Was Kardashian marriage a sham?

Archive of chicagotribune

Kim Kardashian files for divorce 72 days after a multi-million-dollar wedding. Today some news outlets are wondering if the marriage was ever real at all.

More chatter from the morning shows on the split and its legitimacy:

Tunisians hail fall of ex-leader's corrupt family

FIL - In this Oct.28 2010 file photo, Leila Ben Ali, wife of Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, attends the opening session of the 3rd Congress of the Arab Women's Organisation in Tunis. Tunisians cheering a new era after the end of President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali's iron-fisted rule are especially overjoyed at the prospect of life with out his wife and her family - widely despised as the ultimate symbol of corruption and excess. (AP Photo/Hassene Dridi, File) — AP

TUNIS, Tunisia — Tunisians couldn't stand her even more than they couldn't stand him.

The end of President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali's iron-fisted, 23-year rule brought joy to many ordinary people in this North African nation - and they were especially elated at the prospect of life without his wife and her rapacious family.

The clan of former first lady Leila Trabelsi, a one-time hairdresser who rose to become Tunisia's most influential woman, was widely despised as the ultimate symbol of corruption and excess. Leila and her 10 siblings are said to have operated like a mafia, extorting money from shop owners, demanding a stake in businesses large and small, and divvying up plum concessions among themselves.

Their control over the North African country's economy was vast. The Trabelsi and Ben Ali's own families were said to have a stake in Tunisian banks and airlines, car dealerships, Internet providers, radio and television stations, industry and big retailers.

And when mass protests forced Ben Ali to flee Friday to Saudi Arabia, his peoples' pent-up rage was directed more at Leila's side of the family than at her husband and his authoritarian regime.

Retribution was swift. Within a day of Ben Ali's departure, many of the sumptuous villas and businesses belonging to the Trabelsis were pillaged and burned, and some reports said one prominent family member was killed by an angry mob. A Tunis Air pilot who refused to take off with five fleeing family members on board has become a national hero.

A branch of the Zeitouna bank in Tunis founded by Ben Ali's son-in-law was torched, as were vehicles made by the car brands he distributed, including Kia, Fiat and Porsche.

"They (the Trabelsis) are thieves, tricksters and even killers," raged Tunis resident Mantasser Ben Mabrouk. "Their only goal was to make money in whatever way they could."

His friend Mohamed Gaddahi agreed, laying - as many here do - much of the blame for the regime's abuses squarely on the Trabelsis.

"The president did lots of good, but the family did lots of harm to Tunisia," Gaddahi said.

U.S. diplomatic cables released by WikiLeaks appear to shore up that conclusion. A June 2008 cable from the U.S. Embassy in Tunis describes a report by anti-corruption group Transparency International saying: "Whether it's cash, services, land, property ... President Ben Ali's family is rumored to covet it and reportedly gets what it wants."

The economic fallout of the Trabelsis' web of corruption and influence-mongering was palpable, the cable said, with "Tunisian investors - fearing the long-arm of 'the Family' - forgoing new investments, keeping domestic investment rates low and unemployment high."

A lack of jobs in this highly educated nation fueled the month of popular protests that toppled Ben Ali. The uprising began in December after a despairing university graduate who sold fruits and vegetables without a permit set himself on fire and died because police confiscated his goods.

The co-author of a book on Leila Trabelsi, "La Regente de Carthage," says the Trabelsis played an "absolutely capital" role in the fall of the regime.

Kid Kilowatt: Shockingly-Good Indie-Rock

Kid Kilowatt’s March 30th release, Guitar Method, is very impressive. I’ve had it for about five days now, and every time I listen to it I like it more. This is high praise coming from a person who really doesn’t like indie-rock. Kid Kilowatt was a Boston based group that actually broke up well before this CD was released. This CD is a collection of their recordings from 1996 to 1999; the tracks just sat on the shelf and collected dust for almost ten years before these guys got around to issuing them to the public.

The reason that it took so long to come out is because Kid Kilowatt was a side project of guitarist and front man Steven Brodsky, who, for the intervening years, has been focusing on his other band, Cave In (an incredible group, musically). On Guitar Method, the bass player is Adam McGrath, Brodsky’s compatriot from Cave In; the second guitarist is Kurt Ballou, of Converge fame; and on drums is Euclid’s Matt Redmond. All of the members bring their great musical abilities to Kid Kilowatt and make them more palatable to the listener who isn’t into blast beats and Jake Bannon’s distinctive voice.

From the first track, you can hear that the band has some metal leanings, but they never really go much further than giving you a taste of what their other bands do so well. The first track, titled “The Scope,” encapsulates what the rest of the album will sound like. It starts out sounding rather crunchy and smooths out as the album progresses, providing a good contrasting effect that runs throughout the album. There are only two real slow songs on the entire album called “Memorial Drive” and “Cadence for the Desert Sun.” When these two songs come, they don’t feel out of place. “Cadence for the Desert Sun” is actually very good. It’s got a marching rhythm that you don’t hear anywhere else in the album, so it’s a refreshing change of pace. “Memorial Drive” is only mediocre. It’s the only song on the album over five minutes long. Playing slow just isn’t this band’s forte, although they have the ability to write poignant lyrics, my favorite being “A dip in the sea of regret / The one right in my back yard.” Overall, the album sounds rather pop-y.

The closest band that I can relate them to is Thursday, but Kilowatt isn’t even that metallic or scream-oriented. They make use of pop hooks combined with post-pop chord progressions that give the CD a very melodic feel. In other words, it’s catchy. You can listen to it a lot. Since all of the members in the band are very good at playing technical music, even the longer songs don’t get boring because every instrument is playing its own rather complex part. It all comes together to sound great. The album has a total of 14 tracks and the playing time is just over 55 minutes. Those are 55 minutes well spent listening to this indie standout.

Personally, I’m not a huge fan of Converge. I own a few of their albums but they aren’t a band that is playing in my room all the time because of how heavy they are. Cave In is another band that, despite its talent, I just don’t listen to much. If any of these other band names ring a bell, then you know how great these musicians are. At the time this CD was recorded, Kid Kilowatt was about as far as any of these musicians could get from their “regular” styles of music without forming a boy band. Both Converge and Cave In were hardcore bands, Converge being one of the heaviest bands that I have ever heard. Cave In was a little more traditional in their approach to hardcore, but they have since changed their musical style to more of a space rock/metal style. In addition to being giants of the hardcore world, Converge and Cave In are two of the most technically proficient bands that I have ever heard. If you want to check out either one of these bands, they are very good, just not some of my favorites. Kid Kilowatt, on the other hand, has produced one of the finest indie albums that I have heard in a very long time.