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If this were Rush Limbaugh do you think anyone would be mulling this one over? Do you think people would be defending him?
Oh, wait, we already know the answer to that.
I thought they had her on film? Anyway, I don't think she should go to jail anymore than I think Rush should. Suspended sentence pending rehab and clean piss tests.
I find this whole Bill Bennett thing amusing and revealing. As Bennett tries to explain that he called the idea of aborting black babies morally reprehensible and his enemies try to claim he called for the aborting of black babies -- no one, including Bennett, is interested in what he really said that was so politicially incorrect.
What Bennett really said was that with fewer black people in the world the crime rate would go down. 
Not the number of crimes, because of course the fewer people the fewer crimes, but the crime rate.
So, because no one wants to have this discussion, especially Bennett, both sides talk past each other. He ignores what he was really saying and so do his enemies. And what he was saying, like it or not, was TRUE! Of course, with fewer black people the crime rate would go down because it's just a naked fact that as a percentage of the population black people commit more crimes.
What happened in this country where we now can't discuss a fact because the other side calls us racist? And why do they call us racist? Because they fear that if we discuss the problem we might solve it. And if we solve it suddenly more black people aren't living in crime and poverty and they're not so reliant on the government. And then what would Democrats do?
Bennett should make his case based on facts and stop skirting around the argument. Hey, if there were fewer black people the unwed birth rate would decrease too. So, would the high school drop-out rate. And GPA's and SAT's would increase. There I said it. Oooh....
In our society black people do worse in these areas than whites as a percentage of the population. Period. That's not only a fact, it's a national disgrace. And to ignore it will not solve it. I'm sorry, but I'd rather solve the problem than duck under fire coming from the liberal plantation. These problems need to be solved and you must begin with harsh truths to do so.
Of course aborting black babies is morally indefensible, Dr. Bennett. But so is being afraid to start an honest debate.
From the tee-hee-hee department at the Gulf News:
"A week after exposing cocaine use at London fashion week parties, Evening Standard newspaper on Thursday revealed use of the drug at the Labour conference.
An investigation by the newspaper found traces of the class A drug in lavatories at parties attended by members of the government, journalists and lobbyists at the heart of the political establishment.
The paper examined swabs from lavatories at the five-star Grand and Metro-pole hotels in Brighton. Every sample tested positive.
According to the newspaper, tests inside the party conference showed traces of cocaine were found close to parties thrown by major political players, media outlets and lobbying groups such as the BBC, Bloomberg Financial Services, the Guardian, Manchester Airport and the Social Market Foundation."
Are we really surprised at the BBC and Guardian? Because oftentimes one watches or reads their reports and thinks, "Wow, whoever wrote that must have been smoking crack..."
"Positive swabs were also taken from lavatories close to parties staged by campaigning groups such as Absolutely Equal.
Forensic expert Adam Booker, from Scientifics, a Home Office-licensed laboratory, said: 'All the results showed definite traces of cocaine on the toilet surfaces.'"
So are we to understand that they were snorting coke off the toilet rims? Wow, this story just keeps getting better and better -- loopiness, drug use and hygiene issues!
"The Labour Party did not respond to the newspaper's investigations. ..."
GOP Vixen is proud to announce that good friend and poetic contributor Cheryl Felicia Rhoads -- aka Mother Goose -- is launching a regular report on The Kevin Fobbs Show based out of Detroit (2 p.m. EST, WDTK 1400 AM -- listen live online). The "Hollywood in the Heartland" segment will have Cheryl -- starting today -- reporting from the front lines of Tinseltown, focusing on people in Hollywood with values. (Yes, there are more than three. And both she and I have heard that joke too many times to count.)
From the promo:
The report is not just a platform but an examination of the varying other roles Hollywood entertainers, producers, film executives, agents, screenwriters and film distributors play in life.
Many in Hollywood's multi-billion dollar industry share our values, and each movie, each CD, each concert where an entertainer supports our country, the troops, the families of wounded veterans or children who suffer from debilitating diseases -- you'll share those everyday roles we all share with them which capture the heart of America.
The Hollywood In the Heartland Report with Cheryl Felicia Rhoads is much like her famous Mother Goose roles, where she shares heartwarming stories, mixed in with upbeat ways for you to talk with the players and the newsmakers of Hollywood that are influencing the issues, the entertainment and the values of our nation.
Cheryl herself does much in the community, including her current role helping out hurricane victims at the local FEMA office. (You're doing a helluva job, Rhoadsie!)
So check out Cheryl on The Kevin Fobbs Show as she shows La-La Land is not exactly full of Satan-worshipping junkies!
The Kevin Fobbs Show, by the way, is well-situated between Dennis Prager and Michael Medved. Fobbs is founder and president of the National Urban Policy Action Council (NuPac), a conservative, non-partisan civic and
citizen action organization.
Another devastating day of wildfire across Southern California, as Santa Ana winds continued to kick across the valleys and temps soared. (ABC 7 was reporting earlier that flames were also attacking fringes of the "MI3" set at Ahmanson Ranch.) And the smoke... hack hack hack!
"Thick smoke hung over much of Los Angeles on Thursday as a wildfire burned out of control in the Southern California foothills, threatening upscale suburban neighborhoods as firefighters struggled to keep the flames from racing to the sea."
(Translation: to keep the flames from racing to Barbra Streisand's Malibu pad.)
"The so-called Topanga fire charred more than 17,000 acres of bone-dry brush but destroyed few homes as firefighters, assisted by air crews, took advantage of a break from hot Santa Ana winds to defend communities in its path.
'We didn't come to work this morning, we came to war,' Los Angeles Fire Department spokesman Brian Humphrey said.
Fire officials have been determined since the fire ignited on Wednesday afternoon to keep the flames from crossing the Hollywood Freeway, the last real barrier before it reaches the sea near Malibu."
(Correction for Reuters: At that point it's the Ventura Freeway, not the Hollywood.)
"Between the freeway and the Pacific Ocean stood more dry brush and a number of communities, some of them made up of multimillion-dollar homes."
So for everyone who was upset about the poor being dispropotionately affected by Hurricane Katrina, here's your chance for revenge on rich people. Or something like that.
The highlights and lowlights of the headlines for September 30, 2005:
Rodney's arrest record after the 1991 beating indicent:
May 11, 1991: King was pulled over for having an excessively
tinted windshield. Although King was driving without a license and
his car registration had expired, King was not charged.
May 28, 1991: King picked up a transvestite prostitute in Hollywood who happened to be under surveillance by LAPD officers. King and the prostitute were observed in an alley engaging in sexual activity. When the prostitute spotted the officers, King sped away, nearly hitting one of them. King later explained that he thought the vice officers were robbers trying to kill him. No charges were filed.
June 26, 1992: King's second wife reported to police that King had hit her and she feared for her life. King was handcuffed and taken to a police station, but his wife then decided against pressing charges.
July 16, 1992: King was arrested at 1:40 A.M. for driving while intoxicated. No charges were filed.
August 21, 1993: King crashed into a wall near a downtown Los Angeles nightclub. He had a blood alcohol level of 0.19. King was charged with violating his parole and sent for sixty day to an alcohol treatment center. He was also convicted on the DUI charge and ordered to perform twenty days of community service.
May 21, 1995: King was arrested for DUI while on a trip to Pennsylvania. King failed field sobriety tests, but refused to submit to a blood test. He was tried and acquitted.
July 14, 1995: King got into an argument with his wife while he was driving, pulled off the freeway and ordered her out of the car. When she started to get out, King sped off, leaving her on the highway with a bruised arm. King was charged with assault with a deadly weapon (his car), reckless driving, spousal abuse, and hit-and-run. King was tried on all four charges, but found guilty only of hit-and-run driving.
March 3, 1999: King allegedly injured the sixteen-year-old girl that he had fathered out of wedlock when he was seventeen, as well as the girl's mother. King was arrested for injuring the woman, the girl, and for vandalizing property. King claimed that the incident was simply "a family misunderstanding."
September 29, 2001: King was arrested for indecent exposure and use of the hallucinogenic drug PCP.
I'm pleased to report that I got to know my fellow Angelenos on the 101 late yesterday afternoon and early evening, going 10 mph in 100-degree heat as the air filled with smoke. In a day reminiscent of the fall 2003 firestorm across Southern California -- when a ring of massive fires stretching from north of L.A. and San Bernardino to San Diego made ash rain on cars even in the beach cities -- fire crews were faced with multiple blazes at once, fueled by a sudden spike in temperatures and infamous Santa Ana winds.
From ABC Channel 7, a station highly skilled at following slow-speed police pursuits for their entire duration with no commercial breaks or interruptions for real news:
"Firefighters battled dangerous brush fires in three counties Wednesday as Santa Ana winds blew through the mountains and canyons of Southern California.
Two fires erupted in the Chatsworth area on the northwestern edge of Los Angeles. Another blaze to the west in the Moorpark area of Ventura County burned near a college, hillside homes and a golf course, and a third wildfire broke out in Riverside County.
Some 120 firefighters and three helicopters battled a midafternoon blaze on both sides of the 118 Freeway in Chatsworth at the west end of the San Fernando Valley. The freeway is currently closed to traffic."
And that is what caused the commute chain reaction throughout town. But at least they closed the Ronald Reagan Freeway: I remember one blaze a few years back that jumped Interstate 15 in the Cajon Pass while drivers were still on the road -- and this is a hefty multi-lane expanse. And this won't help:
"... The (National Weather Service) said very strong north to northeast winds from 40 mph to 50 mph with gusts to 75 mph would prevail over the mountains of Los Angeles and Ventura counties."
Ouch! Everybody grab your inhalers. Fire season is far from over, and there's lots of growth -- aka fire fuel -- from last spring's heavy rains.
I grew up with bubblegum hip-hop and hair bands, and it wasn't until working at Tower Records during college that I discovered Bob Dylan (along with numerous other musical treasures on which much of my income was quickly spent). His music is gritty, pure, real. His voice proves that you don't have to be Pavarotti to stir emotion. "Like A Rolling Stone" remains one of my favorite songs.
John Derbyshire at National Review Online had a great piece yesterday on the man, including his first impressions upon hearing a Dylan album in 1964:
"... The voice was obviously American, which made a nice change. These were the glory years of British rock, and mostly what you heard from the radio and friends’ stereos was either the Mersey sound or its London echo (the Stones, Manfred Mann, the Who). The backing was a single acoustic guitar. That was all right, even in this age of thumping groups; I’d been hanging out at some folk clubs, and quite liked the folk sound. This wasn’t much like regular folk, though, neither the antiquarian Sir-Jasper-stole-my-precious-rose style of the English singers nor the sweet-aching prison ballads of the back-country U.S.A. This guy was talking right to you as an equal, trying, almost a little too hard, to tell you something, albeit in a sort of mangled and self-consciously “poetic” diction:
Through the wild cathedral evening the rain unraveled tales
For the disrobed faceless forms of no position —
Tolling for the tongues with no place to bring their thoughts,
All down in taken-for-granted situations…Most striking of all was the voice. It wasn’t a pleasant voice in any conventional way — not at all melodious or expressive. It snagged you and stuck to you though, somehow, like Velcro (which had not, in point of fact, been invented yet). You couldn’t get away. I couldn’t get away — I clearly remember that. I asked some questions. ..."
I've had a couple fellow music fans ask me what are the great musical acts of today, and though I do listen heavily to modern music the only answer that springs to mind off the top of my head is OutKast. The innovation on their albums never fails to impress, including their modern take on funk. But after them, the well runs a bit dry. There's a reason why classic rock and folk acts -- from the Rolling Stones to Paul Simon -- still pack 'em in.
The highlights and lowlights of the headlines for September 29, 2005:
Actually, it was really headed to Cuba to pick up Castro and take him home...
Looking at the Hollywood box office slump of 2005, my friend Craig Titley (quite possibly the funniest screenwriter in Hollywood who is also intelligent) finds similarities to the slump twenty years ago, back in 1985 when Back to the Future topped the box office charts.
Craig notes how both slumps followed the re-election of presidents who were "despised by the coasts, the media, and Bruce Springsteen." He finds cultural similarities as well; both years saw a growth in home entertainment. And contends:
The questions Hollywood needs to be asking is not what caused the slump, but what will end it? What brought audiences back to the movies in ‘85? And what is it audiences now want that Hollywood 2005 isn't delivering? The movies tell the tale.
By offering a detailed analysis of the successful movies (of 1985), Craig finds that they were largely pro-American flics:
these films were optimistic in a time of fear, and they didn't endlessly bag on their own country or send a negative message to the world implying that America is full of corrupt, greedy, selfish, dishonest, Capitalist pigs and that the Russians have every right to hate us and nuke us. On the contrary, these films wore the flag proudly, celebrated American valor and the American spirit, and used the real world villains as the reel world villains.
There's more great stuff like that in Craig's piece so rather than having me give it you second-hand, just read the whole thing. Not only is it wise, but it's witty as well, a real delight to read--and you'll learn something along the way. And you'll be reminded of what this town can accomplish when moviemakers promote what is best in this nation -- and in all of us.
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Change is good
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