When Will Princess Di Come Back from the Dead?
Gotta give Mohammed al Fayed, owner of the vaunted London’s “Harrods” and father of dopey Dodi Fayed, credit. The man continues to spout conspiracy theories about a car accident that had one very drunk driver careening through tunnels with unforgiving pillars and two un-seat-belted people in the back seat. This is an automotive scenario that spells “horrific crash” and “dead passengers”.
Now we have a former head of London’s police verifying that Fayed’s “issues” and not-so-subtle inferences that the royal family somehow arranged for Diana’s death might have merit.
Sure. The royal family made the chauffeur drink himself silly. The royal family sabotaged the seatbelts so they wouldn’t fasten. The royal family made those pillars in that Paris tunnel move that the speeding car would hit it.
Heh.
From Breitbart.com:
Princess Diana news remains hot almost ten years later:
"Lord Stevens, the former head of London's Metropolitan Police, acknowledged that some of the issues raised by Mohammed al Fayed _ whose son, Dodi, was killed in the 1997 car crash with Diana _ were "right to be raised." He did not elaborate."
Media Nuggets
Culled from my own secret source. Believe at your own risk.
New York Times fourth-quarter net earnings plunge 41 percent, hurt by a weak advertising environment. WB and UPN will be merged into one broadcast network and named CW. This is not like 2 successful businesses merge. Instead of closing the losing one, they are trying make it look otherwise. Media General's (owner of Richmond Times Despatch, Tampa Tribune & 23 others, also 26 tv stations) 4thQuarter earnings plunge 32% Fox ratings suffer this year and received lots of complaints from viewers. Fox is shifting it's LA Bureau chief Trace Galleghar (host of "Only On Fox") to NY to fix anything necessary. NBC spent 24 million for their new Series "The Book of Daniel. Being "anti-Christian program," several ProLife organizations warned airing it but NBC ignored. 2 weeks later, after several local affiliates refused to air & strong public disapproval, NBC cancelled the series. West Wing will not be renewed for loss of revenue too. MTP gross revenue for 2003 was 327 million. The same projected for 2006 is 217 million. That 's just gross. Net income is less than quarter of that. GE board members questioning this tumble. Russert is showing his steady ratings lead. But political shows' ad.rev is decided by influence, which GE board is after
That Turkish Movie
From Captain’s Quarters we learn about a new Turkish movie with a plot meant to make American soldiers look like sadists.
The good Captain launches into a tirade regarding the two American movie stars who agreed to star in such a treasonous film. Gary Busey, feh, a loser and a nothing. As for Billy Zane, well who the hell is he?
In the most expensive Turkish movie ever made, American soldiers in Iraq crash a wedding and pump a little boy full of lead in front of his mother.
They kill dozens of innocent people with random machine gun fire, shoot the groom in the head, and drag those left alive to Abu Ghraib prison - where a Jewish doctor cuts out their organs, which he sells to rich people in New York, London and Tel Aviv. ...
The movie's American stars are Billy Zane, who plays a self-professed "peacekeeper sent by God," and Gary Busey as the Jewish-American doctor.
Survivor Winner Doesn’t Pay Taxes
Hey Hatch good buddy. What on earth makes you think you don’t pay taxes on million dollar winnings?
Richard will either pay up, which also means to the state, or he’ll be in the slammer.
We’re betting he’ll “survive”.
From the BBD:
* Court convicts 'Survivor' winner *
US reality show victor Richard Hatch is convicted of not paying tax on his $1m winnings.
Hybrid Backlash
Seems the vaunted solutions to America’s dependence on oil aren’t living up to their claims. Claims that allege the hybrid vehicles that run on charged batteries with a gas backup don’t “quite” get the mileage the stickers state. Mileage estimated by this country’s own Environmental Protection Agency.
Read the article because the EPA has problems of its own.
Now I’m not down on hybrid vehicles and yes, if I thought it would help this country break our dependence on Arab oil, I’d even pay the extra bucks to buy one of these cars.
The disappointment is that the hybrids aren’t living up to their claims and are a pain to maintain.
Still, America has a wealth of ingenuity and cash to finance. New products often have a period of time of high costs and bad performance until mass production brings efficiencies and economies of scale.
I wouldn’t rule out these hybrid vehicles yet. With a little tweaking they just might work as well as their hype.
From Popular Mechanics:
But as more hybrid vehicles make their way onto American roads, a growing number of drivers are discovering a gap between expectations and reality when it comes to gas mileage. Many, like Matt Ward, find the hybrid investment worthwhile regardless of mileage, but in other quarters a backlash is brewing. Newspaper articles and Internet message boards abound with calculations showing that it will take many years for most buyers to earn back in fuel savings the added cost of buying a hybrid (especially now that gas prices have fallen from their 2005 peak).
Blind Item Fun
From Hollywood Life magazine.
ASKED
It's a dead heat right now between two big male stars who could easily cop the crown as the guy most despised by the women they've known. There's that offbeat TV hunk who rules one of the funniest, sharpest comedies currently on the air. Few women with whom he's connected have anything good to say about him, from his mechanical jack-hammer lovemaking technique to his inability to be faithful for longer than about a week. Women say his problems come down to a basic, deep-down ugly soul and an utter lack of even basic decency.
GUESSED
it could be Viggo Mortenson/Mortensen -- I know I saw a story somewhere that on the *Lord of the Rings* set, he used to cheerfully refer to Cate Blanchett as "c*nt" and did the same for most of the other females on the set.
Jason Bateman of Arrested Development?
Jeremy Piven?
Charlie Sheen seems to fit.
ASKED
Then there's his rival, a fun-guy movie star who could continue to be starring in hits for quite a while. Even by Hollywood's low standards when it comes to niceness, this guy ranks as a prince of darkness. On the set, when he isn't constantly cracking infantile jokes with his male coworkers like they're all frat brothers, he's slavishly checking himself out in the mirror. To add to his lack of charm, he constantly refers to female coworkers not by name but by body parts. Still, that's nothing compared to how he relentlessly woos prospective dates with flowers, gifts and sexy phone calls, then, after the first date, he drops them an e-mail detailing what he thinks are their physical faults and why things are not going to work out between them. Apparently this jerk hasn't a clue that nobody would be giving him the time of day, let alone a romantic tumble, if he weren't temporarily famous.
GUESSED
Perhaps Jim Carey
Sounds a little like Vince Vaughn
OWEN WILSON??
ASKED
A few years ago, this talented charmer looked set to burn up the town with her screen presence and uncanny knack for grabbing people's attention. After she got touted as having the potential of becoming an "It" girl, though, too many of her projects either tanked or failed to achieve lift-off. At first she took the usual career-reinvention measures like dumping her agents and managers, plunging herself into acting and yoga classes and frittering away her time on ill-advised relationships with cuties of both sexes. More recently, though, since jobs have gotten more and more scarce, she's had plenty of leisure time to spend on her back entertaining a variety of older, unattractive but hugely rich men in some of the worlds best hotels. Although she tells girlfriends (and probably
herself) she's shopping for a husband, others think she's launched herself into the profession for which she was best suited in the first place.
GUESSED
brittany murphy was in "girl, interrupted”
Minnie Driver
I was going to say Winona as well. After she got caught shoplifting no one really wanted to hire her for movies.
How about Tara Reid?
Gina Gershon immediately comes to mind
Ending With a Smile
I cannot imagine anything quite so heinous as abducting a baby penguin from its parents. Said penguin chick cannot survive long without the protection of its parents. I’m willing to bet whatever idiot did this now has a dead penguin baby on his/her hands. Baby Toga’s parents were heartbroken over the loss of their chick.
But as nature does, the penguin parents now have a new egg to love, cherish and care for.
Wonder why they’re called jackass penguins.
LONDON, England (Reuters) -- The parents of a baby penguin, whose theft from a British zoo just before Christmas attracted worldwide attention, have produced a new egg.
Toga, a three-month-old jackass penguin, was snatched from Amazon World Zoo Park on the Isle of Wight, off the south coast of England, after thieves broke in one night last month.
Pictures of his crestfallen parents Kyala and Oscar made the front page of many newspapers while donations and messages of support flooded in from all over the world.
Despite a number of reported sightings, Toga, who could only survive a matter of days without his parents, was never found.
"There's some good news at last," zoo manager Kath Bright told Reuters on Monday after staff discovered Kyala and Oscar were expecting their second offspring.
"They have been very lovey-dovey," she said, adding the egg should hatch in about 40 days.
Toga, zoo staff believe, might have been stolen for a private collector or by someone who thought he would make a good Christmas present, perhaps inspired by the hit documentary film "March of the Penguins".
More Gossip/Speculation HERE
I wrote a column, How Rush Gets It Wrong recently for Blogcritics. Got a lot of responses and wanted to share the comments. Some from liberals but all in all, a thoughtful discourse.
#1
12:38 PMWomen tend to like feeling more than thinking. They often would rather focus on relationships, a la Dr. Phil, than political discourse, a la Rush. But the ones who do want to think about abstract ideas will gravitate to his show. It's an alternative to soap operas or talk shows. They may just not mention it to their friends. Other women will tend to look at you funny if you prefer political discussion to relationship discussion. At least that's been my experience.
By the way, I'm using "thinking" and "feeling" in the Myers/Briggs sense of the terms, not necessarily as a measure of IQ.
#2
03:25 PMLiberals are against democracy? I think you need to study these 'liberals' a bit more...
#3
12:36 AMI keep trying to think of ways that I could identify with your feelings about Rush Limbaugh not appealing to women, but I can't. Maybe I am unable to satisfactorily suspend judgement because like you, I think the guy is great, but I've never felt alienated or not included in the "club" so to speak. I am young, and quite new to ideological political thinking, so that may be the difference. However, my mom has been the main person in my family that has been constantly listening to Rush, since I was much younger. I understand your point, I guess personally I don't identify with politics very much at all on the basis of my gender; I understand that many people do, possibly more women, and that may be their reason for not being in tune with Rush. As for him calling that out-there chick honey, I never thought twice about it. Most men I know call me honey, sweetie, darling, etc., and my dad always did. I've never felt offended, to me it either softens their approach or is just "being nice". Like I said though, I may be biased, because I just love to listen to Rush. Also, examples of liberals and liberalism are all over the place; I guess it's just assumed that we have it thrown in our face so often we know what it is. You're a blogger, go read some crazy leftist blogs to get a taste, then go listen to the Democratic leaders talk, or read the latest screwed up court decision by some liberal judges. It is everything that is displayed by that ideology that the term liberal encompasses. As most clear-thinking conservatives know, it is all bad for our country, so we don't want to let it gain any ground.
.#4
06:27 AMThere's more to being a conservative than just beating up liberals. Limbaugh fails the test: he has no discernible principles. Try the test on yourselves: abandon anti-liberalism for a week and see what you have to think and say.
#5
12:47 PMIt's not pure, undefined "anti-liberalism" that produces a conservative, that is correct. For people that strive for intellectual honesty, it is the application of critical observation, analysis, and reasoning skills.
By applying this essentially important function of every human mind, logical analysis overwhelmingly leads one to embrace conservative principles. Unfortunately, this is a rapidly declining skill that is mostly unused in today's society. If it were practiced more, I dare to say there would not be such a sharp ideological divide within our country.
#6
02:56 PMJM:
" For people that strive for intellectual honesty, it is the application of critical observation, analysis, and reasoning skills.
By applying this essentially important function of every human mind, logical analysis overwhelmingly leads one to embrace conservative principles."
But then when I conclude, reasonably, that it is wrong for the government to spy on my telephone and email, someone like Limbaugh jumps up and says I'm wrong, that I'm not a conservative, that it's OK for the government to spy on me.
I think I'm a conservative, Limbaugh says he's a conservative, and we have a contradiction, the bane of logic.
" Unfortunately, this is a rapidly declining skill that is mostly unused in today's society. If it were practiced more, I dare to say there would not be such a sharp ideological divide within our country."
I think that the self-styled conservative Limbaugh is as subject to emotional decision-making as anyone. It's not evident to me that every person claiming to be conservative is superior in logical reasoning. I suspect that for every logical conservative there is an equally logical liberal.
Besides, I think it's not proven that emotions are illogical or irrational. the emotions come from our desires to eat, survive, reproduce, protect children, and belong to community. What's illogical about that?
#7
06:37 PMIt was a condescending "honey". But when the caller firmly, and immediately protested, Rush aquiesced. He is a gentleman.
The caller exhibited signs of moonbatiness, and Rush's tone throughout was one of mockery. I think it was deserved, but excessive. His show is about dismantling liberal silliness so I think interactions like that help his ratings.
For me, the term "liberal" is just a word for the sorts of perfection society can afford to indulge in when times are good. It's more concerned with equal outcome, and less with fairness, but that's what well meaning people are concerned with. When people aren't trying to kill you, you can afford to be worried about greater good, and ecology etc. When times are bad, you have to focus on reality.
#8
12:13 AMPersonally, I don't believe Limbaugh is truly a conservative, I think it's just an act to make money. Deep down I believe he's really a liberal, I mean his actions certainly contradict his words:
**Dodged the draft during the Vietnam War, receiving a medical deferment for a cyst on ass
**Was fired from six different disc jockey jobs, became a couch potato weighing up to 330 pounds
**Drew unemployment for eight weeks after being fired by the Kansas City Royals
**Married and divorced three times
**Drug addict hooked on oxycontin
**Illegally purchased black market pharmaceuticals
**source: "The Rush Limbaugh Story" by Paul Colford
#9
Pat Fish
URL
January 31, 2006
08:55 AMBesides, I think it's not proven that emotions are illogical or irrational. the emotions come from our desires to eat, survive, reproduce, protect children, and belong to community. What's illogical about that?
=============
Well Bliffle, I quote you above because as often as I disagree with you, the above words couldn't be truer.
Which is exactly the problem I have, problem being a whisper here because I love Rush, is that he pooh-poohs emotions a bit too much.
Emotions do, well what you say above. There IS a reason for them. We get scared and guess what, we run or we stay and fight. The emotion propels us. Woman "govern" their lives by emotions and it's a damn good thing one of the sexes does. But like anything, that left side of the brain and right side of the brain need to be in some sort of sync.
MCH....all those things you listed are true about Rush except I do think he was married only twice. As for being unemployed 8 weeks after being fired from the Royals, well why is this a bad thing, a besmirchment to one's character? I'm betting plenty of us have been laid off, fired, etc...and had a period of unemployment before finding another job. To offer that tidbit as some sort of really bad thing is lame.
As for his drug addiction, well he's never made a secret of that. As for his ballooning weight, well the man went on a diet and has kept it off. And supposedly he went into rehab to cure his drug addiction.
Those are just lame, lame, lame. Nothing in that list is terribly different than the things any one of us average joes have had to deal with.
#10
10:47 AM"Never trust a draft dodger."
- Phrase repeated ad nauseam by Rush Limbaugh while bashing Bill Clinton's evading service during the Vietnam War
Limbaugh's military record:
**Used student deferments from Southeast Missouri University to avoid serving
**Received the draft number of 152 in the spring of 1970 lottery, well below the cut-off number of 190
**After dropping out of college in 1970, was awarded a medical deferment by his family physician for a pilonidal cyst on his derierre
**25 years later, Limbaugh lied about his medical deferment, telling listeners he was exempt due "to a football knee," and that his "lottery number was too high to be drafted."
...Lame, lame, lame...
(source: THE RUSH LIMBAUGH STORY by Paul Colford, Chapter Two, "Beating The Draft")
#11
11:17 AM"MCH....all those things you listed are true about Rush except I do think he was married only twice."
No, it was three. Three marriages, three divorces.
"As for being unemployed 8 weeks after being fired from the Royals, well why is this a bad thing, a besmirchment to one's character? I'm betting plenty of us have been laid off, fired, etc...and had a period of unemployment before finding another job. To offer that tidbit as some sort of really bad thing is lame."
I guess the difference is that plenty of us haven't become multi-millionaires, based in part on the premise that we believe in "smaller government and fewer entitlements."
"As for his drug addiction, well he's never made a secret of that...And supposedly he went into rehab to cure his drug addiction."
Only because he was busted.
"As for his ballooning weight, well the man went on a diet and has kept it off."
I mentioned this only because the image of a 330-pound couch potato drawing unemployment contradicts Limbaugh's self-portrayal as a "rugged individualist."
#12
11:19 AMNothing in that list is terribly different than the things any one of us average joes have had to deal with.
This is true, Patfish, but what makes the list interesting is that it's full of things that he tends to bash others for having dealt with. Referring to people on welfare and unemployment as "couch potatoes" who are too lazy to work; talking about gays undermining the sanctity of marriage when he has undermined its sanctity three times (and yes, it was three divorces: Roxy McNeely, Michelle Sixta, and Marta Fitzgerald...Marta, btw, was married when she started seeing Rush, which doesn't say much more about the sanctity of marriage); insisting that any celebrity who does drugs should be removed from the public sphere forever, and insisting that anyone who purchases them illegal be prosecuted and jailed.
I agree that these are things that many, many people have had experiences and/or problems with. But I think Rush should agree with that too, and stop implying that anyone who has had those problems is an immoral, unprincipled liberal.
#13
11:27 AMWhy all the fuss over Rush? Just like Michael Moore, he's a song-and-dance man who is -- I thought everyone knew this -- in the entertainment industry. Their legitimacy ranks right down there around Access Hollywood. They say things to make money.
And someone actually wrote an entire chapter on Rush Limbaugh's personal flaws? Wow. I wonder when the story of Al Franken's ingrown toenails hits paperback.
#14
Pat Fish
URL
January 31, 2006
11:42 AMYou know, just a hunch here, but any one of us, if forced to be very public and defend an idealology (not that Limbaugh is "forced" but you know what I mean) would probably have things we've done, said or espoused that would be in conflict with that idealology. In the scheme of things, I think Limbaugh's are right small. He is a self-made man and yes, he got fired a couple of times. This makes him more human, more in tune with the common people.
And yes, Matt, dear Lord Rush is an entertainer of the highest order. He's the best there is. The man makes me laugh right in the middle of a long nap.
As for that day he called the lady "honey"...it was really a Freudian slip. In that, well I must admit it's probably how Rush really thinks about women.
The difference between this "honey" insult- and hey, I'm from Merryland. I call everybody Honey, though I'm a woman. - to the female conservatives in his audience is Rush will not experience some massive call for his resignation. Women don't complain about those things. And there is a difference in calling someone "honey" during a serious political discourse engaged in this past Friday, and calling someone honey in a more social setting. I wonder if Rush will ever get it.
But hey, I put it out there. What the world REALLY needs is a female Rush Limbaugh.
That's the ticket.
I've appreciated all the intelligence discourse, especially from the more liberal writers.
Because Rush Limbaugh is a sucessful man with a talent and there's just no sense denying it.
#15
12:40 PMI tend to agree with you that Limbaugh's use of the term "liberal" is somewhat disconcerting although for different reasons than those you've given. I'm a political scientists by training and, as Rush says so often, words mean things. Liberal does not mean what he thinks it means. It does not mean what most Americans think it means. Under the classic understanding of the term Limbaugh is, himself, a liberal. There are very few true Conservatives on the political scene today although there are, obviously, a enough. More than anything this indescriminate and incorrect usage of the term liberal tends to confuse our allies (and enemies) because they are using the term correctly. When we call George Bush a conservative we do ourselves harm on the international front. When we label a President, or representative of the United States as a liberal or conservative, our allies apply certain schema to that label and react accordingly. If we use the wrong term they react to incorrect schema. It'd be far better if Mr. Limbaugh and others would use these terms properly, but I don't see that happening.
#16
04:17 PM"And someone actually wrote an entire chapter on Rush Limbaugh's personal flaws? Wow."
Well, it was a biography of Limbaugh's life, by Paul Colford, which also included his personal successes. In Chapter 2 ("Beating the Draft") however, Colford does devote the entire chapter on how Limbaugh - who has made a pretty penny in part by calling Bill Clinton a draft-dodger - scammed the draft and then lied about it years later on his radio program.
I don't feel that he dodged the draft was that big of a deal (although it is curious that someone who wraps himself in the American flag like does would skip out on a war due to a pimple on his keester), but I do think the fact that he didn't have the balls to tell the truth about it does say something about his lack of character.
How Rush Gets It Wrong
Rush Limbaugh Trivia
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