Michael Vick has formally entered his guilty plea under a prearranged plea bargain. The NFL has suspended him indefinitely. I wish the federal prosecutors had not entered into a plea with him and let him face a jury under racketeering charges too, but I guess bird a hand holds true especially with celebrity defendants. He will not be sentenced for some months, but it is excepted to be a year to a year and a half jail time.
Anthony Wilson, founder of Factory Records and the driving force behind the Manchester scene died on August 10, 2007 from complications of kidney cancer. He was the main focus of the movie “24 Hour Party People“. He began as a local news reporter who became the driving force behind the bands like Happy Mondays and New Order. He also founded Factory Records and opened the legendary Hacienda club.
I was watching The Colbert Report last night, and they did a segment on Alberto Gonzales’ testimony before the Senate. The attorney general stated there was not right of habeas corpus in the constitution. Here is the relevant portion of the US Constitution: Article I, Section 9, of the Constitution states that “the privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion the public Safety may require it.” You would think that after six full years of this administration, I would no longer be surprised, but this is unbelievable. I wonder if this will affect the president’s already low approval ratings. I am sure there are die-hard Bush supporters that will say that Gonzales is correct. This is a scary world we live in.
I wanted to congratulate all of the Golden Globe winners tonight. Here’s the list of winners:
MOTION PICTURES
Picture, Drama: “Babel”
Actress, Drama: Helen Mirren, “The Queen”
Actor, Drama: Forest Whitaker, “The Last King of Scotland”
Picture, Musical or Comedy: “Dreamgirls”
Actress, Musical or Comedy: Meryl Streep, “The Devil Wears Prada”
Actor, Musical or Comedy: Sacha Baron Cohen, “Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan”
Supporting Actress: Jennifer Hudson, “Dreamgirls”
Supporting Actor: Eddie Murphy, “Dreamgirls”
Director: Martin Scorsese, “The Departed”
Movie Screenplay: Peter Morgan, “The Queen”
Foreign Language: “Letters From Iwo Jima,” USA/Japan
Original Score: Alexandre Desplat, “The Painted Veil”
Original Song: “The Song of the Heart” from “Happy Feet”
Animated Film: “Cars”
TELEVISION
Series, Drama: “Grey’s Anatomy,” ABC
Actress, Drama: Kyra Sedgwick, “The Closer”
Actor, Drama: Hugh Laurie, “House”
Series, Musical or Comedy: “Ugly Betty,” ABC
Actress, Musical or Comedy: America Ferrera, “Ugly Betty”
Actor, Musical or Comedy: Alec Baldwin, “30 Rock”
Miniseries or movie: “Elizabeth I,” HBO
Actress, Miniseries or Movie: Helen Mirren, “Elizabeth I”
Actor, Miniseries or Movie: Bill Nighy, “Gideon’s Daughter”
Supporting Actress, Series, Miniseries or Movie: Emily Blunt, “Gideon’s Daughter”
Supporting Actor, Series, Miniseries or Movie: Jeremy Irons, “Elizabeth I”
Cecil B. DeMille Award: Warren Beatty
I wonder if this year will be the year the academy gives Martin Scorsese his due with the Best Director award.
This article is too funny. Truthiness has won word of the year. It is used by Stephen Colbert on the Colbert Report to indicate truth comes from the gut not from facts. He uses this in context of the pundits who support someone no matter what. Great word and a great show, congrats to the Colbert and the staff at the Colbert Report!
CNN is reporting that Jim Webb has defeated George Allen in the Virginia senate race. This seat gives the democrats. This seat gives each party 49 seats. There are two independents which are likely to vote with the democrats according to cnn, but you have to wonder how Joe Liberman will vote since he lost the democratic primary in defense of his seat, but later won as an independent.
Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld is resigning. He is widely regarded as the one of the chief architects of the war on Iraq. His politics have been highly criticized by the opponents of the invasion of Iraq. Rumsfeld was one of the first US officials to openly criticize France’s lack of support of the US invasion. He is to be replaced by current A&M University president Robert Gates. Gates served as head of the CIA from 91 to 93.
There is a wind of change in Washington with the midterm elections. The Democrats have taken a majority in the House of Representatives for the first time since 1994. The Senate is still up from grabs right now with Montana and Virginia races to close to call right now. I am glad to see the Democrats take control in at least one of the houses. Congress has rubber stamp Bush’s politics in the past 6 six years which have included some very questionable tactics like warrantless wiretapping on US citizens. I hope they actually have a plan instead of the Republics are bad vote for us. The next two years will tell what they do with their majority on one or possibly both of the houses of Congress.
Today Jeffery Skilling got 24 years sentence for his role in the Enron
collapse. Unfortunately Kenneth Lay passed away before his appeals
were exhausted so his conviction was removed. That is interesting
legal concept that even though you were convicted, your conviction can
be removed upon your death if your appeals are not exhausted. This is
unfortunate for the Federal Government in this case since they were
trying to seize his assets based on the conviction. They can still
seize them, but they have to get in line with the rest of his
creditors. I hope they continue to pursue the seizure. I am glad
that white-collar criminals are being strongly prosecuted. If you
would like to learn more about the Enron collapse, you can read
Smartest Guys in the Room: The Amazing Rise and Scandalous Fall of
Enron or check the documentary, Enron – The Smartest Guys in the Room,
based on the book.