It’s nice to know that Rihanna and I have a few things in common: our love of Flamin’ hot Cheetos and plantain chips (salted). The Smoking Gun has posted Rihanna’s tour rider information, which is basically all of the items she wants/needs in her dressing room before she performs. The list is pretty interesting. Ms. Girl-gone-bad must have her “Flip-top cap” bottles of water – not to be confused with screw off ones. Who has time for screw tops?! And at any moment, hard-boiled eggs better be available! I thought her list was pretty funny but I’m sure not uncommon for celebs.

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Smooches,

The Caramel Bella

According to the Albany Times Union today, Sen. Barack Obama’s (D-IL) last name was misspelled as “‘Osama’ on hundreds of absentee ballots mailed out this week to voters in Rensselaer Country,” New York. Is this a Freudian slip or a simple mistake?

Although the Democratic and Republican county officials claim it was a “typo” and “honest mistake,” I am personally finding this screw-up a bit hard to believe. The right wing has been trying to use Osama Bin Laden and Barack Obama interchangeably as well as emphasizing the “Hussein” in Obama’s name to draw attention to his Muslim background. It is not hard for me to believe that someone wanted to underscore Obama’s “otherness” and this typo wasn’t so innocent. Besides, when does a “b” look like a “s.” And these letters aren’t anywhere close to one another on the keyboard. And for something this important, like a voting ballot, shouldn’t you have proofreaders?!

Although I am a glass half-full kind of bella, I’m not quite buying the innocent typo excuse.

smooches,

The Caramel Bella

“No one cares more about the environment than oil companies,” said Steven Colbert on The Colbert Report last night. Check out his sketch that poked fun at the expiration of the offshore drilling ban. Colbert tells the audience: “A lot of people talk about loving the earth. But how many of them actually penetrate it?” asked Colbert.

Perhaps those thousand of bankers and financial folks who were laid off in this economic fiasco can flip their skills into a “green” job. According to a study released by the U.S. Conference of Mayors Thursday, the new shift to renewable energy and efficiency is expected to create a whopping 4.2 million jobs. Currently, there are about 750,000 folks who work in green jobs. Hey, there’s hope for the unemployed yet.

Forget hybrids and low emissions vehicles. And we all know gas prices and constantly filling up at the pump are a bummer. Daimler’s new tiny Smart ED car may be the answer. This new all-electric vehicle debuted at the Paris Auto Show today. It goes about 90 miles without recharging and barely makes a sound.

What do greenies and Goldman Sachs have in common? They are a part of the Senate’s bailout bill that passed yesterday in a 74 to 25 vote. Although the legislation was primarily designed to aid the nation’s financial system, the bill has incentives for renewable energy use. Environmentalists regard these cuts as essential for promoting growth in wind, solar and other alternative energy industries.

Many of us can remember our parents telling us to eat all the food on our plates. Now kids and grownups in Los Angeles don’t have to. They can give their food scraps to the City of Los Angeles “recycling ambassadors” under a new pilot program.

Houston, there appears to be a problem: SMOG. According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the city tops the list at #2 (LA is numero uno) for severe smog problem.