Mr Universe to governator
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
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PDF A look back at Arnold Schwarzenegger's career in pictures
Mr Universe to governator
[Source: Good Times Society - by The American Illuminati]
Mr Universe to governator
[Source: Accident News]
Mr Universe to governator
[Source: Sunday News]
Mr Universe to governator
[Source: Sun News]
Mr Universe to governator
[Source: China News]
posted by 77767 @ 11:40 AM,
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The other Susan Boyle
PrintEmailPDF The global success of the Britain's Got Talent star has had an unlikely impact on one unassuming Texas artist. Stuart Jeffries hears how
There is, you might think, room in the world for only one Susan Boyle. But you would be wrong. The American artist, Susan K Boyle, was living her quiet, unassuming life in the pretty hill country of Kerrville, Texas, when a friend sent her an email.
"It was a link to Susan Boyle's YouTube performance a few days after her audition," recalls Susan K. "I thought she was wonderful - what a beautiful voice and what a compelling story. But I thought it was just an interesting coincidence, nothing more."
Except that back in 2002, Susan K Boyle had set up a website, susanboyle.com, to display her artworks. That site had been rusting in cyberspace for a couple of years - until the Britain's Got Talent finalist sudenly came to the global consciousness last month, and something rather strange happened. "A journalist called me and said, 'Do you know your site is getting 1,800 hits per hour?' I had no idea - I hadn't upgraded the site for a couple of years." Yesterday, she calculated the cumulative total of hits to be more than 172,000.
Susan K's website shows her figurative line drawings and head studies in oil. Like her namesake, she has got talent, though not the sort to irrigate Simon Cowell or Amanda Holden's tear ducts.
And then the madness, as it does in such cases, began in earnest. "A couple of Susan Boyle fans emailed me to say they thought I sang beautifully. Another thought I sang beautifully and liked my artwork! Among the emails were inquiries for price quotes on a couple of my art pieces. However, I have had no sales as a result of this. Yet."
So is Susan K expecting a surge of sales as a result of the sudden celebrity of an unglamorous though sweet-voiced woman who lives on the other side of the Atlantic? "That would be too weird, wouldn't it?"
Next, she started getting calls and emails from people wanting to buy her website's domain name. "One guy, within a minute, had increased his offer from $100 to $500,000. I'm not sure how serious he was, but that sort of thing is very strange to happen to someone like me." She consulted a company called Sedo that sells domain names and, following their advice, has now put her web address up for sale for a cool $25,000. She hasn't sold it. Yet. (She has moved her artwork display, though, to sboyleart.com).
Surely she'll be rooting for her namesake to win tomorrow night's final? "I haven't heard the other finalists, so I can't say." Admirably diplomatic - but Susan K now has a pecuniary interest in the other Susan's success. According to Sedo's director of business development, Nora Nanayakkara: "The value of the domain name really depends on the sustainability of Susan Boyle's popularity."
I ask if Susan K's life story is as heart-rending as her namesake's. "I don't know much about her biography," she replies. I'm thinking of the fact that the 46-year-old singer from West Lothian claimed - apparently as a joke - never to have been kissed, at least until Piers Morgan made her life story even more harrowing by kissing her backstage last week. "Oh, I've been kissed," Susan K replies finally.
The 64-year-old from Kerrville is an art major who has drawn and painted throughout her life, while working mostly in the airline industry. "I was a stewardess, as they were called in the 60s, for PanAm. I left just before Lockerbie [the PanAm crash in 1988]."
In addition to Susan K's new website, her work can be seen in a show called Turning Point at the Hill Country Arts Foundation in Ingram, Texas, from 6 June. She is understandably eager for the media circus (ie me calling her at the prearranged time of 7.30am from London) to move on, so she can walk her "lovely old dog" and then get back to her art.
After the interview, she sends me a disarming email: "Please be kind to me in your article. Another outfit in the UK wrote about me yesterday and made me sound stupid AND greedy - and they hadn't even spoken with me!! Egads!"
For the record, Susan K Boyle is neither of those things (and I'm always a sucker for a woman who exclaims "egads"). She is, like her namesake, a breath of fresh air. The last thing the "other" Susan Boyle says sounds sweet coming down the line to this celeb-crazy nation. "I am an artist and am happiest in my studio working on my art. I don't deserve, or want, fame".
guardian.co.uk ? Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
The other Susan Boyle
[Source: Good Times Society - by The American Illuminati]
The other Susan Boyle
[Source: International News]
The other Susan Boyle
[Source: Sun News]
The other Susan Boyle
[Source: 11 Alive News]
The other Susan Boyle
[Source: Television News]
The other Susan Boyle
[Source: Daily News]
posted by 77767 @ 10:58 AM,
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Obama's m&m's: West Wing snackfood
PrintEmailPDF by Mark Silva
Brian Williams already has gotten a lot of public mileage out of his private time with President Barack Obama, in preparation for a day-in-the-life of the president series that NBC News will air this week, Tuesday and Wednesday nights.
The anchorman got the president to walk his Supreme Court nominee back from the remark she made about the relative wisdom of Latino women, as compared with white men. He got the president to say that he's not interested in the government owning GM. -- just a 60 percent stake, for now.
"Our viewers will see a view of the White House never televised before,'' Williims says of his program, Inside the Obama White House. "Senior staff, the president himself, the first lady and yes... Bo will make an appearance with us on television.''
Williams tells of a president who is not confined to the Oval Office, who walks from study to study dropping in on sessions, popping m&m's for snacks along the way.
"We had something like 20 camera crews....we have something like 150 hours of video tape,'' he says, and that's after a day in the White House last week, which Williams will follow up with another interview of Obama on Tuesday. "e're going through all of this to distill it down to two hours.
Williams also got a cheeseburger out of the deal - joining the president in his outing for a take-out pickup of burgers at a Five Guys in Washington.
Williams also asked Obama about the early part of his day that he hadn't seen: "I got my workout in,'' Obama said, "saw the girls off to school... always eat a hearty breakfast.''
Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy
Obama's m&m's: West Wing snackfood
[Source: Good Times Society - by The American Illuminati]
Obama's m&m's: West Wing snackfood
[Source: News Weekly]
Obama's m&m's: West Wing snackfood
[Source: Abc 7 News]
Obama's m&m's: West Wing snackfood
[Source: World News]
posted by 77767 @ 7:23 AM,
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THE FUTURE OF MANUFACTURING AND THE AMERICAN WORKER.
PrintEmailPDF What's the administration's specific aim in bailing out GM? I'll give you my theory later.
For now, though, some background. First and most broadly, it doesn't make sense for America to try to maintain or enlarge manufacturing as a portion of the economy. Even if the U.S. were to seal its borders and bar any manufactured goods from coming in from abroad -- something I don't recommend -- we'd still be losing manufacturing jobs. That's mainly because of technology.
When we think of manufacturing jobs, we tend to imagine old-time assembly lines populated by millions of blue-collar workers who had well-paying jobs with good benefits. But that picture no longer describes most manufacturing. I recently toured a U.S. factory containing two employees and 400 computerized robots. The two live people sat in front of computer screens and instructed the robots. In a few years this factory won't have a single employee on site, except for an occasional visiting technician who repairs and upgrades the robots.
Factory jobs are vanishing all over the world. Even China is losing them. The Chinese are doing more manufacturing than ever, but they're also becoming far more efficient at it. They've shuttered most of the old state-run factories. Their new factories are chock full of automated and computerized machines. As a result, they don't need as many manufacturing workers as before.
Economists at Alliance Capital Management took a look at employment trends in 20 large economies and found that between 1995 and 2002 -- before the asset bubble and subsequent bust -- 22 million manufacturing jobs disappeared. The U.S. wasn't even the biggest loser. We lost about 11 percent of our manufacturing jobs in that period, but the Japanese lost 16 percent of theirs. Even developing nations lost factory jobs: Brazil suffered a 20 percent decline, and China had a 15 percent drop.
What happened to manufacturing? In two words, higher productivity. As productivity rises, employment falls because fewer people are needed. In this, manufacturing is following the same trend as agriculture. A century ago, almost 30 percent of adult Americans worked on a farm. Nowadays, fewer than 5 percent do. That doesn't mean the U.S. failed at agriculture. Quite the opposite. American agriculture is a huge success story. America can generate far larger crops than a century ago with far fewer people. New technologies, more efficient machines, new methods of fertilizing, better systems of crop rotation, and efficiencies of large scale have all made farming much more productive.
Manufacturing is analogous. In America and elsewhere around the world, it's a success. Since 1995, even as manufacturing employment has dropped around the world, global industrial output has risen more than 30 percent.
More after the jump.
--Robert Reich
THE FUTURE OF MANUFACTURING AND THE AMERICAN WORKER.
[Source: Good Times Society - by The American Illuminati]
THE FUTURE OF MANUFACTURING AND THE AMERICAN WORKER.
[Source: Market News]
THE FUTURE OF MANUFACTURING AND THE AMERICAN WORKER.
[Source: News Article]
THE FUTURE OF MANUFACTURING AND THE AMERICAN WORKER.
[Source: The Daily News]
THE FUTURE OF MANUFACTURING AND THE AMERICAN WORKER.
[Source: Daily News]
posted by 77767 @ 7:19 AM,
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Sotomayor On Abortion
PrintEmailPDF Tom Goldstein of SCOTUSblog studies Sotomayor's abortion rulings:
On the whole, my impression of Judge Sotomayor's opinions and rulings in this area is that they depend very much on the particular facts and questions before the court and aren't driven in any respect by a broader pro-choice or pro-life ideology.Sotomayor On Abortion
[Source: Good Times Society - by The American Illuminati]
Sotomayor On Abortion
[Source: Abc 7 News]
Sotomayor On Abortion
[Source: Advertising News]
Sotomayor On Abortion
[Source: News 4]
posted by 77767 @ 7:08 AM,
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6/1 Roundup: The Bankruptcy of GM, Cuba, Barack Tutankhamun
PrintEmailPDF 
Leader: The Bankruptcy of General Motors
- General Motors filed for bankruptcy this morning, beginning a process that will leave the US government with a 60% stake in the company, and an unprecedented role as a business owner. President Obama is effectively pushing GM into bankruptcy, in the hopes that, after a brief period of nationalization, a smaller, sturdier GM will emerge, capable of competing in the international car market. The US will invest an additional $30 billion in GM, on top of the $20 billion previously committed.
- Today's news is awash with sentimentality, looking back at this behemoth of American industry in its 101 years of existence. "What's good for General Motors is good for the country" is a saying that entered the lexicon, and is not altogether false. Employing as many as 1 million people at points, including suppliers and dealers, GM was the world's biggest company just ten years ago. GM's demise (or reeducation, if you'd prefer) will be felt deeply around the country.
- A New York Bankruptcy judge cleared the way for Chrysler to exit bankruptcy by selling most of its assets to Italian car maker Fiat. Chrysler could come out of bankruptcy as early as this week.
Politics
- George Tiller, a high-profile Kansas doctor who performed late-term abortions was shot and killed on his way to church yesterday by an anti-abortion activist. The assassin is in custody.
- Cuba continues to express interested in closer relations with the United States, and in a trip to Latin America, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is encouraging the thaw. Speaking at the inauguration for the new president of El Salvador, Clinton said:
Greater connections can lead to a better, freer future for the Cuban people. These talks are in the interest of the United States, and they are also in the interest of the Cuban people.
- The Las Vegas Sun reports that Nevada could be at the center of the battle over immigration reform. Andres is quoted:
Immigration, Ramirez said, is a litmus test for Hispanic voters — if they think a candidate, or party, is hostile on the issue, they will show less interest in the candidate’s or party’s overall platform. This occurred in the 2008 election, analysts say. So the party could “risk alienating Hispanic voters more” by opposing a comprehensive bill, Ramirez said.
- Howard Fineman looks forward to President Obama's speech in Cairo, Egypt this Thursday.
Economy
- Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner is in China, and exchange rates are on the top of his agenda for discussion with his counterparts.
- Oil is at $67 per barrel, the highest it's been since November.
International
- An Air France jet bound from Brazil to Paris has disappeared over the Atlantic. A search is underway off the coast of Brazil, in the hopes of finding the aircraft, which had 228 people aboard.
- The WaPo writes that US military and intelligence officials see a possibility for continued offensives by the Pakistani military in the Swat valley, combined with continued drone strikes near the Pakistani-Afghan border to seriously disrupt al-Qaeda in the region.
New From NDN
- Jake put together a backgrounder on Friday addressing the bankrupt Republican Party and bankruptcy policy.
- Melissa posted on the President's weekly address, in which he promoted Sonia Sotomayor, his nominee for the Supreme Court.
One More Thing
- President Obama will speak in Egypt on Thursday, and he's already being compared to King Tut.
- On a recent trip to Five Guys burger joint, Obama learned about an intelligence agency he'd never heard of before. Thanks, Five Guys!
- Last, Jeff Sessions seems to like Sonia Sotomayor, so perhaps there won't be much of a fight over her nomination after all.
Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy
6/1 Roundup: The Bankruptcy of GM, Cuba, Barack Tutankhamun
[Source: Good Times Society - by The American Illuminati]
6/1 Roundup: The Bankruptcy of GM, Cuba, Barack Tutankhamun
[Source: News 4]
6/1 Roundup: The Bankruptcy of GM, Cuba, Barack Tutankhamun
[Source: News 4]
6/1 Roundup: The Bankruptcy of GM, Cuba, Barack Tutankhamun
[Source: Chocolate News]
posted by 77767 @ 6:34 AM,
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When Reality TV Stars Go Bad, Who�"s to Blame?
Apparently, reality TV couple Spencer and Heidi Pratt - who got their start on MTV�"s The Hills and are now a part of this summer�"s I�"m a Celebrity - Get Me Out of Here - have run afoul of one of NBC�"s reality programming head honchos with their latest attention-getting antics.
They are everything that�"s wrong with America,⬝ executive vice president of alternative programming for NBC and Universal Media Studios, Paul Telegdy, said in a statement to Access Hollywood. �SThey are insincere, lazy, entitled and they claim the devil has possessed them.
Apparently the couple not only demanded the royal treatment, but threatened to quit more than once and basically acted like a couple of spoiled brats.
I�"d like to ask Mr. Telegdy: what did he expect? Reality shows take everyday people and turn them into minor celebrities overnight. It�"s not like they had to work for years honing their craft while they waited tables and went on endless auditions, hoping and praying for their big break. (Of course, if one or both of your parents is Hollywood royalty, you skip that part and move right on to the big time.) The only �Swork⬝ involved in reality stardom is standing in line to audition, hoping to get picked; although sometimes people with unusual life circumstances are approached by producers who hope to exploit their lives for ratings that translate into dollar signs (think Nadya Suleman, lovingly referred to by society as the �SOctomom⬝).
So think about it: one day you�"re just an average person, perhaps an office drone or a stay-at-home mom whom no one would look twice at while at the grocery store or standing in line at the movies. Next thing you know, every detail of your life is laid bare for public consumption, you�"re chased down daily by the paparazzi, and your every move, including your hairstyle and weight, is dissected on shows like Entertainment Tonight. The entertainment media that feeds off of celebrity like a pig at the trough is really quite nauseating at times.
Granted, it can be said that people who seek such fame are asking for it. All you have to do is see what happens to others, like Jon and Kate Gosselin, whose marriage seems to be unraveling and who have dominated the news headlines for weeks. Or Susan Boyle, whose sudden rush to fame via Britain�"s Got Talent with a boost from YouTube was so stressful that, after being labeled the favorite to win but coming in second in the show�"s finale, she checked into a clinic citing �Semotional exhaustion.⬝
But really, who is truly prepared for the pitfalls of fame? We�"ve seen professional singers and actors, who are supposed to know the ropes, crash and burn. (Britney Spears and Lindsay Lohan come immediately to mind.) Suddenly wealthy and surrounded by yes-men and other sycophants hoping to somehow cash in on the cash cow, it�"s hard to keep real life in perspective.
Heck, even being an amoeba in the large ocean of internet publishing can be unsettling at times. I�"ll never forget my first �Syou�"re a ****⬝ e-mail from someone who didn�"t agree with something I wrote. It�"s truly unpleasant, but unfortunately it also comes with the territory. I�"m working on getting a thicker skin.
So the Pratts are acting like prats. Naturally, much of the blame lies with their crass attitude and what Paul Telegdy of NBC noted as their sense of entitlement. But what of the responsibility of reality TV programmers? They put on these shows because they�"re popular and are relatively inexpensive to produce and essentially create the monsters that populate them. Who can forget the hapless Stephen Fowler of Wife Swap, whose contemptible treatment of his guest wife Gayla Long earlier this year earned him the hatred of millions across the nation? It cost him both personal and professional embarrassment, and likely had a negative impact on his own marriage. He claimed that he was egged-on by the show�"s producers to ham it up. From what I�"ve seen, I doubt that he needed much egging.
But no one will ever really know, and surely the show�"s director and producers bear some responsibility for the final product. Reality TV isn�"t spontaneous; it�"s scripted, manipulated, and edited for entertainment and shock value. Big gasps equal big ratings. Someone at the gym I go to even speculated that the Gosselins�" marriage issues are a put-up job intended to boost ratings.
Then there�"s us - the public. We put these individuals up on a pedestal and wait like vultures for them to slip up so we can trash them at the first opportunity. Nothing says schadenfreude like gloating over Contestant A being voted off the island because he lost the bug eating challenge for his tribe.
And what happens to these reality stars when the cameras stop rolling? Some manage to use their experience as a stepping-stone to bigger and better things as Elisabeth Hasselbeck did. Others manage to return to everyday life. Still, others likely have difficulty adjusting to their loss of celebrity and must deal with depression, etc. But there�"s always a fresh batch of suckers around the corner, waiting for our thumbs-up or thumbs-down.
When you look at it, there�"s really no one person to blame when reality TV stars go bad. We�"re all culpable in one way or another. And what does that say about us as a society?
When Reality TV Stars Go Bad, Who�"s to Blame?
[Source: Good Times Society]
posted by 77767 @ 5:44 AM,
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