In: India and The West. Of all the many failures of the Bush administration being hashed in the media by historians in the run-up to the Obama inauguration, the 43rd President has had one or two good moments in office. One, abstinence-focused prevention notwithstanding, is his compassionate fight against AIDS and malaria in Africa. Another fine moment in the Bush 43 Presidency is the geostrategic support of India's nuclear ambitions, keeping China on its toes and skillfully counterbalancing the schizoid ISI in Pakistan. It is not inconceivable that historians of the future might regard America's dramatic linear veer towards India as significant a foreign policy shift as Nixon's triangular overtures to China.
At Sunday's Golden Globe awards, it seemed as if the world's largest democracy had finally came of age. If the Beijing Olympics was China's pyrotechnic coming out party, the universal critical success of "Slumdog Millionaire" and the sheer glamour of Bollywood chic on display at the Globes visually suggests that, India, too, is on the rise and will find a receptive -- no, enthusiastic -- audience in the declining West. Post-financial crisis the destinies of America and India may be as entwined as the cobra and the charmer's flute (But who will be the cobra?).
Time to stop having kids, Flav. (image via tomsheenan)
Out: Flavor Flav. As the inauguration of President-elect Obama approaches, the problem of what-to-do with Flavor Flav once again presents itself to the long-suffering African-American community. Chris Rock once wryly observed that for African-Americans to be truly free .. we would have to kill Flavor Flav. That was pre-Obama; that was, to be sure, said tongue-in-cheek. But let's not outright dismiss the premise as out of the question. Let us remain open to the possibilities; let us leave all our cards on the table when dealing with the possibility of a spectacularly gory "Flav" death. The sacrifice of the one for the many is not wholly unprecedented in the annals of History. And consider the following. From ReviewJournal:
"If you went to the Adult Video News porn awards at Mandalay Bay on Saturday night, you watched rapper Flo Rida throw what looked like money at the crowd in the front row, while he was performing his hit 'Low.'
"Well, guess what. That was real money. I confirmed Monday he threw $3,000 in one dollar bills into the air.
"Here's the funny thing. Porn women sitting in the front rows wanted nothing to do with those solo bills. But men were a different story. Dudes dived for bills, grabbed at them, all kinds of insanity.
"... Flavor Flav also performed with Flo Rida.
"Flav was nutcakes on the red carpet.
"I asked Flav how he liked all the porn women around him.
"'Love it. Love 'em all, man. We can't live without 'em,' Flav said.
"The thing is, he was looking at me the paranoid way I imagine Hunter S. Thompson looked at bats and iguana melting in front of his eyes."
Desist, Flav, desist: Obama is President now. We can't be having that nonsense anymore.
(image via cbsnews)
In: Byron Pitts. Byron Pitts of CBSNews.com is taking up where Ed Bradley left off. From a press release from the NABJ:
"The National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) congratulates CBS News correspondent Byron Pitts on today's announcement that he will be joining the Sunday news magazine '60 Minutes' as a contributing correspondent. A longtime and committed member of NABJ, Pitts will become the program's only African-American contributor, following the footsteps of the late Ed Bradley. Pitts also has been promoted by CBS News as its chief national correspondent.
"'Byron Pitts brings the kind of humanity to his reporting that inspires and challenges the viewer to not only watch but get involved in the world around them; this will bring a new and improved layer to the already thought-provoking content of 60 Minutes,' said Barbara Ciara, NABJ President and UNITY: Journalists of Color Vice President. 'At a time when diversity in content and people is more important than ever, 60 Minutes has made a wise choice - one that enhances the program and provides an example of excellence in journalism.'"
Byron Pitts' had us on his reporting on the death and legacy of Ed Bradley.
Out: TV News? According to the Pew Research center, the web is catching up to television as the From eMarketer:
"In yet another sign that news readers are dropping print for digital, the Internet has now surpassed all media except television as a news source, according to consumers surveyed in December 2008 by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press.
"In December 2008, 40% of respondents said they got most of their news about national and international issues from the Internet, up from just 24% in September 2007.
"Pew said it was the first time since it started surveying that consumers relied more on the Internet for news than on newspapers.
"Television was still the main source for national and international news, at 70%."
While the internet is still chasing the older demographic as a primary news source, it actually rivals television among teenagers. "Nearly six out of 10 Americans younger than 30 said they got most of their national and international news online; the exact same percentage said TV was the main way they got their news."
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