The parents of teen Jamey Rodemeyer spoke out against bullying on the Today Show Tuesday. Jamey Rodemeyer died by suicide earlier this month, after posting a number of video diary entries online recounting how his high school classmates had relentlessly bullied him for being gay. His parents, Tracy and Timothy, said that some kids who
Continue reading …Jury to get overview of case against Jackson doc; Ellen DeGeneres: ‘I’m fine’ after chest pain scare; Sheen and studio settle lawsuit over ‘Men’ firing. (Sept. 27)
Continue reading …Click here to view this media At President Obama’s town hall in Mountain View today, Doug Edwards , former Consumer Marketing Head for Google, stood and asked the President to raise his taxes to preserve Pell Grants, education funding and disaster relief, among other things. This was, of course, a riff on Warren Buffett’s column a couple of weeks ago where he called on Congress to make his tax rate equitable with that of his secretary, who actually pays more in taxes than Buffett does. The near-instantaneous reaction on Twitter and elsewhere has been fascinating. Mark Knoller tweeted this : The US Govt accepts contributions. Online at pay.gov or by mail: Bureau of Public Debt, Dept G, P.O Box 2188, Parkersburg, WV 26106-2188. The right-wingers are nearly apoplectic, with Michelle Malkin ready to vomit while they furiously spread speculation that the guy was a plant. Because surely an ex-Googler who made a fortune via stock options and the like couldn’t possibly be sincere about wanting to pay more in taxes to make sure kids get decent educations and things? So the counter from the right is either, “Sure, go ahead and pay whatever you want, here’s the address to send it to!” or “You lie!” Why is it so difficult to believe that some wealthy people also have a sense of social responsibility? Meanwhile, just for perspective, the Koch brothers have slid up the Forbes “Richest” List to number four from number 44, nipping at the heels of Warren Buffett, Bill Gates, and Larry Ellison. How’s that for “failed policy,” tea party? What should make us all sick about their explosive gain in net worth is that it was largely the result of speculative activity in markets they game , especially energy markets. Update : Oh, the assumptions they make. Check out these tweets from Brendan Buck (John Boehner’s spokesman) and Brad Dayspring (Eric Cantor’s spokesman), and their stupid assumptions. [h/t ThinkProgress ] enlarge enlarge
Continue reading …As NewsBusters has been reporting, America's oh so tolerant media have for months been attacking New Jersey governor Chris Christie about his weight. On Monday's “Joy Behar Show,” the host asked her rather corpulent guest Michael Moore, “Do you think the country will tolerate a fat president?” (video follows with transcript and commentary): JOY BEHAR, HOST: Chris Christie, they’re begging him to come in. Do you think he will? MICHAEL MOORE: I don’t know. I don’t know him personally. Should we call him up? BEHAR: He keeps saying no. MOORE: Let’s just call him, right now. BEHAR: This is a terrible thing to say. Do you think the country will tolerate a fat president? MOORE: Yes, because most of America looks like me. I mean, the majority of Americans are overweight, two-thirds. BEHAR: But, don’t you think they want someone who looks healthy? MOORE: No, I think they like somebody that’s like them. When George Bush said, “I’m a c student” and everyone applauded. BEHAR: Yeah! MOORE: You know, it’s because the majority of the country are not A students, the majority are B and C sometimes D students, and so he was not making a mistake when he said that and he thought he would get a good response and he did. Most of America looks like Michael Moore? Hardly. As the Center for Disease Control reported in 2010: Results from the 2007–2008 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), using measured heights and weights, indicate that an estimated 34.2% of U.S. adults aged 20 years and over are overweight, 33.8% are obese, and 5.7% are extremely obese, as shown in Table 1. Body mass index (BMI), expressed as weight in kilograms divided by height in meters squared (kg/m2), is commonly used to classify overweight (BMI 25.0–29.9), obesity (BMI greater than or equal to 30.0), and extreme obesity (BMI greater than or equal to 40.0). Not at all surprising, Moore was playing fast and loose with the facts. About 34 percent of Americans are considered overweight. A roughly similar percentage are obese with only 5.7 percent extremely obese. Without knowing Moore's measurements, it seems rather safe to assume he's what the CDC would consider extremely obese, and is by no means representative of what most Americans look like. Much like this portly schlockumentarian has never met a cheeseburger he'd say no to, he's never come across a fact or statistic he isn't willing to twist to advance his agenda. As for Behar, she shouldn't throw stones. After all, she's hardly the poster child for the President's Council on Fitness, Sports and Nutrition:
Continue reading …Well, it’s about freaking time! Apple has finally begun sending out invites for its upcoming press conference, and the company’s being none too subtle with the hints, offering up some familiar app icons in the artwork and the tagline “Let’s talk iPhone.” As to whether it’ll be an iPhone 5 , 4S or some other new formation, we’ll all have to wait until the event to find out — and you’d better believe we’ll be there at Apple’s Cupertino headquarters to find out. Apple wants to ‘talk iPhone’ on October 4th originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 27 Sep 2011 11:22:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Piranhas Attack 100 Beach Goers In Brazil LorumIpsum says: RT @ travelsnitch : Piranhas attack beach goers in Brazil – Tourists bitten by river-dwelling razor-toothed fish http://t.co/p7O0gZuJ #SomethingInTheWater
Continue reading …Debris falls from the ceiling and terrified tourists run for safety in a video released by the National Park Service showing the moment last month when an earthquake damaged the Washington Monument . The video was taken by a surveillance camera near the top of the 555-foot-tall landmark. Officials say the…
Continue reading …SportaboutSarah says: Kinda excited about #ArrestedDevelopment and #WonderYears Amazon streaming deal . http://t.co/XjqCcAlw (via @ THR )
Continue reading …Comedy writer and producer also created It Ain’t Half Hot Mum and Hi-de-Hi! with Jimmy Perry David Croft, the TV comedy writer and producer responsible for BBC sitcoms including Dad’s Army, It Ain’t Half Hot Mum, Hi-de-Hi, ‘Allo ‘Allo and Are You Being Served?, has died aged 89. Croft died “peacefully in his sleep” at home in Portugal on Tuesday, his family announced on his website. “He was a truly great man, who will be missed by all who had the great fortune of knowing and loving him,” they said in a statement. “We know that he would have been proud that you had all been watching.” Croft’s long-running partnership with Jimmy Perry spawned Dad’s Army, arguably the most successful British sitcom of all time. Originally aired between 1968 and 1977, it remains one of BBC2′s most popular shows even today. The duo also wrote It Ain’t Half Hot Mum – which they considered the funniest of all their collaborations – Hi-de-Hi! and You Rang M’Lord. Croft also wrote Are You Being Served? and ‘Allo ‘Allo with Jeremy Lloyd, and later teamed up with Richard Spendlove to write Oh Doctor Beeching! Croft, who graduated from Sandhurst, rose through the army ranks to major, and served in North Africa, India and Singapore. His experiences in the armed forces provided much of the material for Dad’s Army and It Ain’t Half Hot Mum. •
Continue reading …Comedy writer and producer also created It Ain’t Half Hot Mum and Hi-de-Hi! with Jimmy Perry David Croft, the TV comedy writer and producer responsible for BBC sitcoms including Dad’s Army, It Ain’t Half Hot Mum, Hi-de-Hi, ‘Allo ‘Allo and Are You Being Served?, has died aged 89. Croft died “peacefully in his sleep” at home in Portugal on Tuesday, his family announced on his website. “He was a truly great man, who will be missed by all who had the great fortune of knowing and loving him,” they said in a statement. “We know that he would have been proud that you had all been watching.” Croft’s long-running partnership with Jimmy Perry spawned Dad’s Army, arguably the most successful British sitcom of all time. Originally aired between 1968 and 1977, it remains one of BBC2′s most popular shows even today. The duo also wrote It Ain’t Half Hot Mum – which they considered the funniest of all their collaborations – Hi-de-Hi! and You Rang M’Lord. Croft also wrote Are You Being Served? and ‘Allo ‘Allo with Jeremy Lloyd, and later teamed up with Richard Spendlove to write Oh Doctor Beeching! Croft, who graduated from Sandhurst, rose through the army ranks to major, and served in North Africa, India and Singapore. His experiences in the armed forces provided much of the material for Dad’s Army and It Ain’t Half Hot Mum. •
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