Don’t Call Him Demagogue: Bill Cosby Speaks Unpopular Truths To Help His People.

IT WOULD BE SO EASY FOR BILL COSBY to forget poor blacks and live in quiet luxury. That’s what a selfish, shallow, or perhaps just a simple person would do. Like Jesse Jackson, it would be easy for him to blame the economic failures of Black America on the intrinsic racism of a system that delivers most to those with "social equity." Like Oprah, he could easily tell people whom to vote for, as though the future of an entire people rests on the shoulders of one man. But Cosby has proven he is no demagogue by eschewing personal popularity and speaking candidly to "father" poor urban communities. He tackles his concerns about some blacks wearing "victimhood" as their identity in his new book, "Come On People," co-authored with Harvard University’s Dr. Alvin F. Poussaint

During an appearance in Chicago last weekend to honor the Rev. Martin Luther King, Cosby reminded the well-heeled African Americans who paid $100 a plate to attend the breakfast that they have a responsibility to overtly steer teenagers toward books and away from early parenthood. "You’ve got to talk to these 20-year-old women with children who are teenagers,” he said. "They didn’t have the child with the intent of sending somebody higher."

According to the Guttmacher Institute, a nonprofit organization focused on sexual and reproductive health research, there’s good news for the nation: Teenage pregnancy is at its lowest level in 30 years, down 36% since its peak in 1990. The decrease is even greater among black teens: Among black teens aged 15 to 19, the pregnancy rate fell by 40% between 1990 and 2002. That is progress, but black girls continue to have the highest teen pregnancy: 134 pregnancies per 1,000 women, as opposed to 131 for Hispanics and 48 per non-Hispanic whites. And babies having babies keeps these women trapped in a cycle of poverty and struggle.

At the breakfast Sunday, Cosby told the crowd that education is what will break African Americans’ chains of economic deprivation."You need parents to say…”You don’t have to be at Northwestern, but what you have to be is in those books." In the struggle for economic success for Black America, Bill Cosby doesn’t dismiss the reality of discrimination. He just doesn’t want the towel thrown in before the fight gets started. Some call this airing dirty laundry; I prefer to call it shedding light where the sun doesn’t normally shine.

Spinning Rumors Into Gold: The Make-Believe World Of Britney Spears

IN THE MEDIA’S EVER-EXPANDING MAKE-BELIEVE WORLD OF BRITNEY SPEARS, the Popped Tart is: 1. Buying a brand new Mercedes for her bag boy Adnan Ghalib. 2. Wearing her white lace wedding dress is proof she’s about to tie the knot to paparazzo-leech Ghalib. 3. Was "popping pills" all day long on the day she refused to turn over her two boys to Kevin Federline, forcing a three-hour standoff that ended with her in the nut house. And 4, is so perilously close to disaster that the Associated Press finds the need to release a story that its preparing her obituary.

Such is the curse of being the world’s most popular reigning princess. The stories must be larger-than life; tedium is an unimaginable part of her world. Thus, when Britney accompanies her current closest hanger-on to the Keyes Mercedes Dealership, she isn’t merely passing the time while Ghalib perhaps replaces a lost key. When she wears her wedding dress, she is planning to elope she is so besotted by her new Muslim beau. It couldn’t be as sad a scenario as Britney crying her heart out over spilt milk, Kevin Federline. It couldn’t be that those "pills" she was popping was medication prescribed to regulate personality rather than cause illicit highs. And finally, is it possible that the AP wrote the bio because Britney is the number one news story, such as the definition of news is today, rather than because they expect her to die? Remember, it was mere days before that an AP internal memo was leaked to the press saying that from now on, Britney should be treated as big news by AP reporters. Does it not follow then that if Brit’s big news, then by golly they should have an obit in the file on her?

Meanwhile, the Britney Celebrity Defense League grows longer, with fading star Demi Moore and Backstreet Boy A.J. McLean speaking up for the popster. The question is: Who will she let into her life?

Paparazzo’s Wife "Made No Deal" to Profit Off Britney

FRIENDS OF AZLYNN BERRY ARE INCENSED at talk that the estranged wife of Paparazzo Adnan Ghalib is in cahoots with the snapper to get rich from his befriending Britney. "That’s bullshit,” said a friend of Berry’s Friday morning. "She didn’t make no deal. She loves the guy. Or at least she did until all this crap. How much stuff can people take?"Another friend said Thursday of the rumors,"None of it’s true. She’s a good girl." The friend said that Azlynn was as surprised as anybody when her husband hooked up with Brit. "She’s sick, she’s sick, she’s hurt.” Berry has been caught in the spillover of the spotlight of her husband’s affair with pop star Britney Spears. While Berry lays low, a few friends have spoken up on her behalf. Britney’s paparazzo beau, British expatriate Adnan Ghalib, was described as a "sneaky womanizer" in the New York Post. The gossips have also reported that Azlynn Berry, purportedly a hair stylist, won second place in the National Face of Glamour Competition in 2006. She can be seen here at a gathering following a meeting of the Los Angeles Science Fantasy Society back in 2002. A short piece in the UK’s Daily Mail shows a photo of the British Muslim when he was 17 years old and describes his early upbringing.

Paparazzo’s Wife Is ‘Sick’ About His Tryst With Brit

MAYBE SHE’S HANGING OUT WITH A DIFFERENT SORT OF ALIEN TODAY. Not much is known about Azlynn Berry, the supposed wife of Britney’s paparazzo beau, British expatriate Adnan Ghalib. But New York gossips are reporting that Azl ynn reportedly split La La Land to get away from the heat generated by her hubby’s liaison with everybody’s distraction from their own problems, the girl we know as Britney Spears. Some have also speculated that Ghalib and his wife were in cahoots together to both benefit financially from Spears. But a friend of Azlynn’s said Thursday that "None of it’s true. She’s a good girl." The friend also said that Azlynn was as surprised as anybody when her husband hooked up with Brit. "She’s sick, she’s sick, she’s hurt,” said the friend. So far news hounds have reported that Azlynn won second place in the National Face of Glamour Competition in 2006, and that she’s a hair stylist. Now it can be revealed…she’s a SCIENCE FICTION FAN. Berry is shown in photographs here at a gathering following a meeting of the Los Angeles Science Fantasy Society back in 2002. Perhaps she misunderstood Adnan when he first told her he was an "alien" in America. Azlynn sans makeup is not quite the knock-out in these photos as more recent ones reveal her to be. But to be fair, Adnan Ghalib wasn’t much of a pretty boy when he was a youngster either. UK’s Daily Mail has dug up a photo of the British Muslim depicting how he looked when he was 17-year-old back in Birmingham, England.

Soon: All Oprah’s ‘Best Life Blah Blah,’ All The Time

‘O’ JOY. SOMETHING TO LOOK FORWARD TO: MORE CONTROL FOR THE WORLD’S MOST BELOVED CONTROL FREAK. Discovery announced that it was handing over creative control of its Discovery Health Network to Oprah Winfrey, who will share equal ownership of the network. By the end of 2009, an estimated 70 million Americans will have the chance to buy-in to Oprah’s best-life living blah blah (note: I stole the blah blah directly from Christopher Hitchens!) with the help of acolytes Nate Berkus, Gail King and Bob Greene. No word yet if Dr. Phil’s show will also move to the network of his TV mentor. (We’re taking bets not!) This is yet another dream come true of Oprah’s with her telling reporters that she happened to find her 1992 diary and specifically its May 24th entry: "I wrote that when I was going through the conflict of the Jerry Springers and everybody was going to trash TV, and I was trying to figure out for myself what I really wanted, in what direction I wanted to go," Winfrey told reporters. "That’s how I started thinking one day I’m going to have my own network so I can do it the way I want to do it." Here’s a hint to Oprah’s intimates: when she dies, be sure to get your hards on those journals because they’ll be worth loads what with all the fortune-telling that goes on in them. And correct me if I’m wrong, but didn’t her days of wallowing in TV’s sleaze predate Jerry’s?

A cautionary note to Discovery: Are you buying into the Oprah "brand" past its half-life? Oprah competitor Ellen DeGeneres just bumped Oprah from her perch atop the list of most popular American celebrities. Winfrey had reigned at the top of the Harris Poll for the previous five consecutive years. And on an AOL poll asking readers if an "OWN" or Oprah Winfrey Network appealed to them, 78 percent of respondents had voted no.

And once again switching our attention to Britney, America’s most annoying celebrity Rosie O’Donnell has joined the Britney Celebrity Defense League. The dethroned "Queen of Nice" has written a sympathetic poem on her blog about sad little Brit. "A Disney set is not a childhood, no matter how many bright colors they use, or how cheerful the script,” Rosie writes. "Not a girl, barely even a woman yet, they chased her. A mob of stalkers for whom no stalking laws have been written. Smother. Crush. Flash. Photo Credit. Even Dr. "Get Real" Phil got in on the action. Unreal. 83 million albums sold so far. How many pictures? The tunnel is crowded now. There are only inches of separation between vulnerability and disaster."

It’s funny how we likes Rosie so much more now that she has ditched that day-time talk show game.

What The ‘Stars’ Say About The Newest Celeb Babes

WHO WANTS TO WAIT UNTIL THEY’RE ALL GROWN UP TO FIND OUT WHAT THEY’LL BE LIKE? As Crabby reported earlier, People.com broke the news that Nicole and beau Joel Madden are the proud parents of Harlow Winter Kate Madden, born Friday at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. Also joining the great circle of humanity is Jacob Emerson Fisman, a son born to Courtney Thorne-Smith and husband Roger Fishman. And we’d be remiss if we didn’t mention that diva Christina Aguilera delivered her much-bellyhooed baby just down the hall from Nicole on Friday. No official word yet on whether she had a boy or girl, but Star magazine was reporting that the stork was expected to delivery a baby boy. Dad is Jordan Bratman, a music executive Christina married in 2005.

For those who cannot wait until the first pictures of the progeny of Nicole Ritchie, Christine Aguilera and Courtney Thorne-Smith, here is a snap astrological profile of the three baby Goats as calculated by Astrolabe.

Sun in Capricorn
Extremely serious and mature, you are capable of accepting responsibilities and do so willingly. Others expect you to be dutiful as a matter of course. You tend to get angry when people get rewards after not having worked anywhere near as hard as you. You are goal-oriented and an achiever by nature — you’re a hard worker and are justifiably proud of the tangible results of your efforts. You tend to have "tunnel-vision" — this allows you to block out extraneous matters that might distract others and to concentrate totally on the matter at hand. As such, you are the ideal one to manage or administrate any ongoing project and to be practical and efficient at it. You are not a fast worker, but you are quite thorough. You are known for being totally persistent, tenacious and tireless in reaching your goals.

Moon in Pisces You have strong feelings and are extremely sensitive. It would help if you had a thicker skin — you tend to react emotionally to every situation you come across. Kind, gentle and considerate of the feelings of others, you are good at taking care of the sick, wounded and helpless. But you tend to absorb the energy of others — so avoid those who are always negative. You have a rich, creative and lively imagination, but you should be careful not to spend all your time daydreaming. Very intuitive, you have good ESP and may be quite clairvoyant or psychic. Remember that you too have the right to get what you want from life. If you are always defensive and kowtowing to others, people will take advantage of you and exploit you.

Mercury in Aquarius
You tend to be very opinionated — you have strongly felt notions about things and are quite vocal about expressing and defending them. Yet you are also an original thinker — you enjoy shocking others with your offbeat, original thoughts. You appreciate and need mental and intellectual stimulation. Your judgment is usually fair and impartial — you can be a good critic because you can remain objective and unemotional about most things.

Venus in Sagittarius
You are very aware of the need to maintain a high sense of morality in a relationship. Your loyalty and interest will remain constant in any relationship (either friendly, personal or business) that is based on fairness, honesty and justice. But you will become greatly hurt and disappointed if the other person takes any but the high road with you. Also, you cannot tolerate anyone being overly emotionally possessive of you. You are known for your friendly, outspoken manner.

Mars in Gemini
Your energies get turned on quickly whenever anything interests you. But you have a very short attention span and it is difficult for you to complete tasks because something else more interesting always seems to be beckoning. You love to debate and argue, usually in a spirit of friendly disagreement. But watch out that you do not get too overly aggressive or antagonistic or others will be quick to take offense where none may have really been intended. You need to be in constant physical motion — sports or daily exercise is a must for you if you are to feel fit and healthy.

Jupiter in Capricorn
You tend to feel that the only results that are worthwhile are the results that are concrete and demonstrable. You distrust abstract solutions and appreciate measurable achievements. An excellent organizer and planner, you are optimistic as well as practical and realistic about what can and what cannot happen. Very responsible, you consider it a personal weakness to be wrong about anything. This makes you appropriately cautious. You are very efficient but you tend to be cool and detached.

Saturn in Virgo
Your life must be orderly and practical and full of known and familiar routines in order for you to feel comfortable with yourself. Be careful, however, not to let "order" become the be-all and end-all of your life, or you may become cold, crass and unfeeling. Doing useful, practical things boosts your self- esteem. Abstract concepts and reasoning seem frivolous and a waste of time to you. You are very critical of yourself (and others), indeed at times quite self-deprecating. Try to relax a bit and allow yourself the freedom to fail once in a while. However, you probably won’t fail very often because you are such a perfectionist.

Uranus in Pisces
You, and most of your peers, are extremely idealistic and want to change society by completely reorienting its highest religious goals and aspirations. Just be careful to make sure that your new goal structures are properly grounded in reality so that they have a chance of being accepted by the majority.

Neptune in Aquarius
You, and your entire generation, will idealize and even venerate the ability to remain detached as well as the ability to objectively analyze any given situation. There will be a concerted effort on your part to cure the ills of society as a whole. But be very careful to continue to maintain and protect the rights of individuals in the midst of these potentially far-reaching changes.

Pluto in Sagittarius
For your entire generation, society’s cherished beliefs and totems will be radically changed. Many traditional concepts will be totally altered, if not completely destroyed. The rights of individuals to pursue their own course in life will be reasserted.

North Node is in Aquarius
As long as someone else (or a group or organization) appeals to your intellectual sensibilities, you’ll try to ally yourself with them in some way. You may find that you always seem to get involved with many wide-ranging groups — so much so that you find it difficult tto fit them all into your busy schedule. Your many friends and acquaintances provide you with needed stimulation. You’re loyal and fair-minded — you try to spend time equally with all your friends, never concentrating on just one or two for any length of time. Although probably quite conservative yourself, you’re attracted to those who are a bit offbeat or eccentric — you enjoy watching their minds work.

The New ‘Babes’ Of La La Land

CHOCOLATE CIGARS FOR EVERYBODY! La La Land’s celebrity population has grown by a quarter dozen in just a few short days. People.com is reporting that Nicole Ritchie and her beau Joel Madden are the proud parents of Harlow Winter Kate Madden, born Friday at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and weighing in at 6 lbs. 7 oz.

Also joining the great circle of humanity is a son born to Courtney Thorne-Smith and husband Roger Fishman. Baby Jacob Emerson Fishman, also born Friday, is the first child for the According to Jim star and Fishman, who owns a media company.

And we’re sure recording diva Christina Aguilera sang a cappella after delivering her much-bellyhooed baby just down the hall from Nicole on Friday. No official word yet on whether she had a boy or girl, but Star magazine was reporting that the stork was expected to delivery a baby boy. Dad is Jordan Bratman, a music executive Christina married in 2005.

And the shining star of Little Miss Sunshine, actress Toni Collette, welcomed her first child, Sage Florence Galafassi on January 9th. Her husband is musician Dave Galafassi.

And there’s more! Actor-comedian David Alan Grier and wife Christine Y. Kim had a baby girl, the couple tell People.com. The wee tot was named Danbi Grier-Kim Ð Danbi means "sweet rain" in Korean - was born at 1:04 p.m. Thursday. What was in the water 40 weeks ago?

May we suggest that the new moms get out their Blackberries and start scheduling play dates? Then Nicole and Christina can share with each other their newly learned secrets about treating nipple tenderness, getting baby to nap, and where to find the best nannies. And of course they’ll be swapping names of the newest boutiques catering to the starlets’ baby boomlet!

Having a baby is life’s biggest a-ha! moment. There ain’t nothing like it in the world! But it is one of the most isolating times in a woman’s life. After the baby shower and the initial hurrah!, mom’s left holding seven pounds of pure magic — and dependence. Star or not, you are going to have to do your share of nappy changing in the middle of the night. And wait until those sticky little hands get strained yams all over your silk rug! Oh the humanity! And thank God for it.

Can Obama Eradicate Race As a Topic in National Elections?

I APOLOGIZE UP FRONT FOR HAVING THE GALL to second-guess the famed and erudite polemicist Christopher Hitchens who asked this week in Slate if "isn’t there something pathetic and embarrassing" about the nation’s obsession with Senator Barack Obama’s race. Hitchens then goes on to lampoon white America’s guilt-ridden swoon over Obama, Republican Alan Keyes for his past "are you black enough?" challenge to the Illinois Senator, and even Obama’s Chicago church for its pander to members who remain "true to our native land, the mother continent, the cradle of civilization." And if he’s fuzzy on the nuances of what makes a man of mixed-race "black," I highly recommend reading biracial author David Matthews’s essay in Radar on this year’s election. All this to say: Pardon my insolence, but does it not seem as though Mr. Hitchens has answered his own question?

The fact that Hitchen’s column was published January 7, the day before Obama’s loss in the New Hampshire primary, may well be significant. For it’s only the day after the nation’s first primary that Obama’s race actually became a part of the public dialogue, and small wonder. Despite polls show Obama leading with double digits, Hillary won Tuesday, Obama lost, and the nation’s pollsters imploded. Up until then, few in the media had actually openly posed the question of whether America would vote for a black man (or woman, for that matter) as President of the United States, perhaps fearing that the question itself was archaic, that the nation had advanced so much in just 50 years that the point was moot.

May I suggest there was also fear, for the issue of race in America is one of — if not the — most complex and intractable problems that the country faces, and one that the media perpetually avoids. The post-game quarterbacking over what went wrong with the polls started immediately, and among the issues raised was whether white America suppresses the truth about how race plays into its voting. Historically, this has been known as "the Bradley effect", the phenomenon in which black candidates have polled to win but ultimately lose the election, ostensibly because white voters have hidden their true biases from questioners. But already comes denial in the media that race could have been a factor in Obama’s loss. No matter that the contest occurred just days after Golf Channel’s Kelly Tilghman suggested that opponents of golf great Tiger Woods "might have to lynch him in a back alley." Or that it was a brief few months ago that TV and radio provocateur Don Imus was kicked off the air for referring to the Rutgers University’s basketball team as "nappy-head hos." Or that the U.S. Supreme Court last summer ruled that "race cannot be a factor in the assignment of children to public schools", vexing both black and white public school parents, and confounding the issue of racial preference in competitive schools. Or that performer and comedian Bill Cosby and Harvard Professor Alvin F. Poussaint have ignited controversy in black communities for daring to suggest that African Americans must eschew a victim mindset. Pardon the pun, but I’m only going skin deep on the rehashing of racial controversies.

It’s about time that the issue of race is dealt with honestly in this presidential race, and in America at-large. Hitchen’s mock impatience with the idea that race still matters on both sides of the color line belies our nation’s reality. The media should not do us the disservice of pretending it isn’t.

Thank You New Hampshire for Creating a Race

IT TOOK 16 YEARS IN THE NATIONAL SPOTLIGHT FOR Hillary Clinton to show cracks in the facade. Being of sound intellectual and moral constituency, Hillary is the type that probably resisted advice from political handlers to show her "softer side." Yes, she highlighted her hair, began wearing better cut outfits for her middle-aged figure, but the idea of showing emotion was a double-edged sword. She was a woman and the Democratic front-runner for president, and shedding tears was the last thing that anybody would prescribe to win office. After all, Hillary has spent her lifetime fighting the stereotype of the emotional woman, and crying in front of the public might reinforce those biases. And then there was that political lesson learned when Edmund Muskie was derailed in the 1972 election for allegedly crying over dirty attacks against his wife Jane.

But the day before the New Hampshire primary, when the prize seemed to be slipping away to a handsome Senator from Illinois with a storied upbringing, Hillary dared to show feeling. She did not spill what I would characterize as tears, but for the first time the tough public face fell to show a vulnerable side. And while Tuesday night’s talking heads said that glimpse beneath the mask made no difference in Tuesday’s outcome, that in fact Democratic loyalists had their minds made up for weeks, here’s my bet that it will serve her well in upcoming primaries.

In Candidates’ Post-Primary Speeches, the Music was the Message E

VEN THROUGH THEIR CHOICES FOR CAMPAIGN MUSIC, the candidates reveal their divide. HILLARY DECLARED that there "Ain’t No Mountain High Enough" to keep her from the race with the help of the old Supremes’ song, and that she was an "American Girl," at least so far as how Tom Petty describes one.

BARACK OBAMA told supporters that they looked "beautiful" last night through the music of U2’s "City of Blinding Lights."

JOHN EDWARDS invited everyone to come up for "The Rising," with the help of Bruce Springsteen’s spiritual.

And BILL RICHARDSON alluded to tearing down walls through the words in U2’s "Where The Streets Have No Name."

On the Republican side, JOHN MCCAIN, who gave a heartfelt victory speech, pulled no punches and let voters know that he was "Gonna Fly Now," the Rocky theme song.

MITT ROMNEY played it close to his heart invoking the "Dirty Water" of the Charles river, a song played by several artists.

And MIKE HUCKABEE borrowed glitz from Elvis’s "C.C. Rider".

Even through music, the Dems showed their progressiveness; the Republicans their penchant for traditional standbys.

‘Britney Celebrity Defense League’ Grows

BRITNEY’S WEEKEND MELTDOWN WAS APPARENTLY THE Topic Du Jour at the Palm Springs International Film Festival where the list of members of "TBCDL" grew longer. For those of you new to CrabbyGolightly, that’s short for the Britney Celebrity Defense League. The Chicago Sun-Times reports that Ellen Page, the teenage star of Juno, scorned the public’s judgment of Britney’s behavior. "No one goes, "Why is this happening? They just judge and judge and judge. It’s too bad." And Amanda Bynes of Hairspray fame, purportedly lamented: "I think that this business just does weird things to people, and I think it’s sad." Crabby is lobbying for Hollywood’s A-listers to throw a supportive arm around Brit. Kicking Britney when she’s down has become America’s favorite sport. Even the mighty New York Times got into the act this weekend when it ran a story headlined, "Gee. A Bizarre Britney Incident. Imagine that?" I thought journalism’s vow was to "afflict the comfortable and to comfort the afflicted." I guess the mission gets confusing when your subject clearly fits into both categories.

In La La Land, it seems few kid actors escape an early spotlight unscathed. One exception frequently noted in the press is Natalie Portman, who credits her parents with keeping her grounded. With all the recent talk of "interventions," perhaps Natalie’s mom and dad can give some lessons in parenting to the elder Spears? Or is class not teachable?