Running afoul of the Donald, musing on MLB's general manager meetings at an airport hotel and trying to figure out how Sammy Sosa became a white dude

- Far be it from me to run afoul of Donald Trump, lest I find myself on the receiving end of a Rosie O’Donnell-esque beatdown from the Donald, but I cannot stay silent on this. You all know my stance on reality TV, namely that there are three and only three reality shows that don’t abysmally suck: The Biggest Loser, Survivor and The Amazing Race. All three have redemptive qualities I’ve spoken on before, but the rest of reality TV is a wasteland devoid of any positive qualities. That includes the Donald’s current reality TV offering, The Apprentice. And it is The Apprentice that has spawned the demon-seed TV program we’re about to have a chat about. On one of the early seasons of The Apprentice (can't say which, having never watched it), there was a contestant by the name of Omarosa Manigault-Stallworth. To put it kindly, she was a bitter bitch who was universally hated by viewers and fellow contestants alike. Yet her villainy was enough to push her into the pop culture spotlight for her 15 minutes of fame and she’s refused to shut up and go away since then. Seeing a pub-grabbing opportunity as he is apt to do, Trump is looking to capitalize on the public’s unexplainable and unwarranted fascination with Omarosa by creating what else, a reality dating show designed to help this witch find “love.” Omarosa's Ultimate Merger will showcase a woman none of us should know or care about trying to find a guy who doesn’t mind being with an attention-starved, battle ax of a reality show contestant-turned-D-list-celebrity. "Omarosa was a great personality on The Apprentice that was watched by over 40 million people as it became the No. 1 show on TV," Trump said. "Omarosa is smart, witty and difficult, but all of those qualities will make for some very interesting entertainment." Sorry Don, but no it won't. This is going to be an unmitigated train wreck and watching Omarosa and her 12 “business-minded suitors” make asses of themselves on cable's TV One is not going to bring anyone running to their TV set. The fact that the show’s producers intend to portray Omarosa as a likeable, amiable character this time around only makes the possible unintentional comedy of the show more hilarious, and that’s not nearly enough of a reason to watch. At the risk of pissing off the Donald and having him rant about how I, like O’Donnell, and a disgusting person inside and out, I’m going to pass on watching this show now or ever and consider my life better for it……………

- I would have written sooner about the growing spectacle that is Sammy Sosa’s quest to become the world’s next Michael Jackson (dermatologically speaking) but I’m honestly not sure what to say. For those who missed it (and I don’t know how), the former Chicago Cubs slugger and confirmed steroid user showed up at the Latin Grammy Awards in Las Vegas last week with his skin about eight shades lighter and more pale than when we last saw him. What took Michael Jackson decades and multiple plastic surgeries to accomplish, Sosa pulled off in a matter of a couple years. Since showing up in red-carpet pictures looking like the first cousin of Casper the Ghost, Sosa and those close to him have been looking to spin this story in a different direction while offering up one lame explanation after another about the reason for his sudden change in skin pigmentation. A close friend of Sosa’s from his days with the Cubs, former Cubs employee Rebecca Polihronis, tried to say that the skin change was the result of a rejuvenation process Sosa has been going through to rebuild and repair his epidermis after years of playing baseball under the sun. Cynics among us have speculated that his lighter skin color was a result of years of steroid use, which I’m not sure is scientifically accurate or even possible. I don’t buy Polihronis’ claim that Sosa was "surprised he came out looking so white” after his “treatment,” but it’s not quite as absurd as the steroid line of reasoning. A more plausible explanation being floated around is that Sosa may have been trying to even his skin tone, combating acne scars, for example, using a topical medication called hydroquinone. That’s just one theory, but I can’t imagine that even if it were true that this sort of drastic change is an intended or expected result. No matter what the cause, what can’t be argued is that it was extremely jarring and mentally scarring to see those hideous pics of Sosa and his female companion on the red carpet. Putting those images next to ones showing Sosa with his natural skin color just a few years ago made my eyes hurt, my stomach turn and my mind go on the fritz. Let this be a lesson to all vain, superficial people out there, famous or not: Before embarking on any sort of plastic surgery or cosmetic procedure journey, think long and hard about whether the possible reward is even in the same zip code as the risk you are taking. Unless you’re comfortable with the possibility of ending up in front of cameras sporting a completely different skin color and badly butchered physique, back away from the consent forms, retreat from the surgeon’s office and run in the opposite direction as fast as humanly possible, lest you find yourself Sosa-ed…………

- Well lookee here, Blackwater is at it again. It may be under a different name, but the sh*t is still the same when it comes to everyone’s favorite civilian-murdering private security firm. No, the company isn't accused of senselessly killing more Iraqi civilians. In fact, they’ve attempted to give themselves and their image a makeover by adopting a new name, Xe, and moving on to a new sort of (alleged crime). Allegations became public this week that Blackwater/Xe attempted to bribe Iraqi officials in the aftermath of its murder of 17 Iraqi civilians two years ago. A former vice president of the Blackwater private security company said this week that he was "unaware of any plot or guidance for Blackwater to bribe Iraqi officials" as rage erupted over the killings of 17 civilians by the company's security guards more than two years ago. Cofer Black is the man responding to claims that Blackwater "authorized secret payments of about $1 million to Iraqi officials.” Black admitted to meeting with U.S. Embassy officials during the "period described" in order "to discuss the best course of action" in the aftermath of the September 2007 shootings in Nusoor Square. "Blackwater was directed to provide some financial compensation to relatives of those Iraqi victims, which embassy officials described as called for by Iraqi custom," Black said. "During these meetings with embassy officials, Blackwater sought State Department leadership in dispensing any such good faith compensation from Blackwater to the victims' relatives as Blackwater was subordinate to the State Department as its security contractor." The State Department doesn’t exactly appear to have Blackwater/Xe’s back, with one senior official saying the State Department is unaware of any payments to Iraqi government officials but did encourage Blackwater to compensate the victims of the Nusoor Square shootings. The anonymous sources making the accusations against Blackwater/Xe say the payments to Iraqi officials were "intended to silence" Iraqi criticism and "buy their support" after the deadly incident. To this day, those involved in the shooting from the Blackwater side insist that they merely returned fire after civilians fired on them. The alleged bribes came from the top, as four former executives said former Blackwater president Gary Jackson OK'd the bribes, after which "the money was sent from Amman, Jordan" to a "top manager in Iraq." The Iraqi government said this week that it is investigating the bribery claims, although it’s not clear what actions might be taken if the allegations are true. In January, five former Blackwater security guards pleaded not guilty to charges of voluntary manslaughter and other serious crimes stemming from their involvement in the incident, while sixth former security guard has pleaded guilty to charges of voluntary manslaughter and attempted manslaughter. Blackwater/Xe is no longer a major presence in Iraq because the U.S. State Department decided not to renew its contract in. However, the company continues to operate in the country in minor projects, including providing aviation services for the State Department. Word is that even those projects are slowly being phased out, a process that could be accelerated by these allegations. Nothing makes the State Department want to cut ties with you faster than allegations that your company bribed foreign government officials to quell the sh*t storm that resulted when your security guards (allegedly) murdered 17 civilians. As for me, I’m enjoying the process of learning how thoroughly corrupt and dishonest Blackwater/Xe is/was and look forward to the continued degradation and decimation of any credibility they still have left……….

- Riot Watch! Riot Watch! Okay, so this is technically more of a protest and less of an actual riot, but the spirit is the same. Students at Binghamton University in New York are pissed off at their school’s leadership and actions that are slowly turning their school into an environment-ruining entity. The controversy stems from the university’s use of coal to heat its buildings, a practice that many students believe is outdated and damaging to the environment. An on-campus plant burns the coal, producing the heat needed to keep academic and office buildings warm during the chilly Binghamton winter. But the 50-plus students who staged an on-campus protest Tuesday believe it is time for the plant to go and they are ready to tale a stand. "We stand here today to express campus-wide support for moving beyond coal," was the rallying cry for the demonstration. Students argued that the BU-run plant that helps heat the school is also polluting the earth. "It really doesn't have any place on this campus. It's detrimental to our health, our environment, it pollutes our water sources," said Lauren Hammon, a BU sophomore. The plant has been around for decades as part of the central heating plant at the sprawling suburban campus. In spite of this, BU consistently ranks as a top green school according to the Sierra Club. Showing a bit of hypocrisy, the Sierra Club helped organize the rally in the hopes of convincing the BU administration to find alternative methods of heating the campus. How a school can be one of the most environmentally friendly schools in the country yet also have a huge pollution problem because of its chosen heating methods, I don’t know. What I do know is that the Sierra Club released a statement in conjunction with the rally stating that: "The University has reduced its carbon footprint by 14 percent as compared to the year 2000 level. We successfully incorporated wood burning in our Central Heating Plant in 2007...We have offset about 18 percent of the fossil fuel we required last year by using wood fuel..." The university has meet with Beyond Coal before, but the group says they want higher-level talks and swifter action. "President DeFleur has not committed to meeting with us, which is disappointing, because all we want to do is have a dialogue about how we can improve," said Sam Sussman, a BU freshman, who spoke at the rally. Sussman and his fellow protestors say they appreciate the university's efforts to 'green up' the campus, but they look at the smokestack-topped coal plant and remain convinced that those efforts just aren’t enough. They hope to present the school’s administration with a petition signed by around 2,500 on-campus members in opposition of using coal to supply heat. The university’s argument is that they use the trucked-in Pennsylvania coal because it's the cheapest solution. Perhaps if the enviro-protestors offered to pay a higher tuition than everyone else to make up the difference, the school would consider installing a solar farm to harvest the energy of the sun to heat campus..........

- Here’s my question for those who are upset that Major League Baseball will not be expanding the role of instant replay in its game: How much can you really expect when a meeting is taking place at an airport hotel? All 30 MLB general managers gathered earlier this week at a hotel in Chicago’s O'Hare International Airport for their annual meeting, one of the topics on the agenda was instant replay. The topic was at the forefront because of repeated blown calls during this season’s playoffs, including fair/foul calls, plays on the bases and other key parts of the game. In spite of this and in spite of a presentation given to general managers at the meeting, the GMs failed to take a vote Tuesday on expanding instant replay. "I know there are some who have talked off line about the expansion of instant replay," said Jimmie Lee Solomon, executive vice president of baseball operations in the commissioner's office. "Right now, the commissioner doesn't see any reason to consider it." Doesn’t see any reason? How about getting the calls right? Umpires showed time and again this postseason – when they work with a six-man crew instead of the four-man crews used in the regular season – that they blow an inordinate number of calls. Even with two additional umpires on the field to cover more ground, the blown calls persisted. It’s not as if replay is a foreign concept to baseball, because MLB began video review in August 2008 to determine whether potential home runs were fair or foul or cleared fences. The practice already exists, so now it’s simply a matter of expanding it to address other pressing issues. Yet there stands Bud Selig, the ass-hatted, geriatric commissioner who repeatedly has said he's against widening the use of video review. He pooh-poohs the idea of expanding replay and because he’s the one supposedly leading the sport, his lead is the one that everyone seems content to follow. While there were discussions about replay at the GM meetings, Solomon said "it was all confined to the current instant replay system that we have." Comments by some of the GMs following the meetings seem to indicate that they both grasp and do not grasp the importance of the replay issue. "I think it's working great, and for the most part the umpires are getting the calls right when replay is used," Los Angeles Angels GM Tony Reagins said. "Can we always tweak and get better? Absolutely. But I think were headed in the right direction. For the most part they're getting calls right and not afraid to use instant replay. As long as things are moving in the right direction, I don't see a need to change." Hang on, T. You pose the rhetorical question of whether you can tweak things and make the game better and answer in the affirmative, then you go on to say that there is no need for a change. So making the game better is not an objective for you? Color me confused. But then again, if you’re just flying into Chicago, jumping off the plane and walking to an airport hotel where you will stay for a couple of days without actually venturing out into the world outside of O’Hare, how much can any group realistically be expected to accomplish……….