Battle at Kruger

One of the most watched YouTube clips ever.

Free R. Kelly

As you know, the R. Kelly trial has finally begun after almost six years. Yesterday, the prosecution played the tape of Kelly allegedly getting his 13-year-old on, followed by testimonies from one of the girl's former friends, the girl's aunt, and Kelly's former artist, singer Sparkle.

All three positively identified Kelly and the girl. The former friend even went on to tell how they met Kelly when they were both 12 through her father at a local gym and how they would go over to his house to hang out.

The former friend also positively identified the distinctive log cabin-styled sauna where the tape was filmed and which was also featured on MTV's cribs and a BET program.

After this evidence was presented, the defense countered that the video could have been altered to add Kelly's head to the body on the video.

For some strange reason I believe 'em... and I'm OK with that. Would the man that made "Sex In The Kitchen" and "Real Talk" be capable of this level of sexual deviance and misjudgement? I think not.

"GIRL I'M REA-DY TO TOSS YOUR SAL-AD!"

Throwback: Why Do Women Go to Strip Clubs?

Being a stripper is possibly one of the most demeaning jobs that a woman could have. You'd have to step out into an arena full of salivating men who view you as a headless body. You're required to strip down to nothingness--skin and dignity--and bare your naked body and all of its secrets for crumbled, dirty dollars from men who probably would be afraid to approach you in a different environment. You're nothing more than an object. It's got to be a mentally taxing profession...

Yet most of the women I know have been to, or want to visit, strip clubs. Some have even told me that it was always a fantasy of theirs to dance in a club, if only for one night.

I personally don't frequent strip clubs, but I do go to them if I'm out of town and a group of friends are going. Under those circumstances I see it as more of a social event and not an event in and of itself. Going to strip clubs is essentially a way to pay for attention from a woman, and to me, if it's not sincere attention it does nothing for me.

I've heard that some strippers get a high off of stripping because they feel that it's one of the few times in life that they felt that they could have complete control over any man that walked through the door. In a twisted way, it seems like some strippers view their profession as militant feminism--to use their bodies to control and break men financially. Now they can add their own gender to that equation.

I've been to my share of gentlemen's clubs, and it amazes me at the number of straight women that attend them. I visited a club in Atlanta once where about 25% of the patrons were women. I've even visited a strip club with a group of very straight, professional female friends. They told me that they liked going because they think the female body is beautiful and they always fantasized about being strippers. A couple of them have even taken stripper aerobics classes.

Could it be that women just want to see what the big deal is about? Do they want to destroy our dirty little secret? Or perhaps they just want to get a few ideas from the pros to take back home to their men.

Whatever the case may be, women are frequenting strip clubs more than ever. No longer is it a vestige for men only. I'm not entirely sure what women's motivations are, but writer Ian Brown gives a good explanation of why men go. In an essay from What I Meant to Say: The Private Lives of Men, Brown breaks his experience down like this:

"I went to the club to bring lust into a more honorable place in my life, to normalize my desire, to make it less of a big deal. For a man, looking is part of his education. It's one way he learns the difference between what he wants and what he can have; or between what he thinks he wants, is supposed to want and what he actually needs."

I think that's a pretty good assessment. Does someone care to explain the other side's reasoning?

W. Va NOT Ready For A Black President

Shout out to Rell for the clip.

Ignorance: "My opinion is...I think the United States of America should be run by...somebody from the United States of America...he's Muslim."

On My Radar: Estelle (f. Kanye West)

I'm not into Brit Pop, but this track is cool. I heard it in a lounge in DC some months back and never knew who it was by. She's a British artist who, I believe, is signed to John Legend's label. Nice track.

The Real-Life Uncle Ruckus (from Boondocks)

This is shameful. Never in my life have I seen someone have as much self-hate as this dispicable human being. What's really scary is that he apparently has a following.

I actually saw this guy on Fox News some months back as they praised him for his views, but never in my wildest dreams did I imagine that Uncle Ruckus from the Boondocks was actually a real person.

This brother needs to re-evaluate himself and realize that he's black.

"White Jesus will save your soul while drowning you in the baptism water" -Uncle Ruckus

And The Winner For Weirdest Country In The World Is...

...India.

Denouncing Jeremiah: Wright or Wrong?

"Dammit! Don't you f*** this up for us!"

That's what I was thinking as I watched Jeremiah Wright during his animated Q&A session after his inflammatory, yet accurate and phenomenal, speech about the history of the Black Church at the Press Club function on Monday. After the speech, Wright turned into an angry cartoon character complete with eye-bugging and a Merry Melody cartoonish grin. His appearance quickly turned from one of enlightenment and understanding to a rant of conspiracy theories and blatant disrespect for the candidacy of a member of his congregation. To put it mildly, he showed ass! I mean ass all up in the camera: throwing Que hooks, putting his bid in for Vice President on the Obama ticket, bugging his eyes, disrespecting the moderator, calling Obama nothing more than a mere politician (even if true, he knew that it would hurt his candidacy) and the list goes on.

Now it is my belief that Wright had every right to defend himself and his legacy. The 30-second sound bites that set off this controversy were an unfair vast right-wing conspiracy aimed to destroy a presidential candidate. Though Obama had to distance himself from the comments, I felt that he showed Wright a great deal of respect by defending his legacy and not throwing him under the bus (which is what 95% of other politicians would have done).
But there's a fine line between defending yourself and defending your ego.

After the Bill Moyer interview, I felt that Wright actually did himself and the Obama campaign a great service by showing that he was a sane and intellectual man. Wright would have been well-served to leave his appearances at that.

Even after the NAACP Speech on the following night, he came across as a brilliant mind and dynamic speaker that explained why anyone, regardless of their thoughts on some of his views, would stick around for 20 years, as he is thought-provoking and entertaining as hell. Glimpses of ego, though, showed during that speech as he shamelessly plugged his forthcoming book, but it didn't take away from the message.

But after that Press Club speech, his ego got the best of him. He strongly asserted that an attack on him was an attack on the Black Church. Actually dude, it was simply an attack on Barack Obama. And if the way that he acted, and the views that he spewed during that Q&A is his way of defending the Black Church and helping our history as Blacks in America (i.e. Sticking up for the possibility of the first Black President), I don't he did the institution, or Barack, any favors.

He had to be cut loose.

It's my belief that being in the limelight could have this effect on anybody. Wright got caught up in the hype and fed on the attention that he was getting from the press. What he didn't realize is that the media was giving him all this attention in hopes that he would slip up and make an ass of himself, which he succeeded at doing. So as Obama's polls have taken a hit, perhaps temporarily, Wright's legacy has been damaged forever to the public at-large. He didn't realize that he was a mere pawn in a sport that is much bigger than him.

If Barack loses the primary or the election based on this controversy, it sucks to know that his own pastor actually contributed to his defeat. If he loses, in 20 years when they are doing a PBS special on the fall of the first viable Black candidate for the presidency, it's a shame that grainy footage of Wright throwing up Que hooks in front of the National Press Club will define the descent.