Essay 860

Ugly suits are always in style with a MultiCultClassics Monologue…

• A Miami woman is suing Bacardi after being burned by a rum drink. The lawsuit stated that a bartender was pouring shots when someone lit a menu on fire and placed it in the stream of alcohol, turning the bottle of Bacardi into a flame thrower and spraying flaming rum on the victim. Where are Bacardi and Cola when you need them?

• Mo’Nique is calling for a lawsuit and boycott against United Airlines after she and her entourage were kicked off a flight. It started with a confrontation between the star’s hairdresser and a flight attendant over storage in an overhead compartment. When Mo’Nique threw a fit, another flight attendant remarked, “Tell your people that the next time they have an attitude, they are being thrown off. … Since 9/11, we don’t play around.” Upon being compared to terrorists, Mo’Nique allegedly went ballistic, leading to the official ejection. Now she’s charging racism, calling the incident “humiliating” and “something that happens to Black people all the time. They don’t have a voice. I have a voice.” Hey, now Mo’Nique can commiserate with Snoop Dogg (see Essay 586).

• A lawsuit accusing AT&T of delivering customers’ records to the government was dismissed by a federal judge. “First, the [lawsuit’s] plaintiffs cannot establish whether AT&T has unlawfully disclosed their records in the past,” wrote the judge. “Second, the plaintiffs cannot establish whether AT&T is currently disclosing their records, which would tend to show that there is a real and immediate threat of repeated injury.” So for now, customers only have to worry about the real and immediate threat of their records being given to direct marketers.

• California is seeking a 300 percent increase for the state’s tobacco tax. “Taxing tobacco will reduce smoking. That’s been proved in every state that’s raised tobacco taxes,” said a lobbyist for the American Lung Association of California. “It makes it more difficult for people to smoke and purchase cigarettes.” In contrast, a 2004 report by the General Accounting Office (a former investigative arm of Congress) stated, “As cigarette taxes increase, so do the incentives for criminal organizations, including terrorist organizations, to smuggle cigarettes into and throughout the United States.” Heaven forbid cigarettes should be categorized along with illegal drugs.

• General Motors reported a Q2 loss of $3.2 billion. “It’s rewarding to see our automotive business return to profitability on an operating basis and a clear sign that we’re on the right track, but there is more work to be done,” said GM Chief Executive Rick Wagoner. Wow, talk about seeing the gas tank as half full.