Sarah Palin Pardons Turkey

Palin Pardons a Turkey in the Name of “Peace and Harmony.” Let the Slaughter Begin !!!

Yet again, my Governor, Sarah Palin has left me speechless. Today, in her home town of Wasilla, she decided to pardon a turkey. To my knowledge, this has not happened before, and I wonder if it might be the only thing left that made her feel “Presidential.”

That aside, she arrived at the turkey farm, with temperatures in the single digits in a short black skirt, and high heels. Then, she stood in the turkey shed, and read her statement.

Within the first 10 seconds I expected a lightning bolt to blow a hole in the roof of the turkey barn and strike her dead, leaving a little black pile of ashes with a pair of stylish glasses frames resting on top. Had I been there in person, they’d have seen me literally dive for cover.

Now, Sarah Palin actually advocates the death penalty, but I figured if the “friend to all creatures great and small” line didn’t get a lightning bolt, we were safe for now.

But the worst was yet to come. As she took advantage of the media opportunity after the magnanimous pardon, business as usual was going on at the turkey farm. And it was going on right behind Palin, and on camera.

Yes, that’s right. Sarah Palin actually said the campaign trail was “pretty brutal” while some guy behind her was slitting the throat of a turkey and draining it in the cone of death, right in front of the cameras. Turkey #2 met its demise while the reporter asked what programs in the upcoming budget might be “on the chopping block.”

When asked why she came out to pardon the turkey, Palin responded, “For one, you need a little levity in this job,” and went on to say that it was nice to do something that wasn’t so “heavy-handed politics, that invites criticism. Certainly we’ll probably invite criticism for even doin’ this too.” A correct prediction from our Governor as she stood there on Channel 2 News, with a backdrop of blood-soaked snow and dying birds.

Before you believe that maybe Sarah Palin didn’t know about this, or was horrified when she realized sitting in front of the TV later that night what had happened, remember that when a photographer asked her if she wanted the turkey slaughter as a backdrop, the “friend to all creatures great and small” said, “No worries!”

Sarah Palin Turkey Death Interview Video

Sarah Palin stands in front of a bird slaughtering machine being interviewed by a news crew as a farm hand awkwardly undertakes his work.

Sarah Palin Turkey Death video below....

She may have returned back to the upper 1, to her Gubernatorial duties in the state of Alaska, but the comedy hits just keep rolling in from Sarah Louise Palin.

The governor was being interviewed by a local Anchorage television news station while the work of the Triple-D Farm and Hatchery continued.

Palin was at the Turkey farm for a pardoning of the Turkey ceremony, a token gesture leading up to Thanks Giving where Governors and Presidents pardon a turkey from the chopping block, it makes for great TV vision.

What turned into a basic publicity stunt for Sarah Palin turned into a comedy classic for the YouTube ages.

Being interviewed by KTUU TV, an NBC affiliate in Alaska, Palin stood directly in front of a Turkey slaughtering machine where all the action was taking place. Despite the camera man apparently telling Sarah what was being captured by the lense, the Governor continued on her regual bullshitting rants.

A farm worker sheepishly began his day job killing Turkeys ready for Thanks Giving night, Palin mumbled on about "greatly falling" oil prices and the role of limited cheques in the mail Alaskan government.

The results can either be interpreted as excruciatingly hilarious, or simply disturbing television.

Hugh Jackman - The Sexiest Man Alive ???

Hugh Jackman named People's Sexiest Man Alive

NEW YORK (AP) - Hugh Jackman has been named People magazine's Sexiest Man Alive.

The magazine's executive editor, Jess Cagle, tells NBC's "Today" show that Huge Jackman is a "surprising choice," but he'd been on the editors' minds "for a long time and it seemed like this was the year to do him."

Cagle points out that not only is Jackman's career at its peak, with the "X-Men" movies and his upcoming epic with Nicole Kidman "Australia," but he's "built like a tank."

Nicoel Kidman throws her 2 cents in, telling People that "women's jaws drop when Hugh walks in a room."

Hugh Jackman named People's "Sexiest Man Alive"

Wolverine Hugh Jackman has been named People's "Sexiest Man Alive." The 40-year-old Australian actor took home the much sought-after title for the first time ever. Fellow Aussie Nicole Kidman says "Women's jaws drop when Hugh walks into a room."

Last year's winner, Matt Damon, is now officially ugly.

Hugh Jackman told the magazine that, on hearing the news, his wife joked: "Obviously, Brad wasn't available this year."

Jackman's movie credits include the X-Men franchise, The Prestige, The Fountain, and Van Helsing. His next film is the new Baz Luhrmann epic, Australia, which co-stars Kidman. Whether or not the title of world's sexiest man helps ticket sales remains to be seen. It certainly didn't help Jude Law's career.

What’s Mamma.com ???

That’s one of the first questions coming up in today’s news, reported by the WSJ’s Kara Scannell, that Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban faces insider-trading charges related to the site.

Mamma.com is a Canadian search engine that merged with Copernic Technologies, which also offers search software and online advertising services, in December 2005. It now trades under Copernic’s ticker, CNIC.

Marketed as a “metasearch” engine, Mamma displays results from other sites like Ask and About.com, which it says provides more comprehensive search results. It also sells paid-search listings, which appear above the standard results.

It received 669,000 unique visits in September, down 66% from the 2 million it got a year earlier, according to comScore.

Like many tech companies of late, Copernic has been streamlining operations in the weak economy. Last week it said it would close its Montreal office and that its marketing VP wouldn’t be staying on past the end of the year.

Its third-quarter loss narrowed to $621,677 from $974,716 a year ago, though its revenue shrank 10% to $1.7 million over the same period.

Mr. Cuban has mentioned Mamma.com as far back as 2004, when he blogged about investing in it despite its obscurity.

“I invested in mamma.com for the same reason I invested in Netidentity.com back when it was known as mailbank.com. I love businesses with low overhead, that don’t need to be technology leaders to succeed, that generate cash that they can put in the bank, and at some point, hopefully payout to shareholders.

I think mamma.com has that potential,” he wrote. “It’s not Google or Yahoo, nor will it be a top 5 search engine anytime soon. But it is a good metasearch tool that I use and have used. Google and Yahoo have become carbon copies of each other, and for me, other than usenet and news searches, it’s too big. I like the way Mamma.com organizes websearches, and I use it for picture searches.”

A year later, he wrote that he’d changed his mind because of financing concerns: “Im glad I sold my
stock.”

Mark Cuban charged with insider trading

The breaking news is that the SEC is charging Mark Cuban, the owner of the Dallas Mavericks, with insider trading related to sales of shares in Mamma.com, Inc., now Copernic, Inc. (NASDAQ: CNIC). The entrepreneur billionaire allegedly dumped 600,000 shares in the Internet search engine company when he found out it was raising money by selling shares in a private offering. This information was not publicly known.

The SEC filed its complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, saying that in June, 2004, Cuban was invited to participate in the stock offering after he agreed to keep the information confidential. Knowing the offering would be conducted at a discount, Cuban then sold his entire 6% ownership within a few hours after he learned about it. When the financing was announced the next day, the company's shares dropped more than 10% due to dilution concerns. Cuban thus avoided more than $750,000 in losses.

If these allegations are true, this is a classic case of insider trading. The public had no way of knowing the stock price would drop, while Cuban and other insiders did. The SEC release didn't mention what other insiders did, but it seems, for now at least, that only Cuban acted on the information.

I've had about all the news of corruption I can take. Of course, I don't mean to sound accusatory, or find Mark Cuban guilty before he has been properly tried, but it's just the timing of it. When the world is swirling into a global recession based on greed, and probably at least a little bit of corruption, these news items are definitely ones I can do without.

Related Post :

Mark Cuban - Charged with insider trading

Hillary Clinton - Secretary of State ???

There are numerous reports tonight that Hillary Clinton may be under consideration for Secretary of State in the Obama administration.

From the Washington Post:

There's increasing chatter in political circles that the Obama camp is not overly happy with the usual suspects for secretary of state these days and that the field might be expanding somewhat beyond Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), Gov. Bill Richardson (D-N.M.), Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.) and maybe former Democratic senator Sam Nunn of Georgia.

There's talk, indeed, that Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) may now be under consideration for the post. Her office referred any questions to the Obama transition; Obama spokesman Tommy Vietor declined to comment.

And NBC's Andrea Mitchell reports:

Two Obama advisers have told NBC News that Hillary Clinton is under consideration to be secretary of state. Would she be interested? Those who know Clinton say possibly. But her office says that any decisions about the transition are up to the president-elect and his team.

Clinton was seen taking a flight to Chicago today, but an adviser says it was on personal business. It is unknown whether she had any meeting or conversation with Obama while there.

According to CNN:

One source close to Hillary Clinton tells CNN that as of early yesterday, Senator Clinton had not been contacted by the transition team about a possible cabinet appointment. This same source tells CNN that Senator Clinton would not necessarily dismiss such an offer.

A spokesman for Hillary Clinton, Philippe Reines, tells CNN "Any speculation about cabinet or other administration appointments is really for President-Elect Obama's transition team to address."

On Monday night, while walking into an awards ceremony in New York, Senator Clinton was asked if she would consider taking a post in the Obama administration. She replied, "I am happy being a Senator from New York, I love this state and this city. I am looking at the long list of things I have to catch up on and do. But I want to be a good partner and I want to do everything I can to make sure his agenda is going to be successful."

And sources tell ABC News that discussions about Clinton being asked to accept the post are "very serious."

Hillary Clinton's name mentioned as possible Secretary of State

Two sources close to the Obama transition team tell CNN that Senator Hillary Clinton’s name has been mentioned as a possible candidate for Secretary of State.

One source close to Hillary Clinton tells CNN that as of early yesterday, Senator Clinton had not been contacted by the transition team about a possible cabinet appointment. This same source tells CNN that Senator Clinton would not necessarily dismiss such an offer.

A spokesman for Hillary Clinton, Philippe Reines, tells CNN “Any speculation about cabinet or other administration appointments is really for President-Elect Obama's transition team to address.”

On Monday night, while walking into an awards ceremony in New York, Senator Clinton was asked if she would consider taking a post in the Obama administration. She replied, "I am happy being a Senator from New York, I love this state and this city. I am looking at the long list of things I have to catch up on and do. But I want to be a good partner and I want to do everything I can to make sure his agenda is going to be successful."

Paula Goodspeed - Found Dead Near Paula Abdul’s Home

Woman Found Dead Near Paula Abdul’s Home Was Former ‘Idol’ Contestant

The woman who was found dead in a car parked near Paula Abdul’s Sherman Oaks, Calif., home last night has been identified as Paula Goodspeed, 30, a former contestant on “American Idol’s” Season 5.

Goodspeed was found shortly after 6 PM on Tuesday, after the Los Angeles Police Department received a tip from a neighboring agency, according to LAPD spokesperson Officer Karen Smith.

“Our Van Nuys division did receive a call from the Ventura County’s Sheriff. A woman’s parents reported her missing and they thought that she may be at Paula Abdul’s house,” Smith told Access Hollywood on Tuesday night.

The parents of the woman reportedly believed their daughter was nearby Abdul’s home as she was reportedly “a big fan” of the “Idol” judge, Officer Smith told Access.

When authorities arrived, the unidentified woman was pronounced dead at the scene.

Authorities are awaiting a coroner’s report to verify the cause of death.

Footage of a car parked on the street where the incident occurred, and shown on Fox News 11 in Los Angeles, who first reported the story, showed Paula Abdul laminates dangling from the rearview mirror.

Goodspeed was shown auditioning for the FOX reality show in February 2006.

Dressed in pink, and with a mouth full of braces, she claimed, “You have to have a certain personality to pull my look off.” She also claimed to be a major Paula Abdul fan.

“I really like Paula Abdul a lot,” Goodspeed said on the show. “ She’s really cool. I’m like, a really big fan. And I made life-sized drawings of Paula. I’ve been drawing ever since I was a little kid and my first drawing was of Paula Abdul.”

After performing “Proud Mary” for the judging panel, she left Abdul surprised.

“Well, Paula, I’m speechless,” Abdul said. “Don’t know what to say.”

“Is that good or bad,” Goodspeed asked.

“It’s not a great thing,” Abdul said.

After being told she wouldn’t make it through to the Hollywood round of the competition, Goodspeed vowed to continue her dream of being a singer.

“It’s not over. I’m not going to stop singing just because you don’t like my voice,” she said.

Abdul was not home at the time of Tuesday’s incident. Her spokesperson told KTTV Fox News 11 that the judge was out Tuesday evening taping a session for the upcoming season of “American Idol.”

On Wednesday, Abdul released a statement regarding the incident to Access Hollywood.

“I am deeply shocked and saddened about what transpired yesterday,” Abdul’s statement read. “My heart and prayers go out to her family.”

Paula Goodspeed is Paula Abdul’s Fan

She was a former American Idol contestant on the show, who was found dead outside of Paula Abdul’s home on the evening of November 11th 2008, apparently from a suicide. It is unknown if she was stalking Paula or the reason for her presence.

Paula Goodspeed Biography

As a biography, she first came on the radar at American Idol because of her Austin, Texas audition for the show in 2005. See that video below. She wore an interesting pink outfit and declared herself a fan of Paula Abdul. Apparently she was not kidding.

Ms. Goodspeed reportedly has a history of mental illness which caused her family concern for her safety.

On her MySpace page profile, she describes herself as 28 years old, originally born in Jamaica. Other media sources have described her as 30 years old from Thousand Oaks, California, which is where she now resides. She also self-describes herself as a Wiccan who seems to have an affinity for the Wizard of Oz movie. This is not the same Paula Goodspeed who is a real estate agent in San Bernadino County.

During the audition, Ms. Goodspeed gave her own rendition of “Proud Mary,” which was once sung by Paula. Simon made a seering comment in his usual style about her braces that was not forgotten: “How did she get through the metal detector?”

She writes about the post-audition trauma and that specific comment in one of her blog entries:

It’s very hard reading such awful things being written about yourself…..or hearing things being said….. not like alot of people would understand what it’s like having so many haters , just because I made the mistake of trying out for a singing competition before I was even ready vocally, emotionally and physically.

I have to believe there is something good about me…..

Simon made that comment about my braces 5 months ago in Sept. 05 and now …since the show aired this month (Feb. 06), theres been soo many people bashing me for having braces, as if “I am the only person on national television that wears braces”!!!!!!

I think some people just need to grow up…or save that kind of stuff for the playground.

Soo, thats my story!! Better luck next time, I guess……

Google Flu - Google search engine flags flu activity

Search engine giant Google launched a new tool on Tuesday that will help U.S. federal health experts track the annual flu epidemic.

Google Flu Trends uses search terms that people put into the Web-based search engine to figure out where influenza is heating up, and notify the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in real time.

"We've discovered that certain search terms are good indicators of flu activity," Google said in a statement.

"What this does is it takes Google search terms of influenza-like illness and influenza and it emulates a signal that tells us how much influenza activity there was," Dr. Lyn Finelli, chief of influenza surveillance at the CDC, said in a telephone interview.

Studies indicate that between 35 and 40 percent of all visits to the Internet are begun by people looking for health information. When people are sick, they tend to look up their symptoms.

Google is keeping the search terms it uses private, but influenza-like illnesses include symptoms such as fever, muscle aches and cough. Sneezing usually occurs with other viruses such as rhinoviruses.

Currently, the CDC relies on centers that report on people coming to their doctors with flu-like symptoms, and lab tests that confirm whether a patient has influenza.

But many people with flu never visit a doctor and most doctors treat based on symptoms, rarely giving a flu test.

Either way, the CDC's surveillance data is about two weeks behind.

The Google tool will track flu activity in near real time, the company said.

EARLY WARNING

"One thing we found last year when we validated this model is it tended to predict surveillance data," Finelli said.

"The data are really, really timely. They were able to tell us on a day-to-day basis the relative direction of flu activity for a given area. They were about a week ahead of us. They could be used ... as early warning signal for flu activity."

Then the CDC can get the word out to hospitals, clinics and doctors offices so they can stock up on flu tests, antiviral drugs and antibiotics for people who get what are known as co-infections -- bacterial infections that worsen a bout of flu.

Two weeks warning also allows people to get vaccinated before flu reaches their community.

Google Uses Searches to Track Flu’s Spread

Now it seems Big Brother will know you're sick even before you do.

Google has launched a function called Google Flu Trends, which will track which areas of the country are punching in flu-related search terms in a bid to track the spread of the disease.

"Our team found that certain aggregated search queries tend to be very common during flu season each year," the Web site posted on its official blog.

Terms such as "flu symptoms" or "muscle aches" are some common examples.

"We compared these aggregated queries against data provided by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and we found that there's a very close relationship between the frequency of these search queries and the number of people who are experiencing flu-like symptoms each week," the company said.

The flu season has not yet gotten under way. Most states are reporting low flu activity, except for Nevada and Texas, where the activity is deemed minimal. Flu cases typically spike in mid-December and again in February.

The search engine touts its new data page as "an early warning system for outbreaks," making it "an exciting development" for epidemiologists.

"Our up-to-date influenza estimates may enable public health officials and health professionals to better respond to seasonal epidemics and - though we hope never to find out - pandemics," the company said.

As part of a test to measure how accurate the data they had collected is, Google researchers passed their results to the CDC throughout last winter's flu season.

They found that the search terms had a very "strong correlation" to what health officials were seeing, except that their data was coming in sooner. That provided the possibility to detect outbreaks as they were happening.

So far, however, Google acknowledges the patterning is preliminary and experimental.

"Our system is still very experimental, so anything is possible, but we're hoping to see similar correlations in the coming year," Google said.

Google also promised the search patterns would never be connected to personal data.

Adrienne Bailon News ???

Cheetah Girl Adrienne Bailon Pictures!

PHOTOS! Here are those pictures of Cheetah Girl Adrienne Bailon. But who is Adrienne Bailon? And with the photo scandal hitting Cheetah Girls, why yet again another Disney star?

Bailon appeared in a minor role in the film “The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2.”

So what did Bailon want to do as a girl before … she found the wonders of using a laptop?

She wanted to be a obstetrician, she told the Daily News in July this year.

In an article called “Cheetah Girl Adrienne Bailon is on a fast career track”, Bailon was described as a hot new Disney property, starting as a movie for its cable channel, then CDs, then a c oncert tour. Bailon filmed in India here most recent film “The Cheetah Girls One World” Her description of herself for the film was reportedly the following: “It was a dream come true,”

Bailon says. “We’re such adventurous girls in real life.” Does Bailon’s whole saga u nfolding since Sunday seems all too ironic? She’s engaged to the brother of Kim Kardashian who herself successful channeled her own notoriety with Ray J into a reality tv show following the end of the Simple Life on E! And what about that laptop?

Adrienne Bailon this October reported the robbery of her laptop that led to this latest scandal. In fact, it was Kim Kardashian one year ago this month on November 8, 2007 who also reported a robbery of her laptop from the same airport. While Kardashian claimed the robbery as true, the New York Post reportedly questioned otherwise.

Semi-Nak*d Pics of Cheetah Girl Stolen

Hear what she told momlogic about being a good role model.

Adrienne Bailon reportedly took the racy photos as a gift for her boyfriend Robert Kardashian ... but then her laptop was stolen, and the pics landed on the web faster than you can say Cheetah-Licious.

TMZ reports Bailon was at JFK airport in late October and noticed her laptop computer was missing from her luggage cart. She filed a report with the NY Port Authority -- but later that day her record label received an anonymous phone call from a man saying he had her laptop and would return it for $1000.

A meeting was set up at JFK with the anonymous man, where he was given the money and in turn gave up Bailon's missing laptop. But several semi-nud* photos of Bailon were missing.

"The photos that have surfaced of Adrienne Bailon were stolen from her laptop over a week ago at an airport in NY and sent to several media outlets," Adrienne's representative Jonathan Jaxson said. "These photos were taken in private. Adrienne will be pursuing legal action against the person or persons sending these private photos out. Adrienne is deeply sorry for any pain this may have caused to her fans."

Adrienne Bailon joins a long line of Disney stars such as Vanessa Hudgens and Miley Cyrus who have had racy photos leak on the web. If your kids happen to see the pics online, what do you say? Rosanne Tobey, L.P.C. says it's key to help kids distinguish between the character and the real person. "Put her actions in context," Tobey says. "Point out that she obviously made a mistake. She didn't have maturity to make the right choice. Kids need to know that although her character is a role model, she is not." In other words, Bailon is a real person and real people, unlike heroes, are not perfect.

You could also use this as a teachable moment about the dangers of taking racy digital photos or posting questionable pics on the 'net, says Tobey.

By the time your private business has gone public, you can't take it away. "I think this is a perfect example parents can use to illustrate why NOT to take or post pics you don't want the entire world to see," Rosanne says. "Even though you think the pics will never get out, there's no guarantee. All it takes is one click of a button. And once it's out there, it's essentially impossible to get it back."

Kids must understand the permanence of the actions they take. "Teens tend to be so savvy, yet they sometimes have a hard time realizing the reach that the web might have," Rosanne says. "If a racy pic is up somewhere with your name attached, and a future employer Googles you and finds it, it can really come back to haunt you."

Even if you trust your teen, they can still make bad decisions. "Talk to your kids about this, even if you think they'd never do something like this in a million years," says Rosanne. "It's not so much that your teen's not trustworthy -- this is just typical behavior of their age."

In light of these new pics, is Cheetah Girl Adrienne Bailon still kid-friendly?

See related story about Adrienne Bailon.