our "view" on stupid programming choices...

cbs has announced that they are putting together a pilot to rival abc's "the view." who, you may ask, do they have lined up for their panel? host of big brother (and wife of cbs president - think that helped?) julie chen and star of "roseanne" and token lesbian-mom sara gilbert are on board and there is talk of other possible panelists like lisa rinna (think her lips get their own billing?) and pregnant "real housewives of nyc" cast member bethenny frankel (why would you pick someone who is marginally popular based on a show that is owned by nbc and will then be on maternity leave?).

now, it should be said that i do not think that creating a cookie cutter series based on a show on a competitor's network is smart programming. i personally think that networks should be counter-programming instead of copying (don't even get me started on how i think cbs should drop "the early show" and instead run "the price is right" in that slot - targeting older and college aged viewers...but i digress). this beyond to below average line up of "talent" that cbs has put together for their new show is so bad that my friend lance and i pondered we would select as our dream team to go up against the ladies of "the view." our point...and we do have one, is we think our list is better (take note networks)!

we started by identifying basic talk show-aimed-at-women casting criteria. you need a moderator who is opinionated but fair and seemingly liked by everyone, a republican to hold down the right side of the table or couch (the next time you watch "the view" notice that elizabeth is always on the right of your screen), people who can bring the funny, a healthy mix or races and wombs that have been used on the panel and a wacky matriarch who isn't on every episode, but comes on as needed and is all "been there, done that."

so who is on our list?
moderator:
connie chung (established news person people know and someone who has a sense of humor - her husband is the king of paternity tests!)
republican:
amy holmes (young, african-american conservative correspondent for cnn)
panelists:
kristin chenoweth (singer, musical theater, film and television actress, a self proclaimed liberal christian)
maria elena salinas (co-anchor of noticiero univision, the most watched newscast by american hispanics and considered one of the most recognized and influential female hispanic journalists in the united states)
matriarch:
joan rivers (legend, comedienne and out-spoken matriarchal figure, she won't be on all the time, but will add a special dose of energy when she is there)

what do you think of our picks? who would your picks be?

20 Year "Roommates"

Clay and his partner of 20 years, Harold, lived in California. Clay and Harold made diligent efforts to protect their legal rights, and had their legal paperwork in place--wills, powers of attorney, and medical directives, all naming each other. Harold was 88 years old and in frail medical condition, but still living at home with Clay, 77, who was in good health.

One evening, Harold fell down the front steps of their home and was taken to the hospital. Based on their medical directives alone, Clay should have been consulted in Harold's care from the first moment. Tragically, county and health care workers instead refused to allow Clay to see Harold in the hospital. The county then ultimately went one step further by isolating the couple from each other, placing the men in separate nursing homes.

Ignoring Clay's significant role in Harold's life, the county continued to treat Harold like he had no family and went to court seeking the power to make financial decisions on his behalf. Outrageously, the county represented to the judge that Clay was merely Harold's "roommate." The court denied their efforts, but did grant the county limited access to one of Harold's bank accounts to pay for his care.

What happened next is even more chilling.

Without authority, without determining the value of Clay and Harold's possessions accumulated over the course of their 20 years together or making any effort to determine which items belonged to whom, the county took everything Harold and Clay owned and auctioned off all of their belongings. Adding further insult to grave injury, the county removed Clay from his home and confined him to a nursing home against his will. The county workers then terminated Clay and Harold's lease and surrendered the home they had shared for many years to the landlord.

Three months after he was hospitalized, Harold died in the nursing home. Because of the county's actions, Clay missed the final months he should have had with his partner of 20 years. Compounding this tragedy, Clay has literally nothing left of the home he had shared with Harold or the life he was living up until the day that Harold fell, because he has been unable to recover any of his property. The only memento Clay has is a photo album that Harold painstakingly put together for Clay during the last three months of his life.

With the help of a dedicated and persistent court-appointed attorney, Anne Dennis of Santa Rosa, Clay was finally released from the nursing home. Ms. Dennis, along with Stephen O'Neill and Margaret Flynn of Tarkington, O'Neill, Barrack & Chong, now represent Clay in a lawsuit against the county, the auction company, and the nursing home, with technical assistance from NCLR. A trial date has been set for July 16, 2010 in the Superior Court for the County of Sonoma.

My point and I do have one..as hard as it is to believe that this can even happen, it does all the time and is a reminder that we can't stop until we have equal rights to love and care for who we choose.

this just feels dirty....

we’ve all seen those children's books, like "pat the bunny," where there's an image of a rabbit with a big cotton ball tail, or a turtle with a bumpy shell. well needless to say, those kind of books are less common in the adult sections...until now! canadian artist and braille expert lisa murphy is using thermoformic imaging to create pictures of nude figures in "tactile minds," the first ever nudie book (according to the author) designed for the blind.

though playboy printed copies in braille from 1970 and 1985, murphy takes a step further, with 17 softcore 3-d images along with racy text. as author of these handmade book that retail at over $200, murphy considers herself a bit of a pioneer, saying: "we're breaking new ground...the blind have been left out in a culture saturated with sexual images"

murphy's is not the first to recognize the special needs of the special needs. the website porn for the blind offers free transcriptions of adult videos in mp3 form, narrated by volunteers and in 2008, deaf bunny, a porn company for deaf people by deaf people, was launched, incorporating american sign language and subtitles into hardcore flicks like "naughty deaf roommates."

the u.s. supreme court once defined porn as "we'll know it when we see it," so my point, and i do have one...is, will this new influx of braille porn make for a touchy-feelier group of jurists? what is your point?

this is wrong, plane and simple!

fresh on the heels of florida-based spirit airlines announcing it will now charge its customers $20 to $45 for items they place in the overhead bins, another budget airline is considering charging them for using the lavatory.

ryanair, an irish airline that bills itself as "europe's first and largest low fares airline," is mulling a plan that would require travelers to pay either 1 euro or 1 british pound (about $1.33 or $1.52) for using the bathroom on flights lasting one hour or less. the carrier said it is working with boeing to develop a coin-operated door release so that when nature calls, passengers would need to deposit the change before being able to use the facilities. the idea is to encourage people to use restrooms in airport terminals before boarding.

as part of the plan, the airline is also considering removing two of the three lavatories on some of its planes so it could squeeze in up to six extra seats. the move would help reduce fares by at least 5 percent.

how would it fly with passengers? one hint of how americans may feel comes from an informal poll posted on tripadvisor.com last summer in which one-fifth of the respondents said they would fly on an airline that charged a fee to access the bathroom; 78 percent said they would not. the idea may be less shocking to travelers in europe, where it's not unusual to pay a small fee to use a public restroom.

my point, and i do have one...is COME ON!!!
what is your point?

$130 ransom

as we approach the end of spring break, i thought i would bring you some island news...staten island that is!

robert jemmott and his girlfriend, army reservist tamika atanda, a couple from staten island, abducted a friend's wife and held her for, believe it or not, $130 ransom. while the dollar amount of the ransom alone makes them special, these crackerjack kidnappers were caught when they stopped at a deli for food while leaving their bound and gagged victim in plain sight in the backseat of their car. that's when cops spotted them.

the couple are accused of embarking on their scheme tuesday night after jemmott grew infuriated that his friend, darryn berry, would not repay the $130 he had borrowed. jemmott and atanda, confronted berry and his wife, michelle rodriguez, outside a laundromat, where atanda allegedly punched berry in the face. jemmott then grabbed rodriguez and forced her into the backseat of his chevy lumina. as the couple sped off, jemmott called berry and threatened the hostage's safety, according to officials. "if i don't get the money by 10:30, i'm going to do something to your wife I don't want to do," jemmott warned. berry called 911 and provided a description of jemmott's car, leading cops to close in on the lumina outside the deli a short time later. jemmott was arrested as soon as he stepped outside the store.

a loaded .38-caliber handgun was found in the glove compartment and cops also discovered five zip bags of crack cocaine in atanda's purse. atanda's mother commented on the situation when she heard: "i can't believe this is happening!...it's not in her character, I don't understand this...tamika is on her own on this one!" atta girl mom!

staten island's bonnie and clyde were held without bail yesterday after they were arraigned on kidnapping, weapons and drug charges in staten island criminal court. my point, and i do have one is...just when you think that people can't get any stupider they prove us wrong. bravo!

now that's a hoot!

ahhh hooters. a "family" eating establishment that is known for two things - boobs and wings. while chatting with a friend today, it occurred to me that hooters has missed out on a prime marketing opportunity by not making ribs the piece de resistance of their menu. why you may ask? well, my point, and i do have one...is if there was ever a place to highlight a good rack, this would be it! what’s your point? is there another establishment that you thinks may have missed a marketing opportunity?

Democracy isn't broken

No matter what your take is on the recently passes health care reform bill, I think there are a few positive takeaways....

1) The first is that this is the first major legislation to be passed by congress in decades.

2) Gives us hope that our government can provide solutions.

3) And it reminds some of our government representatives who they work for. See the Michael Moore Newsletter below...

How the People in My District Got Stupak to Change His Mind -- and Thus Saved the Health Care Bill ...a letter from Michael Moore

Friends,

Well, our full court press on my congressman, Bart Stupak worked! Hundreds of my neighbors here in his Michigan district spent the weekend organizing thousands of voters to get busy and save the health care bill. We called Stupak's congressional office non-stop and we got thousands of people up here to flood his email box.

And then a rare thing happened: An elected representative did what the people told him to do. It was nothing short of amazing.

Stupak, and his seven "right to life" Democrats who had said they would vote against the bill, reversed themselves after what Stupak said Sunday afternoon was a week of his staff having "really taken a pounding." Hey, all we did here in northern Michigan was let him know that we would be unceremoniously tossing him out of Congress in this August's Democratic primary. One of our group announced she would oppose him in the Dem primary. That seemed to register with him.

All of this made Stupak look pretty worn down at his press conference yesterday, pleading with people like us to stop calling his house and waking his wife "at two or three in the morning." Hey! That's not us. We never call during Carson Daly!

Obama needed 216 votes in the House last night -- and he barely got them (219 was the final number). Had Stupak not done a 180 in the last 24 hours, the health care bill would have gone down in flames. Thank you, to all of you here in northern Michigan who did what had to be done. You and you alone saved this bill in the final moments.

Stupak stood on the floor of the House last night and, in a surreal moment, spoke against the "Stupak Amendment"! Once he got through his medieval meanderings about where babies come from, he gave one helluva speech.

And, that's when Republican congressman Randy Neugebauer of Texas shouted out: "Baby killer!" Wow. I guess the fertilized egg police felt betrayed by Bart.

Those of us here in Michigan will now decide what to do about our misguided congressman. We're a forgiving lot, but maybe not this time. We shall see.

Bart, I'm glad you discovered you didn't have a uterus. And, like the scarecrow, I'm glad you found a bit of your brain.

A good night it was -- important little steps were taken to bring our country into the civilized world.

Now, we have some real work to do if we really want to say we have universal health care. The sharks who run the insurance companies have every intention of turning this lemon into some very profitable lemonade.

Yours,
Michael Moore
MMFlint@aol.com
MichaelMoore.com

P.S. Someday, the Hyde Amendment is going to have to go. No Democratic president should ever agree to anything that discriminates against women.