Originally ran at Merivn Malone's blog,  Aria today...

Yesterday, it was widely reported that Oscar-winning actress/comedienne Whoopi Goldberg would be joining the panel of The View. Goldberg will fill the noticeably vacant slot left from Rosie O'donnell's untimely exit in May of this year.

Honestly – I feel that the producers at The View have at last made a well-informed decision!

While I'm not a regular viewer of The View – no pun intended – I will acknowledge the show's value as a lighthearted forum to discuss (and debate) topical issues. Indeed – with Rosie O'Donnell's arrival in September of 2006 – The View seemed (for a time) to acquire a credibility that was almost newsworthy. I wasn't always of the same mind as Rosie, mind you – and we're both on the same side of the socio-political spectrum – but I give her props for challenging her fellow panelists (as well as America-at-large) to think a little more for themselves. I especially salute her for countering the delusionally Right-wing rantings of 'View panelist, Elisabeth Hasselbeck. The View hasn't been much the same since O'Donnell's departure and the ratings have tended to reflect this.

Whoopi Goldberg's forthcoming arrival to The View as a regular panelist leads me to believe  the show is on its way back to some semblance of meaningful discussion. Now – if they will only hire Kathy Griffin as a regular panelist, The View may very well become worthy of regular viewing!

Categories: Whoopi Goldberg; Kathy Griffin; Sherri Shepherd; Rosie O'Donnell; Elisabeth Hasselbeck; The View

In a blow to the GOP, Indiana Sen. Richard Lugar – a senior Republican and a (normally) reliable voter for George W. Bush on the Iraq War – is calling for a downsizing to the troops in Iraq. My question is:

Who's NEXT? could it be the tide is turning?

Should be interesting. Stay tuned!

From Associated Press:

Cops: Death of Benoit, family 'bizarre'

(AP) - Pro wrestler Chris Benoit canceled a pay-per-view appearance at the "Vengeance" event in Houston because of "personal reasons" a day before he, his wife and their 7-year-old son were found dead in an apparent murder-suicide.

Details of the deaths "are going to prove a little bizarre" when released to the public, Fayette County District Attorney Scott Ballard told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Autopsies were scheduled Tuesday by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.

Authorities were investigating the deaths at a secluded Fayette County home as a murder-suicide and were not seeking any suspects.

Investigators believe Benoit (pronounced ben-WAH) killed his wife, 43-year-old Nancy, and son Daniel during the weekend and then himself Monday. The bodies were found Monday afternoon in three separate rooms of the house, off a gravel road about two miles from the Whitewater Country Club.

Ballard told The Associated Press a gun was not used in any of the deaths, but he would not say how the three died.

"We're pretty sure we know, but we want to confirm it with the crime lab," Ballard said early Tuesday.

Fayette County Coroner C.J. Mowell did not return calls seeking comment. The answering service for his funeral home said he was out of town.

Authorities also declined to say whether drugs or steroids were found inside the house. "We're not releasing any information as far as what was located inside the house," sheriff's Sgt. Keith Whiteside said Tuesday.

Asked about the condition of the interior of the house, Whiteside said investigators found "nothing really out of the ordinary." He said Benoit was found in the home's weight room, his wife in an office and the son in an upstairs bedroom.

Whiteside said toxicology tests could take up to a week or longer to complete.

World Wrestling Entertainment said on its Web site that it asked authorities to check on Benoit and his family after being alerted by friends who received "several curious text messages sent by Benoit early Sunday morning."

The WWE, based in Stamford, Conn., said it had been asked by authorities not to release further information on the deaths.

Benoit was born in Montreal. He was a former world heavyweight champion, Intercontinental champion and held several tag-team titles over his career. He was known by several names including "The Canadian Crippler."

"WWE extends its sincerest thoughts and prayers to the Benoit family's relatives and loved ones in this time of tragedy," the company said in a statement on its Web site.

Benoit had maintained a home in metro Atlanta from the time he wrestled for the defunct World Championship Wrestling. The Fayette County Tax Assessors Office lists the value of the house, situated on more than 8.5 acres, at nearly $900,000.
 
The WWE canceled its live "Monday Night RAW" card in Corpus Christi, Texas, and USA Network aired a three-hour tribute to Benoit in place of the scheduled wrestling telecast.

Benoit's wife managed several wrestlers and went by the stage name "Woman," The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.

They met when her then-husband drew up a script that had them involved in a relationship as part of an going story line on World Championship Wrestling, the newspaper said.

Benoit has two other children from a prior relationship.

Benoit became a standout at an early age among wrestling prospects who trained in the dungeon basement of the house where fellow Canadians and professional wrestlers Owen and Bret Hart trained. Owen Hart was killed during a wrestling event in 1999.

"He was like a family member to me, and everyone in my family is taking it real hard," said Bret Hart, a five-time champion with the now-defunct World Wrestling Federation.

News of the Benoit family's untimely death hit me like a ton of bricks. Nancy Benoit was a rightful icon of the wrestling family phenomenon. May they all rest in peace....

Hardball host – Chris Matthews – delighted his "viewers" with the proverbial S-bomb the other day. The second time Matthews has used vulgarity on air, the "commentator" was unaware that his microphone was on when he uttered the following:

"We're all reacting here, putting on s**t.  We have nothing."

In support of the Internet Radio Equality Act – and in opposition to the new high music royalties for Internet radio (established by the Copyright Royalty Board in March) –  KCRW will join with fellow webcasters for a Day of Silence on Tuesday, June 26. From the KCRW website:

"KCRW.com will join with fellow webcasters for a Day of Silence, Tuesday June 26th. The station will shut down regular programming on all three of its webstreams as a protest against the new high music royalties for Internet radio, established by the Copyright Royalty Board in March.

On that day, KCRW presents a one-hour special on-air in honor of this Day of Silence. Guests include webcasters: Live 365.com, AccuRadio, Pandora, NPR, BAGeL Radio, Yahoo Music and WAMU-FM. They will join host Ruth Seymour, KCRW's General Manager, to describe the effects that the new rates will have on their ability to stream and to serve audiences online.

D-Day for Webcasters will be webcast all day Tuesday, June 26th on KCRW.com. It will be also be broadcast on KCRW's airwaves on Tuesday, June 26th from 2 to 3 pm PDT, and repeated from 6:30 to 7:30 pm.

Webcasters are supporting the Internet Radio Equality Act, which has garnered bipartisan support in the House as well as the Senate. In addition, they have filed appeals and a request for a stay with the US District Court in Washington, DC.

However, if none of these tactics succeed, webcasters will be required to send checks to Sound Exchange, the collection agency for the record companies and the artists, on July 15th. Rates are retroactive to 2006."

Tags: KCRW; Internet Radio

Lets have some fun now and take a look at some essential music of the moment: 

First off we have 4hero's Play With the Changes. Never has there been a more relevant album for the times we're living in. The duo of Marc Mac and Dago return to deliver a timely soul record.

 

 

Next, we have Bebel Gilberto's Momento. The Brazillian songstress delivers an album that fuses downtempo electronica with samba-fantastic!

 

 

Now we have Björk's Volta. The Icelandic crooner teams with Marc Bell and Timbaland for an album that moves her closer to world music.

 

 

Finally we have Ultra Naté's Grime, Silk & Thunder. The stunning dance diva returns with her most eclectic effort ever from electroclash to winding raggae.

 

In the Words of Walter Kronkite:

"Thats' the way it was. That's the way it is. That's the way it always will be!"

Tags: 4hero Bebel Gilberto Björk Ultra Naté

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A federal judge on Thursday ordered I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby to report to prison while his attorneys appeal his perjury and obstruction convictions.

Libby's attorneys asked that the order be stayed, but U.S. District Court Judge Reggie Walton denied the request and told Vice President Dick Cheney's former chief of staff that he has 10 days to appeal the ruling.

Libby was sentenced to 2½ years in prison for lying and obstructing the investigation into who revealed Valerie Plame Wilson as a CIA operative in 2003. He also was fined $250,000.

Libby's attorneys were trying to make a case that Libby shouldn't have to go to jail because special counsel Patrick Fitzgerald didn't have the authority to charge him.

Defense attorney Lawrence Robbins suggested that Fitzgerald had no standing to investigate and prosecute the case, because a letter appointing him as special counsel exempted him from the internal policies and procedures of the Department of Justice.

In addition, the defense argued that Fitzgerald was not accountable to anyone.

"I don't blame Mr. Fitzgerald," Robbins said. "He thought he had all this power. He probably did. And that's what's wrong here, not what's right."

Walton disagreed. At issue, he replied, was a possible conflict of interest.

"Everyone is accountable, and if you work in the White House, and if it's perceived that somehow (you're) linked at the hip, the American public would have serious questions about the fairness of any investigation of a high-level official conducted by the attorney general," the judge said.

Fitzgerald argued Thursday that if he stepped over the bounds of his authority, the error should not cause any appeals court to overturn Libby's conviction.

The prosecutor suggested that examples the defense cited to the judge were "ministerial," such as where he signed a notice that the courtroom might be closed to the public when classified material was considered.

Defense lawyers also challenged the conviction because Walton refused to allow a memory expert to testify at trial.

Libby contended at trial that he couldn't remember certain details for investigators because he was consumed with Iraq war issues and other things in 2003.

Libby is the first sitting White House official to be indicted in 130 years. He resigned after he was indicted in October 2005.

White House Deputy Press Secretary Dana Perino said in a statement from the White House that, "Scooter Libby still has the right to appeal, and therefore the President will continue not to intervene in the judicial process. The President feels terribly for Scooter, his wife and their young children, and all that they're going through."

Cheney's office declined to issue a statement after the ruling.

At the beginning of Thursday's hearing, Walton told the court he had received "harassing" and "hateful" messages.

"In the interest of full disclosure, I have received a number of harassing, angry and mean-spirited phone calls and messages. Some wishing bad things on me and my family," the judge said. "Those types of things will have no impact."

"I initially threw them away, but then there were more, some that were more hateful," Walton said. "They are being kept."

Libby was found guilty of lying to investigators about what he told reporters about Plame Wilson, whose identity as a CIA operative was leaked to the media.

Plame Wilson's name became public when Robert Novak named her in his column on July 14, 2003. Her husband, former ambassador Joseph Wilson, had openly questioned the Bush administration's basis for invading Iraq.

Former Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage has admitted he disclosed the information to a reporter. Novak pointed to another "senior administration official" -- Bush political adviser Karl Rove -- as the second source for his column.

No one has been charged with leaking classified information in the case, but a jury found Libby guilty of trying to deceive investigators and a grand jury as to what went on.

After the June 5 sentencing, Walton said he was inclined to jail Libby after the defense laid out its proposed appeal, but the judge told attorneys he was open to changing his mind.

I'm an avid music fan. As a music lover, listener, buyer and lyricist, I can't help but notice the steady decline in music quality overall for the past 10 years. We are going to take a look at music and the role radio has played in the steep decline of music over the years: the role the record companies play; the benefits and drawbacks of the video age; the stars who benefitted from the mass media; American Idol, as well as the new Internet age of music discovery.

It all began in the early 90's. Then, one could hear a house track next to an R&B track on the local radio station. This all ended when corporations started consolidating smaller radio stations, thus beginning niche programming; radio stations that were under the same company were only allowed to play one format of music. With the burgeoning popularity of so-called New Jack Swing, the face of music – particularly r&b – began to change. Gone were the days of hearing artists like Stevie Wonder and the Rolling Stones being played alongsinde one another on the same station. One could argue that the merger of big business and radio killed the chances of an artist building a momentum that translated into any real success. Indeed, nowadays an artist can't get anywhere without a payment to insure said song gets put into radio rotation. This practice is known as payola also known as "pay for play" and radio stations arent alone in this practice. Music labels also play a big part in how an artist is received; for them [the labels], success is defined by album sales -- the greater the sales, the more likely a label is to financially support the artist and subsequent releases. This all sounds great, right?

Well, no not exactly.

Should an artist experience a sharp sales decline, said artist will receive – in return for their perceived failure – a diminished overall album budget and at the end of their recording contract will be left footing the bill for these selfsame perceived failures. Taking all this into account, how can an artist concentrate on making a quality record – especially when all the record company wants are "hits". At the end of the day, it comepletely undermines an artist's creativity when they have to worry about the bottom line verses making a quality record. Record companies – too – play a part in this equation.

Music videos have helped to take music to a whole new level. With the advent of MTV, artists often can't achieve any type of success without making a music video. The problem with that is that it's leading to a culture that is too image-obessed, causing the music to become of lesser quality. Case in point: we live in a Lindsay Lohan/Britney Spears pop music era! We also live in a time when male hip hop images are too hypermasculine, leading to the degredation of women and homophobia. However, I must also relent that not all music videos are bad. Some stars have benefitted from the mass exposure brought in by music video; you can't discuss huge successes in music without mentioning Michael Jackson's "Thriller" and the entity that is Madonna. Michael's "Thriller" went on to sell millions, while Madonna made videos with famed fashion photographers like Herb Ritts and Jean-Baptiste Mondino. Madonna was not the first to employ this tactic; Jody watley and Grace Jones created this sleek fashion video subgenre first. Furthermore, one doesn't have to look very far to see that Madonna's "Blonde Ambition" tour is eerily similar to Jones' "One Nan Show" act in the early 80's. And Madonna may have had a hit with "Vogue", but it was Jody Watley who first introduced vogueing to the mainstream with her video for "Still a thrill", which – in, and of itself – was originally intended to be a duet between the great Watley and Jones. Still, when Lohan and Spears cite Madonna as a main influence, I cant help but feel that they have it all wrong. Madonna was never a puppet to another mans pleasure as these girls are – Nor did madonna engage in self-destructive behavior. Even as Madonna appropriated certain aspects of her artistry from other artists, whe was always most certainly in control.

Nowadays, we also have the advent of reality shows like American Idol. This year's season will be used as a prime example...

There was a time this year when it seemed like more talented singers were getting booted in favor of "pretty", but untalented Sanjaya Malakar. Finally, Sanjaya was booted and Jordin Sparks ultimately won the competition. Still, it amazed me that he made it that far. Furthermore, one shouldn't look to winning of a show like 'Idol as defining theirs success; one only has to see Oscar winner Jennifer Hudson to see TRUE success.

Believe it or not, all hope is not lost for music. Yes ladies and gentlemen – we have the Internet now and that cuts the red tape between artists and fans. With Myspace it's never been easier to seek out that new edgy artist you know you're hungry for – With the advent of Itunes and the like, alternatives are out there! In Conclusion, though the overall quality of commercial music is in decline, the good news is – folks good stuff is out there if you want to find it!

Tags: American Idol; Jody Watley; Madonna; Grace Jones; Jennifer Hudson; Jordin Sparks; Sanjaya Malakar; Michael Jackson

(Originally Posted on The Huffington Post and written by Jamie Lee Curtis)

As the denouement of a really upsetting celebrity scandal came to its close, a tearful child pleaded to her mother... "Mom, it's not right."
 
It was a painful episode to watch. A young woman, begging her mother, the person who should have taught her right from wrong, to help her, to teach her the rules of life. It was a little too late. And so she wept as the Universe was bringing the teaching and settling the score.

I'm in no glass house. I understand only too well the pitfalls of maternal amnesia and denial. I am not throwing stones but merely a lifesaver, a buoy of sanity and understanding.

"My analyst told me, that I was right out of my head," Joni Mitchell sang in the song "Twisted." I was twisted. I am twisted. I am deluded that my attempts at being liked and loved by my children and friends with them -- all at the same time -- were going to result in "well raised children." We were the generation that would take the job of raising our children and turn it into... PARENTING. We were the generation who applauded every move they made. Every step they took. "Good climbing, Brandon" was our hue and cry. We were raised by people who didn't "understand" us and now we don't "understand" why our children are so messed up.

It is a national epidemic. Omnipotent children running amok or sitting amok as they watch TV and play electronic games and shop on eBay.

The sad paths of the three most popular young women -- privileged but from varying backgrounds, talented, beautiful and spectacular -- have ended in prison, rehab and mental illness. I hope their mothers are worried sick and wondering, "What could I have done differently?" And our culture should be asking the same question too.

What we need to do is look long and hard at our part in all this. Where did our children get the message that the rules don't apply to them? And where did we, the Mothers, get the message that if we abdicate our responsibilities as Mothers, the Universe will do our job for us? And it does, but without any of the love and tenderness and compassion that we could have given, along with the lessons.

Now it's just the cold hard facts of a jail cell or the emptiness of a rehab room.

I'm not pointing fingers. I'm asking questions.

Can we take the wrenching sight of Paris asking her mother, "why?" and ask it of ourselves?

My analyst told me this: "Children are paparazzi. They take your picture mentally when you don't want them to, when you don't look good, and show it back to you in their behavior."

Let's hope that we all learn what is RIGHT and what is so WRONG.

Wake up, Mothers and smell the denial.

According to MSNBC.com, top military Gen. Peter Pace has been fired from his post. It is said that Defense Secretary Robert Gates is looking to replace him with someone else. Oh happy day!

As you already know, I'm very big on the First amendment, but I think that it DOES matter what policy-makers think (or say); Pace WAS appointed by King George after all. You may remember that – when asked if gay people should be allowed to serve in the military – his response was that "homosexual acts between two individuals are immoral and [the U.S. military] should not condone immoral acts...I do not believe the United States is well served by a policy that says it is okay to be immoral in any way...As an individual, I would not want [acceptance of gay behavior] to be our policy". Sec. Gates would not ask him to apologize, insisting that people ignore his bigotry and move on. Gates said of his decision [to replace Gates] that it would have made for a "contentious" hearing.

Tags: Peter Pace; Robert Gates