Thursday, July 17, 2008

God is Good

Mavis Staples at Event for Hurricane Katrina

I know that God my God.
God Is Good.
God my God.
God Is Good.
You know that He brought me out of darkness.
God Is Good.

You know that He saved my soul.
God Is Good.
Said He saved my soul.
God Is Good.
I said that He saved my soul, and then He brought me out of darkness.
God Is Good.

You know that He guides my every foot step.
God Is Good.
Said He guides my every foot step.
God Is Good.
You know that He guides my every foot step, then He saved my soul, and then He brought me out of darkness.
God Is Good.

And then He put shoes on my feet.
God Is Good.
Said He put shoes on my feet.
God is Good
You know He put shoes on my feet.
So He could guide my every footstep.
Jesus saved my soul, and then He brought me out of darkness.
God is Good.

And then He put food on my table.
God Is Good.
Said He put food on my table.
God Is Good.
Said He put food on my table, then He put shoes on my feet, so He could guide my every foot step, Jesus saved my soul, and then He brought me out of darkness.
God Is Good.

And then He made a way.
God Is Good.
Said He made a way.
God Is Good.
I said that He made a way, and then He put food on my table, then He put shoes on my feet, so He could guide my every foot step, Jesus saved my soul, and then He brought me out of darkness.
God Is Good.

And with no money in my pocket.
God is Good.
With no money in my pocket.
God is Good.
With no money in my pocket, He still made a way, then put food on my table, and He put shoes on my feet, so He could guide my every footstep, Jesus saved my soul, and then He brought me out of darkness.
God is Good.

You know that He healed my every sickness.
God is Good.
Said that He healed my every sickness.
God Is Good.
I said that He healed my every sickness, with no money in my pocket, He still made a way - out of no way
He still made a way - out of no way
He still made a way - out of no way
Then He put food on my table, and He put shoes on my feet, so He could guide my every footstep, Jesus saved my soul, I know that He saved my soul, and He saved my soul and then He brought me out of darkness.
God Is Good.

hmmm
God is Good.
Yea, yea
God is Good.
yea
God is Good.

ooo oooo
God is Good

Maya Angelou

I am convinced that courage is the most important of all the virtues. Because without courage, you cannot practice any other virtues consistently.

More on Project Runway

My favorite dress from the first episode of season five was Korto's yellow kimono.

My Picks for the Primetime Emmy Categories I Care About

Outstanding Lead Actor In A Drama Series

My Pick: In Treatment • HBO • Sheleg, Closest To The Hole Productions and Leverage in association with HBO Entertainment
Gabriel Byrne as Paul


Outstanding Lead Actor In A Miniseries Or A Movie


Bernard And Doris • HBO • Trigger Street Independent Productions in association with Little Bird and Chicago Films and HBO Films
Ralph Fiennes as Bernard Lafferty


Outstanding Lead Actress In A Comedy Series


Ugly Betty • ABC • ABC Studios
America Ferrera as Betty Suarez



Outstanding Lead Actress In A Drama Series

Brothers & Sisters • ABC • ABC Studios
Sally Field as Nora Holden-Walker


Outstanding Lead Actress In A Miniseries Or A Movie


A Raisin In The Sun • ABC • Storyline Entertainment and Bad Boy World Wide Entertainment Group in association with Sony Pictures Television
Phylicia Rashad as Lena Younger


Outstanding Supporting Actress In A Drama Series


In Treatment • HBO • Sheleg, Closest To The Hole Productions and Leverage in association with HBO Entertainment
Dianne Wiest as Dr. Gina Toll


Outstanding Supporting Actress In A Miniseries Or A Movie


A Raisin In The Sun • ABC • Storyline Entertainment and Bad Boy World Wide Entertainment Group in association with Sony Pictures Television
Audra McDonald as Ruth Younger


Outstanding Guest Actress In A Drama Series


Grey’s Anatomy • ABC • ABC Studios
Diahann Carroll as Jane Burke


Outstanding Host For A Reality Or Reality-Competition Program



Project Runway • Bravo • Magical Elves for The Weinstein Company, Full Picture, Bravo
Heidi Klum, Host

Outstanding Made For Television Movie


Bernard And Doris • HBO • Trigger Street Independent Productions in association with Little Bird and Chicago Films and HBO Films
Producers TBD

Outstanding Reality-Competition Program

Project Runway
I LOVE the new season of Project Runway!
I LOVE the new season of Project Runway!

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Poem: To Myra Breckenridge, With Love

Oh
if someone had thought...and tried
to cut Richard Nixon's penis off...the symbolism alone would destroy america...and bring us one step closer to ending patriarchy...yet here we are...nearly forty years later...still suffering under the same bullshit.

An Article On the Troy King Gay Sex Scandal From Media Frenzy

The ‘new journalism’

This appears to be how it works in the Internet Age – at least if we’re talking about a salacious rumor a lot of people appear to think (or hope) is true.

Alabama Attorney General Troy King is finding this out the hard way, as in the course of a few days, rumors of him being busted in bed with a male aide have gone from whispers, phone calls and e-mails to in-state bloggers to national Web sites.

As I write this, there has been no official statement from King, Gov. Bob Riley or any other state official. No one has admitted or denied that King was sexually involved with a male aide, or that his wife caught them and threw him out of the house. As I write this, nothing is clear – except that lots and lots of people on the Web either think the rumor is true or want it to be true.

The speed with which this thing took off and went “viral” is breathtaking, really. I first heard about it through a cryptic e-mail from a fellow journalist on Wednesday, July 9. I called a friend in Montgomery and he filled me in on what he knew, that the rumor had first broken over the weekend and people had been talking of little else in the capital city for the past couple of days.

At that point, there were a couple of sites that were breathlessly reporting that King would resign at any moment, and that it would be in the mainstream media within a day or two. By Thursday, the number of sites discussing this alleged incident had more than doubled and by Friday, it grew exponentially. As we go to press, more than 100 sites across the country have “reported’ the “story.” National gossip-monger Perez Hilton picked up the ball and ran with it, practically reporting King’s outing as gospel. It only seems like a matter of time before a mainstream news organization has to report on the rumor.

I know for a fact reporters from the Birmingham News and the state’s New York Times-owned newspapers were both actively trying to move the story from the ether of the Web into the cold type of newsprint. I’m told Riley was actively avoiding reporters by the end of the week, as were King and his people.

That’s how things roll now. If enough people start chatting and blogging about something, it can practically become a major news item even without a shred of what any journalism professor would consider “fact.” Welcome to the new journalism.

In some ways it is frightening, as one can easily imagine a situation in which a false story could go viral and smear an innocent person. Even as I write this, that still may be the case with this story about King. Certainly as of July 11, there isn’t a shred of “fact” out there suggesting the story is real. There are plenty of knowledgeable people who insist it is fact, but sans photos, admissions, love notes or court filings, the old pieces that would have made up a standard news story are missing.

But that was then, this is now. If you remember, the Monica Lewinsky story was broken with little more than rumor. Matt Drudge pushed the story on his site and it was only so long before the big boys had to follow suit. All of that has been accelerated dramatically a decade later when so many people have their own blogs that serve as semi-primary news sources for others.

As we go to press, the state is abuzz with the King story, every journalist in the state is talking about it, but not one mainstream news agency has written or spoken a word about it. This is truly a case of the new media passing us by. It’s still incumbent upon the “professional” media to wait until we know we’ve got the story right, but increasingly we’re showing up late to the party because people who aren’t staking their reputations on being accurate have beaten us to the punch bowl.

I’m not saying either of us is wrong or right. Certainly there is room for abuse and character assassination on the Web, while at the same time professional reporters can occasionally let whispers go by for too long without responding, forcing the stories onto the Web. Not that it’s a journalist’s fondest dream to spend his days or nights chasing public officials into seedy motels, but those stories do sometimes have a need-to-know component for the general public.

Either way, the genie’s out of the bottle and not likely to go back in without a very long-term power outage.

WKRG wins Murrow

The folks over at Channel 5 are celebrating another big award, as their story “Mobile’s Makeover” won a national Edward R. Murrow Award for Continuing Coverage. WKRG won the regional Murrow for the story earlier this year, which qualified it for the national contest.

More than 3,400 entries made it into the national contest, with only 77 honorees being awarded. Investigative reporter Tiffany Craig, photojournalist Jud Hulon, former senior producer Jennifer Dale and creative services producer Ed Smith will be presented with their award at a dinner Oct. 13 in New York City.

Congratulations to WKRG and its staff.

Six years and counting

What you’re now reading represents the beginning of Lagniappe’s seventh year. Wow! Hard to imagine we’ve not got a half dozen years under our belt. Sometimes it seems like a lot more, and others it seems like the blink of an eye.

As with every other year in the process, the paper has gotten bigger and stronger. I like to think we continue to find our voice as well and to take our readers places no one else is willing or able to go.

Ashley and I want to thank all of the loyal readers and advertisers who have truly given the Mobile area something extra. We also can’t forget the amazing people who work with us and help get this thing off the ground every two weeks. We are forever grateful.

Look for us to continue bringing you the most interesting local coverage in our seventh year. So far seven is looking lucky indeed.


Rob Holbert is Lagniappe managing editor. Contact him at rholbert@lagniappemobile.com.


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Archives

Media Frenzy

Jul 15 2008 – The ‘new journalism’ This appears to be how it works in the Internet Age – at least if we’re talking about a salacious rumor a lot of people appear to think (or hope) is true.

Jul 01 2008 – Firings at WPMI It didn’t take long for WPMI-TV’s new owners, Newport, to make a splash at the NBC affiliate.

Jun 17 2008 – As rising gasoline prices are a problem for average consumers, falling circulation figures are to the daily newspaper industry.

Jun 03 2008 – Most folks paying any attention to the world of the printed word have probably heard nothing but bad news for some time, so it would seem to fly in the face of reason to start a new publication in these tough times.

May 19 2008 – After three years on the Gulf Coast, WALA’s Adam Ghassemi looks to be heading off to the great Northwest with a new job and a new wife.

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Here Is the Article From the Pensito Review Concerning the Troy King Sex Scandal

Alabama Attorney General, Troy King, Caught Up in Gay Sex Scandal. Removed From John McCain 's Campaign

And apparently there is a big hush hush about it all over the world. I called WSFA and was told that the report about Troy King's gay sex scandal was a rumour that they could neither "confirm or deny." The newsperson at WAKA said " They hadn't reported it because it was just a bunch of rumours and so it wasn't a story they chose to carry." So, I switched tactics. I called again, later on, and asked if Troy King had been taken off of John McCain's website. The newsperson at WSFA told me that the site "was having problems and that a lot of attorneys general had been removed from the site. He also recommended that I call the McCain regional office. I did. Troy King was previously and is supposed to be the chairperson of the Alabama John McCain campaign. When I asked the young lady at McCain's regional office who the chairperson of the campaign was in Alabama I was told that "they hadn't announced their leadership yet" but could she get my name and number. I obviously, did not give it to her. So I find it quite interesting that in this day and age, and so far after the establishment of the fourth estate and the privileging of the media to work for the people, it is now, yet again, conspiring with the politicians. What is with the hold on this story concerning Troy King, his gay sex scandal, and John McCain's campaign? We the people want to hear....

Monday, July 14, 2008

What the hell is this about Troy King, Alabama's Attorney General, involved in a gay sex scandal??? Ohhhy Veyy