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Archive for January 9th, 2008

09
Jan

Hizzoner Just Can’t Resist

By The Oversneer 2 Comments Digg! Digg this
Categories: Activists and U.S. Right-Wing Politicos

 

cheez-its-bloomberg.jpgCould we have written a better story line than this?

Michael Bloomberg, Mayor of New York City, made a self-righteous stink a year ago about “trans fats” in snack foods. The self-promotion got so fetid that the City Council actually banned the stuff.

But here’s the fun part. In a Wired magazine interview, Bloomberg was photographed reaching into a bag of Cheez-It crackers. The kind that have a half-gram of trans fat per serving. Oops.

Newsday notes:

They may be too unhealthy for regular New Yorkers to eat, but not so for Mayor Michael Bloomberg, apparently.

After gaining national media attention for spearheading an almost total ban on trans fats in city restaurants starting last July, Bloomberg was photographed in this month’s issue of Wired magazine munching on those very same dangerous fats.

The photo, which accompanies a short Q&A about technology and politics, features Bloomberg at his City Hall desk, looking thoughtful and serious. Meanwhile, his right hand is seen almost absent-mindedly pulling a Cheez-It out of a single-serving bag of the crackers.

 

[Hat Tip to the mysterious Center for Consumer Freedom]

09
Jan

The Veil of Hypocrisy

By The Oversneer 4 Comments Digg! Digg this
Categories: Non-U.S. Politicos and The Religious

niqab.jpgHere’s the thing: Muslim women aren’t supposed to show their faces (other than their eyes) in public places where men are present. I don’t understand it. I can’t relate to it. (I think it’s a little creepy.) But I respect it — because there are somewhere around a billion Muslims on the planet, and most of their beliefs aren’t any nuttier than mine.

But what happens in a court of law? If you’re covered up, how can a judge know that you’re you? That’s the question British magistrate Ian Murray appeared to be pondering last June when he refused to hear the case of a Muslim woman who appeared before him in full naqib garb to answer charges of vandalizing a housing project from which she had been evicted.

After an investigation that occurred a month later, British Justice Minister Jack Straw formally reprimanded the judge today, even though the defendant confessed and was eventually found guilty.

Here’s where it gets interesting. Jack Straw is himself well-known for insisting that Muslim women remove their head-coverings when they’re in his office.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLUchPPTkp8

And yesterday, a firestorm of controversy erupted in London over whether Straw was a hypocrite. I’m voting Yea.

In The Daily Mail:

Philip Davies, Tory MP for Shipley, a West Yorkshire constituency with a strong Muslim presence, said: “He is a complete hypocrite. Jack Straw tells everyone that he will ask anyone who wears a veil to remove it, then he turns round and disciplines someone for following his line.”

 

09
Jan

Nocturnal Rationalizations

By Simon Scowl 6 Comments Digg! Digg this
Categories: Newscasters and Television Stars

Mary McNamara at the LA Times sums up what’s bugging me about the late-night hosts coming back to work:

Leno, O’Brien and Stewart have made points of publicly supporting the strike, in which they participated for two months, and yet there they all are, crossing picket lines and writing for television and, presumably, getting paid for it…

While Stewart and Colbert didn’t cop to writing their stuff, clearly they were not improvising — it’s hard to argue you are working without a script when you have film clips and visual aids cued up. Both hosts made direct references to this contradiction. At the end of his show, Stewart “checked in” with Colbert only to catch him sporting a hilarious, Hasidic-like beard and shredding documents. “Is that a script, Stephen?” Stewart asked in mock severity. “No, no,” said Colbert. “Don’t you see my strike beard? But I am very alarmed by how prepared you were, and I will be making a call…”

How long jokes by writers about writers will remain amusing remains to be seen, though I think we’re talking hours rather than days. And the self-mocking tone of the quip only emphasizes the underlying problems — yes, Stewart and Colbert are performers, but they are also writers. Writers clearly writing during a writers strike.

Don’t these guys have any money saved up? Are they worried about not being able to find another job? I’ll admit I’m a little confused by all the behind-the-scenes wrangling, and it’s got to be a frustrating, no-win situation for them. But they really missed an opportunity to stand with their fellow writers. Despite all their lip service, they caved.

In Stewart’s case in particular, it’s disappointing. His whole first show back was all about how unfair it is that he can’t get the same deal as Letterman. Except Letterman owns The Late Show, which is why he was able to work out a deal, while The Daily Show is owned by Viacom, which isn’t negotiating with the WGA. Stewart has to know this. So why did he break the strike and violate his union’s rules to spend a half-hour complaining about breaking the strike and violating his union’s rules?

Alright, alright… 22 minutes.

09
Jan

Britney Must Really Hate Photographers

By Holly Won't 1 Comment Digg! Digg this
Categories: Bad Boys & Girls, Businesses and Musicians

britney_ok.gifDani Brubaker, a photographer that Britney Spears hired to take family portraits a few weeks ago, has sold the images to OK! magazine, despite swearing her “integrity isn’t for sale.”

The magazine is running the photos as their cover story with the headline “Last Day With Mommy” — although technically the photos are from November, when Britney still had custody of the two boys, Sean Preston and Jayden James.

Shortly after Brubaker took the photos, she swore up and down to BreatheHeavy.com, a Britney fan site, that she’d never sell them to the tabloids, even though Britney didn’t require her to sign a confidentiality agreement:

The images from the shoots were never available for purchase, although I have been offered upwards of half a million dollars. Recent postings indicate that I profited from these images. Which is not true.

My integrity isn’t for sale. I stand by my statement that “The kids are adorable and are obviously well loved.”

… It’s just so sad to see what the media does to her. Truly makes me sick to my stomach.

There wasn’t ever a temptation, no matter what they offered. What I captured of her and the kids is truly beautiful and I just would not be able to live with myself to see those images in a tabloid.

But sources now say OK! paid more than $1-million for the images.

In other news of photographers who are screwing Britney: Her paparazzo lover is offering semi-nude photos of her to the highest bidder.

09
Jan

Will Smith Definitely Isn’t Not an Anti-Un-Scientologist

By Simon Scowl 0 Comments Digg! Digg this
Categories: Movie Stars and Scientology

Please allow me to reiterate my favorite Will Smith quote ever, addressing rumors that he’s joining Scientology:

“I’ve talked to Tom [Cruise] about it — [there's] lots of incredible, wonderful concepts. Jada [Pinkett Smith] and I don’t necessarily believe in organized religion.

“I was raised in a Baptist household and my grandmother would get up out of her casket (if I became a Scientologist).”

Since then he’s gone back and forth on it. Is he or isn’t he? Well, check this out from Gatecrasher today:

Big stars traditionally distribute “wrap presents” to crew members after completing a film. [Smith's] recent gift after wrapping next summer’s comedy “Hancock” was a card good for a personality test at your local Scientology center.

Let’s hope they don’t have the Internet in Heaven! (Or whatever Scientology calls it… Xenutopia? L. Ronhalla?) If Grandma gets wind of this, Mr. Willard Christopher Smith, Jr. is in for quite a talking-to.

Not to mention: Gift cards? Dude, you’re a millionaire! While you’re at it, why not just give out invitations to an Amway seminar?

09
Jan

Phony Phil Full of Family Fallacies

By Holly Won't 0 Comments Digg! Digg this
Categories: Bad Boys & Girls and Television Stars

spears_dr_phil.jpg

For a shrink who’s supposedly all about family, he sure seems to ignore it when parents want to protect their kids from him.

Lynn and Jamie Spears — mom and pop to headline-makers galore — have come out swinging at Dr. Phil, who paid an unannounced visit to Britney, mid-meltdown, during her hospital stay last weekend. Dr. Phil claimed the Spears parents had set that meeting up, but they’re saying that there’s no way in hell that’s how it went down:

Spears family rep Lou Taylor told Meredith Vieira on the “Today” show that Dr. Phil actually broached the subject of doing a show about Britney, but that they nixed the idea, only to have Phil try to set up the show anyway. Taylor scorched Phil, saying it was even “inappropriate” for Phil to bring up doing a show, and that the family thought it would be detrimental to Britney.

What’s more, Taylor said that the family felt “betrayed” that Phil would issue any kind of statement after meeting with Brit, and that nobody had given him any authority to say anything, much less bellow on and on like he did.

No kidding. Dr. Phil has been one of Lynne Spears’s only supporters, calling her a “great and dedicated mother” last month after news broke of Jamie Lynn’s oops. But now that just looks like preparation for the publicity stunt he’s now pulling.

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