The Federal Reserve

Chairman Ben Bernanke and his Merry Men decided on a 75 basis point cut today to the lending rate. I was surprised, I thought it was going to be 1 full point. This is all pretty interesting in light of what is happening with the housing market, and the Bear Stearns buy-out. Read more at Forbes.com.

Obama in Philly: Is-Wright, or Fore-Wright?

About an hour ago, at 11:00am (EST), Presidential candidate Barack Obama gave a speech in Philadelphia. Pieces of information released by the campaign prior to the speech revealed that Obama was going to reiterate his denunciations of Reverend Jeremiah Wright’s comments. But a broader discussion of race in general is what Obama’s campaign was seeking. Reverend J. Wright is a longterm pastor and mentor of the presidential hopeful. A 2 minute video was recently released with snippets of over 4,000 sermons that he has given through out his career. This video, which many have construed as racist, is what the Wall Street Journal is calling the first real test of his campaign. And very quickly, Senator Obama criticised the Reverend’s remarks. But it gave the Obama campaign the opening it needed in order to open up the race discussion. Here is the video clip of his speech.

I’m not sure he helped himself in this case, though. It had potential, but he just didn’t hit the mark. This has been a popular topic recently, so I thought I’d say something. My opinion is that cosmetic issues shouldn’t exist. The color of a person’s skin, hair, eyes, or fingernails have nothing to do with what kind of leader they are going to be. And as Obama says in speech, we’ve all heard ideas on occasion that we do not agree with from influential people in our lives. I agreed with very few of my professors in college, and fewer in grad school. In fact, I had a semester long battle with an ethics professor whom I still think lacks any semblance of ethics. They do not represent the ideas and ideals that I hold. Very few things get my blood boiling as quickly as racism, in any form. I am glad Obama took the chance to say something. At the very least, it portrayed his leadership.

Punky Brewster had a baby!

Yesterday, Soleil Moon Frye, better known to us 80s kids as Punky Brewster, gave birth to her second child with husband Jason Goldberg. They’ve named the little girl Jagger Joseph Blue Goldberg, and she joins her older sis, 2 year old Poet Sienna Rose Goldberg. Congratulations to the happy family! But what is up with those names? Jagger? Thanks, Mom. Love it.

If I was a movie star…..

Ever noticed how famous people are about as far from being real as they come? I don’t just mean movie stars, I’m talking sports stars, television stars, reality tv folks……..even the randomly famous people like Paris Hilton. I still have no idea why she became famous in the first place. I think I am going to open a hotel chain so that my kids can be famous if they want to. I seem to notice that as far as famous people go, musicians are about as close to being real as they come (and you’ll notice I said real, not normal). And I exclude people like Britney Spears from this “musicians” category, because no one knows what exactly she is. Anyway. There is a big to do right now about Kristin Davis (Charlotte, from Sex and the City) and a sex tape that she may or may not be a co-star in. So, I got online to do a little recon work into her life. Her middle name is Landon. Although, according to International Movie Datebase, sometimes she goes by Kristin Lee Davis. How many stars actually go by their real names? Associated Content has a list of stars and their real names here. If I was a celebrity, I would totally use my real name. It’s not Hayden Panettiere, but it works for me. We don’t get to choose our own names. If we did when we were young, we might all end up calling ourselves “Frankenstein,” like the kid in “Big Daddy.” You know, I’ve changed my mind on opening my hotel chain so that my kids can be famous. I don’t want my kids to be famous! Look at what happens to them!? What stars do you hear about that have tasted stardom while they are young that haven’t been in some sort of trouble? Hilary Duff hasn’t been arrested for anything yet, I don’t think. Miley Cyrus (daughter of Billy Ray) hasn’t tripped up yet, although I think that people are trying to get her to. As soon as a young star states a preference for remaining on the right side of the law, it seems that people start taking bets on when and where they are going to trip up. And recently, The Jonas Brothers came out with a statement that all three of them plan on waiting until marriage before they have sex. *cough* A commendable goal, gentlemen, and I wish you all the best of luck. I remember when Brit-Brit was sweet and innocent. And now she’s a mess. Well, I am older than the young kids that are approaching the age where “the wheels come off the wagon.” Let’s hope that at least a few of them can retain their integrity. Although…I’ve noticed that the stars who have consistently remained out of trouble don’t really get that much press. Anne Hathaway is someone that I am specifically thinking of. Does that simply prove the old adage “no press is bad press?” Who knows….
Oh, by the way, footage (in the form of a photo) of this Kristin Davis sex tape has emerged on Perez Hilton. You’ll have to see for yourself…it does look like her, but is it photoshopped? Her press office is claiming yes, but who knows?