Keepingitreal

The Hot Seat

Before she embodied Ugly Betty’s evil magazine editrix Wilhelmina Slater (think Anna Wintour meets Alexis Carrington), Vanessa Williams was the ultimate good girl: Miss America 1984. But Williams didn’t let the wholesome title, or a cringeworthy nude-photo scandal, stop her from eventually tackling the entertainment industry on every front, racking up handfuls of Tony, Emmy and Grammy nominations as a pageant-queen-turned-singer-turned-consummate-actor. Now, with the transition of Betty’s production from Los Angeles to Queens’ Silvercup Studios for the show’s third season, the Westchester-born Williams is having a homecoming of sorts. She talked to us about shoulder pads, Hannah Montana and, of course, “Save the Best for Last.”Playing such an evil character on TV, can you be a bitch to everyone and just claim it’s “research”?[Laughs] That’s a good angle. Haven’t done that yet. It’s actually freeing. You feel like you’re a naughty kid in school—you get to behave badly and get away with it.Any villains you’ve based your portrayal on?A lot of it is on the page. I’ve been lucky to have a career for a while, and worked in almost every aspect of the business. I’ve done photo shoots, made videos, done television and film… There are definitely a lot of situations you can draw upon.The Los Angeles Times called your portrayal “deliciously evil”—are you tasty?Hmm. Deliciously evil? I think [Wilhelmina] is subtle and her presence is pretty formidable. I wanted to make sure that when she came on screen, just her carriage itself would show that this woman is not joking. I say a lot with my eyes, my looks, my sneer.So, deliciously subtle, then. Wilhelmina actually has more editorial expertise than any of the other characters on Ugly Betty. We could use you at TONY.[Laughs] Heads would roll, and you might have a lot of positions that…might not last.We’d end up dressing a lot better.Oh, absolutely.Are you a clotheshorse? Wilhelmina wears somefantastic stuff.In real life? No, actually I’m one of those people with things that I’ve had for 20 years in my closet. Uh-oh, like shoulder pads?
Hmm, do I have any? I think I may have gotten rid of those, but it’s not too far off. This season [on the show] I’m wearing a lot of vintage stuff from the late ’80s and ’90s, like Thierry Mugler fashion, that do have original shoulder pads. So it is coming back full circle. What’s the most embarrassing thing in your home closet?I dunno… I do have a harlequin catsuit from the “Comfort Zone” video.I’d love to be one of your kids around Halloween time.We have plenty of looks to pull from.You must be popular with your eight-year-old, being in the Hannah Montana movie.Ooh, yeah. Not only did [Sasha] go on set, but she also got the chance to go to Miley’s house in Tennessee to swim in her pool. She borrowed a bathing suit and got changed in her room. Doesn’t get better than that.Now your kid can’t ever pull that “Mom, you never let me do anything!” line.Oh, yeah. Coolest mom on the block.So there’s another actress named Vanessa Williams out there. You ever worry about a Single White Female thing—you could disappear and she’d take your place? Oh, no. And well, she’s not white. But actually, I’ve never met her. I hear she’s lovely.Do you get each other’s mail? When I did the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, they sent her my check, and she sent it to me. It was nice of her to not cash it.One last question: Are you saving the best for last? I’m not saving anything right now, but if it comes—I hope the end is a long time away. TIMEOUTNYC.COM

TODAY'S PAPERS

A dizzying day of high-stakes Washington drama has left everyone confused and unsure about whether the $700 billion bailout to save the nation's financial system has any chance of making it through Congress. Whereas yesterday's papers were filled with optimism that a compromise would be reached, today no one knows whether the breakdown in negotiations means the plan is doomed or if it just represents a brief stumbling block. The Los Angeles Times reports that, far away from the limelight, Republican and Democratic lawmakers were moving toward a compromise, "but it remained to be seen whether there would be enough votes to pass legislation." If that sounds familiar it's because that's how things looked yesterday in the early afternoon when key lawmakers said they were well on their way to agreeing on the "fundamentals" of a deal. But then in the White House, a "verbal brawl" broke out in the Cabinet Room, according to the New York Times, and things quickly fell apart, which led to an eloquent declaration from President Bush: "If money isn't loosened up, this sucker could go down."Bush's dire warnings weren't enough to save the plan after a mixture of "financial concerns, presidential politics and partisan rancor" resulted in "an unexpected Washington drama with the nation's economic future hanging in the balance," says USA Today. Who's to blame for the breakdown? The Washington Post doesn't mince word and declares right off the bat that a "renegade bloc of Republicans" managed to both surprise and anger administration officials as well as congressional leaders when they "moved to reshape" the bailout. The Wall Street Journal reports that talks are set to resume this morning "without House Republicans." Meanwhile, lawmakers received a crude reminder of the fragility of the U.S. financial system last night as federal regulators seized Washington Mutual and immediately sold the bulk of its operations to JP Morgan Chase in what amounted to the largest bank failure in U.S. history.To continue reading, click here.

$700B bailout plan breaks apart; talks to continue

WASHINGTON - Urgent efforts to lash together a $700 billion rescue plan for the national economy broke apart Thursday night, hours after key lawmakers had declared they had reached a deal. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke sped to Capitol Hill to try to revive or rework the proposal that the administration says must be quickly approved by Congress to stave off economic disaster.Congressional leaders were to meet with the economic chiefs into the night.THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below WASHINGTON (AP) — Key members of Congress claimed agreement Thursday on an outline and crucial details of an urgent multibillion-dollar plan to stave off national economic disaster, but a historic White House meeting with President Bush, the two men fighting to replace him and other congressional leaders broke up with conflicts in plain view.After six days of intensive talks on the $700 billion package urgently requested by the Bush administration, with Wall Street tottering and the presidential election nearing, there was more confusion than clarity.A tentative accord in principle among influential Democratic and Republican lawmakers was announced at midday, giving the Bush administration just a fraction of the money it wanted up front, with half the $700 billion total subject to a congressional veto, congressional aides said. SOURCE:YAHOO.COM

JPMorgan to buy Washington Mutual deposits: report

NEW YORK (Reuters) - JPMorgan Chase & Co is expected to acquire the deposits of Washington Mutual Inc, the largest U.S. savings and loan, in a government-brokered bailout, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday.The purchase could be a major step in cleaning up a U.S. financial system littered with toxic mortgage debt Acquiring the deposits could fulfill JPMorgan Chief Executive Jamie Dimon's long-held goal of becoming a retail banking force in the western United States. It comes six months after JPMorgan, the No. 3 U.S. bank, agreed to acquire the failing investment bank Bear Stearns Cos at a fire-sale price. Branches would also be included in the transaction, the newspaper said.JPMorgan said it would hold an investor conference call at 9:15 p.m. EDT on Thursday, but it did not say why. Neither company returned calls for comment.The deposit acquisition is not likely to affect the roughly $45.2 billion insurance fund of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp (FDIC), which analysts expect will be tapped dozens of times in the next few years to cover bank failures.It also comes as Washington wrangles over the fate of a $700 billion bailout of the financial services industry, which has been battered by mortgage defaults and tight credit conditions."Jamie Dimon is clearly feeling that he has an opportunity to grab market share, and get it at fire-sale prices," said Matt McCormick, a portfolio manager at Bahl & Gaynor Investment Counsel in Cincinnati. "He's becoming an acquisition machine."JPMorgan ended June with $1.78 trillion of assets, $722.9 billion of deposits and 3,157 branches.Washington Mutual ended June with $309.7 billion of assets, $181.9 billion of deposits, 2,239 branches and 43,198 employees. SOURCE:YAHOO.COM

Did Palin Really Say She Wouldn´t Hire Blacks?

Sarah Palin admittedly hasn´t had much of a track record when it comes to acknowledging let alone promoting diversity during her short tenure as Alaska governor. She´s on record with a terse utterance on hate crimes legislation and another one on cultural diversity. During the 2006 gubernatorial campaign she told the Eagle Forum that she opposed expanded hate crime legislation. In her gubernatorial campaign booklet in 2006, Palin gave her equally terse view of discrimination. She simply said that she and her gubernatorial running mate would provide opportunities for all Alaskans. There is no record that Palin has made any other public statements on diversity and minority issues since then. This in itself might be cause for only a slight eyebrow raise. (Continue Reading…)

TODAY'S PAPERS

President Bush came out of hiding last night to warn the nation that the economy is in crisis and the situation will get much worse unless Congress acts quickly to pass the $700 billion bailout of troubled financial institutions. "Our entire economy is in danger," Bush said. The president took pains to emphasize that the bailout wasn't designed to help Wall Street millionaires, but rather to preserve "America's overall economy." As USA Today summarizes, Bush warned that "inaction could cause millions of layoffs, bank failures, business closures, lost retirement savings, more foreclosures, a further drying up of credit and 'a long and painful recession.'" The Los Angeles Times points out that the "wholehearted endorsement of massive government intervention represents a startling about-face for a president who has insisted throughout his career that such meddling creates problems instead of fixing them."In an effort to display the urgency of the situation, Bush invited congressional leaders, along with the two parties' presidential nominees, to what the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and USAT all call an "extraordinary" meeting today at the White House. The Washington Post points out that it was Bush's first prime-time speech in over a year, and the NYT notes that it was the first time in his presidency that one was devoted entirely to the economy. To continue reading, click here.

Models have the right moves at Passport show

With the addition of numerous dance numbers - there were as many dancers as models on the runway - quick-paced catwalk segments and a new, manly (with a wink) way to present the men's underwear segment, Wednesday night's energetic Passport fashion show and fundraiser flew by. (Gala night - which also included a lengthy live auction - took place Thursday, with an appearance by Tommy Hilfiger).Sweaty acrobatic dancing, as TV ratings prove, is a crowd pleaser. Passport, the annual HIV/AIDS fundraiser now in its 26th year, had tons of that, choreographed for the third year by Brian Friedman, who has worked with Britney Spears, Prince, Usher and others. Making his first appearance as guest choreographer was Alex Da Silva from Fox's "So You Think You Can Dance" reality show, who performed a wild, spinning salsa dance number with his partner. As always, the crowd at the first night's American Express-sponsored event just wanted to have fun, and they whooped and cheered in all the right places. New to Passport his year were a series of straight-up Financial District suits by Alfani Red, Macy's private-label manufacturer, worn by a group of dancers who shimmied down a big metal staircase to the tune of "Putting on the Ritz." Actress Merilee Brasch, in full-on Marilyn Monroe finery, introduced the Ed Hardy segment by blowing kisses and pouting perfectly. Also new this year were a '60s-inspired Mod segment with clothes by Ben Sherman; tarty, sparkly minidresses with glitter tattoo-like designs from Ed Hardy by Christian Audigier, and a hip-hop dance number performed by buff guys in black-and-white Keith Haring graffiti jeans that were manufactured only for the Passport shows. The show opened with the Oakland pop band the Lovemakers setting the fast, thumping pace, as all-American sportswear - like white wide-leg pants worn with a floaty red blouse, preppy argyle sweaters and double-breasted blazers - by Tommy Hilfiger was trotted out. (Hilfiger's line is now sold only at Macy's and his own boutiques.) An all-black punk segment was timely, given the new "Gothic Glam" show at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York. Models wore exaggerated faux Mohawk wigs with their black minis, biker jackets, tight jeans, latex leggings, piles of long chain jewelry and knee-high flat combat boots, styled by Macy's Women's Fashion Director Tifani Wilt, who selected all the women's clothing; the menswear segments were put together by Macy's men's fashion director, Durand Guion. SOURCE:SFGATE.COM CHECK OUT THE VIDEO FROM THE SHOW

Child Soldier to Rapper

THE LAIR BITES INTO A THIRD SEASON

here!, America’s premium gay television network is pleased to announce a third season of the hit original series The Lair.  Written and directed by Fred Olen Ray, the third season of The Lair will consist of 13 half-hour episodes and begin production in November with an expected air date of spring, 2009. Following on the heels of Dante’s Cove, The Donald Strachey Mysteries and Lesbian Sex and Sexuality, the network has created another successful franchise with The Lair.  “We are thrilled with our audience’s enthusiasm for this series and our ability to expand the season to 13 episodes,” said Meredith Kadlec, Senior Vice President, Original Programming. Among those reprising their roles on the sexy vampire series will be gay icon Colton Ford, David Moretti, Peter Stickles, Dylan Vox, Brian Nolan and Frankie Valenti (aka Johnny Hazzard).Season two of The Lair debuted on September 5th and will be premiering new episodes through December.  This season, things in this small town take a big turn when warring vampire factions fight to seize control of the coven.  We are introduced to Dr. Jake Waldman (newcomer Matthew King), a botanist with a mysterious plant that seems to have a mind of its own and Ian (Matty Ferraro), a wandering lost soul with a dark secret and a beast that lurks within: a werewolf!  Meanwhile, Thom (Moretti) has found himself waist-deep in a centuries-old romantic entanglement with Damian (Stickles) and Colin (Vox) has succeeded in his plan to take control of The Lair. Season three of The Lair promises to bring back the majority of these hunky actors and engage us in fang-filled plot twists and supernatural sexuality. SOURCE:HERETV.COM

Gay Survivor Spills a Reality Secret

It’s a big week for Charlie Herschel. Forty-eight hours before his big debut on the 17th season of Survivor, the 29-year-old New York–based corporate lawyer is finding out with the rest of the world that his online chat buddy of two years, American Idol runner-up Clay Aiken, has announced on the cover of People  that he’s gay. The two started chatting on social networking site Connexion.org during the whole Kelly Ripa hand-over-the-mouth hubbub, and those early chat fests developed into a casual friendship while Aiken was in New York starring in Broadway’s Spamalot. “There was a point when I was in law school that I was on IM almost every day, so we used to IM almost every day,” says Herschel, who has maintained a friendship with Aiken ever since. Then Herschel got the call to partake in the experience of a lifetime, packed up his life, and flew halfway across the world to Africa, putting those IM chat sessions momentarily on hold. He left his swank New York law firm behind to rough it in Gabon with 17 other reality-star wannabes. And as with past seasons of Survivor, the production pretty much guaranteed that Herschel was separated from the outside world for almost two months, so he missed all of the media attention paid to Aiken's baby, born August 8 through a surrogate, and the gossipy banter that followed. Now that Herschel’s back in New York and awaiting the media firestorm that is sure to greet his big reality show debut, the strong but unassuming marathon runner is about to get a taste of what it feels like to be openly gay and in the public eye -- something he can now share in common with his fellow reality-star friend. But Herschel says he didn’t pursue Survivor for fortune or the gay media fame that is so often bestowed on attractive reality show grads. His reason for doing the show was simple -- it’s something he’s dreamed of since season 1…and if it helps him find the man of his dreams, all the better. The Advocate: Was auditioning for Survivor something you’d actively pursued for a long time, or was it a spur-of-the-moment decision? Charlie Herschel: I’d been a huge fan ever since the first season, but you just read about the tens of thousands of applicants, so I never threw in an application because I thought it would be a complete waste of time. Then I was twiddling around one weekend at my desk, procrastinating, and I was like, I’m never going to get this experience unless I at least try once to apply. One thing led to another and I finally got cast. CONTINUE READING...

Eyezon - "When I Make It"

The Song: "When I Make It" is one of a series of free tracks  Eyezon is giving out before his latest album, A People Like Us, hits stores in early 2009. The Northern California via South Africa emcee delivers inspiration and entertainment with a dynamic flow and message to match. The song's triumphant horn section mirrors the way Eyezon has championed over the adversity of his upbringing. Though having moved above and beyond the hardships of his early life in Soweto, South Africa, he vows to never forget what made him the person he is, saying "when we make it, always be looking back." Sean Lane's production is a standout on the album, and on this track he makes excellent use of panning and reverb to achieve a dream-like quality in the chorus.The Background: "Eyezon delivers his lyrics with a religious conviction, but is blessed with a great sense of timing. He has the ability to alter his rhyme schemes constantly, but without losing sight of the cadence of the mystery man’s beats."  - RapReviews.com Eyezon, the South-African born, Northern California resident is set to envelop new fans in an album that delves into life, love, loss, and struggle on his sophomore full-length A People Like Us.  The album will be released on January 27, 2009 on Interdependent Media. With A People Like Us, Eyezon touches on variety of subjects, including the dangers and racism that were rampant in South Africa during his childhood as well as common issues of love, loss, abortion, and homelessness. When asked about A People Like Us, Eyezon says the title was a reflection of "the struggles that a common people can relate to." The album is brimming with the depth of emotion, vibrancy, and insight that is often put on the backburner in mainstream hip-hop albums.

Streams:

When I Make It http://media.audibletreats.com/Eyezon-When_I_Make_It.mp3
Lord Hold Me http://media.audibletreats.com/Eyezon-Lord_Hold_Me.mp3
Bio, pictures, and streams available here:
http://www.audibletreats.com/download/Eyezon
Eyezon MySpace:http://www.myspace.com/eyezon
Sean Lane MySpace:http://www.myspace.com/seanl
Label site: http://www.imculture.com/

Freeload: F2 The New Soul Podcast

Last week marked the release of the latest issue of F2, our quarterly online only magazine powered by Timberland, this time dedicated to The New Soul. If your ears are curious what the words your eyes have been reading sound like, check out our companion audio podcast mixed precisely (and soulfully) by OP! of our web brethren Suite903. Download it now and ride the midnight space waves with music from Flying Lotus, Jazmine Sullivan, Keziah Jones, Little Dragon and more.













Tracklisting:
Jazmine Sullivan, "Need U Bad"
Little Dragon, "Recommendation"
Plantlife, "Sumthin About Her"
Free the Robots, "Jazzhole"
Keziah Jones, "Lagos vs. New York"
Nosaj Thing, "1685"
Flying Lotus (ft. Dolly), "Roberta Flack"
Muhsinah, "Millions"
Gaslamp Killer and Gonjasufi, "Kobwebs New"

Download: F2 The New Soul Podcast                             

Exclusive Freeload: Como Mamas f. Mary Moore, "Trouble in My Way"   

F2 Issue 2: New Rock

       

 

TODAY'S PAPERS

The Los Angeles Times, New York Times, and USA Today lead with the continuing bailout politics as the Bush administration sent some of its top officials to Capitol Hill yesterday in an effort to convince lawmakers they need to pass the $700-billion plan as soon as possible. Instead of falling in line as many had expected, Congressional opposition to the bailout seems to be growing every day. The men of the hour, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, appeared before the Senate Banking Committee to push lawmakers toward action. In what USAT calls perhaps his "darkest economic assessment" since becoming chairman, Bernanke warned that the current crisis is unlike anything the country has ever seen and failing to approve the bailout would have "significant adverse consequences for the average person." Despite these dire predictions, Congressional opposition, particularly from Republicans in the House, was so strong that by last night "it was no longer certain that a version of the Paulson-Bernanke plan could win passage," the LAT declares. The Wall Street Journal banners, and the NYT off-leads, news that Warren Buffett will invest $5 billion in Goldman Sachs. The WSJ calls the cash infusion by the famous investor "one of the biggest expressions of confidence in the financial system since the credit crisis intensified early this month." Financial stocks, including Goldman's, surged in after-hours trading as Buffett's decision "immediately heartened investors," says the NYT. The Washington Post leads with a new presidential election poll that suggests the economic turmoil is helping Barack Obama, who now has the first clear lead in the general-election campaign. Among likely voters, Obama leads John McCain by 52 percent to 43 percent. A mere 9 percent rated the economy as good or excellent, and 50 percent cited it as the most important issue. That undoubtedly helps Obama, who has a sizable advantage as the candidate best suited to handle the current financial crisis. To continue reading, click here.

Ga. judge tells T.I. to pay more child support

A judge on Tuesday ordered rapper T.I. to pay more child support to the mother of two of his children after she claimed he wasn't providing enough money.Superior Court Judge Bensonetta Tipton Lane told the two-time Grammy winner, whose real name is Clifford Harris, to pay just over $3,000 a month to LaShon Dixon. He had been paying about $2,000 per month.The judge also said the 27-year-old performer must continue to pay for the boys to attend private school, uninsured medical bills and expenses related to the children's extracurricular activities.Tipton Lane also awarded the couple on Tuesday joint custody of the boys, ages 7 and 8. Dixon, 28, was granted primary physical custody. The children previously spent about 40 percent of their time with the rapper.Dixon's attorney, Randy Kessler, said his client is still unsatisfied with the amount the judge ordered T.I. to pay but is happy to receive more child support."Every little bit helps," Kessler said. "She was just getting by with the children, while they lived a different life with their father. It can't be complete opposites on the other side."An e-mail to one of T.I.'s lawyers was not immediately returned Tuesday.He also has two sons with his fiancee, Tameka "Tiny" Cottle, of the defunct R&B group Xscape. SOURCE:NEWSVINE.COM

Study: Series TV showing more gays, lesbians

Broadcast television will have 16 gay and bisexual regular characters in prime-time series this fall, more than double the seven of a year ago, a new study has found.The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation said it was a positive sign of networks making their shows more representative, although more work needed to be done. These characters accounted for 2.6 percent of all the regular characters in TV series, up from 1.1 percent last year and 1.3 percent in 2006, according to the study, released Monday.GLAAD President Neil Giuliano singled out Fox for having five such regular characters this fall, considering there were none a year earlier. The character Thirteen on "House" is bisexual, while the new "Do Not Disturb" has a gay man.None of the 126 regular characters on CBS shows are gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender, GLAAD said, and only one recurring character — Brad on "Rules of Engagement — is gay.ABC will have seven characters that are either gay men or bisexual women this fall, NBC will have three and the CW will have one, according to GLAAD.A total of 19 recurring characters, those who appear only time to time, fit the category, GLAAD said. That's up from 13 a year ago.The number of regular characters fitting the definition fell from 40 to 32 on mainstream cable networks, a count that doesn't include the gay-oriented networks Logo and here!There were no lesbians among the regular characters, according to GLAAD. But there are five bisexual women, including the characters of Callie Torres and Erica Hahn on ABC's "Grey's Anatomy.""As the networks gradually add characters from all backgrounds and all walks of life to prime-time programming, more and more Americans are seeing their LGBT friends and neighbors reflected on the small screen," Giuliano said.The lobbying group has been monitoring the presence of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender characters on TV for four years.SOURCE:SOUTHERN VOICEONLINE.COM

Watch 'Notorious' Trailer With Jamal Woolard As Biggie Smalls

The trailer to 'Notorious,' the Biggie Smalls film starring Jamal Woolard as Christopher Wallace aka Biggie Smalls (The Notorious B.I.G.) and Derek Luke as Sean Combs is now online. Academy Award nominee Angela Bassett plays Voletta Wallace, Anthony Mackie plays Tupac Shakur and young Broadway starlet Antonique Smith is Faith Evans. Former 3LW lead singer Naturi Naughton will portray Lil' Kim.

Poll: Economic Discontent Boosts Barack Obama Over John McCain

Barack Obama has seized the reins of economic discontent, vaulting over John McCain's convention gains by persuading voters he both better understands their economic troubles and can better address them.Concerns about the economy have spiked since the global financial crisis roiled the stock market and sparked a proposed government bailout. Fifty-three percent of registered voters in this new ABC News/Washington Post poll call the economy the single most important issue in the election, up 12 points in two weeks to an extraordinary level of agreement. Click here for a PDF with charts and full questionnaire.The public is cool to the bailout itself, underscoring economic uncertainty.Eight in 10 are worried about the economy's future, half of them very worried. Personal concern runs high as well; six in 10 are worried about their family's finances. And 83 percent say the country's seriously off on the wrong track, back within a point of its record high -- set just this June -- in polls dating to early 1970s.All these work for Obama. SOURCE:ABCNEWS.COM

The Legacy Awards - Outfest Celebration

The Legacy Awards is TOMORROW! Excitement is building, tickets are selling and celebrity guests including Ewan McGregor, Molly Shannon, Bruce Vilanch, Kristen Bell and James Kyson Lee from Heroes are already confirmed! We can’t wait for you to join us in honoring Bruce Cohen and NBC Universal for all they have done for Outfest and our community. You don’t want to miss this celebrity-filled event! Click here to purchase tickets now. Join us for a party only Outfest could throw including:Exclusive pre-party for VIP ticket holders and special guests Entertainment by celebrity host and Outfest favorite, Bruce Vilanch & Celebrity presenters Ewan McGregor and Molly Shannon Award presentation to Bruce Cohen and NBC Universal Our tribute to “One Person Can Make A Difference” And then there’s the after-party – a must-have for any Outfest celebration The Legacy Awards is our only gala dedicated to raising funds for the Outfest Legacy Project for LGBT Film Preservation - our newest and fastest-growing program! Purchase your tickets today! Find more information on The Legacy Awards at: outfest.org

Back To Basics: Restoring the Human Connection in Mortgage Lending

Excerpt from Blackprof.com -- Wall Street financial wizards have conducted their businesses as though the complex financial products that generated billion-dollar compensation packages also created a protective moat beyond public accountability. In the interdependent world of global finance that is now collapsing, home mortgages were abstractions. During this decade the basic human connection between lender and borrower in consumer finance was cut and thrown away as a quaint, easily discarded vestige of a bygone era. In 1981, at the beginning of the era of retail banking deregulation, I wrote the first state consumer protection law for California to stop the practice of “playing the float” — holding customer deposits to earn money by delaying credits to the customer’s account. This abuse crept into retail banking because the full market effects of lifting the previous interest rate ceilings were poorly understood. Follow-up regulation was necessary to close a window of market failure. Just as in the current crisis with subprime loans, competition could not and did not do the job after deregulation. Getting out of this mess will require four things: public recognition of the scope and scale of the backlog of mortgage-related defaults, a return to basic human connections in mortgage lending, aggressive consumer protection, and insistence on generous capital cushions (rainy day funds to buffer unexpected losses). Bring all the bad loans out of the dark recesses of investment and commercial bank balance sheets and into the light of public review. We cannot fix it until we see it. Next, back to basics. Remember that houses are homes, not abstract transactions that can be made profitable with unreasonable levels of leverage/borrowing. I am not advocating a return to the horse-and-buggy days of lending. There is still a role for more conservative securitization, in which packages of home mortgages are sold to the restructured Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and a well-regulated private market. However, preserving the connection between originator and borrower is more likely to reduce fraud and consumer abuse. This will require political and economic leadership to encourage Americans to return to the tough, unpleasant discipline of saving. At the heart of the current meltdown is a stark reality: America is the world’s biggest debtor in both the public sector (budget deficits) and the private sector (financial institutions and corporations). The U.S. financial system is now at the mercy of foreign sovereigns and institutions sitting on enormous piles of cash, much of it from the sale of oil and other products to us.Shifting the bad loans, and the financial instruments based on these loans, on to the balance sheets of commercial banks will not solve the problems we face. In the new pea and shell game, Bank of America has become the new private shell of choice. B of A, the nation’s largest bank, holds 10% of all deposits. It first absorbed Countrywide Financial, the biggest and most problematic subprime mortgage lender, with a loan from the Fed; this week it absorbed Merrill Lynch, with benefit of a waiver of a Fed rule designed to prevent the bank holding companies with FDIC-insured banks from lending to investment bank subsidiaries. Bank of America, its depositors, and the FDIC are not the long-term solution to the accumulated pile of loans in default. In August, the inventory of unsold foreclosed houses reached 750,000. With the takeover of Fannie and Freddie, the federal government will be the owner of some of these properties. These unsold foreclosures are depressing the home equity of the rest of us. RealtyTrac, a real estate value-tracking firm, estimates that one out of every six houses for sale in America is a bank-owned foreclosure. Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Chairman Sheila Bair testified Wednesday to the House Financial Services Committee: “The backlog of foreclosures and the credit crunch have combined to depress housing prices and homeowners’ equity dramatically. Steep home price declines are an important dynamic that drives up foreclosure rates. Falling home prices reduce homeowner equity, which then makes it more difficult to refinance or sell a home, leading to lower sales and higher delinquencies.” CONTINUE READING...

Album Review: Jazmine Sullivan - Fearless

Although she's still relatively young at age of 21, Jazmine Sullivan is a longtime veteran of the music business. She's been singing since the age of 5, and at 11 made her first nationally televised appearance (on the syndicated Showtime at the Apollo). And her youth and her experience are both on full display within her debut album, Fearless, released in the U.S. on Sept. 23, 2008. Jazmine has a strong, confident, assertive voice and displays an amazing maturity on some songs. But on other songs, the vocals are loud but generic and lack emotion or urgency. Fortunately though, there are more hits than misses here. For more, check out the full review of Jazmine Sullivan's Fearless.