ChicagoCita

Actually, there was a hint of question manipulation about 20-25 years ago. My girlfriend is married to the person who did the accusing. Don't think anything ever came of it. And if there was. I'm sure they've fixed it by now.

It really was. Yes, I may be sensitive because I am -- my avatar gives it away -- a lifelong Cubs fan. But if it were a New York basketball team, Whoopi would be screaming in ecstasy. Something out of her interest scope? Sneer, scorn, stay silent, don't put on the hat, change the subject as soon as possible. She acted like Paula had brought a turd and slipped it into the punchbowl at a garden party. She was also vile on the subject of Jennifer Lawrence bringing up pay discrepancy. Because it's not a new subject, it's not okay for Jennifer Lawrence to mention it? Because Whoopi did it first, no one else can be upset by it? Whoopi would NOT shut up and talked continuously through everyone else. If I'd been Michelle, I would have put my hand over her mouth. Her ego is totally run amuck. She not only will stifle any conversation that differs from her opinion, she'll also talk over the person so the opposing viewpoint can hardly be heard. She's not interested in any viewpoint except her own, and the fact that she's not even willing to listen when someone else talks is very telling. Rude and close-minded, isn't that a great combination for a moderator of a panel show called The View? For what it's worth, I thought Michelle's point that someone young voicing concern about pay discrepancy would reach the ears of a new audience was a good one. I guess Whoopi wants to be the spokesperson for the world. She is reaching new heights of unbearability. Time to write TPTB at The View again.

I took a lot of French in HS and college, so I'd heard of the Bayeux Tapestry, but then I also went to HS in New York, so I visited the Cloisters and saw the Unicorn Tapestries a few times. So I was waffling back and forth. Never did make a definite decision. I was impressed they all got it right.

Seriously? The woman who says all she needs is a vibrator? The woman with three divorces? The woman who can't stand to be disagreed with on anything? She's hawking a relationship book? Man. Sherri's diet books. Whoopi's relationship book. What's next, Elisabeth's book on historical politics? Jenny's book on science? Why do they attach their names to books about things they spend an hour each day telling us they know nothing about?

I remembered that format, and those people, from Joy's show on the network that got bought by Al Jazeera... brain cramp, can't remember the original name. It was pleasant, and reminded me of why I liked her show so much. It was for people who didn't take pride in acting stupid or crass, but who like generally elevated conversation. Thank goodness Joy is back, because I wouldn't be if she weren't. Her Friday moderating really shines a light on how poor a moderator Whoopi is, and do we really want constant, constant remarks about peeing oneself, vibrators, floppy boobs, farting, defense of any celebrity in trouble, or fingers shaken in everyone's face? Honestly, I came into this show admiring Whoopi, but have almost no respect for her now, due to the above-listed behavior. Seeing Joy conduct a discussion with people who are informed and treat each other with respect, while holding wildly divergent opinions, was a breath of fresh air.

If memory serves, Chelsea says several times in the DM article that she dislikes being touched. We had a shelter in our community that took in abandoned or unadoptable children, and I remember they often put out the call for volunteers to cuddle babies who were born to addicts. The babies resisted being touched, and it was heartbreaking to be part of it. You would pick them up and they'd arch their tiny little backs trying to avoid being touched, and scream like they were being abused. It was hard to get volunteers to come in because it was just gut-wrenching to see wee babies with those issues. So I really have to wonder if Chelsea -- despite her claims -- was born addicted to drugs and her inability to bond with her mothers and her dislike of being touched comes from that? I just hope she doesn't make any silly decisions now that impact her life negatively for years to come.

I noticed Matt is changing his behavior -- starting at the top of the columns, not dramatically cutting off Alex, not as loud. And of course the board remained unfinished. ;-) I really did laugh out loud when he did the jazz hands when he was introduced. Kid is growing on me.

Really? Cool. Interesting article. I believe it. Whoopi was WAY too incensed about Paula disagreeing with her over something as inconsequential as whether or not Billy Joel plays oldies at his concerts. I chalked it up to simple bullying, but there could be more than that, as the article says. You know, when everything and everyone at your job starts to piss you off, as seems to be Whoopi's situation, it's time to leave.

Could very well be! Funny that my memory defaulted "Christian" to "Catholic" when I'm Protestant. ;-) Matt said something nice in the interview portion of Thursday's show about an ideology he learned from Judaism. It made me like that he wanted to stress something sweet and profound. I do like him in the interviews, not so much in the games, but I don't have a red-hot hatred for him, either.

I enjoyed the sports royalty category and thought it was clever. Of course, it helped that I knew all the answers. ;-) I had been wondering about Matt's ethnicity (I come from a very "United Nations" family - lots of mixed-race and multi-ethnic relatives), so I was glad they asked him about it. Biracial, for those who didn't watch, with a white Jewish liberal mother and a black Catholic conservative father. I'm curious about people, and hate it when someone has an obvious accent and Alex never asks them where they're from. I like knowing these things. ;-)

Actually, the Chicago Blackhawks -- named after the Blackhawk Army Division -- strongly support the American Indian Center of Chicago, both financially and in telling the story of Chicago's Native American population. The AIC is my neighbor and the president has said that the Hawks' sensitivity to N.A. issues and the fact that the logo is not a caricature are big reasons for the successful partnership. 'Nother subject -- I was appalled at Whoopi screaming and talking over Paula about whether or not Billy Joel should sing oldies. First, incredibly rude. Second, a ridiculous subject to get her panties in a knot over. IMO, it all boils down to Whoopi's incredible need not to be contradicted. In her mind, she is the final word on every subject, and no young whippersnapper is gonna tell her she's wrong, dammit! She's the mommy, that's why! It told me that she is still the same bully she's been since BaWa left the show, but she's been better at tamping it down since TPTB talked to her about it. But it's still there. Everyone should have her opinion, heretics must be silenced, and don't write her or tweet her, because she still doesn't care about anyone else's opinions.

Planned Parenthood provides breast exams, sometimes has a mobile van visit its clinics to do mammograms, and gives physician referrals to facilities that do mammograms. It doesn't provide mammograms on-site in its own clinics.

We agree she is responsible for him, both for his existence and for him financially. I personally have trouble calling someone who didn't adopt the child, doesn't want the child, and has no genetic ties to the child his "mother." But he exists because of her willfulness, and legally she is his mother. It's time for her to step up, accept these facts, and act like a responsible adult. But this is Sherri, and I don't know that any of that is in her skill set. (Anecdotally: I have friends, a lesbian couple, who have a child. One woman provided the egg, and the other gave birth. Yet they still -- after all that -- had to go to court to legally adopt their baby. The law is wayyyy behind the curve in this new age of medical miracles. We will see more convoluted cases as time goes on, and then when there's enough case law, legal precedents will be relied on. That may be Sherri Shepherd's lasting legacy.)

As for Sherri -- I wouldn't go as far as to call her the baby's mother, but that child exists because Sherri and Sal arranged his conception. He would not have been born if Sherri and Sal hadn't paid a great deal of money and gone to extraordinary lengths to make it so. In my mind, that makes her legally and financially responsible for him, "mother" or not. Take responsibility for your actions, Sherri! As for her saying God is on her side, He is -- but He's not a gumball dispenser, where you pop in a prayer and out comes the result you want. If anything, God arranged this life lesson to try to teach Sherri about maturity, generosity, and responsibility. (Poor baby, that's the first I've heard of his health issues. Sad.) As for Chelsea -- laughable. Poor girl, she lived in a house that was "too big" and got sent to an expensive boarding school to deal with whatever issues she was going through. One of her parents doesn't cook well, so she grew up eating restaurant food and had two nannies and says that there was always someone there to give her rides to places she wanted to go. She has siblings she loves. Her mother wants to show her physical affection, but she doesn't like to be touched, so the parent respects her boundaries. The inhumanity! One parent smokes weed, but won't do it in front of the kids and in fact goes into a separate building to do so. That parent also puts on a pleasant public face outside the home and doesn't always dress up and wear make-up inside the home. The parent also quit a great-paying job because she was concerned about her own health issues, which are considerable. The parent kicked out a spouse, partially because the spouse said awful things about the kids. Horrifying! I bet 99% of American kids would kill to switch places with Chelsea. I'm sorry she's so desperately unhappy, but seriously, it's hard for me to imagine what would make her happy. Apparently she thinks a druggie boyfriend is the path to healing all the abuses she's had to endure in her life with Rosie and Kelli.

Due to breaking news breaking into the show the past two days, we've been getting very abbreviated Jeopardy. Today we got only FJ. So I'm going to comment on that: I wanted to SLAP Alex when he broke into a falsetto doing the quote. Not only did it help give away the answer, it was totally unnecessary. Alex, we are perfectly capable of knowing that a woman said a quote even if you use your regular voice. Especially in Final Jeopardy.

It was an insta-get for me, but I grew up literally in the shadow of the United Nations. It was hard to miss things like Dag Hammarskjold Plaza and U Thant Island in the East River. I said Burma, because I've never heard it called Myanmar when referencing him. Trivia: His name was actually "Thant" -- just Thant. "U" means "Mr."

I have to say that I am annoyed by CCB and her JohnnyOneNote contributions to the discussions. You know, I'm a Christian and I can speak on a multitude of subjects! I have opinions and everything! Now, my religion gives me a strong base on which I live my life, but I don't bring it up all the time, or even very often. The way CCB pipes in on every single freaking discussion with her views on religion makes me want to slap her. Or start a drinking game. Maybe I need to start watching the show at night with a glass close at hand. As far as crediting God for recovering from cancer, I'll say that as the daughter of someone who had seven different types of cancer over his lifetime (and finally succumbed to the last one), we did a lot of praying. We prayed for him to find peace and acceptance with whatever fate he was dealt. We prayed for God to guide the hands of his surgeons. We prayed for researchers to find cures, for wisdom and guidance in coping, and for the right words to be put into our mouths when talking to Dad. Let's face it, we all die of something, and hopefully we live long and fulfilling lives in between birth and death. If you're going to pray not to die, that's just not going to happen. We all die, and sometimes cancer is the reason. God doesn't discriminate, we all end up with the same fate. So I don't pray for people to live or die, but I do pray that they live well in the time they are allotted. One of my brothers is the president/ceo of Planned Parenthood in a very conservative state, and I was very very proud of how Cecile Richards handled herself yesterday. I wish The View had really focused much more on that dog-and-pony show. Planned Parenthood has done nothing illegal, and they questioned the CEO's salary. When they had the heads of all those banks that caused the financial crash, or the head of BP, who polluted our water with its oil spill, or anyone else who has harmed the economy or citizens of this country, in front of them, I don't EVER recall them questioning the amount the company's officers made. It was disgusting and it was wrong.

Today's show without her reminded me why I quit watching after RO left last year. I need a smart-ass liberal on the panel.

While I would be driven insane by Matt in real life (I should be Southern, I like comfortable rather than probing), I like him as a player. No "tics" except a robotic delivery. No cutsey-poo affectations. No time-wasting pandering. Just "I'm all about the game" intensity. Fast playing. Gets through the whole board. Now, I'd hate to see him become the norm on Jeopardy (my favorite players tend to be the relaxed types: Julia Collins, Tom Nissley, Larissa Kelly), but I like that he's come to play and does just that.

Raven's hair seems to be channeling Lucille Ball's today.

I thought everyone would love Matt, since he doesn't waste time on niceties. He barely lets Alex stop talking! I find him amusing, but it may get old if he has any kind of a long run.

Good lord, that article needs to come with brain bleach, between the "mother-in-law's" short shorts and the shirtless selfie by the heroin-dealing BF. Chelsea is certainly surrounding herself with some winners.

I think Whoopi needs someone to provide checks and balances. She is apparently a plain ol' schoolyard bully when she doesn't have anyone she feels is strong enough to take her on. Thank God for Joy, who is an equally strong personality and pushes back. I think Whoopi is savvy enough to know that pushing up against Joy is gonna be a no-win situation, since Joy makes people explain their reasoning. Whoopi has been the loudest at the table for the past two years, making sure no one contradicts her, even waving her finger and even threatening the audience they better not contradict her either. Nightmare! Doing that around someone who's pleasantly asking you to explain yourself is gonna look bad. Whoopi is smart enough to know this. Plus, her wildly publicized pro-Cosby views -- as well as the way she presented them -- got so much negative feedback that I'm sure she was told to back off, not just on Cosby, but on everything. So, like you, I'm enjoying the show again. Not enough not to snark or roll my eyes, but it's watchable for the first time in quite a while. Now, the snark: Why, FFS, WHY does Whoopi have to say things like, "I think I just wet myself" when going to break? Disgusting, infantile, and unnecessary.

The world must be spinning backwards, I actually like Raven's hair today!

Interestingly, part of or maybe all of Empire is filmed in Chicago. I'm an occasional extra and the casting place I'm with is always looking for very specific types for the show, as well as stand-ins for the cast. I've never been on it, since they are usually looking for people of color who are young and fit. Not my demographic, damn the luck.