The Gift & The Curse...

A lot of people in the media and blogosphere are anti-Bush, which is pretty obvious, and understandable. Some have gone as far as comparing him to Hitler. I've tried, but I fail to see a single similarity. Help me out.

Are you one of the people who compare Bush to Hitler? I hope not. I'm not pro-Bush, and I certainly disagree with him on some issues, but putting his quotes side-by-side Hitler's (as I've seen on a few blogs over the last month or so) is shocking. Come on, we're talking about Hitler.

Even if you hate Bush, you have to acknowledge that he's not an oppressor of the innocent. He does not massacre people who he dislikes, and he's also not a racist with destructive tendencies.

Comparing Bush to Hitler is disgraceful, and the integrity of anyone who does so has to be put under question.

Republican Presidential candidate Mitt Romney recently posed for a picture with a supporter, in which she held a sign saying "No to Obama Osama and Chelsea's Moma."

http://www.tmz.com/2007/07/21/mitt-catches-s-t-over-hillary-bashing-sign/

During a town-hall forum, he was confronted on the issue, and he replied "Lighten up..." He played it down as a joke.

That's more bad news for the Republicans, which aren't looking too good these days. Liberals have put Romney under fire over the incident, but we have to be careful here.

1. She was a random supporter in the crowd, and he has NO control over what her sign reads (assuming he even noticed it.) Also it's a free country, so she can say whatever she feels like.

2. However, Romney should have apologized. The least that any candidate can often do to a supporter is offer a handshake or take a picture, if requested. He took a picture, plain and simple. BUT it didn't just read "F*** Obama and Clinton," or "Obama the f%%&** drug addict," it compared Obama's name to Osama bin Laden.

I wonder how Romney would have reacted if Obama had a picture with a supporter saying "Mormon Romney burn in hell" or something like that. Would he laugh it off as a joke? I don't think so.

Romney asked for trouble; he now has more to think about, and that's a memo.

(All my posts are impartial as I try to be fair and objective to both sides of an argument. You decide.)

The war was foolish, pointless, and unnecessary, but we must remember that it was also unforeseen. Some of us who now oppose the war actually jubilated when Saddam Hussein got deposed. As far as we were concerned, it was "just one troublemaker down (he was a troublemaker, just like Iran's Ahmedinejad presently is) and maybe we can now get to the big fish himself, Bin Laden."

Who really envisioned Iraqi's killing each other (and allied forces) as a result of Saddam's deposition? I didn't, and I doubt if Bush did, given his ignorance of Iraqi politics. It was supposed to be a hit-clean-move invasion, especially considering that Saddam was a VERY EASY target.

However, Bush is in a no-win situation, and I have no idea how to they can get out of this mess. Maybe Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama do. I'm not being sarcastic. Or am I?

It turns out, the elections that we care so much about, may well be a popularity contest.

This is a new-released SEQUEL to the Obama girl music video; featuring "Giuliani girl"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v

How much does Hollywood care about who ends up in the Oval Office? The Hollywood donor list has been released. Some nice surprises too…

Hillary Clinton:

Ben Stiller ($6900), Tom Hanks ($2300), Tobey Maguire ($4600), Fran Drescher ($2300),Danny DeVito ($2300), Paul Newman ($4600).

 
Barack Obama:

Will Smith ($4600), Jodie Foster ($1000), Paul Newman ($4600), Jamie Foxx ($2300), Isaiah Washington ($2300), Cedric “The Entertainer” Kyles ($2500)

 
John Edwards:

Oliver Stone ($500), Mary Steenburgen ($2300), Ben Stiller ($4600), Peter Coyote ($1054), Sharon Lawrence ($1000)

 
Bill Richardson:

Michael Douglas ($3100), Val Kilmer ($2300), Paul Newman ($2300), Better Midler ($4600), Steven Spielberg ($2300), Jodie Foster ($1000)

Source: http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2007/07/16/celebs-add-star-power-to-08-donor-lists/

It’s quite worrying to observe a trend in today’s current affairs. Almost everything is driven by politics and propaganda.

Many Democrats have capitalized on the failures of the Iraq war, and indeed the Bush administration in general. I’m not suggesting that there’s no genuine dissatisfaction with Bush’s many shenanigans, but his opponents have used his letdowns as a means of forwarding their own personal agendas, and this is just wrong.

Michael Moore perfectly timed the release of his latest eruption Sicko, a movie in which he does nothing but jab the American health system and of course, the Bush administration. Everyone knows the American health system is hugely flawed, and credit to him for exposing certain facts. However, the question here is – what are Moore’s true motives for Sicko?

It’s easy to say that he’s exercising journalistic freedom, or perhaps he’s driven by a deep passion for Americans and their struggle to obtain health care. It would be great if this was the case, but it’s not. Micheal Moore is not a hero.

Al Gore’s global warming initiatives reached a high with the Live Earth concerts over the past weekend. With billions of viewers all around the world, and a line-up of music’s biggest stars, it was a huge success; well, from a music point of view.

Musliveearth00

His motives have been questioned, and even criticized by the likes of Sir Bob Geldof, and particularly the American conservative media.

I really enjoyed some of the performances. The likes of Madonna, Sting, Kanye West, Metallica, John Mayer, and The Pussycat Dolls were at their best on stage, and it was an awesome gig. However, the question that needs to be asked is how the concerts, which were held in seven different cities, will impact people’s attitude towards global warming.

I doubt whether the people who attended the concerts, or watched it on television, have sold their cars and bought bicycles instead.

Al Gore travels in a private jet, by the way.

This casts a big question mark on Live Earth’s relevance and achievement. It also makes me wonder if the goals of global warming initiatives are realistic, in terms of combating climate change. It’s a shame that we're slowly losing grip of our own planet, and with more technological advancements (like the iPhone, for example) I think we’re reaching a point of no return.

I’m eagerly anticipating two CDs coming out right at the end of summer. Kanye West’s third album, Graduation, and Vanessa Carlton’s third album Heroes & Thieves.

 West’s Graduation includes collaborations with John Mayer, Daft Punk, Coldplay, and John Legend, to name a few. I just listened to the album version of “Bittersweet,” the single with John Mayer, and it’s an amazing song.

Kanye West originally wrote it as a poem, it was recorded when Mayer paid him a visit in 2006.

However, I do have mixed feelings about Vanessa Carlton’s Heroes & Thieves. After her sophomore album, Harmonium failed to break into the charts (blame it on “White Houses”) she got dumped by her record company, and is now signed to Irv Gotti’s Murder Inc. Records. Weird combination eh?

Vanessa Carlton is hugely talented, and although Harmonium was a commercial disaster, it’s one of the best albums I’ve heard in years; great lyrics, and piano play that just blows your mind away.

By the end of this, I have an answer to combatting this new breed of "Western terrorists." After the events of the last couple of days in Britain, it is obvious that the UK's homegrown terrorists are starting what appears to be an awakening of sort for new Prime Minister, Gordon Brown.

However, the successive failed terror attempts exposes their unsophistication, which is borne out of a lack of proper field training from Al-Queda top-guns in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

What can Britain do to these individuals, many of whom were born into Islam in Britain, by parents who mostly immigrated from Pakistan, and other surrouding muslim countries?

At an early age, they are introduced to the idea of the white man being the enemy, and often grow-up in social isolation from white Britons. This isolation, coupled with a perceived "Islamophobia" from whites, and the jihadist, anti-Western, anti-Christian teachings, induces feelings of hatred and revenge towards the society - the very society - that they CHOOSE to live in.

I have to say this. If they do not like the West; you know, USA, U.K, Canada, France, and so forth, they should get the #%#$ out and go back to their Arab countries, where they can freely live among each other, and not see the Westerners whom they loathe so much. I cannot think of another solution, because they actually hate their own country and are willing to kill innocent fellow citizens in the name of Jihhad or Shar'ia. 

As the US election campaigns heat up, it is becoming more evident that many far-right Conservative Republicans are cheap hypocrites, and their left progressive Liberal Democrats are totally out of their minds. Let's start here.

On June 1st, Hannity & Colmes' Sean Hannity hit out at Hillary Clinton for attending a fundraiser held by music producer Tim "Timbaland" Mosley, and also accepting a donation from rapper, RZA. Hannity's case was that Timbaland and RZA both use the "N word" several times in their songs, thereby labeling Clinton a 'hypocrite'. His implication, that Hillary was accepting money made from racial and sexist slurs, reflects nothing but cheapness and pure ignorance.

Rather than focus on the weaknesses of the Republican candidates' agendas, they aim another shot at Hillary. Even if one decides to take a shot, why use such a non-issue like fund-raising donations. Yes, the source of donation has to be credible, I won't argue with that; but Timbaland whose fundraiser raised $800,000 to her campaign, is one of todays music's most successful producers. With consistent chart-busters from the likes of Justin Timberlake and Nelly Furtado, I do not understand why he is being compared to Don Imus for usage of the "N word" in his music.

Now, we have to get this straight. A white, 57 year old man openly referring to a predominantly black female college basketball team as "nappy-headed hoes"  is not the same as a 36-year old rapper, using the "N word" in his song. It sounds like a double standard, but the bitter truth is, this is 2007, IT IS A DOUBLE STANDARD.

Personally, I do not approve of the use of the "N word", but realistically, you cannot stop certain people from using it. You just can't. Rappers DO NOT use the word "nigga" as a slur, but as a way to refer to their friends and people, likewise the words "dude" or "homie" or "buddy". We really HAVE to understand this, and not look at things from an ignorant, long-distance point of view. So it is fair, and not hypocritical for Hillary to criticize Imus, and not criticize Timbaland.

I'm also not liberal, absolutely not. Take this as a fair and neutral assessment.

The Republicans really need to focus on more important issues and stop playing cheap games, while Clinton and Obama fly higher in the ratings.