…to see if Hell has frozen over!

I actually agree with Jay-z!

Jay-Z doesn’t like the new version of “We Are The World”, and neither do I.

As a matter of fact, Jay-Z said it shouldn’t have been remade.  Again, I concur.

The first version, no matter what anyone thinks of it was an iconic classic filled with great singing by great singers.  It was a novel idea at the time…Farm Aid aside…thank you Willie!

Mr. Beyonce told MTV News Saturday night at the 2 Kings Dinner in Dallas, “I know everybody is gonna take this wrong: ‘We Are the World,’ I love it, and I understand the point and think it’s great. But I think ‘We Are the World’ is like Michael Jackson’s ‘Thriller’ to me. I don’t ever wanna see it touched.”

Not only did he marry well, he’s very wise indeed. 

The Original, was great, included such greats as Dianna Ross, Dionne Warwick, Willie Nelson, Bob Dylan, Tina Turner, Kim Carnes, Huey Lewis, and my all time fave, stuck over in the corner next to LaToya, Bette Midler!

The new one has a rap section, and features a bunch of thugs and criminals including Justin Beiber and Barbra Streisand.

And you know, you can’t spell crap without rap!

The producers decided this time around to remove the only Biblical reference, you know, the one about “turning stones to bread”.

I don’t mean to be insensitive or unkind…wait for it…but how in the name of Lindsay Lohan did Wyclef Jean get a recording contract?  And wasn’t it nice of Lil Wayne to take time out of his dental appointments and court dates to pop in for a solo?

And the nerve of Celine Dion doing the Cindy Lauper part!  Really…take that whiny dog whistle of a voice back to Montreal!

Frankly, if it weren’t for Jennifer Hudson and Pink…it would be worthless.

What did Jay-Z want to do?

He says they should have made a new song.  Says the Jayster, “I think it’s time for us to make a new song.  I tried to do that with ‘Stranded,’ (the song he, Rihanna, Bono, and the Edge premiered at the “hope for Haiti Now” telethon.  He added “I didn’t try to make ‘We Are the World,’ but I tried to make our take on how we felt.”

Jay-Z’s right, the orignial was a classic, it should have been left to stand, and it’s not just because Jay-Z wasn’t there.

Special Olympics Chairman and CEO Timothey Shriver personally accepted an apology from White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel Wednesday.

Thanks Tim.  But I don’t remember asking.

In case you haven’t heard, Rahm used the word “retarded” to describe a proposal made by a group of liberal Democrats.  Actually, he said “f****ing retarded”. 

Naughty, naughty Rahm.

I have been working with Special Needs students since 2003.  I spent 30 years in a telecommunications career that wasn’t as rewarding as one day with those kids.

Not all of the children I work with are impacted by “mental retardation”, and BTW, Rahm, that’s what you say, it’s not, “he’s retarded”, it’s “he has mental retardation”.  Get your terms straight.

But back to Tim;  According to a joint statement from Shriver and five other disability advocates who attended a meeting at the White House, Emanuel “sincerely apologized for his mistake and the pain it caused in our community.”

Emanuel also committed to signing an online pledge to make the word obsolete.

Stop it!

An online pledge, yeah, that’s gonna’ work.

Mr. Shriver said in a statement that “we are thankful to Mr. Emanuel for his apology”

Who is we?

Rahm made his statement months ago, but it just hit the fan came to light this week.

“Our community has earned the right to be respected instead of ridiculed. We have suffered injustice for generations and we are demanding that it end,” the advocates said. “This is another small step on the road to a country that accepts the gifts of all.”

According to The Wall Street Journal,  Emanuel met with liberal groups at a weekly strategy session in August, that highlighted the issue of health care reform. Emanuel used the term “f—ing retarded” after hearing from a group of liberals that they planned to run television ads against other Democrats who were not falling in lock step on health care reform.

Regardless of what the spat was about, the words were wrong.

And thanks Rahm, you’ve pissed off former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.  Like we need that!  She said that President Obama should fire Rahm for his remark.

Maybe, maybe not.

She also said it was the “equivalent of the N-word.”

Maybe, maybe not.  I’m sure there is about 14% of the population who might disagree.

Palin said in a statement:  “Yes, Rahm is known for his caustic, crude references about those with whom he disagrees, but his recent tirade against participants in a strategy session was such a strong slap in many American faces that our president is doing himself a disservice by seeming to condone Rahm’s recent sick and offensive tactic.”

Of course, I would pay to see the President slap someone.  Why not Rahm Emanuel, he’s a good as any!

Palin added: “Rahm’s slur on all God’s children with cognitive and developmental disabilities  — and the people who love them — is unacceptable, and it’s heartbreaking.”

Let’s not bring God into this Sarah.

Most of the children will never know, but it does hurt the people who love them and work with them.  And it shows a lack of restraint and calousness of a man who should know better.

I agree with Kirsten Seckle, a spokesperson for the Special Olympics when she said. “Tim can’t do that. He can’t accept an apology on behalf of all people with disabilities.”  And frankly, no one can.  It’s an individual decision.

A Special Olympics official told the Huffington Post on Wednesday that all six of the people in Wednesday’s meeting accepted Emanuel’s show of contrition.  Six down, millions to go.

Accompanying Shriver at the White House meeting were Andrew Imparato, president and CEO of the American Association of People with Disabilities; Peter V. Berns, CEO of The Arc; Hannah Jacobs, a disability right advocate; Julie Petty, former president of Self Advocates Becoming Empowered; and Ricardo Thornton, a Special Olympics athlete.

Ok, none of these people speak for me.

Here’s my take, and sorry in taking so long to get here.

Most of the time I work with students who have learning disabilites, and I work with a  few who have mental retardation.  When the kids in my class use the words retarded or “f***ing” in anyway, they get detention.

Rham should get detention.

Is Gitmo still available?

…As far as I’m concerned, Late Night TV died 17 years ago when Bette Midler sang “One For My Baby” on Johnny’s last show.

So we’re back to Jay and Dave.

Conan has left the building.

With $45 million dollars.

I’ll quit my job for $45 million.

But, alas, we have Jay and Dave to contend with.

They seem to have lost even the icy pretend fondness they once had.

Dave was alreay dpissed because Jay got Johnny’s spot and network.

He hid it well, professionally, for years.

But now,  not so much.

Dave recently said, “I’m telling jokes and making fun of Jay Leno ove and over and over and over, relentlessly, mercilessly simpply forone reason, I’m really enjoying.”

No love lost there.

And Jay said this, “Letterman has been hammering me every night  You know the best way to get Letterman to ignore you? Marry him. He will not bother you. He won’t look you in the eye.”  Low blow, since Dave admitted on TV to the extra marital affairs.

Jay’s prime time format failed, and NBC knowing that Jay has huge appeal is putting him back.

Another mistake in my book.  Jay really showed what he is made of.  He ain’t all that nice.  Rolling Stone Magazine says that Jay spent all those years making drunk people laugh in tough bars and clubs and became tough himself.  He’s a fighter, and he’s fighting for survival.  By retaking the Tonight Show, pushing a much loved Conan O’Brien out of the way, $45 million or not, he’s lost his nice guy image.

And that image is what has kept him popular.

So, what’s it all boil down to?

It ain’t about the money.  He’s got plenty.

Supposedly he banked the Tonight Show money for 16 years and lived on his stand up money.

It’s about the EGO!

He’s got one bigger than his chin!

So, we’ll see. 

Well some people will.  I quit watching late night when Johnny left!

Can we talk about the “double standard”? 

I know, you’re saying, “Which double standard?”

I agree, there are far too many.

There really are far too many, and I could address several…

…but for now, try this one…

Ever hear a woman say, “Isn’t that just like a man?”?

I’m sure you have…I’m sure you may have said it.

And I’ll admit, stereotypes are there because they’re there.

At a business meeting back in the day when I had a “real” job, one of the big boys was working the remote for the presesntation when a female corporate Vice President said, 

 ”Isn’t that just like a man, they always have to have the remote.”.

Now, I personally believe that it is written somewhere in the Bible that the man should have the remote.  And frankly, women do not know how to work them.  I’m sure it’s because we’ve controlled them for so long that the evolutionary process has deleted that from the very DNA of the female.   So, guys, I’m sure it’s our fault.  Why not, everything else is.

It got me to thinking, and this is dangerous ground.  But if a MALE corporate Vice President had said, “Isn’t that just like a woman?” ,  there would have been attorneys, court dates, settlements, early retirements, and general mayhem.

I bring this UP, simply because after nearly 40 years of “sensitivity” training, diversity training, treating others with respect seminars, co-worker team building sessions, and media attention…it is still going on.

Are major corporations wasting their money on all this?

Probably.

People are people, people are going to say insensitive and ignorant things.  Maybe we need to just take it for what it’s worth and learn something about the person who’s saying it.

Maybe it’s just our plain old human selfishness to think we know better than someone else, aren’t like the typical woman/man, which ever the case may be.  Or maybe it’s really the way it is, and we just need to get over it.

Am I advocating saying what’s on your mind?

Yes!

That way we’ll know instantly how you really feel.

And we know what you really believe, and know just how far we should stay away from you!

So, speak your mind!