@ConanOBrien blasts NBC and Jay Leno on CBS 60 Minutes (video)

Conan O'Brien talks about the NBC's The Tonight Show and Jay Leno scandal with Steve Kroft of CBS 60 Minutes. The full segment airs tomorrow (Sunday) night on 60 Minutes at 7 PM EST and PST.

This excerpt clip reveals a Conan O'Brien still obviously pained by the ouster from The Tonight Show after just six months on the job and at the hands of Jay Leno, who pushed Conan out after Jay's 10 PM NBC program failed.

Here's the video:



What happened in what some have called "The Late Shift Two" was that when Jay Leno wanted to return to late-night television, Jeff Gaspin, NBC's head of entertainment, asked Conan to move back to his midnight slot to make room for a 30-minute show for Jay. Conan reportedly said no according to The New York Times.

The result was a nasty public argument that drew in everyone from David Letterman to this blogger, and even Howard Stern sidekick Artie Lange, who warned Conan about moving to LA.

Jay Leno didn't make it any better by issuing his "State of The Network" speech saying "Don't blame Conan:"



But David Letterman's take was classic:



Now, Conan O'Brien will get his own 11 PM show on TBS as George Lopez agreed to move his show to midnight.

In an obvious blast at Jay Leno, Conan said "If I had surrendered The Tonight Show and handed it over publicly to someone else, then I would not have come back six months later. But that's me. You know? Everyone's got their own, you know, way of doing things."

Asked if NBC had handled things differently, Conan O'Brien said the relationship between he and NBC had become so toxic it was time for a split.

Kentucky Derby odds and payout - Lookin At Lucky favorite

Lookin At Lucky 

The 2010 Kentucky Derby is today and post time is 6:24 PM ESI. As of this writing, Lookin At Lucky is still the favorite to win, even with the poor post position it has. As I wrote on Friday, considering the post position issues and the odds, it's better to pick any of the 50-1 horses where you would get a bigger payout.

So with that, how much would you earn if you bet $100? DocSports.com has the answer in this list of what such a bet on each horse in today's Kentucky Derby would pay:

Lookin At Lucky +450
Sidneys Candy +700
Awesome Act +900
Ice Box +1000
Super Saver +1000
Devil May Care +1200
Dublin +1200
Mission Impazible +1200
American Lion +1200
Jackson Bend +1200
Paddy Oprado +1600
Line of David +2000
Stately Victor +2000
Nobles Promise +2000
Conveyance +2200
Deans Kitten +3300
Discreetly Mine +3300
Make Music For Me +3500
Homeboykris +4000
Backtalk +5000

The favorite is Lookin at Lucky at $450; the highest is Backtalk at $5,000. Again, Dean's Kitten, Make Music for Me, Paddy O'Prado, Backtalk, and Homeboykris are the horses with 50-1 odds. But if I had to pick one of these horses, it would be Dean's Kitten. For one thing, it's odds changed from 50-1 to 40-1 just today. Moreover, in its last two races it placed 1st and 2nd.

Whatever the case, this is going to be an exciting Kentucky Derby.

Rock the Casbah!

Tylenol Recall 2010 impacts Children’s Tylenol - hotline number given

The Internet is abuzz with the news of the latest Tylenol recall, but the lead title on many blogs and newssites is wrong. It's Children’s Tylenol that's being recalled, not "Tylenol Recall 2010." According to The New York Times, Johnson & Johneson's McNeil Consumer Healthcare unit voluntarily recalled Children’s Tylenol from shelves, according to The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Saturday.

You should stop using the following: Tylenol, Motrin, Zyrtec and Benadryl. Some of them may have an ingredient that may not meet FDA testing guidelines. This is, in part, what the McNeil Consumer Healthcare press release reads:

McNeil Consumer Healthcare is initiating this voluntary recall because some of these products may not meet required quality standards. This recall is not being undertaken on the basis of adverse medical events. However, as a precautionary measure, parents and caregivers should not administer these products to their children. Some of the products included in the recall may contain a higher concentration of active ingredient than is specified; others may contain inactive ingredients that may not meet internal testing requirements; and others may contain tiny particles. While the potential for serious medical events is remote, the company advises consumers who have purchased these recalled products to discontinue use.

McNeil offers a phone number for consumers to call: 1-888-222-6036 and on Monday through Friday 8 AM to 10 PM EST and Saturday and Sunday 9 AM to 5 PM EST. You can also visit the website www.mcneilproductrecall.com.

St. Vincent's Hospital shocker + the anger! posted by Suzannah B. Troy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6XBtpawY_3Q

Above is Yetta Kurland who almost beat city council speaker Christine Quinn who like Mike Bloomberg barely won her seat back the way mayor Mike Bloomberg spent the most obscene amount of money ever in NYC history, close to 110 million dollars for the most humiliating win and tainted because the people of New Yorker were denied a referendum!


Well Yetta Kurland, a Civil Rights lawyer and community activist is going strong and full out for the community as is she had won the city council seat and this short YouTube above gives you some insight in the fact St. Vincent's may be closing but it is not a closed case!







This YouTube is called "St. Vincent's Shocker. A nurse gives an extremely moving and rousing speech.
She calls for a revolution. She says you people need a revolution downtown. She conjurs up the 1960's!!!  
This is a very rousing speech and I agree. We need to tell the politicians this is just not good enough!!!!

I think of Peter Finch in Network! "I am as mad as hell and I am not going to take it anymore!"

The speaker speaks up about the concerns that nurses may not get their pensions, that some 
nurses had checks that bounced and more shocking details that are red flags.
Someone yells out Enron. Some now unemployed and tried to apply unemployment and were denied.
The nurse calls out for a Federal Investigation. Please watch this you.





Dr. David Kaufman explains why we need an emergency room and he points out too many people
use the emergency room for non-emergencies. He doesn't mention that many people do so 
because they have no health insurance.
By the way St. Vincent's never turned anyone away according to what I was told.




These YouTubes are deeply moving and I hope you will watch them.
"The St. Vincent's Shocker" is a must see.
Very shocking and I do hope a Federal Investigation does happen! 
Even more I wish for a late in the 9th Inning miracle that the hospital is re-opened but
for now it looks like a dead issue and I don't know what the
people of the neighborhood will do! We need this hospital bailed out more than any bank!

Two massive disasters Eco-disaster and Economic post by Suzannah B. Troy NYC

This newest terrible oil spill is an eco-diaster beyond what people maybe understanding and it is heartbreaking but also here in NY,  the budgetary crisis is devastating as well and we maybe moving from a recession to a depression.    The oil spill is worse because entire populations of sea life maybe obliterated but both are nightmares as far as I am concerned and should never have happened.

The economic crisis  here and for the country is not being  addressed effectively and I am sure it will have world wide tremors but here in NY Albany's politicos can't get it through their thick skull how actually devastating this economic crisis is and refuse to work together to close the budget crisis.  President Obama did inherit a disaster but here in NY it has been more the making of Albany and City Hall and they are not doing anything effectively to address the problem.  Most New Yorkers see politicians as corrupt fat cats...not all but many.

We also have an accidental governor who is not a strong leader or one with integrity who should have resigned quite a while ago and I am guessing he spends a lot of time on the phone with his defense attorney because of all the scandals, at least 3 significant ones that make him an even more ineffectual leader if that was possible.

Both the eco-diaster -- this massive oil spill and this economic disaster are hard to wrap one's mind around.  The nature disaster is a travesty beyond words and comprehension but this economic disaster means even more people lay-offed and more pay-cuts, more closings, quality of life here in NYC continuing to spiral downward.  I continue to ask is City Council unvoting themselves a raise.

Here is my YouTube from Oct. 13, 2008 Gloomy Bloomy News Sub-Zero Trickledown

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UnkhunOHe6g

How did I know this and the mayor seemed not to know this and he made promises and brokered deals to win or steal his third term which would further bankrupt NYC as he gave away or spent over a hundred million dollars with sub-zero trickle down.  Mike Bloomberg is also in big trouble with his spending close to a million dollars that he  can't account for to buy his third term and this is being investigated by an appointee of Cy Vance's as well as Mike Bloomberg's association and continue loyalty to Steve Rattner who has essentially been blamed for anything and all things corrupt with Quadrangle and the pension fund scandals.  Of course Rattner says he is innocent although his own firm, Quadrangle disavowed him and of course Rattner will just pay some hefty fine by real peoples' standards but small change for him and no jail time or even a guilty plea.  In the US if you are rich, a celebrity, a politico or well connected you get to plead no contest.  

All this spells disasters that will be affecting people and the eco-diaster the planet for a long time.

NYC Beats Back at Arizona post by Suzannah B. Troy

Thousands of workers and immigrants demanding FULL RIGHTS NOW and people supporting equal rights, human rights and standing up to what they feel is racism showed up at Union Square to protest Arizona's stance on immigrants as well as attend the the 6th Annual May Day March starting at Union Square which was jammed packed with protestors and all with shoppers at the Farmers Market so I took photos of protest walking through the market as well a very brief clip of just how crowded the protest is and it is going very strong even as I post this.

I was sent an email from the organizers that also used facebook and the attendance was very strong and people of all ages including parents with small children holding flags.

Protestors walking thru the Farmers Market and believe me this photo and the others give you no idea of just how crowded the area was and is and also how hot it is today!


New York is overwhelming liberal and there were no counter-protestors in site just shoppers buying lilacs and fresh fruits in contrast to the many immigrant workers that showed up with their family members and lots of supporters.

NY Budget CRISIS an interview by Suzannah B. Troy with Dan Halloran, City Council member

Miami Dolphins should fire GM Jeff Ireland

Jeff Ireland 

Although this isn't going to happen, yet, the Miami Dolphins should fire Jeff Ireland. After asking then-Oklahoma State and now Dallas Cowboys Wide Receiver Dez Bryant if his mother was a prostitute, then reportedly appologizing for the insult, Ireland used Sports Illustrated to rub salt in the wound.

S.I.'s Jim Trotter reports the following alleged interaction between Dez Bryant and Jeff Ireland and says it comes from unnamed sources but essentially clears Jeff Ireland because Jeff claims Dez said his own father was a pimp:

"My dad was a pimp."
"What did your mom do [for a living]?"
"She worked for my dad."
"Your mom was a prostitute?"
"No, she wasn't a prostitute."

Jim Trotter didn't get the message from Dez Bryant, who calls his blog post a "lie" according to the Palm Beach Post and ESPN's Ed Werner. Dez Bryant says its not true and Pro Football Talk.com explains that ESPN failed to report Bryant's version of the story until after Miami's Jeff Ireland countered Dez Bryant in another publication.

But Jeff Ireland's out of line and should be fired, or at the very least suspended for several weeks without pay.

The NFL needs to send a message that insults that defame the character of NFL Players are not to be allowed. This message needs to be sent to NFL front-offices and Jeff Ireland should be the example Commissioner Roger Goodell uses.

Claudia Shear Restoration NY Theatre Workshop Suzannah B. Troy loved the play and of course Claudia!

Vibeke Hastrup actor and producer visiting from Denmark is  here in NYC hoping to make her own play happen in 2011.  I had an extra ticket because a friend had to bow out last minute so I gave the ticket away and it couldn't have been to a nicer person and someone who truly appreciates the arts and theatre!  Above is a photo of Vibeke Hastrup and artist Suzannah B. Troy

Below Suzannah B. Troy's review of Restoration at New York Theatre Workshop  79 East 4th Street

I love Claudia Shear.  I loved her in "Blown Sideways through Life" which I saw with my friend David Kaufman.   I love her as Mae West.  I loved her tonight in Restoration.  I am her mother.  No we are the same age (well almost).  Claudia represents very passionate outspoken women, brash, intense, New York....did I say passionate?    Add brazen to brash and passionate!!!!!

Tonight was no exception.   Restoration was excellent, smart, fun and worth seeing so support the arts, good actors and one of my favorites Claudia Shear.

The play is about restoring Michelangelo's David and beauty and perfection in contrast to how imperfect humans are and how lonely.     There are the Bill Gates of  beauty and in contrast the star of Restoration although she is "rich" metaphorically - her interior life --- gifted with a good heart, a brilliant mind and a burning passion for her work.  She spends a lot of time with a really handsome security guard played by Jonathan Cake who is almost a living breathing David and the supporting cast was very good with a special nod for the  prof. and mentor played by Alan Mandell.

Well done and I have to say it one more time.  I LOVE CLAUDIA SHEAR!!!  She can play me anytime but she has to act a lot taller!!!!!

Peter Lopez, husband of Catherine Bach of "Dukes of Hazzard", dead

Catherine Bach and Peter Lopez

Peter Lopez, the husband of Catherine Bach of The Dukes of Hazzard and was an attorney for Michael Jackson, is dead in Encino, California. Peter Lopez is a name partner in the LA entertainment law firm Kleinberg, Lopez, Lange, Cuddy & Klein LLP (KLLCL), a 10-member law firm.

Peter Lopez was born in San Francisco June 7th, 1949 and admitted to the California bar in 1974. Lopez received both his B.S. and his J.D from UCLA. He's a meber of the Beverly Hills and American Bar Associations, the State Bar of California and the Mexican-American Bar Association.

KLLCL's website describes Peter Lopez in this way:

Peter Lopez is one of the most respected and well known entertainment lawyers in the country. Over the past two decades, Mr. Lopez has represented some of the biggest stars in the world as well as numerous major corporate clients. He is one of the founding partners of Kleinberg Lopez Lange Cuddy & Klein, LLP.

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger appointed Peter Lopez to the California State Athletic Commission in 2007, and more recently the Director of the California Exposition and State Fair Board.

With all of this success why would Lopez allegedly commit suicide? According to a number of sources like E!Online, paramedics and police responded to a 911 call at 11:30 AM today, Friday from the home of Catherine Bach.  Gun shots were reported to have been fired at Bach's home and Bach told police that Lopez shot himself.

Why?

Catherine Bach and Peter Lopez married in 1990 and have two children.

Stay tuned.

Carly Fiorina just lost the Latino vote in the California Senate race

Continuing the run of stupid statements made by GOP representatives, we have Carly Fiorina. (As a note before this blogger continues, it's important to get out of the way that Carly Fiorina's successful battle against Breast Cancer is an inspiration to others suffering from this awful problem. I wish Fiorina continued success in that area, but not in politics.)

In a grilling of an interview by Wolf Blitzer on CNN's The Situation Room, Carly Florina, running against U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer in an election battle for Boxer's California seat in The Senate, said that she understood and supports Arizona's controversial illegal immigration law.

Now the catch is Carly didn't say "I support and understand" in one sentence, she danced around the admission but then after Blitzer pressed her finally said "I understand why Arizona" passed the law and said it was because of "fear and frustration." Said she supports the law, but then quickly said the problem was the Federal Government's patrol of the boarder or lack of same.

It seemed that Carly knew she was wading into an area that would get her into trouble so she was talking carefully, but not carefully enough.

Carly should have said "I don't back Arizona."

The "fear" comment was telling. Fear of who, Carly? What kind of fear? Fear of Latinos?

Latino's make up 30 percent of Arizona's population. For Carly Fiorina to even mention that she "understands" what Arizona did and then says they're afraid calls into question if she's afraid of Latinos.

I watched Carly squirm and wondered why she felt it was so important to carry a conservative - er, Coach Potato Conservative - agenda? Somewhere along the way Florina forgot she's a Californian. Here, we expect conservatives to be inclusive and not fearful of others because of the color of their skin.

Hey, let's be honest here. The illegal immigration debate is about Latino's and not hot Irish waitresses or Swedish Au-Pair girls with expired VISAs. My guess is Carly doesn't fear them.

Stay tuned.

Ken Blackwell on Obama does Keystone Cops routine for CNN

Ken Blackwell's on CNN's The Situation Room as this is being written. In attacking President Obama for being what Ken claims is being "subversive" Ken's off base.

Ken Blackwell's a patriot. Ken's the former Mayor of Cincinnati, Ohio, the current head of the Family Research Council, and nearly became the head of The Republican Party. But, while achieving success even though he's part of the GOP, Ken Blackwell's attack on President Obama is silly. And to go a step beyond that, Ken Blackwell just plain sounds like he doesn't know what he's talking about.

Ken's got a new book out called Obama's Plan to Subvert the Constitution and Build an Imperial Presidency that accuses President Obama of trying to subvert the government, which is another way of saying Obama's subversive. The definition of that word is:

tending to subvert or advocating subversion, esp. in an attempt to overthrow or cause the destruction of an established or legally constituted government.

On CNN Ken Blackwell was up against the sharp Paul Begala. Ken started by stating that Obama's health care plan was an example because it mandates a tax payment for those who chose not to have any kind of health insurance.

Begala made Blackwell look like a fool by pointing to Article 1, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution and the need to maintain the general welfare of the United States. Because President Obama's clearly operating within constitutional bounds, writing a book that tries to prove he's not is downright nuts.

Instead of sticking with his Health Care Reform example, Blackwell said "well, then how about.." and that's when any credibility Blackwell may have had flew out of the window. Ken intellectually stumbled in a way that reminded me of some of Michelle Malkin's worst rants. Blackwell's CNN performance reminded me of a Keystone Cops routine:



Get the idea? Stumbling all over himself, poor man.

Blackwell will make money from his book because there are suckers who believe this stuff, and never read one part of the U.S. Constitution. Others, like Fox News, will give Ken Blackwell a seat on TV because he's a black conservative talking against an African American President Obama. All of this will make Blackwell a little bit richer, and America a whole lot dumber.

Stay tuned.