I FRONT PAGE I CONTENTS OF MARCH 2006 I COVER OF FEBRUARY 2006 ISSUE I CONTENTS OF FEBRUARY 2006 ISSUE I CONTENTS OF JANUARY 2006 I APRIL I MAY I JUNE I JULY I AUGUST I SEPTEMBER I OCTOBER I NOVEMBER I DECEMBER I
2005 HOTTEST GOSSIPS, ACCUSATIONS AND PREDICTIONS OF
STARS & CELEBRITIES OF THE YEAR
By Maximillien de Lafayette
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HOTTEST RELIGIOUSLY POLITICAL STATEMENTS OF THE YEAR GEORGE BUSH'S "CHRISTIAN" WAR AMUSES THE ISRAELIS AND INFURIATES THE ARABS. U.S. LT. GENERAL "CHRISTIAN" REMARKS EMBARRASSED THE WHITE HOUSE AND GEORGE BUSH. President Bush's frequent reference to his Christian's God in guiding him in political decisions and his war against terrorism has become the laughing stock of the world community. Particularly the Arab and Muslim worlds. Quite often, President Bush makes reference to a higher authority. Some other times, he calls that supreme and high authority "father's guidance". And this makes it worse. Democrats and "independent" liberals in the United States make fun of Bush's poor vocabulary expression and limited linguistic ability. But, when he begins to thank and praise God as his guiding rod and source of strength and political leadership, Washington on both sides of the fence smiles and bi partisan politicians nod their heads. Several Arab observers add" What's wrong with this guy?". His Christianized political leadership fell under fierce rhetoric attacks and became prey to mockery and ridicule. But his is not the only political leader and Washington's visible figures to wrap himself with the flag of a Christian faith. Most recently, Lt. General William Boykin walked in the footstep of his boss. But for an unexpected and non-understandable reasons, Bush got mad and took action against his general. So, what did the general do or say to make his boss mad? According to high level sources in Washington, the United States Army Lt. General Boykin embarrassed The White House by addressing public speeches in which he depicted the war on Iraq and global terrorism as a "CHRISTIAN BATTLE AGAINST SATAN"! The Israelis who heard the American general's speeches were amused. But the Arabs and the Muslims were mad like hell. Waves of protests from Muslim spiritual leaders and senior politicians in the Middle East, the Near East and the Arab Gulf States hit the Arab press and "social" salons in the Arab communities. Young Jewish students who heard the American general's statements about how Christianity and Peace are better served by waging a Christian war against the "Satanists" were colorful and humorous in their replies and reactions to the "Christian General". David Tovia, a highly educated linguist, free lance archaeologist and a foreign correspondent said: " First, he is a military man. So do not except him to speak like Cicero. Second, every time, this general speaks, we should be ready to decorate his chest with all kinds of kids' toys and collection of iron cross, blue cross, red cross, tin cross medals..." Angry Suleiman Ahmad Al-Bakri, a citizen from Egypt said: "First, Bush came up with names like "Justice Operation" (Referring to the first US Military Invasion of Iraq as "baptized" by Bush"), and now, we hear this coconut head American general telling the American people that Muslims are Satan and Christians are the army of God. What kind of God, the Americans are talking about? The God that allows them to kill our children or the Green God they have on their Dollar bill?" Lt. General Boykin:" America had been targeted because we’re a Christian nation...But, I am not anti-Islam or any other religion." In Washington, army Vice Chief of Staff General Richard Cody declined to give any details of the action taken in response to Lt. General Boykin’s remarks, which according to military regulations and protocol, violated the Pentagon rules. But Cody said: ”It was not really significant”. Really? So, how come, The White House decided to discipline Boykin? In responding to a question asked by a reporter from the London's International Herald Daily News during a meeting of the Association of the US Army, Cody replied: " I took the appropriate action based on the recommendations of the Inspector General.” However, Cody declined to say when and what kind of "proper" action was taken. And Cody added: "If it was something significant, it would be something we would talk about. So that should give you an indication." It just happened that an Israeli reporter who was attending the Association of the US Army Meeting, asked Cody whether Lt. General Boykin's remarks reflect the common beliefs of senior American Generals and The White House. Cody declined to comment. Then the Israeli reporter cornered Cody when he asked him about "23 religious-oriented speeches Boykin gave since January 2002." It was news to Cody but not to Mossad and the Jewish press. Cody could not believe that Jewish reporters knew more about Boykin's speeches than himself or senior officers at the Pentagon. But this was not amusing to Muslim reporters who later on, "learned" what their Israeli counterparts "learned" longtime ago. |
Bush: " Our war is a CRUSADE." President Bush himself described his war against terrorism and fanatic fundamentalists as a "Crusade". Although, Bush originally used the term "CRUSADE" to justify and describe "his war" or "wars", he has since worked "so hard" to shore up relations with Arabs and Muslim states. Yes sir! He "tried very hard" to avoid the appearance of an American Christian-Islamic struggle. The Associated Press in London reported that the Bush administration has come under fire from Muslim Americans for what they see as heavy-handed law enforcement in a crackdown against groups associated with al Qaeda, blamed for the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the United States. PRESIDENT BUSH: "BOYKIN'S REMARKS DIDN'T REFLECT MY OPINION." Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has praised Boykin’s ”outstanding record” and refused to reprimand the general. Most recent polls conducted in early October have shown a very strong anti-Bush sentiment in the Arab-American communities, particularly in Virginia, Washington, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, New York and Chicago. Bush's constant "referrals" to a Christian God have alienated many so-assumed Arab and Muslim supporters and this could create a serious swing against Bush among Arab Americans in the race to next week’s presidential election in which Bush is neck-and-neck with Democratic challenger Sen. John Kerry. It is so funny to watch the Israeli and Arab divergent reactions toward Bush Christian remarks. We got here a "silly remark" for the Jews and an "anger" for the Arabs. In Washington, Reuters reported that Boykin touched off a firestorm when he gave a series of speeches while in uniform in which he referred to the war on terrorism as a battle with Satan. Boykin said America had been targeted “because we’re a Christian nation.” He said later, he was not anti-Islam or any other religion. Muslim groups and Arab-Americans lawmakers condemned Boykin’s comments and Bush said the remarks “didn’t reflect my opinion.” The Muslim and Arab groups were extremely concerned, and began to wonder what role Boykin, deputy undersecretary of defense for intelligence, may have played in creating US military interrogation policy before a scandal erupted over the abuse of prisoners in Iraq. The Pentagon's recent official report about the various speeches and remarks of Boykin revealed that Boykin had been obliged to clear the speeches with the Pentagon, given “the sensitive nature of his remarks concerning US policy and the likelihood that he would be perceived by his audiences as a DOD spokesman based on his official position and his appearance in uniform.” The report concluded that Lt. General Boykin failed to issue a "by-regulation disclaimer" at the speeches that he was not representing official Pentagon policy, and also failed to report his receipt of one travel payment exceeding $260 from a non-government source. But Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has praised Boykin’s ”outstanding record” and refused to reprimand the general, who played a role in a 1993 battle with Somali warlords and the ill-fated hostage rescue attempt in Iran in 1980. Now, try to figure out this double standard treatment!
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Revisiting what celebrities, stars and powerful people predicted, complained and gossiped about in 2005. Their complaints, predictions, accusations and gossips. Where they right on? Wrong? Pretentious? Off base. Judge for yourself. "Actions of the president are, in my opinion, the most vile and hateful word." said Rosie O'Donnell.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK- When Melania Knauss walks down the aisle to marry real estate mogul Donald Trump, she'll be wearing a sumptuous gown by Christian Dior. Knauss chose the gown during the haute couture shows in Paris with help from Vogue editors Sally Singer and Andre Leon Talley. She models the voluminous strapless gown -- which took 550 hours of labour just to do the embroidery -- on the cover of Vogue's February issue and Singer chronicles the shopping trip over 14 pages inside. "Melania definitely got what she was looking for: a dress that would be absolutely special and a dress that could only be worn to one's wedding," Singer told The Associated Press on Monday. Knauss will marry Trump on Saturday in Palm Beach, Fla. It will be the third marriage for Trump, host of the NBC reality show The Apprentice. Knauss, like many brides-to-be, thought she wanted something a little more modern, but eventually realized she wanted a more theatrical dress, Singer said. "The dress also had to hold its own against the massive ballroom they've built at Mar-a-Lago (the Trump estate in Palm Beach)," Singer said. The room is in the ornate Louis XIV style and the visual theme of the wedding is white, gold and jewelry -- meaning diamonds. Singer, who will be a guest at the wedding, said she couldn't begin to estimate the gown's price tag. "Some of these couture gowns, they are showpieces. No one really expects someone to order them. ... I'm sure it cost a lot." The Vogue fashion and features director said she "believed" Trump had purchased the gown because she couldn't imagine Dior giving away something so expensive, but she didn't know the arrangements. Knauss, 34, wasn't intimidated by the hunt for her wedding dress or the ceremony of haute couture.
Photo: Paris Hilton. New York- The engagement has been called off, but Paris Latsis has only kind words for his ex-fiancée, Paris Hilton. The 22-year-old Greek shipping heir called Hilton "the most incredible woman I have ever met in my life," in a brief statement released Monday through Hilton publicist Elliott Mintz. "I respect her decision and appreciate the very kind and generous manner in which she is handling her very difficult decision," Latsis said. "This was the best experience of my life and I will always be grateful for it." Hilton, 24, announced over the weekend that she had ended their four-month engagement because she's "not ready for marriage" and didn't want it to end in divorce. There were earlier reports the two families had been concerned about Latsis's lack of a job and Hilton's busy social life. Latsis's father, Gregoris Kasidokostas, declined Saturday to say why the couple had broken up, but earlier had called a wedding postponement "common sense," according to People magazine's website. Latsis "is young and he should wait (for marriage)," Kasidokostas told People last week. The couple became engaged in late May. Latsis gave the hotel heiress/reality TV star a 24-carat, $5-million diamond engagement ring. A private sex tape of Hilton and an ex-boyfriend surfaced in 2003 just before the start of her Fox reality series, The Simple Life. She has said she was embarrassed and humiliated that the tape ever became public.
Photo: Pamela Anderson, a cast member of the Fox comedy show 'Stacked' takes questions from the media in this Friday, July 29, 2005 file photo, at the Television Critics Association summer press tour in Beverly Hills, Calif. A judge granted a request Monday by Anderson for a three-year restraining order against an alleged stalker. Superior Court Judge Linda K. Lefkowitz called the claims against William Peter Stansfield, 29, 'sufficient, clear and convincing' enough to issue the order preventing him from contacting the 38-year-old actress, who stars in the TV series 'Stacked,' or her family. SANTA MONICA, California- A judge granted a request Monday by Canadian-born actress Pamela Anderson for a three-year restraining order against an alleged stalker. Superior Court Judge Linda K. Lefkowitz called the claims against William Peter Stansfield, 29, "sufficient, clear and convincing" enough to issue the order preventing him from contacting the 38-year-old actress, who stars in the TV series "Stacked," or her family. Neither Anderson nor Stansfield were in court. Stansfield told "Inside Edition" last week that Anderson's allegations were "outrageous." Among other things, Anderson said he approached her 7-year-old son at school and told her that she should work on a film with a script he wrote for her. Other incidents involving Stansfield "frightened me tremendously," Anderson said in court documents. Branded a White Man Fox News reported today that participants in the meeting said Noriega later told Brown, "As a Mexican-American, I deeply resent being called a racist and branded a white man." Brown said in a pseudo-apology Thursday: "I sincerely did not mean to offend Secretary Noriega or anyone in the room. Rather, my comments, as they relate to 'white men,' were aimed at the policies of the Bush administration as they pertain to Haiti, which I do consider to be racist." U.S. Rep. Mark Foley, a Florida Republican who organized the meeting, called Brown's comments "disappointing." "To sit there and browbeat this man who is a Mexican-American and call him names, it was inappropriate," he said. MaxNews.
Sen. Hillary Clinton said this week that Iraqi women were better off under Saddam Hussein, arguing that when the brutal dictator ran the country women were at least assured the right to participate in Iraq's public life. In comments that went unreported by the mainstream press, the former first lady told the Brookings Institution on Wednesday that since Saddam's removal from power, Iraq's postwar governing councils had engaged in "pullbacks in the rights [women] were given under Saddam Hussein." Sen. Clinton noted that while Saddam had been "an equal opportunity oppressor," women were at least assured certain constitutional guarantees. While ignoring reports about the brutal dictator's rape rooms and other forms of persecution that were routine for women under his regime, Sen. Clinton insisted: "On paper, women had rights."
An American National Guardsman serving in Iraq was castigated for writing a letter supporting President Bush, with one critic suggesting that he did not exist but was a fictional character dreamed up by the administration. Spc. Joshua Madsen, 26, of Indian Harbor Beach, Fla., is serving as a rifleman with Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, 124th Infantry. He is stationed at a base called The Combat Outpost in the eastern section of Ar-Ramadi, one of the toughest parts of the Sunni Triangle of Iraq, and has dodged explosions and bullets on patrol, according to the St. Augustine Record. Someone named Mark Crispin Miller, who orates on things political on his own Web site, quoted "a solid source in Washington" who wrote that Madsen's letter was "an obvious example of military propaganda" that's "pure and simple partisan Republican campaign pitch for votes." In the wake of that slander Moby (Richard Melville Hall), the activist techno "musician" who is working to defeat President Bush in 2004, also posted Madsen's letter on his Web site. Moby, 39, told his fans: "In an earlier e-mail, I mentioned fake letters that the Bush administration sent to local newspapers around the U.S. These letters supposedly came from soldiers in Iraq, but the truth is they were generated by the Bush administration. I think you'll agree with me that Bush and his cronies have reached a new low in distasteful and despicable behavior. This letter has made me despise the Bush administration more than I ever thought possible. It is utterly disgusting."
"60 Minutes" curmudgeon Rooney claims that God told him that Pat Robertson and Gibson are "wackos. ... They're crazy as bedbugs. ... Mel is a real nut case. What in the world was I thinking when I created him? Listen, we all make mistakes." The conclusion of Rooney's transcript Sunday: "My question to Mel Gibson is: 'How many million dollars does it look as if you're going to make off the crucifixion of Christ?'" The angry octogenarian fails to say how much he and CBS and Viacom have made off Saddam Hussein, 9/11, the war on terrorism, the war in Iraq, the Vietnam War, the death penalty, Bill Clinton, Ronald Reagan.
Can you imagine the nationwide media uproar if a Republican congressman said Hispanics and whites "all look alike to me"? But this comment came from a Democrat, so it's probably news to you. U.S. Rep. Corrine Brown, D-Fla., apologized Thursday for her racist remarks. Her outburst came Wednesday during a briefing on Haiti with Florida's congressional delegation and Assistant Secretary of State Roger Noriega, a Mexican-American. The congresswoman, who is black, sat across from Noriega and launched a diatribe against President Bush. She claimed it was Republican leaders who were "racist" in their policies toward the failed black Caribbean nation, and she called the president's representatives "a bunch of white men." After her rant, Noriega responded that he would relay her comments to Secretary of State Colin Powell and National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice Rock and Roll Hall of Famer David Crosby was arrested Rock and Roll Hall of Famer David Crosby was arrested early Saturday on marijuana and gun charges. He was arrested at a Times Square hotel just hours after receiving a standing ovation at a New Jersey concert. Police said Crosby possessed an ounce of marijuana, a .45-caliber handgun and a knife. Crosby had performed the night before with his band CPR. Crosby had checked out of his hotel, but left behind a piece of luggage. When a hotel worker found it and searched for ID, the drugs and weapons were found. Crosby later called the hotel to say he would be retrieving his luggage, but was greeted by the police when he arrived. The Associated Press said he was charged with criminal possession of a weapon in the third degree, illegal possession of a hunting knife, illegal possession of ammunition and illegal possession of about one ounce of marijuana. If convicted, he could face seven years in jail on gun charges. Crosby was convicted of drug possession in 1985 and spent a year in prison. His conviction was later overturned on appeal.
Friends, I would like to apologize for referring to George W. Bush as a "deserter." What I meant to say is that George W. Bush is a deserter, an election thief, a drunk driver, a WMD liar and a functional illiterate. And he poops his pants. In fact, he “shot a man in Reno just to watch him die." Actually, what I meant to say up in New Hampshire last week was that "We're going to have Bush for dessert come November!" I'm always mixing up "dessert" and "desert" -- I'm sure many of you have that problem. Well, well, well. As George W. would say, "It's time to smoke ‘em out of their hole!" Thanks to my "humorous" introduction of Wesley Clark 10 days ago in New Hampshire -- and the lughead way the no-sense-of-humor media has covered it -- there were 15 million hits this weekend on my website. Everyone who visited the site got to read the truth about Bush not showing up for National Guard duty
"Vietnam Veteran Exposes Kerry's 'Phony' Anti-war Testimony" More and more facts are surfacing about the untrue claims John Kerry made as an anti-war activist after returning as a hero from Vietnam. "Unfortunately, Mr. Kerry came home to Massachusetts, the one state George McGovern carried in 1972. He joined the Vietnam Veterans Against the War and emceed the Winter Soldier Investigation (both financed by Jane Fonda)," Stephen Sherman, who was a first lieutenant with the U.S. Army Fifth Special Forces Group (Airborne) in Vietnam in 1967-68, writes in today's Wall Street Journal. "Many veterans believe these protests led to more American deaths, and to the enslavement of the people on whose behalf the protests were ostensibly being undertaken. But being a take-charge kind of guy, Mr. Kerry became a leader in the VVAW and even testified before Congress on the findings of the Investigation, which he accepted at face value. "In his book 'Stolen Valor,' B.G. Burkett points out that Mr. Kerry liberally used phony veterans to testify to atrocities they could not possibly have committed. ... "Mr. Kerry hasn't given me any reason to trust his judgment. As co-chairman of the Senate investigating committee, he quashed a revealing inquiry into the POW/MIA issue, and he supports trade initiatives with the Socialist Republic of Vietnam while blocking any legislation requiring Hanoi to adhere to basic human rights.
Actor and longtime conservationist Robert Redford criticized the Bush administration's energy legislation, calling it one of the worst bills he's seen in his lifetime. At a news conference before attending a fund-raiser for Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., Redford said the bill was flawed from the start since it was designed behind closed doors by Vice President Dick Cheney and oil industry executives. "It's one of the greatest disgraces in my time," Redford said Sunday. "It's a bad bill, it's a horrible bill. "I think the American people are being really ill served right now and I think no where is it more disgraceful than in how the environment is being treated," he added.
"It instills a great deal of fear in people who are only trying to earn a living and put food on the table for their family," Pelosi, a California Democrat, told reporters on a Congressional visit to Mexico. Hundreds of workers at Wal-Mart Stores Inc. locations across the United States were arrested on immigration charges on Thursday in an investigation into contractor cleaning crews. "We think there might be a better way to go about this because the fact is that it is against the law for the employer to hire these people so there should be more focus on the employer and less in these terrorizing raids," Pelosi said. Pelosi said the Wal-Mart raids showed the need to legalize undocumented workers in parts of the economy other than just the agricultural sector.
Blasting the powers that be for demonizing as "anti-American and unpatriotic" those who speak out against military action in Iraq, Mellencamp says the nation's citizens were "systematically lied to and manipulated into backing the political 'hijacking' of Iraq." "Now, each day, as the dust settles and the truth slowly surfaces, more and more people come to the inevitable conclusion of what a debacle this whole war was," Mellencamp wrote with his wife, Elaine. The singer wonders why Bush can't simply be removed from office. "The governor of California was removed from office based on finance troubles. And yet George W. Bush has lied to us, failed to keep our own borders secure, entered a war under false pretense, endangered lives, and created financial chaos," he wrote. "How is it that he hasn't been recalled? Perhaps this time we could even have a real election ... but that wouldn't fit the Bush administration's 'take what you want and fire people later' policy. Take an election; take an oil field; take advantage of your own people – a game of political Three-Card Monte."
Bobby Brown Jailed Again Bobby Brown just can't seem to stay out of trouble. The singer is now back in jail after violating his probation on a prior drunken driving conviction. Brown appeared before a judge in DeKalb County, GA on Friday (2/20) and was taken into custody afterward. According to the Associated Press, officials could not confirm exactly what Brown had done to violate his probation, but it's possible that it may have been related to Brown's charge of misdemeanor battery in December, following an argument with his ever-tolerant wife Whitney Houston. Brown was expected to remain locked up until another court hearing this Friday. He has been on probation since January 2003 and has been ordered to remain on probation until February 17, 2005.FMQBNews.
Alec Baldwin came bearing a gift
when he attended a fund-raiser for House Democrats in Texas: a box of dog
biscuits for Republican Gov. Rick Perry. "I wanted to give this to Tom
DeLay's lap dog, Rick Perry," the actor said Tuesday. "I thought maybe he
had worked up a big appetite up there on the Capitol so Governor Perry, AKA
Tom DeLay's lap dog in the Texas state Legislature, this box of dog biscuits
is for you and I hope you enjoy it while you're toiling away at a
redistricting plan." Democrats have been opposed to the move and a few of
them joined Baldwin as he launched into a tirade about redistricting, the
California recall and Arnold Schwarzenegger, the Republican Party leadership
and the Bush administration, of which he said half of its members were
either stupid or sociopath. Everything that Bush touches turns to manure in
public policy and they're coming down here and they're telling Rick Perry
what to do," Baldwin said. Penn, who has been awarded a Donostia prize in Spain for his career contributions to the cinema, made perfectly clear he was not in sympathy with President George W. Bush's politics, particularly on Iraq. "I am sure I am more patriotic than the current president we have in the United States," said Penn. "I don't think you can have credibility as an actor unless you say what you really think. The people of the United States have an obligation to speak." "If being a rebel means not accepting people who are narrow minded then I'd rather be a rebel," Penn admitted.
American actor and activist Martin Sheen had kind words for Canada when he received an award for being a Christian role model, the CP reports. "Every time I cross this border I feel like I've left the land of lunatics," Sheen said Saturday, adding he was "proud" of Canada for not entering the Iraq war. "You are not armed and dangerous. You do not shoot each other. I always feel a bit more human when I come here." Sheen, who has been outspoken recently in his opposition the U.S.-led war in Iraq, was in Windsor to receive the Christian Culture Gold Medal from Assumption University. The university will offer a new scholarship in his name.
"It's time to impeach the president and get a man in there to get us out of this mess," the Boss allegedly roared, according to FreeRepublic.com's Kristinn Taylor, co-leader of the group's D.C. chapter. He suggested that Bush be replaced by fellow E Street bandmember Clarence Clemons. Springsteen reportedly followed his impeachment exhortation with complaints about past and present elected leaders who have misled the country. During a Boston performance this past Wednesday, Springsteen prefaced his rendition of "Born in the U.S.A." with a statement he termed "a public service announcement" about holding our political leaders accountable. Last April, Springsteen defended the Dixie Chicks after lead singer Natalie Maines said she was ashamed that President Bush was from her home state of Texas. "To me, they're terrific American artists expressing American values by using their American right to free speech," the Boss insisted on his Web site. This is part of an ongoing national effort to steal elections. "This recall is bigger than California. What's happening here is part of an ongoing national effort to steal elections Republicans cannot win," Davis said. "It started with the impeachment of President Clinton, when the Republicans could not beat him in 1996," he continued. "It continued in Florida, where they stopped the vote count, depriving thousands of Americans of the right to vote." I see the policy of opposing same-sex marriages as bigotry. "I see the policy of opposing same-sex marriages or unions, whatever you call it, as bigotry or discrimination.” William Donohue, president of Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, has this response. "It is one thing to disagree with the Vatican’s latest statement on marriage, quite another to brand it bigoted. Patrick Kennedy has some explaining to do. "To begin with, the Catholic Church does not have a ‘policy’ on marriage — it has a teaching that is rooted in Scripture; it has policies on things like keeping soup kitchens clean.
"I think when you look at the lack of diversity in the newsrooms, when you look at the lack of diversity from the editors and those in power, then you see them as automatically dismissive of anything that is not like them, which is white males," said Sharpton."I think we've seen some very blatant racial insensitivity in the coverage of this race so far," said Sharpton, in an interview with The Associated Press. Sharpton complained that former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean has been virtually anointed the hot candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2004 - a case, he said, of a white-dominated media focusing on a middle-age white man. He noted that many commentators have compared Dean to former presidents Carter and Clinton, both governors of relatively small states, without mentioning that both Georgia and Arkansas have sizable minority populations, while Vermont is nearly all white. "No one has even asked about the fact that this surge of support has been really one-dimensional," said Sharpton.
The good news is that in November of 2004 the American people will have a chance to both impeach and remove George W. Bush in one step. "The good news is that in November of 2004 the American people will have a chance to both impeach and remove George W. Bush in one step." Graham insisted somewhat bizarrely that Bush's 16-word State of the Union address reference to Iraq seeking uranium from Niger was critical to the administration's case for making war on Iraq. "It was central because the rationale of going to war was that the United States' people were under an imminent threat," he told Fox News. NewsMax.
Jesse Jackson said Wednesday the Bush administration's reluctance to deploy troops to war-torn Liberia proves that race remains a significant factor in the way America relates to the world. "We are turning our backs on Liberia," the civil rights leader said in an interview, noting that hundreds have died there this week alone. As Jackson spoke, U.S. officials said a Nigerian commitment to deploy two battalions as part of a larger international force will bring the United States closer to direct involvement. Liberia remains a killing field on the back burner," Jackson said. He said he saw no benefit for Africans from President Bush's five-nation visit to the continent two weeks ago, calling it a fly-by tour that featured lots of discussion on assistance but no concrete commitments. He said U.S. agricultural subsidies are causing serious damage to African economies.
Hollywood beauty Kate Hudson won't be winning prizes for patriotism anytime soon - she's sick of Americans. After three months filming Le Divorce in France, Kate admits she has developed a dislike for her country folk after running into Americans in Paris and London. She explains, "Sometimes I'll be walking down the street and I'll hear some American and I'll just go, 'Of course they hate us, of course they can't stand us. We're the most annoying, boisterous creatures in the world.' I mean we come in and we eat mounds of food, and we're like, 'Where's the ketchup for our French fries.' I'm like, 'Shut up.'"
We have a law on the books that the United States should not be assassinating anybody," Rep. Charlie Rangel, D-NY, told Fox News Channel's "Hannity & Colmes."" We tried to assassinate Castro and we paid dearly for it," the Rangel contended. "And when you personalize the war and you say you're killing someone's kids, then they, in turn, think they can kill somebody. "When an incredulous Sean Hannity expressed dismay at Rangel's comments, the Harlem Democrat shot back, "How can you get so much satisfaction that two bums have been killed? We got bums all over the world and some in the United States." Then Rangel mocked the U.S. military's success in killing the two Hussein heirs, saying, "I personally don't get any satisfaction that it takes 200,000 troops, 250,000 troops, to knock off two bums. The longer we don't find anything, it's likely they destroyed it all in '91". The longer the United States and Britain occupy Iraq without finding weapons of mass destruction, the more conceivable it is that Baghdad destroyed them after the first Gulf War in 1991, chief U.N. weapons inspector Hans Blix said on Monday. Blix, to retire next week after heading inspections before the U.S.-led war on Iraq began in March, also spoke critically at a think tank meeting of one of Washington's key arguments for overthrowing Iraq President Saddam Hussein. "It is sort of fascinating that you can have 100 percent certainty about weapons of mass destruction and zero certainty of about where they are," Blix said at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York
Martha Stewart took her defense straight to the public Thursday, writing on her Web site and in a newspaper ad in USA TODAY, "I am innocent" and "will fight to clear my name" in a federal insider trading case that pressured her to step down as head of her retail and media empire. The queen of home decor resigned late Wednesday as chairwoman and CEO of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia (MSO), which made her a fortune and stamped her style on everything from magazines and TV screens to bed linens and bath towels. She plans to stay on as creative chief and a member of the board. The U.S. Attorney in Manhattan hit Stewart and her former broker with nine criminal counts, accusing them of conspiring to fool investigators. The Securities and Exchange Commission filed separate civil charges against Stewart and her broker, accusing them of inside trading.
Reno spoke about visiting the Dachau concentration camp in Germany as a child and learning what had happened. Reno spoke about visiting the Dachau concentration camp in Germany as a child and learning what had happened. She looked right into the the audience and told them that's why she was there. She had no intention of just standing by. "And don't you just stand by," Reno said.
Monica Lewinsky has described her feelings of outrage at the furore that has blown up around a woman accused of having an affair with US presidential hopeful Senator John Kerry. Alex Polier, 27, a journalism graduate, has denied being involved with Mr Kerry, a 60-year-old married father-of-two, but her private life has still been the focus of intense speculation, something that has angered Ms Lewinsky. Earlier this week the graduate broke her silence and said: "I have never had a relationship with Senator Kerry, and the rumours in the press are completely false." She added: "Whoever is spreading these rumours and allegations does not know me. I never interned or worked for John Kerry." Ms Lewinsky told ITV News: "I really just felt empathic for the girl, the young woman, and for her family and at the same time I was really outraged because I thought once again we have politics dipping into someone's personal life and whether it's true or not, it shouldn't matter. It should just be left alone."
The Darkness Sells Out If you haven't caught The Darkness wave that is crashing across America, then maybe the band's sold out tour will make you take notice. Of all the shows that have gone on sale for the band's Permission To Land U.S. tour, the majority of them sold out in less than 30 minutes. The Washington, D.C. show sold out in less than 30 seconds while the Philadelphia show took a mere 90 seconds. Dates in Atlanta and Milwaukee have been moved to bigger venues to accommodate the demand for tickets. Tickets are in such high demand for this tour that they are going for astronomical prices on eBay. A pair of tickets for the April 6 show at the 9:30 Club in Washington, D.C. is going for $199 and $175 will get you into the April 2 show at TLA in Philadelphia.
U2 frontman Bono has threatened to wage a campaign of civil disobedience if wealthy countries fail to combat world poverty. The people I represent - the activists from my community - will take a very, very different tack in the next few years if these trends are to continue in Africa," he said. The people I represent - the activists from my community - will take a very, very different tack in the next few years if these trends are to continue in Africa," he said. "I for one am taking off my suit. I am ready to march with my activist friends in campaigns of civil disobedience. "We are about to get very noisy, we are about to bang a lot of dustbin lids. This issue is the defining issue of our time and some of us are ready to really work on it."
Continuing the great Hollywood tradition of bashing America from the safety of other countries, actor Harrison Ford has now joined the club. According to the Australian website TheAge.com, Ford launched into a diatribe against America’s Iraq policy, gun laws, and violent films, while ensconced in Madrid. I wonder if he’d give the same speech back in the barbaric United States? At a safe distance from his homeland, Harrison Ford launched a broadside at U.S. policy on Iraq, his country's gun laws, and the film industry for producing video games for teenagers. "I'm very disturbed about the direction American foreign policy is going," said Ford, with U.S. post-war casualties having exceeded those during the actual conflict. "I think something needs to be done to help alleviate the conditions which have created a disenfranchised and angry faction in the Middle East. I don't think military intervention is the correct solution. I regret what we as a country have done so far." think American films right now are suffering from an excess of scale. Lots of movies we're seeing now are more akin to video games than stories about human life and relationships," said Ford, while noting "12- to 20-year-olds are maybe the largest economic force in the U.S. movie business." "I'm very troubled by the proliferation of arms, at the fact so many people in the United States carry guns. It obviously contributes greatly to the crime problems we have. I'm sure gun laws should be strengthened in the United States. I just don't know the correct mechanism."
Photo: Martha Stewart reacts while responding to a question during a news conference in an Aug. 25, 2005 photo in New York. Homemaking mogul Martha Stewart, who already has two TV U.S. shows, is working on a third. Stewart's company, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, purchased a house in Norwalk last month that will be featured in a new home-improvement television show next year. The series, which has no name yet, is about a group of women who learn trades and help renovate the 125-year-old house. The 13-part series focuses on six women who are coming off welfare programs, recovering from bankruptcy or getting out of drug rehabilitation. Martha Stewart Living staff will choose mentors for the women. "Our new home improvement series will inspire and inform, while mentoring and teaching valuable life skills, from repairing brickwork, laying flooring, painting rooms and installing a functional and lovely kitchen," Stewart said in a statement. The company bought the house, a 225-square-metre, white antique Colonial built about 1880, for $700,000 US, according to City Hall records. Stewart, 64, served five months behind bars and nearly six more months in home confinement after being convicted of lying to authorities about a stock deal. She has been free of her electronic ankle bracelet since Sept. 1, and has launched Martha, a daytime talk show, and a prime-time NBC reality show, The Apprentice: Martha Stewart, in which people compete to win a job with her.
Photo: Singer Fantasia Barrino performs on ABC's "Good Morning America" summer concert series in a New York file photo from July 22, 2005. NEW YORK- American Idol winner Fantasia Barrino reveals in her memoirs that she is functionally illiterate and had to fake her way through some scripted portions of the televised U.S. talent show, which she won in 2004. "You're illiterate to just about everything. You don't want to misspell," Fantasia told ABC's 20/20. "So that, for me, kept me in a box and I didn't, wouldn't come out." The 21-year-old R&B singer says she's signed record deals and contracts that she didn't read and couldn't understand. But the hardest part, she said, is not being able to read to Zion, her four-year-old daughter. "That hurts really bad," she said, adding that she is now learning to read with tutors. In her memoir, Life Is Not a Fairy Tale, which she dictated to a freelance writer, Fantasia also said she was raped in her early teens by a classmate. She says the boy was disciplined, but she blamed herself for the attack. She dropped out of high school that year and became an unwed mother at 17.
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The president of the University of Colorado on Wednesday rebuked her head football coach for trying to explain the alleged rape of a woman player by saying she was not good enough to earn the respect of her male teammates. "I think everybody's job is on the line," university President Elizabeth Hoffman said on Denver radio station KOA in response to the remarks by coach Gary Barnett on Tuesday. "It was a totally inappropriate thing for him to say." Adding to the scandal swirling around the school's athletic programme, Hoffman said a fifth woman had reported being raped by a football player.
Castro accuses Bush of plotting
with Cuban American exiles to kill him Judge: Rape Victim Is 'No Day At Beach'
Stern Feels Bush-Whacked End Is Near
Ken Livingstone, the Mayor of London, launched a stinging attack on President George Bush last night, denouncing him as the "greatest threat to life on this planet that we've most probably ever seen". His provocatively timed comments, on the eve of Mr Bush's arrival in London tonight, threaten to create severe embarrassment for the Prime Minister. They also come with talks under way on whether to re-admit Mr Livingstone to the Labour Party before his five-year exile ends. "I hate to see the American flag."
Asner: "I think Joe Stalin was a
guy that was hugely misunderstood." Mr. Asner, I do have a question – unrelated to the film," I said. "In your long and distinguished acting career, going back to your earliest days in Chicago all the way up to present days working with Will Farrell on 'Elf', you have had the chance to do almost anything you could ever wish to do. But if you had the chance to play the biographical story of a historical figure you respected most over your lifetime, who would it be? Remembering the sad story he had told about the poor kids in Chicago, I half expected him to come out with a political name of some sort. "I think Joe Stalin was a guy that was hugely misunderstood," said Asner. "And to this day, I don't think I have ever seen an adequate job done of telling the story of Joe Stalin, so I guess my answer would have to be Joe Stalin."
Documents from Saddam Hussein's oil ministry reveal he used oil to bribe top French officials into opposing the imminent U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. The oil ministry papers, described by the independent Baghdad newspaper al-Mada, are apparently authentic and will become the basis of an official investigation by the new Iraqi Governing Council, the Independent reported Wednesday. "I think the list is true," Naseer Chaderji, a governing council member, said. "I will demand an investigation. These people must be prosecuted." Such evidence would undermine the French position before the war when President Jacques Chirac sought to couch his opposition to the invasion on a moral high ground. Al-Mada's list cites a total of 46 individuals, companies and organizations inside and outside Iraq as receiving Saddam's oil bribes, including officials in Egypt, Jordan, Syria, the United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Sudan, China, Austria and France, as well as the Russian Orthodox Church, the Russian Communist Party, India's Congress Party and the Palestine Liberation Organization.  President
Bush rushed to take credit for the killing of the Hussein’s sons.
"With President George W. Bush’s popularity in the polls plummeting and U.S casualties in Iraq rising, the Bush administration has desperately needed something to change the subject from the president’s State of the Union scandal. The killing of Saddam Hussein’s brutal sons provides convenient, yet temporary, political cover from the ‘drip, drip, drip’ of new revelations about the questionable State of the Union claim that Iraq was trying to buy uranium from Africa. President Bush rushed to take credit for the killing of the Hussein’s sons, but let surrogates fall on their swords for his own questionable justification for invading Iraq in the first place. "With President George W. Bush’s popularity in the polls plummeting and U.S casualties in Iraq rising, the Bush administration has desperately needed something to change the subject from the president’s State of the Union scandal. The killing of Saddam Hussein’s brutal sons provides convenient, yet temporary, political cover from the ‘drip, drip, drip’ of new revelations about the questionable State of the Union claim that Iraq was trying to buy uranium from Africa. President Bush rushed to take credit for the killing of the Hussein’s sons, but let surrogates fall on their swords for his own questionable justification for invading Iraq in the first place." With President George W. Bush’s popularity in the polls plummeting and U.S casualties in Iraq rising, the Bush administration has desperately needed something to change the subject from the president’s State of the Union scandal. The killing of Saddam Hussein’s brutal sons provides convenient, yet temporary, political cover from the ‘drip, drip, drip’ of new revelations about the questionable State of the Union claim that Iraq was trying to buy uranium from Africa. President Bush rushed to take credit for the killing of the Hussein’s sons, but let surrogates fall on their swords for his own questionable justification for invading Iraq in the first place. This administration hasn't made a reliable system of energy a priority.
Gest: "look what Liza did"
Dean Calls FCC Probe of Breast Incident 'Silly'
The Iraq war was a "political product" marketed by the Bush administration to win elections, Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., said in a speech Wednesday. As a result, Kennedy said, Bush and the Republicans in Congress "put the state of our nation at risk, and they do not deserve another term in the White House or in control of Congress." In a speech sponsored by the Center for American Progress, a liberal advocacy group, Kennedy said the Bush administration's decisions to target Saddam Hussein, go to war in Iraq and transfer sovereignty to the Iraqi people have all been made for Republican political gain and timed to influence American elections in 2002 and 2004. Kennedy said the administration's march to war in Iraq did not make America safer, but instead has given Osama bin Laden and al-Qaida new life and made the war on terrorism harder to win.
Former US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright insisted Wednesday that she was just kidding when she wondered aloud whether the Bush administration is holding Usama bin Laden captive, waiting to break him out at the best political moment. It was a "tongue-in-cheek comment and was not intended in any other way," Albright told Fox News. But witnesses to Albright's comment said the ambassador did not appear to be joking Tuesday when she suggested President Bush may reveal bin Laden's capture as an "October surprise" before next November's presidential election. Albright was in the Fox News studio's green room waiting to appear on an evening program when she made the remark.
Opera world freezing out obese singers.
Heppner lost 90 pounds
LONDON, New York - The Royal Opera House has cancelled a performance by one of the world's most sought-after sopranos because she is too fat, a theatre spokesman said. American Deborah Voigt had been scheduled to play the lead in a summer production of Richard Strauss's Ariadne on Naxos, but casting director Peter Katona decided a slimmer singer would be better for the part, spokesman Christopher Millard said. Mr. Katona had selected a black evening dress for the part and believed Ms. Voigt would not look right in it, Mr. Millard said. "Normally, Ariadne is presented on a stylized Greek island with the singers wearing toga-type clothes, but we wanted to present it in an elegant, modern evening dress," Mr. Katona said. Anne Schwanewilms, a more slender but lesser-known soprano, will sing the part of Ariadne. Ms. Voigt's weight remains a closely guarded secret. The best estimate of observers is that Ms. Voigt is on the heavy side of 200 pounds. "I have big hips and Covent Garden has a problem with them," she said. "Or, at least, their casting director, Peter Katona, has the problem, and he's made it clear that I won't be singing in his house as long as he's around. Which is sad." Mr. Katona said: "In making these kinds of decision, it is not just a question of how someone looks; it is also how they move on stage. "Mr. Millard confirmed by telephone that size was the reason the 43-year-old Ms. Voigt was no longer scheduled to sing in the Royal Opera House production. There is a growing movement against fat singers in the opera, traditionally one of the places where they are most welcome. Luciano Pavarotti was ordered on a diet after he cancelled some performances. Vocal coach Seth Riggs said the weight loss would most likely improve the singer's delivery. ''You do not have to be fat to have a beautiful voice,'' he said. ''Look at Renata Tebaldi, she was a large woman, but not a fat one, and she had a beautiful voice,'' he said. ''And Norman Treigle was the skinniest fellow you ever saw. But he was a bass baritone with a booming voice. Tenor Franco Corelli had a beautiful figure.'' There is a misperception, Mr. Riggs said, that large diaphragms, and therefore large bodies, are needed for singers to sing well. Last year, Toronto heldentenor Ben Heppner returned to the opera stage after a 14-month absence, with two big differences: His vocal problems were gone and so were 90 extra pounds. His voice returned after he stopped taking high blood pressure medication. Then came a new diet and exercise regimen to take off the weight that was contributing to the blood pressure problem. Mr. Heppner said people should know opera singers do not need big bodies to have big voices. 'That,'' he said, ''is a myth.'' Ms. Voigt was awarded France's Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in 2002, and was named last year's Vocalist of the Year by Musical America. Her debut solo album, featuring arias by Wagner and Strauss, is due for release on April 6. She is to give her Carnegie Hall solo recital debut the following day. Ms. Schwanewilms has sung at major European theatres and was a member of the Cologne Opera ensemble in the mid-1990s. New California law targets paparazzi. Official and public figures in New York are seeking similar laws. YA RIGHT!New York Grapevine told the INA in New York that Paparazzi who commit assault in their pursuit of celebrity photographs could be hit with hefty civil penalties in California under a new law. The law would allow people who are victims of paparazzi assaults to file lawsuits seeking up to three times the damages they suffered. The plaintiffs could also ask for punitive damages and a court order requiring the photographer to give up any income earned from the pictures involved. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed the bill Friday. It goes into effect Jan. 1. Several celebrities have been involved in accidents while being pursued by photographers. In May, actress Lindsay Lohan received cuts and bruises after a photographer rammed his van into her car. The photographer faces charges of assault with a deadly weapon. "This bill hits the paparazzi where it hurts: the wallet," said assemblywoman Cindy Montanez who proposed the measure. "Money is their motivation, so taking away their money will be the solution." She said the bill would protect Hollywood stars as well as bystanders who might be injured in chases involving paparazzi. Actress Scarlett Johansson had a minor crash in August while being followed by paparazzi, and Reese Witherspoon said she was chased by photographers who she believed were trying to force her from the road in April. No charges or injuries resulted from either case. Schwarzenegger was involved in an incident in 1998 involving paparazzi who used their cars to surround the then-actor's vehicle as he and his wife picked up their child from school. Official and public figures in New York are seeking similar laws. YA RIGHT! ABC anchor, Peter Jennings leaves estate of $50m News anchor for ABC, Peter Jennings, who died of lung cancer in August, left an estate valued at more than $50m in his will. J ennings, 67, left most of the estate to his fourth wife and two grown-up children from a previous marriage. The influential journalist signed the will in April - 16 days after revealing he had been diagnosed with lung cancer. Jennings, who had hosted ABC's World News Tonight since 1983, died on 7 August in New York. Charity: His widow, producer Kayce Freed, was left 50% of the "net marital estate" and also got their Central Park West apartment in New York. Jennings' two children, Elizabeth, 25, and Christopher, 23 - both from his third marriage to author Kati Marton, which ended in divorce - will also get a share. Assets valued at $1m were left to the Peter Jennings Foundation, a charity he founded in 1998 that gives money to fight homelessness, drug addiction and illiteracy. Besides stock and property, Jennings' assets included ownership of a race horse, Channel's Gate and another horse, named Cabin Fever.
“I despise him [President George W. Bush]. I despise his administration and everything they stand for....""To my mind the election was stolen by George Bush and we have been suffering ever since under this man’s leadership....". "There has to be a movement now to really oppose what he is proposing because it’s unconstitutional, it’s immoral and basically illegal...." "It is an embarrassing time to be an American. It really is. It’s humiliating.”
Chicks singer sounds off on war
We don't usually report what's in the National Enquirer, but we have to point out the hypocrisy of the left-wing media establishment, which gladly cited the tabloid's reports on Rush Limbaugh but has been silent on its drug allegations about NBC's Matt Lauer and now new revelations about Democrat diva Barbra Streisand. The Enquirer's Nov. 25 issue charges, "Barbra Streisand's fanatical support of the CBS movie smearing President Ronald Reagan wasn't just politics - it was personal!" New Yorker authors knew FBI agents, mobsters and real life adventures.
"I said no I can tell you this categorically, we've got the weakest president and weakest government in the history of my 50 years of public service. I say weak president in that the poor boy campaigns all the time and pays no attention to what's going on in the Congress. Karl Rove tells him to do this or do that or whatever it is, but he's out campaigning. And I really don't think our friend Mark Sanford likes the job. As a result the state and the country – your state, my state, our country – is headed in the wrong direction with respect to our finances. You can see it at the state level. They are firing a thousand teachers." And at the national level, we've got Enron accounting galore. The President said two weeks ago on page one of his budget report that we have a $455 billion deficit at the end of next month; that's when the end of the fiscal year terminates. The truth of the matter is, you turn to page 57 of the report and you'll see it's $698 billion. And he admits to a $700 billion deficit, so you can see why the market goes down. Everyone sees who invests that there's no reason to invest because the interest rates are going up and you can't carry your investments.
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TRUMP,
MELANIA KNAUSS AND CHRISTIAN DIOR
Moby,
Bush Haters Attack U.S. Soldier in Iraq"
Rep.
Brown: "Latinos and Whites All Look Alike to Me"
"Washington
Congressman Questions Saddam Timing"
They
make a big deal out of everything as soon as you run for higher office.
The
Bush administration has continued to push a dangerous right-wing agenda.
We
are about to get very noisy.
I
regret what we as a country have done so far.
Martha
working on a third TV show
"I'm
illiterate and I faked my way through scripted portions of the televised
U.S. talent show, which I won in 2004." Fantasia reveals in memoir
Prosecutors
May Ask For Judge To Be Removed Prosecutors in Seminole County say they
might ask a veteran judge to be removed from a rape case because of
comments the judge made about the victim. Court records indicate Circuit
Judge Gene Stephenson made the comment earlier this week while looking at
a photograph of the victim. The record quotes the judge as saying, "Why
would he want to rape her? She doesn't look like a day at the beach."
Stephenson says he doesn't remember making the comment. But it's in the
record.
"I
hate to see the American flag hanging out of every bloody station wagon,
out of every SUV, every little Midwestern house in some residential area,"
Ian Anderson [Flute, Guitar, Bouzouki, Mandolin, Harmonica, Vocal from the
band Jethro Tull] was quoted as saying in an interview published Sunday in
the Asbury Park Press. "It's easy to confuse patriotism with nationalism.
Flag waving ain't gonna do it." Jethro Tull is off the playlist of a
classic rock station after the band's frontman criticized displays of the
Stars and Stripes.
I
don't see this as an honest administration."
Liza
Minnelli's estranged husband David Gest dropped his trousers in a TV
interview to show injuries caused when the star allegedly beat him. David
Gest undressed when an interviewer asked if he had any bruises. 'Well,
let's put it this way,' Gest replied. 'This is the last reminder of what
she did with her hands.' He then stood up and pulled down the front of his
trousers to show a mark on the top of his leg. Gest claimed Minnelli, 57,
had beaten him before during their 16-month marriage but the last time was
more violent. 'She'd hit me before but never over and over and over and
over into the head,' he told Dateline NBC in the US. The 50-year-old said
he would never be the same again after having up to 80 injections in the
head to relieve the pain from the beatings. 
