According to HollywoodLife.net, Superstar Beyoncé recently released a statement saying, “I am so honored that I will be performing for President Obama and the First Lady. To sing At Last while they have their first dance is a dream come true.”
This statement about her Inauguration 2009 performance is all good except for one thing—one big thing. It was supposed to be a secret. The site says the Presidential Inaugural Committee had hoped the song would remain “classified” until the President and his wife stepped on the floor for their first dance on inauguration night. Yikes, talk about letting the cat out of the bag.
Beyoncé’s inability to keep this bit of news hush-hush may be a surprise to her fans. After all, she kept her wedding plans to rapper Jay-Z a secret for months. Come on Beyoncé, where’s the tight-lipped Sasha Fierce when you need her?
Are you interested in hearing the original version of At Last by Etta James? Listen to the song at Last.fm. Eventhough Beyoncé has a golden voice, she has some legendary shoes to fill on this one.
Michael Ramirez cartoon from Investor's Business Daily for Jan. 12, 2009
The Israeli-Palestinian conflict may seem old news, but it’s entering a new phase, argues Jonathan Schanzer, deputy executive director of the Jewish Policy Center. Mark Hemingway of National Review Online discusses Schanzer’s new book, Hamas vs. Fatah: The Struggle for Palestine, and relays Schanzer’s argument that the mainstream media have oversimplified the conflict by underestimating the internal divisions in Palestine. After all, Fatah and Hamas aren’t allies. Israel’s current struggle is with Gaza alone.
President George W. Bush held his final press conference yesterday morning. Fox News commentators and guests offer analysis.
And here Bush gets a little more personal with Fox’s Brit Hume. The president explains why he is so calm and content as he prepares to leave office, and tells Hume that he’s even planning to write a book that will explain and defend some of the most controversial decisions he made while in office.
Is it a new New Deal or not, and does it even matter? President-elect Barack Obama’s record-smashing stimulus plan will likely top $1 trillion when it’s finally approved. Jonah Goldberg writes over at NRO’s The Corner blog that only liberals are comparing this strategy with FDR’s New Deal and adds that conservatives feel the comparison is moot. But Pat Buchanan would apparently disagree. In an editorial for Investor’s Business Daily, Buchanan argues not only that Obama seems to be channeling Roosevelt, but that massive spending is more likely to get us into trouble than to bail us out of it. In a separate IBD editorial, Lawrence Kudlow sees a more conservative tinge to Obama’s plan, drawing a parallel to Reagan’s tax-cut plan. Big government, limited government, or something in between? Obama keeps us guessing.
Google searches are speeding climate change (but then, isn’t everybody?). A physicist is trying to publish his findings on the amount of energy consumed by Google’s data centers every time you try to run a search (the energy used boiling water for a cup of tea equals two searches). William Teach responds sarcastically at Right Wing News, suggesting that the global warming “Believers” log off and stop using the Internet. Teach writes that he did 15 Google searches after reading the article, just for fun.
Eco-warriors: stop procreating, humans hurt the planet. Feminists: stop procreating, it’s sexist. Cassy Fiano writes on her blog and on Right Wing News that the newest argument in favor of the extinction of mankind is that sexual reproduction is a sexist, culturally oppressive holdover from a less civilized time, more or less. She goes on to excoriate modern feminism as it drifts toward something like Stalinism. But hey, sex without reproduction would be really fun for about, say, one generation.
Always a rebel, Mickey Rourke’s Hollywood comeback doesn’t preclude careless comments—you know, supporting Bush. It’s unpopular in Hollywood to defend the outgoing president, writes Andrew Breitbart of Big Hollywood, but having just won the best actor Golden Globe award for his performance in The Wrestler, Rourke did just that. Bush was simply “in the wrong place at the wrong time,” Rourke said, and the situation after 9/11 would have been near impossible for any conceivable leader. Breitbart suggests that Rourke’s peer-slash-rival Sean Penn had a much inferior and less ballsy dalliance into politics when he publicly supported Fidel Castro’s regime, and writes that any “no friend of Sean Penn is a friend of mine.”
A free hand job with the purchase of a handbag? More or less. In a new ad campaign, Madonna’s 50-year-old crotch has Louis Vuitton’s brand written all over it. Aren’t you just ”itching” to add a new couture bag to your collection already? I think that’s the subliminal message here. Either that, or it’s one of those “If you had to…” ultimatums. Buy Vuitton’s bag or bag Madge’s vag—”If you had to…” which would you choose?
George W. Douche: The Musical! As if NYC hasn’t had its fair share of terrorist activity, Will Ferrell is now threatening to bring the antics of one George “Dubya” to Broadway. Ferrell was SNL’s Bush impersonator many moons ago and plans to revive his act on January 20 (which happens to be the National Day We Restore Literacy in the White House—mark your calendars!) at NY’s Cort Theater. The show will be called, “You’re Welcome America: A Final Night With George W. Bush.” Cute. But let’s make this a one night quickie, shall we? Because America is just not that into you, George W. Bush.
Speaking of quickies, POP QUIZ: What is Obama’s favorite meal? (Bush’s baked beans was my guess. But no.)
Quote of the week: “The only story is that drugs are bad and they will kill you . . . but that’s not true . . . Some people are just bad at taking drugs.” Which U.K. import (and no, not that one) made the above statement in an interview with Word magazine? And then went on to diss Christianity and her record label (for good measure)?
Flight of the Washboards Alert! Umm . . . yumm. I’m giving everyone the opportunity to check out the latest cover of Time Out New York mag because with these mugs front and center, this week’s magazine will have an abs-olutely short shelf life on newsstands. You know what they say about funny men with seriously hot bods, don’t you? Trick question! They don’t say anything because they don’t exist. (To read Time Out’s full interview with our funny Kiwi friends, click here.)
Roll Call! Jerry O’Connell and Rebecca Romijn had twins! on December 28, one of whom was named Dolly. If you think that’s a cruel name, try Nakoa-Wolf Manakauapo Namakaeha Momoa. That’s what Jason Momoa and Lisa Bonet (”The Cosby Show”) are calling their new baby. And, let’s not forget, Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner had another girl this past Tuesday. Her name is currently undisclosed, but may I suggest Hakuna-Matata Dr. Robota con Salsa y Spicy Jalapeno Sauce?
And the dearly departed . . . John Travolta and Kelly Preston lost their son Jett, 16, after he had a seizure in the Bahamas on January 2. The boy had a history of seizures, but the family failed to seek medical attention for the ongoing condition. Critics are wondering if their involvement in the Church of Scientology played a role in this decision. Tom Cruise adamantly defended the church during an appearance on The View yesterday. (Shocker!) And no couches were harmed during the taping of the show. (Double shocker!)
Oh, and guess whose fancy feline died this week? Hint: The answer fits in neatly with the theme of this post. Yes, I’m beating around the BUSH! BUSH! BUSH! So go ahead and take a guess.
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer sued Santa and won. Check out the parody column at the Globe and Mail. It’s a cautionary tale about discrimination, or rather a roast on political correctness…
Feliz ‘dinejad!says National Review Online’s Mark Steyn. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad gave the “alternative Christmas message” on BBC 4 this year. Here’s the story and the full text of Ahmadinejad’s message, and here’s the response from NRO’s Michael Rubin.
We’re safer since 9/11 because of the policies of the Bush Administration, writes Department of Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff in a Washington Times op-ed. John Hinderaker at Power Line agrees, but places less emphasis on airport and border security and more on Bush’s aggressiveness overseas. Hinderaker adds that he hopes the Obama Administration realizes we need to stay aggressive. But how the president-elect will lead is still a big question mark.
Huffington’s read on the economic crisis is wrong, argues David Harsanyi at RealClearPolitics. In a recent post on the same site, Arianna Huffington wrote that laissez-faire capitalism is dead, but Harsanyi rebuts, pointing out that federal regulation has actually grown during the Bush years. Harsanyi decries leftist scare tactics and argues we shouldn’t use a temporary recession to make foundational changes to the economy.
Obama shouldn’t go after the Bush Administration for war crimes, writes Mort Kondracke, executive editor of Roll Call. With “Bush haters” calling for investigations into war crimes related to the global war on terror, “Obama should make it clear right now that he opposes such action,” Kondracke writes. Such calls are a sign of “political vengeance” rather than truth-seeking, and a probe would disrupt national unity and, more importantly, morale within the intelligence community during wartime. Putting a stop to such talk now, Obama would also prevent the “unseemly” possibility that Bush blanket pardons everyone involved in the GWOT on his way out.
Protection for some penguins but not “Happy Feet.” According to a recent AP story, the Bush Administration is proposing to add six penguin species to the endangered species list and one species, the African penguin, to the threatened species list. Yet, the stars of “Happy Feet” and “March of Penguins”, which are northern rockhopper and emperor penguins, have been denied protection by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. These poor penguins will not be listed under the 1973 Endangered Species Act. Although grateful for the seven penguin protections, environmentalists are unhappy with the decision to not protect more penguin species. The government claims there isn’t sufficient evidence to warrant protections for certain penguins. “‘Penguin populations are in jeopardy, and we can’t afford to further delay protections,’ said Brendan Cummings, the oceans program director for the Arizona-based Center for Biological Diversity, which requested in November 2006 that the administration protect a dozen penguin species.”
More greenies step up to Obama’s environmental challenge.President-elect Barack Obama is continuing to build his pro-environment team. He recently selected John Holdren, a Harvard University physicist, as his presidential science adviser. And Obama chose Jane Lubchenco, an Oregon State University marine biologist, as head of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Both selections will be announced formally December 20. Political and environmental analysts think Obama’s recent choices, Holdren and Lubchenco, means he is likely to reverse Bush’s energy and global warming policies.
Let the protest begin. In Utah, the Bureau of Labor Management (BLM) has put up 132 parcels totaling about 164,000 acres for the auction of oil and gas drill leases. Environmentalists and concerned citizens are protesting the sale because “it threatens the state’s wild lands and will bring drilling rigs within view of some national parks.” These groups, and even actor Robert Redford, are also upset about the so-called “fire sale” because they claim the details were announced only two months ago and the process is too hasty. The auction is occurring only a month before Bush leaves the presidency. More than 100 protesters stood outside the auction with signs reading “Protect Wild Utah” and “Our Home Is Not for Sale.”
Are you still holiday shopping? Treehugger has a great list of gifts for greenies who are also health nuts. Some of the suggestions include Eco Mats, which are “free of polyvinyl chloride (PVC), the unhealthy petroleum product linked to cancer and birth defects.” Or there is the green tea set for the friend or family member that’s into the health benefits of green tea or reducing their coffee intake. The site also features gift suggestions for almost anyone on your list. So, there’s still time to purchase gifts that are good for you and the environment.
