- You’ll have to excuse me if I’m not down with the lame-tastic recording of an updated version of "We Are the World" to raise money for Haitian earthquake relief. Don’t get me wrong; I’m all for supporting Haiti and hope that people from around the world continue to do so until the country is rebuilt and back on its feet. My beef is with the way in which the support is being raised here. What you will hear is that dozens of recording stars converged on a Hollywood studio on Monday evening to lay down their vocals for a new version of the song that raised at least $30 millions for African humanitarian programs 25 years ago. What you should hear is who some of these hacks were: Carlos Santana, Orianthi, Jennifer Hudson, Jamie Foxx, Sugarland, Adam Levine, Jason Mraz, Earth Wind & Fire, Natalie Cole, The Jonas Brothers, T-Pain, Brian Wilson, Justin Bieber, Nicole Scherzinger, India.Arie, Julianne Hough, Mary Mary, Melanie Fiona, BeBe Winans, Mya, Tyrese Gibson, Anthony Hamilton, Raphael Saadiq, Gladys Knight, Keri Hilson, Joel and Benji Madden, Heart, Brandy, Pink, Musiq Soulchild, Miley Cyrus, Akon, Jordin Sparks, Celine Dion, Rob Thomas, Katharine McPhee, Jeff Bridges, Randy Jackson, Patti Austin, Kid CuDi, Usher, Will.i.am, Kanye West, LL Cool J, Issac Slade (of The Fray), Snoop Dogg, Nicole Richie, Trey Songz, Ethan Bortnick, Taryll Jackson, Taj Jackson, TJ Jackson, Vince Vaughn, Drake, Freda Payne, Faith Evans, Robin Thicke, Rashida Jones, Barbra Streisand, Jimmy Jean Louis, Enrique Iglesias, Zac Brown, Lil Wayne, Tony Bennett, Josh Groban, Sean Garrett, Harry Connick Jr., Al Jardine, Bone Thugs-n-Harmony (Bizzy Bone) and A.R.Rahman. Now I haven’t heard of a lot of these losers (Orianthi?), but the ones I have heard of……not only would I not pay to hear them sing, I would pay a lot of money to NOT hear them sing. For example, Justin Bieber is some adolescent pipsqueak pop singer who is a poor person’s version of the musical train wreck that is Jesse McCartney. Celine Dion has great vocal abilities, but her music is horrifically bad and puts me to sleep within seconds. Pink? Please, don’t even get me started on that misfit. Making matters worse is that one of the co-writers for the first song was the single most overrated musical act of all-time, Michael Jackson. This version of the song will be produced by Wyclef Jean, producer RedOne and producer-musical director Ricky Minor, none of whom I would trust to produce any album I would want to own. But as terrible as this song will clearly be, it will premiere during the NBC network's coverage of the Winter Olympics opening ceremony in Vancouver, Canada, on February 12. Not that I was planning to watch much of the Olympics anyhow, but I will surely be avoiding the opening ceremony now…………
- The big topic as it relates to the American military right now is the move toward repealing the controversial "don't ask, don't tell" policy regarding gay and lesbian service members. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Tuesday that the Pentagon has taken the first steps toward repealing the policy. While explaining that setting up the groundwork for a repeal of the policy will take more than a year, Gates said that in the meantime, the Defense Department will start enforcing the policy "in a fairer manner." Those comments were made in an address to members of the Senate Armed Services Committee. You may think you know where I would come out on such an action and you would probably be wrong. Yes, I do believe homosexuality is morally wrong. Having said that, I am 100 percent sure that there are gays and lesbians currently serving in the military and I have to wonder what good it does to force them to keep their sexual orientation hidden. Whether you believe as I do or not, the fact is that these people are already serving in a variety of posts throughout the military and having them reveal (if they choose) to those around them that they are homosexual would not affect their ability to do the job they have been trained to do. The move to repeal the policy comes after President Obama called it during last week's State of the Union address. Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen also endorsed a repeal Tuesday, so this movement is gaining momentum. Mullen cited a "personal belief" that "allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly [in the military] would be the right thing to do. For me, personally, it comes down to integrity." Gates seemed to indicate that the change was all but certain, stating, "The question before us is not whether the military prepares to make this change, but how we best prepare for it. We have received our orders from the commander in chief and we are moving out accordingly." Of course, the decision on whether or not to change the policy ultimately resides with Congress, so you can't be completely certain that Obama’s wishes will be followed. The "don't ask, don't tell" policy was put in place under President Clinton in 1993 and bars openly gay, lesbian and bisexual individuals from serving in the U.S. military. On the flip side, it prevents the military from asking a service member's sexual orientation. Almost from its inception, the policy has been a major target for controversy and that is unlikely to change even if it is ultimately repealed. "The mandate of this working group is to thoroughly, objectively and methodically examine all aspects of this question and produce its finding and recommendations in the form of an implementation plan by the end of this calendar year," Gates told the committee members. "A guiding principle of our efforts will be to minimize disruption and polarization within the ranks, with special attention paid to those serving on the front lines." The group Gates has appointed to study the issue will be led by Department of Defense General Counsel Jeh Johnson and it will "reach out to the [military] ... to authoritatively understand their views and attitudes about the impacts of repeal," Gates added. The RAND Corporation will also be asked to update a study it conducted in 1993 on the impact of allowing homosexuals to serve openly in the military. In other words, prepare for a long year of television talking heads screaming at one another about what to do with this decision and not a lot of action for a while. So far, more than 13,500 service members have been discharged under “don’t ask, don’t tell” and there were 428 such discharges in 2009, the lowest rate of discharge since implementation of the policy. Defense officials have admitted privately that the will to enforce the law is declining, so if ever there was a time when a change was likely to be made, this would seem to be it…………
- Kooky billionaire Richard Branson is at it again. Just a couple months after launching his new business to fly tools with too much spare cash into outer space for a few minutes, Branson announced the latest addition to his fleet on Friday: an underwater “plane” that will fly riders into the depths of the Caribbean Sea. Hey Richie, we already already have one of those, it’s called a submarine. Apparently this “innovation’ will be available for guests on Necker Island, a retreat in the British Virgin Islands. They will be able to dive underwater in a craft dubbed the Necker Nymph for $25,000 a week - after shelling out around $300,000 for a one-week stay on Necker, the private island owned by Branson. This ginormous rip-off will begin operation on Feb. 20, allowing two riders and a pilot to go underwater either from land or from a boat. The so-called underwater plane uses the downward pressure on its wings to fly through the water for up to two hours at a time, while an open cockpit will give riders a 360-degree view at an average speed of 2 to 5 nautical miles per hour. Karen Hawkes, a spokeswoman for Hawkes Ocean Technologies, the company that designed the Nymph, explained that this submarine on steroids can dive more than 100 feet. In order to sell their scam as an actual new idea that isn’t just a submarine ride with a new name, Virgin Limited Edition, the luxury arm of Virgin Hotels, released a statement describing the “underwater plane’s” dive like a plane's takeoff. "Gliding on the water's surface like an aeroplane on a runway, one of the three pilots will operate the joystick to smoothly dive down." Should you be both rich enough and wasteful enough to engage in this charade, you will have to fork over around $400,000 total for your time on Necker Island, which includes the price to stay there, the cost of the glorified submarine ride and a possible rental of the Necker Belle, Branson's 105-foot yacht. Oh, and you must follow SCUBA procedures and be trained or accompanied by a certified pilot before entering the underwater plane. So have at it, rich people, because this in no way screams wretched excess that will make the commoners want to revolt and end up with your heads on pikes, marching through the square…………
- Battles over wills are always, always ridiculous and offensive. Anyone willing to go to war over what they receive in the will of a deceased person either didn’t know the deceased well or didn’t give a crap about them, because if they did, then they would be devastated at the loss of someone they loved and not concerned with how much money they were getting. With that in mind, I did get quite a bit of amusement out of watching the brawl over the estate of one of Asia's richest women, Nina Wang, Wang, the heiress known for her iconic pigtail braids and nicknamed "Little Sweetie," died of cancer in 2007. Since then, the fight over her estate has dragged on…..and on….and on. Finally, a judge decided Tuesday that will go to her family's foundation -- not her lover and feng shui adviser – bringing a decisive end to a probate battle that has dragged on for two-plus years. Soon after Wang’s death, a will was presented by Tony Chan, who claimed he had been her confidante off and on over 14 years. Stunningly, the will stated that her estate would go to him. Even more shockingly, Wang's family disputed the will, allegedly signed by her in 2006. They countered with a will produced by family attorney Keith M. K. Ho, allegedly signed by her in 2002. That will left the estate to her family's Chinachem Charitable Foundation. According to Ho, his client has given a 11-digit-figure -- or billions -- in Hong Kong dollars. "The court does not believe that their relationship was such that Nina was prepared to give him her entire estate irrespective of her other commitments and responsibilities," stated the judgment prepared by Hong Kong's judiciary. "As far as her estate was concerned, she placed a higher regard on her charitable objectives than the first defendant (Chan)." The judgment brings to an end a spectacle that saw more than 25 witnesses -- including experts in feng shui and handwriting – testifying over the course of the month of May 2009. Crowds gathered outside the courtroom and the entire region was captivated by the ordeal. Which included sordid details about Chan and Wang’s supposed relationship. Their connection was "as old as the hills. It's a love story," Chan's lawyer, Jonathan Midgley claimed. "It's a story of two people that met in 1992, and they were close, in slightly different forms over the 14 odd years until Nina Wang died." The court disagreed with those sentiments and decided that although the pair became intimate after September 1992, Chan "also acted as Nina's feng shui master at the same time and obtained financial benefit of the services he provided." So that settles that. As always, nice to know that when someone they supposedly love passes away, you can count on those left behind to freaking go to war if they don’t like what they are left in the will. Good times…………
No comments:
Post a Comment