Derek McGinty Reads AAEA Prez Email On Evening News

WUSA Channel 9 AnchorDerek McGinty, left, has the best newscast in Washington, D.C. at 7 p.m. He read the following email written by AAEA President Norris McDonald, right, on the newscast this evening:

"Everybody wants air conditioning on these hot summer days but nobody wants a power plant or electricity lines in their backyard. The Washington Metropolitan Area needs more power and nuclear power plants do not emit smog or greenhouse gases. Oh? No nukes? Then sit out on the front porch like inner city folk with a nice ice tea and stop complaining about high prices for energy."

Elitists at Madame Tussauds Ignore Zahara & Maddox

Madame Tussauds Wax Museum near New York's Times Square unveiled its Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie-Pitt exhibit, above, with their newborn Shilou but without adoptees Maddox, right, and Zahara, left. Ignored again. Some racist elitist types are determined to make minorities, particularly blacks, invisible. Will they correct the oversight or will they dig in and maintain their arrogance?

Congress Provides No Protection From Different Treatment

Cynthia McKinney has a run-in with Capitol Hill police and she is threatened with assault charges and possible censure. Patrick Kennedy almost hits a Capitol Hill policeman with his car as he is driving under the influence of prescription medication (right) and he is driven home by the Capitol Hill police.

Different Treatment For Different People

Katie Couric makes a fuss on an airplane and they stop, return to the terminal and pick up her producer at her request. Mo'Nique makes a fuss and they threaten her with arrest, call her belligerent and put her off the airplane.

Will Smith & Jada Pinkett-Smith March Against Violence

Will Smith and his wife Jada Pinkett Smith, right, took it to the street last Saturday in Philadelphia to protest gun violence. Will grew up in Philadelphia and Jada grew up in Baltimore. It is good that they are using their fame to address the most serious environmental issue in the black community today. Philly had 385 homicides in 2005 (More Murder Stats). Charles "Charlie Mack" Alston is a long-time friend and former employee of Jada and Will Smith. He moved back to Philly in 2003 and is bringing Hollywood stars to the streets of Philly and using their star power to draw attention to important causes.

Activities included a visit to the Youth Study Center, a VIP gala at the African American Historical & Cultural Museum and a march from 50th Street and Chester Avenue to the Frances J. Myers Rec Center at 58th Street and Kingsessing Avenue. After the march, there was a youth rally at the center followed by a concert by Young Leek. More black Hollywood stars need to step up and draw attention to the black violence epidemic that is ruining inner city communities all over the country. (Photo by H. Rumph, Jr. courtesy Associated Press)

Tiger Woods Spews Toxic Waste From His Mouth

Tiger Woods is a Buddhist. He also curses God like he is in a Hollywood movie. Hollywood has an unwritten contract that God must be cursed at least once in every movie, except children's animations. When Tiger hits a bad shot he lets loose with a shouted God curse. Of course since Tiger probably worships Tiger, he evidently does not care about the children present on the golf course or people who find cursing God quite offensive.

Tiger tries to justify his blaspheming by saying that nobody complained when Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer cursed. Well what does one gain even if he gains the whole world (or majors) but loses his soul? Tiger has so much discipline in his golf game and personal life. Why can't he exercise that same discipline over his toxic mouth? We are sure his sponsors, the PGA and the networks wince everytime he curses on live TV. Save your soul Tiger. Preserve the innocence of children. Give your sponsors a break. And wash your dirty mouth out with soap.

Redskins Offensive to Indians But Not To Football Fans

The complaint by indians that 'redskins' is offensive was ignored by Jack Kent Cooke and is being ignored by Dan Snyder. It is also ignored by the high-paid players and the fans, including blacks and Latinos. The name comes from the color of the scalps of indians sold by animal skin traders. Jack Kent Cooke always said he was complimenting indians by using the name. Susanne Harjo has always insisted otherwise.

So we had mixed emotions when we heard that Zema "Chief Zee" Willians, right, was ailing with an aneurysm in his stomach. A blood clot in his left leg has also crippled the 65-year old retired used car salesman. Chief Zee was inducted in 2000 into the special fans section of the NFL Hall of Fame as the Washington football team's No. 1 fan. He has not missed a home or away game in 30 years and he lives on a fixed income of $1,000 per month. His leg was broken by Philadelphia Eagles fans in 1983. We guess one person's pursuit of happiness can be insulting to another person.

Black Neighborhood in Pirates of the Caribbean

Tia is the voodoo queen and evidently had an affair with Captain Jack Sparrow sometime in the past. She flirts with Johnny Depp and Orlando Bloom in the movie. Tia lives in an elevated swamp house and Jack visits her to learn how to defeat Davey Jones. Tia, played by Naomie Harris, right, of 28 Days Later, is pretty even as she is portrayed in the film with bad teeth, dirty lips and scraggly hair. We find out that Tia lives in a black neighborhood because at the end of the film her neighbors come out to mourn Jack with a candlelight vigil. Ms. Harris will also appear in the new Miami Vice film later this summer.

YouTube Hottest New Thing on the Internet

Chad Hurley and Steve Chen, left, are the new darlings of the internet because they created a Web site that streams 100 million videos a day. Now anyone with a webcam or video recorder can upload a 10-minute video for viewing. How long will it be before they sell the service for billions to one of the big boys? First they have to deal with potential copyright problems. Their current solution is to remove any uploaded content if it is requested. This is giving new life to old acts by providing a vehicle to view vintage performances. It also provides a venue for new talent to share their art. Brilliant. Their server farm must be awesome.

European Union Court Not Friendly To Hollywood

An EU court rejected the 2004 merger of Sony's music division with BMG's music division on antitrust grounds. The ruling casts a cloud over the pending Warner Music and EMI merger plans. Now Viacom is eyeballing BMG's music publishing arm. Universal Music is interested in bidding on the BMG division too. Citigroup and J.P. Morgan are managing the invitation only auction.

The Day The Earth Stood Still - Electricity

One of our favorite movies has Klaatu arranging for a demonstration of his power by neutralizing electricity all over the world for 30 minutes. We are curious as to how he would do that. The movie did not explain how he, or Gort, right, did it. We invite you to speculate about how you would neutralize electricity worldwide and then turn it back on.

Robert Johnson Forms Hollywood Film Studio

Robert L. Johnson, the cable pioneer who founded Black Entertainment Television 25 years ago and sold it for $3 billion in 2000 to Viacom, has formed a film studio with independent producers Harvey and Bob Weinstein. Johnson's Our Stories Films will produce family-friendly features about African Americans that will be distributed in theaters by the Dimension Films unit of Weinstein Co., which will be part-owner of the venture. New York bank J.P. Morgan Chase has agreed to raise up to $175 million to fund the company. With Weinstein's Dimension Films as a distribution partner, Johnson is partnering with one of the most successful marketers of low-budget films to young audiences. Dimension is known for producing highly profitable horror, comedy and action films such as the "Scream" franchise, as well as "Spy Kids" and "Bad Santa."

Johnson, whose holding company is based in Bethesda, will be chairman and chief executive of Our Stories. The studio is to have its headquarters in Los Angeles with offices in New York. Johnson plans to hire a chief operating officer who knows Hollywood better than he does. There was no major movie studio where African Americans had the green-light authority to make broadly distributed films

Jill Scott Defends Oprah & Calls Some Hip Hop Polluted

Jill Scott, right, agrees with Oprah that some rap music and videos are misogynistic and not in the best interest of the black community or the image of black women. Ludacris, Ice Cube and 50 Cent have been criticizing Oprah for either not having them on her show or editing their comments when she does. Oprah has stated that she likes some hip hop music and videos but does not like those that denegrate women. Oprah and Jill Scott are calling on the community to find a way to change these images. Jill Scott was quoted in The Washington Times concerning the negative portrayal of women in rap, "It is dirty, inappropriate, inadequate, unhealthy and polluted."

Randy Jackson Fights Oreo Stereotype?

If you're black and you're called an Oreo it means you are an Uncle Tom. You are basically being told that you are black on the outside but white on the inside. In other words, you have black skin but you act white. Well Randy Jackson of "American Idol" fame is having none of it.

Jackson is the new advertising pitchman for Oreo cookies. He is pictured on their cookie wrapper and is pitching in the funny television commercials. It is clearly a very big campaign. One scene is really visually funny: he is sitting in a bathtub where the suds make it look like he is sitting in milk. Various bands, including singer Pharrel Williams, break in while he is bathing, evidently to impress him because of his "American Idol" credential. Simon and Paula couldn't be far behind. Simon already producing another television talent show. Paula will probably show her hand next.

Steve Harvey & His Great Morning Radio Show

Steve Harvey is quickly becoming the King of All Media. He has succeeded in television, movies, the stage and radio. His Steve Harvey syndicated radio show is hilarious. His associates on the show, particularly Jackie Reid, help to add an ensemble brilliance to Harvey's grandmaster. The Steve & Mary Harvey Foundation works to improve the educational environment of public schools.

Steve Harvey has somehow perfectly fused country and city into a highly effective comedic persona. Born in West Virginia, he now resides in Dallas, Texas. He jumped into radio at 100.3 The Beat in Los Angeles, California and then became Host of The Steve Harvey Morning Show for L.A's 93.5 KDAY. That show is now syndicated and broadcast all over the country. He is heard on Howard University's WHUR radio in Washington, D.C.

The Best Pop Funk Rock Band Of All Time

Sly & The Family Stone perform Love City below with portions of their hit Stand thrown in for good measure. This group not only dominated the Woodstock stage performances, but also the Woodstock album and film. The group genuinely represented the Woodstock Nation by its makeup of men, women, blacks and whites. The black pop, soul, r&b, rock and jazz environments would never be the same after this band.

The Best Rock Power Trio Of All Time

The Band of Gypsies (Jimi Hendrix, Buddy Miles and Billy Cox) perfected the power trio. You can even hear the buzz of the amps before they start playing. Their Filmore performances were perfect and the performance of Machine Gun below perfectly captures their perfection.

The rock & roll environment would never be the same after Jimi Hendrix. Many followed from Led Zeppelin and The Mahavishnu Orchestra to Guns & Roses and The Motley Crue. Yet for some reason, blacks abandoned Rock & Roll. Fortunately, The Band of Gypsies left a clear record of what a power trio should really be.

NASA Shuttle Video Coverage Poor

NASA evidently does not get the fact that Americans want easy access to Space Shuttle activities. Navigating NASA's web site to get LIVE coverage is impossible. They give some canned videos but we want to have webcam access to real time views of the astronauts. And it should be one click away on the Home Page of the NASA Web site. The only exciting live experience the public gets is the launch. NASA seems to want its program to be boring. Don't they know we grew up on Spock and Captain Kirk beaming up and down from the Starship Enterprise. Why don't we at least have real time Webcam video from a helmet cam during the spacewalks. AND IT SHOULD BE ONE CLICK AWAY ON THE HOME PAGE. GEEZ.

Animal Activists Protest Japan at Graceland

Animal and environmental activists sometimes act stupid by protesting at inappropriate times and places. Activists from the International Fund for Animal Welfare dressed as Elvis impersonators held up signs saying "Don't Be Cruel" during the tour of Graceland by President Bush and Japan Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi. They hurt the whale protection cause with such untimely protests. Most people oppose cruelty to animals, but protesting at the homes of innocent icons crosses the line. Plus there is no way you can compete with the picture of the prime minister and president with Priscilla and Lisa Marie Presley. Of course, many of these activists think acting stupid in public is an effective promotional strategy. Good thing The King wasn't around to deal with the protestors.