Tinker:
What has the Ivy
league blue bloods done to our school children, because of their
university's board of regents working for Harvard, Columbia, Princeton, and Yale
among others, own selfish reasons that looks so creepy to me now.
Now the good teachers working in our country
schools system are leaving in droves because the better teachers can't
teach the school children anymore in America. America has so many bad
parents hurting their children's ability to learn that the bad parents
neglect of their responsibility to their children education make this
generation's moment in the sun, more like a place in time living in
hell.
What on earth has the Ivy league blue bloods been teaching our school children.
Because all I see now is the Ivy tower bull talk that has caught up
with the reality of a country population failing everywhere, in and out
of the classroom.
--------------------
http://www.foxnews.com/us/
EXCLUSIVE: In the hallowed halls of Columbia University, a nest of ex-cons — who have served time for murder, attempted murder, robbery and assault — hold court on their unique brand of social justice for admiring students enrolled in the school's social work program, a FoxNews.com investigation has found.
The ex-cons work for or with the Criminal Justice Initiative (CJI), co-founded in 2009 by former Weather Underground operative and Columbia adjunct professor Kathy Boudin, who pleaded guilty to felony murder for her role in an infamous 1981 armed robbery that left two police officers and a security guard dead. And while that case was well-publicized, the group is hardly upfront about the “practical experience” of Boudin and others associated with the CJI.
A description on the program's website says it is "situated inside” Columbia, and a part of the school’s “Social Intervention Group,” a research center within the Columbia University School of Social Work. It lists among its goals helping to forge a solution for “a central social crisis of our time, mass incarceration.” The program holds events and conducts research as part of "an interdisciplinary project built around a model of community collaboration" that "seeks to increase the number of skilled practitioners, policy-makers and researchers who can advance the fields of re-entry and incarceration across all disciplines.”
But students and parents who shell out more than $43,000 in annual
tuition and fees might be hard-pressed to uncover the fact that former
inmates are running the CJI. Outside of a vague reference to Boudin and
Cheryl Wilkins being "part of a community of people who have returned
from prison," there is no information about their criminal pasts.
Boudin's school directory bio, for example, makes no mention of her time
in prison. Several other CJI faculty, program members and associates
have similarly disturbing backgrounds.
--------------------
http://www.guardian.co.uk/
• Document two: procedures used by NSA to minimise data collected from US persons
Top secret documents submitted to the court that oversees surveillance by US intelligence agencies show the judges have signed off on broad orders which allow the NSA to make use of information "inadvertently" collected from domestic US communications without a warrant.
The Guardian is publishing in full two documents submitted to the secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (known as the Fisa court), signed by Attorney General Eric Holder and stamped 29 July 2009. They detail the procedures the NSA is required to follow to target "non-US persons" under its foreign intelligence powers and what the agency does to minimize data collected on US citizens and residents in the course of that surveillance.
The documents show that even under authorities governing the collection of foreign intelligence from foreign targets, US communications can still be collected, retained and used.
The procedures cover only part of the NSA's surveillance of domestic US communications. The bulk collection of domestic call records, as first revealed by the Guardian earlier this month, takes place under rolling court orders issued on the basis of a legal interpretation of a different authority, section 215 of the Patriot Act.
The Fisa court's oversight role has been referenced many times by Barack Obama and senior intelligence officials as they have sought to reassure the public about surveillance, but the procedures approved by the court have never before been publicly disclosed.
The top secret documents published today detail the circumstances in which data collected on US persons under the foreign intelligence authority must be destroyed, extensive steps analysts must take to try to check targets are outside the US, and reveals how US call records are used to help remove US citizens and residents from data collection.
However, alongside those provisions, the Fisa court-approved policies allow the NSA to:
• Keep data that could potentially contain details of US persons for up to five years;
• Retain and make use of "inadvertently acquired" domestic communications if they contain usable intelligence, information on criminal activity, threat of harm to people or property, are encrypted, or are believed to contain any information relevant to cybersecurity;
• Preserve "foreign intelligence information" contained within attorney-client communications;
• Access the content of communications gathered from "U.S. based machine[s]" or phone numbers in order to establish if targets are located in the US, for the purposes of ceasing further surveillance.
Read more...http://www.guardian.co.
http://www.foxnews.com/us/
Columbia's Cons: Ivy League social work program run by team of former prisoners
EXCLUSIVE: In the hallowed halls of Columbia University, a nest of ex-cons — who have served time for murder, attempted murder, robbery and assault — hold court on their unique brand of social justice for admiring students enrolled in the school's social work program, a FoxNews.com investigation has found.
The ex-cons work for or with the Criminal Justice Initiative (CJI), co-founded in 2009 by former Weather Underground operative and Columbia adjunct professor Kathy Boudin, who pleaded guilty to felony murder for her role in an infamous 1981 armed robbery that left two police officers and a security guard dead. And while that case was well-publicized, the group is hardly upfront about the “practical experience” of Boudin and others associated with the CJI.
A description on the program's website says it is "situated inside” Columbia, and a part of the school’s “Social Intervention Group,” a research center within the Columbia University School of Social Work. It lists among its goals helping to forge a solution for “a central social crisis of our time, mass incarceration.” The program holds events and conducts research as part of "an interdisciplinary project built around a model of community collaboration" that "seeks to increase the number of skilled practitioners, policy-makers and researchers who can advance the fields of re-entry and incarceration across all disciplines.”
“It’s terrible that she has murderers working with her at a school."- John Hanchar, brother-in-law of slain Nyack Police Officer Edward O’ Grady
--------------------
http://www.guardian.co.uk/
Revealed: the top secret rules that allow NSA to use US data without a warrant
Fisa court submissions show broad scope of procedures governing NSA's surveillance of Americans' communication• Document two: procedures used by NSA to minimise data collected from US persons
The documents show
that discretion as to who is actually targeted lies directly with the
NSA's analysts. Photograph: Martin Rogers/Workbook Stock/Getty
The Guardian is publishing in full two documents submitted to the secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (known as the Fisa court), signed by Attorney General Eric Holder and stamped 29 July 2009. They detail the procedures the NSA is required to follow to target "non-US persons" under its foreign intelligence powers and what the agency does to minimize data collected on US citizens and residents in the course of that surveillance.
The documents show that even under authorities governing the collection of foreign intelligence from foreign targets, US communications can still be collected, retained and used.
The procedures cover only part of the NSA's surveillance of domestic US communications. The bulk collection of domestic call records, as first revealed by the Guardian earlier this month, takes place under rolling court orders issued on the basis of a legal interpretation of a different authority, section 215 of the Patriot Act.
The Fisa court's oversight role has been referenced many times by Barack Obama and senior intelligence officials as they have sought to reassure the public about surveillance, but the procedures approved by the court have never before been publicly disclosed.
The top secret documents published today detail the circumstances in which data collected on US persons under the foreign intelligence authority must be destroyed, extensive steps analysts must take to try to check targets are outside the US, and reveals how US call records are used to help remove US citizens and residents from data collection.
However, alongside those provisions, the Fisa court-approved policies allow the NSA to:
• Keep data that could potentially contain details of US persons for up to five years;
• Retain and make use of "inadvertently acquired" domestic communications if they contain usable intelligence, information on criminal activity, threat of harm to people or property, are encrypted, or are believed to contain any information relevant to cybersecurity;
• Preserve "foreign intelligence information" contained within attorney-client communications;
• Access the content of communications gathered from "U.S. based machine[s]" or phone numbers in order to establish if targets are located in the US, for the purposes of ceasing further surveillance.
Read more...http://www.guardian.co.
----------
President Obama's honeymoon with the world is over.
What was it, exactly, about Obama's controversy-marred trip to Germany and the G8 Summit in Northern Ireland that fell so flat? Ummm, how about … everything?
There were the snarky words from Vladimir Putin, who expressed an almost Soviet-esque distance from Washington in his views about Syria. "Of course our opinions do not coincide," the Russian leader said bluntly. There was the coded warning from Chancellor Angela Merkel about spying on friends, and her and Obama's continuing frostiness over the issue of economic stimulus versus austerity. Above all, there was Obama's vague attempt at the Brandenburg Gate to capture some wisp of his past glory by pledging vague plans to cut nuclear arms and an even vaguer concept of "peace with justice."
The "peace with justice" line was a quote from John F. Kennedy, Obama's attempt to steal just a little of JFK's thunder from 50 years before. He didn't come away with much, winning just a smattering of applause from a crowd that was one one-hundredth the size of JFK's. A crowd that, at about 4,500, was also much, much smaller than Obama drew as a candidate in 2008.
Not only is the honeymoon long over, folks. The marriage is becoming deeply troubled and, increasingly, loveless.
On June 26, 1963, you may recall from your history books, Kennedy flew to West Berlin, which was isolated behind the Iron Curtain, and declared "Ich bin ein Berliner" to delirious roars from a crowd of 450,000 Germans who immediately understood that he was telling them that "all free men, wherever they may live," stood behind them.
Some linguists later quibbled that Kennedy should have said "Ich bin Berliner," and that by adding the "ein" he was really saying, "I'm a jelly doughnut," since "Berliner" was the name of a pastry in some parts of Germany. In truth, the Germans didn't misunderstand JFK for a moment, and his speech instantly became one of the most famous and inspiring in modern history.
In contrast to JFK, and Ronald Reagan's almost-as-famous line 24 years later -- "Mr, Gorbachev, tear down this wall!" -- Obama came across as more of a jelly doughnut, a little soft and perhaps too sweet inside, especially compared to the hard-edged Putin. After their meeting, it was clear that Putin, right or wrong, was pursuing a set course on Syria and other issues, frankly backing the regime of Bashar al-Assad, while Obama was continuing to temporize over how much and what kind of aid he would give to the Syrian rebels.
"We cannot dictate the pace of change in places like the Arab world, but we must reject the excuse that we can do nothing to support it," the president declared in his Brandenburg Gate speech. It wasn't much of an applause line. Even after announcing that his "red line" had been crossed in Syria, Obama rejected air strikes and then told Charlie Rose that aid will be delivered "in a careful, calibrated way" because "it is very easy to slip slide your way into deeper and deeper commitments."
Compare that to Putin's active military support of Assad, which has helped the Syrian dictator regain the advantage against the rebels, and Putin's harsher words. After his meeting with British Prime Minister David Cameron, in opposition to arming the rebels, Putin declared: "You will not deny that one does not really need to support the people who not only kill their enemies, but open up their bodies, eat their intestines in front of the public and cameras. Are these the people you want to support? Is it them who you want to supply with weapons? Then this probably has little relation to humanitarian values that have been preached in Europe for hundreds of years."
And even as he quoted Kennedy in his Brandenburg Gate speech Obama appeared to hop lightly from topic to topic, much as his foreign policy has. "The Russians know what they want. I think we've in a situation of strategic drift for several years," says John Arquilla of the Naval Postgraduate School.
Indeed, as I have previously written, to a degree that the administration has not really acknowledged, Russia under Putin has become the chief countervailing force to U.S. power and influence around the world, even more so than China, which often follows Moscow's lead in the U.N. Security Council.
So now, instead of the Americans, it's the Russians who are delivering up the challenging quotes, and drawing the hard lines, in Europe. History may well still be on Obama's side, as he suggested by touting Berlin's "lesson of the ages" in his speech. The audiences, perhaps not so much.
Get the latest news and analysis delivered to your inbox. Sign up for National Journal's morning alert, Wake-Up Call, and afternoon newsletter, The Edge. Subscribe here.
--------------------
http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/
Jun 19, 2013 11:41pm
Early Thursday morning, the bipartisan “Gang of Eight” senators will announce an agreement to strengthen border security.
ABC News has confirmed that the Senate “Gang of Eight” has reached an agreement to strengthen border security provisions in their bill that they hope will deliver the 70 crucial votes needed for the measure.
According to a high ranking Senate aide, a formal announcement is expected Thursday morning.
A second capitol hill source tells ABC News the agreement will include a major border build up, with a huge increase in border personnel and an increase in fencing. The change will mean the legislation will deliver the 70 votes desired by the bipartisan group.
The four Republicans, Marco Rubio (Fla.), John McCain (Ariz.), Lindsey Graham (S.C.), Jeff Flake (Ariz.) and four Democrats, Chuck Schumer (N.Y.), Bob Menendez (N.J.), Michael Bennet (Colo.), and Dick Durbin (Ill.), have been calling amendments that would require 700-miles of fencing and 100 percent operational control “non-starts” for the bill.
The bill, which has been debated on the Senate floor this week, has been met with resistance from Republicans who argued the border security measures were not strong enough and needed to be made a “trigger” before the undocumented could start down a pathway to citizenship. The pathway, Obama has said, is necessary for him to sign the bill into law.
On Tuesday, the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office announced the legislation proposed by the senate gang would boost the economy and lower the federal deficit.
--------------------
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/
-------------------
http://www.breitbart.com/Big-
"The Senate debate is in the final stages and we need to send Washington a strong signal of the overwhelming grassroots opposition to this amnesty bill from Americans across the country," Cruz explained.
Cruz urged supporters to share the petition with friends and to "act now--without delay--to help us defeat amnesty and stand for legal immigration!"
--------------------
Obama's Honeymoon with world is over.
----------Obama's Turbulent European Vacation
With vague pledges and backtalk from Merkel and Putin, the president shows how far America's standing with Europe has fallen.
By Michael Hirsh June 19, 2013
President Obama delivers a speech in front of Brandenburg Gate, unseen, in Berlin Wednesday. (AP Photo/Michael Sohn)
President Obama delivers a speech in front of Brandenburg Gate, unseen, in Berlin Wednesday. (AP Photo/Michael Sohn)
What was it, exactly, about Obama's controversy-marred trip to Germany and the G8 Summit in Northern Ireland that fell so flat? Ummm, how about … everything?
There were the snarky words from Vladimir Putin, who expressed an almost Soviet-esque distance from Washington in his views about Syria. "Of course our opinions do not coincide," the Russian leader said bluntly. There was the coded warning from Chancellor Angela Merkel about spying on friends, and her and Obama's continuing frostiness over the issue of economic stimulus versus austerity. Above all, there was Obama's vague attempt at the Brandenburg Gate to capture some wisp of his past glory by pledging vague plans to cut nuclear arms and an even vaguer concept of "peace with justice."
The "peace with justice" line was a quote from John F. Kennedy, Obama's attempt to steal just a little of JFK's thunder from 50 years before. He didn't come away with much, winning just a smattering of applause from a crowd that was one one-hundredth the size of JFK's. A crowd that, at about 4,500, was also much, much smaller than Obama drew as a candidate in 2008.
Not only is the honeymoon long over, folks. The marriage is becoming deeply troubled and, increasingly, loveless.
On June 26, 1963, you may recall from your history books, Kennedy flew to West Berlin, which was isolated behind the Iron Curtain, and declared "Ich bin ein Berliner" to delirious roars from a crowd of 450,000 Germans who immediately understood that he was telling them that "all free men, wherever they may live," stood behind them.
Some linguists later quibbled that Kennedy should have said "Ich bin Berliner," and that by adding the "ein" he was really saying, "I'm a jelly doughnut," since "Berliner" was the name of a pastry in some parts of Germany. In truth, the Germans didn't misunderstand JFK for a moment, and his speech instantly became one of the most famous and inspiring in modern history.
In contrast to JFK, and Ronald Reagan's almost-as-famous line 24 years later -- "Mr, Gorbachev, tear down this wall!" -- Obama came across as more of a jelly doughnut, a little soft and perhaps too sweet inside, especially compared to the hard-edged Putin. After their meeting, it was clear that Putin, right or wrong, was pursuing a set course on Syria and other issues, frankly backing the regime of Bashar al-Assad, while Obama was continuing to temporize over how much and what kind of aid he would give to the Syrian rebels.
"We cannot dictate the pace of change in places like the Arab world, but we must reject the excuse that we can do nothing to support it," the president declared in his Brandenburg Gate speech. It wasn't much of an applause line. Even after announcing that his "red line" had been crossed in Syria, Obama rejected air strikes and then told Charlie Rose that aid will be delivered "in a careful, calibrated way" because "it is very easy to slip slide your way into deeper and deeper commitments."
Compare that to Putin's active military support of Assad, which has helped the Syrian dictator regain the advantage against the rebels, and Putin's harsher words. After his meeting with British Prime Minister David Cameron, in opposition to arming the rebels, Putin declared: "You will not deny that one does not really need to support the people who not only kill their enemies, but open up their bodies, eat their intestines in front of the public and cameras. Are these the people you want to support? Is it them who you want to supply with weapons? Then this probably has little relation to humanitarian values that have been preached in Europe for hundreds of years."
And even as he quoted Kennedy in his Brandenburg Gate speech Obama appeared to hop lightly from topic to topic, much as his foreign policy has. "The Russians know what they want. I think we've in a situation of strategic drift for several years," says John Arquilla of the Naval Postgraduate School.
Indeed, as I have previously written, to a degree that the administration has not really acknowledged, Russia under Putin has become the chief countervailing force to U.S. power and influence around the world, even more so than China, which often follows Moscow's lead in the U.N. Security Council.
So now, instead of the Americans, it's the Russians who are delivering up the challenging quotes, and drawing the hard lines, in Europe. History may well still be on Obama's side, as he suggested by touting Berlin's "lesson of the ages" in his speech. The audiences, perhaps not so much.
Get the latest news and analysis delivered to your inbox. Sign up for National Journal's morning alert, Wake-Up Call, and afternoon newsletter, The Edge. Subscribe here.
--------------------
http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/
Senate Agreement to Bolster Border Security
By Jim AvilaJun 19, 2013 11:41pm
ABC News has confirmed that the Senate “Gang of Eight” has reached an agreement to strengthen border security provisions in their bill that they hope will deliver the 70 crucial votes needed for the measure.
According to a high ranking Senate aide, a formal announcement is expected Thursday morning.
A second capitol hill source tells ABC News the agreement will include a major border build up, with a huge increase in border personnel and an increase in fencing. The change will mean the legislation will deliver the 70 votes desired by the bipartisan group.
The four Republicans, Marco Rubio (Fla.), John McCain (Ariz.), Lindsey Graham (S.C.), Jeff Flake (Ariz.) and four Democrats, Chuck Schumer (N.Y.), Bob Menendez (N.J.), Michael Bennet (Colo.), and Dick Durbin (Ill.), have been calling amendments that would require 700-miles of fencing and 100 percent operational control “non-starts” for the bill.
The bill, which has been debated on the Senate floor this week, has been met with resistance from Republicans who argued the border security measures were not strong enough and needed to be made a “trigger” before the undocumented could start down a pathway to citizenship. The pathway, Obama has said, is necessary for him to sign the bill into law.
On Tuesday, the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office announced the legislation proposed by the senate gang would boost the economy and lower the federal deficit.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/
Karl Rove Mocked By Sen. Jeff Sessions Over Immigration
The Huffington Post | By Michael McAuliff Posted: 06/21/2013 3:19 pm EDT |-------------------
http://www.breitbart.com/Big-
Ted Cruz Launches National Petition Against Gang of Eight's Bill
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) launched a national petition on Thursday to stop the Senate Gang of Eight's amnesty bill and send Washington a "strong signal" of the grassroots opposition to the bill.
"This is urgent," Cruz wrote in an e-mail to supporters. "We must stop this Gang of 8 immigration bill, which would give amnesty to an estimated 11 million illegal immigrants with no guarantee of a secure border.""The Senate debate is in the final stages and we need to send Washington a strong signal of the overwhelming grassroots opposition to this amnesty bill from Americans across the country," Cruz explained.
Cruz urged supporters to share the petition with friends and to "act now--without delay--to help us defeat amnesty and stand for legal immigration!"
Show Business:
--------
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
announced Michael Clemente, Executive Vice President of News for the
network. He will begin in this new role on July 1st.
Kurtz will anchor a version of what is now called Fox News Watch,
which focuses on the media, with a new format during the weekends.
Additionally, he will serve as an on-air analyst for a variety of
programs throughout the week, while also writing a regular column on
FoxNews.com, commenting on social media news, industry trends and
breakthroughs, in addition to looking at how media are used in politics.
Meanwhile, Jon Scott, current anchor of FOX News Watch, who won
an Emmy for his writing at NBC’s Dateline, will move to the
specials unit where he will serve as anchor.
In making the announcement, Clemente said, "Howie is the most
accomplished media reporter in the country. He's also a master of social
media trends, information good and bad, and a veteran political
reporter. Altogether, he will add even greater depth to a very
accomplished team of reporters and anchors."
Kurtz added, “I’m excited to be bringing my independent brand of media
criticism to Fox News. I want to thank CNN for giving me such a prime
opportunity over the years and was tempted to continue, but the chance
to create a revamped program and establish a strong online presence was
too good to pass up. I hope to add a new dimension to Fox’s coverage and
have some fun while diving into the passionate debates about the press
and politics.”
Since 1998, Kurtz has been the host of CNN’s weekly media criticism
program, Reliable Sources, where he has scrutinized the
performance and biases of the media. Until recently, he served as the
Washington, D.C. bureau chief writing on the intersection of politics
and media for The Daily Beast and Newsweek. Prior to that
role, Kurtz spent 29 years at The Washington Post in various
capacities. He became the media reporter for the paper in 1990 and wrote
the weekly Media Notes column, which was widely read
throughout the industry. Kurtz joined The Washington Post in
1981, after being hired by Bob Woodward, and went on to serve as a
justice department and congressional reporter, New York bureau chief and
deputy national editor before covering the media beat as a reporter,
columnist and blogger.
A graduate of the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and
the author of five books, including Media Circus, Reality Show
and the New York Times bestseller Spin Cycle, Kurtz has
also contributed to a number of magazines ranging from Vanity Fair
to New York.
FOX News Channel (FNC) is a 24-hour all-encompassing news service
dedicated to delivering breaking news as well as political and business
news. A top five cable network, FNC has been the most watched news
channel in the country for more than eleven years and according to
Public Policy Polling, is the most trusted television news source in the
country. Owned by News Corp., FNC is available in more than 90 million
homes and dominates the cable news landscape, routinely notching the top
ten programs in the genre.
-------------------
http://social.entertainment.
Who'd-a-thunk? Turns out ignorance isn't bliss after all.
Just ask MSNBC's Mika Brzezinski, whose recent trainwreck of an "interview" with Russell Brand apparently went sour because the "Morning Joe" co-host didn't know who her guest was when she started talking to him on camera.
Or should we say, "talking about him?"
During the endlessly botched sit-down, Brzezinski and her cohorts referred to Brand in the third person so many times that he finally begged them to "be polite" and quit saying vaguely negative things about him "like I'm an extra-terrestrial" while he was sitting two feet away from them. Not that the terribleness stopped there.
On Friday, Brzezinski finally addressed the matter, explaining plainly that she was busy that day with "a lot of interviews," which apparently explains why she couldn't be bothered to find out who he was. Or why he was there.
"I do know who he is -- now," she said on Friday's show, upon learning that dates were cancelled on Brand's "Messiah Complex" tour, the one he ended up asking himself about during the interview because nobody else seemed to want to discuss it.
"Listen, people come in here, like one after the other ..." Brzezinski continued.
[And yes, the "people" she's referring to are the ones she gets paid to interview on-camera.]
"I know Ratner, I know Andy. I didn't know Russell," she said. "I don't think Russell liked that."
He probably also didn't like the way she introduced him to begin with: "Joining me now -- he's a really big deal. I'm told this."
Anyway, Brzezinski, homework-doing journalist, did eventually say she was sorry. Sort of:"I have never gotten more vitriol and anger and hatred than I have over this. So I apologize for not knowing."
Walter Cronkite would be so proud.
Paula Deen issues emotional video apology
Paula
Deen wants you to forgive her for using the n-word. She wants it so
much that she's begging for it, not unlike butter begs to be added to
her recipes. In a quickly pulled then reinstated video apology that goes down with such famous mea culpas as Hugh Grant and Kristen Stewart, the TV chef insists she's really, really sorry for making racist remarks, which she admitted to during a recent deposition.
"I want to apologize to everybody for the wrong that I've done," she says. "I want to learn and grow from this. Inappropriate, hurtful language is totally, totally unacceptable. I've made plenty of mistakes along the way. But I beg you, my children, my team, my fans, my partners -- I beg for your forgiveness. Please forgive me for the mistakes that I've made.”
Deen is part of a discrimination and sexual harassment lawsuit brought by a former manager of her Savannah restaurant, Uncle Bubba's Seafood and Oyster House, which is run by her brother, Bubba Hiers.
When asked during the deposition if she'd ever used the n-word, the fried food enthusiast responded, "Yes, of course." But she insisted she hadn't done so for "a very long time."
Deen had been scheduled to discuss the controversy on the "Today" show on Friday but canceled at the last minute.
During the deposition, she was repeatedly asked about her use of the n-word, and claimed that the last time she used it "was probably when a black man burst into the bank that I was working at and put a gun to my head."
That was in 1986. Since then, she said, "My children and my brother object to that word being used in any cruel or mean behavior. As well as I do."
The attorney's follow-up question -- "Could you give me an example of how you have demonstrated for them a nice way to use the N-word? Or a non-mean way?" -- were both met with objections from Deen's counsel.
For more, let's go to "The Daily Show" ...
Rex Reed is doubling down on being a horrible person. Four months after he took several cheap shots at Melissa McCarthy's weight in his New York Observer review of "Identity Thief," he's refusing to back away from his insulting remarks.
"I can only repeat what I have said before -- that I do not have, nor have I ever had, anything personal against people who suffer from obesity," he tells Us Weekly in an email. "What I object to is the disgusting attempt to pretend obesity is funny. It is not remotely humorous, and every obese comedian who ever made jokes about the disease are now dead from strokes, heart disease, high blood pressure and diabetes."
Fumed Dr. Reed, "As a critic whose opinions are constitutionally protected by law, I stand by all of my original remarks about Melissa McCarthy's obesity, which I consider about as amusing as cancer, and apologize for nothing."
In his review of the hit comedy, he described her character as a "felonious thief," but added a parenthetical that she was played by a "cacophonous, tractor-sized Melissa McCarthy."
That seems a mite personal to us. As does blasting her as a "gimmick comedian who has devoted her short career to being obese and obnoxious with equal success."
Reed later refers to Melissa's character as "a screeching, humongous creep" and rants, "The snafus in the worst road movie since 'The Guilt Trip' plunge Mr. Bateman and his female hippo [emphasis ours] into a motel with only a double bed …"
McCarthy discussed Reed's comments during a recent sit-down with the New York Times, offering a classy response -- and even a dash of sympathy -- to the critic:
-------------------
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
There's No Business Like Show Business (1954) - Marilyn Monroe - Trailer
--------FOX News Channel Hires Howard Kurtz to Anchor Weekend Media Program
BW
6/20/2013 4:10:00 PM
FOX News Channel (FNC) has hired veteran media reporter Howard Kurtz, announced Michael Clemente, Executive Vice President of News for the
network. He will begin in this new role on July 1st.
Kurtz will anchor a version of what is now called Fox News Watch,
which focuses on the media, with a new format during the weekends.
Additionally, he will serve as an on-air analyst for a variety of
programs throughout the week, while also writing a regular column on
FoxNews.com, commenting on social media news, industry trends and
breakthroughs, in addition to looking at how media are used in politics.
Meanwhile, Jon Scott, current anchor of FOX News Watch, who won
an Emmy for his writing at NBC’s Dateline, will move to the
specials unit where he will serve as anchor.
In making the announcement, Clemente said, "Howie is the most
accomplished media reporter in the country. He's also a master of social
media trends, information good and bad, and a veteran political
reporter. Altogether, he will add even greater depth to a very
accomplished team of reporters and anchors."
Kurtz added, “I’m excited to be bringing my independent brand of media
criticism to Fox News. I want to thank CNN for giving me such a prime
opportunity over the years and was tempted to continue, but the chance
to create a revamped program and establish a strong online presence was
too good to pass up. I hope to add a new dimension to Fox’s coverage and
have some fun while diving into the passionate debates about the press
and politics.”
Since 1998, Kurtz has been the host of CNN’s weekly media criticism
program, Reliable Sources, where he has scrutinized the
performance and biases of the media. Until recently, he served as the
Washington, D.C. bureau chief writing on the intersection of politics
and media for The Daily Beast and Newsweek. Prior to that
role, Kurtz spent 29 years at The Washington Post in various
capacities. He became the media reporter for the paper in 1990 and wrote
the weekly Media Notes column, which was widely read
throughout the industry. Kurtz joined The Washington Post in
1981, after being hired by Bob Woodward, and went on to serve as a
justice department and congressional reporter, New York bureau chief and
deputy national editor before covering the media beat as a reporter,
columnist and blogger.
A graduate of the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and
the author of five books, including Media Circus, Reality Show
and the New York Times bestseller Spin Cycle, Kurtz has
also contributed to a number of magazines ranging from Vanity Fair
to New York.
FOX News Channel (FNC) is a 24-hour all-encompassing news service
dedicated to delivering breaking news as well as political and business
news. A top five cable network, FNC has been the most watched news
channel in the country for more than eleven years and according to
Public Policy Polling, is the most trusted television news source in the
country. Owned by News Corp., FNC is available in more than 90 million
homes and dominates the cable news landscape, routinely notching the top
ten programs in the genre.
-------------------
http://social.entertainment.
FEATURED POST
When in doubt, play dumb
By Pop Spy -- Jennifer Odell 2 hours ago
Who'd-a-thunk? Turns out ignorance isn't bliss after all.
Just ask MSNBC's Mika Brzezinski, whose recent trainwreck of an "interview" with Russell Brand apparently went sour because the "Morning Joe" co-host didn't know who her guest was when she started talking to him on camera.
Or should we say, "talking about him?"
During the endlessly botched sit-down, Brzezinski and her cohorts referred to Brand in the third person so many times that he finally begged them to "be polite" and quit saying vaguely negative things about him "like I'm an extra-terrestrial" while he was sitting two feet away from them. Not that the terribleness stopped there.
On Friday, Brzezinski finally addressed the matter, explaining plainly that she was busy that day with "a lot of interviews," which apparently explains why she couldn't be bothered to find out who he was. Or why he was there.
"I do know who he is -- now," she said on Friday's show, upon learning that dates were cancelled on Brand's "Messiah Complex" tour, the one he ended up asking himself about during the interview because nobody else seemed to want to discuss it.
"Listen, people come in here, like one after the other ..." Brzezinski continued.
[And yes, the "people" she's referring to are the ones she gets paid to interview on-camera.]
"I know Ratner, I know Andy. I didn't know Russell," she said. "I don't think Russell liked that."
He probably also didn't like the way she introduced him to begin with: "Joining me now -- he's a really big deal. I'm told this."
Anyway, Brzezinski, homework-doing journalist, did eventually say she was sorry. Sort of:"I have never gotten more vitriol and anger and hatred than I have over this. So I apologize for not knowing."
Walter Cronkite would be so proud.
Paula Deen issues emotional video apology
Regrets, she has a few ...
By Kat Giantis 1 hour ago
"I want to apologize to everybody for the wrong that I've done," she says. "I want to learn and grow from this. Inappropriate, hurtful language is totally, totally unacceptable. I've made plenty of mistakes along the way. But I beg you, my children, my team, my fans, my partners -- I beg for your forgiveness. Please forgive me for the mistakes that I've made.”
Deen is part of a discrimination and sexual harassment lawsuit brought by a former manager of her Savannah restaurant, Uncle Bubba's Seafood and Oyster House, which is run by her brother, Bubba Hiers.
When asked during the deposition if she'd ever used the n-word, the fried food enthusiast responded, "Yes, of course." But she insisted she hadn't done so for "a very long time."
Deen had been scheduled to discuss the controversy on the "Today" show on Friday but canceled at the last minute.
During the deposition, she was repeatedly asked about her use of the n-word, and claimed that the last time she used it "was probably when a black man burst into the bank that I was working at and put a gun to my head."
That was in 1986. Since then, she said, "My children and my brother object to that word being used in any cruel or mean behavior. As well as I do."
The attorney's follow-up question -- "Could you give me an example of how you have demonstrated for them a nice way to use the N-word? Or a non-mean way?" -- were both met with objections from Deen's counsel.
For more, let's go to "The Daily Show" ...
World continues to ask, 'Rex Reed is still writing?'
By Kat Giantis 3 hours ago
Rex Reed is doubling down on being a horrible person. Four months after he took several cheap shots at Melissa McCarthy's weight in his New York Observer review of "Identity Thief," he's refusing to back away from his insulting remarks."I can only repeat what I have said before -- that I do not have, nor have I ever had, anything personal against people who suffer from obesity," he tells Us Weekly in an email. "What I object to is the disgusting attempt to pretend obesity is funny. It is not remotely humorous, and every obese comedian who ever made jokes about the disease are now dead from strokes, heart disease, high blood pressure and diabetes."
Fumed Dr. Reed, "As a critic whose opinions are constitutionally protected by law, I stand by all of my original remarks about Melissa McCarthy's obesity, which I consider about as amusing as cancer, and apologize for nothing."
In his review of the hit comedy, he described her character as a "felonious thief," but added a parenthetical that she was played by a "cacophonous, tractor-sized Melissa McCarthy."
That seems a mite personal to us. As does blasting her as a "gimmick comedian who has devoted her short career to being obese and obnoxious with equal success."
Reed later refers to Melissa's character as "a screeching, humongous creep" and rants, "The snafus in the worst road movie since 'The Guilt Trip' plunge Mr. Bateman and his female hippo [emphasis ours] into a motel with only a double bed …"
McCarthy discussed Reed's comments during a recent sit-down with the New York Times, offering a classy response -- and even a dash of sympathy -- to the critic:
When Ms. McCarthy was asked about the review over lunch in April, her characteristically cheerful tone evaporated. In a softer voice, she said her initial reaction to reading it had been "Really?" and then, she said, "Why would someone O.K. that?"
Without mentioning the name of its author, Ms. McCarthy said: "I felt really bad for someone who is swimming in so much hate. I just thought, that's someone who's in a really bad spot, and I am in such a happy spot. I laugh my head off every day with my husband and my kids who are mooning me and singing me songs."
Had this occurred when she was 20, Ms. McCarthy said, "it may have crushed me." But now, as a mother raising two young daughters in "a strange epidemic of body image and body dysmorphia," she said articles like that "just add to all those younger girls, that are not in a place in their life where they can say, 'That doesn't reflect on me.'"
"That makes it more true," she said. "It means you don't actually look good enough."
Read more...http://social.-------------------
Sports
--------------------
http://lsufootball.net/
LSU Football _ Geaux Tigers!!!
ESPN 104.5 .mp3 Audio (9 min, 22 sec): Shea Dixon on recruiting, starts about 2 min into it
LA Sports HoF Tommy Hodson made the earth move during record-setting career at LSU
Sports Illustrated College Football Playoff crazy to forgo committee 'dry run' in 2013
ESPN Moving to DI-A a challenge for most
Dallas Star-Telegram For TCU football to be great, it has to lower its knucklehead factor
Associated Press Alabama A.D.: Tide football on unprecedented run
--------------------
http://www.guardian.co.uk/
http://lsufootball.net/
LSU Football _ Geaux Tigers!!!
ESPN 104.5 .mp3 Audio (9 min, 22 sec): Shea Dixon on recruiting, starts about 2 min into it
LA Sports HoF Tommy Hodson made the earth move during record-setting career at LSU
Sports Illustrated College Football Playoff crazy to forgo committee 'dry run' in 2013
ESPN Moving to DI-A a challenge for most
Dallas Star-Telegram For TCU football to be great, it has to lower its knucklehead factor
Associated Press Alabama A.D.: Tide football on unprecedented run
--------------------
http://www.guardian.co.uk/
Fox Sports
LeBron, Heat repeat as champs
MIAMI (AP)
Victory in Game 7 brought more than another crown for LeBron James and the Miami Heat. It validated the team and its leader, forever cementing their place among the NBA's greats.
NBA FINALS: HEAT 4, SPURS 3
- LeBron leads Heat to repeat title
- Tomasson: James still NBA's king
- McCarthy: Role players come up big
- Tomasson: Pain and gain for Wade
- Video: What motivates LeBron
- Video: Wade on 'sweetest' title
- Video: Riley, Arison reflect on run
- Video: Spoelstra on toughest series
- Video: Loss will 'haunt' Duncan
- Video: Bosh praises teammates
- Video: Ginobili pained by defeat
- Video: Popovich on LeBron and Wade
- Photos: Best shots from the Finals
- Heat's top 10 moments of Finals
- Playoff Central: NBA Finals
James led the Heat to their second straight title, scoring 37 points and grabbing 12 rebounds in a 95-88 victory Thursday night in a tense game that was tight until Miami pulled away in the final minute.
Capping their best season in franchise history - and perhaps the three-superstar system they used to build it - the Heat ran off with the second straight thriller in the NBA's first championship series to go the distance since 2010.
Two nights after his Game 6 save when the Heat were almost eliminated, James continued his unparalleled run through the basketball world, with two titles and an Olympic gold medal in the last 12 months.
''I work on my game a lot throughout the offseason,'' said James, who was MVP for the second straight finals. ''I put a lot of work into it and to be able to come out here and (have) the results happen out on the floor is the ultimate. The ultimate. I'm at a loss for words.''
He made five 3-pointers, defended Tony Parker when he had to, and did everything else that could ever be expected from the best player in the game.
The Heat became the NBA's first repeat champions since the Lakers in 2009-10, and the first team to beat the Spurs in the NBA Finals.
''It took everything we had as a team,'' Dwyane Wade said. ''Credit to the San Antonio Spurs, they're an unbelievable team, an unbelievable franchise. This is the hardest series we ever had to play. But we're a resilient team and we did whatever it took.''
Players and coaches hugged afterward - their respect for each other was obvious from the opening tipoff of Game 1 through the final buzzer.
''In my case I still have Game 6 in my head,'' Ginobili said. ''Today we played an OK game, they just made more shots than us. LeBron got hot. Shane (Battier), too. Those things can happen. But being so close and feeling that you are about to grab that trophy, and seeing it vanish is very hard.''
They were trying to become the first team to win a Game 7 on the road since Washington beat Seattle in 1978, but those old guys ran out of gas just before the finish.
Fans stood, clapped and danced as the clock ticked down, when every score was answered by another score, each stop followed by a better stop. The Heat pushed their lead to six points a few times midway through the fourth but San Antonio kept coming back.
Duncan had 24 points and 12 rebounds for the Spurs, but missed a shot and follow attempt right under the basket with about 50 seconds left and the Spurs trailing by two.
James followed with a jumper - the shot the Spurs were daring him to take earlier in the series - to make it 92-88, sending San Antonio to a timeout as Glenn Frey's ''The Heat Is On'' blared over the arena's sound system.
Wade had 23 points and 10 rebounds for the Heat, who overcame a scoreless Chris Bosh by getting six 3-pointers and 18 points from Shane Battier.
''It was a great series and we all felt that,'' Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. ''I don't know if `enjoy' is the right word, but in all honesty, even in defeat, I'm starting to enjoy what our group accomplished already, when you look back. And you need to do that, to put in perspective. So it's no fun to lose, but we lost to a better team. And you can live with that as long as you've given your best, and I think we have.''
Streamers fell from the arena ceiling onto the fans for the second year in a row, but this one meant so much more. A narrow escape in Game 6 was still fresh in everyone's mind.
They were down 10 in the fourth quarter of that one before James led the charge back, finishing with a triple-double in Miami's 103-100 overtime victory. This one was nearly as tight, neither team leading by more than seven and the game tied 11 times.
''Just give credit to the Miami Heat. LeBron was unbelievable. Dwyane was great. I just think they found a way to get it done,'' Duncan said. ''We stayed in the game. We gave ourselves opportunities to win the game, we just couldn't turn that corner.''
The Heat and coach Erik Spoelstra collected the Larry O'Brien trophy again from Commissioner David Stern, presiding over his final NBA Finals before retiring next February.
He couldn't have asked for a better way to go out.
James avenged his first finals loss, when his Cleveland Cavaliers were swept by the Spurs on 2007. That helped send James on his way to South Florida, realizing it would take more help to win titles that could never come alone.
He said he would appreciate this one more because of how tough it was. The Heat overpowered Oklahoma City in five games last year, a team of 20-something kids who weren't ready to be champions yet.
Duncan is 37 and Ginobili will be a 36-year-old free agent next month, the core of a franchise whose best days may be behind them.
Meanwhile, it's a potential dynasty along Biscayne Bay, but also one with a potentially small window. Wade's latest knee problems are a reminder that though he came into the NBA at the same time as James and Bosh, he's a couple of years older at 31 with wheels that have seen some miles.
James can become a free agent again next summer with another decision - though hopefully not another Decision - to make. He's comfortable in Miami and close with Wade, and the Heat have the leadership and commitment from owner Micky Arison and president Pat Riley to keep building a championship core around him.
Why would he want to leave?
San Antonio's most recent title came at James' expense. The Spurs exploited the weaknesses in James' game though knew someday they would be gone, Duncan telling him afterward that the league would someday belong to James.
RELIVE THE FINAL RUN
These NBA Finals were filled with unforgettable plays. Check out the Heat's top 10 moments.
He came in averaging 33.8 points in Game 7s, already the best in NBA history, and was even better in this one.
He can't be defended the way he was six years ago, too strong inside and too solid from the outside. He drove Danny Green back like a tackling dummy to convert a three-point play in the second quarter, then knocked down a 3-pointer for the Heat's next score.
Heat fans, criticized over the last two days after many bolted before the finish Tuesday and then tried to force their way back in, weren't going anywhere early in this one. The game was too good.
And there was another celebration to watch.
The Heat had the classic championship hangover through the first few months of this season, too strong to lose at home but not committed enough to win on the road, where they were just 11-11 following a 102-89 loss in Indiana on Feb. 1.
They won in Toronto two nights later on Super Bowl Sunday and didn't lose again until well into March Madness, running off 27 straight victories before falling in Chicago on March 27 and finishing a franchise-best 66-16.
And the games got better, too. Games 2-5 were all decided by double digits, neither team able to carry its momentum from one game to the next.
This one was back and forth for more than three quarters, with Mario Chalmers' 3-pointer at the buzzer giving Miami a 72-71 lead heading to the final 12 minutes of the season.
Game 6 could have shaken the Spurs, who were so close to holding the trophy that officials were preparing the championship presentation before Miami's rally. The Spurs held a team dinner late that night, figuring the company was better than having to dwell on the defeat alone in their rooms.
The pain of that game or the pressure of this one had little effect on their veterans but brought out a change in their leader, the subject of some rare second-guessing for his rotations near the end of the collapse.
The famously blunt Popovich was in a chatty mood pregame, actually preferring to stay and talk even when there were no more questions, saying the busier he was, the less he'd worry.
But it sure was beautiful to watch.
The sport's most pressure-packed game had a nervous start, each team making just seven baskets in the first quarter and combining for seven turnovers. The Spurs took an early seven-point lead, but a pair of 3-pointers by Battier during an 8-0 run helped Miami take an 18-16 lead.
The Heat nursed a narrow lead for most of the second quarter, and after San Antonio went ahead in the final minute of the period, James tipped in a miss before Wade knocked down a jumper with 0.8 seconds left to send the Heat to the locker room with a 46-44 edge.
Notes: Home teams are 15-3 in Game 7s of the NBA Finals. ... Miami improved to 5-3 all-time in Game 7s in the postseason and became the fourth team to win the final two games at home since the finals went to a 2-3-2 format in 1985, joining the Lakers in 1988 and 2010, and Houston Rockets in 1994. ... Green was just 1 for 12, going 1 for 6 behind the arc. He started the series by making 25 3s in the first five games, a finals record for an entire series.
See video and read more...http://www.guardian.co.
No comments:
Post a Comment