Afternoon Edition - 9/20/05

I’m Hungry and You’re Going To Pay
National retailer, Wal-Mart is facing a class-action law suit in California for denying workers lunch breaks. The lawsuit charges that Wal-Mart knowingly violated a state law that stipulates employees working over six hours must be granted a 30-minute unpaid lunch or be paid an additional hour of work. Fred Furth who is representing the employees said, "I will prove the reason they did this was for the God Almighty dollar.” This isn’t the first lawsuit Wal-Mart has faced for this alleged infraction. Wal-Mart settled a lawsuit with Colorado litigants for a reported $50 million. The workers are seeking more than $66 million plus interest. Wal-Mart earned $10 billion dollars last year.

Your Hormones Are Giving You The Finger
Between 8 and 14 weeks after conception the fetus (the baby, if you’re a devout Christian) begins developing his/her own hormones. These hormones affect everything from brain development to the length of the fingers. Women typically have either same length ring and index fingers or index fingers that are slightly longer than their ring fingers, while men tend to have a ring finger that is longer that their index finger. It is believed that this is the first sign of hormone development in babies. Boys who have longer index fingers (like their female counterparts) tend to be more emotional and sensitive and girls with longer ring fingers (ala Xena) tend to show signs of hyperactivity. This initial sign is also being explored as an indicator for signs of homosexuality – since the length of the digits would indicate exposure to higher levels of either testosterone or estrogen. Outside of genitalia, digit length (index finger to ring finger) is the only gender identifier until puberty, when hips, breasts and other traits appear.

Their Cup Runneth Over
The Starbucks Coffee at Baylor University is caught between a coffee bean and a grinder after a cup emblazoned with a gay poem sparked an e-mail condemning the display as inappropriate for a Baptist University. Aramark, a food distributor running the Starbucks contacted the Starbucks regional office and the cup was pulled. The decision to remove the cup is said to have been made by Baylor dining services staff. Larry Brumley, a spokesperson at Baylor said, "I think they were trying to be sensitive. Obviously, Baylor is a Baptist-affiliated institution, and Baptists as a denomination have been pretty outspoken on the record about the denomination's views about the homosexual lifestyle." Now the Concerned Women for America (a national Christian women’s organization) is saying Starbucks is promoting a homosexual agenda. The cups were imprinted with a poem by novelist Armistead Maupin. It reads, “My only regret about being gay is that I repressed it for so long. I surrendered my youth to the people I feared when I could have been out there loving someone. Don't make that mistake yourself. Life's too damn short."

Long Story Short
Lenox Lounge in Harlem tonight! R&B, Hip-Hop and thug-style partying for the open-minded. Keep in mind, Lenox doesn’t start pumpin’ until after midnight, so be ready to call-in late to the office tomorrow. America’s Next Top Model – The season of Bling has its 2-hour season premiere this Wednesday on UPN – I’m there! I want to talk about it, so please be sure to watch. Friday, October 7, marks the release date of The Gospel with Boris Kodjoe. The handsome Soul Food television series actor will play the prodigal son who leaves home to a mediocre life, only to return home and be accepted by his dad causing a rift with his loyal brother. The gospel world meets young and beautiful celebrities as Keish Knight-Pulliam of the Cosby show, Nona Gaye (Marvin’s daughter), Omar Gooding, first season American Idol contestant Tamyra Gray, Yolanda Adams and even Donnie McClurkin make up just some of the cast members to grace this flick. The film hasn’t received the mainstream plugs afforded big budget films, but the Black press has given it wonderful reviews.

On Blast
Is it acceptable for certain groups to appropriate words, using them as positive, loving or comical terms with each other, but becoming very offended when members outside their racial/social groups use them? For example: The use of the word “nigger” by African Americans; the use of “faggot,” by gay men etc. Should society accept that certain words can/should only be used by certain groups or should we discontinue all use of words that have an established negative connotation?

Keep passin’ the open windows…