Grammys: Not Ready to Make Nice

Last night's Grammys were certainly not ready to make nice with President Bush. The Dixie Chicks swept all five categories in which they were nominated. They won album of the year ("Taking the Long Way"), record of the year ("Not Ready to Make Nice"), song of the year ("Not Ready to Make Nice"), best country performance by a duo or group with vocal, and best country album. (Rick Rubin, their producer won producer of the year.) Ironically, the trio were completely shut out at the Country Music Awards show.

Lead singer Natalie Maines crowed, "Well, to quote the great 'Simpsons, "Heh! Heh!'" She added, "I think people are using their freedom of speech with all of these awards: We get the message." To add insult to injury, President Carter won a Grammy for the spoken word (in a tie with Ruby Dee and her late hubby Ossie Davis for "With Ossie and Ruby: In This Life Together") for his "Our Endangered Values: America's Moral Crisis." Other prominent liberal politicians to have received Grammys in the same category are Hillary Clinton (1997), Bill Clinton (2004, 2005), and Barack Obama (2006).

Cf. http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=entertainmentNews&storyID=2007-02-12T061717Z_01_N07388297_RTRUKOC_0_US-GRAMMYS.xml&pageNumber=2&imageid=∩=&sz=13&WTModLoc=NewsArt-C1-ArticlePage2;
http://www.cmaawards.com/2006/nomwin/nominees.asp; and
http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=domesticNews&storyid=2007-02-12T000722Z_01_N11314663_RTRUKOC_0_US-GRAMMYS-CARTER.xml.

Monk Rules

When you grab your cart at the local grocery, have you ever considered the hygenic nature of its handle. As you rub your mouth or wipe your nose, do you think of others who have done the same before you, esp., as you pick out your produce? According to researchers at the University of Arizona, shopping carts have more bacteria, spittle, and fecal matter than even public restrooms. An Arkansan law will encourage groceries to give sanitary wipes to patrons. Some nicer stores do now: hopefully, Wal-mart will lead the way for the other laggards. Kudos, Mr. Monk!

Cf. http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/OnCall/story?id=2859060.

Curb For Paraplegic

Those expousing the virtues of America's private healthcare model and the vices of a universal healthcare system should consider the fate of a penniless Los Angeles paraplegic. LAPD Officer Eric de la Cruz stated that the unnamed man said that he was dropped off by the hospital van on skid row because he had no where else to go and that the hospital staff told him that he could no longer stay at the medical center. Based on witnesses' writing down of the license plate number and a phone number on the van, LAPD detectives are questioning officials at Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center already under investigation for another dumping case. LAPD Det. Russ Long declared that this case was the worst that he had seen in his career. He elaborated, I can't think of anything colder than that; there was no mission around, no services; it's the worst area of skid row." Witnesses related to police that the man, wearing a dirtied hospital gown, propped himself up in the van's door, threw himself tumbling into the street, and pulled himself along with his belongings clinched in his teeth. Further, they disclosed that the female driver left him without a wheelchair or walker and was more concerned with the soiled seats and her facial farding. (Within the last two years, the Los Angeles Metropolitan
Medical Center, the Martin Luther King, Jr./Drew Medical Center, and the Kaiser's West Los Angeles Angeles hospital have also been accused of patient dumping by the LAPD.)

Cf. http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-dumping9feb09,0,7452706.story?coll=la-home-headlines.

G'bye, Anna Nicole

Anna Nicole Smith (nee Vickie Lynn Hogan), Guess model, MTV reality show star, former Playboy bunny, and widow of billionaire nonagenarian J. Howard Marshall II, was found dead early this afternoon after collapsing at the Hard Rock Hotel in Hollywood, Florida, at the age of 39. Her death follows the recent death of her son, Danny, from a drug overdose and the death of her stepson E. Pierce Marshall (who fought Smith to keep her from inheriting @ $450 million dollars). According to a source deemed credible by Access Hollywood, a Hard Rock employee discovered Anna Nicole in her hotel room, removed the sheet, and found that she appeared to have become asphyxiated in her own regurgitation. CBS sources added that officers found unlawful narcotics and prescription drugs in the room. Police state that the cause of death is unknown. Smith leaves Dannielynn, a five-month old daughter, whose patriarchal lineage is yet unknown. Photog and former lover Larry Birkhead claims to be the father of the child, and Howard K. Stern, Smith's last boyfriend and attorney, alleges paternity.

Cfs. deleted by AOL Journals apparently.

Naked Sundays

Chanteuse Christina Aguilera revealed to Ellen DeGeneres on Ellen's eponymous show (to be aired today) how she helps keep the hearth's embers stoked with her hubby. "We claim ourselves to be the coziest couple ever: we have something called 'naked Sundays.'" The former Mousketeer elaborated, "You have to keep marriage alive, spice it up: we do everything naked." Makes a single man consider anew the benefits of marriage.

Cf. http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,250579,00.html.

Who RU Voting 4?

Rudy Giuliani explained his positions on Hannity and Colmes Monday (2/5/07) after filing his statement of candidacy papers with the federal election commission. He was very articulate and tempered: he explained his views on abortion, homosexual civil unions, gun control, immigration, etc. Rudy looked and sounded very electable. Even though Sen. McCain is the current front runner in the GOP, he appears to be an avatar of Dole (a frank statesman and real American hero but a flawed presidential candidate with skin more than a bit thin). If there is no pro-life candidate with a real chance to win, who will social conservatives back? Once abortion is off the table, even Democrats begin to become viable options.

All Shook Up in the NASA Triangle

43-year-old Lisa Marie Nowak, a July 2006 Discovery space shuttle astronaut, was arrested on attempted kidnapping and related charges according to police. Reportedly, the space traveler donned adult diapers and raced 900 miles to have an unscheduled talk with a younger love rival, NASA engineer Colleen Shipman, who was flying into Orlando from Miami. (NASA astronaut and Navy Cmdr. William Oefelein apparently was the triangle's Romeo.) Allegedly, after conspicuously tailing Shipman into the parking lot, the trench coat-clad Nowak coaxed the leery Shipman into only opening the window of her car a few inches, and then hit her with pepper spray. According to authorities, Shipman reported the assault and later police observed Nowak trashing a wig and BB pistol and carrying rubber tubing, a 4-in. folding knife, garbage bags, $600 in cash and a steel mallet in a bag when she was apprehended. (Police also
indicated that they found six rubber gloves, e-mail to Oefelein from Shipman, a love letter to Oefelein from Nowak, and handwritten directions to Shipman's home. Today, the starry-eyed, love-struck brunette had her bond set at $15,500 and was instructed to wear a GPS anklet and to remain at least 15 miles from Cape Canaveral.

Cf. http://news.aol.com/topnews/articles/_a/astronaut-charged-with-kidnap-attempt/20070206065609990001?ncid=NWS00010000000001 and Fox News Live (02/06/07).

UPDATE: Nowak charged with attempted first degree murder. She is now in jail and facing a new bond hearing.

Cf. Fox Online (02/06/07).