Please note: The following rant assumes that the reader has prior knowledge of the events mentioned below.Who are our role models? For me, my role models are friends, family and those I care about. I’d like to think that all of us think this way. I’d like to think that some of us have that special teacher, parent, or best friend that picks us up when we’re down and helps motivate us to be better people. But what about those we see on TV? What about the sounds and images radio, film, and news media? Where is the media’s moral fiber?

It seems today that many of our so-called media heroes are either in rehab, divorced, incarcerated or facing charges on some sex scandal (e.g. Larry Craig), a DUI charge or complaining that they don’t get enough recognition for their work.

Recently, I happened to catch the 2007 MTV Video Music Awards fromLas Vegas.The opening act was the now notorious Britney Spears debacle in which she gyrated and stumbled her way thru a badly lip-synched performance of her new hit “Gimme More” in what can only be called sparkly underwear. I chalked this one up to just a bad performance, and waited to see what the rest of the night had to offer.

What I got for my viewing pleasure was what I saw as a two-hour long commercial for an Attention Deficit Disorder club in Las Vegas. Most of the performances were cut off in mid-song and interspersed with appearances by Miss Teen South Carolina (who still couldn’t speak correctly even with the help of a teleprompter), the ever so brainy girls of The Hills (who I still can’t believe are real people) and an impromptu fight between Tommy Lee and Kid Rock.

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Well, here I am back for another chapter in the Bush Administration’s saga of controversy. Spaced nearly exactly two weeks apart, both, the man known as Bush’s brain, Bush top adviser, Karl Rove and Attorney General Alberto Gonzales have announced their resignations following Rove’s and Gonzales’ recently questioned actions.

Rove had allegedly leaked the identity of the wife of a CIA agent, (he claims to have said her name off the record); and Gonzales, of course, has become the posterboy of “duh” with his “I don’t recall remembering” responses to Congressional probes regarding his involvement in both the firing of eight U.S, attorneys and a seemingly scant alibi concerning the abuse of power when attempting to get a then bedridden John Ashcroft to authorize a counterintelligence and surveillance program. While those on both sides of the fence speculate as to the reasons for the uncanny timing of both men’s resignations, Rove and President Bush have weighed in on the issue with some assessments:

Bush on Gonzales (CNN): — President Bush on Monday said he reluctantly accepted the resignation of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, whose “good name was dragged through the mud for political reasons.

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Loch Sheldrake, NY, 8-31-07- An informational lecture will be held at Sullivan County Community College on Tuesday, September 11, 2007 at 7:30 p.m. at the College Theater as Sullivan County Community College Presents: September 11, 2007—Six Years Later.

This multimedia program will include a distinguished panel of speakers and a question and answer session on topics related to the health effects of the toxic exposures sustained by both rescue workers and those living or working near Lower Manhattan during or after September 11, 2001.

Speakers scheduled to appear include:

Jim LaPenna, volunteer first responder who was one of the five rescue workers who found the two Port Authority Police officers McLoughlin and Jimeno.

Donna Flayhan, Director of the Lower Manhattan Public Health Project and expert on the health effects of toxic dust.

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As many of you know, last week’s Deustche Bank building fire reopened many of the lingering public health concerns left from the 9/11 Trade Center collapse. Worries about toxic dust clouds, particulate matter, and health issues ranging from simple headaches to respiratory disease, chemical sensitivity and cancers continue to present problems for those who worked or lived in or in close proximity to Ground Zero.

Unfortunately, many of the people seen on the nightly news whistle blowing and stating their respective cases are not claiming in any way to be affiliated with the NYPD, FDNY or local EMT units. Rather, they are the un-uniformed men and women who were just there when it all went down. I know this because my father was one of many who just did whatever they could to help.

So, in the aftermath of the tragedy, I (as did many New Yorkers) assumed that the city would be cleaned up and restored to what should be its optimum functionality. We were told by our own Environmental Protection Agency that that the air was safe and we could all go back to our lives as normal. Everyone did, and now the people who worked and lived in and around the area are falling ill in alarming numbers.

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There are only a few choice things to do when you have an hour-long flight delay in the runway in Chicago. There is, of course, the oh so prolific in-flight magazine where I can find 200 more uses for spinach dip, the run through the repetitive satellite radio playlist or in my case, a chance peel the dead sunburned skin from my right arm, but, alas, I thought an even more novel idea… I decided to call my girlfriend.

At first, we chatted each other up a bit with idle chatter about life and then she mentioned that our alma mater, SUNY New Paltz, had been named “Hottest Small State School” in a list of 25 colleges in the nation, in the August 20 issue of Newsweek.

The text is as follows:

“Alicia Mejias chose SUNY New Paltz because it was just 90 minutes from her family in Brooklyn, didn’t cost too much and had a step team. Her only concern was she’d be one of the few Hispanics on the rural campus of 6,400 undergrads. That worry was allayed by a rush of festivities that included Jam Asia, Carribash and Latino Week. “Since I was the first in my family to attend college,” she says, “I didn’t know what to expect.” She concluded New Paltz was a place “where anyone should be able to grow.” More first-generation college students are enrolling. The school recently opened a 57,000-square-foot Athletic and Wellness Center with an indoor track.”

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This week provided quite a nice political arena to watch, at least for my taste. As you know, my last political post on Attorney General Gonzales stirred up some visceral responses on my part. To recap, I opined that Mr. Gonzales spent his last Judiciary Committee hearing not recalling much of anything… and I meant every word of that ever so reactionary opinion.

So, when Vice President Cheney told Larry King that he thought “Al’s a good man,” I smelled collusion. When King asked Cheney whether he believed Gonzales to be telling the truth with regard to both the Ashcroft scandal and the firing of the eight attorneys in April, Cheney quite calmly replied, “Well, I don’t want to get into the specifics with respect to his testimony and the questions that were asked,” he said. “I know Al on a personal and professional basis and I hold him in high regard.”

Throughout the remainder of the interview, Cheney affirmed his believe that Congress was on a “witch hunt” and that it was all unclear as to what the charge was or is concerning the firings. “First of all, there’s no charge,” Cheney said. “What’s the allegation of wrongdoing here? Frankly, there isn’t any.”

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The follwing is the uncut version of a recent opinion piece published in one of my local papers (Click Here to Read). After reading Dominick’s recent piece on disability rights, I felt it fitting that I should resurrect my own. This piece was originally written for Professor Donna Flayhan’s Media Ethics class at SUNY New Paltz.

“My name is Michael LaPenna and I was born with Cerebral Palsy.” That sentence, though it might be phrased differently with each time its contents are uttered, garners a wide variety of reactions from the many people I encounter in my daily life. Responses range from the simple, “Oh, really?” to the inquisitive, “What’s that like?” and the ever popular and furthermore blatantly ignorant, “Wow, it’s great to see you out!”

These examples vary only slightly with each time one is said, but nevertheless they are said with such ease and frequency that recalling them as I speak now, is almost as easy as blinking my eyes. Moreover, personal experiences such as these cause me to wonder what in our general society causes people to think, act, and react in this way. This case study is my attempt to answer this question with uncompromised honesty and integrity. In doing so I have come to the conclusion that such uninformed and ignorant reactions are not necessarily the fault of those who give them but more so reflect the misinformed nature of the mainstream media at it relates to disability.

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Yesterday, in preparing for my next blog post, I stumbled across something on C-Span. It was about yet another hearing concerning the misconduct of Attorney General, Alberto Gonzales. This time around wasn’t about firing attorneys (for which Gonzales is still under a hell of a lot of pressure to resign), but rather it was Gonzales’ alleged usurping of power of then hospitalized Attorney General John Ashcroft while attempting to get permission for a secret counterintelligence program that had him in boiling HOT water.

According to testimony given by several of those in the room with the then ailng Ashcroft, he was in no condition to make decisions at the time after having gallbladder surgery. The then acting Attorney General James Comey had said the interaction between “Gonzo” and Ashcroft was mostly one-sided as Gonzales did most of the talking. He even stated that when Gonzales asked Ashcroft’s permission to carry out the undisclosed program in question, Ashcroft deferred to Comey. However, Gonzales stated just the opposite to Congress just yesterday saying that not only was Ashcroft “lucid” but he was doing most of the talking. Comey has testified that he felt compelled to resign after witnessing the interaction of a person “taking advantage of a sick man”. He did resign shortly thereafter. I believe Comey.

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LA’s men in black are back in this hour-long symphonic tornado. The Gift of Gab and DJ, Chief XL rock a town that is known more for Jimi Hendrix’s guitar riffs and Starbucks induced insomnia spells as the emcee and producer move the crowd in Seattle’s Showbox Theatre with two turntables, a mic and a dope backing band.

The presentation intermingles live footage of the lyrical racecar that is Gab and the supreme turntable etiquette of XL with interview segments that chronicle the duo’s nineteen-year journey, from their fifth period home economics class all the way to Capetown, South Africa. The DVD version allows you to view the two parts separately or together, but after viewing the interview segments along side the crowd’s energy, you might consider these two the Roots Crew of the West Coast.

Backalicious bring all their best cuts to the performance like,“Alphabet Aerobics,” Green Light,” “Chemical Callisthenics” and a nice bit of storytelling on “Deception.” Of course, XL’s funkiest skills permeate every track, so much so that it often feels as if the tracks were always a part of the lyrics like an arm to a torso, or maybe, in this case, a really funky peanut butter and jelly sandwich with a crazy keyboard player mixed in. It is only during XL’s solo that this is not the case. The show also features guest spots by Lifesavas, Pigeon John and the one and only Fatlip of Pharcyde fame.

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What do you get when you cross the old school stealthy tight flows of A Tribe Called Quest and the teacher mentality of KRS-One with the effortless freestyles of Eminem and a Master’s Degree in Multi-cultural Humanistic Education?

Answer: Long Island born, non-novelty, Caucasian emcee and hip hop humanitarian, Brian “B. Nice” Birkeland and his new indie disc Do the Nice Thing. This musical equivalent of education on wax touches the brain on all points.

From the motivational speech of “Full Time” where Mr. Nice bluntly spits over confident horns and an easy-bumpin,’ mid-tempo kick drum… “Too much to accomplish/What the Hell would I chill for?/Level-headed Imma get it instead/ I’ll work hard now and rest when I’m dead!” to the life lessons of “Life Learner” and “Do 4 U” where he imparts, “It don’t matter if you can’t read or write as long as you are literate to the hatred and greed in life.”

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