorado Republican, whose district includes suburbs of Denver, pointed to Miami as an example of how ''the nature of America can be changed by uncontrolled immigration,'' the story says.

''Look at what has happened to Miami,'' the WorldNetDaily quotes Tancredo as saying in an interview. ``It has become a Third World country. You just pick it up and take it and move it someplace. You would never know you're in the United States of America. You would certainly say you're in a Third World country.''

The remarks drew an instant rebuke from Miami Republican Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, who called Tancredo ''flat out wrong'' and extended an invitation for him to come and judge the city for himself.

''I invite my friend, Tom, to visit beautiful Miami, my hometown, and experience firsthand our hospitality,'' Ros-Lehtinen said. ``Come on down, Tom, the water's fine!''

Miami, Ros-Lehtinen said, is a ``world class city where diversity is celebrated. Here people have the opportunity to meet folks from across the globe and honor different cultures. Miami-Dade County is home to many outstanding universities, is headquarters to international businesses and has a vibrant economy.''

Tancredo, who chairs the bipartisan House Immigration Reform Caucus and championed a fence along the border with Mexico, said Monday in an e-mail sent by his office that his comparison was based on crime statistics he believes ``are deeply rooted in the immigration debate.

''While a recent documentary comparison of Miami-Dade County to Baghdad was a bit of an overstatement,'' he wrote, referring to an Australian documentary that compares Miami to Baghdad, ``no one can argue that it is not one of America's most dangerous areas.''

He noted in the e-mail that the number of homicides in the county recently reached 200 for the year. The number is actually a decrease from the 1980s.

''Moreover, the sheer size and number of ethnic enclaves devoid of any English and dominated by foreign cultures is widespread,'' Tancredo said in the statement. ``Frankly, many of these areas could have been located in another country. And until America gets serious about demanding assimilation, this problem will continue to spread.''

Tancredo didn't visit Miami on the Nov. 18-19 trip, but has visited before, a spokesman said. And, if Ros-Lehtinen's invitation includes ''a stay at a five-star beachfront resort, he may be willing to look beyond the inherent dangers that he had cited and visit Miami again,'' his spokesman said.

Tancredo, who has been mentioned as a potential presidential contender, criticized President Bush in the interview for Bush's push for comprehensive immigration reform.

''He is going to do what he can to create a place where the idea of America is just that -- it's an idea,'' Tancredo said. ``It's not an actual place defined by borders. I mean this is where this guy is really going.''

Hey Tancredo, a question for you:

HAVE YOU EVER ACTUALLY VISITED A THIRD WORLD COUNTRY?

My guess is:  no!

Secondly, how did this man, without a single second of study in sociology, somehow link the crime rate to the immigration debate? He's a genius, I tell you!

There's an appropriate David Cross joke that fits here. I'm sure of it.

Whew! That was a close one. I was ready to start protesting peace signs!

Story:

A Pagosa Springs subdivision may have some peace again after a homeowners' association threatened to fine a resident for putting up a Christmas wreath shaped like a peace sign.

But the Loma Linda subdivision is now scrambling to assemble a new association board after the three members resigned today.

The directors of the Loma Linda Homeowners Association apologized Monday to Lisa Jensen and Bill Trimarco for threatening to fine the couple $25 a day if they didn't remove their lighted wreath. The wreath had been characterized as a divisive symbol that violated the subdivision rules against displaying signs or advertisements.

This morning, e-mails were sent to Loma Linda residents announcing that board members Bob Kearns, Tammy Spezze and Jeff Heitz had resigned.

"We need to get our subdivision back in gear now," said Loma Linda resident Nancy Dunbar, who had to remove a wooden peace sign from in front of her home the week before Thanksgiving.

She said several members of association's architectural-control committee, who had resigned earlier in protest the board's actions, are working to form an ad hoc board before association elections next month.

Jensen and Trimarco said they have had hundreds of e-mails and phone calls since the wreath flap garnered headlines around the world.

Most have been supportive of their simple message of peace, they said - a message they did not intend to be a statement against the war in Iraq.

Kearns had said that some people with children serving in Iraq had complained about the peace sign, prompting his order that it be removed.

Actually, I retract my former sentiments. There's a giant peace sign now assembled on a GAP ad at the corner of Hollywood and Highland. I think I'll paint up a few picket signs and start marching for....well....NOT PEACE!

Who's with me????

It's about time the tables have turned.

Story:

CHICAGO  —  A public Christmas festival is no place for the Christmas story, the city says. Officials have asked organizers of a downtown Christmas festival, the German Christkindlmarket, to reconsider using a movie studio as a sponsor because it is worried ads for its film "The Nativity Story" might offend non-Christians.

New Line Cinema, which said it was dropped, had planned to play a loop of the new film on televisions at the event. The decision had both the studio and a prominent Christian group shaking their heads.

"The last time I checked, the first six letters of Christmas still spell out Christ," said Paul Braoudakis, spokesman for the Barrington, Ill.-based Willow Creek Association, a group of more than 11,000 churches of various denominations. "It's tantamount to celebrating Lincoln's birthday without talking about Abraham Lincoln."

He also said that there is a nativity scene in Daley Plaza — and that some vendors at the festival sell items related to the nativity.

The city does not want to appear to endorse one religion over another, said Cindy Gatziolis, a spokeswoman for the Mayor's Office of Special Events. She acknowledged there is a nativity scene, but also said there will be representations of other faiths, including a Jewish menorah, all put up by private groups. She stressed that the city did not order organizers to drop the studio as a sponsor.

"Our guidance was that this very prominently placed advertisement would not only be insensitive to the many people of different faiths who come to enjoy the market for its food and unique gifts, but also it would be contrary to acceptable advertising standards suggested to the many festivals holding events on Daley Plaza," Jim Law, executive director of the office, said in a statement.

Officials with the German American Chamber of Commerce of the Midwest, which has organized the event for several years, did not immediately return calls for comment. The festival started Thursday.

An executive vice president with New Line Cinema, Christina Kounelias, said the studio's plan to spend $12,000 in Chicago was part of an advertising campaign around the country. Kounelias said that as far as she knew, the Chicago festival was the only instance where the studio was turned down.

Kounelias said she finds it hard to believe that non-Christians who attended something called Christkindlmarket would be surprised or offended by the presence of posters, brochures and other advertisements of the movie.

"One would assume that if (people) were to go to Christkindlmarket, they'd know it is about Christmas," she said.

Trying to avoid my obvious bias in this case, I think that this story is going to be spun to be anti-Christian. What's so unfortunate about that is that the issue here is advertising. Money would be paid for one company (New Line Cinema) to advertise their product, one that is essentially aimed towards those of the Christian faith. For such an expensive endorsement to be a part of a free city event, it does seem to present a bias towards the promotion of one religion.

As apparent by the article, the city is giving all faiths the chance to express how they'll be celebrating this holiday season. However, for the city to get paid by only one faith does seem unfair.

To me, it's not about what religion it is, in this case, but where the source of the money is coming from.

Kudos, Chicago, for making a rational decision.

I'm convinced that 2006 is the reigning king of all years past for news stories that are incredibly disturbing.

Your evidence:

An infant girl who died in August 2005 of a high body temperature might have been put in a microwave, and her mother has been charged in the death, authorities said Tuesday.

China Arnold, 26, was arrested at her home Monday on a charge of aggravated murder, more than a year after she brought her dead month- old baby to a hospital, police said.

"We have reason to believe and scientific evidence to support that a microwave oven might have been involved in the death of this child," said Ken Betz, director of the Montgomery County coroner's office.

At the time, Paris Talley's death was ruled a homicide caused by hyperthermia, or high body temperature, because of burns. Arnold was arrested initially, then released.

Betz said the case was difficult because "there is not a lot of scientific research and data on the effect of microwaves on human beings."

There was a lengthy investigation before prosecutors found enough probable cause to issue another arrest warrant, said Greg Flannagan, a spokesman for the county prosecutor's office.

Arnold's lawyer, Jon Paul Rion, said his client had nothing to do with her child's death and was stunned when investigators told her that a microwave might have been involved.

"China _ as a mother and a person _ was horrified that such an act could occur," Rion said.

The night before the baby was taken to the hospital, Arnold and the child's father went out for a short time and left Paris with a baby sitter, Rion said.

The mother didn't sense anything out of the ordinary until the next morning, when the child was found unconscious, Rion said.

Rion declined to say what the couple told hospital officials at the time.

Arnold, who has three other children, was being held in the Montgomery County jail and plans to plead not guilty, Rion said.

In 2000, a Virginia woman was sentenced to five years in prison for killing her month-old son in a microwave oven.

Elizabeth Renee Otte claimed she had no memory of cramming her son in the microwave and turning on the appliance in 1999. Experts said Otte suffered from epilepsy and that her seizures were followed by blackouts.

Jesus. A microwave? Really?

I hope this isn't the case. I definitely want to follow this.

I'm surprised someone in such high of a position has reacted so quickly.

The article:

Mayor Michael Bloomberg met Tuesday with the family of a man killed outside a strip club on his wedding day by a barrage of police gunfire, the second straight day Bloomberg has reached out to angry community members.

The 50-bullet police volley — likened to a "firing squad" by the Rev.

Al Sharpton — killed 23-year-old Sean Bell after his bachelor party, wounded two of his friends and ignited concerns over police tactics and firepower. The three men were unarmed.

Bloomberg went to the family's church in Queens and met with Bell's fiancee and father, and with Sharpton. The mayor then met again with other community leaders.

On Monday, Bloomberg said the police response seemed "unacceptable" and "inexplicable," but he was steadfast in his support for Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly, who has been denounced by some critics since the shooting.

Of the victims, Bloomberg said Monday: "There is no evidence that they were doing anything wrong," referring to what led up to the moment their car struck an undercover officer outside the nightclub.

In contrast to Bloomberg's outreach, former Mayor Rudy Giuliani was hounded for what some viewed as a slow response to the killing of Amadou Diallo, an unarmed African immigrant who was shot 19 times in the entry to his apartment building by four white officers. Those officers were acquitted of criminal charges.

It's always difficult to form rational opinions about these kind of things. We never seem to know all the facts and the facts that we are given don't give us a full picture. (I try to be reasonable about my opinions.)

But virtually nothing about this story made sense. The two undercover officers drank right before the shooting. (They were "allowed" two drinks by their superiors and apparently this is enough of an assurance that they weren't drunk.) Not one of the three suspects was armed. And, even if they were, 50 fucking shots? Are you kidding me?

Even if it may be merely an attempt by Bloomberg to save his own ass in some way, I've got to hand it to him. I'm impressed that he's said anything at all, but to denounce this type of police brutality almost outright is unheard of.

I hope he sticks with it.

Let me first give you the story as I try to choke back thunderous laughter.

A woman is accused of using a computer at a national laboratory to hack into a cell phone company's Web site to get a number for Chester Bennington, lead singer of the Grammy-winning rock group Linkin Park.

According to an affidavit filed by the Department of Defense Inspector General, Devon Townsend, 27, obtained copies of Bennington's cell phone bill, the phone numbers he called and digital pictures taken with the phone.

Investigators said she also hacked into the e-mail of Bennington's wife, Talinda Bennington, and at one point called her and threatened her.

Talinda Bennington told federal authorities last month that someone had accessed their Verizon Wireless account online, according to the affidavit, and expressed concern that a "stalker" had access to personal information.

Townsend waived her right to a preliminary hearing Tuesday in U.S. District Court and was released to her mother's custody. She is accused of using a computer at her former workplace, Sandia National Laboratories, to access Bennington's cell phone information. Lab spokesman Michael Padilla said Wednesday that she no longer worked there.

Townsend's attorney, Ray Twohig, said that investigators were still analyzing his client's computer and that it remains to be seen what exact violations will be alleged.

"This is the Internet version of a groupie hiding in Mick Jagger's dressing room," Twohig said. "We're in a different age, and fans have more skills than they used to."

Townsend's computer wasn't connected to classified data, Padilla said.

The affidavit says that during a search of Townsend's home in Albuquerque, investigators found Linkin Park posters, autographed band memorabilia, pictures of Townsend with Chester Bennington, bootlegged Linkin Park music and copies of messages and photographs intercepted from the Bennington family's e-mail accounts.

A person who answered the phone Friday at Time Warner -- Linkin Park's label is Warner Bros. Music -- said no one would be available to comment until Monday.

Sandia National Laboratories develop technology to support national security, according to its Web site.

Before I continue in my usual standard of high-brow cattiness and snide disdain, allow me to state the obvious:

Who the fuck enjoys Linkin Park long enough to actually want to stalk them?

Ugh. I guess corporate sponsered nu-rock still has an influence over the mindless in America. It still invades modern horror movie credits. When is it finally going to kick the dust?

Anyway, as an all-too-frequent victim of stalking in the past, it's definitely not a great thing to have your privacy invaded. (I speak with unfortunate volumes of experience. Perhaps in later blogs.) However, I must point out a few odd things I noticed in this story.

Firstly, why is her attorney so quick to paint his client as a stalker? Is he just giving up and hoping the judge just gives her a leaner sentence?

Whatever. My favorite part of the article is bolded. With the exception of the last item, that's a fairly typical list of items that any fan might have. Do they mean to lessen the significance of "intercepted...messages and photographs" or to suggest that fans are actually stalkers?

Shit. Guess I'm stalking a bunch of bands myself.     

Hopefully, it never sees the light of day.

The story:

According to a report from the American tabloid 'The National Enquirer' a copy was made before the video went under lock and key.  The original video is the hands of Australian authorities but the magazine claims that a bootleg copy has been made.

It says that the video has already been shown to "one potential buyer" and shows a "close-up" of Irwin's face that shows a "profound look of agony and shock" and that the Crocodile Hunter is 'bleeding profusely" from the attack.

Then again, it's not often that I trust the budding journalistic intentions of 'The National Enquirer' that often.

This is such an odd story and the pieces don't add up.

From the article:

The niece of a 92-year-old woman shot to death by police said her aunt likely had reason to shoot three narcotics investigators as they stormed her house.

Police insisted the officers did everything right before entering the home Tuesday evening, despite suggestions from the woman's neighbors and relatives that it was a case of mistaken identity.

The woman, Kathryn Johnston, was the only resident in the house at the time and had lived there for about 17 years, Assistant Chief Alan Dreher said.

The officers had a legal warrant, "knocked and announced" before they forced open the door and were justified in shooting once fired upon, he said.

Sarah Dozier, the niece, told WAGA-TV that there were never drugs at the house.

"My aunt was in good health. I'm sure she panicked when they kicked that door down," Dozier said. "There was no reason they had to go in there and shoot her down like a dog."

As the plainclothes Atlanta police officers approached the house about 7 p.m., a woman inside started shooting, striking each of them, said Officer Joe Cobb, a police spokesman.

One was hit in the arm, another in a thigh and the third in a shoulder. The officers were taken to a hospital for treatment, and all three were conscious and alert, police said.

The Rev. Markel Hutchins, a civil rights leader, said Johnston's family deserves an apology.

"Of the police brutality cases we've had, this is the most egregious because of the woman's age," Hutchins said.

Hutchins said he would try to meet with Atlanta Police Chief Richard Pennington and would also meet with lawyers.

It's hard for me to completely formulate an opinion on this story. It's too easy to shout, "Police brutality!" just based on the age alone. (And for good reason: 92 years old? Really???)

I need more facts. Did she really have drugs? Why did they suspect there were drugs in the house? Why didn't they approach the house in uniform? What did they do to identify themselves as law enforcement?

Even beyond that, I just don't understand the chronology of events. Were they shot coming up to the door and THEN they knocked? The other way around?

Hopefully there will be more information released soon. 

If you remember from last week, I wrote about the incident at the UCLA library, in which a student was tasered repeatedly after forgetting his ID.

As it turns out, LAist.com has uncovered the tasing officer's past and it's got some fairly disturbing incidences of documented police brutality.

The story:

The UCLA police department identified the officer caught electrifying the student who did not produce his college ID card as Terrence Duren, an 18-year veteran of the UCPD.

Duren hasn't had the smoothest career in law enforcement. He came to Westwood after being fired from the infamous Long Beach PD. A few years after being hired by UCLA he was accused of using his nightstick to choke a fratboy and the university asked the UCPD to fire Duren, but he was only given a three month suspension.

In late 2003 Duren shot a homeless man, Willie Davis Frazier, Jr., in a Kerckhoff Hall bathroom. Frazier, who attempted at first to shun lawyers and represent himself, was imbalanced enough to spend time in mental institution as the court tried to figure out if he was fit to stand trial.

During a 2004 preliminary hearing in which Duren testified against Frazier, the officer carried a Machiavelli book into court, "The Prince", which argues that the ends justifies the means. "Did you know that this was Tupac's favorite book?" he asked.

Less than a year after Duren shot Frazier, UCLA decided to invest $22,000 in tasers, according to the Daily Bruin.

And now, ironically it's Duren who is being accused of abusing the taser.

"If someone is resisting, sometimes it's not going to look pretty taking someone into custody," he told the LA Times today. "If you have to use some force, it's not going to look pretty. That's the nature of this job."

Irony is an understatement.

How does this man still have a job?

Oh my. This is glorious.

The story:

After delivering a speech at a leadership conference in Abu Dhabi, former President George Herbert Walker Bush was forced to defend his son from verbal attacks by the "hostile audience," on the same day that a new poll reveals that more Americans preferred the first Bush president.

"We do not respect your son," a woman in the audience told Bush. "We do not respect what he's doing all over the world."

The Associated Press reported that "Bush appeared stunned as the audience of young business leaders whooped and whistled in approval" at the woman's comments, coming after the "retired president had just finished a folksy address on leadership by telling the audience how deeply hurt he feels when his son the president is criticized."

According to the AP, Bush's voice "quivered" in response.

"This son is not going to back away," Bush said. "He's not going to change his view because some poll says this or some poll says that, or some heartfelt comments from the lady who feels deeply in her heart about something."

"You can't be president of the United States and conduct yourself if you're going to cut and run," Bush 41 continued. "This is going to work out in Iraq. I understand the anxiety. It's not easy."

The former president lost his cool with one audience member, calling him "crazy" and recommending that he "go back to school."

According to the AP, a student implied that "U.S. wars were aimed at opening markets for American companies," and that "globalization was contrived for America's benefit at the expense of the rest of the world," but "Bush was having none of it."

"I think that's weird and it's nuts," Bush said. "To suggest that everything we do is because we're hungry for money, I think that's crazy."

"I think you need to go back to school," Bush added.

BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. GO BACK TO SCHOOL. GOOD ONE, BUSHY. SUCH A GOOD COMEBACK.

The whole thing is hilarious.

(PS: So, Bush Sr., the student said that U.S. wars had an economic gain behind them. (Totally true, by the way. Perhaps you need a history course or two.) He didn't say "everything." You did.)

And it's really start to annoy the living hell out of me.

The story, in all it's mind-boggling goodness:

MADONNA is embroiled in a new adoption controversy – competing with an Australian couple to adopt an African baby girl.

The singer is planning to adopt a second Malawi orphan, 18-month-old Jessica Kondanani, after adopting 13-month-old David Banda last month.

However Australian couple John and Angela Wilmot say they are already well into the process of adopting Jessica - and fear Madonna's celebrity status may prevent Jessica joining their family.

"We were already in the process of adopting Jessica and we hope we will be successful," Ms Wilmot, 34, said.

"We heard that Madonna was interested in a child, who we now hear is Jessica - but we are quite far down the line with our adoption."

The Wilmots are Baptist aid workers who moved to Malawi to work as missionaries seven years ago with their two sons.

The couple has already adopted four Malawian children from the Kondanani Orphan Care Centre and are keen to adopt more.

It is believed Madonna, 48, originally intended to adopt Jessica before eventually choosing David because of concerns over his health.

Madonna spent two hours with Jessica earlier this year and has returned to visit her.

Shortly after taking David to her London home, Madonna confirmed her intentions to adopt a baby girl.

"I'm going to adopt another Malawian child very quickly. A baby girl this time," she said.

First of all, one would hope that, long ago, out on the playground, Madonna would have learned that if you were in line to go down the twisty slide behind two other people, generally, if you're not an asshole, those two people go first. First come, first serve, right?

But, then again, there was always that one annoying motherfucker who'd parade around the blacktop, jumping in on handball games because he or she felt she deserved to play. That person was either:

-larger than everyone else
-thought they were larger than everyone else.
-better at that activity than everyone else
-thought they were better than everyone else.

In any of the above-mentioned options, the end result was the same. That person was an asshole.

Madonna, I don't care how many records you've sold. I don't care how great your records are. CHILDREN ARE NOT POKEMON CARDS. YOU CAN'T TRADE AND COLLECT THEM ALL. THEY ARE HUMAN BEINGS.

Just fucking stop it.

This logic is just so mind-blowingly laughable. I love this man.

Here's what he said:

I don’t own an iPod. I would never wear an iPod… If this is your primary focus in life - the machines… it’s going to have a staggeringly negative effect, all of this, for America… did you ever talk to these computer geeks? I mean, can you carry on a conversation with them? …I really fear for the United States because, believe me, the jihadists? They’re not playing the video games. They’re killing real people over there.

God Bless Think Progress for pointing out this:



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ASDLJKFLKJ;IOURWE
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DO YOU HEAR THAT? I'M CHOKING ON IRONY.

God Bless the USA.

Over my dead body.

From the article:

An influential Democratic lawmaker on Sunday called for reinstatement of the draft as a way to boost U.S. troop levels and draw a broader section of the population into the military or public service.

U.S. Rep. Charles Rangel, the incoming chairman of the House of Representatives' tax-writing committee, said he would introduce legislation to reinstate the draft as soon as the new, Democratic-controlled Congress convenes in January.

Asked on CBS' "Face the Nation" if he was still serious about the proposal for a universal draft he raised a couple of years ago, he said, "You bet your life. Underscore serious."

"If we're going to challenge Iran and challenge North Korea and then, as some people have asked, to send more troops to Iraq, we can't do that without a draft," he said.

Rangel, who opposed the 2003 invasion of Iraq, also said he did not think the United States would have invaded Iraq if the children of members of Congress were sent to fight. He has said the U.S. fighting force is comprised disproportionately of people from low-income families and minorities.

"I don't see how anyone can support the war and not support the draft. I think to do so is hypocritical," he said.

Right, Mr. Rangel. It's hypocritical to support the war and not support the draft. But isn't it also hypocritical to oppose a war and support the draft? Seems to me that your logic is quite transitory and backwards.

Atleast for those cruising for sex, that is.

From the article:

Rented furnishings and hidden cameras were among the props Seattle police vice detectives used to arrest 104 men who showed up at a ritzy downtown condo in the past two weeks expecting to pay for sex.

Nearly three-fourths of the men who were arrested on suspicion of patronizing a prostitute responded to postings in the "erotic services" category on craigslist, the free online community where people can search for apartments, jobs, used cars, friends and dates. The rest answered escort ads found in the back pages of The Stranger and Seattle Weekly.

"We wanted to prove craigslist was in fact a vehicle for promoting prostitution," said Lt. Eric Sano, commander of the Seattle Police Department's vice unit.

Escorts and the agencies that represent them have long argued that clients pay only for the companionship of a beautiful woman, Sano said, "but for the most part, that's not how it works."

The vice unit launched its elaborate investigation after receiving numerous community complaints about prostitutes advertising on craigslist, Sano said.

To test the theory, undercover detectives arranged for escorts to meet them in a downtown hotel room on Oct. 19, Sano said. Detectives arrested seven women and a 16-year-old girl who made clear they expected payment for their sexual services, he said.

Vice detectives then turned their attention to men who, instead of cruising the streets for prostitutes, respond to online and newspaper ads looking for sex, he said. To make their ads believable, Sano said, female detectives were photographed in flirty poses, phone lines were established and appointments were set up.

Police discovered "a complete subculture" where men call themselves "hobbyists" and refer to the women they pay for sex as "providers," Sano said Wednesday, the last night of the undercover operation.

"They all know each other and have their own terminology," he said. There are even several online "review boards" where men rate their experiences and describe a woman's looks and the sex acts she's willing to perform, Sano said.

Craig Newmark, who founded craigslist in San Francisco in 1995, said he has heard that "prostitution is a significant problem" on the Web site and noted that craigslist has built a "top-notch" reputation for responding to complaints of illegal activity.

As for the local craigslist review board where men discuss the sexual exploits they paid for, Newmark said those who operate the site are improperly using the craigslist name and that legal action is being discussed by the Seattle-based law firm representing his site.

So let's turn this blog into a trip down memory lane for myself, shall we?

Prior to working here at Buzznet, I was a sales manager over at www.cityvibe.com, which is an escort listing for the United States. Searching Craigslist for potential clients was one of the larger parts of my job. So, besides the fact that I actually knew everything in this article already existed (which is slightly odd), it leads me to wonder if other cities will follow suit and run sting operations off of the website.

I mean, I've never understood why prostituion was illegal. Hell, I bet if the state taxed the service, we could use the funds for public services. (Of course, that would create some interesting scenarios, mostly finding out that school books were paid for by brothels. Fuck, we should tax prostitution just for that alone.)

Regardless, beware, Buzznetters! Craigslist is no longer safe for your sexual exploits!  

It's quite disturbing how quickly our rights as consumers are being stripped.

From the article:

The MPAA studios are at it again, snatching away our fair use rights, so they can sell them back to us for an "additional fee."

In a lawsuit filed in federal court in New York, Paramount Pictures v. Load 'N Go Video, the MPAA member companies have sued a small business for loading DVDs onto personal media players (e.g., iPod Video) on behalf of customers.

According to the suit, Load 'N Go sells both DVDs and iPods and loads the former onto the latter for customers who purchase both. The company then sends the iPod and the original DVDs to the customer. So the customer has purchased every DVD, and Load 'N Go just saves them the trouble of ripping the DVD. The movie studios' suit claims that this is illegal, because ripping a DVD (i.e., decrypting it and making a copy) is illegal under the DMCA. The suit also claims that this constitutes copyright infringement.

Although this lawsuit happens to be aimed at Load 'N Go, the DMCA theory in the complaint makes it crystal clear that the MPAA believes it is just as illegal for you to do the same thing for yourself at home. Apparently, Hollywood believes that you should have to re-purchase all your DVD movies a second time if you want to watch them on your iPod. 

I thought fair use laws covered this. Why should I have to pay for the movie a second time just to put it on a piece of technology made for just that?

Redundant.

The story: Here.

My response:

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daf l;k jdfsdf;ljkdfopu;ljkkf
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089890324098329803 #$%#$@
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In light of the recent attention given to coverage of police brutality, this couldn't have come at a better time.

EDIT: Here's the video of captured with a cell phone.

From the article:

UCPD officers shot a student several times with a Taser inside the Powell Library CLICC computer lab late Tuesday night before taking him into custody.

No university police officers were available to comment further about the incident as of 3 a.m. Wednesday, and no Community Service Officers who were on duty at the time could be reached.

At around 11:30 p.m., CSOs asked a male student using a computer in the back of the room to leave when he was unable to produce a BruinCard during a random check. The student did not exit the building immediately.

The CSOs left, returning minutes later, and police officers arrived to escort the student out. By this time the student had begun to walk toward the door with his backpack when an officer approached him and grabbed his arm, at which point the student told the officer to let him go. A second officer then approached the student as well.

The student began to yell "get off me," repeating himself several times.

It was at this point that the officers shot the student with a Taser for the first time, causing him to fall to the floor and cry out in pain. The student also told the officers he had a medical condition.

UCPD officers confirmed that the man involved in the incident was a student, but did not give a name or any additional information about his identity.

Video shot from a student's camera phone captured the student yelling, "Here's your Patriot Act, here's your fucking abuse of power," while he struggled with the officers.

As the student was screaming, UCPD officers repeatedly told him to stand up and said "stop fighting us." The student did not stand up as the officers requested and they shot him with the Taser at least once more.

"It was the most disgusting and vile act I had ever seen in my life," said David Remesnitsky, a 2006 UCLA alumnus who witnessed the incident.

As the student and the officers were struggling, bystanders repeatedly asked the police officers to stop, and at one point officers told the gathered crowd to stand back and threatened to use a Taser on anyone who got too close.

Laila Gordy, a fourth-year economics student who was present in the library during the incident, said police officers threatened to shoot her with a Taser when she asked an officer for his name and his badge number.

I'm pretty much going to let the article speak for itself. The bolded items I found particularly disturbing.

But, even as I read this story, I have a feeling it's going to be swept under the rug.

From the article:

Four producers for Dan Rather were fired when they did not double check documents they used in a "60 Minutes II" piece about Bush's service in the National Guard. Eventually, Rather was moved out of the anchor desk and pushed out of CBS entirely. Most of this was based on the perception that they were slanting a story.

the independent panel selected to investigate the National Guard story said they found no evidence of a political agenda against Bush, but that the documents should have been more thoroughly vetted.

Now, we have an instance of Fox News Channel clearly and indisputably slanting their whole lineup of news against the Democratic Party in an internal memo sent by the Vice President of News, John Moody. Instead of covering the Republican losses in the elections, they choose to focus on, and in some cases invent, stories of how insurgents might be emboldened by the Democratic victory. They push the story line of Democratic infighting on a day that had bitter Republican finger pointing on who was responsible for their momentous losses. And they call a Democratic legislator a "political hack."

To read the memo, click here and read the entry on the Huffington Post regarding the memo.

The key lines that stick out to me:

"And let's be on the lookout for any statements from the Iraq insurgents, who must be thrilled at the prospect of a Dem-controlled Congress."

"Just because the Dems won, the war on terror isn't over."

No, it's not, Moody. No thanks to yourself, since you seem to want this war to continue.

This is a blatant example of political bias and slant from a news agency that lauds it's "Fair and Balanced" newscasting. The contradiction and hypocrisy is something I've come to expect, yet there's still a part of me that is excited to finally have actual proof that the organization is pushing for the war and for Republicans, instead of just reporting the news.

Let's hope this catches on.

This has got to be the weirdest story of 2006.

First of all, why would you want to talk about this? Is he desparate for money? Attention? And how is this supposed to make him seem less innocent? Hell, what about the families of the victims? Don't they get a say in this?

I'm interested to see how this pans out. For the record, OJ is an asshole.

Perhaps this should be the most disturbing story of 2006. It scares me.

From the article:

Immigrants arrested in the United States may be held indefinitely on suspicion of terrorism and may not challenge their imprisonment in civilian courts, the Bush administration said Monday, opening a new legal front in the fight over the rights of detainees.

In court documents filed with the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Va., the Justice Department said a new anti-terrorism law being used to hold detainees in Guantanamo Bay also applies to foreigners captured and held in the United States.

Ali Saleh Kahlah Al-Marri, a citizen of Qatar, was arrested in 2001 while studying in the United States. He has been labeled an "enemy combatant," a designation that, under a law signed last month, strips foreigners of the right to challenge their detention in federal courts.

That law is being used to argue the Guantanamo Bay cases, but Al-Marri represents the first detainee inside the United States to come under the new law. Aliens normally have the right to contest their imprisonment, such as when they are arrested on immigration violations or for other crimes.

I think what has typically set the United States apart from other nations is that we have (symbolically, atleast) opened our arms to the world and allowed pretty much anyone to live here. That is what has created the ethnic melting pot of diversity that so many of us cherish (and take for granted, unfortunately).

Yet this astounds me. Not as to who it's coming from, as I expect such policies these days. (Sad, isn't it?) What surprises me is that people accept it. No one says anything. We should be up in arms! We should be rioting on the streets! Our government has just mandated that it's fine to hold people indefinitely, without their right to even know why they're being held, simply because they aren't citizens. An arrest is not supposed to be a guilty verdict in this nation.

A sad, sad day.

And so far, it should win by a landslide.

First, click the link above to read the story.

Done? Now I shall dissect everything wrong with this.

1) THREE MONTHS. NOT:
     a) Three minutes.
     b) Three hours.
     c) Three days.
     d) Three weeks.

BUT THREE GODDAMNED MONTHS. HOW IN THE HELL DOES SOMEONE GO UNDETECTED FOR THREE MONTHS WHILST LIVING UNDER THEIR VICTIM'S BED?????

Ok. Ok. Sorry about the all caps fury. I'll try to calm down. (But you almost feel the need to give the guy credit for lasting that long. That's not wrong.....right?)

2) He told the young child this:

"When they met, Jennings said he had nowhere to live and confided that he was wanted by police for a minor dishonesty offence."

DISHONESTY. If he was telling the truth to this girl and she believed him, then wasn't it possible he was lying to you? Or does that present a logical quandary of migraine-causing proportions? And what in the name is a "dishonesty offence"? Do those even exist?? AH I MUST MOVE ON TO ANOTHER POINT BEFORE MY BRAIN 'SPLODES.

3) This is the image The Sun ran for the article:



Now, using another subset, let's analyze this:

     a) The pony poster. I know this is a terrible, terrible, horrific thing to do to a child and child molestation is no laughing matter. So why the hell does the Sun feel the need to create computer graphics that cause me to snicker? And the teddy bear. And how the predator looks like he's holding his nose as if he's diving into the deep end for the first time.
     b) Seriously, why did I never have a bed this awesome? It has a ladder. No fair. Of course, I've always had a mild fear of heights, so I guess this wouldn't be a good thing for me to sleep on. I'd probably fall off in the midst of a bad dream and break my arm or something.
     c) Why did they use such shitty computer graphics in the first place? They should learn something from Marie Claire Magazine. Photoshop is key these days.
     d) The caption for the photo: "Pervert place...Jennings hid in a cavity under the girl's bed." Alliteration makes me giggle too.

Ok. Enough with that. Moving on....

4) He was given only two years and three months for this whole debacle. What? I know people who've been caught with pot who have served more time than this. The motherfucker should have more time just based off of trespassing offenses alone. Did the judge count the time he spent under the bed as "time served" or something?

Ouch. Too low? Whatever, I don't care anymore. Nothing about this story makes any sense.

5) The final line in the story:

“I hope the family can now start to come to terms with what has happened to them and move on with their lives.”

UNDERSTATEMENT OF 2006.

There is no God.

As much as I dread linking to the Drudge Report, this news story had me in tears laughing.

So: Elizabeth Vargas was Photoshopped into an issue of Marie Claire magazine for a Q&A session she did with them. In the photo they used, they superimposed her head onto another body that was breastfeeding a child. The backdrop for the shot? THE NEWS DESK. INSINUATING THAT ELIZABETH VARGAS BREAST FEEDS DURING COMMERCIALS.

Holy. Hell. That is hilarious.

And even better, Vargas has a sense of humor about the whole thing. From a source close to Vargas:

"Elizabeth was more than happy to sit for the interview but was disturbed that the magazine would set aside basic journalistic standards to photoshop her head onto a fake image. Vargas did joke that her real baby is cuter, that she is proud to breastfeed her newborn but wouldn't do it at the anchor desk and that she wouldn't be caught dead in that ugly gold blouse!"

So amazingly awesome.










NEVERENDING!

You shouldn't throw stones, Doug Morris, especially when you live in a glass house.

The story:

Yesterday, Microsoft agreed to share revenue from Zune sales with record labels and artists. Forcing the issue was Universal Music Group, which at deadline is the only label named in the program. UMG refused to license its music to the Zune unless it could receive a percentage of each device sold, in addition to standard music licensing fees for downloads and subscriptions.

"These devices are just repositories for stolen music, and they all know it," UMG chairman/CEO Doug Morris says. "So it's time to get paid for it."

Microsoft is working with all major and independent labels to establish similar revenue-sharing agreements. According to published reports, UMG is expected to receive more than $1 for each $250 device and sources at UMG have confirmed that half of all the proceeds from the device's sales will be shared equally among all its artists.

Before my head explodes from the cosmic amount of irony in this story, let me try to best dissect this news story as I can.

The assumptions made by Doug Morris and Universal:

1) As an iPod/digital music storage device owner, I find myself inclined to enjoy music that is licensed by Universal.
2) I steal my music and do not pay artists for what I buy.
3) Universal deserves all the money they are asking for.

Shall we?

1) Your label is incredibly shitty. Nevermind the fact that, years ago, I decided not to support major label ventures unless I had some close emotional tie to a band (see: Rise Against, The Mars Volta, A.F.I., etc) Even then, I prefer to support the bands by buying directly from them. (Merch, shows, releases on more preferable labels.) But, as I now peruse the list of artists that you are in charge of, I find that there is a funny taste in the back of my mouth, creeping up my tongue.

3 Doors Down
50 Cent
98 Degrees
A Thorn For Every Heart
Alien Ant Farm
Ashlee Simpson
Big Bad Voodoo Daddy
Bubba Sparxxx
Cold
Dru Hill

I could only make it to the "A-D" before I realized that the bitter taste in my mouth was bile. I had thrown up just a tiny bit. So please, Doug Morris, before you assert that I should have to give you money for owning my iPod, remember that I don't give a shit about you, your company, or any of the money you so graciously grab with your grubby hands. I don't owe you a single fucking dollar.

2) I download music regularly. While I certainly cannot debate the legality of downloading, I will have to respectfully disagree that I should have to pay for music I don't like. Even beyond that, I shouldn't have to give you the vast majority of the money that I want to go towards the band I want to support. I am not naive. I realize that there are many factors in the distribution and creation of an album. Engineers need to be paid. Producers need to be paid. You need to be paid your production costs, and your marketing costs as well. (Though I'd dispute that.)

I don't see a need to fund your quest for the neverending profit, to line your pockets with the money you "earned" off of the creative and physical efforts of OTHER people. There is no rationalization for that.

And yet, even while I download music, the vast majority of the money I earn is returned to the music scenes I'm involved in or the bands I enjoy. I recently purged a lot of my CD collection from over 1,000 CDs to just under 400 in an effort to convert my collection to vinyl-only. Beyond that, I spend thousands of dollars a year on band merchandise and shows, in what probably amounts to more than all the music I have ever had in my life.

3) And that brings me to the last point, which pretty much encompasses the first two. I don't download your companies' music. I don't listen to it. And even if I did, I pay for the music I listen to. You have yet to prove to anyone that your efforts DESERVE the amount of money you are asking for.

You are a theif, Doug Morris. While some fault must be placed on the band for foolishly signing with your label, you steal from artists. You take their creative rights. You take their hard-earned money. You take everything that is beautiful about music -- the sounds, the emotions, the connection with real human beings, the passion -- and you convert them to dollar signs and lawsuits.

If you sit down and keep your mouth shut for once, you'll hear it. Clear your mind and keep your office quiet. Inevitably and surely, you'll hear the sound of glass breaking. This is your life.  

Ha, well, it was only a matter of time before someone decked him.

From the link:

BORAT star Sacha Baron Cohen was beaten up by a passer-by after he tried to play a prank as his alter ego.

He approached the man and said: “I like your clothings. Are nice! Please may I buying? I want have sex with it.”

But the bystander didn’t see the joke. He took one look at Cohen and punched him in the face.

The funnyman  — known for his Borat catchphrase “Jagshemash!” — yelled for help but was slugged again and again.

He was rescued by actor pal Hugh Laurie who had been on his way to a New York bar with Cohen.

Laurie rushed to help and pushed the man away as Cohen struggled to his feet. A pal of Cohen said: “Sacha couldn’t resist playing the fool as Borat, but picked on the wrong person.

“I guess this guy thought he was being attacked by someone unstable and lashed out. Sacha is very lucky he didn’t get a much worse beating.”

The incident took place after Laurie and Cohen appeared on the US TV show Saturday Night Live. The Brit comics were on their way to a late dinner when Laurie suggested they visit a bar in Manhattan.

Laurie, 47, told friends he feared Cohen was going to get badly beaten up. Luckily, 35-year-old Cohen did not receive any lasting scars.

Studio chiefs have warned Cohen to avoid pretending to be the spoof Kazakhstan TV reporter on the streets. Since the film was launched he has only appeared in character while promoting the movie on American television shows.

Borat: Cultural Learnings of America For Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan is tipped to become the highest grossing comedy of all time.

While I do find it weird that Cohen would lapse back into his character outside of the movie, I can't help but feel bad for him. But, of course, he was in New York. What did he expect? Them peoples are crazy on the streets of NY!

More importantly, though, Cohen hangs out with Hugh Laurie????

How unfortunate. :( Let's wish them the best.

From the article:

US has learned exclusively that actress Pamela Anderson, 39, and her husband, musician Kid Rock, 35, have suffered a miscarriage.

A spokesperson for Pamela Anderson confirms that the actress suffered a miscarriage late last week in Vancouver, Canada while filming her new movie, Blond on Blonder.

Anderson’s rep Tracy Nguyen, is asking that, “Pamela’s privacy be respected at this time.”

A source tells US that Anderson was not far along, and that the pregnancy was at its early stages.

“It is what it is,” says the source. “It was early enough.”

The source confirms that the actress did not go to the hospital to be treated, but instead had a doctor come to her to determine the miscarriage. The stress and the pressure of her rigorous filming schedule is believed to have caused the miscarriage.

“She will keep trying. She really wants another baby with Bob,” says the source.

Anderson and her husband, Kid Rock, were married on August 3 of this year. The actress has two children with her former husband, Tommy Lee; Brandon, 10, and Dylan, 8.

And, everywhere around the world, straight men have a collective heart attack.

Such is life. The movie is a project from Sophia Coppola about Sarah Walter's novel, Tipping The Velvet.

It will be interesting to see if they'll do it.

If you've been following my blog or my posts on Buzznet in general, I'm quite the fan of Borat. I was lucky enough to have seen his new movie last spring for an advanced screening (the original version was much longer) and I've already seen the theatrical release twice.

And now we get our first serious lawsuit from someone who appeared in the movie: Two frat boys are suing Borat for their appearance in the movie.

The scene in question is when Borat hitchhikes his way onto an RV belonging to a few University of South Carolina frat boys. There is a lot of alcohol. There is a lot of joking around. And the frat boys sling around a whole lot of sexist and racist remarks, making them look quite foolish.

Of course, now they're pissed. The genius of Sacha Baron Cohen's character is his ability to bring out the worst in people. (In this case, the remarks the boys make in the RV.)

While I'll be first to admit that I don't know the legal precedents in a case like this, I don't see any immoral actions, save for those on the part of the frat boys. I'm sure they signed a waiver. I'm also sure that, despite saying that they "engaged in behavior they otherwise would not have engaged in," they acted pretty much like they always have. Do they mean to have us understand that just because there was a camera and a stranger in their RV, they decided to "act" racist and sexist?

I don't buy it.

Click the link above for the full story. If you're interested and you've already seen the movie, click here to read a story about the various people Borat "tricked" into talking to him.

According to the Malawi charity she adopted from, that is.

From the article:

Madonna is accused today of putting children’s lives at risk in an escalating row over her adopted son’s treatment in an African orphanage.

One of the orphanage’s founders has written to the BBC, protesting at the pop singer’s comments in an interview with Newsnight, which is to be broadcast in full for the first time this weekend.

The British charity which raises funds for Home of Hope orphanage in Malawi said it feared he remarks would lead to a drop off in donations.

In the letter to Newsnight, the charity’s secretary Rosemary Lowdon wrote: "We have been very disturbed that the Home of Hope appears to have been described as a place where children are not cared for properly."

"We must stress that no money has come to the Home as a result of this adoption, and the financial resources at the Home are very limited."

"We are desperately worried that people will cease donating as a result of Madonna’s comments, and that this will make a difference between life and death for some of the most vulnerable children at the Home."

Mrs Lowdon, who helped set up the orphanage with her husband Martin in 1998 and who raised £20,000 to help run it last year, is in Malawi visiting the institution where David Banda, the 13-month-old baby Madonna has adopted, was cared for.

Mrs Lowdon took a copy of the abbreviated Newsnight interview to show to the Reverend Thomson Chipeta, the 77-yearold Presbyterian minister who runs the orphanage.

"He was very shaken, he was very upset," said Mrs Lowdon, 41.

"He said to me, 'Why is she saying this?'"

Madonna has claimed David was in an appalling state when she first saw the toddler last month.

The boy, she claimed, was suffering "the most horrendous diaper rash I’ve ever seen."

The singer, 48, who is adopting David with film director husband Guy Ritchie, also claimed she had been told by the Rev Chipeta that the boy was no longer visited by his father.

His mother died a week after childbirth.

"If somebody had said to me, 'Oh, his dad comes every week,' or, you know, 'his granny visits on a regular basis and he’s well looked after,' I would not even have given it another thought,"she told Newsnight.

But the Rev Chipeta has now told Mrs Lowdon he never said the boy was no longer visited by his father.

Madonna’s spokeswoman refused to be drawn on Mrs Lowdon’s claims. A source close to the singer added: "This is the most intensive tit-for-tat and we are not going to get involved."

A BBC spokesman: "We have yet to receive any correspondence from the Malawi Orphan Fund about the nature or content of the interview, but would consider it carefully were we to do so."

I'm definitely at a point where I believe the media needs to leave this alone. However, I'm more surprised they didn't bring up the fact that, last week, Madonna said this (which has been interpreted as a shot against Angelina Jolie):

"But that's not getting to the root of the problem – and by the way, neither is building orphan care centers and giving people food and medicine."

What? Since when wasn't that a great way to get to the root of the problem here? How fucking retarded can you be?

In a story that has been completely ignored by any mainstream media outlet, a radical protestor in Chicago has set himself on fire and died.

It's been......fuck. Many, many years since I have heard of immolation used as a means of protest (which, of course, leads my mind to recall the image of the protestor on the cover of Rage Against The Machine's self-titled debut).

From the Chicago Reader Blog:

On Saturday the Sun-Times ran a small item about a man who had set himself on fire during rush hour Friday morning near the Ohio Street exit on the Kennedy. His identity has still not been officially determined, but members of the local jazz and improvised music community say they are certain it was Malachi Ritscher, a longtime supporter of the scene. Bruno Johnson, who owns the free-jazz label Okka Disk, received a package yesterday from Ritscher that included a will, keys to his home, and instructions about what should be done with his belongings. Johnson, a former Chicagoan who now lives in Milwaukee, began making calls. Police are still awaiting the results of dental tests, but Johnson says an officer told one of Ritscher's sisters that all evidence pointed to the body being his; his car was found nearby and he hadn't shown up for work since Thursday. 

Buried on Ritscher's web site Chicago Rash Audio Potential, a compendium of invaluable show postings, artwork, and photography, are a suicide note and an obituary. Both indicate that he was deeply troubled by the war in Iraq and pinpoint it as a motive for suicide (no method is specified), though there are indications that he may have had other issues as well. "He had a son, from whom he was estranged (at the son's request), and two grandchildren," reads the obit. "He had many acquaintances, but few friends; and wrote his own obituary, because no one else really knew him." Ritscher was a familiar face at antiwar protests, and he was arrested more than once for his involvement, including this time this past May. A note found at the scene of the immolation reportedly read "Thou Shalt Not Kill." 

Although Ritscher, who was in his early 50s, had played music off and on over the years, he was best known for his devotion to documenting other people's shows. Several nights a week for at least the last decade he could be found at places like the Empty Bottle, the Velvet Lounge, and the Hungry Brain; by his own count he recorded more than 2,000 concerts. Over the years he invested more money in equipment and as his skills improved, many of his recordings went to be used on commerical releases--by Paul Rutherford, Gold Sparkle Band, Isotope 217, Irene Schweizer, and Ken Vandermark among others. Ritscher was fiercely modest about these pursuits--I once tried to do a piece on him for the Reader but he declined, saying he didn’t want publicity.

What I find so striking about this is the last line. Ritscher didn't want publicity for what merits he had, yet he protests the Iraq war (and perhaps other things in his life) by publicly committing suicide in one of the most painful ways possible.

What drives a person to do this? What motivates someone to end their life to protest something that is, frankly, larger than them? Did Ritscher believe his actions would have serious repercussions for our current administration?

Ritscher's frank sincerity depresses me, both because it saddens me that he felt death was the only true way to protest an issue he felt strongly against, and because I'm not nearly as devoted to what I believe in.  

This is monumentally bizarre.

Considering that the man really doesn't spend time with his children, is now celebrating his single freedom, and, by most appearances, could be one of the dumber human beings on earth, this sure seems like the worst thing for him to do. Does he think he's going to win? Honestly?

I've been advised that perhaps he's doing this in order to get more money from Spears so she doesn't completely flatline him in the divorce proceedings. Sure seems desparate, considering she's going to anyway.

I guess, for him, the money is worth. Such is life of someone who lives off other people.

(Click above for the full story.)

Man, I used to watch this show all the time with my parents.

How depressing. :(

From CNN:

Ed Bradley, the longtime "60 Minutes" correspondent who reported on subjects ranging from jazz musicians to the Columbine school shootings, has died. He was 65.

Bradley died Thursday at New York's Mount Sinai Hospital of leukemia, according to staff members at the CBS program.

Bradley joined "60 Minutes" during the 1981-82 season after two years as White House correspondent for CBS News and three years at "CBS Reports." His reporting over the years won him a Peabody Award, 19 Emmys and a Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award, among many others. He was honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Association of Black Journalists.

His most recent Emmy was for a segment about the reopening of the 1950s racial murder case of Emmett Till in Mississippi.

Katie Couric, in announcing the death of Bradley on CBS, described him as "smooth, cool, a great reporter, beloved and respected by all of his colleagues here at CBS News."

CNN correspondent and former CBS reporter John Roberts said the newsman was "always a person you could sit down with and he could keep you intrigued for hours at a time with the stories he could tell."

Roberts called Bradley a "first-rate" journalist.

"He clearly was a field reporter," said Howard Kurtz, media reporter for The Washington Post. "He did not want to be chained to a desk." Kurtz also hosts CNN's "Reliable Sources."

"He was somebody who liked being out there on the story, whether it was in the Vietnam War or whether it was doing investigative work or bringing alive the plight of families who were dealing with illnesses or violence or other issues he covered," Kurtz added.

I CAN'T CONTAIN MY DISBELIEF. WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON IN OUR NATION?

Taken from the CNN article:

President Bush announced Wednesday that Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is stepping down from his post.

"The timing is right for new leadership at the Pentagon," Bush said at the White House Wednesday afternoon.

Rumsfeld has been heavily criticized for his policies in Iraq, and exit polls taken during Tuesday's midterm election showed strong voter dissatisfaction -- 57 percent -- with the Iraq war.

"I recognize that many Americans voted last night to register their displeasure with the lack of progress being made" in Iraq, Bush said.

Bush said he has "a series of thoughtful conversations" with Rumsfeld about the defense secretary's resignation.

Former CIA chief Robert Gates,who headed that agency from 1991 until 1993, will be nominated to take over as defense secretary, Bush said Wednesday.

Gates is now president of Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas.

Rumsfeld, 74, has served as defense secretary since January 20, 2001, the beginning of Bush's first term.

He also served as defense secretary under President Ford from 1975 to 1977.

"Don Rumsfeld has been a superb leader during a time of change," Bush said Wednesday. "Yet he also appreciates the value of bringing in a fresh perspective during a critical period in this war."

With the change, Bush pledged to stand by the people of Iraq.

"Do not be fearful," Bush said in reference to Iraqis. "As you take the difficult steps toward democracy and peace, America's going to stand with you. We know you want a better way of life, and now is the time to seize it."

Bush also expressed support for U.S. military personnel.

"Don't be doubtful. America will always support you," the president said. "Our nation is blessed to have men and women who volunteer to serve and are willing to risk their own lives for the safety of our fellow citizens."

Rumsfeld has been under increasing pressure as U.S. casualties mount in Iraq.

October was the fourth-deadliest month for U.S. troops since the 2003 invasion, with 105 Americans killed.

Earlier this year, eight retired generals, including former NATO commander Wesley Clark and the former head of U.S. Central Command Anthony Zinni, called on Rumsfeld to resign.

Wait. So. Ok.

Is Bush admitting failure in Iraq? Did he actually tell Rumsfeld to take the fall? I'M LOST. MY BRAIN DAS NOT COMPUTE.

EDIT: I just realized that Bush is nominating one of the key figures from the Iran-Contra scandal. My joy has now subsided. Fuck that shit.

I guess our only concern is that we should hope he doesn't fall apart on stage. Literally.

From Yahoo:

Reclusive pop star Michael Jackson plans a dramatic comeback bid later this month with a performance of his classic song "Thriller," organizers of a music awards ceremony said on Wednesday.

The 48-year-old entertainer has been a virtual recluse since his acquittal on child molestation charges in June, 2005, dividing much of his time between Bahrain and Ireland.

Last month the World Music Awards announced that Jackson would appear in London to accept a Diamond Award that goes to artists who sell more than 100 million records worldwide, and this week they confirmed Jackson's intention to perform.

"Yes, it's his first performance in a long time," said a spokeswoman at Outside Organization, one of the public relations companies publicizing the event. "It's something of a comeback if you like."

The choice of song coincides with the 25th anniversary of Jackson's "Thriller" album, one of the biggest-selling records of all time.

Jackson has said he planned to move to Europe in a bid to resurrect his musical career, and in April a record label said he intended to make a new album to be released in 2007.

Besides Jackson's eagerly awaited return, Hollywood actress Lindsay Lohan will host the awards show on November 15, and recording stars Beyonce, Mary J. Blige, and Andrea Boceli are slated to perform.

The World Music Awards are based on artists' sales as opposed to votes from the public or a panel of judges.

It's true.

We can rejoice because it's about time she dropped that retard.

And I continue to act indifferent to her existence!

I recently came to a musical epiphany. Now that I invested in an iPod, I've found that I have no real need to own or purchase CDs anymore. Upon realizing this, I realized that I could now concentrate on reaching a goal I've been slowly trudging towards over the past 5 years:

Having my entire musical collection be nothing but vinyl records.

I know, I know. Record collectors are pretentious assholes, right?

I distinctly remember sitting in the kitchen when I was a child, in front of my mom's giant record player. I don't know if I can properly convey how large it was: the entire piece was about 6 or 7 feet long, and about 3 feet high. It was made out of some type of hardward, ebony-colored. The son of a bitch was heavy too, as it contained both of the speakers in the whole system.

I used to pull open the wooden doors on the front and stare at the hundreds of records my mom had. I'd pull out a Beatles album or Dusty Springfield or Bob Dylan. I didn't get to play them until later, but I was so fascinated with the idea of this giant round piece of wax and plastic being able to play music.

I spent many summer afternoons sitting on the cold tile floor of the kitchen listening to the Rolling Stones or The Supremes or The Everly Brothers. I loved the static when you first placed the needle on the record. The anticipation before the song started would always drive me to a state of euphoria.

The years passed and I soon had enmassed a respectable CD collection. (Over 1,000) However, even without a record player of my own, I had a handful of LPs and even more 7" records.

Ah, the 7". Perhaps my favorite medium of music in the whole world. Usually reserved for singles in the corporate world, it has become a staple of the independent and punk rock scene I'm a part of. It's a chance for a band to impress you, the listener, in anywhere from 8 to 12 minutes. They're refreshing. They're fun to collect. And goddamn it, they're usually colored.

CDs all look the same and there's certainly a wonderful aesthetic value to owning colored vinyl. (My personal favorite is clear vinyl. Shit drives me nuts.)

So what does this all have to do with AFI? Besides the fact that I own some nifty pieces of vinyl of theirs (my personal favorites being the Swingin' Utters Bombing The Bay 7" split, in which AFI does a stellar cover of Dag Nasty's "Values Here," and my original release yellow Very Proud of Ya), I decided to visit the official site the other day.

And this is what I see:



OK:

1) How do they know I love vinyl?

2) How do they know I go nutty for 7" records?

3) HOW THE FUCK DO THEY KNOW I GO APESHIT FOR CLEAR VINYL???

Released today, November 7th, is the Decemberunderground Boxset. The full album, plus the unreleased track, "Fallen Like The Sky" on 5 separate 7" vinyls, each in their own sleeve, with a poster and a lyric sheet.

I pre-ordered mine from Cinderblock and should receive it soon. But it's available at Hot Topic today. It's a good deal for the price.

Click here to order it for yourself!

A Turkish man claims he's the real Borat and is now seeking to get an apology and money.

Really. I don't care who this man is. He's nowhere near as funny as Sacha Baron Cohen.

If you haven't had a chance, please go watch the Borat movie. It is glorious.

Thank the good Lord above for some positive news about homosexuality, for once.

From the article linked above:

Neil Patrick Harris, 33, currently starring in the CBS comedy How I Met Your Mother, acknowledged that he is a gay and wants to quell any rumors to the contrary.

    "I am happy to dispel any rumors or misconceptions and am quite proud to say that I am a very content gay man living my life to the fullest," Harris tells People magazine's Web site.

    The possibility Harris might be gay is one that has floated around the gay community for a number of years. However, no one had ever publicly published what amounted to only rumor.

    Things changed since a report on canada.com by acknowledging that he is gay late last month. The reports said that Harris had helped his longtime boyfriend David Burtka land a role on his sitcom, How I Met Your Mother.

    As a response, Harris admits that he is a gay.

    Harris first rose to prominence as the teenage star of Doogie Howser, M.D., but has successfully made the transition from child star to adult actor as an unhinged version himself in the 2004 movie Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle.

    Before landing the role of Barney on How I Met Your Mother, Harris had guested on other television series including Numb3rs, Law and Order, and Boomtown.

    It remains to be seen whether acknowledging he is gay will affect how the public perceives his role as the womanizing Barney, but it's hard not to think that the American public must be growing accustomed to learning such news.

With news of Foley's creepy gay advances and Haggard's meth-fueled, adulterous trysts, it's nice that stories like this still get coverage. More power to you, Neil. You have my respect.

Excuse me if I don't see this as something terribly important.

Don't get me wrong. The fucker should hang because he's a scumbag and his past records of supression of opposing regimes and counter-politics groups isn't something I find acceptable at all.

But something is terribly odd about this whole thing.

Where was the United States back on March 16, 1988, when Hussein ordered a mixture of mustard gas and nerve agents to be dropped on the Kurdish town of Halabja? That was genocide, plain and simple, and it took years before the US admitted that Hussein had a hand in the massacre.

Why did we wait until our own interests were at stake (OIL) in the Gulf War to take any action?

And even beyond that, haven't we set up this entire event to happen?

I distinctly recall learning about Saddam Hussein's participation in the assassination of Iraqi Prime Minister Gen. Abd al-Karim Qasim back in 1959. (This was a CIA operative effort.) In fact, hasn't Hussein been a pawn of the CIA (OUR CIA???) for over 40 years?

And now he's going to hang. Something just doesn't seem right, as our President calls out to the world and looks to make us believe the world will be safer, that Iraqis will be better off, and that this is a great day for foreign affairs.

But didn't we put him there in the first place?

I call a farce.

Scientology really just provides me with an endless number of opportunities to laugh at other people.

This is no exception.

I’m sure all of you know that Brandy is real into ‘The Church of Scientology’. Word is that it was one of the main reasons why Quentin Richardson dumped her. Well it’s also the reason a fight popped off at her bible study class last week. According to Murray:

He got a phone call from a friend informing him of a physical altercation that had jumped off last Wednesday pitting Brandy and her girlfriends against members of First A.M.E. (FAME) Church during a Bible study class.

The singer rolled up to the South L.A. church with her friends after having just come from a Scientology meeting. Brandy and company, who are not members of the church, reportedly began challenging some of the Christian principles taught in the Bible class, including a question about lust.

Suddenly, according to Murray’s source, a fight broke out between her friends and the church folk. Chairs were flying, curse words were being dropped, and Brandy reportedly knocked over some chairs on her way out of the building.

OH MAN. SHE KNOCKED OVER CHAIRS ON HER WAY OUT. MOVE OUT DA WAY! SHE COMIN' THROUGH!

Fuck Scientology.

This really isn't a big deal, dude. Not at all.

Yet somehow, Kanye felt the need to throw a hissy fit because he didn't win the award for Best Video for the....European MTV Awards.

First of all....Europe has their own MTV Awards? Since when has anyone cared about this before today?

Secondly, Kanye, you sound like a douche every time you say that you spent a million dollars on your video.

Third....I don't have anything else to say. This is absurd.

I have never been so ecstatic about someone else's misfortune in my entire life. It's unfortunate, really; I don't have a problem admitting it. But when someone who is so virulently anti-gay turns out to be....not so "straight" as he appeared to be, I can't help but feel that the blinders are slowly being taken off our eyes.

From the article on ABC.com (there's also a video and I'm currently trying to rip it):

Evangelist Ted Haggard admitted Friday that he bought methamphetamine and received a massage from a gay prostitute who claims he was paid for drug-fueled trysts by the outspoken gay marriage opponent.

Haggard resigned Thursday as president of the National Association of Evangelicals and stepped down as leader of his Colorado megachurch while the two groups investigate the allegations.

Talking to reporters outside his house Friday, Haggard denied the sex allegations but said that he did buy meth from the man because he was curious.

"I bought it for myself but never used it," he said. "I was tempted, but I never used it."

Haggard, a married father of five, said he never had sex with Mike Jones, a 49-year-old male prostitute who sparked the scandal when he told a radio station he had had a three-year sexual relationship with the minister. He said he did get a massage from Jones after being referred to him by a Denver hotel.

Haggard resigned as president of the 30 million-member association Thursday and stepped down as the leader of the New Life Church pending investigations into Jones' claims.

The executive committee of the National Association of Evangelicals, which claims 30 million members, planned a conference call Friday and said it would release a statement afterward.

The acting pastor of Haggard's New Life Church, Ross Parsley, told congregants in an e-mail that the church's four-member board of overseers had met with Haggard on Thursday.

"It is important for you to know that he confessed to the overseers that some of the accusations against him are true. He has willingly and humbly submitted to the authority of the board of overseers, and will remain on administrative leave during the course of the investigation," the e-mail stated.

The scandal hit as voters in Colorado and seven other states are getting ready to decide Tuesday on amendments banning gay marriage. Besides the proposed ban on the Colorado ballot, a separate measure would establish the legality of domestic partnerships providing same-sex couples with many of the rights of married couples.

You can read the other 2 pages at the link.

It's the part that's hoping there are actually good songs on this album.

After a number of false starts, including a delayed album which was produced by Beastie Boy Adam Yauch, the Bad Brains are reportedly back together and back on track.

Inspired by their triumphant return to CBGB's, the band has regrouped with its original lineup - H.R., guitarist Dr. Know, bassist Darryl Jenifer and drummer Earl Hudson - and are working on releasing the record as well as its follow up.

Guitarist Dr.Know spoke to Billboard about the show, saying:

It was tremendous, We hadn't played in that place in a long, long time. Did you see the DVD [the recently released 'Live at CBGB's 1982']? That shit was like that [laughs]! There was so much friends and family -- it was a bit much, actually. It was really an honor and a privilege to have so many good friends and see them all. We were back together for a week; we hadn't been together for a long time.

As for the record, he describes the sound:

There's a lot of dubs and there's some old school-meets-new school Brains, Not moderate tempo, but fast tempo. Yauch said, 'Man, I want y'all to do some old school-type shit,' so we did it like that. I want to start working on the next one, because we did that one two years ago already, Having been a Bad Brains fan for many years, they've been on a steep downhill decline for a long time. I never bothered to see any of the recent incarnations of the band or check out any of their recent material besides a casual (and disinterested) listen.

But Dr. Know said fast. I want fast Bad Brains back. Could this be it?

I doubt it, BUT A BOY CAN HAVE HOPE.

Taken from the good ol' Washington Post:

Nevada's race for governor was barely a contest at all until it took a scandalous turn a few weeks ago, when a cocktail waitress accused Rep. Jim Gibbons of trying to sexually assault her in a parking garage after a night of drinking just off the Las Vegas Strip.

The lurid allegations in the closing weeks of the campaign have put the race back in play and put the one-time Republican front-runner on the defensive. Policy issues have taken a back seat to dueling news conferences, a burgeoning criminal investigation and a mystery over what exactly is on the parking garage's surveillance video.

Gibbons, a conservative five-term congressman from Reno and the only member in the House to have served in both the Vietnam and Persian Gulf wars, had held a nine-point lead in September over liberal Democrat Dina Titus, a state lawmaker and political science professor at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

In a possible measure of how much damage the scandal has done, President Bush is headed to Nevada for the second time in a month, with a speech scheduled Thursday in Gibbons' solidly Republican congressional district.

"Certainly the race must be tighter than they anticipated because it should have been a cakewalk ... for Gibbons, and now we have the president coming to Elko," said Fred Lokken, a Republican and political science professor at Truckee Meadows Community College in Reno.

It was three weeks before Election Day when 32-year-old Chrissy Mazzeo made three 911 calls after leaving a Las Vegas restaurant where she had been drinking with a friend, the married congressman, his top adviser and others. Alternately breathless and laughing, the single mother who recently left the Wynn Las Vegas hotel-casino to work at the Bellagio hotel-casino told police that Gibbons grabbed her arms and tried to force himself on her.

Gibbons told police it didn't happen. He said he walked Mazzeo toward her truck and helped her catch her balance after she tripped at the garage entrance. At a news conference with his wife at his side, he insisted he had behaved like "an officer and a gentleman."

Mazzeo dropped the complaint the day after the alleged incident and told police it was because she did not want to start a media circus and "because of who he is."

But last week, Mazzeo, having retained a lawyer, called a news conference to claim she was threatened, pressured and offered money through an intermediary to change her story. Mazzeo said the intermediary was a friend who told her her life was in danger and "if you don't drop this, Chrissy, they will kill you, your baby and your family."

Gibbons called the remarks defamatory and outrageous. Gibbons' lawyer, Don Campbell, called her an "exceedingly troubled young lady," and her friend, a Republican who had been part of the group in the bar, said "she needs to strongly consider seeking professional help."

When Mazzeo initially dropped her complaint, police said there was not enough evidence a crime was committed, largely because there were no witnesses and video surveillance cameras in the parking garage were not working. More than a week later, though, the company that owns the garage said it turned the tapes over to the police.

Police haven't disclosed what is on them, saying only that there were approximately 25 different camera angles and that it may take days to determine whether Mazzeo or Gibbons appear on the tapes.

Gibbons won a judge's ruling Tuesday ordering the release of the videotapes that he said would prove he never touched the woman. The tapes were ordered released to attorneys for Gibbons and Mazzeo; the footage was not immediately made public.

"As I have done throughout my entire public career and with the truth on my side, I will put my trust and confidence in the fair minds of Nevada's voters," Gibbons said.

Meanwhile, the police department, under Sheriff Bill Young, who supports Gibbons, has reopened its investigation.

A poll published Friday showed Gibbons with 47 percent and Titus with 41 percent, with a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points. The poll of 600 likely voters in the state's four most populous counties was conducted after the allegations were first reported but before Mazzeo held her news conference.

Some critics say that even if the allegations are overblown, Gibbons showed poor judgment by walking a single woman who had been drinking to her car and by taking part in what witnesses said was a loud and "flirty" evening in the bar.

In endorsing Titus, the Reno Gazette-Journal said the allegations amounted to a "he-said, she-said match with no witnesses" and "appear out of character for Gibbons."

Titus has not made Mazzeo's accusations a campaign issue, instead blaming Gibbons for record deficit spending in Congress and portraying him as a puppet of the Bush administration.

But Gibbons' lawsuit for the videos says the Mazzeo allegations have damaged his campaign and turned people to vote for Titus.

He also told police the incident had another effect.

"I have to admit that, gosh, I learned an important lesson - never to offer a helping hand to anybody ever again," he said.

I'm not terribly naive and I certainly wouldn't want to eliminate the possibility that this incident is just poorly timed or that the allegations are false. That would be unfair. But I can already hear the Republican Whine Machine: IT'S ONLY BECAUSE IT'S ELECTION WEEK. WHY DIDN'T THIS COME OUT SOONER? THIS IS A DEMOCRATIC SABOTAGE.

Why is the possibility that this actually happened always ruled out?