Week Just Passed-Three Deaths That Changed a Culture; TV-American Idol/Apprentice; Web Site-Cowboys

 

The Deaths of Three People Who Changed a Culture
One was a most ordinary American woman who lived a most ordinary but happy American life until her mid-20’s.

One was the Pope, Catholic representative of Jesus Christ on the earth. By the very nature of his position a pope’s death will capture the attention of the world.

But this Pope was different.

The last was but a humble barrister whose colorful personality and knowledge of the common folk managed more than any of the so-called “dream” team to win the defense case for Orenthal James Simpson. Johnny Cochran’s imploration that “if the glove don’t fit you must acquit” will always be remembered as the definitive defense of OJ Simpson.

They all were so different. And they all affected an entire culture if not in the manner of their life then in the manner of their death.
 


Pope John Paul II was once a soldier. I didn’t know this and I’m supposed to be Catholic. In fact, he soldiered for his native Poland, to free it from the tyranny of the Soviet Union. Along with Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher of Britain, the Pope put pressure on that godless communist union that oppressed the people of its satellite nations and repressed expressions of faith.

He vehemently opposed the US invasion of Iraq.

“I know he’s dead and for the dead one always says good things. But the Pope did oppose the US freeing the Iraqis when he fought to free the Poles. Seems a bit hypocritical to me.”

My husband greeted my words with silence. “How on earth can a pope condone any kind of war?” husband finally responded.

Perhaps that’s the answer.

Pope John Paul II died a normal death this day of long lives and not-so-instant deaths. No one petitioned to pull any plug; he was not denied food or water. He clung to his God-given life to the end. For the Pope, death is not a fearful thing. It marks the entry into the kingdom of God. Yet there was no hastening of his death. Even though common sense might argue that what with the Parkinsons and the most recent health developments the church might have been better to move John Paul along and get on with electing a replacement.

 


Terri Schiavo on the other hand was not a famed Catholic church official. She was merely a humble parishioner. In her mid-20’s she suffered an event that left her at best, mentally retarded, at worst in a “persistent vegetative state”. Pope John Paul II lived long enough to condemn the forced starvation of Terri Schiavo a sin before the eyes of the Lord.

Terri was considered no longer useful in the eyes of her husband who had long since received the funds from a lawsuit on Terri’s behalf and had a new common law wife with whom he had two children. In a month long drama that involved the Florida courts to the Supreme court, congress and the President of the United States, no one could save Terri’s life.

Terri is now in heaven with the Pope. There are no vegetative states and John Paul’s hands do not shake. For if ever there were two candidates for heaven it would be Pope John Paul II and Terri Schiavo.

 


I’ll be kind and not even speculate on the after death fate of Johnny Cochran. He battled a brain tumor for over a year and finally lost the fight.

Colorful and larger than life, Cochran was not considered the most brilliant of attorneys. But he’d worked his way up by practicing law for the under-privileged. He knew the people he served and that knowledge served OJ Simpson well in a defense case that involved prosecuting the LA police as much as any one murderer. Ask about any attorney in the OJ dream team and it is Johnny Cochran most will remember.
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More on the Republican Schiavo “talking points” memo
Which the NY Times admitted was distributed on the Senate floor by DEMOCRATIC staffers. Yes the distributed document was said to be a copy of a Republican memo warning all recipients to make hay over the Schiavo death as this was a difficult topic for Democrats. The notion being, of course, to discredit Republican interest and involvement in the Schiavo matter as being nothing more than political opportunism.

It wasn’t folks, and whether you’re Republican or Democrat give it some thought. All of congress, the President and Governor Jeb Bush would just as soon the Schiavo quagmire had never occurred. What politician in his/her right mind would want to wrestle with such a thorny and unknown issue? For sure few Democrats had the guts. The Republicans that fought to save Terri Schiavo did so out of conviction and the Republicans that went along were following the demands of their voting base. Since when did an elected legislator following the wishes of those who elected him/her become a bad thing? Except to Democrats who went to great lengths to create a phony memo and even more despicable, a Mainstream Media that didn’t even bother to check it out before reporting it on air as the truth.

The Wise I got a copy of this memo distributed by the Democrats and as reported as if it were “authentic” by the Mainstream Media.

Below from Weekly Standard

One reason for this perception may be the "GOP talking points memo" that was distributed on March 17, when the Senate took up the bill that conferred federal jurisdiction over a last effort to save Mrs. Schiavo. The memo was first reported by ABC's Linda Douglass on Friday, March 18. The next day, on ABC's Good Morning America, Kate Snow confronted House Majority Leader Tom DeLay with "some talking points that Senate Republicans were circulating"; DeLay denied any knowledge of the memo.

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Kofi Knew Nothing About His Son’s Conflict of Interest

I’m not going to stop beating on Kofi Annan until he either leaves or straighten up. And I am sure that the UN Secretariat is shaking in his boots in fear by this humble Blogger, read by up to ten people a day sometimes. Now he says he had no idea his son Kojo was involved in pilfering money from the UN’s Oil-for-Food program. Otherwise known as Oil-for-Palaces.

The Volker report was published last week and amazingly, Kofi is exonerated! The report “criticizes” Kofi for not being aware of the conflict of his son, a 20 something loutabout, receiving money for his “work” in the oil-for-palaces program. If so then Ken Lay, Worldcom, the whole bunch of corporate thieves should also be “criticized”. They’re all going to jail and so should Kofi.

From opinionjournal.com:

Although Kofi Annan is exonerated of financial impropriety, the report will cast an unflattering light on his oversight of the $100 billion-plus program.

It particularly criticizes Mr. Annan for failing to appreciate the potential conflict of interest posed by his son Kojo's work for Cotecna Inspection Services, a Swiss company that bid for--and eventually won--a multimillion dollar U.N. contract connected to Oil For Food. One revelation: Annan fils received some $400,000 from Cotecna for about 20 months of work, not $160,000 as previously reported. Not bad for a 20-something youth.

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Sandy Bergler Pleads Misdemeanor
For dropping highly classified documents down his pants from the National Archives. And damn if he didn’t inadvertently shred some of the things by accident as well.

Only the man is pleading guilty of his “mistake”. You and I yon Ladies and Gems would be locked up for years for this stunt. Yet Bergler and his partners in crime, Hillary and Bill, get but a slap on the wrist.
Foxnews.com:

Former national security adviser Sandy Berger (search) will plead guilty to taking classified material from the National Archives (search), a misdemeanor, the Justice Department said Thursday.

 

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Political Cartoon of the Week
Enough said.

 


America Idol-One Down Now There's Nine
It came down to Anwar and Jessica this past week. To my surprise, and all of the judges. Jessica Sierra got the boot.

I'm not sure what song Bo Bice was singing the night of 3/29/05. A night when ten contestants were left and when tracking the singers, their voices and senses of style became a bit less onerous.

Whatever the song, I didn't especially like it. Simon, not that I'm proud of this fact, agreed with me about the song.

Still I think Bo is a real contender. His long hair, his good and solid voice, his style and persona, all have a star quality that is the essence of the contest.

Several of the contestants wore torn jeans that I know are all the rage. And goodness knows the world of showbiz is such that a grunge sort of style is standard attire. Jessica Sierra, who did wonderful the prior week, wore just such a getup and I'm at a loss as to why. I would think the chance, even if not a winner, to appear on national TV and belt out a tune would also be a chance to show off one's different and unique style. Jessica has another rival that competes with her in my mind and this week my thoughts tilt yet again. More on this later. Jessica was eliminated the following night after this performance. I definitely think Jessica's voice should have carried her to the top five.

Someone should tell Anwar Robinson that those fake dreadlocks are a major distraction if not a complete turn off to a large segment of the population. No it's not a racial thing, plenty of Caucasian celebrities sport dreadlocks. But as a singer it presents a persona more in line with a gangsta rapper than Anwar's crooning would depict. Robinson sang "I Believe I Can Fly", a pretty song and he did a very good job with it. Paula loved it. Simon, alas, "totally disagree"-ed.

Nadia Turner. Now here's a contestant that has me back and forth, in and out. First, I don't think she has the best voice of all the entrants. However American Idol is not just about the best singer no matter what they tell you. There's a "star" quality that must be present and darn no matter how often I watch Nadia perform I am impressed by her style. Last week she wore a huge Mohawk type of hairdo. This past week she sported a huge Afro. Given her sense of style, her presentation of self, and a lovely voice with a nice range, I'm this week leaning to Nadia over Jessica.

I paid closer attention to Constantine Maroulis this week as he's flitted on and off the stage before I could closely assess. Constantine really does have a nice voice. He sported a grunge type of look but it was definitely a special style. Constantine wore a suit jacket coupled with the ubiquitous torn jeans. With his messy but beautiful head of hair and that slightly unshaved look, Maroulis is definitely a top fiver. The judges loved Constantine but I must ask, was he wearing sandals?
 


A commenter on Blogcritics.com-link on my sidebar, berated me for calling Nikko Smith a gangsta rapper and scolded that I should pay more attention, that Nikko has talent. So I did and I still say he has a ghetto edge. Which is not a bad thing. Rap and soul tunes are a very popular genre in American music and there's no reason why a singer of that genre should be eliminated from the contest. He is not my cup of tea though I am a Grandma Blogger keep in mind.

Anthony Federov-that Clay Aiken lookalike, sang without his glasses this past week. Which makes me wonder if he's running from his Aiken comparisons. Simon called his performance "excruciating". I didn't like it either. Though I will say one thing, without those glasses he sure is a handsome fellow below the nerd image.

Sean Hannity would be proud of Carrie Underwood, a pretty blond with a voice just made for country and western tunes. She belted out Hannity's theme song "Independence Day" and BINGO!-this is Carrie's sort of tune. I'd have to give Carrie top five ranking, if not top three.

Scott Savol, goodness. All I can say is "mediocre, mediocre, mediocre". Like Simon said..."a karaoke performance". Scott's a big fellow but that's no bar to the top spot, witness Ruben Stoddard. Scott is no Ruben Stoddard. He has nowhere near the same melodious voice and whether he was skinny or fat I'd accuse Scott of having no clothing style whatsoever.

Vonzell Washington is pretty, has great style, sang a good song. She's still just not good enough to win this thing, maybe not make it to the top five.

As of now my choices for top five, in the order listed, below:

5-Jessica Sierra-(Note-eliminated)
4-Constantine Maroulis
3-Carrie Underwood
2-Bo Bice
1-Nadia Turner

This will change next week.
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The Bachelor
Checked into this reality series that I’d never watched before.

Wow, what a really dumb show. But then in some fashion all reality shows are a bit dumb.

I watched the girls spend their minute or so with the bachelor, who was not all that handsome or smart I thought. The way some of those ladies behaved! One sat right on his lap and gave him an ample display of her breasts. If this is how they have to win a man…well how sad is this?

Oh I suppose in a nightclub meat market type of environment such behavior might be not so outrageous. But this was those ladies’ first time to meet this guy one on one. The more intelligent used it to talk and answer questions about themselves. Plenty of time for the boob thing later.
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The Apprentices Make Pizza
Only they didn’t make the white shrimp pizza as I suggested last week.

Meatball pizza seemed to be the big new pizza flavor not that Donald Trump didn’t give a great big hint before task commencement.

The task assigned was to develop a new pizza flavor for Dominos, receive training to make pizza then sell it via a mobile kitchen type of affair.

One team decided to park outside of an empty college dorm. Which might have been a good idea had the college students been there. But it was spring break or some such.

Then team leader Stephanie, who was fired by Trump this past week, got it into her head that she should spend over an hour delivering pizza by subway to some construction workers that she felt she had an obligation to.

 


Stephanie argued in the boardroom that she felt that integrity and honesty were more important than, well, selling pizzas.

No, Stephanie. As a consultant for many businesses throughout the years, given the same scenario as pizza night, I’d have advised my clients NOT to spend an hour delivering pizzas across town no matter the good will.

Which is not to say that Stephanie was wrong. Honesty and integrity are important. And Stephanie had promised some construction workers that she would deliver the pizzas the next day.

It’s about PRIORITIES. Every business has to set priorities at times. In this case, with a three hour window to sell pizza, the team leader should not have been running across town delivering pizzas on a promise. She should have been there with her team. It’s not all that likely that the construction workers would have even remembered the promise but even so, in this case it was best to make a few customers annoyed rather than make a lot of customers go without pizza and the company’s coffers be deprived of the revenue.

There’s a lot of discussion about Chris, a “former” (we shall see) chewer of tobacco with a hot temper.

Hot tempers are not all that unusual in a business world. So far as I’ve seen Chris’ temper is not out of control. Plenty of folks all across the Blogosphere disagree with me, however.

My predictions for the final two:

2-Bren
1-Alex
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TV Events This Coming Week

Only one TV event of Note this coming week, and than that’s just my opinion.
On Monday, 4/11/04, there’s one of those “revisit” shows-Mork and Mindy-NBC

Two hours, my goodness. And “unauthorized”, whatever that means.

 

Get Out the Guitar
Also some Kleenex. For this week’s web site of the week launches the viewer into a well choreographed expression of appreciation for the American cowboy.

With a few American cowboys that might surprise.

To get you in the mood, a sweet cowboy scene below.

 


Why I Love Cowboys