The Weekly Poll
Results
This week's poll:
OJ... Will it ever end?
OK, Poll-Fans, here it is...
1.) Did OJ get a fair trial? If yes, how long should he be sentenced?
2.) If no, what should be the basis for his appeal?
Go ahead, let us know how you REALLY feel!
Results
Only three responses to this poll...
mj wrote, "I didn't pay much attention to the most recent trial. From what I did notice, there were no egregious issues of unfairness." ...and then added some thoughts about the first trial, "WRT his first trial, the prosecution made a huge mistake in charging murder 1 for Nicole absent the murder weapon. Unless they could prove he brought a weapon with him, premeditation was hard to prove. They should have gone for murder 2 or 3 or voluntary manslaughter. They could then get a capital murder on Goldman as being killed as a witness to a felony. I guess I'm one of the few who doesn't have a problem with the "irrational" verdict. I recall that the some of the jurors said something to the effect that the police framed a guilty man. The jurors were from non-affluent LA neighborhoods. Who is likely to be a danger to them and their families, O. J. who they'll never meet or the LAPD who interact with them daily? Punish the guy whose bad behavior is a more immediate danger."
Ted was brief and to the point, "Yeah , he got a fair trial. He's 60 yrs old so I think a forty year sentence with no possibility for parole would be appropriate."
Finally, Sally weighed in with this, "You query: "Did OJ get a fair trial? If yes, how long should he be sentenced?"
I believe he did. Yesterday I heard some of the jury members being interviewed on TV (reasoning the verdict) and I think they were on firm ground in their decision.
That being said, I think a, "Possible life sentence" is ridiculous for this crime. Okay, call me the Liberal here if you will, but I think that OJ is (or has become) quite mentally unbalanced. For one thing, what he did (bursting into a hotel room with his armed posse, not even trying to hide his identity, etc.) was just suicidal. Surely he didn't think he would get away with the crime, and not be caught did he? No, IMHO, he's gone off the deep end. I think a year or two of jail time, AWA mandatory mental health care, would suffice as a sentence for him."
BadtotheboneBob
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from Bruce
1864 House: Coming Out Day - My Family Story (dailykos.com)
My daughter's best friend came out when he was 16. He didn't talk about his situation at home too much, but we weren't surprised when he went home one night and found all his belongings in black plastic trash bags in the back yard. He ended up at our back door - trying to look brave and pretending it didn't matter. It's not hard - once someone has a place in your heart - to take the next step and make a place for them in your home. The only logical response was to put my arms around him and ask, "What color do you want to paint your room?" He chose purple. And we chose a son.
Memories of Coming Out: Day 3 (advocate.com)
I was late in coming out to my family. It was Thanksgiving eve and I went home for the holiday break. I was watching "Will & Grace" with my mom on the couch in our living room. The episode was about Jack hiding that he was gay from his mother, and Karen and Grace were claiming to be Jack's girlfriends. Out of nowhere, my mother turned to me and said, "This show reminds me of you and your friends. Is there something you want to tell me?" I turned a deep shade of red and my gut reaction was to deny it and pretend I didn't know what she was talking about, but then I heard my voice admitting to her that yes, I'm gay. She hugged me and said she had been waiting for me to tell her for years. I guess it's true that a mother always knowsŠ
Memories of Coming Out: Day 2 (advocate.com)
On the second day of our coming-out series, Brooke Knows Best star Glenn Douglas Packard, SAGE executive director Michael Adams, and Family Equality Council executive director Jennifer Chrisler share their coming-out stories.
Memories of Coming Out (advocate.com)
In day one of our series on coming out, Lair star David Moretti, Big Brother's Marcellas Reynolds, and New York LGBT Community Center executive director Richard D. Burns share their stories.
Tim Dowling: 'A life coach might disagree, but staying in and avoiding people works for me' (guardian.co.uk)
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Sasha Abramsky: Blaming the Poor (huffingtonpost.com)
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Lisa Verrico: The rich men paying to play rock'n'roll (timesonline.co.uk)
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Trish Bendix: Sick of Sarah Stands Out (afterellen.com)
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Greg Archer: Messing Around Again (advocate.com)
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Nicola Graydon: Tony Curtis, last of the great Lotharios
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Ricky Gervais Is Funny Guy
Dick Van Dyke
Ricky Gervais has been named one of the "funniest human beings alive" by legendary Hollywood performer Dick Van Dyke.
"He's one of the funniest human beings alive - I mean it Ricky," said Dick, who stars in the forthcoming film sequel Night at the Museum Two: Battle of The Smithsonian, with the British comic.
Dick, star of legendary musicals Mary Poppins and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang was speaking at a Hollywood benefit to honour St Judes hospital for sick children, where he was due to perform Mary Poppins hit Chim Chim Cher-ee.
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Bush Critic Wins Economics Nobel
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Paul Krugman, whose relentless criticism of the Bush administration includes opposition to the $700 billion financial bailout, won the Nobel prize in economics Monday for his work on international trade patterns.
The Princeton University professor and New York Times columnist is the best-known American economist to win the prize in decades.
The Nobel committee commended Krugman's work on global trade, beginning with a 10-page paper in 1979 that knit together two fields of study, helping foster a better understanding of why countries produce similar products and why people move from the small towns to cities.
Krugman (pronounced KROOG-man) is best known for his unabashedly liberal column in the Times, which he has written since 1999. In it, he has said Republicans are becoming "the party of the stupid" and that the economic meltdown made GOP presidential nominee John McCain "more frightening now than he was a few weeks ago."
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A Praying Man
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Dennis Hopper (R - Hops Fence), the US actor-director perhaps best known for the 1969 road-movie "Easy Rider", is praying for victory by Barack Obama in next month's elections, he said on Monday.
"I voted for Bush, father and son, but this time I'll vote for Obama," he told journalists at the opening of a show on his life and work at the Paris cinematheque.
"I was the first person in my family to have been Republican," he added. "For most of my life I wasn't on the left."
"I pray God, Barack Obama is elected," he said, criticising the current administration's many "lies."
Dennis Hopper
Debut Lecture At Oxford
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Oscar winning actor Kevin Spacey is set to give his debut lecture at Oxford University.
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Kevin Spacey
Rejoins Universal In DreamWorks Deal
Steven Spielberg
Steven Spielberg's DreamWorks studio has signed on with Universal Pictures to distribute its films as his company parts ways with Paramount.
Under the seven-year deal, Universal will distribute up to six DreamWorks movies a year domestically and overseas, except for India, executives for both companies said Monday.
Spielberg made his early films, including "Jaws," for Universal, and his Amblin Entertainment production company remained based on the Universal lot even after Paramount acquired DreamWorks in 2006.
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Too Much Mail
Ringo
Former Beatles drummer Ringo Starr has told fans to stop sending letters and requests for autographs, saying mail will be thrown away after October 20 because he has too much to do.
Starr, 68, made the announcement in a video message titled "Sorry, No More Signing Stuff" posted on his official web site www.ringostarr.com. Wearing sunglasses and flashing a peace sign, he says;
"I want to tell you after the 20th of October please do not send fan mail to any address you have. Nothing will be signed after the 20th of October. If that is the date on the envelope, it's gonna be tossed.
"I'm warning you with peace and love I have too much to do. So no more fan mail. Thank you, thank you. And no objects to be signed. Nothing."
Ringo
Mistakes Fans For Protesters
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Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin mistook some of her own fans for hecklers Monday at a rally that drew thousands.
A massive crowd of at least 20,000 spread across the parking lot of Richmond International Raceway, and scores of people on the outer periphery more than 100 yards from the stage could not hear.
"Louder! Louder!" they began chanting, and the cry spread across the crowd to Palin's left. Some pointed skyward, urging that the volume be increased.
Palin stopped her remarks briefly and looked toward the commotion.
"I hope those protesters have the courage and honor to give veterans thanks for their right to protest," she said.
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7 First Ladies Join Fight
West Africa
First ladies from seven west African countries gathered Monday for a conference on ways to end female circumcision, a widespread practise in the region despite efforts to end it.
The three-day meeting will "discuss transboundary practices of circumcision in the region to better fight against the scourge," presidential spokesman Saidou Ouedraogo said.
First ladies from the west African countries of Benin, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Mali, Niger, Togo and Burkina Faso are due to participate, he said.
Female circumcision, or female genital mutilation (FGM), is common in some 30 African countries despite major awareness-raising campaigns and ever-tougher laws against the practise.
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Marcia! Marcia! Marcia!
Maureen McCormick
As Marcia Brady on "The Brady Bunch," Maureen McCormick projected an image of the wholesome girl next door. But off camera, she spiraled downward into drug addiction and depression.
Now 52, McCormick writes about her struggles in a new memoir, "Here's the Story: Surviving Marcia Brady and Finding My True Voice," hitting stores Tuesday. She discusses her romance with TV sibling Barry Williams, her dates with Michael Jackson and Steve Martin, cocaine binges and parties at the Playboy Mansion and the home of Sammy Davis Jr., an unwanted pregnancy and trading sex for drugs.
McCormick was 14 when "The Brady Bunch" debuted on ABC, running from 1969 to 1974. Despite her role as a sunny Miss Perfect, she struggled privately with anxiety and insecurity, the youngest of four children born to a mercurial father who abused and cheated on their mother.
When "The Brady Bunch" ended, she took up a hard-partying lifestyle in Hollywood, using drugs including cocaine and Quaaludes. She struggled to regain her earlier success, landing some TV and movie roles, but developed a reputation for unreliability due to her addiction, even botching an interview with Steven Spielberg because she was high.
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Rules For Music Categories Loosened
Oscars
Reversing a year-old regulation, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has approved the use of CDs of songs and scores in campaigns for the music Oscars.
Last year, in its annual tweaking of campaign rules, the Academy banned campaigners from sending specially-produced CDs, as well as sheet music and music videos, to its members as part of an effort to force voters to focus on how music is used within a film rather than how it sounds in isolation.
But that triggered an outcry from many members of the music branch, and so this year the Academy has revised that revision.
Under the new campaign regulation for the 81st annual Academy Awards, which will be handed out February 22, CDs of eligible scores may be distributed to voting members of the music branch anytime prior to the nominations announcement on January 22. Once the nominees are announced, the nominated scores may be distributed to all voting members of the Academy.
Oscars
1,528 Pounds
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Thad Starr's giant pumpkin really began putting on weight in August. A lot of weight. The pumpkin gained about thirty pounds a day on its way to victory Monday at the 35th annual Safeway World Championship Pumpkin Weigh-off in Half Moon Bay.
Starr's pumpkin finished at 1,528 pounds, beating the contest record he set last year by four pounds.
"We really pamper them," Starr, 41, of Pleasant Hill, Ore., said about the pumpkins he raises, adding that the secret to growing big pumpkins is good soil.
Tim Beeman, a spokesman for the contest, said Starr's pumpkin was four feet, four inches tall with a circumference of about 15 feet.
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In Memory
William Claxton
William Claxton, a celebrated photographer who worked with such entertainers as Bob Dylan and Frank Sinatra and who helped establish the organization that runs the Grammy Awards, has died. He was 80.
He was best known for his soulful portraits of jazz artists such as Chet Baker, and he went on to photograph Dylan and other musicians such as Joni Mitchell and Tom Jones. His images graced the covers of numerous albums.
Claxton, a founding member of The Recording Academy, started his photography career in 1952 while a student at University of California, Los Angeles.
He also worked with Sinatra, Steve McQueen and Rebecca De Mornay, and his photographs regularly appeared in such magazines as Life, Paris Match and Vogue.
In the 1960s, Claxton collaborated with his wife, fashion model Peggy Moffitt, to create a collection of iconic images featuring Rudi Gernreich's fashion designs.
A film he directed from that era, "Basic Black," is considered by many to be the first "fashion video" and is now part of the collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
In 2003, he won the Lucie award for music photography at the International Photography Awards.
In Memory
Guillaume Depardieu
Hospital officials say 37-year-old French actor Guillaume Depardieu has died from complications linked to a sudden case of pneumonia.
The son of French movie star Gerard Depardieu had been hospitalized since Sunday night, said officials at the Raymond-Poincare de Garches hospital in the western suburbs of Paris.
Guillaume Depardieu won the prize in 1996 as the most promising young actor at the Cesar awards - France's equivalent of the Academy Awards - for his role in the film "Les Apprentis" (The Apprentices).
He starred with his father in a 1991 film, but they had a public falling-out in 2003. Guillaume Depardieu had his right leg amputated in 2003 to end years of pain from a bacterial infection following a motorcycle accident in 1996.
Guillaume Depardieu
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