Travolta extortion trial preparing to start

So I was reading about John Travolta and the jury selection that is currently ongoing. If you recall, shortly after the death of Travolta’s son, Jett, 2 people were arrested for trying to extort money from the family. There was a document that reportedly

“…would have released emergency responders from liability if the family refused an ambulance. However, police said that did not happen in Jett's case.”

I have no idea how this document might have been important to the Travolta family, from the extortionists point of view. Perhaps it’s the thought that such a document might have been used by the tabloids and media to extend the family’s suffering and drag their son’s memory through the mud. Which is a sick thought indeed.

No matter what the alleged criminals thought, they were arrested. And I have no problem saying that they deserve the harshest of penalties. I have no mercy for those that would prey upon a family, or individual, at such a time of despair. Of the vile and low things that some humans do to others, this is among the lowest category to me.

I believe that the alleged criminals in this case will be found guiltly. And severe penalties will hopefully be imposed. Because life is to short and sweet to be sullied by these actions.

I was reminded of this over the weekend. A friend was in their car in the driveway when a drunk driver came up their street. A main street at that. At a speed so fast that the inevitable happened. The driver crashed the car.

My friend saw as the drunk hit a car just before their driveway. The drunk’s car flipped, 3x, striking several parked cars along the road, before a final flip and landing on a car a few dozen yards away – upside down.

The drunk in the car was of course unhurt. Thankfully no one else was on the road at the time, and the only damage was to parked cars. Equally as great was the fact that my friend was talking at the time and delayed driving to the store by a few minutes. Had they not, this story would be far more grim.

How close was the impact? How bad was the initial hit? How close had my friend come to injury?



That was the intial car struck. The rest of the damage across the street was far worse.

Now imagine that at that moment, having just missed being involved with this accident, someone came up to you and tried to sell you anything. Or took a picture of your face to hawk for publicity. Or threatened to implicate you in the accident though you had nothing to do with it unless you paid them. Imagine how you might feel.

Now I think you know how John Travolta and his family must feel, just a bit.

Criminals like the drunk driver, or the alleged extortionists, deserve the punishment they receive. And I have no pity for them. I only feel sorry that the Travolta family will have to endure this moment in their lives again as the trial gets underway.

Odd, Addams, and I'm out - 5.23.2007.1

Time for a few bits of the odd and little covered. Now there was a story out of Germany recently that amused me. It seems that a man in a wheelchair was pulled over for… wait for it… drunk driving. Let me clarify, he was not in a car. Literally the man was in the road and the police pulled him over. They then decided to test him for alcohol levels and he was 10x over the limit. Now I have to imagine that this was incredibly funny to watch. I wish there was a video to this. Can you imagine the police, lights flashing, pulling this guy over? I suppose he was asked to roll his wheelchair in a straight line before they gave him the breathalyzer. Ok, that may be crude, but the mental image made me laugh.

Speaking of the odd, how can I not write about the Addams Family? Now why would I write about them? If you have seen the television show, or the first movie (the second wasn’t as good sadly) I’m sure you can understand. I’ve wanted Gomez Addams explosive train set since the first time I saw it on TV. But alas, I am far from his wealth, so I will have to settle for re-runs, DVD, and a Broadway play. That’s right; there will be a new play that is drawn from these most unique New Yorkers. We can only hope that it will fare far better than Suessical, a good dose of exploding trains may help. Too bad we can go back in time and have Mr. Raul Julia, or even better Mr. John Austin, play their roles again. [Yes I’m a Fan of his work, and no he isn’t dead. He’s still working too. As for Ms. Carolyn Jones, she was a babe few today can match.]

And on the tail end of this post is the real trash of the day. The good news, there will be several months without the incessant talk about American Idol. The bad news, at least a week of conversation about who won the ‘reality’ program. The worst news, it will be back again next year. Obviously I’m no fan of the program. It bores me. I find it about as interesting as plodding through hot lead. Face it folks, it’s the mental nutritional equivalent of crack. If you think it’s too harsh a comparison, just look at how much time is wasted in the media to discuss this useless program. But since I often pick my winners in various contests I pick the girl, Jordan I think her name is. Never heard the show, seen a couple of soundbites, and she looks good.

If I’m wrong on the American Idol thing, it’s ok. I’ll get over it. Matter of fact I already did.

That’s what I think, what do you think?

Paris Hilton needs jail - 5.10.2007.2

Let me deal with the apparent idiocy of Ms. Paris Hilton. This grown woman has claimed that she is about as responsible and attentive as a 5 year old, and that she should not be held to the same standards as ever other adult in the nation. Are you kidding me?

If you have not heard, and that would be hard to miss if you watch or read any news, Ms. Hilton was arrested for drunk driving on a suspended license. Since she broke probation, and was violating a law, the judge sentenced her to 45 days in prison. Going one step better the judge made sure that Ms. Hilton could not buy her way into a ‘club fed’ prison (which is something many celebrities are able to do when convicted) and will be confining her with regular inmates. It’s about time.

First of all, Ms. Paris Hilton was driving drunk. That alone can get you in jail. Second, she was driving with a suspended license, again potential jail time. Her claims that she was unaware her license was invalid are not credible because she had a ticket stating this fact in her glove compartment, and second ignorance of the law is not an excuse from being held accountable to the law. It’s just that simple.

What is happening is that Ms. Hilton is trying to have her money buy her out of a punishment she deserves. I feel she is a spoiled brat with too much money and far to little education or discipline. To claim that her publicist didn’t make her aware of her legal status is absurd. If she is enough of an adult to drive she is responsible for her ability to drive legally and sober. If she can’t be accountable without adult supervision she shouldn’t be able to drive.

If this were an average skinny White girl, there would be no uproar. If this were a Black woman again no questions. If it were a Black man, jail for a year or two and he may well have been beat down at the arrest by police officers. I don’t say the last part because I don’t like police (I’ve had many that I call my friend, including several L.A. detectives) but because there is a history of these kinds of cases leading to abuse. [I include my own experiences in this – like my being held at gunpoint by the police for the near crime of being a Black man in the passenger seat of a car driven by an Asian male, with 2 White men in the back seats, on Hollywood Blvd. on a Friday night after work while we were going to go have a drink.]

Yet there have been some 12,000 individuals that have signed a petition asking Gov. Arnold Schwartzenegger to give Ms. Hilton clemency. How stupid are these people. What makes Ms. Hilton worthy of such an act? What talent or action has she ever done that deserves such an honor? The fact that she is the poster child for tabloids, that she keeps multiple paparazzi employed, and that she has enough power from her family’s business that record companies and movie studios won’t tell her she has no talent, are not even worth her missing 1 day of her sentence.

Thankfully there is a petition that is asking to ensure that Ms. Paris Hilton goes to jail. This petition is some 42,000 signatures strong. Obviously I am not alone in thinking that this woman needs to grow up, and that her wealth does not preclude her from the law. Now if there were only a way to keep her mother from speaking to Gov. Schwartzenegger, which the family business ensures will happen.[By the way, if your mom was at a trial you were on and insulted the judge there is no question she’d get slapped with contempt of court and have a fine in the least against her. Paris Hilton’s mom should be thankful she won’t spend time in a cell next to her daughter.]

I have to say, I hope that Ms. Hilton gets a cell with ‘Shanequa’ and ‘Betty Jean Sue’. Let her think that her name will get her out of cleaning a toilet, and a couple of those rough-neck girls will straighten her out on the real facts of life. Perhaps that will help her get her act right. Or at least let us all have less chances of being forced to see and hear about her antics. Either one would be good for me.

This is what I think, what do you think?

Breaking the law entertainer-style

I am amazed at times by the actions of entertainers these days, and even moreso in cases by the reaction of law authorities in these cases. By example I mean Mr. Daniel Baldwin, who was not charged with a felony though he was arrested with drug possession and drug paraphernalia. Now perhaps Mr. Baldwin did not have enough cocaine to justify the felony charge, and perhaps he is not large enough of a star to merit the same kinds of leeway given to other big name entertainers, but somehow I doubt that. Were I, a Puerto Rican Black African American male with a clean record and prior service in the military, in the same circumstances I feel confident that the charge would be a felony. But as I said, perhaps I’m wrong.

Of course I’m not an entertainer. But were I, or a friend of mine who has gotten a drunk driving charge as a better example, it would be nice to be able to get the minor slap on the wrist that Ms. Michelle Rodriguez has received. While Ms. Rodrigues did serve 4 days in jail, her choice instead of 240 hours of community service, and a fine of $500 it does not compare to the suspended licence, $1000 fine, ~30 hours mandated drunk driver counseling that my friend received. My friend is a Black African American male. Perhaps the fact that this was in New York State that made the difference. Of course he wasn’t on a 3 year probation from a prior drunk driving charge either.

And there is my favorite entertainer a rapper. This time it happens to be Snoop Dogg, otherwise known as Calvin Broadus, and occurred internationally. What did snoop do you wonder? He and his associates assaulted police offices, resulting in 6 officers receiving minor wounds and cuts, and verbally abused employees of a duty-free shop and British Airways. Why would they do this? Because 3 of the associates did not have first-class tickets and were rightly denied access to the first-class lounge. Who do these guys think they are? If its such a big deal, why didn’t they just upgrade their tickets to first-class. And what gives them the right to abuse people for doing their jobs. And while throwing what I perceive as a tantrum the decide to pick a fight with the police. Now honestly does anyone who may read this think that a fight with officers over being denied entry where they shouldn’t be is worth it? Do you think that you would get out of the situation on a bail withing less than 24 hours? And for those of us that are Black African American, Hispanic or other minorities do you think that the cops wouldn’t have retaliated. I’m sure it would be explained as injuries due to resisting arrest or accidentally falling down some stairs, but I don’t doubt for a second that there would be repercussions. Hello Mr. Rodney King and Mr. Amadu Diallo.

I can see why some entertainers think they are better than average when these kinds of incidents, or others I have mentioned and the multiple others that I haven’t, occur and the reactions they receive. And some take it to an extreme I just don’t understand, like kanye west and his personal view of Jesus Christ (his picture portrayal on the cover of Rolling Stones I believe).

Of course some entertainers just think they deserve recognition because they are a big fish in their small pool. Like 50 cent [I still find that name annoying, 3rd grade english reminds us that it should be 1 cent or 3 cents but when have rappers needed english] who believes he is put upon due to Ms. Oprah Winfrey not inviting more rappers on her program. How the fact that Ms. Winfrey has not asked 50 cent to be on her show affects him or his career is sheer hubris to me. And how dare he, in effect, demand that Ms. Winfrey change how she does her work. If 50 cent does not realize it Ms. Winfrey makes over $50 million a year, is a media mogul and well respected. She does not need him, and picking on her viewers is just sour grapes to me.

The same can be said of Ludacris [another name I just won’t go into] who like many rappers, including the above mentioned 50 cent, believe they are actors on par with the likes of Mr. Denzel Washington or Ms. Halle Berry. In this case the statement was that Ms. Winfrey didn’t give enough time to ludacris, keeping it for herself (how dare she), and focusing to much on his main career of rapping. Perhaps when ludacris makes 10 million a picture and can be nominatied for an Emmy or an Oscar, Ms. Winfrey will focus on his acting, I think.

But I think all entertainers need to get off their high horses. Whether they get paid to play a game, sing a song, or play pretend they are being paid for work that is far less strenuous than working in a steel mill or a waitress in a diner. Their pay is also significantly greater. Considering that and the fact that far more often than not they receive slaps on the wrist when they deserve far harsher penalties for breaking laws, entertainers should stop acting like children. Or is it our fault for treating them like spoiled brats with a silver spoon?

This is what I think, what do you think?