Interesting news

With all that is happening, I have been mostly consumed with the WGA strikes (cuz it's closely connected to my gig) and the primaries this year... it's so exciting! I love that there is no clear winner in either parties, unlike the upcoming Superbowl... I hate that the Patriots are favored to win. They are so fucken smug, especially Tom Brady. I just want to kick him in the groin. But I digress.

Despite my narrow interests lately, I found these articles most fascinating.

• Meat consumption is analogous to oil consumption (please read, it's very persuasive)
  

• The power of our period (Women rock! We produce natural healing properties... like aloe vera)
  

• Infliction of emotion distress by Blue Man Group (I don't know why, but reading this made me chuckle like a stupid little boy)

Now a moment for our sponsors

I have both good news and bad news.

The bad news first.

The new energy drink COCAINE (as featured in a past posting) has been pulled from stores nationwide amid concerns about its name... despite that the drink contains no drugs unfortunately. The FDA cited as evidence the drink's labeling and Web site, which included the statements "Speed in a Can," "Liquid Cocaine" and "Cocaine -- Instant Rush."

You would think the FDA would be busy investigating and preventing the contamination of pet food rather than poo poo-ing on a company's first amendment rights. But I guess I'm wrong.


Now for the good news.

Filmmaker John Woo is presenting a new video game called Stranglehold (one of the sponsors of the VC Film Fest) that features no other but Chow Yun Fat and it looks GOOD. Coming in Summer 2007, it will be available for next-gen video game consoles. I don't know what that means, but it sounds hot. I doubt I can play it on my Sony Playstation from 1998 though. Drat.

The tagline for the video game is as follows:

Honor is his code.
Vengeance is his mission.
Bloodshed is his only option.

Dude, it sounds like such a classic John Woo film, it's awesome!

World peace is possible

I love morning radio. I wake up to NPR/KPCC and delight in the short soundbites I hear before I snooze my alarm for another 6 minutes. My clock radio continues to stay on while I get ready for work. It has become part of my routine and like the ultimate nerd, I really enjoy it.

This morning I was elated to hear that world peace is possible.

First, the bully John Bolton resigned today from his short-lived tenure as UN Ambassador.

This news bring joy to my heart because the Bush Administration is slowly but surely crumbling.

Moral of the Story: Bullies never win.

Then I hear this crazy story about how Lionel Ritchie is LOVED by the people in Iraq. Apparently, when Lionel last toured the Middle East, warring factions set aside their differences to watch Lionel perform. The radio commentator playfully said, "Sunnis and Shiites have two things in common: their love for Allah and their love for Lionel Ritchie."

This brings joy to my heart because I too love Allah and Lionel Ritchie.

Moral of the Story: Lovers never lose.

Rumsfeld resigns!

and the Democrats win the House, with the Senate pending. Am I dreaming? If I am, do not wake me up!

Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld announced his resignation today as the first casualty of Tuesday's elections, in which voters punished Republicans for the Iraq war and gave Democrats at least 27 seats in the House and a good shot at capturing the Senate.

Girls Gone... Good?

Good news for the morning! "Girls Gone Wild" Creator, Joe Francis, plead guilty to two felony counts of violating federal record-keeping laws by failing to document the ages of young women in his infamous videos. In other words, he's busted for videotaping underage girls doing naughty, naughty things.

The judge imposed a $500,000 fine. When the judge asked Francis if he understood that, given the felonies he was admitting to, he could be sentenced to as many as 10 years in prison, he seemed surprised. "Um, I don't understand that," he said.

I guess that's why he got BUSTED! Such a dumb ass!

While the rest of the world is gentrifying...

Venezuela is degentrifying! Awesome.

Caracas, Venezuela -- Mayor Juan Barreto announced late Tuesday that the municipal government planned to seize two elite country clubs and redevelop them as low-income housing projects.

The Hugo Chavez government has targeted 4 million acres of farmland for seizure and redistribution this year to poor farm cooperatives. In Caracas, the takeover is prompted by a housing shortage and is permitted under the Chavez land law passed in 2003, which gave the government sweeping new powers to seize property that it deemed idle, misused, illegally acquired or not contributing to "social goals."

Big ups to Cali

California lawmakers and Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger reached an agreement today to make the state the first in the U.S. to impose a cap on greenhouse gas emissions.

The Global Warming Solutions Act aims to cut emissions to 25 percent by 2020 with an enforceable cap and mandatory reporting for top polluters like energy companies.

As the most populous state in the US, California is the world's 12th largest emitter of greenhouse gases. But the Terminator wants to change all that.

Last month Schwarzenegger signed an accord with British Prime Minister Tony Blair establishing joint research into cleaner-burning fuels and technologies. Now look what he's doing today!

But the governor's commitment to emissions caps puts him at odds with the White House and the Republicans in the California legislature, who are concerned that such restrictions would be too costly for businesses and the economy.

Tough shit. Why should we sacrafice the earth so that corporations can squeeze the most profits out of their businesses? I'm so tired of these blood-sucking fuckers. I hope they choke on greenhouse gases.

Lieberman the Loser

... or is he?

US Senator Joe Lieberman concedes the democratic primary election to challenger Ned Lamont and announces that he will run as an independent candidate in November 2008.

I mean, did he seriously think he was going to win the DEMOCRATIC primaries? It's true that democratics and republicans are the same in many ways... but this mofo was much further (FAR) right. He's like one of those evangelical christian republicans, but instead, he's jewish. I guess that would make him a zionist.

If he was truly a democrat, he would have cowardly and quietly supported the war efforts in the beginning, and now denounce it with a moral indignation (sigh... i belong to a party filled with pussies and punks). Rather, Lieberman still rallies for the war, and with vigor. With raw zionist vigor. So how can he call himself a Democrat? I guess he didn't read the memo.

Could this be an elaborate plan for him to leave the democratic party and still save face? As an "independent" who wasn't ousted by his party, he could still win the votes of conservative democrats, and now garnish support of republicans. And he can finally come out of the closet and be the neo-conservative republican he always wanted to be. It could be a brilliant plan, especially if the little troll can pull it off. I shudder to think about it.

But for tonight, I drink and smoke to Lieberman's loss. Burp.

Justice

Former Enron Corp. chiefs Kenneth Lay and Jeffrey Skilling were convicted today of conspiracy to commit securities and wire fraud in one of the biggest business scandals in U.S. history.

In light of current affairs, this was a scary trial. I feared that these crooks would get exculpated. Hooray that they're going DOWN!

Also, Alabama's Taylor Hicks was crowned the fifth "American Idol"

I haven't followed American Idol, but I knew Hicks was the underdog, especially when people repeated how old he was (with disgust, I might add). I correctly suspected that he's much younger than he looks... he's 29 years old! Ageism is a bitch.

More than 63 million votes were cast, "more than any president in the history of our country has received," Ryan Seacrest said.

That's really pathetic... but hooray to Hicks!

No love for Condi

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice received an honorary degree and addressed graduates at Boston College today. Faculty and students stood with their backs toward the stage as Rice was introduced to give her commencement speech.

A letter written by two theology professors, and signed by more than 10 percent of the faculty, kicked off the opposition to Rice. "On the levels of both moral principle and practical moral judgment, Secretary Rice's approach to international affairs is in fundamental conflict with Boston College's commitment to the values of the Catholic and Jesuit traditions and is inconsistent with the humanistic values that inspire the university's work," the letter said.

"We are very concerned as Catholics that Boston College has invited Condoleezza Rice, who is an architect of this foreign policy and war. ... That is hardly something to honor," said Brayton Shanley, a BC alumnus and co-founder of Agape, a lay Catholic organization that has been working with students to organize the protests.

Viva Mexico!

Possessing marijuana, cocaine and even heroin will no longer be a crime in Mexico if they are in small amounts for personal use under new reforms that quickly drew U.S. criticism... but not by this American!

Thoughts about the soaring gas prices

I heard a special report on NPR this morning that featured a family who spoke about changes they intend to make in their lives due to the increased gas prices. The father is going to replace his SUV for a smaller economical car. He also decided to take his son to a local skating rink for hockey practice rather than driving 20 miles to some professional skating rink.

Although I'm not in favor of these oil companies profitting from our dependency on their product, people are changing their oil-dependent lifestyles as a result. And that's a good thing, I think.

Universal health care

Massachusetts is set to become the first state to set up a system of virtually compulsory health insurance in the only major industrial nation not to have universal care.

New legislation requires that all of the state's population of about 6.3 million people have medical insurance by July 1, 2007.

First legalizing gay marriages, now providing health care for all... Massachusetts is so amazing. Other retrograde states, like South Dakota, can go to hell. Word.

Bye Bye!

Former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, one of the most powerful members of Congress, is now ready to call it quits in the face of mounting legal problems and a tough reelection campaign.

Smell ya later, dude!

Welcome Nikhil

I'm Nikhil Jai Panzarella, Bitch!

In Hot Mamma's own words:

The waiting is finally over!!!

After two false labors, poorly choreographed plane trips, Liz's stomach flu, and the death of Giano's car...Nikhil Jai Panzarella made his much anticipated grand entrance into the world on March 29th 2006 (one day past the due date) at 11:30 AM weighing in at 7 lbs 1.6oz, 19.5 inches long. All three of us have been recovering ever since. Given our different ethnic backgrounds (news to us), the question on everyone's mind has congruently been..."What does he look like !?!?" Check him out for yourselves, we think he is amazing and are proud to share him with the world.

Thank you for all of your phone calls, support, and love during the past 9 months!
Liz, Giano, and Nikhil Panzarella

Joe Mak in Chicago!

Joe Mak, Street Magician is debuting at the 11th Annual Chicago Asian American Film Festival today, as I type actually. It started at 5:15 pm midwestern time. I am so extremely bummed that I am not there right now, but I didn't have the time nor funds to go home. Sniffle. Still, I am very excited and hope the Chi-town folks find it funny.

Here's a descirption of our short from FAAIM's program booklet:

Joe Mak: Street Magician
Rebecca Yee | 2005 | 9 min | video | USA
David Blaine ain’t got nothing on “the Mak.” Joe’s magic defies all sense of logic and purpose, as his street performance amazes mostly himself. Catch the magic of Joe Mak!

Congratulations to the JMSM cast and crew!

Don't Chop a tree for Sticks!

Beijing recently imposed a new 5% tax on manufacturers that make disposable chopsticks.

It's a good way to save the nation's vanishing forests — one chopstick at a time. China carves up about 45 billion pairs of disposable chopsticks a year. That means certain death for about 25 million full-grown poplar and birch trees.

DYY praises this new tax! In fact, DYY believes that we should all discontinue using disposable utensils and carry our own re-useable chopsticks, forks, spoons and knives everywhere we go! They can come together in cute little re-useable sacks with kitchy or cool designs and far-out colors!

Ash Wednesday rocks on

Since I'm not Catholic, and would never give up meat or my vices, I struggled with how to celebrate Ash Wednesday. Then I read Cardinal Mahony's statement that he would instruct his priests to defy legislation — if approved by Congress — that would require churches and other social organizations to ask immigrants for legal documentation before providing assistance. This provision was included in the immigration bill recently passed by the House of Representatives; a similar proposal is in the version that the Senate Judiciary Committee plans to begin debating this week.

As a regular critic of the Catholic Church for its homophobic and misogynist views, I find Cardinal Mahony's perspective on immigration to be refreshing. DYY rejoices his words on this first day of Lent. Peace be with you.

They're back

The Fugees performed a reunion concert in LA for the masses at Hollywood and Vine on February 6, 2006. Sadly, I missed it.

Pay up, Bitches!

Fed up with burger wrappers, french fry containers and paper cups, Oakland is the first city in the nation to force fast-food restaurants, convenience stores and other businesses to help pay for cleaning up street trash.

Oakland, you may be ghetto, but you're a ghetto superstar in my book!