Random poison is not funny

A student at UT was doing laundry and opened up a roll of quarters. She saw a strange powder inside. Turns out that it was ricin, and she was rushed to the hospital The dorm was shut down, and police are investigating.

The girl got the roll of quarters from her mom, who said she got it from a bank. The bank is now closed, and everyone trying to figure out where the hell this stuff came from.

Here's my thing: Did someone think it would be cute to create ricin and put it in a roll of quarters? Did they think they were being funny? This reminds me of a few years ago during the Anthrax scare. Remember how Anthrax was suddenly showing up everywhere? It still boggles my mind that a human being would take to time to actually acquire - or make - a DEADLY POISON, insert it into envelopes and rolls of quarters, and give it to somebody.

Memo to my fellow human beings: Random poison is not funny.

That weed be talking to me

Are we supposed to fee sorry for Ricky Williams? In case ya'll haven't heard, this fool failed YET ANOTHER drug test. Word on the street is that this may not be weed, but something else. Oh, so Ricky been doing a little something stronger than weed?

Here's my thing: Ricky need to go sit down. I'm all for wanting to be zen and smoke weed or do whatever floats your boat. But he need to stop pretending that he ISN'T a drug head. If you want to do your thing, do it and leave it at that. Quit frontin.

Of course, we all know the only reason Ricky came back to the NFL was because the Dolphins were about to sue his ass for the $8 million he owned them. Sitting in the woods mediating is cool, but it's a hard to do when you're broke as a joke. So, instead of giving all that money back to the Dolphins, Ricky came back to work, CLAIMING that he was done with drugs.

Yeah, ok. Like I said, I have no problem with him doing his thing. But he should at least be honest with his shit.

"Does she still wear that rag on her head?"

A little bit of this, a little bit of that...

* So the same day the White House announces that they will seek approval to spy on us - AFTER admitting they've been doing it for years - Bin Laden announces on a tape that he will never be caught alive. Why is W so worried about whether or not I order extra sauce on my buffalo wings at Bw3 than he is at catching Bin Laden?

* The timing of this while thing smells funny. Oh yeah, SUDDENLY here come Bin Laden, releasing yet another DVD with a Directors Cut and deleted scenes. Every time you turn around this fool getting Tupac, releasing new tapes and videos. Why can't we find that fool?

* A friend of mine just got back from a super-cheap trip to the Bahamas. He was bragging because he got a week in the Bahamas - airfare and hotel - for about $500. Weeellll, like everything else, there was a catch. Or shall we say, several. For one thing, he had to change planes like 4 times. And each time had a lengthy lay over. Then, he had to take whatever seats were available, and was complaining because he ended up in the back of the plane with a couple of bratty kids. And this guy is an elite member on this airline. THEN, when he finally gets to the Bahamas...guess what? Yep, the cheap hotel he booked on priceline was a shithole: smelly room, stained sheets on bed, broken lamps, no hot water. The whole nine. He was not pleased.

* Bump that. I'd rather pay more to be comfortable. I want my guaranteed seat in row 6 on my flight. I was some assurances that roaches won't crawl out from under the bed in my hotel room.
* Erykah Badu put on a hell of a show here Saturday night. Tore it up. A friend of mine asked: "Does she still wear that rag on her head?" LOL.

Dick is dangerous

See Dick.
See Dick hunt.
See Dick hunt with his boy.
See Dick hunt with his boy on a ranch.
See Dick hunt with his boy on a ranch in Texas.
See Dick hunt with his boy on a ranch in Texas and not pay attention.
See Dick shoot his boy.
See Dick say: "My bad."
Dick tried to cover it up. Then, when it was revealed what happened, he still didn't say much.

Dick, you see, doesn't feel that he has to answer to anybody. He is, after all, Dick.

And a dick.

But, eventually, the truth came out. Dick's secret was revealed.

Dozens of newspaper stories were written. Comics made fun of Dick. Columnists called him out. Everybody was wondering what was going on with Dick: Was he crazy? Is he arrogant? Is Alzheimers kicking in? Or is he just a dick?

Finally, Dick held a press conference. He had a major announcement: He shot his friend.

WASHINGTON (AP) - Vice-President Dick Cheney on Wednesday accepted full blame for shooting a fellow hunter and defended his decision to not publicly disclose the accident until the following day. He called it "one of the worst days of my life."

Gee, Dick, thanks for sharing.

See Dick.
See Dick struggle.
See Dick backtrack.
See Dick continue being what he's always been.
A dick.

Why BET - yet again - ain't s---t

This entry was going to be about the loss of Coretta Scott King, about how the country said farewell to a strong, determined classy lady, a woman who lived through more than most of us can imagine.

But, instead, it's about BET. And why, yet again, BET ain't shit. Here is a letter posted on the Poynter media gossip web site. It's a blog that media types use as a reference to discuss the inner workings of the profession.

Here is an excerpt of a letter that caught my eye:

"...The three TV cable news networks are broadcasting the funeral services of Coretta Scott King. (Even DC's ABC affiliate is interrupting it's normal daytime programming.)

Upstart urban network TV One is broadcasting it live.

But Black Entertainment Television -- who has dramatically downsized its public affairs programming over the years -- is instead airing the "I'm On It" video by the Purple Ribbon All-Stars. Sure, you can go to BET.com and watch the streaming coverage, but has BET so committed itself to the hip-hop generation that there is no time to honor the individuals who worked selflessly to give them the opportunities they have?

I'm glad that the Purple Ribbon All-Stars are "On It." (I'm not quite sure what that "it" is.) Because BET is certainly not on this story. "

BET is certainly not on this story. As usual. Yet again, Black Entertainment Television dropped the ball. Yet again, they're too concerned with rump shaking videos than the death of a major American icon and human being. Yet again, a piece of ass gets more play than public affairs.

Look. I've heard all the arguments: BET is what it is and we shouldn't expect more from it. BET doesn't have an obligation to be socially responsible because they're a for-profit corporation. BET should be supported by black people because it's rare to have such a sizeable, influential, POWERFUL black corporation.

I don't buy any of that crap. We SHOULD expect more from BET. They DO have an obligation to at least TRY and present some decent broadcasting. If that powerful black corporation wants my support, then they've gotta present me with viewing options that I like. I'm a black, salaried, educated professional. I don't need - or want - to watch videos all day. I want shows that represent things I'm interested in.

Know what really sad in all this? BET doesn't have to be as triflin as it is. They are a billion dollar conglomerate, and have the wiggle room in their budget to make room for at least a few decent programs.

Instead, all they do is cut: They cut Tavis Smiley. They cut BET Tonight. Last year, they cut their news department all together, claiming that they were still committed to public affairs programming.

Yeah right. Reginald Hudlin, who directed some cool flicks like "Boomerang", took over as president of BET last summer. When he took over, he said that he and the network were committed to broadening BET's programming, ensuring quality.

We'll see. So far, they've bombed, and Coretta King's funeral was a major screw up. By the way they played it, I wondered if those running the network on that day even knew who Coretta Scott King was.

But, after thinking about it, I realized that of course they knew who Coretta King was.
They just didn't care.