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Story by Aaron Morrison

Substance abuse and domestic violence, in general, are certainly not laughing matters. But in the case of the recently divorced Whitney Houston and Bobby Brown, it might be. The couple’s often public marital problems over the last several years may have you wondering whether Houston has finally realized that Brown is what’s ‘wack’, not so much the crack.

The Associated Press reported last Thursday that Houston filed divorce papers in an Orange County Superior Court. Houston requested a legal separation from Brown because of irreconcilable differences. But after numerous allegations that Brown was abusing her during their 14-year marriage, Houston’s filing for a divorce is not so surprising. Well, at least statistically.

Researchers at the Group Health Center for Health Studies are calling domestic violence an ‘epidemic.’ The report, published in the June 2006 issue of the American Journal of Preventative Medicine, reveals that in a sample of almost 3,500 women, 44 percent of them had experienced ‘intimate partner violence’ during adulthood. Their findings conclude that the longer domestic violence has taken place, the worse the woman’s physical and mental health is.

This could certainly explain Houston’s appearance and behavior while accepting a Lifetime Achievement honor during the 2001 BET Awards. After delivering a painfully mediocre rendition of her hits, she proclaimed Brown the ‘king of R&B’ music, despite the lack of career longevity to support that allegation. Let’s not forget her behavior on the 2005 Bravo reality series Being Bobby Brown, in which she co-starred with Brown. “Oh, hell to the no!”

Whether Houston’s public persona even a year ago was a result of years of marital abuse at the hands of the “R&B king” is unclear. Houston, however, is taking a step in the direction that many women who are in abusive relationships are unlikely to take.

The National Coalition Against Domestic Violence has estimated that women who choose to leave an abusive relationship are at a 75 percent greater risk of being killed by the ‘offender’ than those who choose to stay. This, they say, explains why so many women remain in abusive relationships.

In addition, researchers with the Group Health Center also found that rates of domestic violence were much higher in surveyed participants whom were old, had higher incomes, and were typically more educated. Previous studies estimated domestic violence rates as high in ‘younger, lower income groups.’

Whether Brown beat her senseless or beat sense into her, it’s clear that Houston has decided that her own well-being and the well-being of their daughter Bobbi-Kristina, who Houston has requested full custody of, is more important than having ‘the greatest love of all.’

Let’s hope Houston doesn’t plan on ‘running back’ to Brown. Unless, of course, there are plans to tape another season of Being Bobby Brown.

Story by Dashiell Collins

So the Pope gave a speech and Muslims around the world rose up in protest at his anti-Islamic remarks. Talking to scientists on the subject of faith, reason, and the university, His Holiness made reference to a conversation between a Byzantine emperor and an educated Persian, during which the Christian declared that The Prophet's big new idea was killing those who would not believe.

Regardless of the validity of Manuel II Paleologus and his assessment of Islam, what struck me is how a small introductory anecdote to such a complex and analytic speech given to a small, academic audience circled the globe as a papal damnation of Muslims. I find it hard to believe that state-controlled media in much of the Muslim and Arab world gave the people the whole story, and if they did, well, maybe the uproar would have been even louder.

This is nothing new, the anger and passion of the people inflamed by what the media is choosing to put on the front page and what to bury between the obituaries. I bet there's plenty of work for the obit staff at the dailies in Baghdad, unless they're too scared to drive to work themselves.

Kofi Annan is warning that the constant religious murders and violence in the streets of Iraq might bring on that civil war we've been warned about for months. Jacques Chirac publicly announced his opposal to UN sanctions against Iran, while Hugo Chavez brought down the ultimate hammer with his buddy Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Along with reminding the world of America's double drop in Japan, Chavez threatened to shut off the pump if Iran was attacked. The dual embargo of Venezuela and Iran would drive oil prices to $100 a barrel or more. Good thing I ride a bike.

But you know what? There's some hope here. Good ol' George is going to address the UN to defend his bloody blunder, and maybe this time, the world will tell him to stop doing this shit. Maybe this time, calmer heads might prevail, real intelligence might drive actions. And even if the Democrats don't take one of the chambers in November, maybe some of their colleagues across the aisle will stop worrying about their re-election and start worrying about stopping the bloodshed in the country they voted to invade.

If you noticed, most of my links were from the BBC. When I sit in my room late at night and read their news site, find myself wondering: Do the British ever read or watch the speeches our president makes? If they do, do they laugh their heads off? I'd cite the New York Times, but I'm too poor to subscribe.

Story by Curtis Steudeman

The retro car trend started out very strong. The Volkswagen New Beetle came out in 1998 and was one of the first, drastically retro rebirths of years past. The New Beetle was never quite the hit the original was during the gas crunch of the 70’s, but it was quite popular. I have a friend who has owned two different New Beetles.

The Beetle only got things warmed up though. Soon other cars were reborn. Some of them never ceased production and moved right into a completely new body style. Others wore badges that hadn’t been seen for years. Ford Mustang, Pontiac GTO, Mini Cooper and Ford Thunderbird were some of the cars to give into this new trend.

Some of these cars have been built for muscle and some purely for aesthetic nostalgia. The GTO and Mustang were built for performance as they were back in the day. The GTO doesn’t hold a retro design, but instead a retro attitude. The new GTO is a small, light, two door car that’s had a 400 horsepower engine shoehorned into it. Yes, I’d say this mirrors the concept behind the GTO of yesteryear.

These cars were mostly successful throughout the early 2000’s, but as we enter a modern mini gas crunch with price per gallon signs hovering around $3 it’s safe to say that most pocketbooks won’t have room for a car like the GTO that gets around 16 miles to the gallon.

While not all of these retro cars are geared for performance it was only time before it moved in that direction. Both Dodge and General Motors have released performance minded concepts within the past six months. The Camaro and the Challenger are almost certainly a case of too much too late. Both cars have been announced for production.

The Challenger will be seen in 2008 and the Camaro in 2009. The Camaro hosts a 6.0 liter V8 that will likely get less that 20 mpg. The Challenger will probably host a hemi similar to the one in the Magnum and Charger that are currently in production.

GM and Dodge are too late. GM especially completely missed the boat on this one. Don’t get me wrong, these cars look beautiful, but if want to make a muscle car today, it’s got to be toned down a little bit. There are very few people who can afford to own a car that gets closer to 10 mpg and needs premium fuel.

Camaros will be sold to muscle car enthusiasts who can still afford the hobby, and some other people who probably can’t, but will buy one anyway.

The situation is unfortunate, but by the time the Camaro comes out, hybrid and fuel efficient vehicles will be in such demand that GM will be scratching their heads and wondering what went wrong.

As a muscle car fan I hate to see it end this way, but right now there is just no room for a new generation of muscle cars.

Story by Luis Mauricio

Its official. According to the NY Times techtalk podcast people, Myspace.com has jumped into the online music distribution business.

Owned by News Corp, the same company that runs the NY Post, Myspace.com is ready to offer over 3 million non-DRM'd mp3s for sale from its ranks of unsigned Myspace.com Music bands.

Bands will be able to set the prices for downloads with Myspace.com taking a small cut for the favor. It should be interesting to see how this takes off for unsigned musicians and to see if the major labels will finally go the way of the dinosaurs.

Just in case you don't know, Myspace.com was recently purchased by Rupert Murdoch for $580 million and is the number one online destination for over 106 million users. Kinda like how over 106 million years ago, the Koolasuchus was lurking below the surface waiting for prey. Don't believe me? Peep the video.

But who needs to listen to whole songs anyway? A snippet of something can be just enough to get you through your day. You know quality versus quantity. Boomkat got that quality.

Oh yeah, just in case you haven't heard, the first Tuesday of each month is FREE at the SFMOMA.

Yeah, I missed it too.

Well, lucky for us, the SFMOMA plays nice with broke people like you and me. Yes, it's College Night on September 21 from 6pm - 8:45pm. Catch up with graphic designer Rex Ray, DJ Jimmy Tamborello, and the Paradise Boys.

I don't know man, it's FREE. Don't believe me? Click here if you need proof. Yes, FREE for all Bay Area college students, faculty and staff with ID. Thank you and you to SFMOMA and Noise Pop.

So there you go. This post has been inspired and brought to you by the wonderful world of FREE. You should now be able to buy formerly FREE music on Myspace.com, listen to FREE music snippets on Boomkat.com, and be VIP FREE, or FREE VIP, your choice, courtesy of the SFMOMA.

Story by Dashiell Collins

Five years on, and we're still searching through the tears and the rubble for some sensible way to navigate these stormy times. The towers fell and the world changed forever, bringing America to face, President Bush said yesterday in his anniversary address, "the test history has given us."

Unfortunately for the world, Bush decided to ignore the teachings of history and launched us into the new crusades. While no history forbids waging a war of ideas, most certainly attest to their fruitless and disastrous consequences. And when the swords and catapults are replaced with airplanes and smart bombs, suddenly the flame behind the idea burns the faces of more children, torches more houses and ignites hatred and vengeance in more hearts around the world.

There seems to be little hope for an answer anytime soon. If the past centuries have not taught us well enough that fighting one extreme belief with another tends to produce more corpses than results, then it's doubtful that five more years will have done the trick. As if they have no regard for the lessons of history or the public's understanding of those lessons, Bush and Vice President Cheney candidly offer is that they were wrong before, they made mistakes before 9/11 and before and during Iraq, but they're trying really, really hard now.

And all the while, it seems the freedom-loving Americans our troops fight and die so needlessly to protect aren't enjoying many freedoms at all. Phone lines are tapped without warrant or oversight. Poverty and desperation still grip victims of Hurricane Katrina who wait, hopefully not in vain, for help from a government stretched so thinly from military spending, it'd be a surprise if their phone bills get paid.

We are supposedly fighting this long war, as our top generals have referred to it, to ensure the safety of freedom, of Americans and of the entire world. Secretary Rice has said we are safer, but not safe. Tom Ridge, who formerly headed the Department of Homeland Security, said after his resignation that countries could never be completely safe from terrorism. The death of thousands of Americans and the destruction of our symbol of world power might seem a legitimate cause for a global strike against a shadowy enemy, but the voices of Madrid, Bali, London and Baghdad cry out louder than the quivering pleas of sympathy and support for this administration.

Perhaps no answer is clear and right just yet, but this war against terrorism raises questions and problems of a new urgency. How long can this country survive if the tragic mistakes of Vietnam and Iraq become standard operating procedure for American involvement in the Middle East? How long can innocent citizens around the world bear the pain of this great clash between the defenders of freedom and the fighters of the infidels? In five, ten or fifty years, will the great teacher of history pass Bush or give him the failing grade? There's no extra credit when millions of lives are caught in the middle.