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I've mentioned the Jena 6 to you before; nice to see it getting some national coverage here and there. This is a travesty, and a miscarriage of justice we all speak out about. As Mos Def put it, "That shit is whack"--and it's time to get off our rears and do something about it.
Visit ColorofChange.org to learn more about how you can help.
Just when I think I've lost all my love for Gawker, they go and remind me why I once loved them so much: in this case, by posting this remarkable clip of MSNBC's Tucker Carlson admitting that he once physically attacked a gay man who made advances on him. Gawker asks: Did Tucker Carlson just admit to a crime? The answer is, absolutely--and I hope the man whose civil rights he violated comes right out of the woodwork and nails Tucker's butt to the wall.
Not to worry, though--this one isn't going to sleep quietly: GLAAD is now speaking up and asking Tucker to apologize for his comments. That oughta show him.
Not because I feel the need to provide a huge media conglomerate with more space in the universe than it already takes up--but because I really can't get enough of Christiane Amanpour. Which is why both tonight and Thursday night, I will be glued to my seat from 9pm until whenever it ends, watching her special on fundamentalists and religion, called, appropriately enough, "God's Warriors."
Tonight I believe she begins with the Jews, tomorrow moves on to the Muslims, and wraps it all up on Thursday with the Christians. I'm super bummed to be missing that middle episode for a lot of reasons (not the least of which is that Islam is the religion I know the least about--which, I imagine, puts me in the same camp as most other non-Muslim Americans). But tomorrow night Jessica and I have tickets to go see Mr. Barack Obama address the crowds in Brooklyn. So someone's gonna have to TiVo that one up for me.
Sad to spread this news, but it looks like our sister friend at ABC News, Robin Roberts, has been diagnosed with breast cancer. Her surgery is tomorrow, with treatment to follow. Let's all keep our fingers crossed for her, and our prayers leveled in her direction.
I bet it feels to you like it was just last night you were watching a debate between the candidates for the presidency of the United States. It certainly feels that way to me. But lo and behold, it is now time for those motley crews to gather together again and try not to offend each other too much while tearing apart the policies of their colleagues on the other side of the ideological divide. And this time, they've gone all techie on us: tonight at 7pm ET tune your channel to CNN and check out the first debate hosted by our friends at YouTube, which will take place in good old Charleston, SC.
And because YouTube is the bigwig behind this particular debate, you, netizen, have your very own shot at having your searingly sharp question be deflected by one of the major candidates: just visit YouTube to submit a question (note: you've gotta have a video or web camera to do this) and from there a crack team of CNN producers will whittle the pool down to the 75-100 questions they imagine Anderson Cooper will feel most comfortable sharing with the candidates (so nothing too too gay, please).
Since it's the closest most of us will ever get to being in the ring with the big boys, I highly advocate giving it a shot. (Though interestingly enough, I actually got somewhat of an invite to travel to Charleston to blog the event... and sadly enough, the fact that I have a j-o-b kept me from being able to go. Which brings me back to my earlier point: the YouTube debate is a godsend for most of us.)
Democracy (sorta) opened up to the demos? Pretty rad.
Via HuffPo, Broadcasting & Cable reports on Star Jones' recent commentary on the need for a permanent person of color on The View.
Not that I find myself agreeing with Ms. Jones on much, but on this one she's absolutely right... When BaWa started the show (what is it, 10? 11 years ago now?), she did something quite novel and appropriate by trying to mirror back to us what our national demographic looks like, at least when it came to race. With the addition of Lisa Ling, the show became even more diverse (and exponentially smarter). But since both Ling and Jones are now departed, and even Rosie--who gave a little queer perspective, and thus made up (a tiny bit) for the lack of racial perspective--has jumped ship, The View has started to look mighty white--and has become more than a bit boring (for this reason among a thousand others).
I've already made it clear that I think this particular show really ought to think about packing it in already--but if it does stay on the air, it's pretty much a no brainer that Jones is right in this case, and that a woman of color belongs on that dais along with the rest of those jokesters. I mean, we deserve the right to be mediocre and petty right alongside everyone else, no?
Is Dan Rather so piqued by his lack of a career these days that he's got nothing better to do than bash Katie Couric? Yesterday on MSNBC the veteran deposed news anchor gave Couric a tongue lashing for sullying the evening news by, in his estimation, "dumbing it down" and "tarting it up."
Mostly, this is just embarrassing for Dan, who, before engineering his own demise, really was a trusted name in journalism. Now, he's just another old man throwing around sexist remarks at a woman who could be his daughter and probably makes four times what he ever did in that spot. (Even CBS chief Les Moonves saw sexism in what Rather said.)
Sad, really. Very sad. Not that I don't agree with the idea that television news has slid, perhaps inexorably, into the tabloid genre--but it just seems so tasteless for one anchor to say these kind of trashy things about another. Or perhaps Rather is our proof that, even though we couldn't see it, television has been trashy all along.
[Spoiler alert: If you haven't already seen last night's final episode of The Sopranos, you may want to skip this post.]
Besides Phil Leotardo that is (truly, truly a brilliant scene). Jess and I spent several minutes trying to parse what we think might have happened after our screen went black (and yes, we were among those people who thought their cable had gone out). Is it Meadow who takes the bullet? Or Tony? Or does Meadow arrive just in time to see her whole family blown to bits?
I suppose we'll be pondering this for a long time--or at least as long as it takes David Chase to convince James Gandolfini to pick up that white bathrobe and continue slouching towards Bethlehem. A remarkable ending to one hell of a show. Thanks for the memories, guys.
There is, believe it or not, a price to be paid for spouting your hatred in the open air. It may take half a year for that tax to be levied, but levied it shall be... at least of you're part of the cast of Grey's Anatomy.
Isaiah Washington, he whose tendency to rail against a specific co-star with homophobic epithets has been well documented, has now been released from his contract, according to both ABC News and the NY Times.
Apparently, though, Isaiah is pissed about all this retaliation, and swears we haven't heard the last of him. Oh, but can't a girl dare to dream???
Via Jessica, a rather moving commentary from LA Times sportswriter Mike Penner, who's about to transition to being a female. In an odd coincidence, tonight on 20/20 Barbara Walters will be interviewing the families of three kids who identify as transgendered--and Walters calls it "one of the best specials we've ever done." Even those of us in the gay community likely have a lot to learn about transgender issues; here are two decent opportunities to start informing yourself.
Moments ago, Rosie O'Donnell announced on air that she will not renew her contract with ABC's "The View." Barbara Walters couldn't say enough time that she had nothing to do with it, and wasn't kicking Rosie out--instead, Walters says (and O'Donnell concurs), this was a contract issue between ABC Television and O'Donnell's reps. Hmm. Maybe it was, maybe it wasn't, but regardless, none of us can be dumb enough to think that all the flap Rosie has stirred up played no role in ABC's decision not to have her continue on (and it was definitely their decision no matter how anyone tries to spin it--essentially, they calculated that Rosie wasn't worth to them the number/terms she was asking and they made the judgment to cut her loose).
Who's the loser in all this? In my estimation, The View and only The View. Rosie will go on to do whatever it she wants, on television or elsewhere. People either love her or hate her and she's already made a pretty penny off that truth. As for Barbara Walters' soon-to-be defunct talk show (yep, that's my prediction), this is just another nail in the coffin. The hosts certainly know it--well, at least Joy Behar does (could she possibly convey any greater sense of boredom? or is it just that after eleven years she's finally run out of good jokes?). I'm sure ABC will see the program through its next season, but unless they can find another firecracker as good as Rosie to kick around, this plane is going down.
Just when I think I've lost all my love for Gawker, they go and remind me why I once loved them so much: in this case, by posting this remarkable clip of MSNBC's Tucker Carlson admitting that he once physically attacked a gay man who made advances on him. Gawker asks: Did Tucker Carlson just admit to a crime? The answer is, absolutely--and I hope the man whose civil rights he violated comes right out of the woodwork and nails Tucker's butt to the wall.
Not because I feel the need to provide a huge media conglomerate with more space in the universe than it already takes up--but because I really can't get enough of Christiane Amanpour. Which is why both tonight and Thursday night, I will be glued to my seat from 9pm until whenever it ends, watching her special on fundamentalists and religion, called, appropriately enough, "God's Warriors."
I bet it feels to you like it was just last night you were watching a debate between the candidates for the presidency of the United States. It certainly feels that way to me. But lo and behold, it is now time for those motley crews to gather together again and try not to offend each other too much while tearing apart the policies of their colleagues on the other side of the ideological divide. And this time, they've gone all techie on us: tonight at 7pm ET tune your channel to CNN and check out the first debate hosted by our friends at YouTube, which will take place in good old Charleston, SC.
Via HuffPo, Broadcasting & Cable reports on Star Jones' recent commentary on the need for a permanent person of color on The View.
Is Dan Rather so piqued by his lack of a career these days that he's got nothing better to do than bash Katie Couric? Yesterday on MSNBC the veteran deposed news anchor gave Couric a tongue lashing for sullying the evening news by, in his estimation, "dumbing it down" and "tarting it up."
[Spoiler alert: If you haven't already seen last night's final episode of The Sopranos, you may want to skip this post.]
There is, believe it or not, a price to be paid for spouting your hatred in the open air. It may take half a year for that tax to be levied, but levied it shall be... at least of you're part of the cast of Grey's Anatomy.
Via Jessica, a rather moving commentary from LA Times sportswriter Mike Penner, who's about to transition to being a female. In an odd coincidence, tonight on 20/20 Barbara Walters will be interviewing the families of three kids who identify as transgendered--and Walters calls it "one of the best specials we've ever done." Even those of us in the gay community likely have a lot to learn about transgender issues; here are two decent opportunities to start informing yourself.
Moments ago, Rosie O'Donnell announced on air that she will not renew her contract with ABC's "The View." Barbara Walters couldn't say enough time that she had nothing to do with it, and wasn't kicking Rosie out--instead, Walters says (and O'Donnell concurs), this was a contract issue between ABC Television and O'Donnell's reps. Hmm. Maybe it was, maybe it wasn't, but regardless, none of us can be dumb enough to think that all the flap Rosie has stirred up played no role in ABC's decision not to have her continue on (and it was definitely their decision no matter how anyone tries to spin it--essentially, they calculated that Rosie wasn't worth to them the number/terms she was asking and they made the judgment to cut her loose).
