Happy Wednesday everyone! Wow, this past week has been eventful, hasn’t it? Especially, with the shocking deaths of Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett. Because there’s been so much coverage concerning Michael’s and Farrah’s death, I will not include anything about them in this week’s WordPlay Wednesday. I will, however, try to make the list contain a broad range of topics.

As usual, for those of you who are new to 7DayBuzz, here is how WordPlay Wednesday works: We present five topics to you. All we ask in return is that you comment on each topic, but use only five words. Also, your comments should be as descriptive as possible with the five words you choose to use. Okay, here we go…..

1) Venus and Serena Williams Reach Wimbledon Semi-Finals

2) Former Saturday Night Live Comedian Al Franken Finally Named Winner of Minnesota Senate Race – Democrats Now Control Senate

3) Vibe Magazine is the Latest Casualty in this Bleak Economy

4) Burger King’s Latest Ad Is Sexually Explicit

5) Senate Approves Resolution Apologizing for Slavery and Segregation BUT Does not Authorize or Support Reparations

Michael Jackson wasn’t on the music scene for approximately 12 years, surely this was his decision because the world would have sat up and noticed anything he put out. How many albums, hit songs, videos, concerts and dance moves did we miss out on because of this? For someone in a lot of debt, like Michael Jackson, I would think it would make more sense to work and make money instead of doing whatever – I don’t think for one minute that Michael Jackson ever lived like he was $400 million in debt. I’m left wondering why Michael Jackon, and other artists to a lesser extent, choose to have extended periods of inactivity. What do you think?

I don’t have the slightest clue as to why someone would choose to not exercise a God-given gift, a gift that pays them money and could cement their place in history. Michael Jackson is the most obvious and current example of this and after reading about what promised to be an amazing show in London, I’m scratching my head. Once the mourning has lessened, I hope someone in his family will suggest putting footage of his upcoming show together on a DVD.

I would think there are many factors that hold up the release of albums, but Michael Jackson would be the performer who could easily jump over any of those hurdles and put out new material. Would his record company tell him to stay at home and not make a new album? Certainly not since they know full well that he could remake nursery rhymes (no jokes about that) and sell a million copies. They also wouldn’t have any problems finding producers willing to give up their best songs for MJ. Imagine Michael Jackson calling you and telling you he wanted to record one of your songs, but was only willing to pay half the going rate. That would be an easy answer. So what could possibly keep him from recording and what did his daily activities consist of?

If you are Michael Jackson, you aren’t getting up and going to the mall (unless they shut it down for you), so what do you do all day every day? I would think business affairs could only take up so much of your time and he probably had people he paid to handle stuff like that anyway. So did he sit around and watch TV all day? I think it would interesting to know what his days were like.

Where is Prince? I know he was on an awards show a year or so ago, made an appearance on American Idol a couple of seasons ago and can be spotted here and there at Lakers’ games. I also know that he has a bad history with record companies and may be distributing material on his own. But I would still think he should have new videos, concert dates or something in the mainstream. Although he is eccentric, many consider him a musical genius and anything he puts out would be successful.

There are others – successful artists not on the same level as Michael Jackson – who seem to take extended breaks between projects, but I still don’t get it especially since their pockets aren’t as deep as Michael Jackson’s. I can understand the need to relax/vacation after a grueling schedule, but as a consumer I can say that inactivity can hurt as much as being too active. It is a balancing act to walk the line between saturating the market and leaving people high and dry long enough to the point where they don’t care. Obviously, the ability to sing, dance and/or act doesn’t mean people have the sense to know when it is time for new material.

Oh well. At least their absence allows another artist to do well. I bet Kobe Bryant has shot a basketball since his team won the championship. He is aware of what can happen when he rests too long.

Something To Look Forward To

– Make sure you come back tomorrow for Wordplay Wednesday. Can you express yourself in 5 words or less? Tomorrow you will have your chance.
– We are going to have to talk about hate very soon. From Barack Obama to Barry Bonds to Michael Jackson and more, people are hating with an inconsistent bias that is mind boggling.

Do you know someone (a high school senior) who will be attending college in the fall and could make use of a computer?  Do you know a college-bound student who has good grades – 3.0 GPA or higher – along with the potential to add something positive to our society once their education is complete?  Does your neighbor, cousin, nephew, niece, son, daughter, co-worker’s child or someone you just happen to know fit that description?  Well there is a program designed to ease some of the burden and keep someone in the bank.

We Embrace is currently accepting submissions for a competition, event or whatever you would like to call it that will result in some students going off to college with a new computer…free of charge!

It is important to follow the rules so here they are:

• The deadline (extended) is August 15, 2009 – all submissions must be received via email before midnight
• The student must write an essay addressing what contributions they plan on making to our society
• The essay must be a minimum of 800 words, font size 12, Times New Roman
• Submissions must be emailed to seniors@weembrace.com
• All winners must submit proof of college admission and high school GPA
• All submissions are subject to appear on 7daybuzz.com and/or weembrace.com

If you would like to learn more about We Embrace, please visit the website at www.weembrace.com.  This non-profit was created to give back to the community.  After looking at the history, you will notice that this all began prior to the current economic situation, but programs like this are really needed at this time.

The program you are reading about isn’t funded/backed by someone like Oprah or Bill Gates, but still impacts young men and women seeking higher education.  Since this organization is a legitimate non-profit, any donation you make is tax deductible and you will have the good feeling associated with helping someone.  If you would like to make a donation, leave us a comment on this site or send an email to weembrace@weembrace.com.

How Is The Winner Selected?

The submissions will be narrowed down to the very best and most deserving few.  After that time, they will be posted on this site and your comments will go a long way in determining who wins.

Look at the history and background to see that this is real.

Think positive, do something positive and impact someone’s life positively!

Whether you loved him or thought he should’ve been convicted of crime, you can’t deny that Michael Jackson’s death elicited some sort of emotional response in you. But, how strong was that emotion? Was it strong enought to make you want to chase someone around a bus with a knife because that person did not feel the same way about Michael Jackson that you did? Well, there is at least one person who can answer yes to this question.

Henry Wideman, a 54-year-old man, of Miami, Florida, was riding a bus in Miami when another passenger, James Kiernan, read out loud a text message informing of Michael Jackson’s death. The bus driver decided to voice his opinion by stating, “Michael Jackson should have been in jail long ago” and Kiernan responded with, “the world just lost a great musical talent.”

Henry Wideman decided to join the conversation and began cursing at Kiernan, who in turn, cursed back at Wideman. Wideman then pulled out a knife and began chasing Kiernan down the bus aisle. Yes! Wideman chased Kiernan down the aisle, with a knife because he disagreed with Kiernan! So, what did the bus driver do? He called dispatch, pulled over and waited for the cops who arrested Wideman and charged him with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.

Now, keep in mind, this all happened because of emotions concerning Michael Jackson! I’m sure this is not the only incident where emotions were raging concerning Michael’s death, but if you were on the bus with Wideman and Kiernan, what would you have done? Of course, I think Wideman was totally in the wrong, but there may be some of you who agree with him so I cautiously ask the question, whose side would you have been on – Wideman or Kiernan?

This week we lost Ed McMahon, Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson. These three will surely be missed and thinking back on what they’ve accomplished gave me an idea. I’m going to give $20 to the first person to answer/do the following via the comment section below (on www.7daybuzz.com):

1. Complete WordPlay Wednesday (click here to jump to the page).
2. Who was the Tonight Show band director while Ed McMahon was on there with Johnny Carson?
3. How many years was Farrah Fawcett on the TV show Charlie’s Angels?
4a. What former NBA star was in one of Michael Jackson’s videos?
4b. What was the name of the song and album for that video?
4c. Who did Michael Jackson kiss in that video?
Bonus for $5 – What star of the show “21 Jump Street” was in Michael Jackson’s Beat It video?

If you wish to participate, do what you have to and get your Paypal account ready. I will contact you and get your paypal information to send the money to you.

The king if pop has been reported dead. He suffered cardiac arrest. This is a sad day for the entire world.

Is Jackson’s passing the equivalent of Elvis passing? It certainly seems like it will carry the same weight for our generation.

Rest in peace MJ.

Nevada Senator John Ensign and South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford are two men who have brought attention upon themselves for the weakness that plagues many men: women. I’m not saying adultry/fornication is appropriate at any time or excusable simply because they are men – that is an entirely different discussion. What I would say is this isn’t really good for the Republican party and when looking at things without bias it may not be good for the United States.

Both men were possibly going to run for president in 2012; either one of them could have turned out to be the best thing for this country, but now we will probably never know. What we do know is that the Governor from the great state of Alaska has two less competitors (scary) and these stories include some details late-night monologues are made of.

The Pot And The Kettle

Ensign admitted to “violating the vows of my marriage” and said “it was the worst thing I have ever done in my life.” He is saying the right things except the affair lasted from December 2007 until August 2008 so he did this over and over and over again! But wait, there is more. The woman he had an affair with and her husband were good friends (of his family’s) and their families were close. I don’t know the Senator, my Senator since I now live in Las Vegas, but he looks like the kind of guy that would look down his nose at those of us on “main street.” However, his actions and subsequent statements are only missing a double-wide and a Jerry Springer episode. You can count him out of the presidential race, but since he is a vet he has a career to fall back on.

A sign to let all of us know that people in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones is his (Ensign’s) opinion when former Senator Larry Craig was caught and arrested in an airport bathroom sex sting. Ensign was very critical of Craig stopping just short of urging Craig to resign, but hinted that he should. “I wouldn’t put myself hopefully in that kind of position, but if I was in a position like that, that’s what I would do,” Ensign said. “He’s going to have to answer that for himself.” Now Ensign has to answer too.

Gone Missing

If a husband, or wife, stays out all night, there are going to be some questions that need answering the following day and additional nights MIA would only make the situation worse. How, in the world, would someone think they can go missing to Argentina for an entire week – while holding public office – and not have to answer for it? Maybe Mark Sanford wanted to get caught so he could be with his mistress or maybe he was stressed after being raked over the coals in his state over bailout money. Whatever the case may be, a resignation wouldn’t be surprising.

So as if getting caught isn’t bad enough, I don’t understand how these public figures allow their text messages, emails, etc. to make it to the media. Somehow Sanford’s emails, in which he sang the praises of his mistress’s body and agonized over their “hopelessly impossible situation of love”, became public knowledge. How does that happen? Specific emails between Sanford and “Maria” were made public knowledge. Amazing.

Apparently Sanford’s wife knew about all of this before Sanford left on his trip to Argentina. Sanford’s wife, Jenny, asked him not to contact her, or their sons, before leaving and that is one reason why his whereabouts were unknown to his family. Earlier this week, Standord’s staff told reporters that he was hiking on the Appalachian trail. Sanford told the newspaper this morning that he didn’t know why his staff said he was on the Appalachian Trail but that “in fairness to his staff,” he had told them he might do that. You don’t know why they would say that even though you told them you might be doing it? Now that is some politician double-talk!

On a professionally careless note, the Argentina Embassy wasn’t aware of Stanfords presence in their country – something odd for a U.S. Governor. Additionally, South Carolina’s Lt. Governor, the person who would be in charge during Standord’s absence, and Sanford’s security agents weren’t aware of the trip either.

It Doesn’t Look Good

This isn’t the first time something like this happened, but it is some bad timing overall – as if there is ever a good time for adultry. It doesn’t look good for the Republican party, it doesn’t look good for Nevada and South Carolina, it doesn’t look good following a day when all fathers should be honored and generally speaking it just doesn’t look good.

It’s Wednesday — more specifically, WordPlay Wednesday! This week passed quickly, didn’t it? And as usual, the past week has been packed with all sorts of news stories. It was kind of hard to choose the topics this week for WordPlay Wednesday, but here goes….

Oh, before I continue, for those of you who are new to 7DayBuzz, here is how WordPlay Wednesday works: We present five topics to you. All we ask in return is that you comment on each topic, but keep your comments to no more than five words.

1) Citibank Finds a Loop Around President Obama’s Bonus Restriction

2) Ahmadinejad Will Remain Iran’s President

3) 700 NYC Teachers Gettting Paid To Do Nothing

4) DC’s Metro Train Crashes Kills 9

5) Ed McMahan Dies at 86

6) Is The Honeymoon Over For President Obama?

7)Chris Brown Received Five Years Probation for Beating Rhianna

Remember, your comments are only to contain 5 words or less.

Many people, my wife being one, will be happy to know that Big Brother will not be watching like there were or at least could have been. Remember that Will Smith movie where he was being watched via satellite? In many ways, that program was a reality/possibility, but Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano will be putting an end to the program.

The controversial program begun during the Bush administration. U.S. spy satellites were used for domestic security and law enforcement missions. Uh, I don’t think the general public has seen any decrease in heinous crimes committed since the program was announced in 2007. So what were they really using those satellites for? Hmm.

In reality, the program never got fully off the ground because of what we all knew: this program had privacy and civil liberty issues written all over it. What I would like to know is how the Bush administration didn’t see this one coming from miles away. Were they too busy writing the fictional WMD script? Oops, did I say that? Some of our friends would have you believe the last 8 years were a glorious time in America, but in reality, we didn’t get where we are since the end of January.

I guess we can relax and worry about other things besides the eye in the sky.

Do you know anyone who has successfully had their home loan modified? Personally, I don’t know anyone who has had success trying to get their monthly payments lowered. I’m not sure if that is due to me not knowing anyone who needs it or if they have just been turned down; people understandably don’t want to talk about their personal affairs.

From the beginning I’ve thought this was another smoke screen to keep banks going, and executives paid, while the recession impacts others. I’m naturally cautious when it comes to believing things that come out of Washington DC, especially after living in the area for three years. I would love to have been wrong about this, but according to an article I read I might be right.

Those Who Have And Those Who Haven’t

“Since its debut, the plan has led to offers of more than 190,000 mortgage modifications with lower monthly payments, according to the Treasury Department. During that time, lenders either have started or advanced foreclosure proceedings against more than 1 million homes, according to RealtyTrac. About 20% of those were foreclosed upon and repossessed. The Center for Responsible Lending says 2.4 million Americans are at risk of foreclosure in 2009, and 8.1 million could be over the next four years.

Some homeowners who applied for mortgage modifications five months ago still have no answer on whether they will be able to arrange smaller monthly payments, leaving them uncertain whether they’ll keep their homes or lose them shortly.”

The above is from an article in USA Today. I know some people may think that these homeowners brought this upon themselves, but the banks still have the money to modify the loans regardless. Why isn’t the money being used for what it was intended? Remember, $68 billion was recently returned to the government from banks. Hmm, interesting.

What Are The Banks Doing?

Even though banks have money to modify mortgage loans many seem to be doing something else with the money. Banks are asking for paperwork to process modifications over and over; seemingly “losing” the paperwork somewhere along the process. Some applications are closed, without the bank contacting the homeowner to notify them of the bank’s decision. Finally, some people are just kept in a holding pattern; some experts say delaying an answer is more politically correct than giving an immediate answer.

Who To Blame

Many people blame the homeowners for getting themselves in a bad situation by buying more house than they could afford. While I understand this way of thinking, I think the economic environment and market at the time should be taken into account. Many people, smart people, got into a mortgage loan that they previously wouldn’t have been able to afford. Others could afford the loan at the time, but the recession has changed their financial situation. Taking all of these factors into account, it isn’t necessarily accurate to make a blanket statement and say the homeowners are to blame.

Owning a house is the ultimate dream for some and when given an opportunity to buy, they jumped on it. We cannot forget the fact that many don’t know/understand all of the fine print associated with buying a home and some things got past them. Missing the fine print is something that happens to many people and it is one reason the Obama administration is making an effort to simplify the paperwork associated with buying a home.

The banks should shoulder most of the blame in my opinion for two reasons, loan practices and lack of action. First, the term “predatory loans” has become common when talking about the recent housing boom and collapse. The banking industry took advantage of eager home buyers who, for the most part, didn’t know any better. Secondly, banks have been slow to modify loans, stringing some homeowners along before denying their application. What are they doing with the money if they are refusing so many people?

The popular choice, for some, is to blame President Obama and his administration. After all, the Obama administration is being blamed for many of the problems in our country. Sure, he hasn’t made all the right decisions, but it isn’t like he had 7 years to gain experience running the country. Look, I don’t agree with everything the Obama administration is doing, but I also realize he inherited a bad situation and he has at least done something different to try to initiate change. The saying goes something like if you keep doing the same thing, you will have the same results. Obama is trying and I wish some people would just come out and honestly say they just don’t like him because of political party, race, etc. Even those who don’t like him for what he has done must admit there are many who don’t like him for other reasons.

Where We Go From Here

I think the banking industry is out of control in some ways. They had the money, didn’t necessarily to do what they were/are supposed to and gave a lot of money back. I would say they hid their actions to the largest extent possible and just returned what they couldn’t hide. Even though that opinion may be harsh and simple, these situations are often made more complex to divert attention.

Maybe later we will find out what is really going on. Or, maybe things will stay hidden in typical Washington DC fashion.