The Waterboard Express

I'm starting my own wish list of people I'd like to see waterboarded; Dick Cheney tops this list. He talks a whole lot of shit for someone who spent the entire Vietnam War dodging the draft.

The rest of the hard-liners advocating torture probably couldn't spend five seconds getting waterboarded and this includes Cheney, Condoleeza Rice and W himself. If President Obama continues to back pedal on his campaign promises regarding the war on terror, he might very well be standing with these people but that is another story for another day.

Remember back in April when Cheney damn near boasted about his approval of waterboarding in an interview with ABC News:

I supported it. I was aware of the program, certainly, and involved in helping get the process cleared, as the agency in effect came in and wanted to know what they could and couldn't do. And they talked to me, as well as others, to explain what they wanted to do. And I supported it. It's been a remarkably successful effort, and I think the results speak for themselves.

It's not the terrorists or terrorist threats that scare me, it's people like Dick Cheney. He's scarier than a musty room infested with a zillion cockroaches. The man makes me break out in hives.

Forget about the enemies outside our borders, I'm more concerned about people like Dick Cheney who use lies, fear and divisiveness to promote their own interests.

70s Flashback: Truck Turner

Here's a wonderful gem of a movie starring Isaac Hayes (R.I.P) as a bounty hunter Truck Turner. This action movie is loaded with some great one liners that sounded real good 30 years ago but sound oh so corny now. It's Fort Knox in panties...

Did I mention the bad acting? Isaac Hayes was a talented musician and songwriter but his acting was painful to watch. Some other memorable performances in this movie include Nichelle Nichols of the original Uhura from 'Star Trek' and Yaphet Kotto who was a fixture in 70s films.

Iman Critiques Michelle Obama

Much has been made of supermodel Iman's comments about First Lady Michelle Obama. In case you haven't heard them or read them, you can here. This story could easily be about catty comments one black woman makes about another but I'm going to pretend that is not what this is about.

On the surface, Iman's comments sound rude, "Michelle Obama is invariably described as beautiful or attractive by the press, I realize that beauty is in the eye of the beholder but this is simply not true." I have never heard Iman go at anyone with such tenaciousness and veracity. I haven't heard her talking about the lawlessness in her homeland, Somalia or criticizing the al-Shabab either but Michelle Obama, now she's worth talking about.

I don't know what the reporter asked Iman but whatever it was, she took the bait or maybe she was just waiting to blurt it out. As someone who has been described as "interesting looking" too, I'm ust wondering why Iman just didn't come out and call Michelle Obama ugly. She's interesting looking but she's so smart. Wouldn't most women prefer beauty to smarts anyway? Aging like a hunk of cheese or a vat of vinegar is so not the shit and Iman knows it.

I'm just guessing Iman can forget about an invite to anything the Obamas have at the White House. The First Lady has class, she always takes the high road and her critics and haters usually end up looking foolish. I guess being married to the most powerful man in the world is never going to be good enough for some people, even Iman.

Whoopi, Barbara and Glenn Beck, Oh My!

Glenn Beck got moted by Whoopi Goldberg and Barbara Walters on "The View". I don't know what he was expecting, but he got embarrassed real fast. He knows he was lying and got caught. What a jerk!

Now I see Elizabeth squirming over there wanting to jump in but not being smart enough to do so. Stuttering, stammering and lying and still trying to make this about Nancy Pelosi. What does Nancy Pelosi have to do with Glenn Beck lying by the way!? Nice attempt at subterfuge, Glenn but it did not work. I see him squirming and talking but he hasn't said much of anything. Doesn't answer any of Barbara's questions and totally ignores Whoopi.

He denies being a reporter and claims to be a commentator, either way, he's still a lying sack of dog shit. He spews all kinds of irresponsible lies and baseless nonsense yet doesn't want to be held accountable for any of them. Scary as it seems, there are people who believe everything this man says. It's a damn shame.

Oprah, Steve Harvey and KFC

The day I listen to Steve Harvey's relationship advice, is the day I go to KFC to buy some damn grilled chicken! Between us, I went to the KFC a few days ago to get some of that extra crispy chicken and was politely informed that they no longer offer it. I damn near got belligerent.

"Ma'am, we no longer offer extra crispy, would you like to try our Kentucky Grilled Chicken instead?" chirped the KFC employee. I snapped back "If I wanted some grilled chicken, I'd be eating at home right now. I sure as hell don't come to KFC for grilled chicken. The non-chalant KFC employee took my money, gave me my change and handed over that 6 piece fried chicken dinner I settled for instead. I knew I should have gone to Popeyes!

Oprah has this uncanny ability to work my nerves, if she recommends a book, I'm not interested, if she's raving about something, I'm determined to avoid it and if she's offering a coupon, I'm definitely not downloading it. That Kentucky Fried Fiasco last week has left me scratching my head. I was so surprised to find out that free grilled chicken meant so much to people that they were willing to stage sit-ins and protests over it.

This kind of ridiculous, embarassing behavior needs to stop. What's the big deal about some free grilled chicken? So you didn't get that free piece of grilled chicken, but if you really wanted some that badly, you could have bought some instead. I don't really know how things went down but I'm willing to bet KFC spent more time listening to complaints than selling chicken last week. And for that, I blame Oprah and I blame KFC.

As for Steve Harvey, he'd be the last person I'd be taking relationship advice from. I used to like him years ago when he was one of the Kings of Comedy. Personally, I didn't think he had a book in him. He's never really addressed relationships in his stand-up comedy at all so I find his lame attempt at relationship advice for women somewhat disingenous. He's already been accused of plagarism by a Chicago woman.

We all know Oprah is no stranger to controversial authors, particularly those accused of plagarism and fabrication but if she's really considering Steve Harvey for his own talk show, she should probably talk to his ex-wives first.

Abass Abass Freestyle

Remember when hip hop was fresh and original? I'm talking before the misogyny, violence and Christal when rap actually had a message. I had to post this freestyle by one of my favorite French rappers by way of Senegal, Abass Abass. Abass has some of the best beats I've heard in a long time. And his rhymes, I'm learning French so it sounds good to me. Mon frere peulh.

70's Flashback: Trouble Man

"I come up hard, baby but now I'm cool. I didn't make it playin' by the rules"

'Trouble Man' starring Robert Hooks is another forgotten classic from the 1970s. Everybody knows 'Shaft', 'Superfly' and 'The Mack' but 'Trouble Man' is an overlooked classic. The theme song and the soundtrack by Marvin Gaye is one of the best to come out of this era, it ranks up there with the soundtracks from 'Shaft' and 'Superfly'.

Republican Politics of Fear

After the first 100 days of Barack Obama's presidency, all the stale old Republicans can come up with is a scary video. Fear, which is something they've spent the past eight years cultivating, is a convenient fallback when they don't have any proven strategies or new ideas.

Republican House Leaders John Boehner and Pete Hoekstra thought producing this video would be a good way show how Democrats and President Obama are weak on defense, commiserating with our enemies and setting this country up for another terrorist attack. Scared yet?

If I didn't know any better, this video looks like something that could have been produced by the Bush people last year or even six years ago. This is all old stuff, none of it is compelling enough to arouse fear. Hugo Chavez doesn't scare me. Sure, he has a jug head and big ears but I'm not scared of him. Apparently, neither is President Obama.

I'm not sure why I should be afraid of the Saudis. Sure they're different, they're Muslim and have more oil than we do but I'm not scared of them. While Boehner and Hoekstra might find the Saudis scary, the only thing about the Saudis that concerns me is their deplorable treatment of women and girls. Child bride anyone? I find their interpretation of Islam is extremely disturbing and detrimental to women.

As far as those jihadi guys go, I find them just as misguided about Islam as the Saudis except they embrace the murder of innocent people to prove their point. There ain't no holy war (jihad) except for the one in their screwed up heads. If they think killing innocent people will further their cause, there's not much we do about it.

For me, it's not the Saudis, the jihadis or Hugo Chavez but those who cling to outdated ideas and warped thinking that scare me. Remember those crowds at Sarah Palin's rallies during the 2008 presidential campaign? Getting all riled up over Obama's "palling around with terrorists", his funny-sounding name and his alleged ties to Islam? Now those people scare me and I don't even have to go to Saudi Arabia, Cuba or Pakistan to see them.

Rollin' With the RNC

Thanks to one of my favorite bloggers, Professor Tracy for this clip. RNC Chairman Michael Steele wants everyone to know he's the hippest guy in the room. In a political party awash with bigots, xenophobes and outdated ideas, all he can talk about is how he wears his hat. Steele reminds me of the 50 year old guy in the club with twenty somethings, trying desperately to be hip and be accepted. He may not be embarrassed but I'm embarrassed for him.

Note to Michael: The bemused looks on the faces of Pat Buchanan, Joe Scarborough and Mika Brezenski are priceless. Being the only black guy in the room does not make you the hippest guy in the room.