Cutest thing in America today

Jamie Lynn Spears pregnancy raises legal questions

The announced pregnancy of Jamie Lynn Spears -- the 16-year-old children's television star and younger sister of beleaguered pop star Britney Spears -- is casting new light on how states deal with the thorny issue of consensual sex among teens.

Spears, the star of Nickelodeon's "Zoey 101," told OK! Magazine that she's pregnant and that the father is her 18-year-old boyfriend.
There has been no public talk of criminal prosecution in the case. Consensual sex between the two may well have been legal, depending on where and when it took place.

But critics of the nation's statutory rape laws say that laws that are ignored in some cases can be used to put other teens in prison and land them on sex-offender registries.

"You have a disturbing disparity in how these laws are enforced," said Jonathan Turley, a law professor at George Washington University. "I have no problem at all with nailing adults who sleep with children, but I have a problem with the prosecution of teenagers in consensual relationships.

"What this case should focus the nation on is having a more evenhanded approach to these cases." [CNN] continue reading

A White Christmas Indeed!

So, the wife decides to buy some classic Christmas-related movies for the children and the issue of the song White Christmas comes up. I tell the wife to pick up a copy of White Christmas starringBing Crosby and Danny Kaye for both the song White Christmas and a fun scene on a train when Danny Kaye and Rosemary Clooney sing the song Snow. The wife gets to Best Buy, forgets what movie and asks the salesman for the movie where Bing sings White Christmas. Said dude gives wife a copy of Holiday Inn (where Bing also sings White Christmas). Easy mistake, no harm no foul, right?

EXCEPT, I’ve only seen Holiday Inn in re-runs on commercial TV, which means a substantial bit has been cut out. Specifically, a substantial part was cut out of Bing Crosby in Blackface. Imagine my surprise when I step away from a light holiday moview to get a drink for my 3 year old, only to come back to Louise Beavers and pickaninnies singing about Lincoln freeing the slaves. WTF? Where’d that come from?

Turns out that with the notable exception of Turner Classic Movies, which keeps the scene in for historic purposes, most people who have seen that movie only on television have no idea whatsoever that the blackface scene exists. It was edited out years ago. Aside from the the crows in Dumbo, it stands out as one of the most offensive scenes I’ve seen in movies. It took a good minute to even register what I was seeing and cut the thing off.

Not like I was a big Bing fan before. He always seem to have something dark hidden under the more visible boring. He was really only tolerable in films paired with actors with better personalities - Astaire, Kaye, Hope, Sinatra, even David Bowie in that Christmas special. But you know, couldn’t that box have come with a Warning: Explicit Cooning label or something? Gee Bing, thanks for the Christmas surprise. Bamboozled again. Punk. [EbonyJet]

Quotable

“If there’s more than one black person in the movie, it’s an urban romantic comedy, an urban thriller - it’s just a flipping movie. The way kids think, the demographic they pander and chase - they don’t care."-Gabrielle Union

Soulja Boy an Influencer?

Personally, "Crank That" has never done anything for me. I cannot understand a word that is coming out of Soulja Boy's mouth. It did however sound like he was saying "Yule." I always jokingly say, "Yule, like 'yuletide?'" Corny, yes.

Out of all of the versions of "Crank That" out there (this weekend I was informed that there is a multitude), the Christmas "Crank that Santa Clause" seems the most fitting. So please, enjoy this gross celebration of stupidity! YULE!



PS. Have you ever wondered what "Superman that hoe" means?