• Does anyone really believe these emails? Even when they’re about puppies?
• Proof that community-based weight loss programs for kids work?
• In the poorest zip codes in the Memphis area, the is higher than in some Third World countries.
• save the planet and improve your health? It’s a nice idea…
• An oil spill in the San Francisco Bay that’s killed dozens of animals will probably affect the surrounding wildlife for years.
• Jennifer Hudson can retire. [YT]
• I wonder if Dave Chappelle and his wife have a pre-nup? []
• The Wu-Tang Clan is not the big happy family we thought they were. Wait, did we ever really think they were happy? [MTV]
• The vagina is a self-cleaning oven. No, it’s true! Tyra’s mom said it. [Bossip]
• Nicole Richie’s potential neighbors said, “hell no!” when she tried to buy a house in their gated community. [SP]
No, it should not be a surprise that Rudy Giuliani’s campaign staff is all white or that Romney’s has no blacks. But it’s still kind of jarring to see it in graph form. It also shouldn’t be a surprise — and it isn’t — that Barack Obama has the most black people on his staff, despite the media’s best attempts to convince voters that black people hate him.
Lastly, Hillary Clinton deserves the diversity prize for having a very racially balanced staff (although she should work on stealing a few of Richardson’s Native Americans). Her staff demographics are almost perfect. Almost too perfect. Almost…calculated. Nevermind, I’m probably just talking crazy. I doubt Hillary pays that much attention to small details. [TS]
Quote of the Week
“At least I know where he stands. And you know what? When he called them nappy-headed ho’s, I went, ‘Wow, he’s right!’ ”
That got the co-hosts and the audience shouting over each other, but Wayans said a person’s reaction to a statement like that all depends on his or her perspective. “Black people at home are laughing right now,” he said. “White people are going, ‘That’s not right!’ It’s all cultural.”
After watching the trailer for The Great Debaters, I have come to the conclusion that the film is one of those uplifting historical dramas that wrench tears from my eyes despite my best efforts to keep it together. Even this clip made me blink back a few. So obviously, I’ll be in the theater to see this Denzel-directed, Oprah-produced movie as soon as it comes out.
Also, it’s crazy how little Jurnee Smollet is all grown up now, right?
I’m sure people who thrive off of this sort of thing were hankering for another media circus-y, sensational O.J. Simpson trial. But they failed to realize that a pathetic, has-been, football player busting into a ratty casino room to steal back some unexciting sports memorabilia doesn’t have quite the same cache as a highly publicized double murder. If you haven’t guessed, his preliminary hearing has been quite a snooze thus far.
While most of hearing was fairly mundane, interest was ratcheted up when prosecutors played recordings of the incident in which Simpson can be clearly heard saying, “You think you can steal my s—?”
They followed that recording with another one of Simpson leaving a voice mail on Riccio’s cell phone. Again, Simpson can be clearly heard saying that there were no guns present. “I don’t know what they talking about a gun.”
No guns? Really? This case just got even more boring. And pointless.
To be clear, I don’t feel bad for Duane “Dog” Chapman, who has most recently blamed his fondness for “nigger” on having a poor vocabulary, but his son and the girlfriend who inspired Dog’s initial rant are certainly milking this for all it’s worth. The woman, Monique Shinnery, is suing Dog for slander.
She says, “I want justice. He has slandered me, stated that I have bad character and repeatedly lied about me on national television.”
Monique might not have had to sue if her boyfriend had had better sense than to accept just $15 grand for the damning recording in the first place. Next time, they should think bigger. [SP]
Maybe it’s because, at the 2004 ceremony, Young Buck stabbed some guy with a fork after he punched Dr. Dre, or maybe it’s because the popular magazine’s award ceremony has sort of lost its magic in general, but the Vibe Awards got a serious downgrade this year. It’s now being aired on VH1 Soul (Nov. 14) and is called VH1 Soul Presents: Vibe Awards Special.
Beyonce (shown here on the cover of the December Cosmo), won big, along with Timbaland and Kanye West. Young Buck will not be making an appearance. []
The United States Sentencing Commission made a move last week to fix the long-criticized disparity in drug possession sentencing. Oops, did I say fix? I meant slightly improve.
Federal officials have long been criticized by civil rights groups for the so-called 100-to-1 disparity in drug sentencing. Under the old guidelines, a person possessing just 50 grams of crack-cocaine (which is more commonly used by inner city blacks) could get 10 years in prison. But it would take possession of 5,000 grams of powered cocaine (which is more commonly used among suburban whites) to get the same 10 year sentence.
Under the new guidelines, the maximum sentence for possession of 50 grams of crack is 8 years and 10 months instead of 10 years and 1 month. So basically, they shaved off a year. Woohoo? Lindsay Lohan is still safe to possess cocaine with impunity.
