64 Million Dollar Questions

Over the weekend I was talking to a friend; actually it was Saturday evening at dinner with my friend who is a business owner. During our dinner I mentioned how all this talk of Karl Rove, President Bush, reporter Novak, and CIA operative Valerie Plame leads me to ask the following questions about this affair:

What does W know? When did he know it?

I told my friend the questions remind me of the same questions asked of another president some thirty or so years ago. Richard Millhouse Nixon. In 1973 Americans wanted to know “What did Nixon know?” and “When did he know it?” regarding the Watergate scandal.

I ask because it’s not about how or why the despicable Rove disclosed the identity of a CIA operative overseas and put her life and the security of the nation in jeopardy. It’s not even about Novak’s sleazy role in this intrigue. It isn’t even about how the administration is trying to minimize this terrible incident, which is a part of the big lie told to get our country into an unnecessary war in Iraq.

It’s about accountability by the President of the United States. It’s about integrity. The president said if he found out someone in the White House was involved in leaking Plame’s name to the press that person would be dismissed. Now he and his people are backing away from that statement by saying the person will be terminated if the act is found to be illegal. There’s even some expert claiming to know just what the president’s meaning was when he made that initial statement. Criminality should not be the standard for dismissal. If you can’t trust the word of the president, whom can you trust?

I told my friend during our dinner discussion I doubt anyone else is asking the same questions or if anyone who is will ask our president just what he knew and when he knew it. As far as being able to escape close scrutiny and being the “Teflon” president George W. makes Ronald Reagan look like a piker in this regard. This situation is more insidious than the Watergate scandal or the Clinton /Lewinski debacle because no lives were lost or at stake as in those matters.

In this case more than 2, 000 lives have been lost in Afghanistan and Iraq. Hundreds more of our troops have been wounded. The story of the "yellow cake" uranium has put the whole world in harm’s way. Those nefarious terrorists who did not before know they could get the essential material to make nuclear bombs from Nigeria, a nation led by one of the most corruption governments on earth, surely know it now.

Larry Johnson, a former CIA analyst who said he was a registered Republican, spoke harshly of the criticisms of JosephWilson, a career foreign service officer who served in the Clinton administration, (Plame’s husband) and efforts to minimize his wife's job at the CIA.

"This is wrong. This should stop. And it could stop in a heartbeat if the president would simply put a stop to it - he hasn't," Johnson said. "That speaks volumes."

White House officials have sought to put the controversy behind them pending the outcome of a federal investigation.

We shall see. Only time will tell if any representatives of the fourth estate have the courage to ask the really hard questions of our leader. So far they’ve proven they do not.

What does the president know? When did he know it?

The following morning on a broadcast of the Sunday news program ABC's This Week a political expert, David Gergen asked the same questions as I had posed the night before at dinner with my friend. Gergen asked, "What did the president know, and when did he know it?"

Gergen served as director of communications for President Reagan and held positions in the administrations of Presidents Nixon and Ford. In 1993, he put his country before politics when he agreed to first serve as counselor to President Clinton on both foreign policy and domestic affairs, then as special international adviser to the president and to Secretary of State Warren Christopher.

Gergen says now that special prosecutor Patrick J. Fitzgerald is said to have expanded his investigation into the leak of a CIA agent's identity to encompass a possible White House cover-up, what the president and the vice president knew would appear to be much more relevant.

I am pleased to know my thought processes are in line with the political experts. The questions I wanted asked have been posed. Now Mr. President what is your answer? Please, tell us:

What did you know? When did you know it?

Is This News?

This just in! Here’s a report, from our ace investigative reporter Clark Dark, on the latest in the world of entertainment. Here’s what Clark has to say:

Thanks You Think. I’m reporting from the World Stupidity Awards at the Just for Laughs comedy festival in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. This is not, as you would expect, a gala event like most awards presentations. Though many of the winners are well known names. Many of the winners were not present to receive their awards.

Included among the big winners were Paris Hilton, the Canadian government and our own president,
George W. Bush.

It’s entirely possible the award given to the Canadian government was a way of expressing thanks to the country for hosting the awards in Montreal. The Canadians won the title Stupidest government for a scandal proving as spokesman Robert Spence said, Canadians are “world class." Our own US president, George W. Bush, won the title for the
Stupidest Statement of the Year after telling a news conference
in reference to the Iraqi insurgents:
"They never stop thinking of ways of harming America, and neither do we."

In other entertainment news speculation continues on whether or not Janet Jackson, little sister of the King of Pop, has indeed married Jermaine Dupri. Jermaine Dupri made a name for himself in 1992 when he signed and produced the quadruple platinum teenage rappers Kriss Kross to his So So Def Record label. Throughout his career he has helped further the careers of a roster of talented artists with his platinum songwriting and production. These artists include Aaliyah, Bow Wow, Toni Braxton, Mariah Carey, Chingy, Da Brat, Destiny's Child, Dru Hill, Aretha Franklin, Janet Jackson, Jagged Edge, Jay-Z, Elton John, Lil' Kim, Ludacris, MC Lyte, Monica, Nas, Notorious B.I.G., Run DMC, Jessica Simpson, TLC, Tyrese, Usher, and Xcape, to name a few.

Speculation on Jackson's marital status to Dupri began this time last year. As her fans know information about Jackson's previous marriages never surfaced until after she and/or spouse filed for divorce. Stay tuned. We may hear she's havin' his baby.

I’m Clark Dark, ace investigative reporter for You Think What reporting from Montreal.

Giving Football Propers

Today the National Football League began to seriously promote the ceremony for the players who will be inducted into the Canton, Ohio, Pro Football Hall of Fame. The inductees were announced during February of this year, but the ceremony will take place in Canton on August 7, 2005, at Fawcett Stadium, located directly across the street from the Hall of Fame. The class of 2005 is comprised of Benny Friedman, Dan Marino, Fritz Pollard, and Steve Young.

Most fans know Marino and Young as the super quarterbacks of our time. All of us football fans, are aware of the Miami Dolphins' Marino's greatness. Though he broke the passing records of Y.A. Tittle, George Blanda and Fran Tarkenton, Marino never won the big enchilada, the Super Bowl. The NFL’s really big game, the championship to be had, Super Bowl success, eluded Dan in his career. He was there. He just didn’t win it. It doesn’t make him any less a great star, athlete and football professional. It’s just kind of disappointing to him, I’m sure, and to his many fans.

Steve Young, on the other hand, the San Francisco 49er’s quarterback, formerly with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for a minute, threw a record six touchdowns in Super Bowl XXIX against the San Diego Chargers, passed for 325 yards and led San Francisco to a 49-26 victory. It was an incredible performance. He built a solid rep as an accurate passer.

Who are these other men being enshrined? Benny Friedman? Fritz Pollard?

Before being named to the Hall of Fame, Friedman’s claim to fame was that a football owner bought an entire team just to get him in the lineup. Friedman was a two-time All-America quarterback at Michigan. Official stats weren’t kept during his time, but he is believed to have completed more than half his passes. This was at a time when a very good performance was considered 35 percent for pass completion. Benny Friedman is considered to be the NFL’s first great passer. Remember this was when the equipment wasn’t nearly as protective as it is today. During Friedman’s era, just as during Pollard’s time the average player was tiny compared to the behemoths on the field today.

It’s Fritz Pollard who is really outstanding to me. He was the first African-American to play in the Rose bowl, and the second to be named an All-American in college football. Frederick Douglass “Fritz” Pollard was also the first African American coach in the NFL. He was only one of two players of African descent in the NFL back in the 1920s. He paved the way for so many of the stars enshrined in the NFL’s Hall. An All-American half back from Brown University, Fritz was a pioneer in the NFL. He remained the only black to have coached an NFL team for nearly 60 years. Nearly 70 years after he left the game he's being inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Another football great, Jim Parker, number 77, who played for the Baltimore Colts, and who won fame as the man who gave Johnny Unitas pass protection on the field, died this week. He was 72.
Parker, a two-time All-American from Ohio State, who hails from Macon, Georgia, has the distinction of being the first full-time offensive lineman named to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Jim Parker seemed to attract more publicity than is usually accorded to offensive linemen because he was assigned to protect such a famous teammate. He will always be remembered as an exceptional blocker, whose specialty was in protecting the quarterback.

You can read more about these wonderful athletes at the NFL'sPro Football Hall of Fame web site.

The NFL’s pre-season begins on Saturday, August 6, when the American Bowl returns to Tokyo, Japan.

On Monday August 8 the AFC-NFC Hall of Fame Game will be televised nationally on ABC's Monday Night Football. The Chicago Bears versus the Miami Dolphins are the featured teams in the NFL’s pre-season classic.

Thinking of You

Today's post is a love letter to the men and women fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq, to their families and loved ones.







*Photo credits: John Moore/AP;Romeo Gacad/AFP; unknown ; Damir Sagolj/Reuters

Musings

Here’s a sports feat that probably got by you. Over the weekend Takeru Kobayashi put on an impressive display of championship action when he captured his fifth consecutive title as Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Champion. The annual competition was held on Monday at Coney Island in New York. Kobayashi, the tiny titan, only 5-foot6, 144 pounds, bested 16 competitive eaters.

The details are fascinating. Champ Kobayahi holds the world’s record by consuming 53 ½ hot dogs in 12 minutes. That would be 53 and a half hot dogs with buns, about 17 thousand calories and more than 800 grams of fat in less than a quarter of an hour.

His nearest competitor, a woman named Sonya Thomas, consumed 32 hotdogs to set an American best. Hey, we’re talkin’ major sports achievements. I rank this competition right up there with the Major League Baseball All Star Game scheduled for July 12 in Detroit, Michigan. Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Championship is a perennial favorite among true sports fans. It should be officially considered the true Midsummer Classic. Yeah!

Detroit, Michigan native, Renaldo “Obie” Benson, 69, one of the founding members of the world famous Four Tops, died last Friday. Did you know he wrote lyrics for the Marvin Gaye hit “What’s Going On?” When Benson realized the serious topic of the song would not suit the Four Tops’ style, he gave it to Gaye. Renaldo Benson’s song“What’s Going On?” became one of the most glorified statements in popular music history. Motown head Berry Gordy initially believed the song would never sell.

The group remained together for 42 years when Lawrence Payton, another founder of the group with such hit recordings as “Bernadette”, “Sugar Pie Honey Bunch (Can’t Help Myself)”, died in April 1997. In the succeeding years lead singer Levi Stubbs left the group due to continuing health issues. Abdul "Duke" Fakir and Benson, the remaining Four Tops’ members continued undaunted with the group by hiring Ronnie McNair and Theo Peoples to help them on their 50th anniversary tour.

Renaldo “Obie” Benson will be remembered as a talented baritone, brilliant lyricist and ever-smiling jovial musician, father and friend.

His daughters Eboni and Tobi, two granddaughters Zion and Mya, and his ex-wife Valaida survive Benson. Funeral arrangements are incomplete.

The family has announced funeral service and interment arrangements for the legendary musical artist, Luther Vandross, who passed away July 1.

Public visitation for Luther Vandross will be held Wednesday and Thursday, July 6 and 7, from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. at Frank E. Campbell-The Funeral Chapel, 1076 Madison Ave., N.Y., N.Y.

The funeral service for Luther Vandross will begin at noon on Friday, July 8, at The Riverside Church; 490 Riverside Drive, N.Y., N.Y. Interment will follow at George Washington Memorial Park in Paramus, N.J.

You can post your tribute to Luther Vandross right here at youthinkwhat.com. Just click on the link to the forum. Go to the thread titled “Luther”. We will make sure that Mrs. Mary Ida Vandross and the family will receive all of your comments and tributes to their beloved Ronnie.

Live 8 for African Awareness. You’re Kidding, Right?

Johannesburg to Philadelphia, from Berlin to Tokyo, musicians and fans gathered for a universal music marathon to raise awareness of African poverty and press the world's most powerful leaders to resolve the problem at the Group of Eight summit in Scotland next week.

On Saturday, July 2, 2005 in 8 venues around the world, Berlin, Tokyo, Rome, Paris, London, Toronto, Johannesburg, Philadelphia celebrity types and their adoring fans all gathered to make the population aware of people starving in Africa. In fact one statistic given stated 30,000 people die of poverty and starvation everyday.

Somehow I’m having trouble seeing how a cavalcade of rock music stars and the genre’s faithful meeting for a nonstop music concert at various places all over this planet will stop hunger and poverty in African nations. No tickets were sold. No money was collected as donations from the audience. I’m confused. How does this mega entertainment industry party help untold thousands who are starving in Africa?

The event seemed to help the sagging career of one former Beatle, Sir Paul McCartney. McCartney along with the band U2 gave a rousing performance of “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” to open the show in London. The result, according to Adam White of Universal Music International, was the recording of the performance became No. 1 on the iTunes charts in Britain, Canada, Ireland, Netherlands, Germany, Italy and Belgium. Universal Music International says the track was also No. 2 in Spain and No. 3 in France. I just don’t understand how musicians giving a free performance at an event that will no doubt help their careers, burgeoning, sagging or otherwise, will aid starving people in Africa. (?)

With the goodly number of musicians, some from the original event held 20 years before at Live Aid to help the starving in Africa, present why weren’t they just asked for a couple thousand a piece. I think they could have fed at least half of the 30,000 they spoke of all during the day. The amount of money spent by the corporations to sponsor this event could have saved 30,000 from immediate starvation on July 2 '05.

Don’t get me wrong. I enjoy a party as much as anyone, and I did enjoy the music. Linkin Park, Jay-Z, Black-eye Peas, Destiny’s Child, Madonna, Tim McGraw. It was great to see my hometown of Philadelphia, and the other international cities showcased. I just don’t see what it had to do with Africa. More like the rich white people having a party because they are worried about the poor black slaves on their plantations. Or Marie Antoinette worried that the peasants only had bread.

Harry Chapin did a song called, “Dance Band on the Titanic.” Maybe we should call this, “Party Celebrating Death and Starvation in Africa.” It was a great party, can’t wait till next year. And it allowed all viewers to feel so smug and righteous, “We are so conscientious, We are so concerned.” Yeah right.

I suppose this event will give a boost to tourism on the planet. Where shall I go, Paris, Rome, London, Philadelphia? No I want to go visit the starving poor in Africa. Or better yet, I’m going to send them money and do everything I can do. Uh huh!

Call me old. Call me a fogey. Call me an old fogey. The whole event was kind of lost on me. They have this great party invite every one of their economic strata...collect not one dime from those who attend...and say how wonderful they are for having this event.... I don't get it.

I think when the 8 leaders get together and make whatever decision they make, I hear they’ve already made some decisions to benefit the poorest nations of the continent, it is going to have nothing to do with the great big party in eight cities.

Helping the people in Africa? Please….!

Celebrate Life Celebrate Winners

As we celebrate the life of the late Luther Vandross, let us also celebrate the life of the late Renaldo "Obie" Benson, a member of the legendary Motown singing group the Four Tops. Benson passed away on Friday, July 1^st 2005. Benson, 69, died of lung cancer. There are now two surviving original members of the group, Levi Stubbs and Abdul "Duke" Fakir, which sold more than 50 million records. Lawrence Payton, the fourth original group member, died of liver cancer in 1997. The quartet began singing together in the 1950s and had hit songs such as "Baby I Need Your Loving," "Reach Out (I'll be There)," "I Can't Help Myself" and "Standing in the Shadows of Love." The Four Tops were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990.

There is exciting news from the world of tennis. After nearly three hours of play between two American female tennis players making a comeback try, Venus Williams was victorious over Lindsay Davenport. This is Venus Williams’ third Wimbledon singles title. (This was the longest women's final in the history of the tournament.) Congratulations to the 25 year old champion who learned the game on the public tennis courts of Compton, California.

Congratulations are also in order for Tony Stewart the winner of this year’s Pepsi 400. Saturday’s NASCAR race was rain delayed for about three hours, but once the race began, around 11PM, Stewart simply dominated by leading the whole way to win his very first race at Daytona.

The Tour de France began yesterday with Lance Armstrong making a very decisive showing on the first day of the three-week tour, which will end in Paris on July 24^th. Armstrong described himself as “hungry” to win; and although he says he will retire after this year’s competition, Armstrong states, “I didn’t come to ride a retirement race. I came to win.”
Way to go, Lance. We wish you success.

Luther Van Dross April 20, 1951- July 1, 2005

It is always sad when a child pre-deceases a parent. Whether the child dies in infancy, as a young adult who has not completely grown into fullness as an adult or as a fully-grown man or woman, it is always sad to consider the grieving parent. Yesterday, the talented
Luther Vandross succumbed to death. Almost two years after the death of another romantic singer/composer, Barry White, the voice of this singer of love songs is now stilled. The details are sketchy. One can only conclude the cause of his demise is the result of the debilitating stroke he suffered more than two years ago. For two months Vandross was unconscious following the incident. He never fully recovered from the stroke, the result of damage caused by the diabetes he so valiantly fought.

His mother, now 80, Mary Ida Vandross, an ordained interdenominational minister, and a spokesman for the
Charles Ray Diabetes Association, gave an interview in March 2004, about one year after Luther’s stroke, to then NPR interviewer Tavis Smiley. At the time Mrs. Vandross explained how this dread disease has decimated her family:

“I feel that I'm not an authority on diabetes, but I am certainly in a position to tell you the aftermath of diabetes in a family. First, my husband was taken by diabetes at a very early and young age, and then my oldest son, my oldest daughter and my one and only grandson, who was a juvenile diabetic, and then Luther, as you know from the stroke, that it was from diabetes and the complications that he suffered this massive stroke. And having suffered so much, losing my family as I did, I feel that if there is any way on earth that I can warn anyone to see about yourself and to check yourself out to make sure that if there's any hope, that you get it in time, and to please, don't just put it aside, as something that you can pick up later. Check yourself out. Don't do to your family what has been done to me.”

Mrs Vandross reminded us what we all should know: “It has been said that it affects black people more, but diabetes will attack anyone, regardless of race, creed or color.”

When questioned about how soon we could expect her son to return to public performances she said, “.. inasmuch as he is progressing very well, his doctors and his therapist and the nurses are all very pleased with his progress, but you don't expect a man who has had a massive stroke to jump out of bed and jump onstage again.”

Mrs. V., as she is affectionately called, reported he never stopped singing, except during the time when he was unconscious. She said his memory was good, and that as his mother she optimistically sees “ progress every day and improvement.”

A tribute to his mother is the fact his name, Luther Ronzoni Vandross, was never associated with scandal. Mary Vandross confesses she took his middle name from a box of pasta. Family and close friends call him Ronnie. Oh there were reports of his conflict with other performers with whom he toured over his fastidious, demandingly driven, perfectionist artistic ways. The Anita Baker/Vandross tour comes to mind. I say the man did what was necessary to achieve the desired results. He obviously knew the business, and he knew music. He was expert.

Questions about his personal romantic life persisted. It was only natural the fans were curious about a man who sang so fluently of love. He was firm in keeping his personal life personal. In a world where we know just a tad too much about the personal lives of celebrities and near celebrated persons it is refreshing to have some mystique about a public person. Mary's son set the professional standard for today's generation of singers. He was a gentleman.

There were two things that stand out as obstacles for the “King of Baby Making Music”. They were his battle of the bulge and his inability to reach number 1 on the pop charts as his idols had done. I loved him full bodied or svelte. Sadly his quest for mass appeal ended following the stroke in April 2003 with the release of his last album and the hit title song Dance with My Father. He was always number one on my pop chart. Wow! I love how his music is always sheer perfection, always melodious. Who among us hasn’t had a romantic encounter where Luther’s music set the mood? How many people are in the world today because their parents made love to Luther Vandross’ songs sung in that beautiful clear baritone? Put on a Vandross song at a party. The result is a jammin’ good time.

When I think of Luther Vandross I think of him as a towering talent. He was a singer, composer, lyricist and arranger, a producer and a veritable musical powerhouse. The list of his collaborations with well known name singers reads like a Who’s Who of the music industry: David Bowie, (Luther wrote Bowie’s hit “Fame”), who according to Vandross biographer Craig Seymour, discovered Luther; Janet Jackson, BBD and Ralph Tresvant, Mariah Carey, Cheryl Lynn, Diana Ross, the late Gregory Hines, Whitney Houston, Queen Latifah, Kenneth “Baby Face” Edmonds, Beyonce Knowles, Foxy Brown, Patti LaBelle, Busta Rhymes are just a few of those who worked with him. He began his career as a studio session singer for the likes of Chaka Khan, Cher, Sister Sledge, Bette Middler, Ringo Starr, Chic, Quincy Jones, Barbra Streisand, James Ingram, Carly Simon, Teddy Pendergrass, Natalie Cole, Patti Austin, and Roberta Flack, who encouraged him to step out of the background and up front into the spotlight. Thank you Roberta for being an astute talent scout. His was the familiar male voice that sang the musical jingles that identified some of the nation’s most popular products and services.

How fortunate he was to have worked with two of the singers who inspired him Dionne Warwick, and Aretha Franklin. He produced at least two albums for Franklin, Jump to It and Get It Right. Did you know he wrote the music and lyrics for “Everybody Rejoice (Brand New Day)” for the Broadway musical The Wiz and the film of the same name?

He successfully made his mark in the business. His name is known around the block, as “Loofah”, and around the world, as LUTHER, not to be confused with any others with the same first name. Like Ray, Sarah, Barry, Nat, Dinah, Ella, the Duke, the Count, and Billy before him, he was a class act, and we are fortunate to have his music to remind us of his talent.
Luther Ronzoni Vandross was truly an American original.