What are your thoughts on the government trying to ban flavored cigarettes (except menthols, of course)? Are you in favor of stricter regulations on cigarettes, or do you think that it’s all about personal responsibility?

It’s celebration time for theater-lovers. The Tony Award nominations were announced today. Laurence Fishburne was nominated for Best Leading Actor in a Play for his portrayal of Thurgood Marshall in Thurgood, and S. Epatha Merkerson was nominated for Best Leading Actress in a Play for Come Back, Little Sheba. Also, The Heights, a new musical about Dominican Americans in NYC, won more nominations than any other production. Cat on a Hot Tin Roof? Zilch, just like the Drama Desk Awards. At least it’s raking in the dough at the box office.

Congress is trying its hand at regulating tobacco, and the first order of business is legislation that, in an attempt to decrease the allure of smoking among young people, bans flavored cigarettes like cloves. While it’s unknown how this whole legislation experiment will pan out, one thing is clear in Big Tobacco’s uncertain future — black folks won’t have to give up their Newports or Kools anytime soon.

A glaring omission in this ban on cigarette flavorings is menthol, which will remain just as legal as ever. Those in the tobacco regulation business see this as a very obvious — and potentially dangerous — example of legislators bowing under pressure from big tobacco. A loss of menthol cigarettes, which make up a quarter of cigarette sales, would mean a loss of big money… and black consumers. While a quarter of white smokers smoke cigarettes with menthol, a whopping 75 percent of black smokers do.

According to the New York Times, “for years, public health authorities have worried that menthol might be a factor in high cancer rates in African-Americans.” Many anti-tobacco advocates understand the limitations of the legislations but are rooting for it anyway, saying that it’s at least a start.

“The bottom line is we want the legislation,” William S. Robinson, executive director of the very anti-menthol National African American Tobacco Prevention Network, told the NYT. “But we want to reserve the right to address this issue at some critical point because of the percentage of people of African descent who use mentholated products.”

And why do black people smoke mentholated cigarettes in such disproportionate numbers? For some, it’s a chicken or egg question. But it can’t be denied that many mentholated brands, such as Newport, Kools, and Salems, use marketing strategies that are obviously geared toward black consumers. According to a University of Pittsburgh studies, 75 percent of cigarette ads in black neighborhoods are for menthol cigarettes.

Of course, the tobacco companies deny that advertising for menthols is directed toward African Americans. Well, sort of. Here’s what a representative from R.J. Reynolds, which manufactures Newports and Salems, had to say:

“Would we like African-Americans to choose R. J. Reynolds brands? Yes, we would. Do we have marketing and communications that that audience can identify with? Yes, we do.”

Presumably because employees of the American government have become so damn laughable to people around the globe, the city of Washington, DC is installing in its metro stations friendly reminders for its citizens to value their own lives. Drawn in by new, “fun” games like hopscotch (at left) and I Spy, depressed commuters in our nation’s capital will then be tricked into reading this cheerful slogan: “Life is fun. Keep on living. Use caution around the tracks.” Ironically, one way to exercise caution around the tracks is to not play hopscotch on the fucking slippery platforms.

Lucky us, we don’t need fancy safety warnings in the subways here in New York, where the human feces and urine soaking the tracks are more than enough of a reminder that we don’t wanna go in there.

When Papoose arrived at the jail yesterday — their wedding day — police found a key that “easily opened” the type of handcuffs used at the jail in Papoose’s possession. He’s banned from Rikers for six months. In two days, Remy Ma lost a fiance, a handcuff key (and possible escape strategy), and eight years of her freedom. Sucks.

Ever the loyal boyfriend, Papoose showed up at today’s sentencing hearing and got in a tussle with court officers. “Fuck jail,” he yelled as his friends pulled him away. “Fuck jail, lock me up. I don’t care, y’all just want money. She didn’t’ do nothing.”

… this morning MTV announced it has greenlit the 21st season of The Real World. It will be filmed in Brooklyn, the reigning home turf of post-teen drama, and broadcast in 13 one-hour episodes in early 2009. No word yet regarding in which neighborhood the attention-seeking hopefuls will reside …

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• Karma’s a bitch, R. Kelly. [Bossip]

• Isaiah Washington is pissed at Grey’s Anatomy producers for using his likeness in an episode after kicking him to the curb last year. [Reuters]

• Chris Rock, in all of his infinite wisdom. [C&D]

• That guy who knocked Suge Knight out over the weekend was a 5′10 barber. Pardon, a 5′10 barber who now fears for his life. [MG]

And she drops the F-bomb on air. During one of those annoying promo spots that TV stations insist on airing before returning from, or entering into, a commercial break, Simmons ends the spot by asking, “What the fuck are you doing?” Yes, she’s already apologized for it, and she probably won’t lose her job over it, because thankfully her on-air misstep did not include a racial, sexist, or homophobic slur.

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But pals of the tight-lipped newlyweds say the songbird is expecting the couple’s first child. “She has gained a lot of pregnancy weight,” a source said. “When she gains weight, she normally does the Def Jam detox, but not now.” A rep for Beyoncé said, “I don’t know if she’s pregnant. Let me perform an ultrasound and get back to you.”

“Senator Obama is half African by birth and Africans can understandably identify with him. In Islam, however, there is no such thing as a half-Muslim. Like all monotheistic religions, Islam is an exclusive faith. As the son of the Muslim father, Senator Obama was born a Muslim under Muslim law as it is universally understood. It makes no difference that, as Senator Obama has written, his father said he renounced his religion… As most Americans understand it, Senator Obama is not a Muslim. He chose to become a Christian, and indeed has written convincingly to explain how he arrived at his choice and how important his Christian faith is to him. His conversion, however, was a crime in Muslim eyes; it is “irtidad” or “ridda,” usually translated from the Arabic as “apostasy,” but with connotations of rebellion and treason. Indeed, it is the worst of all crimes that a Muslim can commit… Most citizens of the Islamic world would be horrified by the fact of Senator Obama’s conversion to Christianity once it became widely known — as it would, no doubt, should he win the White House. This would compromise the ability of governments in Muslim nations to cooperate with the United States in the fight against terrorism.”

Lebron James probably wishes that he wasn’t so easy to lip-read. At last night’s playoff game against the Celtics, Lebron was fouled by Paul Pierce. His mother (the sprightly 39-year-old in the white t-shirt) jumps up like she’s going to do something, and James yells at her repeatedly and angrily, “Sit your ass down!” No one wants their mom interfering at work, but you also can’t tell your mom to “sit her ass down.” And on national TV, too! Later in the same clip, the clueless commentators go on to praise Lebron’s grace and maturity.

Voters in Muncie, Ind., told Danielle Ross, a 20-year-old white woman who took the year off from college to campaign for Obama, “‘I’ll never vote for a black person.” People just weren’t receptive.”

One phone bank volunteer charged with calling her 98-percent-white hometown in Pennsylvania, recalled one person saying to her, after vowing to never vote for Obama, “Hang that darky from a tree!”

Later, Obama’s headquarter’s in Vincennes, Ind., were vandalized. The Obama campaign downplays these incidents, saying that they are isolated and that support has been overwhelmingly positive. True: the man is winning.

Earlier in his campaign, he had this to say about racism: “Will there be some folks who probably won’t vote for me because I am black? Of course, just like there may be somebody who won’t vote for Hillary because she’s a woman or wouldn’t vote for John Edwards because they don’t like his accent. But the question is, ‘Can we get a majority of the American people to give us a fair hearing?’ ”

Obama has won 5 out of 12 contests where black voters make up less than 10 percent of the electorate. Today, in West Virginia, he is slated to lose (badly). His question remains, “Can we get a majority of the American people to give us a fair hearing?” Without the votes of thousands of whites, Obama wouldn’t be winning the nomination race.

Sure you can buy a message tee with these lyrics on it at Urban Outfitters or Delia’s, but it’s so much more entertaining when Me’shell NdegeOcello says it.

“Hey fellow Americans, don’t look at the New York Times or the Washington Post or turn on the news or check out my approval ratings. Don’t think about the war or natural disasters. Just look at these nice, happy wedding pictures!”

What campaign issue (I mean actual issue, not issue manufactured by Fox News) is most important you in this election?

Almost exactly a year ago, I wrote about how HBCUs are becoming more attractive to non-black students because of the availability of scholarships and the low cost — most HBCU’s cost an average of $10,000 less than other colleges and universities. Some schools, like Alcorn State, Jackson State and Mississippi Valley State in Mississippi, were forced to desegregate in order to receive much-needed aid from the state.

There’s obviously some resistance to the diversification of HBCUs (for obvious reasons), but these schools were founded to cater to blacks who were barred from studying at mainstream institutions, not so that black students could study in a strictly segregated atmosphere in perpetuity. And although black students can now go anywhere, depending on their grades and test scores, these schools are still offering social and academic opportunities to black students — and now many non-black students — who want to study in an HBCU atmosphere. A handful of white students shouldn’t change the character or mission of these colleges, most of which are still overwhelmingly attended by black students.