Enormously Unwise Is His Modus Operandi

Well, gee! It's not like Busco has used any measure of wisdom over the past 6.5 years. Why would he start now?

Democratic presidential candidate Bill Richardson said Sunday it would be "enormously unwise" for the Bush administration to take military action against Iran before it gets out of Iraq.

"I believe it would be enormously unwise for the Bush administration to start another war before ending this tragic war we're in today and it does sound like the administration is ramping up. You can just see it," he said.

Richardson, also the governor New Mexico, pointed to a 76-22 vote in the Senate last week on a resolution urging the State Department to designate Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps a terrorist organization.

Hillary Rodham Clinton was the only Democratic senator who is running for president to vote for the measure. Richardson criticized her vote.

"Calling them names, labeling them terrorists, drawing up military options is just making the situation worse and inflaming the Muslim world," he said.

U.S.-Iran tensions are running high over U.S. allegations that Iran is secretly trying to develop nuclear weapons and supplying Iraq's Shiite militias with weapons that have killed U.S. troops. Iran denies both claims.

"Once again the administration seems to be preparing the American people for a ramp-up in action, and it would be, I believe, another disastrous foreign policy decision," Richardson said.

Richardson, a former U.N. ambassador, said that as president he would use his diplomatic experience to engage Muslim clerics, students, university professors and business leaders in Iran. He would leave Iranian President Ahmadinejad out of the loop, calling him "a minor player" in that nation's politics.

I'm sick of hearing about Ahmadinejad as some sort of ruling dictator. He was democratically elected to a position which may make him the face of Iran but he probably doesn't even have enough power to buy anything more than that little jacket he wears all of the time. Moreover, Iran's young population was fairly moderate and open to Western ideals but when our nut job President decided to invade their neighbor, they elected a nut job to stand up to him.

Online Bank Shut Down

This mortgage crisis is having an impact that is sneakily snowballing into something much larger.

NetBank Inc., an online bank with $2.5 billion in assets, was shut down by the government on Friday because of an excessive level of mortgage defaults.

It was the largest savings and loan failure since the tail end of the industry's crisis more than 14 years ago. Federal regulators appointed the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. as a receiver for Alpharetta, Ga.-based NetBank.

Customers with less than $100,000 deposited with NetBank will be protected by FDIC insurance.

While dozens of mortgage companies have closed due to soaring defaults of home loans made to borrowers with weak, or subprime, credit, those problems previously had occurred among non-bank lenders such as New Century Financial Corp. NetBank, in contrast, is federally regulated.

Loose mortgage standards in recent years — especially among lenders catering to subprime borrowers — have resulted in a spike in home loan defaults.

Bert Ely, a banking consultant based in Alexandria, Va., said NetBank was in "deep trouble" before the subprime mortgage market's woes accelerated this year. Regulators, he said, "should have closed it a long time ago."

While some Internet-only banks are successful, he said, operating one without retail branches can be a difficult strategy to maintain.

ING assumes insured deposits
The FDIC said Friday that $1.5 billion of NetBank's insured deposits will be assumed by ING Bank, also a major online bank that is part of Dutch financial giant ING Groep NV. ING will pay $14 million for the deposits and receive 104,000 new customers.

NetBank, which had no physical branches, sustained significant losses last year "primarily due to early payment defaults on loans sold, weak underwriting, poor documentation, a lack of proper controls, and failed business strategies," the Office of Thrift Supervision said in a statement.

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Blackwater Needs To Leave NOW!

If they don't leave, it proves Iraq is not a country that is free and independent from the American occupation.

Since the fatal Sept. 16 Blackwater USA shooting in Baghdad’s Nasoor Square, officials from the private security company have insisted that their guards were responding to fire from “armed enemies.” Yet an extensive evidence file put together by the Iraqi National Police and obtained by NEWSWEEK—including documents, maps, sworn witness statements and police video footage—appears to contradict the contractors’ version of events. A confidential incident report, which has been provided by Iraqi National Police investigators to American military and civilian officials, concludes that the Blackwater vehicles “opened fire crazily and randomly, without any reason.”

A nine-minute police video made in the moments after the shooting shows helicopters similar to those used by Blackwater still hovering over the wreckage of charred, smoking and bullet-pocked cars. (For an edited clip of the video, click here.) The graphic images include footage of burned human remains and show the street littered with brass bullet casings. They also show what appears to be a police officer waving a pistol at the scene; the footage was captured by a different police officer, who had run over from the nearby Iraqi National Police headquarters. (Portions of the video have been previously broadcast; it was recorded without sound.)

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Chicago's Corrupt Cops

Since I am from Chicago, this is certainly no surprise and nothing new. But, it looks as though the force may finally be investigated and the criminals with a badge may get weeded out.

Videotapes of angry officers savagely beating civilians and charges that a murder plot was hatched within an elite special operations unit have Chicago's troubled police department reeling again.

Adding to the department's woes is word from federal prosecutors that they are investigating claims that homicide detectives tortured suspects into confessing to murders that landed them on death row in the 1980s.

Not since club-swinging cops in baby-blue helmets chased demonstrators through clouds of pepper gas at the 1968 Democratic National Convention have Chicago police been so awash in trouble.

The biggest shock came Wednesday when federal prosecutors charged special operations officer Jerome Finnigan with planning the murder of another member of the unit to keep him from talking to the government.

"This kind of stuff on Page One is just horrible," and reinforces a misleading stereotype of police, said Roosevelt University political scientist Paul Green, who taught at the police academy for four years.

"The overwhelming 99.9 percent do their job professionally," he said.

But evidence of deep-rooted problems is piling up.

Finnigan, 44, also is one of six members of the special operations unit, created to crack down on gangs and drugs, who are charged with operating a shakedown operation aimed at civilians. Prosecutors say they have him on tape weighing the possibility of having someone kill a fellow special operations officer to keep him from becoming a witness against him.

You know how brazen they are when they aren't restricting their abuse to minorities. One officer beat this woman and an off duty officer is on tape trying to kick the crap out of another woman because she wouldn't serve him another drink. Their behavior is vile and disgusting and is one of the reasons why I think being half crazy is a requirement for joining the force.

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She Choked Herself?

Does this sound anywhere close to right?

A traveler who may have accidentally choked herself to death while handcuffed in an airport holding cell was a "wonderful" woman and mother, according to New York City's public advocate, who is her relative.

Carol Anne Gotbaum, 45, was arrested Friday at Sky Harbor International Airport in Phoenix after she became irate when gate crews refused to let her board a flight for which she was late, officials said.

"She was a wonderful mother; she was sweet and kind and loving," said public advocate Betsy Gotbaum, the woman's stepmother-in-law. "It's obviously very, very difficult for us; we are dealing with it as best we can. My No. 1 focus is those children and my stepson."

She also pleaded with the press for privacy.

The events that led to Gotbaum's death began when she became irate over not being allowed on a US Airways flight, though she was rebooked on a later flight, officials said.

Officers handcuffed her and took her to the holding room, where she kept screaming, authorities said. They checked on her when she became quiet and found her unresponsive, said Phoenix police Sgt. Andy Hill.

It appears Gotbaum may have tried to get out of her handcuffs, which ended up around her neck, Hill said. A medical examiner will determine the cause of death.

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Speaking Of Sicko

Michael Moore was on Oprah the other day along with an insurance lobbyist and a universal health care advocate. Some of the stories of people being denied coverage, service or treatment were just mind boggling. This one is right up there!

Now, on Aug, 29 2007 my husband and I suffered a devastating miscarriage. Being near midnight we went to the ER. The hospital was very compassionate about our loss and was able to get us in quickly and expedited our treatment. The following day I called BCBS and informed them that we had made a visit to the ER, and was told it wasn't necessary to call them just for ER visits, but only when we are admitted. Believing that BCBS would never make the mistakes at they did the previous and only time we have used our insurance I thought everything would go smoothly. Boy was I wrong!

On, Sep, 21 2007 I received a statement for BCBS that they were denying all of the claim. I called them and asked why they were denying the entire claim, and was told by Jane, "We do not cover ELECTIVE abortions. If you chose to terminate your pregnancy for non-health threatening reasons, BCBS will not cover it." WTF!!!??? I asked her, "Are you saying that my records state that I had an ELECTIVE abortion, in an ER at 12 o'clock in the morning?" It was then, I think it clicked in Jane's mind what she was dealing with and told me how sorry she was. I lost my cool and even started crying. I had a miscarriage not an abortion, and being treated in such a condescending way by BCBS really ticked me off. Thinking what an incredibly huge screw up, BCBS will be right on it trying to fix this, well you would be wrong. I was told to call the hospital and have them fax over my records stating I didn't have an elective abortion. Who the heck can get an elective abortion in a busy ER at 12am, anyway?

Can you imagine having this insane conversation with an insurance company and not going insane?

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Whose Country Is It Anyway?

Showing our further lack of knowledge about the complexity of Iraq and Iraqi history and society, our Senate has decided to partition Iraq. Didn't they have elections to create their own government?

The US Senate voted for a soft partition of Iraq on Thursday.

First they messed up Iraq by authorizing Terrible George to blow it up, now they want to further mess it up by dividing it. It makes no sense to me; the US Senate doesn't even have the authority to divide Iraq. Wouldn't that be for the Iraqi parliament?

It doesn't seem that the Iraqis agree with the vote:

The Iraqi political elite roundly condemned the Senate vote. Note that among the more vocal denunciations came from Shiite Vice President Adil Abdul Mahdi, whose own party, the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq (ISCI), favors the creation of a Shiite superstate in the south.

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Edwidge Danticat's New Book

I read the review in the New York Times of this a few weeks ago and put the book in my Amazon shopping cart but after hearing the interview on NPR, I', going to have to speed up my purchase. Listen ...

When Edwidge Danticat's parents left Haiti for a better life in the United States, she stayed in Haiti with her uncle Joseph, who eventually became like her "second father."

Joseph, whose remarkable life is at the heart of Danticat's new memoir, Brother, I'm Dying, was a Baptist minister who founded his own church and school in Port-au-Prince. A survivor of throat cancer, he used a mechanical voice box to communicate.

But at 81, he fled Haiti for Miami after a battle between United Nations peacekeepers and chimeres — gang members — put his life in danger. Joseph thinks he will be safe there, but instead his tragic stay in U.S. customs makes headlines around the world.

Danticat's memoir of her family tells the tale of two brothers — Joseph and Danticat's father, Mira — who, separated by distance, become like two fathers for Danticat. Her story weaves in rich details of growing up in Haiti, the sacrifices her family makes as immigrants in the United States and Haiti's growing political instability.

In a startling intersection of events, Danticat loses the two men she loves as she prepares for the birth of her daughter.

You Knew This, Right?

This isn't news. There was a very well written article in Newsweek in 2003 regarding how we bullied many, many nations into joining that lame coalition they called the willing.

US President George W. Bush threatened nations with retaliation if they did not vote for a UN resolution backing the Iraq war, according to a transcript published Wednesday of a conversation he had with former Spanish prime minister Jose Maria Aznar. 0926 08

In the transcript of a meeting on February 22, 2003 — a month before the US-led invasion of Iraq — published in the El Pais daily, Bush tells Aznar that nations like Mexico, Angola, Chile and Cameroon must know that the security of the United States is at stake.

He says during the meeting on his ranch in Texas that Angola stood to lose financial aid while Chile could see a free trade agreement held up in the US Senate if they did not back the resolution, the left-wing paper said

Find Nailah

I've come to realize that I have avoidance issues and I've just been unable to post about this. The sister of this missing woman is my friend and soror. It's often hard to remain hopeful in these types of situations but, at this point and as her sister says: it's the "only option!"

Nailah Franklin was last heard from Tuesday, when she sent an uncharacteristically vague text message to friends and family saying that she was having dinner and that she'd call later.

She never did.

Days earlier, Franklin had filed a police report saying she had been getting threatening phone calls.

Franklin's sister, Lehia Franklin Acox, said the family is trying to stay positive as police search the car for clues that could shed light on her disappearance.

Being positive "is our only option," Acox said before a weekend prayer vigil.

"We're all just trying to keep our spirits up, but it's a challenge," she said. "This is really taking a toll on us, with every day that passes. We're not sleeping well, we're not eating well."

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Ahmadinejad Speaks!

I'm glad they let the man speak. On the one hand he's defiant and is being made out to be a threat (I'm not scared). On the other hand, he's such a maroon!

In response to one audience, Ahmadinejad denied he was questioning the existence of the Holocaust: "Granted this happened, what does it have to do with the Palestinian people?"

I get his point on this issue - not the part about denying the Holocaust but I sympathize with the millions of Palestinians who were displaced in order to make way for the creation of the state of Israel. It's taken me a while to come to that position but I'm leaning towards the Jimmy Carter view of this situation.

But then he said he was defending the rights of European scholars, an apparent reference to a small number who have been prosecuted under national laws for denying or minimizing the Holocaust.

"There's nothing known as absolute," he said.

He reiterated his desire to visit ground zero to express sympathy with the victims of the Sept. 11 attacks, but then appeared to question whether al-Qaida was responsible.

"Why did this happen? What caused it? What conditions led to it?" he said. "Who truly was involved? Who was really involved and put it all together?"

Asked about executions of homosexuals in Iran, Ahmadinejad said the judiciary system executed violent criminals and high-level drug dealers, comparing them to microbes eliminated through medical treatment. Pressed specifically about punishment of homosexuals, he said: "In Iran we don't have homosexuals like in your country."

With the audience laughing derisively, he continued: "In Iran we do not have this phenomenon. I don't know who's told you that we have this."

Nothing one can say or do but ROTFL like the audience!!! Right, buddy!

Bollinger was strongly criticized for inviting Ahmadinejad to Columbia, and had promised tough questions in his introduction to Ahmadinejad's talk. But the strident and personal nature of his attack on the president of Iran was startling.

"You are either brazenly provocative or astonishingly uneducated," Bollinger told Ahmadinejad about the leader's Holocaust denial.

I think he's both: brazenly provocative AND astonishingly uneducated! Kinda reminds me of our own "commander in chief ..."

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Who The Hell Cares What He Thinks?

The prophet speaks. He states the nearly obviousl

President Bush, breaking his rule not to talk about presidential politics, says he believes Hillary Rodham Clinton will defeat Barack Obama in the Democratic presidential primaries.

Bush also predicts that Clinton will be defeated in the general election by the Republican nominee.

"I believe our candidate can beat her but it's going to be a tough race," the president said.

It has been difficult for Bush to remain silent about the 2008 president race, despite his promises not to be the "prognosticator in chief." He has been talking about the race and handicapping candidates during off-the-record chats with visitors to the White House.

He finally went public with his Clinton prediction in an interview for a book by journalist Bill Sammon.

"She's got a great national presence and this is becoming a national primary," Bush told Sammon. "And therefore the person with the national presence, who has got the ability to raise enough money to sustain an effort in a multiplicity of sites, has got a good chance to be nominated."

Now, whether the American public is dumb enough to select a candidate from the cesspool of GOP contenders remains to be seen. But then given what we have now, how can we believe that Americans have sense enough to do something other than what they've already done?

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Wow!

This seems excessive ...

The number of foreclosure filings reported in the U.S. last month more than doubled versus August 2006 and jumped 36 percent from July, a trend that signals many homeowners are increasingly unable to make timely payments on their mortgages or sell their homes amid a national housing slump.


A total of 243,947 foreclosure filings were reported in August, up 115 percent from 113,300 in the same month a year ago, Irvine, Calif.-based RealtyTrac Inc. said Tuesday.

There were 179,599 foreclosure filings reported in July.

The filings include default notices, auction sale notices and bank repossessions. Some properties might have received more than one notice if the owners have multiple mortgages.

August's total represents the highest number of foreclosure filings reported in a single month since the company began tracking monthly filings two years ago.

The national foreclosure rate last month was one filing for every 510 households, the company said.

"The jump in foreclosure filings this month might be the beginning of the next wave of increased foreclosure activity, as a large number of subprime adjustable rate loans are beginning to reset now," RealtyTrac Chief Executive James J. Saccacio said.

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Yes, Violence Will Subside

When there is no one left to kill.

About 2 million Iraqis are displaced inside Iraq, and an estimated 2.2 million more have fled to Syria, Jordan and other neighboring countries, where they are straining local resources and threatening to destabilize host communities, the United Nations has reported. With 60,000 Iraqis fleeing their homes each month, Jordan largely closed its borders to Iraqis earlier this year, and Syria said yesterday that it will begin requiring visas for Iraqis at the conclusion of Ramadan next month, essentially closing off exit routes from the country.

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Unacceptable

Bush is such a joke.

Senate Democratic leaders on Wednesday rejected the call by the top U.S. general in Iraq to send 30,000 U.S. troops home by next summer, saying it does not go far enough.

"This is unacceptable to me, it's unacceptable to the American people," said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev.

Reid said the recommendation by Gen. David Petraeus, expected to be embraced by President Bush in a speech to the nation on Thursday, "is neither a drawdown or a change in mission that we need. His plan is just more of the same."

"I call on the Senate Republicans to not walk lockstep as they have with the president for years in this war. It's time to change. It's the president's war. At this point it also appears clear it's also the Senate Republicans' war," Reid told a Capitol Hill news conference.

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Oil On His Dead Brain

The whole world knows he's stupid.

Even for someone as gaffe-prone as U.S. President George W. Bush, he was in rare form on Friday, confusing APEC with OPEC and transforming Australian troops into Austrians.

Bush's tongue started slipping almost as soon as he started talking at a business forum on the eve of an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Sydney.

"Mr. Prime Minister, thank you for your introduction," he told Prime Minister John Howard. "Thank you for being such a fine host for the OPEC summit."

As the audience of several hundred people erupted in laughter, Bush corrected himself and joked, "He invited me to the OPEC summit next year." Australia has never been a member of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries.

Later in his speech, Bush recounted how Howard had gone to visit "Austrian troops" last year in Iraq. There are, in fact, no Austrian troops there. But Australia has about 1,500 Australians military personnel in and around the country.

Upon finishing his speech, Bush took the wrong way off-stage and, looking slightly perplexed, had to be re-directed by Howard to a center-stage exit.

But not before a veteran White House correspondent seized the opportunity to ask Bush whether there had been any new message in his speech. Apparently misunderstanding the question, he bristled and asked, "Haven't you been listening to my past speeches?" before turning away.

Sherri Shepherd Worth Millions?

I don't know how this is going to work. I liked Sherri Shepherd at first. I thought she was funny until I realized she wasn't really kidding most of the time. The chick is just ignorant. I'm not sure I know anyone who thinks that having both she and Whoopi as co-hosts is a good idea. The only good thing that might come of it is that Whoopi might teach her a thing or two.

I know you have to go for the gusto but did this chick really think that she deserves two million dollars?

Did Sherri Shepherd demand more money than “The View” wanted to give her to become the fifth and final permanent co-host?

According to TV Guide's Michael Ausiello, 11th hour salary negotiations caused the week-long delay in today’s official unveiling of Shepherd’s permanent place on the show, which apparently was supposed to be announced along with the addition of Whoopi Goldberg.

In fact, when we caught up with Shepherd last July during the “Who’s Your Caddy” junket in Los Angeles and asked if the “View” gig was in her future, she quipped coyly: “I don’t know. They’re not trying to pay me.”

Rumor has it that Shepherd was asking for a salary of $2 million. According to Ausiello, Shepherd told producers she wants to make at least what co-hosts Joy Behar and Elisabeth Hasselbeck are earning.

Also, she is back with a husband who not only cheated but who had a child with the woman he cheated with. I am all for forgiveness if she thinks she can get over it and move on but her husband doesn't seem all that stable or trustworthy. What will this new money mean for a marriage that is already struggling?

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What The Heck Does Bill O'Reilly Know About Nas?

I'm still getting around to doing my post on why Bill O'Reilly is just like 50 Cents but in the mean time, he's off of Snoop and Ludacris and onto Nas.

Nas has hit back at Fox News pundit Bill O'Reilly, who claimed that his inclusion at a concert dedicated to the Virginia Tech massacre is insulting to the memories of the victims.

O'Reilly claimed that picking an artist such as Nas for the Concert For Virginia Tech, which took place last night (September 6), "insults the victims, the university, and the entire commonwealth."

The rapper was set to join the Dave Matthews Band, John Mayer, and Phil Vassar.

However, Nas has now hit back at O'Reilly, claiming he is racist.

In an interview with MTV, he said: "Everybody has a marketing plan; his marketing plan is racism.

"It just shows you what bloodsuckers do: they abuse something like the Virginia Tech [tragedy] for show ratings. You can't talk to a person like that."

The rapper defended his lyrics as a reflection of the reality of America's streets and ghettos.

He added: "I had a best friend killed, plenty other friends killed. I been through it. I seen it.

"I think that's what makes it important that I come through and show love to those people [at Virginia Tech]."

It's not like I listen to Nas or most of this new fangled rap but that is why I know damned well that Bill O'Reilly doesn't either. If you don't know what you are talking about, shut up!

Oprah Is Serious!

She was grinning in Bill Clinton's face one day on her show and milking the celebrity crowds for money for Obama the next ...

Oprah Winfrey rolled out the red carpet Saturday for Barack Obama at a gala fundraiser attended by high-wattage stars that was expected to raise $3 million for the Democratic presidential candidate.

The most powerful woman in show business celebrated her favorite candidate with 1,500 guests at her palatial estate in this coastal enclave south of Santa Barbara. Tickets to the sold-out private event went for $2,300 apiece, keeping them within campaign finance limits.

Stevie Wonder performed for guests, who included Sidney Poitier, Forest Whitaker, Chris Rock, Cindy Crawford, Jimmy Connors, Linda Evans, Dennis Haysbert and many others. Will Smith, Jamie Foxx and Halle Berry also were expected, though it was unclear if they were in attendance. The media were barred from the fundraiser.

Visitors were bused to Winfrey's secluded home from an equestrian center about 10 miles away. A solid line of limousines, BMWs, Bentleys and a few hybrid Priuses disgorged well-dressed guests. Some sported stiletto heels despite official instructions to wear flat shoes for walking on Winfrey's meadow.

Visitors were subjected to strict security procedures and relieved of cameras and recording devices. Instructions sent to guests noted that Winfrey and Obama would not be accepting gifts.

Earlier in the day, Obama made a quick, lunchtime stop to speak to a crowd of about 1,000 eager supporters who gathered on a hillside overlooking the Pacific at Santa Barbara City College. It was his only public appearance of the day.

Obama, wearing his usual white shirt open at the collar and sleeves rolled up, shook his way down a line of outstretched hands as the song "Ain't No Stopping Us Now" blared from speakers

How'd I Miss This?

Granted I spent most of the day at a Wine and Croquet fund raising event but if I'dknown about this ...

Ethiopians in the Bay Area are partying like it's 1999 in downtown San Jose. Excitement is mounting as the hours ticking away to the new millennium are growing short and no one knows what the year 2000 will bring.

But isn't it seven years too late for millennium celebrations? It depends on which calendar you're watching.

While much of the rest of the world follows the 365-day Gregorian calendar adopted in the 1600s and later, Ethiopia functions according to the Julian calendar. The Christian Orthodox Church, the dominant religious presence in Ethiopia, continues to follow the Julian calendar.

On it, the Ethiopian year is 13 months long. The first 12 months are 30 days long and the last month is only five days. Every four years, the last month is six days. The difference between the two calendars has its benefits.

"We celebrate two Christmases, two Easters, and two New Years," Eleni Haileleoul chuckled as she sold homemade jewelry with Ethiopian silver and silk and cotton dresses from Ethiopia at the millennium celebration in Guadalupe River Park Saturday. "When you are an immigrant, you have to embrace the culture you're in. But you also have to keep your own."

While superstar performers such as Beyonce and Michael Jackson are rumored to be performing at the grand New Year's Eve celebration in Ethiopia's capital of Addis Ababa on Sept. 11, large weeklong celebrations are spread out in cities from Washington, D.C., to San Diego. The Ethiopian Community Services of San Jose and Ethiopian Community and Cultural Center in Oakland planned a Bay Area millennium celebration this weekend complete with food, art, music and dance performances.

"You have no idea how long I've been waiting for this millennium," said Mamay Mengesha, as she helped her aunt and two nieces inside the food tent. "This is the first time three or four generations of parents are going to celebrate it together. People from Fremont, Oakland and all over are going to gather here."

Mengesha and her family run a catering business, Ethio Millennium Catering, that specializes in home-cooked spicy food reminiscent of "back home in Ethiopia." The family, which left Ethiopia 18 years ago, spent a week preparing the spices for the crimson sauces used to marinate beef and chicken for traditional holiday dishes. They cooked from 5 a.m. Friday until 3 a.m. Saturday.

"This is the millennium," said the exhausted but happy Mengesha, "We want the people to feel it."

Crowds sat in the shade of white tents munching thin sponge bread and kitfo, a spicy beef tartar with butter. For those with less adventurous taste buds there were milder dishes of tibs and alicha wot, traditional beef satays.

Live reggae music thumping in the background of the event was silenced by a speech from California Lt. Gov. John Garamendi. During the late 1960s, while in the Peace Corps, Garamendi taught English courses in the Ethiopian town of Mettu.

"This is my first time to see him in 41 years," said Bedri Omar Hamza, one of his former students, who gave Garamendi a picture of their old English class.

Hamza, like many other Ethiopian immigrants, came to the United States during the early 1980s to escape the bloody socialist regime of Mengistu Haile Mariam.

Garamendi was presented with a bouquet of Adey Abeha, a yellow Ethiopian flower that only blooms close to the New Year's holiday.

Men and women in the crowd greeted one another with cheek kisses and enthusiastic shouts of "Melkam Addis Amet!" (Happy New Year!). First generation Ethiopian immigrants wore white to symbolize the beginning of the year, and vibrant spun-cotton shawls in red, yellow and green - the colors of the Ethiopian flag.

Meanwhile, teenagers and younger children were outfitted in either colorful spun cotton shirts from Ethiopia or the traditional Western garb of jeans and T-shirts.

The Mesgana Dancers from Ethiopia - ages 6 through 12 - performed in San Jose and have traveled across the country to dance for various Ethiopian community celebrations.

"We're trying to attract the younger generation," said Behailu Assefa, president of the Ethiopian Community and Cultural Center in Oakland. "They will carry on the traditions of the culture, language, and integrate it with the American way of life."

The celebration of both American and Ethiopian holidays is a start.

"It's like putting one foot in one culture, and one foot in another," Mengesha said.

ROTFL!

Sad, sad, sad ...

He Wants To Divorce Her?

With 4 kids, I always figured Shaq and Shaunie would stick it out after seeing Michael Jordan shell out kabillions to Juanita and the kids. It's not so much that it's about money (though we all know that it pays a part) but, with all of his side women and affairs and Shaunie seeming to know that was part of the deal, I'm surprised that he is the one filing for divorce.

Miami Heat center Shaquille O'Neal wants to divorce Shaunie, his wife of nearly five years. ''The marriage between the parties is irretrievably broken,'' says his petition, filed Tuesday by attorney Ira Elegant.

The O'Neals have four children together -- Shareef, 7, Amirah, 5, Shaqir, 4, and Me'Arah, 1. Shaq has a daughter, Taahirah, and Shaunie has a son, Myles, from previous relationships.

The family lives on Miami Beach's exclusive Star Island. They bought an $18.8 million estate in the summer of '04, at the time of his trade to the Heat. It is for sale -- No. 32 is asking $32 million.

Shaq, 35, and Shaunie, 32, wed Dec. 26, 2002, in a lavish ceremony at the Beverly Hills Hotel. Shaq, then with the Lakers, gave Shaunie a ring with 17 carats of diamonds.

The two have a ''Cohabitation/Prenuptial Agreement and Acknowledgment of Property Disclosure and Waiver of Further Disclosure,'' the petition says. A copy of their agreement ''will be filed . . . under seal'' -- if the court allows -- and ``contains extensive provisions providing for confidentiality and non-disclosure.''

This woman birthed him four children and took care of one of his from another relationship. She turned a blind eye to his unfaithfulness before and during the marriage. So he finds that she's stashing some stuff away for a rainy day (if that is even the case) and wants to talk about betrayal? The rumor is that she was having a fling with her personal trainer but, again, he's been "pimping all over the world" and he's going to get upset about her finding some "comfort" while he is on the road and God knows where else? Shaq, not only is it cheaper to keep her, I think you'd be hard pressed to find someone who is going to put up with your cheating.

Shaq is actually one of my favorite ball players. Despite all of his dirty laundry, he seems to be quite a likable fellow. I don't know the real deal on why he wants to dissolve his marriage but I think he needs to slow his roll. There are too many kids in the marriage to toss it aside.

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Is The Senate Giving Out Packages?

What is with these people deciding not to run again? First John Warner and now Chuck Hagel - both are among the few Republicans who actually seem to have some sense. Is the senate offering up incentives or retirement packages that are too good to pass up?

Senator Chuck Hagel (R-NE) is retiring at the end of his term, and it's a loss for both Democrats and Republicans. hagel130.gif

The Democrats lose one of Congress's most passionate and articulate critics of the Iraq War. The Republicans lose an incumbent in an election cycle in which their ranks are already vulnerable.

Former Nebraska senator and governor Bob Kerrey, a Democrat, is considering emerging from retirement to run for Hagel's seat, and the odds he would get it are high. Add in the fact that John Warner, a Republican, is vacating a Virginia senate seat that will likely be won by Mark Warner, a Democrat, and you've got what looks like a much small minority for the GOP.

Meet Dr. Debi Thomas

I am really glad to see this. A friend of mine who had an ailing mother told me that she used to see Dr. Thomas in action at a hospital in Arkansas. I still get a little heated when I think of how they treated her when she was a champion ice skater in the late 80s. She was the American and, because she didn't have a stick body and fair skin, the media focused on the East German skater: Katerina Witt. It was as though Katerina was the American and Debi Thomas was some indigent foreigner. I'll never forget that and that's why I'm so happy to see Debi moving and shaking as an intelligent woman and world class physician.

Back in the 1980s, Debi Thomas skated her way to national and world championships and an Olympic medal.

But the only blades she uses these days are in the operating room.

Thomas, who went to medical school after she retired from figure skating, is the newest orthopedic surgeon on staff at Carle Clinic, where she started seeing patients this past week.

Dr. Jim Sobeski, head of orthopedics at Carle, said the clinic is thrilled to have Thomas on board.

He knew about her fame as a skater, but that wasn't a factor in bringing her here, Sobeski said.

"We're just looking for the best doctor we could find that would be a great total joint surgeon," he said.

In fact, Sobeski said, Thomas doesn't seem to dwell much on her former athletic career in her practice of medicine.

"That's a different part of her life," he added. "She's a physician now."

Where's the "beauty" that took America's eye off of its own champion? Katerina Witt's accomplishments, which include posing in Playboy in 1998, seem to pale in comparison to Dr. Thomas'.

Is That You Osama?

I am on my way to being permanently skeptical. I'm not sure I even believe that he is alive. I just think that if we were really serious about capturing or killing him, it would have happened a long time ago. If we had him, these videos wouldn't pop up at times that are suspiciously convenient for our fear mongering President.

Intelligence sources tell ABC News they believe the video message from Osama bin Laden is authentic, recently produced and evidence the al Qaeda leader is still alive.

According to government sources, an initial analysis of the tape indicates "a lot of chest thumping" and of course historical references "alluding" to the successful attack on New York.

And a CIA spokesman told ABC News, "It's quite possible this is a new video."

U.S. authorities earlier this morning said the tape's transcript is aimed at potential suicide bombers who he urges to carry out missions against the West.

The jihadist Web site announced the tape with a banner, showing a still picture of bin Laden, now 50 years old, looking fit with a full beard of dark black hair, no gray at all.

"It does look oddly like he is wearing a false beard," Richard Clarke, a former White House counterterrorism official and now ABC News consultant, said. "If we go back to the tape three years, he had a very white beard. This looks like a phony beard that has been passed on."

The "phony beard" may be an important clue as to where bin Laden is hiding, according to Clarke.

"One place where a beard would stand out would be southeast Asia, the Philippines, Indonesia," Clarke told ABC News. "No one's thought he was there, but that is an environment where most men, Muslim men don't have beards."

U.S. officials say there is little doubt the al Qaeda leader timed his latest message to the 9/11 anniversary.

"He came up on this occasion to prove he's alive, to taunt us and to take advantage of the 9/11 remembrance ceremonies to get some propaganda," Clarke said.

He came up on this occasion or Bush conjured him up. If he even exists, he's probably on the payroll.

Little Miss Z Has A Purse

I don't know why this child needs a pocketbook. But it's cute!

I'm Mad!

... and this child only has a few more years before he starts getting his ass beat on a regular basis! What is wrong with people?!

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Real Celebrity Justice

This wench was just looking for a sentence. I guess Paris and Nicole better stay their wild behinds in Hollywood because the judges in NYC don't play!

Foxy Brown was sentenced to one year in jail Friday for violating probation stemming from a fight with two manicurists in a New York City salon.

Criminal Court Judge Melissa Jackson sentenced the rapper at a probation hearing for Brown, 28.

"I'm not going to give you any more chances," the judge told Brown. "I hope you turn your life around and never again have to stand in a court of law."

Brown was also indicted in Brooklyn Friday on charges that she smacked a neighbor with a cell phone.

Brown, whose real name is Inga Marchand, was on three years probation for assaulting two manicurists at a Manhattan nail salon in August 2004.

Just before her hearing began, Brown, in handcuffs and wearing an elegant gray pantsuit, asked the judge for yet another chance at freedom and promised to straighten out her life.

"I'm willing to do whatever I need to do to change," Brown told the judge. She said she had made a lot of mistakes before Jackson jailed her. "I realize that's not where I want to be. It's humbled me in ways I never imagined."

Jackson replied, "Ms. Marchand, it's too little, too late. I'm glad you're learning something; that's a positive."

Jackson rejected a deal in which Brown would have gone to jail for nine months in exchange for a misdemeanor guilty plea. The judge had said the defendant knew she would face a year in jail if she violated probation.

A Probation Department lawyer, Matilda Leo, read four violations the Probation Department filed against Brown. She said Brown had twice left New York without telling the court or Probation Department; that she had changed her address from Brooklyn to Mahwah, N.J., without permission; and that she had failed to tell the court she had received seven traffic summonses in New Jersey.

Ms. Foxy Brown is reportedly pregnant now too. When will these silly women learn?

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Whoopi First Day On The View

Whoopi started today and is already going against the grain.

So much for the sedate alternative to Rosie O'Donnell on "The View." Whoopi Goldberg used her first day on the daytime chat show Tuesday to defend football star Michael Vick in his dogfighting case.

Goldberg said that "from where he comes from" in the South, dogfighting isn't that unusual.

"It's like cockfighting in Puerto Rico," she said. "There are certain things that are indicative to certain parts of the country."

The Atlanta Falcons quarterback pleaded guilty to federal dogfighting charges last week, admitting that he provided money for a dogfighting ring that operated on his Virginia property and helped kill six or eight pit bulls. Vick grew up in Newport News, Va.

Goldberg was selected by series creator Barbara Walters to replace O'Donnell, whose stormy tenure on the ABC program lasted less than a year.

In the Vick discussion, Goldberg served notice that she won't shy away from controversy.

Co-host Joy Behar looked horrified at Goldberg.

"How about dog torture and dog murdering?" Behar asked.

For many people, dogs are sport, Goldberg replied, and it appeared it took awhile for Vick to realize that he was up against serious charges.

"I just thought it was interesting, because it seemed like a light went off in his head when he realized this was something that the entire country didn't appreciate," she said.

While I appreciate her "view," I'm sick of hearing about "where he comes from." Dog fighting is against the law all over the country. Betting on dog fights is illegal as well. He set up an illegal gambling operation for an illegal "sport" and he was well aware of it. I don't think Whoopi was defending him. I think she was explaining how his slow brain worked.

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Russell Simmons Stepping Down, Moving On

He's moving on but not gone.

Russell Simmons has stepped down as CEO of the fashion brand he founded in 1992. Three years ago Simmons sold his successful clothing line Phat Farm to Kellwood Company, home to such brands as Calvin Klein and Liz Claiborne, for $140 million cash. After the sale to Kellwood in 2004, Simmons held the title of CEO, managing the day-to-day operations of the company and the marketing of the Phat Farm and Baby Phat lines of clothing.

While Simmons, who will have a say in the selection of the new CEO, may be stepping away from Phat Farm, he isn't leaving the fashion world. He has just launched Russell Simmons Argyle Culture along with a high-end boutique line for men called Atman.

"I've spent 16 years in young men’s, always aspiring to a mature collection but had a core community that wanted a young, aggressive design," says Simmons of the new venture. “For this brand to be a success, it needs all of my creative energy and complete focus." The more mature line features urban concepts paired with men’s professional attire.

I love the vision and entrepreneurial spirit of this family. His nieces recently launched their own sassy line of sneakers ...

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A Really Stupid Practical Joke?

Idle minds are a playground for the devil.

The drowning of a Vietnamese man who was shoved into the water at Montrose Harbor on Saturday morning was the third incident since late July in which fishermen who appeared to be Asian were targeted in the area, Chicago police said Monday.

Three of the five possible suspects sought in Du Doan's death turned themselves in Monday night, WGN-720 AM reported this morning. The three went to police after learning authorities wanted to talk with people fitting their description, the station said.

One of the men said he bumped into someone, possibly Doan, while running on the harbor sidewalk tyring to catch up with his friends. He said he was not aware that anyone had fallen into the lake.

The three turned themselves in after learning that police were looking for people who matched their descriptions.

Doan, 62, was fishing alone off the harbor's sidewalk at 5:30 a.m. Saturday when what police described as an intentional attack occurred.

"Five individuals dressed in black gothic clothing walked past him, and one of the individuals breaks away from this group . . . and gives him a shove in the back and knocks him into the water," said Belmont Area Lt. Anthony Riccio.

Several of the 30 or 40 people fishing in the area tried to rescue Doan with nets and poles, though none felt comfortable enough to swim out to him, police said.

Doan, who couldn't swim, quickly drowned.

"We're not calling it a hate crime, but by no means have we ruled it out," Riccio said. "This could be a hate crime or a really stupid practical joke—we don't know."

Police said the circumstances of Doan's attack matched closely with two other incidents, one from late July and another that occurred earlier Saturday.

Shortly before the group approached Doan, another fisherman of Asian descent was confronted by the same group, described as four males and one female, police said. A former marine, the fisherman stood his ground, and the group left him alone after spitting at his feet, Riccio said.

Barely a month before, another man who had what police described as Asian features was pitched into the water by a group described similarly, Riccio said. That man swam to shore and did not report the attack until after he heard about Doan's death.

Police are looking for a white, four-door Dodge Neon they believe the suspects were driving, and are asking anyone with information to contact police.

Monday night at Montrose Harbor, police planned to distribute fliers describing the incident and the suspects, and listing safety advice for fishermen, including that they should travel in pairs and advise others of their plans.

The suspects were described as: a white male, about 5-foot-6, brown hair in a "buzz cut," wearing a dark jacket; a white male, about 6-foot-1, slim, large ears, wearing a white T-shirt and a jacket; white male, 18 to 19 years old; black male, bald, wearing a red shirt; white female, 18 to 19 years old.

I don't know if this is so much a hate crime as it is one of racial insensitivity. I think these "suspects" regarded that older Asian guy the way some "kids" regard the homeless (who are often victims of attack by roaming teens) - as non-entities. It is certainly no prank to knock someone into the lake when you have no idea if they can swim. Now they face charges for causing the death of someone because of sheer stupidity and callousness.

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Can It Get Anymore Sordid Than This?

Just when you thought the saga of Anna Nicole Smith was over, the people she left behind seem to be involved in more drama than she ever was!

Wow according to the Daily News Birkhead and Smith had a trist, plotted for her after death money and gave her drugs while she was pregnant!

In explosive tell-all book about Anna Nicole Smith’s sad demise alleges the two men who battled for custody of her baby girl and control of her fortune were gay lovers.

The bombshell allegations about the steamy relationship between the former Playboy Playmate’s longtime companion Howard K. Stern and her baby’s biological father, Larry Birkhead, come to light in “Blonde Ambition: The Untold Story Behind Anna Nicole Smith’s Death.”

Sordid passages in the soon-to-be released book by former MSNBC journalist Rita Cosby describe how Anna Nicole and her friend allegedly caught Stern and Birkhead with their shirts off and their pants around their ankles in a Los Angeles home.

Jackie Hatten, described in the book as one of Anna Nicole’s closest friends, said the men were engaged in oral sex.

“Their bodies were intermingled,” Hatten says, according to a copy of the book obtained by the Daily News. “It was obvious what was happening.”

The shocking book accuses Birkhead and Stern of cutting a secret deal after Anna Nicole was buried in March, with Birkhead getting custody of Dannielynn in return for Stern being named executor of the star’s estate.

Dannielynn, who turns 1 on Friday, could inherit hundreds of millions of dollars from the estate of Smith’s late husband, oil tycoon Howard Marshall.

Birkhead and a lawyer for Stern both vehemently denied the accusations in Cosby’s book yesterday - and vowed to drag her into court, setting the stage for an ugly legal battle ...

This is just plain slimey! On the one hand, I hope this really is a lie. On the other hand, I hope that Rita Cosby hasn't sunk so low as to publish sleaze like this without anything to back it up. Even if these dudes are/were lovers, I hope they weren't in collaboration to bilk Anna Nicole out of her money.

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Lucky To Have Health Insurance?

Not quite ...

Michael Moore wasn't lying.

This is what they mean by "fully insured".

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