In other news...

Yes, believe it or not, there is actually other stuff going on in the world besides the media circus better known as Michael Jackson's death and the quest to find out who inherits what in the will he left behind. Quite frankly, I'm ready to move on from this story, which seems to be get more bizarre by the minute.

Diana Ross???

WTF...

It's funny how in the middle of Iran imploding and North Korea planning to send missiles to US shores, the media has lost all of its senses and done wall-to-wall coverage of MJ. I just about had it last night when I was watching Entertainment Tonight, and the reporter actually asked Ola Ray (MJ's love interest in the Thriller video) if she had sex with him. Talk about low road journalism...but I digress.

So, here is some other news that has been going on:

Iraq (and its discontents)
American troops pulled out of major cities in Iraq this week. But we all know this don't really mean anything to anyone, right? Aren't the Iraqis free now?

From NY Times:

In BASRA, the mood was generally skeptical.

Haider Muhammed Ali, 31, a communications engineer:
“The withdrawal doesn’t represent national sovereignty because the troops will remain at the airport base and will stay inside Iraq.”

Samir Alwan, 28 years, owner of a mini market:

“They will not withdraw to their homes in their country. They will stay here and in emergency cases they would enter the city. So it is not national sovereignty according to my point of view, and I think the Iraqi Army is only able to control the southern areas. They are unable to make Baghdad and Mosul safe.”

Najim Salim, 40 years, a teacher.

“There is no doubt it is not national sovereignty because they will stay inside Iraq in military bases. The Government wants to convince the citizens that there is a withdrawal of foreign troops, although the Government could not protect citizens in some cities in Iraq even with the presence of U.S. forces. So the Government will fail to protect citizens after the withdrawal, and then the Government will ask the foreign troops to come back.”

Ayman Jasim, 37 years, a photographer .

“ I am happy for the withdraw of Americans it is national day and national sovereignty come back again to Iraq. I believe Iraqi troops will control the city and nothing will happen after their withdrawal.”

The gays vs Obama administration
Meanwhile, President Obama is seemingly throwing the gays under the bus with recent decisions on same sex marriage and "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy. Now I know realistic Obama can't come out supporting gay marriage, as most of the country is still against it. However, most Americans are ready to get rid of the military ban on gays.

I have been thinking about this issue for a while. Do you think the hesitation for Obama to support pro-gay initiatives has anything to do with sustaining the black vote in 2012? This might seem silly, but hang on with me here. With such large opposition of same sex marriage in the black community, do you think the first black president fears losing some of his support from his own race if he is seen as being to willing to give in to gay rights? I actually know a few black folks who have said to me recently that Obama is getting "too soft" on supporting gay people.

Vibe magazine is dead
Vibe, the "venerable" hip-hop magazine, shut down yesterday, due to being "the latest victim of the media recession." But other folks are saying that the mostly white management ran it into the ground (thanks for sending that link, Marcy). I say it died because it simply sucked and wasn't relevant anymore. It's funny, I didn't even know it was still in publication...

Cynthia McKinney is out to save the children
And finally news that can by filed under "Embarrassing Black People"

From Washington Post:

The former controversial congresswoman from Georgia has resurfaced - on a boat in the Mediterranean Sea trying to deliver supplies to Gaza.

Israeli forces arrested McKinney and other passengers on board the ship, according to a group called Free Gaza, which said on its Web site that McKinney and the others "have been illegally incarcerated for their solidarity work with Palestine."

The Israeli Consulate General of Israel in Atlanta, however, accused McKinney and her fellow travelers of waging a "reckless political stunt."

McKinney, who ran for president in 2008 as a Green Party candidate, was defeated in 2006, not long after she was accused of punching a Capitol Police officer who mistook her for a tourist. She had made a brief comeback after being defeated in 2002, at which time her father said he blamed the "J-E-W-S" for his daughter's defeat

The "Free Gaza" website, freegaza.org, quotes McKinney as saying that she and her group .

This is an outrageous violation of international law against us," she was quoted as saying. "Our boat was not in Israeli waters, and we were on a human rights mission to the Gaza Strip. President Obama just told Israel to let in humanitarian and reconstruction supplies, and that's exactly what we tried to do. We're asking the international community to demand our release so we can resume our journey.

She's right about Gaza, but must she be the spokesperson on this?

Okay, now you can get back to the real news: Now who gets Michael's kids? Katherine Jackson? Debbie Rowe? Diana Ross? Madonna? (she'a adopting these days...)