Casey Johnson death - Tila Tequila battles Perez Hilton on Twitter

While the LA County Coroner's Office continues its examinations related to the death of Caset Johnson, and celebrities from Paris Hilton and Nicky Hilton to Lindsay Lohan share their grief online, blogger Perez Hilton has launched a full-scale Twitter attack on Casey Johnson's wife-to-be, Tila Tequila.

Perez Hilton, who on his blog describes Casey Johnson as "drug plagued" and having recently "left a stint in rehab" and filed the post under "Drugs", started the tweet attack 14 hours ago from the writing of this blog post.

Perez Hilton believes and has said that Tila Tequila is using the passing of Casey Johnson to promote herself:

@officialtila Tweet away, honey. The more you Tweet, the more your true colors reveal themselves. And they are vile!
about 14 hours ago from web

@officialtila I'm amazed you're not broadcasting live, showing us you're "grieving"! That's totally something trash like you would do!
about 14 hours ago from web

Tila Tequila responded back with a slew of tweets, starting with this one:

@PerezHilton have some decency! You love poking fun at people who have passed away dont you? First Mocking MJ's Death & now My FIance's?
about 14 hours ago from web in reply to PerezHilton

Which Perez elected to answer back with...

@officialtila You should try and get custody of her daughter. That'd be GREAT publicity, all you crave in life!
about 14 hours ago from web

Tila responds:

@PerezHilton Actually Casey & I were going to do that next. That was my Wife's wish was for me to adopt ava. Ur jus jealous nobody loves u.
about 14 hours ago from web in reply to PerezHilton

And..

Lonely @perezhilton Cant find anyone else to pick on so now he thinks he can pick on me cuz I'm in a vulnerable state with my wife passing
about 14 hours ago from web

But Perez Hilton has to "up" the nastiness:

@officialTila OF COURSE that's what she wanted! Suuuure! Why would anyone believe YOU???? You are a PATHOLOGICAL LIAR!
about 13 hours ago from web in reply to officialTila

@officialTila And I DO have decency. That's why I will NEVER mention you on my site again. I care too much about my readers!
about 13 hours ago from web

@officialTila Go back to grieving and exploiting her death. You're great at being soulless!
about 13 hours ago from web

And Tila continues her tweets in kind:

@PerezHilton oh after watching your bitch crying snot throwing video about how my friend @Iamrealwill punched U..it was 2 embarassing!
about 14 hours ago from web in reply to PerezHilton

Truly a sad individual @perezhilton first u Mock the death of Michael Jackson and now this? U seriously need God. Wait. God Rejected you.
about 14 hours ago from web

And it went on for some time this morning, with Twitterers taking sides. But this is one place where Perez Hilton's best move would have been to leave Tila Tequila alone. The death of a loved one is sacred ground, even in the blogosphere.

While it's certainly true that Tila Tequila has done some questionable things over the past year (and surely didn't have to call 911 on Paris Hilton in the matter of Casey Johnson's dog)  it does not give Carte Blanch for the kind of attack Perez Hilton has leveled on her.

 Moreover, there's a certain way a man should talk to a woman, and that way should not stop because Perez Hilton is gay.

The "news" here is that the exchange is a path-breaking moment in New Media. Seeing how far Perez Hilton stretches the bounds of decency without being hit with a defamation lawsuit is interesting. It's not an approach bloggers should adapt at all, regardless of whatever traffic it produces.

Has Perez been sued? Yes, and for $25 million in the case of Wargo v. Lavandeira but that was dismissed. The reason is that the plaintiff, Diane Wargo, had claimed that Perez did not have the right to print an email she wrote which contained homophobic slurs. As a result of the posted email, which contained Wargo's place of work, address, and contact information, Wargo claims she was fired from her job.

Wargo sued Perez Hilton, aka Mario Lavandeira and 25 anonymous comment posters. The case was dismissed after several motions because of lack of "personal jurisdiction": the lawsuit was filed in Ohio, but because Perez Hilton does not transact business there, the lawsuit was considered invalid.

In other words, Perez prevailed on a legal technicality.

Even with that, while it's true that celebrities are public figures - and anyone that attracts "Internet chatter" is called a limited purpose public figure - the law does not mean that you can just tee-off on someone as Perez has done.

Moreover, as one who's lost six friends over the past two years, the most recent funeral on Tuesday of this week, the key word is always sympathy. If Tila Tequila's destiny is to have a larger audience because of the death of Casey Johnson, so be it. That may very will be God's will; Perez Hilton has no power to reverse the outcome. Indeed, his tweets just helped it along.










Related topics:

johnson and johnson death, johnson death, johnson and johnson heiress casey johnson, johnson and johnson heiress, how did casey johnson die

Tom Hayes: Is Gary Hart downplaying the threat?

I disagree that the tea-baggers and others referred to in Hart's Huffington Post OpEd today, "Getting the Government We Seem to Want," hurt only themselves - by acting to disrupt civil discourse and undermine the effectiveness of our government they drag the country toward a path that will parallel the outcomes of "no taxes but no government" as currently practiced in Somalia.

"...the cynics and trolls who scream like banshees at town hall meetings and scan the blogosphere to post cynical put-downs of their country's government are hurting no one but themselves."

I'm forced to disagree: They hurt me. They hurt everyone else living in the U.S. In fact, it goes beyond today; such actions threaten the well-being, liberty, standard of living, and the intent of the founding fathers when they inserted the language pertaining to "pursuit of happiness" for my descendants (and yours, and theirs.)

I do share Hart's concern that, "the most qualified Americans will continue to choose not to serve their country and we will continue to be weaker for it."

Under the adopted camouflage of the Boston Tea Party, which was about the unfair nature of being taxed without representation not anarchy, these short-sighted, loud-mouthed, anti-government anarchists threaten the values predicating, and described in, the Constitution of The United States.

Thomas Hayes is an entrepreneur, journalist, and political analyst who contributes regularly to a host of web sites on topics ranging from economics and politics to culture and community.

Avatar, Star Trek, two of seven films in Visual Effects Oscar race

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced today that seven films remain in the competition to pick three nominees for the Oscar for Best Visual Effects. Here's the list of films:

2012
Avatar
District 9
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Star Trek
Terminator Salvation
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

That list came from the original tally of 15 movies competing for the Visual Effects prize. Coraline, Angels & Demons, Disney's A Christmas Carol, G-Force, G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, Sherlock Holmes, Watchmen, and Where the Wild Things Are did not make the cut.

It also means the buzz for Avatar,  Star Trek, and District 9 continues to grow, as Tuesday, the Producers Guild annouced that the popular 2009 Sci-Fi epics were part of its list of the 10 best films vying for the Zanuck Award of Best Picture.  

On January 21st, Academy members representing the Visual Effects branch will gather to look at 15-minute excerpts  from the seven films; from that review, three nominees will be selected for the 2010 Academy Award for Visual Effects.

2010 Oscar nominations will be announced Tuesday, February 2, 2010 at 5:30 PM PST.   The Oscars will be presented Sunday, March 7, 2010.

Stay tuned.

Chicago to try Oakland-style parking strategy

The cash-strapped City of Chicago is turning to an Oakland, California-style way of raising money for its coffers: parking meter rates around Chicago go up 75 cents to $4.25 per hour  to park in downtown Chicago in 2010. According to the Chicago Tribune, residents are not happy.

Melody Fillier, a a pharmaceutical salesperson, told the Chicago Tribune "I think it's really expensive. It just blows me away."

Parking rates have quadrupled in some areas of Chicago. And before the meter rate change, the old meters broke down; more tickets were written as people stuffed coins in broken meters.

Meanwhile, Chicago Mayor Richard Daley has drawn fire for a parking meter lease deal that has given the City a cash windfall but led to the increased meter rates. But the parking deal was defended as giving money to a Chicago that needed it. But the result is a parking fee cost that threatens to drive away residents from using stores in downtown Chicago and harm Chicago's poorest citizens.

Still, the Chicago approach is not anywhere near the level of harm that Oakland's exacts on its citizens. Oakland has not only high parking meter rates, but aggressive ticketing and towing policies.

Plus, Oakland's consideration of a new parking study reveals a concern for parking as a revenue generator, but no mention of the fact that it's a regressive tax on the poor. That is shown in this Oakland City Council Staff Report that was considered by the City of Oakland at last night's City Council meeting. You can download a copy of the report, which calls for a comprehensive city-wide parking study, here at this link:

http://clerkwebsvr1.oaklandnet.com/attachments/23626.pdf

Meanwhile, talks forming an Oakland Parking Initiative continue; the date of the next meeting has not been set as of this blog report.

Stay tuned.

Avatar and Star Trek up Oscar buzz in the air - producer's guild

The Producers Guild of America announced its ten nominees for the Darryl F. Zanuck Producer of the Year Award and three of them, Avatar, District 9, and Star Trek have the Sci-Fi World buzzing in the hope that a film representing that genre will earn a Best Picture Academy Award.

The Producers Guild award takes on a special significance this year for two reasons: first because its an important (not perfect) "precursor" in predicting which film will get the coveted Best Picture Oscar, and second, because there will be ten nominees competing for the prize this year.

Here's the overall list from the Producers Guild of America's website:

Darryl F. Zanuck Producer of the Year Award in Theatrical Motion Pictures:

AVATAR
Producers: James Cameron, Jon Landau
DISTRICT 9
Producers: Carolynne Cunningham, Peter Jackson
AN EDUCATION
Producers: Finola Dwyer, Amanda Posey
THE HURT LOCKER
Producer(s): Awaiting final credit determination.
INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS
Producer: Lawrence Bender
INVICTUS
Producers: Clint Eastwood, Rob Lorenz, Lori McCreary , Mace Neufeld
PRECIOUS: BASED ON THE NOVEL PUSH BY SAPPHIRE
Producers: Lee Daniels, Gary Magness, Sarah Siegel-Magness
STAR TREK
Producers: J.J. Abrams, Damon Lindelof
UP
Producer: Jonas Rivera
UP IN THE AIR
Producer(s): Awaiting final credit determination.

Will Star Trek and District 9 cause Avatar's elimination from a win?  Avatar's a beautiful movie but Star Trek and District 9 have tight story lines. Star Trek, of course, has a multi-generational legion of fans.  


Stay Tuned.  

Casey Johnson's death like Brittany Murphy's appears linked to diabetes

Johnson and Johnson Heiress Casey Johnson, who was in the news for a reported engagement to reality TV show star Tila Tequila, died tragically at the age of 30, Monday.

According to CNN, Johnson's passing was first reported on Tequila's Twitter page, then confirmed by police. As of this writing there's no official cause of death, but like that of Actress Brittany Murphy, Casey Johnson's problems appear to have been related to a battle with diabetes and according to TMZ, not suicide or fowl play as of this writing.

Casey Johnson has a history of diabetes which she allegedly did not handle well. Fox411.com reports, "Casey had very severe diabetes and was not taking care of herself properly. With her condition she should have been closely monitoring her health, taking insulin, monitoring blood sugar levels, and she wasn't."

After Brittany Murphy passed away on the Sunday just before Christmas, it was revealed that she too was fighting a battle with diabetes.



Stay tuned.

President Obama's Hyde Park, Chicago house and neighborhood

While President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama were enjoying their "vacation" house in Hawaii over the holidays, I was in Chicago with my Mom and her friend, who's daughter and husband are friends of the First Couple and live not far from the Obama's other home in Hyde Park, Chicago.

Chicago is my hometown, so the area around Greenwood and Hyde Park, where the Obama's home is located is familiar territory for me. Because of that, it was heart-warming for me to walk the grounds near their home because there's is such the American success story.

To be acquainted with someone who becomes President of The United States and to know people who really know that person and for everyone to be either alive and in essentially the same generation or forward of it, is just plain exciting and affirming of a life path - in this case, mine. I had to capture the moment in my video blog.

What's weird about the neighborhood is what's necessary: the security. There are barricades, government cars, and the overall feeling of constantly being watched. Overall, massively cool; that's the way it should be.

In another weird way that feeling of a presence lends itself to Hyde Park's newfound uber-coolness. I know Hyde Park, but not this Hyde Park. It's buzzing with people, stores, shops, and eateries. Real estate prices have increased to reflect the demand to live in the area, even in the lousy economy and all because of Barack Obama's assent to most powerful person in the World.

Nice.