Sanjaya’s ‘Idol’ Run Not India’s Fault

So much for the Indian Call Center Theory: Under-talented singer Sanjaya Malakar’s unlikely wave of “American Idol” support apparently isn’t coming from his father’s homeland.

Indians are usually attuned to the successes of their compatriots abroad. But apart from a few brief newspaper articles, at least one short TV news segment and a few blog mentions, the reedy 17-year-old with the unsteady voice is a virtual unknown here.

One reason is that the show is broadcast a day late in India, and on an English-language channel that attracts relatively few viewers in this country of 1.1 billion.

“He’s also an object of ridicule,” said Amit Varma, who runs the popular India Uncut blog.

Malakar’s success with viewers, who vote by phone or text message for their favorite performers, has come despite withering criticism from the three “Idol” judges. The irascible Simon Cowell has even threatened to quit if the native of Federal Way, Wash., wins the contest.

Malakar survived elimination on Wednesday night to make it to the final eight. If he can hold on for a few more weeks, he might see his fame spread here, Varma said.

“Even if the guy’s really an American, it will be projected by the media here as an Indian doing well in the world,” he said. “They’ll make a big deal about it.”

As for the theory that Indian call center operators are phoning in votes for Malakar: Most workers have calls automatically dialed for them by computers. They couldn’t even call next door if they wanted to.

SF MAYOR IN FRESH MEDIA CONTROVERSY

San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom, fresh from rehab after being caught in an affair with his former deputy's wife, has caused controversy in San Francisco when he briefly opened his mouth around the microphone of a local reporter's microphone.

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At ABC7NEWS.com one commentator wrote, "He's stupid. There's a time and place to joke around, but when you're on camera, you should watch what you say and do if you're an elected official ... Gavin is self-destructing.

Another writes:

"Being a Chicagoan, I am used to many instances of our beloved king Daley brushing reporters questions aside, but this display was incredible. Can't your city do what California did to Gray Davis?"

MEMORIAL SERVICE FOR ERIC MEDLEN SATURDAY

In Memory of Eric Medlen
August 13, 1973 – March 23, 2007
You Will Be Missed – But Never Forgotten!

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MEMORIAL SERVICE FOR ERIC MEDLEN SATURDAY IN HIS HOMETOWN
Friends, Family Will Remember Rodeo Cowboy Turned Drag Racing Champion

OAKDALE, Calif. – A memorial service that will allow his hometown to grieve the loss of Eric Medlen, one of professional drag racing’s most popular young drivers, will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday at the River Oak Grace Community Church, 7712 Rodden Road in Oakdale.

Medlen, 33, succumbed on March 23 to a severe closed head injury suffered in the crash of his race car during a test session four days earlier at Gainesville (Fla.) Raceway

A graduate of Oakdale High School where he was a high school rodeo champion in calf roping and team roping, Medlen was preparing for a pro rodeo career as partner to mentor, Oakdale resident and two-time PRCA world champion Jerold Camarillo when fate intervened.

Instead of a one horsepower career, Medlen opted instead to join his father, John Medlen, at John Force Racing, Inc., in Yorba Linda, Calif., where he worked for eight seasons on the team’s 8,000 horsepower Funny Cars.

When 2003 NHRA Funny Car Champion Tony Pedregon left JFR at the end of his championship season to form his own team, Medlen was John Force’s hand-picked successor even though he never before had driven professional.

Oakdale’s favorite son responded by winning a race in his rookie season and finishing in the Top 5 in driver points. In his three full years as a driver, he won six times, never finished outside the Top 5 and last year earned his most satisfying victory when he prevailed in the FRAM/Autolite Nationals at nearby Infineon Raceway (Sonoma).

Before winning at Infineon, Medlen spent two days in Oakdale honing his roping skills at Camarillo’s ranch, visiting family and friends and shooting a roping segment that appeared on the real-life TV series, Driving Force, which airs on A&E network.

“Eric Medlen was the son I never had,” Force said. “He was the leader of my next generation of drivers. (His) loss is a huge blow not only to the Medlen family, but to drag racing and to John Force Racing.”

One measure of Medlen’s popularity is the fact that BP/Castrol, his principal sponsor during his first three professional seasons, collected almost 15,000 personal messages for the family at a special e-mail address it created in the aftermath of his death.

In addition, during last week’s NHRA event at Houston, Texas, Castrol and the Automobile Club of Southern California provided posters on which thousands more left personal messages for the Medlen family.

Medlen’s mother, Mary “Mimi” Medlen is an Oakdale resident, as is his uncle, Steve Medlen. He also is survived by his father, John, and stepmother, Martha, of Russellville, Ark., and by his sister Eryn Gonzales.

Pink Pistols: Gay Gun Rights Group Is Ready to Fire

An LGBT pro-gun organization that helps queer people fight back against hate crimes is challenging liberals and conservatives alike.

On a crisp Sunday morning, Nicki Stallard closes one mascara-coated eye and focuses intently on her target. Her long fingers are wrapped around the handle of a Colt .45; black go-go boots hug her muscular legs, which are firmly set in shooting stance. As she rapidly fires off rounds of ammunition, shells fall to the ground, rolling under her stacked platform heels.

Nicki Stallard isn’t your average lady.

She was born a man.

Stallard, who has been living as a woman for the past year and a half, is the coordinator of the San Jose chapter of the Pink Pistols — a national organization that encourages gay, lesbian and transgender people to arm themselves to prevent hate crimes. Part social gun club, part political platform, the group’s slogans are, “Armed gays don’t get bashed” and “Pick on someone your own caliber.”

Founded in 2000 in Boston by libertarian activist Douglas Krick, the Pink Pistols have since grown to more than 40 chapters across the country. Not surprisingly, the group has garnered its fair share of controversy, both locally and nationally.

The Pistols unite two traditionally opposite ends of the political spectrum over one incredibly hotbed issue — particularly in the state of California, where the Bay Area has been in an uproar over proposed gun control. The San Francisco chapter recently earned national attention during its campaign against the city’s controversial proposed gun ban.

Certain members of both the pro-gun rights community and the gay community consider the Pistols to be a thorn in their side. But Stallard says the Pink Pistols just want what every American should be entitled to: the right to walk down the street without fearing for your life.

For Stallard, her individual right to carry a weapon isn’t just a fundamental principle — it’s life insurance.

Strange Bedfellows

During a breakfast meeting at a Denny’s in San Jose, Stallard is dressed in a tasteful gray pleated short skirt and black turtleneck. She pushes around a veggie omelet with her fork as the rest of the restaurant stares. She either doesn’t notice or doesn’t care, as she rattles off rapid-fire stats on hate crime incidents and studies that indicate homophobic discrimination among authorities.

“And you choose to be unarmed?” she asks, her blue, neatly made-up eyes wide with astonishment and indignation. “To me, that just doesn’t make sense.”

Stallard is in the middle of reciting statistics about gun control and personal safety when she’s approached by an older man in a security guard uniform, his gray hair shorn in a military cut.

“I’m sorry, I don’t mean to interrupt,” he says, and looks directly at Stallard. “I agree with everything you say.”

The man is an instructor with the National Rifle Association and spends several minutes discussing the finer points of gun control laws with the transgender woman sitting before him. He says to Stallard, “People need to be able to defend themselves against lawless acts,” shakes her hand and leaves.

“That’s pretty much the reaction we’ve gotten from conservatives,” Stallard says, returning to her omelet.

It’s a poetic illustration of the issues that cut to the heart of the Pink Pistols: uniting divergent political interests over one hugely controversial topic.

“We support a reasonable balance between individual rights and legitimate public safety concerns,” Stallard says.

Jeff Soyer of Vermont, a self-described “gay gun nut” and blogger, is a longtime proponent of the Pistols.

“They’re trying to get urban gays and lesbians to not be afraid of the one instrument that, when used properly and legally, can save their lives,” Soyer says. “They take the mystique and scariness out of guns and show that a firearm is simply a tool.”

Yet the Pistols have become something of a political hot potato, handled with caution — or not at all — by both gay rights organizations and pro-gun groups.

Michael S. Brown, a member of Doctors for Sensible Gun Laws, has written about the controversy for the politically conservative website Enter Stage Right.

“The leaders of the NRA are well aware of the growth of the Pink Pistols and it presents them with something of a dilemma,” Brown writes. “On one hand, they are happy to see a traditionally anti-gun segment of the population swinging over to the pro-gun side. However, if they embrace this new group, they risk alienating some of their current members who actually do fit the right-wing stereotype.” Stallard echoes this sentiment.

“Privately, the NRA have been supportive of us,” she says, “but internally there is squabbling.”

The NRA has long resisted including other issues in its agenda.

“We are a single-issue group,” says NRA spokesperson Ashley Varner. “We support every law-abiding American’s Second Amendment rights but we don’t take any position on other specific groups.”

Yet Pistols founder Krick says the most controversy — and, sometimes, outright hostility — comes not from conservatives, but the gay community.

“We’ve gotten a lot of support from the gun community in general,” Krick says, “but as for the organizations geared towards the queer community, that’s where we’ve been getting a lot more static.”

Two of the largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender organizations in the nation, the Human Rights Coalition (HRC) and Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG), refused to comment for this article. Spokespersons from both groups claimed their organizations had no stance on the issue.

“For a lot of these groups, they’re tied-in very strongly with the liberal demographic that thinks that guns are bad, evil, nasty things, and they tend to buy into that propaganda wholeheartedly,” Krick said. “As a result, when we came along they’d already made their decision.”

Scott Tucker can relate. As spokesperson for Log Cabin Republicans, a national political group for the LGBT segment of the GOP, he’s used to assumptions, shock and mockery.

“Really, the Pink Pistols are just proof that gays and lesbians aren’t always in political lockstep,” Tucker said. “There are gay Americans on both sides of every issue, including the Second Amendment.” Although Tucker says his organization doesn’t have an official stance on gun control, he admires the Pistols for tackling a controversial subject unapologetically.

“Any time you have gay and lesbian folks that stand up and say something that isn’t popular within their community, that can shatter stereotypes,” he said.

Perhaps no one better represents the quandary represented by the Pistols than Julie Marin, a male-to-female transgender law enforcement officer from San Jose. Marin is the founder of T-COPS, a support group for law enforcement officials who have changed genders or are in the process of transition. As a transgender person, Marin recognizes the potentially deadly threat of hate crimes.

“I had one experience with a hate crime,” Marin said, “and it was beneficial that I was armed … otherwise I probably wouldn’t be here today.”

But as a law enforcement officer, Marin is concerned about putting more weapons in the hands of civilians.

“It could be beneficial in a rare instance, but normally it probably does more harm than good,” she says. “For me as a law enforcement officer, it does create problems. It’s a double-edged sword for my group.”

Homophobia vs. hoplophobia

The San Jose chapter of the Pink Pistols is about five years old, but was sitting inactive until Stallard took over two years ago. She’s been orchestrating group shoots at the San Jose Municipal shooting range for the past eight months. She describes the group as a small, libertarian-flavored social club that welcomes anyone — regardless of sexual orientation — to participate. Stallard says there are about a dozen or so members, but only a handful of participants at the monthly shoots. She hopes to encourage more political activism as the chapter grows.

Carla Satra serves as range master for the San Jose chapter. She’s in her early 60s and says she has been shooting guns since she was a little girl.

Satra says she’s disgusted with “the maniacal hoplophobia [fear of weaponry] of the liberal left.

“I’m very much appalled by people who call themselves liberal that would be willing to sacrifice victims to criminal violence to support their politics.

“There are a great many so-called liberal people who have this wonderful fantasy of a world where there’s no violence, and allow their fantasy world to demand that prospective victims be disarmed so they’ll be helpless in the face of violent criminals. I’m appalled at the concept of victim disarmament. I really don’t want to see any more violence, and weapons are a deterrent.”

But Sgt. Nick Muyo, public information officer for the San Jose Police Department, believes more violence is exactly what could happen, and cautions against any inklings towards vigilantism.

Muyo says carrying guns isn’t the answer; that arming oneself can cause more harm than good. He advises people who are concerned for their safety to be aware of their surroundings, walk in pairs and avoid dangerous spots at night.

“The best thing Nicki and her organization can do is promote the fact that people need to come forward and report hate crimes to the proper authorities,” Muyo says. “But arming themselves and taking the law into their own hands is not the answer.”

But for Stallard, that’s not enough. And it’s exactly why she wants a license to carry a concealed weapon.

Reloading

Nicki owns about 14 handguns, but only eight pairs of heels (they’re hard to find in men’s size 10).

She was born Niall Stallard (pronounced like Neil, the traditional Irish spelling) and grew up in New York City. She was aware of gender confusion at an early age.

“I knew I had gender issues as a child,” she says. “I tried to avoid dealing with them, but it just got worse and worse as I got older.” Niall did what many in his situation do; he forced himself into life as a straight man. He was married briefly and bore two children. “Being gay in the 70s was bad enough,” Stallard recalls, “but being transsexual made the horror factor even worse.”

Niall spent seven years in the military working as an X-Ray technician in the Navy; he loved shooting guns and racing muscle cars. Nicki still loves all those things.

“Many people who are transgender went into traditional male occupations — firefighter, police officer — and did a lot of ‘guy things’: fast cars, guns, motorcycles. But when you finally accept your true self, that doesn’t mean everything you loved before you throw in the garbage.”

Now 47, Nicki has only recently come to terms with her true self. “I knew that I needed to make the change 10 years ago. I made a commitment that I would change. But I held off for everyone around me,” she says.

Stallard says her parents were supportive of her, but she still waited until they were dead to undergo her complete transformation, which began gradually with hormone therapy, and culminated in full gender reassignment surgery, performed in Thailand in January.

“I figured I’d let them pass in peace. Why give them more stress in their later years?” she says. “They always worried about me too much. But I’ve been very fortunate in that my family has stood by me.”

She happily reports that her children, now 17 and 18, and all of her coworkers and friends have remained supportive of her throughout her transition. But she freely admits that her case is extremely rare.

A self-described “pragmatic libertarian,” Stallard has grown disgusted with both extremes of the political spectrum, and is hoping to work with — instead of against — conservatives on the gun control issue.

“The left and the right may disagree, but there’s a common agreement that the government should be accountable to its people,” she says. “The sad part is that we could actually work with conservatives on a lot of issues if we weren’t so busy insulting them.”

Stallard has created a bullet point sheet, which conveys her thoughts on various political platforms. On the printout, she’s included several brief statements about herself. Among them:

• Nicki Stallard believes that she has a birth defect that she is correcting and she now strongly believes that God loves her. Rather than viewing her condition as a curse, she views it as a unique gift.
• Nicki Stallard is rare in that she is not hiding her transgender status. She hopes that in the future she can become a public figure who can open up people’s hearts and replace hate with love.

Whether she succeeds remains to be seen.

But in the meantime, she’ll be armed to the teeth. Just in case.

New York City Is Hell for Pot Smokers

If you toke in the Big Apple, chances are you’ve had a run-in with one of New York’s “finest.” If you’re African-American or Hispanic, chances are you and the NYPD are on a first-name basis.

That’s the dope from a new study by investigators at the National Development Research Institute (NDRI) — an independent New York City think-tank specializing in substance abuse issues.

The study, entitled “The race/ethnicity disparity in misdemeanor marijuana arrests in New York City,” analyzes NYC marijuana arrest data from 1980 to 2006. Its authors pay particular attention to the startling number of defendants arrested for “possessing marijuana in the fifth degree” (aka smoking pot in public) — a misdemeanor crime that city cops began enforcing en masse under former Mayor Rudy Giuliani’s “Quality of Life” policing initiative. (Although the possession of less than 25 grams of pot is punishable under state law by a fine-only civil citation, New York Statute 221.10 defines the possession or use of marijuana “open to public view” as a criminal misdemeanor punishable by up five days in jail.) The study’s findings, which appear in the spring 2007 edition of the journal Criminology and Public Policy, are a sobering reminder of how race and class largely determine who is impacted by the war on cannabis consumers.

Of the more than 395,000 defendants busted in New York City since 1980 for puffing or possessing pot in public, nearly 336,000 of them (85 percent) were either African-American or Hispanic. By contrast, African-Americans and Hispanics together comprise approximately half of the city’s population. Of the years studied, the NYPD’s racial crackdown was most egregious in 1994, when a whopping 91 percent of those arrested for public pot possession were black or Hispanic.

The unequal treatment of minorities for misdemeanor pot crimes is not just limited to arrests, the study finds. Investigators also report that African-Americans were 2.66 times as likely as whites to be detained in jail pending arraignment while Hispanics were nearly twice as likely. In addition, both groups were twice as likely as whites to receive a conviction — and criminal record — for public pot possession. Compared to Caucasians, African-Americans were four times as likely and Hispanics were three times as likely to receive jail time.

“This study … document[s] that the burden of [public pot] arrests have been falling disproportionately on blacks and Hispanics and that members of these minority groups, on average, have been receiving harsher treatment [than whites] within the criminal justice system,” its authors conclude.

The study is hardly the first to document such racial disparities in drug law enforcement. A 2005 NORML Foundation study by longtime High Times columnist Jon Gettman reported that although black adults account for fewer than 12 percent of all marijuana users, they comprise 23% those arrested annually on pot possession charges. A previous review of marijuana arrest data by Gettman in 2000 found that African-Americans are busted for marijuana possession at rates twice those of whites in 64 percent of US counties.

In addition to highlighting the disproportionate racial aspect of New York City’s pot law enforcement, the NDRI study also documents the unprecedented growth in the annual number of misdemeanor marijuana arrests resulting from Giuliani and Bloomberg’s so-called “Quality of Life” policing.

According to data compiled by the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services, arrests for public pot possession in the 80s averaged about 2,000 per year. Arrests fell to a low of 774 in 1991 before skyrocketing under the Giuliani administration to nearly 34,000 in 1999.

City pot arrests hit an all-time high of 51,269 in 2000 before temporarily falling after the attacks of September 11, 2001. By 2006, however, nearly 32,000 New Yorkers were busted for possessing cannabis in public view — 87 percent of whom were either black or Hispanic.

So far this decade, a staggering 265,738 people have been arrested. Even more disturbing, NYS CJS data indicates that among those arrested in 2006, far more received jail time than in years past, indicating that penalties for minor pot offenses are being treated more severely by today’s judges. Nevertheless, NDRI researchers found no evidence indicating that either the increase in arrests or the severity of sentencing has contributed to a decline in serious crimes and violence.

Rather, the study contends “the growth in [public pot possession] arrest activity has had a substantial and disproportionate impact on black and Hispanic communities. … Ending the disparities associated with marijuana in public view arrests would increase the level of justice in New York City, help [the police department's] relationship with black and Hispanic communities, and help black and Hispanic youths and young adults … in their efforts to establish or maintain productive lives by not further burdening them with criminal justice sanctions and official criminal records.”

To achieve enforcement equality the authors call on the Bloomberg administration, as well as politicians in Albany, to take action. “[T]he NYPD [should] consider scaling back on [the enforcement of] smoking marijuana in public view,” they recommend. “The New York State legislature should [also] be encouraged to consider making smoking marijuana in public a violation and not a misdemeanor.”

Grindhouse! : A Review

I have been anticipating the arrival of this flick for month’s…all those blogs I read; the internet movie trailer hype…the Rose McGowan action figure I had to own…Last night I finally got to see the thing I have been longing for…and…the best I can say is…bittersweet. That’s right…for all the adrenaline fueled exhilaration brought about by witnessing the spectacular audacity of Rodriquez’s ‘Planet Terror’…and the nostalgic joy I encountered as my childhood flashed on the screen by way of faux B-movie previews and vintage lobby card PSA’s…I still had a residual sour taste in my mouth having been subjected to Tarantino’s gab-fest ‘Death Proof’…it’s GRINDhouse, man! …show me the GRIND…don’t tell me about it! Rodriquez seems to be truly coming into his own…first ‘Sin City’ now ‘Planet Terror’…whereas Tarantino continues to swim in his own ego; amongst the flotsam and jetsam of movie trivia and lore. For whatever it’s worth, ‘Grindhouse’ is still the best show in town!

HERE is the Trailer.

Cell Phones Rule….

HomeLand Security

Elvis Was A Huge ‘Monty Python’ Fan

Rock ‘n’ roll legend Elvis Presley was obsessed with British comedy series Monty Python and spent hours impersonating characters from the cult show. Presley used to force his girlfriend Linda Thompson to watch the on-screen antics of John Cleese, Eric Idle, Terry Gilliam, Michael Palin and Terry Jones.

Thompson says, “He’s be doing all the voices, which is mind-boggling. He’d even do the ladies voices.”

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Psych Evaluation Ordered for Supernaw

Troubled country singer Doug Supernaw was ordered to undergo a psychiatric evaluation after he told a judge he was the subject of a police conspiracy.

Supernaw is best known for his 1993 hits “Reno” and “I Don’t Call Him Daddy,” but has been beset by legal problems in recent years, mostly related to drug and alcohol offenses.

He was in court Tuesday for trial on a misdemeanor charge of evading arrest. The charge stemmed from a 2004 confrontation with a police officer. Supernaw could face up to six months in jail if convicted.

In a pretrial hearing, Supernaw, 46, listed off police agencies that he said had beaten him to ruin his recording career and his chances at a baseball career.

“It has been a political economic conspiracy, and I have proved it time and time and time again,” he told Brazos County Court Judge Jim Locke. Supernaw said the abuse started when he was “held hostage in Paris” in a “mentally retarded home for terrorists” for two weeks in 2002.

Locke sent the jury pool home after the statements from Supernaw, who also claimed that he was a “test monkey” to see if someone could smoke marijuana and play baseball at the same time.

Supernaw was arrested in November on a marijuana possession charge in Humble. In 2005, he was sentenced to 115 days in jail and a $300 fine for marijuana possession in Amarillo when he was in town for a minor league baseball game.