Health Care Bill passes; Obama makes history!

On a vote of 220 to 212 the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Senate version of President Obama's Health Care Reform bill. President Obama has done what no President was able to do in the last half of the 20th Century and the opening of the 21st Century: stewart a reform, a much needed one, of the American Health Care system.

Of course, Obama didn't do it alone. White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel worked the halls and the phones. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi kept the heard of cats that the Democratic Party can be in line. And many Democrats, from Rep. Barbara Lee (D - 9 California), to the legendary John Lewis (D-Georgia), withstood name calling and worse to stay the course and see the Health Care Reform Bill to passage.

Now, over 31 million Americans, some who never thought they'd be able to get health care, can actually do so when the market pool system becomes available July 1st. The real surprise will be when Americans who own small businesses discover their taxes didn't go up at all. The other neat thing will be when Couch Potato Conservatives who thought the sky was going to fall realize it's still up and they can't get medical treatment.

What a victory. A win for what's right and just against those who were wrong and injust. The Tea Party Movement members are the goats in all of this, because their behavior in no small way worked to bring Democrats together.

What the country saw over the weekend was racism and that racism is a mental illness. It's about time.

Obama brought that change and we believed in it.

NFL Draft: NFL's fear of smart black men hurts Myron Rolle

Myron Rolle is a name you're going to read about more and more as we approach the 75th NFL Draft. Indeed, Myron Rolle's a name you may already know about if you watch the NFL Network, who's featured the Florida State Cornerback in it's special segments about NFL Draft prospects. 

If you know about Myron Rolle, you know he's smart. Rolle is a Rhoades Scholar, and one of just 32 people in America to earn such an honor in 2009.

Myron Rolle's also a nice, gentlemanly person, and a lady-killer. This blogger knows this because my friend Mary Moffett, lovely, model-thin, blonde, and very married, just about drooled over him at the 24th Annual Leigh Steinberg Super Bowl Party in Miami, Florida. "God," she said, "that's man's a model. I'd..." And it was about that point I had to mute the conversation.

Myron Rolle has a presence about him that says "success" without Rolle even opening his mouth. He's got the gift of human capital to such a degree that it's threatening to the NFL. The trouble is, Myron Rolle's just the kind of guy the NFL needs. If the league can get over its fear of smart black men.

This charge is not intended to get you the reader to think this is a black v. white issue. It's not. It's a culture problem. Think about it. Myron Rolle's a cornerback from Florida State who went there because he idolized Deion Sanders. So why isn't Deion openly talking about Myron Rolle? At last year's NFL Draft, then-Texas-Tech Wide Receiver Michael Crabtree openly talked about how "Prime" helped him and how he would text back and forth with Deion Sanders.

Not in the case of Myron Rolle.

And what about the Tampa Bay Bucaneers, who have an African American coach in Raheem Morris, yet at the NFL Combine asked Rolle why he deserted his team in 2009? (He didn't not play because of his Rhoades Scholarship requirements at Oxford.) Why ask that question?

From a distance, with NFL Network Analyst Brian Billick raising character concerns in Rolle's case because he's a Rhoades Scholar (no kidding), it's not hard to think the NFL desires a young black man they can bail out of jail because the league's hardwired to see black men in that way. It's the problem that is the central reason why the NFL has such a small percentage of black head coaches and why the Black Coaches Association is so weak in challenging the NFL to change that state of affairs.

The league needs to embrace the smart black man. It can start by treating Myron Rolle with more respect that he's received to date. An invite to the NFL Draft would be a great start.

Megan Avalon on Tough Love on VH1

Tough Love is a reality TV show that this blogger never heard of, but Megan Avalon, who a friend, personal trainer, and model of the Zennie62 blog brand wants to be a host or at least be on the VH1 reality TV show.

That set in motion some research on Tough Love and a video talk about the show. According to Megan Avalon, Tough Love is a kind of relationship boot camp on television. The host Steven Ward shows women how to get over their flaws and have better relationships with men.

But is Steve Ford the best idea of a host for such a show?

Megan says she should be the host of Tough Love because she knows what men want and she knows how to have a successful relationship, which she does have with her current boyfriend. "Men want to be in a relationship with a woman who's confident, not clingy," she says. "I know what men want and I know what women need."

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 Megan wants to show women how to feel better about themselves and believes she can bring that to the show Tough Love. Let's take a look at a scene from Tough Love:



Megan Avalon would be better to stomach as a host than Steve Ford. The image of a woman talking tough to other women is better than the image of a man doing it. It just seems like Steve's living the verbally abusive man's fantasy of telling off a bunch of lovely women.

That's this blogger's read of Tough Love. Steve says some real hard stuff to the women on the show ("You're a gold-digger!") and just rolls in it like a pig in mud.

Better a woman like Megan Avalon.

America should not have to turn to a reality TV show rather than have real friends to talk to.     Megan says the reason shows like this thrive and that people don't talk to their friends is fear of intimacy.

Maybe.

What do you think of Tough Love? Take the poll below and chime in. What do you think of VH1's Tough Love?

More on pollsb.com

Cal ASUC passes bill urging University of California divestment in Israel

Cal ASUC - from 2008 meeting on fight

The Cal ASUC Senate (or The Associated Students of The University of California) passed a very controversial bill last Wednesday night, that called for the University of California campus system to divest from Israel.

The reason for the bill's creation was concern that the University of California was investing in companies that supplied Israel with materials used in alleged war crimes.

According to the Daily Californian, ASUC Senators voted 16 to 4 to pass the bill, following a hearing that drew 80 speakers and four hours of discussion.

According to the blog Desert Peace, Student Senator Rahul Patel said "In the 1980s the Berkeley Student Government was a central actor in demanding that the university divest from South African apartheid. Twenty-five years later, it is a key figure in shaping a nationwide movement against occupation and war crimes around the world."

He's right. This blogger remembers the riot that happened on campus surrounding South Africa. The difference was there was a more united front against South African apartheid and it was clear the UC system was standing in the way. But in this case, the matter of Israel is more complicated and comes with a divided audience at Berkeley. The same audience that saw a fight between Pro-Israel and Pro-Palestine Advocates in 2008.

But it's also clear that Israel's bombing and invasion of Gaza was horrible and criminal. Many American Jews have expressed outraged at the action, even though there's a tendency for the media to focus on American Palestinian views. It's also an action that has put many American Jews in a terrible spot, especially at Cal.

The problem is the bill comes at a time when there has been a bit of anti-Israel bashing at C Berkeley. It's not that tensions are so high that campus life is threatened, but it's also clear that they are impacted by the bill's vote.

Hopefully, the central debate does not escalate into a campus problem. Right now, what's clear is that the ASUC has made what it wants to be seen as an anti-war vote, and not an anti-Israel vote.

It's not clear as of this writing if ASUC President Will Smelko will veto the bill.   If anyone has an update and tips, please send an email here: zennie@zennie62.com

Stay tuned.   (and GO BEARS!)

Sandra Bullock update: Jesse James Nazi Salute Photo to TMZ?

This is a sad update in the Sandra Bullock and Jesse James split and Jesse James cheating affair story.  Jesse James allegedly had a stemy affair with Michelle "Bombshell" McGee (pictured).

Later it was reported that  Michelle "Bombshell" McGee was modeling a Nazi bikini and modeled for a site called "Angry White Boy."   While a friend said McGee's not a White Supremacist, Michelle herself has not spoken out to confirm that she's not.  

TMZ has just posted a blog entry reporting that it will display a Jesse James Nazi Salute Photo on its site.

 TMZ apparently purchased the photo (hopefully not photoshopped) from a woman who knows a so-called "friend" who worked with Jesse and the friend does not know the woman's selling the picture. Messy.

If the photo checks out to be Jesse James when it's posted it will spell curtains for many of Jesse James relationships. Indeed, would Donald Trump want to be associated with a Nazi follower or a person who appeared to be? That impacts potential television sponsors, not to mention the current ones.

And was Sandra Bullock aware of this? Difficult to not to get too far ahead of the photo, given the gravity of the image and who it would impact: Jesse James. For Jesse James' sake, let's hope TMZ bought a doctored photo. (Remember the JFK TMZ boat photo fiasco?)

Stay tuned.

Bart Stupak gets deal with White House; "yes" on Health Care Reform

Bart Stupak

Politico reports that The Obama White House and anti-abortion Democrats led by Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich) have reached a deal on preventing the use of tax dollars for health care abortions. This closes a process that lasted late into Saturday night and into Sunday. Politico's sources report that President Obama will sign an executive order that no federal funds will be used to help pay for abortions in the Obama Health Care Reform Bill.

Now, Stupak and his gang of six will vote "yes" to support the Obama Health Care Reform Bill. While Politico's sources now report that Stupak's a yes, Bart Stupak himself has not said this. Stupak's on record as saying that he's a no vote until the agreement is done; now that it's finished, Stupak can be counted as a "yes" vote.

It's now apparent the White House has the 216 votes - perhaps more - to pass the bill and at the same time save some politically vulnerable Democrats from harm back home. Indeed, it was not clear how many "anti-abortion" Democrats Stupak was able to hang on to; the ranks were shrinking. One person who's still a "no" vote according to CNN is Rep. John Tanner (D- Tenn) who's retiring after this term.

Stay tuned.

Bart Stupak close to deal with White House on Health Care

Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich) says he and his small group of colleagues in the Democratic Party are close to a deal with the Obama White House on Health Care Reform. According to The Hill.com, the agreement would make sure that taxpayer dollars are not used to finance health care abortions.

Stupak claims to have six holdouts in the path to getting a "yes" vote for the Obama Health Care Bill, but it's hard to tell if his group is solidly behind him. There are conflicting reports on the size of the group. At first it was a 12, then eight, now 6. Whatever the case, it seems to be shrinking as the moment to vote draws near.

Stay tuned.