ABC pulls edgy reality show

Network won't air series in which minority families try to win a house in a white neighborhood
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - ABC has pulled an upcoming reality series in which people with various backgrounds vie to win a house in a white neighborhood, after gay and conservative watchdog groups raised concerns, the Hollywood trade papers said Thursday.
The six-episode "Welcome to the Neighborhood" had been scheduled to debut July 10. Seven families, including a gay couple with an adopted son, people of Asian, black and Hispanic descent and pagans, had to convince conservative residents that they were worthy of moving into the house near Austin, Texas.
"Our intention with 'Welcome to the Neighborhood' was to show the transformative process that takes place when people are forced to confront preconceived notions of what makes a good neighbor, and we believe the series delivers exactly that," Walt Disney Co. (Research)-owned ABC said in a statement carried by Daily Variety and the Hollywood Reporter.
"However, the fact that true change only happens over time made the episodic nature of this series challenging, and given the sensitivity of the subject matter in early episodes, we have decided not to air the series at this time."
Daily Variety said ABC could eventually air a condensed version so that the feel-good ending comes sooner.
Groups ranging from the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) and the National Fair Housing Alliance to the conservative Family Research Council had raised concerns about the show, the papers said.
GLAAD was concerned that the gay couple might get grilled by the neighbors, while the Family Research Council was worried that the conservative neighbors might be ridiculed for their Christian beliefs.
The National Fair Housing Alliance argued the show contravened various housing laws prohibiting discrimination, though Daily Variety said it passed muster with ABC's lawyers. A network official was unavailable for comment.
ABC's move comes about 18 months after CBS scrapped plans to air a miniseries about Ronald Reagan because conservatives complained that it misrepresented the former president.
The film eventually aired on cable's Showtime channel, to a considerably smaller audience than it would otherwise have gotten. CBS and Showtime are owned by Viacom Inc. (Research).

OK NOW WERE COOKING WITH GAS!! Shit I think that's a wonderful idea!!! But I got one that can top that. Let's move your average white family to the ghetto or as I call it "el barrio" and let them live there. We can call it "Ghetto Survivor" if the white people win, they get food stamps. Just imagine little Nancy having to dodge drug dealers and gangs to get to school where shootings and stabbings happen everyday without media attention. Damn that gives me a hard on!!

I received my conformation from this man. I feel very honored

Wearing a pallium around his neck, Galveston-Houston Archbishop Joseph A. Fiorenza leaves St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican today after he and 31 others were officially recognized as archbishops by Pope Benedict XV. The pallium is a white band symbolizing their elevated leadership status.

The President

After hearing much criticism about the President's speech last night I ask you to look at the picture above. NUFF SAID!

THOSE AMAZING ANIMALS

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP) -- Police say three lions rescued a 12-year-old girl kidnapped by men who wanted to force her into marriage, chasing off her abductors and guarding her until police and relatives tracked her down in a remote corner of Ethiopia.
The men had held the girl for seven days, repeatedly beating her, before the lions chased them away and guarded her for half a day before her family and police found her, Sgt. Wondimu Wedajo said Tuesday by telephone from the provincial capital of Bita Genet, some 560 kilometers (348 miles) west of the capital, Addis Ababa.
"They stood guard until we found her and then they just left her like a gift and went back into the forest," Wondimu said, adding he did not know whether the lions were male or female.
News of the June 9 rescue was slow to filter out from Kefa Zone in southwestern Ethiopia.
"If the lions had not come to her rescue then it could have been much worse. Often these young girls are raped and severely beaten to force them to accept the marriage," he said.
"Everyone ... thinks this is some kind of miracle, because normally the lions would attack people," Wondimu said.
Stuart Williams, a wildlife expert with the rural development ministry, said that it was likely that the young girl was saved because she was crying from the trauma of her attack.
"A young girl whimpering could be mistaken for the mewing sound from a lion cub, which in turn could explain why they (the lions) didn't eat her," Williams said. "Otherwise they probably would have done."
The girl, the youngest of four brothers and sisters, was "shocked and terrified" and had to be treated for the cuts from her beatings, Wondimu said.
He said that police had caught four of the men, but were still looking for three others.
In Ethiopia, kidnapping has long been part of the marriage custom, a tradition of sorrow and violence whose origins are murky.
The United Nations estimates that more than 70 percent of marriages in Ethiopia are by abduction, practiced in rural areas where the majority of the country's 71 million people live.
Ethiopia's lions, famous for their large black manes, are the country's national symbol and adorn statues and the local currency. Former emperor Haile Selassie kept a pride in the royal palace in Addis Ababa.
Despite their integral place in Ethiopia culture, their numbers have been falling, according to experts, as farmers encroach on bush land.
Hunters also kill the animals for their skins, which can fetch $1,000, despite a recent crackdown against illegal animal trading across the country. Williams said that at most only 1,000 Ethiopian lions remain in the wild.

New reality show in the works..The New Odd Couple

KENNEBUNKPORT, Maine (AP) -- Former President Bill Clinton joined his one-time political foe, former President George H.W. Bush, for a boat ride on the Atlantic Ocean after attending a book-signing Monday.
Clinton was seen kneeling to pet a dog when he arrived at Walker's Point, the summer home of George and Barbara Bush on Maine's rocky coast.
Later, Clinton and Bush waved to onlookers as they boated up and down a river before roaring into the ocean for a short ride in Bush's three-engine boat.
The 1992 election rivals became good friends when they led fund-raising as part of the relief effort for victims of the tsunami that hit Asia in December.
Bush extended the invitation after learning that Clinton would be in Maine for a book-signing.
Earlier, customers at a Borders bookstore in South Portland cheered when Clinton arrived to sign copies of his memoir, "My Life."
About 70 people already were in line when the store opened and the line snaked around three sides of the building by noon.

My Sister is running for Ms.United States!!

My sister is running for Ms. United States this July. Go to the website and vote for her. You can vote once a day until the day of the competition. Come on Texas show your support!
http://www.msunitedstatespageant.com/2005ms.php

KIDS IN DANGER

Does any one agree with me when I say it should be illegal for kids to do street fundraising. This weekend we saw a little league team going around a busy intersection basically begging for donations. Now I have nothing against them trying raise funds for a trip or equipment. But to have these kids darting out into traffic to get a measly $.25 is just absurd. Parents and adults involved should be arrested for putting their child in danger! Is it going to take a child to die for people to take notice?

VACATION

Its that time of year when you and your family take a few weeks off to relax and unwind. This year Lisa and I are going to Florida to visit Mickey and Minnie. Also we are going to see my sister compete in the Ms. United States pageant. Where ever you go this summer pack a few extra bucks for and gas remember, it's a vacation. Have fun and lets loose, life is too short to fight over non-sense.

With that being said, what are some your vacation horror stories? One of mine is the time that my sister and I rode 14hrs in the back camper of my dad's datsun truck from El Paso to San Francisco. No AC in the bed of that truck in the Mojave desert. Ah the memories!! And the smell!

THROW ME A BONE HERE!!!

How many of us remember the Easter Bunny looking like this. Or Santa, or any of the other so called childhood fairytale figures that were supposed to reward you with gifts for your good behavior. All you had to do for money from the toothfairy is loose your teeth. Why doesn't she come back when your old and loose your teeth. Are your baby teeth somehow more valuable than your adult teeth?

Why aren't there creatures that reward you for being a good adult. Hey if you paid your bills on time this month, the hooters girls come over. For the ladies the men of labare would come and clean the living room and cook for a week. It doesn't have to sexual in nature either. Maybe the gutter fairy can come over and clean you gutters out while you sit inside with the AC on full blast.

Let me know what you think.

No New Ideas

Is it me or is Hollywood not doing a very good job of coming up with new material? "Bewitched", "Herbie", "Batman", "Dukes of Hazzard" and so on. I know I'm getting older, and I know that what was once old becomes new again, but this is really ridiculous. I'm sure that there a many screenwriters out there with great stories that are waiting to be told, but no one is making their movies. Why do we need remakes of "The War of the Worlds" and "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" (i.e. Willy Wonka). If I don't already have these movies in my DVD collection I can go rent the originals. I would rather have my kids see Gene Wilder as Willy Wonka than a freaky ass Johnny Depp.

C'mon lets stop copying others work and make some new movies!!