Bristol Palin Beats Brandi On Dancing With The Stars? Voting Rigged?

The unbelievable happened Tuesday night, causing my Mom to say she would never watch Dancing With The Stars again. Ever.

The Kansas City Star said that Bristol Palin's fans ruined the show.

Bristol Palin, daughter of Sarah Palin, beat Brandi, which is another way of saying that Brandi was picked for elimination over Bristol Palin. It was all in the voting.

Voting not monitored by Dancing With The Stars producers.

Did Tea Party Movement assholes team up pick Palin over Brandi to make a statement? That's what many bloggers are speculating.  Why?

Because Palin's dancing was so bad at points,

This is what Death By 1000 Papercuts wrote:

We looked at several Tea Party forums and did find evidence of individuals in the comment section of one Sarah Palin site who bragged they’d voted multiple times for Bristol including one individual who boasted they’d voted for Bristol ’55 times’. Even so, were there literally ‘millions’ of Sarah Palin fans who racked up cell phone and text message bills to vote for Bristol? We doubt it as there were only a few individuals who admitted they’d voted multiple times for Bristol.

Was the ability to vote for Bristol more than once an ABC glitch? We don’t think so as we watched the entire season of the show and we can’t recall ABC warning viewers they could call or text only one ‘vote’. If individuals could vote more than once for Bristol there was ability of viewers to vote more than once for Jennifer Grey, Kyle Massey, and Brandy.

The problem is that Bristol Palin has earned lower dance scores than Brandi, yet stays on. It's a problem so large, the show's producers have made statements to calm the crowd. This is what Dancing With The Stars Producer Conrad Green told EW's Popwatch:

A little bit of a deep breath needs to be taken. If you look at the judges scores alone, undoubtedly, Brandy has been a better dancer throughout the competition. But the gap between her and Bristol has closed. One thing that people aren’t really taking into account [when it comes to Palin] is that a lot of viewers vote for improvement. Bristol has made a huge improvement. While she is obviously behind still in terms of technical ability, she’s that much closer than she ever was before.

There is a popularity contest element to it, but really we let the audience vote so they can put their spin on the results. Their spin could come from any number of sources. We don’t do research into how and why people vote. It might be because they like their teeth, they might come from the same state, it might be because they have always been a fan of their mother, it might be because they always liked their music. There are a million reasons people can vote. But we think its an important correction within the system. We get celebrities from all kinds of backgrounds and some people have got a lot more dance experience than others.

Don't do research into why people vote?

Is Green kidding?

In other words, the vote could be gamed, and the Dancing With The Stars
minders would never know it.

That's not good for the show or for America. It's certainly not good for Brandi.

Oakland News: Rash Of Assault Crimes At Adams Point

If you live in the Adams Point area of Oakland and walk at night, don't walk alone. There has been a rash of crimes in the area of late. For example, according to the Adams Point Yahoo Message Board, there were not one, but five muggings along Euclid Avenue.

All of the muggings were thought to have been done by a group of three black men, but that's not certain. Here are some of the notifications of what happened:

Monday, November 15th:

Hi neighbors,

My neighbor, a 20-year old Asian youth was just held up at gunpoint in
front of his house. The 2 African American men chased him and were
spotted by 4 concerned neighbors (alerted by his yelling) before they
ran up to their get-away car - a 4 door blue or black sedan with a
driver and sped away.

According to the police who arrived in minutes - this was their FIFTH
mugging within the hour between Lakeshore and the Laurel.

They followed my neighbor home and mugged him as he got out of his car.

They are currently on the loose and people should be very concerned and
lock your doors (as one of these robberies with the same motive in the
past week was a home invasion).

If you see anything looking like our suspects, please call the police
asap - as they are basically chasing these guys around town.

It's not clear if the person or persons who responsible were eventually nabbed by the CHP, but the overall point of this is to get to know people. A number of female members at Gold's Gym, as one example, walk alone and for long distances. There's also the Sidebar Restaurant, just down the street. Walk with someone from the gym or Sidebar, anyone. (As I write this, I'm in Georgia, so it's not about me. Seriously.)

We have a problem in the neighborhood where a black person like myself doesn't get robbed, but whites are a bigger target. Racism? Yep.

One way to combat this if you walk alone and insist on doing so, is to hold your head up and walk without fear. As silly as this sounds, it's really effective. Part of the issue is the expectation that something bad will happen. Take that out of your head.

But the best thing is to just not walk alone.

PGA Golfer Erica Blasberg Death - Dr. Thomas Hess Should Talk

Erica Blasberg. For some reason, this blogger thinks is spiritual, her name keeps coming back. Blasberg is the 25-year old PGA female golfer who died in her home about eight months ago outside of Las Vegas, Nevada.

 Reports were that she committed suicide, but her parents don't believe that. The last person she was seen with is a guy named Dr. Thomas Hess.

In August, after an investigation that took four months to complete, Nevada law enforcement arrested Dr. Thomas Hess.

 He posted bail, but in the process gave them little to go by and took a suicide note and meds from her place. In short, Hess's not talking much, which means he knows something.

And, again, what did the suicide note that Hess removed from her home read?  A question till not answered.

Stay tuned.

Bank Of America, Fayetteville GA Account Screw Up

The Bank Of America, in Fayetteville GA at 326 Highway 314 is just not a good place to do business. As a result of my blog traffic and my Google account, their system sends a monthly check.

 The check, because of the way I fill out the online page, has my name and my business name, and that's been the case for years. I've always placed that check in my Bank of America account in Oakland.

And that's my personal account; my checks paid with just my business name on them are deposited in my business account - not with Bank of America.

To make my life a little easier as I travel to Atlanta, Georgia to help my Mom, and on a quasi-monthly basis, I had my check sent to the address there. So, the last thing that occurred to me was that the Bank of America there would give me a hassle. But that's what happened.

My mother has views of the South that I do not share. She doesn't believe in making waves because she thinks it's too racist to matter; I could care less.

At the branch, it seemed I was going to have no problem depositing - keep that in mind depositing - my check. But a teller who works at the two branches there just saw my name, and then the business name and said "I can't put this in," and then got the manager of the bank to agree.

My response was that is not what Bank of America does. I figured it was due to some issue at the first bank, so the next day, I went to the Bank of America at 326 Highway 314, figuring I could just deposit the check. But the same teller - a white woman with glasses who appeared to be about 65 in age - from the other bank was next to the teller who was helping me, and then moved over to whisper something to the ear of the other teller. So, I had the same problem.

But in explaining my situation, I quickly decided to make a video while I was dealing with the issue. Then, we called Bank of America from the truck, and a customer service representative named Raymond, and who had a New York accent, said that the bank should not have done that.

I didn't turn my camcorder on, so when I arrived back home, I made another call to Bank of America, and another customer service representative told me the bank should not have done that! And she added that because Bank of America "hires people from off the street," you get people who aren't the "sharpest knifes" in the drawer.

At any rate, this is to openly have Bank of America stop these practices where branches treat people like this. Suppose I needed to deposit that check because I was without money and was there on an emergency trip for my mother? It not only would not have mattered to them, they would have been acting against their own Bank of America policies, as told to me by two people on the phone, in the video!

I find it really disconcerting that I had this problem "in person," but not over the phone where they can't see my face. Is that racism? Sure feels like it.

Bank of America in Fayetteville, GA must change. I don't care if it's the South, just deposit my check in my account. Please. Thanks.

Bristol Palin is Still Dancing

Tonight on Dancing With The Stars Brandy and Maksim Chmerkovskiy were given the boot - leaving Jennifer Grey & Derek Hough, Kyle Massey & Lacey Schwimmer and Bristol Palin & Mark Ballas.

There are all these conspiracy theories in the works regarding Bristol still being in the competition. Some are saying that the Tea Party is backing her up, but the 20-year-old told Access Hollywood that she doesn't think there is any truth behind the Tea Party and/or Republican Party backing her up.

So sick of this "Tea Party" and even more sick of the Palin takeover. Now Sarah Palin even has her own television reality show on TLC - which will probably have to take the spot of the weekly Jersey Shore episode recaps for the time being.

It's still impossible to understand how Bristol Palin was able to beat out Brandy. Brandy is an actual star and is talented and has had television shows, concerts, cds, etc. As Sarah Palin might say, this all seems "backassward."

Kanye West, Today Show PR Issue | Susie Arons Still With Rubenstein

Contrary to reports, Susie Arons, the Rubenstein Communications Executive Vice President said to have quit the long-standing New York publicity firm, is still there. This, in the wake of Kanye West's disastrous appearance on the Today show with Matt Lauer.

In case you were hiding under a rock, here's a video recap of what happened in the form of the actual Today segment:



As shown, President George W. Bush said that Kanye West's idea that he didn't care about black people was the worst moment of his life. That includes what happened to New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina and both wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Unbelievable.

West reportedly was invited to appear on the Today show, according to New York Post Page Six, West hired Susie Arons to "coach" him for the show segment. She advised against going on, but he did so anyway, and called her. They practiced what he was going to say, but as you can see, the coaching didn't take well.

What West should have done was speak his mind. It could have been a good moment for America, if West explained institutional racism and its impact. But, then again, West obviously isn't the best spokesperson for such a subject.

West Goes To Twitter

Because he was afraid of taking on Lauer in person, West took to Twitter to blast the show for "ambushing" him by showing the segment from the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards. Indeed, it wasn't an ambush by the Today show at all; showing clips during an interview is a common practice.

Susie Arons Can't Control Kanye

Susie Arons can't control what Kanye says, she can only offer suggestions, argue, and in the worst case tackle him in an attempt at restraint, but she can't control Kanye West.  But the news is Susie Arons - along with colleagues Assistant Vice President Pristina Alford and Senior Vice President Kimberly Kress, all still work together in the New York office of Rubenstein.

It's also clear that Susie's engagement was a "one-off" and she's not part of his standard team.  She was called in to do a job, and she did it.  From a morbid perspective, it got Rubenstein Communications more publicity that it could afford to generate on its own.

Meanwhile, West still refers to the Today show matter on Twitter, crediting the New York Times for getting the story right.  Specifically, the NY Times ArtsBeat article post.

Is Congress Murdering the 99er Nation by Neglect? “You Betcha”

Is Congress murdering the 99ers by neglecting to add a Tier 5 in the past 8 months? The undeniable answer is “You Betcha” - as Sarah Palin would say.

By legal definition, murder requires either intent or neglect of lawful duty. Careless disregard for human life also meets the legal definition of murder in America. Though the legal definitions mentioned here are not exhaustive, so far, I'd say Washington is GUILTY!

After months of petitions, fax attacks, letters, phone calls emails, marches, rallies, media coverage on 5 major networks, countless suicides and a few arrests - Congress is still not listening to the American people on the Tier 5 issue.

There is a great deal of talk out there these days about the wishes of the American people, but there isn’t a single person in Washington who gives a damn about the wishes of the American people who are not rich.

If that were not the case, Congress would actually do something about the fact that over 50 million Americans this year alone have had trouble just putting food on the table, instead of whining about tax cuts. NEWS FALSH: If you have no income - TAX CUTS will not help you at all. I do not hear any Tea Party flunky talking about that nor do I hear Mitch McConnell or Boehner discussing how this is a priority with the GOP.

In my recent article, Credit Score the New “Mark of the Beast”? I discussed how unemployment and the Washington/Wall Street created recession has hurt the credit ratings of millions of jobless Americans - making it nearly impossible to land the most menial job.

Several 99ers forwarded that article to (who else) Mr. Ed Schultz of MSNBC yesterday and today - Ed’s show opening commentary blasted this very practice by employers. [See video below] See Ed is still doing everything he possibly can to help the 99ers. Ed Schultz is the real deal - a true man of his word and one of the very few in the media who even “gets it!”

Since Tiers 3 & 4 began running out in January this year, the rolls of the UI exhaustees have grown to more than 5 million Americans. In that time, 5 bills have been brought before the Halls of Congress in an effort to extend UI benefits but ONLY by extending the dates for which to file for UI and NOT additional UI benefits.

This has confused a great many Americans, some members of Congress and most of the media to boot. It has not exactly confused NELP (National Employment Law Project - a supposed advocacy group for the unemployed) nor has it bewildered the AFL-CIO but no matter how long and hard the 99ers try to court the assistance of those 2 huge lobbying groups in Washington - the 99er Nation gets NOTHING but empty promises from both groups. When it comes to our Tier 5 to Survive - both NELP and the AFL-CIO are as worthless and uncaring as Congress.

If Sarah Palin really cares about anyone but her self - why doesn’t she donate even one dime of her wealth to help Americans in poverty? Is she waiting for us to use our “2nd Amendment Rights” to fend for our selves? Well, most 99ers have had to pawn or sell off our guns for food long ago.

The fact is that next week the Congress will be on yet another paid vacation, likely without even considering S3706 (Tier 5) or even extending the UI filing dates - set to expire November 30th. I mean what is the urgency after all? What is another 2 million plus added to the rolls of the jobless without UI benefits after all? I mean they have already ignored 5 million Americans in this exact situation for over 8 months now. What harm could possibly come from adding another few million to the bunch?

So, Is Congress Murdering the 99er Nation by Neglect? “You Betcha” they are and they do not give a damn about the hurting poor jobless Americans. Washington is blatantly guilty of committing the most callous Social Holocaust in history!

May God Bless America, save Her & Her impoverished population from the devils in Washington and from those wealthy contributors who paid to put them in office.

The Statue of Liberty should now aptly read: Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free...so we can neglect and force them to starve like we do to America’s own poor......

(The entire clip is GREAT but the Credit issue is mentioned at 4:55 into this clip)

The donation button below is for me, Paladinette. If you like what I write and can afford to do so - please donate to the cause. I thank you!

South Park is Sued Again

So, a few years back South Park's Butters did a cute song and dance called "What What In The Butt." Before that episode aired there had been a video on YouTube withe the same title and it was a song and dance done that was basically identical to the one that the South Park episode had.

CNN reports:

In a 2008 episode of the series, Butters appeared in a music video that, according to the lawsuit filed by Brownmark Films, is a "nearly frame-by-frame recreation" of the original video, which became a viral sensation in 2007 and since then has had over 33,000,000 page views.

Comedy Central released a statement describing the "South Park" segment as a parody and saying that it's "fully protected against any copyright infringement claims under the fair-use doctrine and the First Amendment and we plan to vigorously defend those rights."

The images for this law suit can be found on E! Online for those who are interested in viewing the actual legal documents surrounding this case.

The following is the original video, and the first comment posted suggests that the version Butters did in South Park is better. Well, they're both funny. The legal documents are really worth taking a look at to see what really is going on behind the scenes.

C.R. Zazzy Builds Honda Excitement

C.R. Zazzy is the fictional spokesperson created for the Honda CR-Z to build excitement about the new vehicle.

C.R. Zazzy has filmed music videos on different college campuses, including New England School of Communications (NESCom) and Husson University it Bangor, (video below) which has made many college students very excited.

Tomorrow, Wednesday, November 17,  students can come test drive a CR-Z in front of the NESCom building from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. Those who wish to test drive the vehicle must provide proof of a valid driver's license.



That video takes place on Husson Campus and features lots of NESCom and Husson students (Nikky Raney is not in the video).

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows: Part 1

I have been a big fan of the "Harry Potter" series ever since it came out.  Whenever a new book was released I'd get my hands on it immediately and finished most of them within a few days.  Over the course of the franchise the books got longer and darker as the content matured with the characters.  One of my problems with the movies of the later books, as is my problem with most movies based on books, is that the content got  cut short.  There is only so much of the story you can tell in the 2 - 2 1/2 hour time frame of a movie.  This, of course, is an inevitable outcome, movies are 2-2 1/2 hours for a reason, most people can't sit through something much longer than that.

I remember being excited for the final fight scene between Dumbledore and Voldermort that was described in so much detail at the end of "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix."  In the movie, a scene that took up an entire chapter in the book, lasted for what seemed about 30 seconds (maybe it was longer than that but my perception is biased due to the huge let down I felt).  I remember thinking to myself "this is why I books are always better than the movie."   It's not that I didn't enjoy the movie, it's just that I wanted to see more of the story line than was presented.

The last book is by far the longest in the series and there's a lot that happens.  If it hadn't been cut into two movies the franchise would have suffered greatly.  So, when I heard that "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows" was going to be divided into two films I was pleasantly surprised.

The first installment of the 2 part conclusion to the Harry Potter series premiered Monday, November 16th, in New York City.  The second installment is due to come out in Summer of 2011.  The film opens Friday, November 19th in U.S theaters and marks the beginning of the end in the popular series.

The movies so far have been very entertaining, even with the content cut short, and my only qualm with splitting up the two movies is that they are being released 6 months apart.  I'm sure I'll leave the theater entertained but I can also picture myself walking out pulling my hair and screaming "I gotta wait another 6 months to see the next one!?!?!"  The wait will be worth it though if the creators stay true to the story line of the books.

John Bobst aka The Force of Nature

www.theforceofnature.net
www.doyouseewhatyouget.com

Royal Engagement Ring: Prince William Propose to Kate Middleton

Prince William proposed to his girlfriend Kate Middleton during a vacation in Kenya last month.  The engagement was officially announced via Twitter on November 14th and the Royal Families Facebook page on November 16th.

Prince William and Kate Middleton have been dating since 2001, when they met during their first year attending St. Andrews University. Over the last 8 years Prince Edward and Kate Middleton have had some troubled times and the news of their engagement has put an end to the "will they, won't they" questions.

The Clarence statement reported that “Prince William has also sought the permission of Miss Middleton’s father.”  It has also been reported that Prince William gave Kate Middleton the same engagement ring that his mother, the late Princess Diana, was given by Prince William father, Prince Charles.

The wedding is  tentatively planned for the spring or summer of 2011 and it has been rumored that it will be held at West Minster Abbey, the location of Princess Diana's funeral.  A representative of the palace told NBC "Further details about the wedding day will be announced in due course,"

John Bobst aka The Force of Nature

www.theforceofnature.net
www.doyouseewhatyouget.com

After earmarks?

GOP leaders, apparently taking cues from Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY), and thrilled to be in a majority in the House of Representatives when the next Congress convenes in January, seem intent on banning legislative earmarks despite reforms initiated during the 110th Congress which brought much-needed transparency and accountability to this relatively small part of the allocation process. In fact, reforms have already reduced earmark spending by about $3 billion, to the point where the process now represents between 1% - 2% of federal spending.

But here's the million dollar question: By what new process will funding decisions be made if earmarks go away? If Congress doesn't specify allocation decisions, then it falls to the executive branch. Will spending choices made by agencies and their politically appointed heads be somehow superior to those made by our elected officials? It may sound like progress at first blush -- it's obviously got the elite GOP messaging teams excited, and right-leaning media commentators love it -- but GOP Senator Jim Inhofe (R-OK) doesn't think it's a good idea at all.

Inhofe, who says publicly he'll keep right on earmarking, knows the danger in moving away from the recent reforms to adopt a new process under control of political appointees.

Is that "executive branch control" over spending really what the people who assert the government has too much control and that earmarks are simply - and always - pork spending honestly think is the "best way to rein in big government," or is it more sound-bites setting up partisan bickering that will distract Congress from taking up more important challenges?

Look, when it's done away from the light, if the media and other watchdogs fail to follow the money, then earmarking is a system open to abuse and fraud. But are we going to ask Congress to invent a whole new process during a time when the GOP controls the House while Democrats retain the majority in the Senate and prominent GOP Senators are saying that gives too much spending control to the Obama administration?

Oh that should go really quickly.

Thomas Hayes is an entrepreneur, journalist, political strategist, and photographer who recently worked as the Campaign Manager on the Madore For Congress campaign in Minnesota's 2nd District. He contributes regularly to a host of other web sites on topics ranging from economics and politics to culture and community.