- Running for political office puts one in a unique position because on the one hand, it’s about getting people to like and support you but on the other hand, it’s about doing things that will inevitably result in people hating and criticizing you. Wyclef Jean understood this dichotomy well when he announced his decision to run for president of Haiti, so he was at least partially prepared for the wave of opposition he has met from celebrities, friends and political contemporaries. The first to step up and question his choice was Sean Penn, who has taken up residence in Port au Prince the past few months as part of helping the relief effort for the devastating earthquake that hit Haiti in January. Penn mused openly about whether Jean has what it takes to lead a nation in turmoil and now he has been joined by one of Jean’s closest friends and former musical collaborators. Pras (dude, you’re not famous or successful enough to rock the one-name moniker, so get that last name rolling), who once performed alongside Jean and Lauryn Hill in the '90s group The Fugees, has come out in support of Jean’s opponent, Michel Martell. “I endorse Michel Martell as the next president of Haiti because he is the most competent candidate for the job,” Pras said in a statement. “Our beautiful homeland has experienced such devastation and I believe he is the only who can lead the country into a brighter future.” Some friend you’ve got there, Wyclef. I guess singing in a crappy ‘90s R&B group isn’t enough of a bond to ensure that a person will support you when you decide to undertake something major like running for president of the nation you both come from. Jean, who says he's prepared for haters who question the constitutional legality of his run, also takes umbrage with alleged past financial improprieties within his aid organization and criticisms over his lack of political experience. "Politics is a combat sport, so I expect nothing less than to be attacked everyday," he said. However, he maintained that the focus should be on "how we help get the Haitian people out of this mess." Jean added that he is qualified to run for president and can prove he meets the requirements – that he's lived in Haiti for five consecutive years, owns property there and has never been a citizen of another country, for starters. As for allegations that his aid organization has made payments to businesses owned by Jean, he sniped, "Yéle Haiti has been transparent this year. We brought in a great accounting firm and have a new CEO." Hopefully Jean is prepared for this sort of battle on a regular basis, because this is the reality of politics and it isn’t going to get any easier……..
- So it turns out that Apple CEO Steve Jobs wasn’t cool with the new iPhone 4 having trouble with its Wi-Fi reception at the shiny smartphone’s unveiling, nor is he too happy with the phone’s much-publicized reception issues of late that have led to widespread mocking of his company. Need evidence? How about Apple firing Mark Papermaster - the architect of the iPhone - as head of the iPod and iPhone division. Papermaster (his real name) was hired away from IBM, where he was the company’s top microprocessor executive. Papermaster (it’s just fun to say or write) was hired to replace Tony Fadell and his controversial hiring led IBM to promptly filed a complaint in federal court to prevent Papermaster from leaving, arguing that he possessed highly confidential IBM trade secrets. It was a bizarre case, as IBM was basically saying that knowing its tech secrets meant he could never leave - ever. Unless IBM had suddenly become the mafia, the case didn’t hold much water on IBM’s side. The end result was a settlement several months later that required Papermaster to wait until the following April to join Apple. Somehow I don’t think that 16 months of work was what Apple was hoping to get out of their prized hire. Ironically, Papermaster has been replaced as head of the iPhone division by the man who originally recruited him, Bob Mansfield. All Apple would cop to in a written statement was that Papermaster "is leaving the company and Bob Mansfield, senior vice president of Macintosh hardware engineering, is assuming his responsibilities." Putting two and two together (which the iPhone 4 may have trouble doing), one has to conclude that Papermaster’s departure is strongly tied to the failures and faults of his prized new gadget……….
- The rootsy, soulful, folk rock sounds of Ray LaMontagne have made him something of a sensation among those who know in the music world. So when he began recording his fourth album, the reclusive LaMontagne - who prefers the comforts of his home in western Massachusetts to hitting the road - brought his backing band the Pariah Dogs to his 23-room farmhouse and spent two weeks recording "God Willin' & the Creek Don't Rise," due Aug. 17 on RCA. Also, befitting a man who doesn’t have a big ego or Hollywood personality, LeMontagne took over production duties for the album but still isn’t taking full credit for the album -- he's releasing the record under the name "Ray LaMontagne and the Pariah Dogs." According to Mick Management founder/president Michael McDonald, the head of LaMontagne’s management team, the changes have resulted in an album that fans should love. "To me, the biggest difference is his approach to the record, and really the confidence that he's shown on this to produce it himself, to do it at his house, to write all the material, present it to the band and record it soon thereafter," McDonald said. "He's breaking new ground for himself with the melodies that he's singing, but also the way he's using his voice." LaMontagne’s growing popularity has helped him sell well - especially for a folk rocker - in his first three releases: his first studio album, "Trouble" (2004), has sold 529,000 copies, the follow-up, 2006's "Till the Sun Turns Black," 296,000 and his most recent release, "Gossip in the Grain" (2008), has sold 345,000. "What's exciting to watch is people discovering him on the second album, and then going and rediscovering the first album. Or people finding out about him on the third album and then being able to rediscover the catalog," McDonald says. "It's such a treat when you find an artist a few albums into their career, and then go back and see what you missed when it was current and to have such a bulletproof body of work." For those who wonder what direction the artist will progress with his new album, fear not about an artistic leap to a new and unwelcome place. "God Willin' & the Creek Don't Rise" continues the same raw, real folk-blues sound that has earned LaMontagne such a devoted following. The first single, "Beg Steal or Borrow," would fit in well on any of LaMontagne’s previous albums. Other songs have more of a blues feel, but the album always remains well within LaMontagne’s musical wheelhouse. He and the Pariah Dogs will hit the road in mid-August with David Gray. McDonald promises very reasonable ticket prices for the tour, which should encourage fans weary of bloated prices to see their favorite artists of late. LaMontagne’s record label, RCA, has announced a re-launch of his Web site in the meantime and heavy promotion of “God Willin’ & the Creek Don’t Rise,” which I have to say is a great thing………
- I see what you’re doing, Washington (D.C.) Mayor Adrian M. Fenty, and I don’t like it one bit. Your city just enacted a new medical marijuana law that puts power to regulate the cultivation, possession, distribution and use of medical marijuana in your hands. It’s a grave, important power and the way the mayor wields it is huge for all of the district’s stoners, er, um, suffering people who need medical marijuana to help ease their pain. All District residents deserve access to the full slate of medical treatments available," said Fenty. "My Administration will work to ensure that medical marijuana is dispensed safely and efficiently." See, I don’t like the sound of that. “Safely and efficiently” is code for you trying to keep the hippie lettuce out of the hands of those who technically don’t have a medical need for it and as an avowed friend of all stoners everywhere, I gave a problem with that. Thankfully, the regulations are subject to city council approval, following a 45-day public comment period, so this battle isn’t over yet. The council unanimously passed the bill on April 20 and it was signed by the mayor on May 10, after which Congress was allotted 30 days to review the bill. It became effective on July 27, 2010, bringing an end to a saga that began in 1998, when D.C. voters overwhelmingly approved Initiative 59, approving medical uses of marijuana, by a vote of 69 percent. The jack-offs in Congress has blocked the bill ever since, preventing the city council from enacting legislation to implement the initiative. The specifics of the bill allow physicians licensed by the district to recommend medical marijuana to residents with qualifying medical conditions or who are undergoing qualifying medical treatment. Those standards include: HIV/AIDS, glaucoma, conditions characterized by severe and persistent muscle spasms, cancer or any condition that cannot be effectively treated by ordinary measures. Of those conditions, persistent muscle spasms seem the easiest for stoners to fake in order to score some chronic. Should you D.C. stoners want to inform yourself on this issue, you can peruse the mayor's proposed regulations in the D.C. Register: http://www.dcregs.dc.gov. Whatever the outcome, stoners, know that I have your backs on this one………
- To be honest, I’ve never been a big fan of sports officials admitting after the fact that they blew a call. Hearing a referee, umpire or linesman offer up a mea culpa for a missed home run call, blown touchdown or inaccurately called foul once the game has ended just rings hollow. I realize that the official may feel bad about the impact his (or her) bad call had on the game and want to make it known that the mistake has been acknowledged and owned, but other than that official, who benefits? The team that may have lost a game because of the blown call doesn’t feel any better and the outcome doesn’t change. Fans already knew the official blew the call because we all have massive flat-screen televisions that show replays of every controversial play from multiple angles. Bearing all of this in mind, I think you can guess where I come out on NFL referee Bill Leavy acknowledging he made mistakes in the Seattle Seahawks' 2006 Super Bowl loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers. Leavy did so at the outset of an annual training-camp rules interpretation session with the Seattle media after practice on Friday. He broached the subject without prompting, likely because it was his first visit to the Emerald City since his bungled calls. "It was a tough thing for me. I kicked two calls in the fourth quarter and I impacted the game, and as an official you never want to do that," said the veteran of 15 NFL seasons and two Super Bowls. "It left me with a lot of sleepless nights, and I think about it constantly," Leavy said. "I'll go to my grave wishing that I'd been better." In case you’ve already forgotten the 2006 Super Bowl, the Steelers triumphed 21-10 in one of the more unwatchable Super Bowls in recent memory. The game featured several controversial calls, including one early in the fourth quarter, when tackle Sean Locklear was called for holding on a pass completion that would have put the Seahawks at the Pittsburgh 1, in position for the go-ahead touchdown. But the terrible nature of that call paled in comparison to the one that went against Seahawks quarterback Matt Hasselbeck, who threw an interception on the very new play and was inexplicably called for a low block on a play that ended with him tackling Pittsburgh's Ike Taylor on the defensive back's return of the pick. That call pushed the Steelers from their 29 to the 44, helping to propel them to a game-clinching touchdown just four players later. The day after the game, then-Seahawks coach Mike Holmgren issued a not-so-subtle rip job of the officiating in a rally at Qwest Field in Seattle. "I knew it was going to be tough going up against the Pittsburgh Steelers. I didn't know we were going to have to play the guys in the striped shirts, as well," Holmgren lamented. In the months and years since the game, the Seahawks and their former coach have moved on. However, his missed calls seem to have stuck with Leavy and perhaps this cathartic cleansing will allow him to get on with his life. "I know that I did my best at that time, but it wasn't good enough," he observed. "When we make mistakes, you got to step up and own them. It's something that all officials have to deal with, but unfortunately when you have to deal with it in the Super Bowl it's difficult." Hope you feel better now, Billy, because I know the rest of us don’t…………
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