Feds Raid Gibson Guitar

Federal agents have raided Gibson Guitar Corporation in Tennessee, looking for evidence of illegally acquired wood from endangered trees being used in guitar manufacture. Three guitar production facilities located in Nashville and Memphis were subjected to the federal raids looking for endangered species of wood acquired in violation of the Lacey Act. The president of Gibson is very upset that the company has been implicated in wrongdoing with the raids by the feds, although no federal charges have yet been filed.

Gibson is a big user of ebony wood, which is considered an endangered wood species. Ironically, Gibson has long aligned itself with Greenpeace and other sometimes militant environmentalist groups, but now finds itself the subject of the federal raid looking for evidence of the company illegally using endangered wood in guitar manufacture.

The raid centers on some wood purchases from India involving ebony, which Gibson contends was a legal sale. Feds will no doubt look carefully at the evidence before deciding what legal actions to take. Gibson also was the subject of another raid in 2009, involving some ebony wood from Madagascar that was seized back then, but no charges filed. According to the head CEO of Gibson that latest sale from India was approved by the Indian government and a legal sale, although some broker did make a shipping label mistake writing up the sale.

Gibson guitars are the favorite of many popular musicians including blues legend B.B. King, Alvin Lee, formerly of Ten Years After, Angus Young of AC/DC and many others.

So far Greenpeace seems to be giving Gibson a pass, with a spokesman claiming that they've done a good job operating their business legally in the past, looking out for the environment.

Big Time Sissyass Stuff: Texas Supreme Court Upholds Strip "Pole Tax"

The Supreme Court of Texas has upheld a 2007 law requiring $5 "entrance fee" tax on Texas strip clubs that many call a "pole tax". The law was apparently put on hold by lawsuits in the courts representing 169 strip clubs across Texas that are being charged the tax to fund sexual violence programs or other government business, even though a link between strip clubs and violence against women has never been established by any credible studies or crime statistics. The new tax just appears to be a new source of revenue for government on one hand and a new way for government to curtail and hurt adult entertainment businesses financially.

Lawyers on behalf of the Texas strip clubs had hoped the Texas Supreme Court, which is comprised entirely of conservative judges would leave their personal political or religious views aside and accept the legal argument that this entrance fee tax legislation was aimed solely at curtailing First Amendment rights for perfectly legal businesses that trade in legal entertainment. An appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court might be the next step as the adult entertainment industry might try to prevent new taxes further depressing an industry that's already suffering from the bad economy with many businesses already folding. Some Texas clubs are already charging as much as a $20 cover charge right now, which may only increase as a result of the new tax paid to government.

Government looks for a new ways to raise revenue and begins to experiment with unfair new sin taxes leveled at some businesses that government thinks are undesirable to begin with for moral reasons. While government and law should be entirely secular, the unfortunate fact is some legislators and judges sometimes use law to write their personal moral and religious views into law more than anything else.

Strip clubs are legal entertainment in Texas and most of the United States local communities as well. But, that hardly stops legislators from dreaming up new ways to hurt those businesses, thinking up new big time sissyass ways to keep customers out. Legally, legislators can't close a legally run business, so legal nonsense to hurt those businesses results instead as legislators use their political offices to soapbox their own personal religious or moral views. The concept of of separation of church and state means nothing to many legislators these days.

Jesse Eisenberg's Embarrassing Film Before Social Network

Earlier in 2010. hot commodity actor Jesse Eisenberg shot a very embarrassing low budget horror film CAPE HOPE in which he plays a weird disturbed kid at a Christian Summer Camp. It was a horrible role compared to his acclaimed role in the highly awarded SOCIAL NETWORK which made him into a major star. Now, CAMP HOPE, which has been renamed CAMP HELL is circulating at Redbox machines around the country, only to remind Eisenberg what a terrible embarrassing role he played in this $3 million dollar horror film cheapie released by Lionsgate which churns out horror films faster than paper towels on a role.

But, Eisenberg's horrible little role as Daniel in the CAMP HELL is hardly the only awful role in this rancid little movie about evil striking a fundamentalist Christian Summer camp. The once popular Andrew McCarthy adds nearly nothing to this film as well. Dana Delaney also finds her talents wasted in this film as well.

While CAMP HELL is supposed to portray the campers at the Christian Summer camp as innocent victims of evil, the viewer can't get over how much the fundamentalists who run the camp are as much of a danger to liberty as any fascist government would ever be. Rock music, comics books, and other innocent things that normal teenagers love is strictly forbidden at the camp, which ironically produces personalities far more warped than mainstream society would ever produce.

I bet Jesse Eisenberg regrets making CAMP HELL.

Daryl Hannah Arrested At White House Keystone XL Pipeline Protest

Daryl Hannah has found a way to get back in the news. She got herself arrested at an environmental protest against the proposed huge Keystone XL oil pipeline project outside the White House. The huge oil pipeline would run from Canada to Mexico, and would be a realistic approach to the dependency of the United States on oil as fuel source. However, environmentalists are very upset and consider this a major test for President Obama who will be hard pressed no matter which choice he makes. If he sides with the project, then he's realistically responding to America's need for oil to operate as a world economy. If he sides with the environmentalists, then he's not really considering that fully electric or fuel cell automobiles are still a few years away technology-wise.

Environmentalists claim there is a major danger of oil spills despite a State Department study that found no evidence of a serious environmental accident from the design of the pipeline that would run raw oil from the Canadian tar flats to refineries in the Gulf Of Mexico. A Huffington Post voiced the opinion that it is very likely that Secretary Of State Hillary Clinton will approve the project for the president to also approve.

Daryl Hannah is the former star of SPLASH and WALL STREET, and probably wins more than loses from the publicity surrounding her arrest for her part in the sit-down protest outside the White House.

A Hard Man Is Good To Find: Sinead O'Connor Makes Weird News

Controversial Irish singer Sinead O'Connor wants the world to know that she's so love sick for a man that she's using the Internet to find someone. Further, she's so hard up for sex that she's even blogging about her private sexual tastes as well including the fact that she does anal sex.

The singer even claims that she's so hard up for a man that she's even finding some vegetables looking pretty attractive lately. Hey, when some cucumber starts looking like Mr. Right, then you need to find someone pretty darn bad, Sinead.

On anal sex, the singer blogged that, "Let me now take time to make VERY clear that yes "I do anal" and in fact would be very unhappy if "doing anal" wasn't on the menu, among everything else$$ So if u don't like "the difficult brown"....don't apply".

Well, Sinead, at least growing some hair back recently makes you look more marketable to men. Most men like some hair on their women.....makes them feel a lot less like making love to a pool ball.

Not Your Basic Corvette LS2 Powered Motorcycle Trike

For a mere $49,000, Boss Hoss Motorcycles can get you into a real nice 425hp Chevy LS2 V8 powered motorcycle. Yeah, that's right the same ballsy powerplant that turns the wheels on a 'Vette powers the Boss Hoss rides down the road as well. The fuel-injected powerplant has more than enough power to tool that 1455lb. motorcycle down the road where one model features a replica '57 Chevy sheet metal, while another model features a pickup truck back, and a third a classic 1930's styling. Take your pick, all three are high buck head-turning cool.

What spins the rear wheels is a narrowed Ford rear end, completed with some very nice 275/60-15 rubber. That's some big boy's rubber there, partner. Not your usual sissyass street rubber like the average family grocery getter spins.

Chevy's bulletproof automatic transmission makes riding the Boss Hoss trikes effortless, and avoids having to make four or five gear shifts just to go one block in city traffic with the more usual manual transmissions on most bikes. Also, expect an easy in and out experience at grocery store parking lots with the reverse gear, which is pretty essential on a bike this big. Boss Hoss bikes are big bikes.

The Boss Hoss '57 Chevy replica trike is about as cool as you can get, and also about as far removed from any old fashioned ice cream trike as you can get. If you can afford the high admission price, then enjoy one of the greatest E-rides out there. Major league cool by any standard.

Major League WTF? Rappers Goin' Country?

Say it ain't so, Margaret. But, some rappers are now cutting country albums of all things. First it started with Athens, GA hip-hopper Nappy Roots. Now, Atlanta, GA rapper B.oB. wants to do a country album to satisfy some inner redneck curiosity or something. Yeah, me and my homies like to get down at the rodeo. Like to spend all day....bale that hay. Yeah, milk them cows. I say wow. Break it down.

No telling how this is going to be received by either rap fans or by the folks who normally buy country albums, where even African American artists are about as scarce as hen's teeth.

They used to say if you play a country music song backwards, you get your job back, you get your home back, you get your wife back. I guess if you play a rap-country song backwards, you get your bitch back, your friends get out of prison, you get your bullets back, etc.

In this picture, rapper B.o.B. sure looks like he's still thinking about whether to go country or not. Well, don't think about it too long. It's a plumb crazy idea there, partner!

ROLLING STONE MAGAZINE Offers Up Excellent Beatles' ULTIMATE ALBUM BY ALBUM GUIDE Special

ROLLING STONE Magazine deserves a big round of applause for offering up what has to be one of the nicest specials in some time. The Beatles' ULTIMATE ALBUM BY ALBUM GUIDE is really a beautiful soft-cover book about every album issued by the legendary supergroup, with great song by reviews and commentary. Printed on quality paper, there's some great historic photos of the band as their music evolved through their history as well. What a treasure this special edition of ROLLING STONE is.

You'll certainly want to add this wonderful tribute to The Beatles to your library. It's certainly more than worthy to add to any well stock library of music books and ranks as a very nice Beatles collectible to boot. ROLLING STONE offered up a great product here.

The Creepy Story Behind The Knack's "My Sharona"

Pull up your chairs close kids, darken the lights and cue up the creepy theremin music, because I've got a good one for you here. Do you remember that great old #1 single from June 1979, "My Sharona" by The Knack, well there's a great story behind it. It seems that the lead singer of the band, the late Doug Fieger, was really so inspired by an under-aged 17 year old girl, Sharona Alperin, so he wrote this song when he was 25 at the time. What parent wouldn't be so pleased to have some 25 year old guy write some love song about their under-aged daughter. That has to #1 on a parent's top ten list by far.

At some point, Doug Fiieger and Sharona Alperin did became boyfriend and girlfriend for four years, maybe because of the success of the song which was heavily driven by the catchy guitar licks of guitarist Berton Averre as well as the blues drumming skills of the late Bruce Gary. But with so many songs themed about teenaged girls from this band, a little backlash campaign started known as "Knuke The Knack". as some critics thought this all seemed creepy, although it was probably more a sign of the gross commercialism of this group meant to appeal to teenaged fans more than anything. But titles like "....But The Little Girls Understand", "Good Girls Don't" and "Baby Talk Dirty " didn't help much to soothe over some critics of the band.

And if all of this doesn't seem weird enough, then get ready for this, the late Doug Fieger was also the younger brother of lawyer Geoffrey Fieger, Dr. Jack Kevorkian's lawyer, the suicide doctor. And it was Geoffrey Fieger who made the public announcement of his brother's death to THE DETROIT NEWS, just as he has had made so many public pronouncements about Jack Kevorkian.

Despite their creepy themed music meant to appeal to a teenaged audience, The Knack were a group of highly skilled musicians who made the most of a Capitol Records public relations campaign that made them seem like the second coming of The Beatles(also an old Capitol Records act). It was this clever marketing that made The Knack such a powerful, but short-lived phenomenon back in 1979 with "My Sharona" hitting #1 for 6 weeks in a row and selling lots of copies.

"My Sharona" also featured a bra-less, but not overly sexy model in a white t-shirt as a picture sleeve for the single and a Beatles-like cover of the band for the album, GET THE KNACK. Capitol Records tried hard to make this power pop new wave rock act seem like the new Beatles, although their fame quickly faded after their second album. By 1981, their third album ROUND TRIP only came in at #93 on the charts, and subsequent albums failed to chart altogether for the act.

In all of recorded music history , The Knack proved to be one of the strangest stories of rock music for many reasons.

Rod Stewart Becomes A Las Vegas Entertainer

Critics and fans of Rod Stewart could probably see this coming all the way up Broadway! Rod Stewart has slowly transitioned himself from a hired gun rock vocalist, once working for the likes of musicians like Jeff Beck and Faces to slowly evolving into the Tony Bennett of this generation. Now, the crooner has signed an 18 date concert engagement deal with Caesars Palace to play their elegant 4,000 seat Colosseum theater with shows that range from $49-250 a seat. The evolution of Rod Stewart from rocker to easy listening vocalist to Las Vegas entertainer appears complete now. He's gone the full circle of rock life.

I'm not sure other rock singers would have gone the same route. Something tells me that a sixty something Jim Morrison wouldn't be playing Vegas. But, Rod Stewart has really loaned himself to this transition into a modern easy listening favorite. But, Stewart is hardly alone. He joins other notable rock favorites such as Celine Dion and Elton John as the latest big name rocker to grace the big lights of Vegas. All I can say is more power to this 66 year old. Go for it. Retirement age doesn't have to be bland these days.

Police Investigate Drug Deal Gone Wrong Beating At Former Portland Trailblazer's Home

They say once a Portland Trailblazer, always a Portland Trailblazer. And although he's been traded to the Memphis Grizzlies, troubled NBA player Zach Randolph only continues to make news for the wrong reasons. It appears that after a marijuana deal went wrong at his Clackamas County, Oregon home, a guest was brutally beaten up with pool cue. Reportedly, Police investors seized evidence from the home including blood and a pool cue.

Zach Randolph was not among the three men who assaulted the guest with the pool cue, yet it yet another violent episode associated with the NBA player who was previously suspended for breaking the eye socket of another NBA player during a 2009 game.

Despite being a high scoring player, Portland let Zach Randolph go because of his violent and troubled history, where he has gone on to become only the second all-star that the Memphis Grizzlies have had in their history.

People sometimes jokingly refer to the Portland Trailblazers as the Portland Jailblazers because of so many legal problems associated with some players. In more recent years, the management of the Portland franchise, owned by Paul Allen, has sought to clean up it's reputation. Yet, former players like Zach Randolph only continue to make undesirable news.

Major League WTF? Gay Porn Star Loses Teaching Gig

Sean Lofts, who has appeared in gay porn films under the name Collin O'Neal has been fired from a Florida school district as a substitute teacher because of his porn background. Lofts also gained some notoriety as a citizen reporter for CNN with his great photojournalism co verge of a Florida storm back in 2009 in-between shooting hardcore footage for a gay porn website. Apparently the actor still runs a gay porn website, World Of Men.

Lofts is seeking the help of the ACLU to get his teaching job back. Apparently, he was fired because of a small clause in the teaching contract that states that any teacher must act in a manner "that will reflect credit upon themselves". By, that the actor must have been thinking gay porn "film credits", of which he has many as a lead player.

Hey, what's the world coming to anyway when a poor guy can't even shoot sweaty pounding hard gay sex action for a gay porn website, in-between being a CNN photojournalism contributor, and lose your third job as a substitute school teacher. What's wrong with things anyway?

Big Debit Card Crackdown Set For Oct 1

New Federal Reserve rules will heavily impact the debit card business on Oct 1, when banks can no longer charge more than 21cents in basic fees, resulting in new bank rules that will take effect. Previously some merchants were paying up to 44cents in basic bank fees for a card swipe in addition to a percentage of the sale, taking a huge chunk out of small transactions for many merchants. The banking industry stands to lose billions a year with the tighter rules, and was successful getting to lower fee raised from a proposed 12cents to the higher approved 21cents. Some banks such as Wells Fargo will charge a new $3.00 a month fee to debit card users, however such fees could certainly increase or spread to other banks. Chase bank is also considering limiting debit card purchases to as little as just $50 a month per customer to cut their losses from the new rules.

Users can also expect all sort of rewards programs to end. Previously, banks would give debit card holders some cheap prizes they could qualify for, paid for by the huge fees they charge merchants for card swipes.

Debit cards have gotten out of control, becoming a major bank ripoff to many merchants paying huge fees for tiny purchases from consumers who really should use cash for such small purchases. Many merchants tired of the huge fees began to lobby for reforms. The Federal Reserve Board agreed that the debit card problem is well out of control,l and after much study and debate, opted for the new rules by a 4-1 vote in late June.

If some debit cards are only limited to $50-100 a month for purchases, and new fees are charged consumers to use debit cards, then users are going to have to decide if using cash or even credit cards isn't a better option for many purchases.

William Petersen Returning To CSI

Actor William Petersen will make a return to CSI this season to assist in the exit of Marg Helgenberger from the show in January. No word on how many episodes Petersen will star in, but CSI has been something of a revolving door for actors in recent years. When Petersen left the show to do more stage acting and producing, Laurence Fishburne took over as the lead actor, however bowed of the series where Ted Danson takes over the lead role for this season.

With nearly as much foot traffic as a sports arena turnstile, CSI should eventually give actor in America the chance to star in the show at least once, if not twice like William Petersen.

Crazy Business Models That Work: Debit Cards & 7-11 Stores

Why some terrible business models work so well and far better ideas fail is a total mystery. But two of the most profitable industry role models are unlikely businesses that make no economic sense whatsoever, yet both are so immensely successful.

One is debit cards. Whoever thought up that banks could encourage people to deposit all their money in the bank, using their money for free to make high interest loans to others, charging people all sorts of fees to use their own money is a genius. And people want to use these debit cards to pay for tiny little purchases at all sorts of stores, apparently unaware of all the fees that merchants have to pay when people use these cards instead of cash. Now, Wells Fargo is hoping to create a new user fee on debit cards to make even more money off these ripoff cards. Wells Fargo is planning to start with a new $3.00 a month service fee, which may already be in addition to other account maintenance fees that some banks already charge which is around $8.95 a month or so. Debit cards aren't the same as credit cards, but lower income persons might think they are, and don't seem to mind paying to use an independent ATM $2-3 to get their own money back. In the old days, there were wallets or purses. These were meant for putting money in. Today, folks think that these are supposed to be debit card holders, making poor people think they're like better off folks who actually own credit cards because better off people actually have credit while poorer folks are just paying fees on debit cards to banks to use their own money. Genius. Sheer genius.

Another strange business idea that works really well are 7-11 stores. The corporate company springs up new 7-11 stores like weeds throughout the country and then sells these franchises to individual investors at about $191,000 or so for each location, charging them for part of their gross revenues as well as rent on the building. But, some of these stores can bring in $300-400 an hour at peak daytime hours where customers seem perfectly happy to pay very high prices for products even though each location only has about $22,000 in store stock invested, which is almost nothing by grocery store standards. Your average 7-11 has very limited food inventory, yet somehow magically has a gross revenue many times that of independent stores that might have a much bigger investment in store stock. Somehow, the 7-11 brand name draws in customers willing to pay a lot more for most most items compared to shopping at a large discount store. But, with many stores open 24 hours a day, 7-11 stores seem convenient for customers although very few people actually shop at those hours. While these stores sells some hot dogs, nachos and drinks, they don't account for the huge success of the business model. How these stores sell so much with so little stock on hand is a greater mystery than the loaves and fishes story from the Bible.

7-11 stores also defy explanation for selection as well. People will shop at large stores because of better selection. 7-111 stores cut down selection about as much as you can and still have anything on the shelf to sell. Yet, 7-11 stores work by turning over a small inventory at a terrific rate.

If you're considering a business, then a 7-11 franchise has to be one of your safest business ventures. Even in a bad economy, these stores do very well.

THE SIMPSONS like to joke about the little independent KWIK-E-MART store which has nothing on 7-11 in terms of gross sales, but maybe far more selection than a 7-11. The difference is the 7-11 works as business model.

Weekend Box Office: THE HELP Tops Slower Receipts For August 19-21 Weekend

In a slower Summer weekend than expected, THE HELP topped the pack with about $20.5 million in receipts. The slower weekend was something of a surprise considering that many quality films that should have a bigger appeal are playing right now. THE HELP actually slipped more than 21% from last week's gross, yet managed to stay ahead of the pack which was a pretty good omen of how weak of a weekend this box office overall take was. Several factors including some last minute vacations before school starts as well as the bad economy may be to blame for the dismal results.

RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES slid more than 41% in box office gross receipts, yet claimed second place on the charts this weekend, with a $16.3 million take. However, SPY KIDS: ALL THE TIME IN THE WORLD had a weak opening at just $12 million. However, with just a $27 million budget, Disney probably hopes to make as much as they can marketing some lower budgeted films through the theaters and DVD/BluRay sales as an economy move. Disney might be a little skittish to invest big money in risky films and possibly lose millions on the deals.

But, perhaps the biggest disappointing opening was the terrible #4 and $10 million performance by the 2011 remake of CONAN THE BARBARIAN. The film has gotten generally bad reviews for forsaking quality acting and dialog for the sake of the 3D effects. Further, lacking a strong on-screen presence such as Arnold Schwarzenegger only relegates this film to the junk-heap. For the $90 million spent producing this film, the mere $10 million gross take is absolutely horrible.

THE SMURFS grabbed #5 with an $8 million weekend. In it's fourth weekend out there, the film has already took in $117 million, which is slightly better than it's $110 million budget. At this rate, the film should eventually be a money maker with future 2nd run box office and DVD/BluRay sales. A SMURFS 2 might well follow now.

The public really wasn't in a horror show type mood, yet the very good remake of FRIGHT NIGHT drew a few to theaters at #6 and a $7.9 million dollar weekend compared to it's $30 million budget, meaning that the film has some slow work to be profitable over the weeks and capture enough future DVD/BluRay sales to even break even or make money. For a horror show with very good critical reviews, the slow weekend gross must be a real disappointment to the producers.

But, the biggest box office horror disappointment so far has to be the lukewarm critically rated FINAL DESTINATION 5 which has only taken in just $32.3 million in two weeks time compared to the big $40 million budget for the latest installment in the franchise, where the budgets have steadily climbed as the films began to grow in popularity. The last installment in the series took in $186 million worldwide on a $43 million investment. Unless the final figures really improve for this latest film, then this may indeed really be THE FINAL DESTINATION for the series, where the producers may think that this genre is all played out and now suffering from audience fatigue. At just #7 and a lowly $7.7 million gross this franchise may be nearing it's last stop for it's second weekend since release.

At #8 was 30 MINUTES OR LESS, with a $6.3 million gross. And with a $25 million budget and a $28 million take so far, this project will be seen as eventually narrowly profitable for the producers.

ONE DAY, the #9 rated box office gross film, might be in some financial trouble. It only took in just $5.1 million against $15 million budget, meaning that it might be hard to sell enough DVDs etc. to finally show a profit here. It's sad when producers invest so much money in entertainment and only lose money. That hardly encourages big risks or new projects.

CRAZY, STUPID, LOVE rounded out the top ten with $4.9 million gross. Costing $50 million to produce, this film has made more than $64 million in it's fourth week out there making it a money maker for the producers.

But, just beyond the top ten films this weekend are some important film industry stories. At #11 is the latest HARRY POTTER installment , which has taken in $365.9 in it's $250 million dollar budget it shared when it was shot with HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS PT. 1. This series is pure spun gold, and has to be sad to the producers that it's ending. Some film franchises make money. Lots of money!

At #12 is the flip side of making good box office money. The poorly critically reviewed COWBOYS & ALIENS had just about a $4.2 weekend in it's fourth weekend since release. With a huge $163 million dollar budget and just a lousy gross of about $89.5 million, this film could rate as one of the biggest box office bombs this Summer. Of the current films, only the new CONAN looks to be a worse investment for the producers.

At #13, but hardly unlucky, is CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIRST AVENGER, which may have only taken in $4.1 in it's fifth week since release. But, that's fine. On a $140 million investment the film has brought back $164.7 in gross box office receipts. All told, this film will make money for the producers with a big afterlife in DVDs and BluRay yet to follow in the future.

If anything, this past weekend's box office gross receipts paint a gloomy picture for the industry of a weak economy, fickle audiences and late Summer vacations all contributing to a lukewarm box office weekend. That's hardly a faith inspiring weekend for producers and investors to lay down massive chunks of money on risky projects. If weak box office trends continue or the economy nosedives into another recession, then you can expect much lower budget movies to be made as producers seek to limit their risks.

America's Royal Wedding: Kim Kardashian & Kris Humphries

The E Entertainment network has gotten the rights to air the lavish wedding of Kim Kardashian and NBS star Kris Humprhries, that many refer to as "America's Royal Wedding". E will run a two part special in October that will document the huge event, which some say might have cost millions of dollars. Perhaps, the deal with E might well help to pay the costs for the big event that had a reported 400-440 guests.

Kim Kardashian also tightly controlled the photo rights to the big event, where PEOPLE Magazine reportedly paid $1 million for exclusive photo rights to the event. However, we'll run any spy photos as soon as they become available.

The Wedding took place at the huge estate formerly owned by Ellen Degeneres.

TLC Cancels LA INK & KATE PLUS EIGHT

TLC is making some big changes canceling two of their formerly powerful shows and parting ways with two major reality TV stars the network helped to create. TLC informed Kat Von D that her services would no longer be needed at TMZ as LA INK is being canceled. And Kate Gosselin, got her pink slip last week as well. While the ratings appeared to be strong enough for both programs, it appeared that TLC was beginning to have increasing concerns about the public image that both women are projecting for the network. Both reality stars often grace the tabloids with unflattering stories. It's almost as if TLC was taking a hint from CBS and TWO AND A HALF MEN by ridding themselves of all of the baggage of Charlie Sheen.

Kat Von D was involved in the infamous breakup of the marriage of Jesse James and Sandra Bullock, and only continued to make new bad news. And in the case of Kate Gosselin, TLC decided to pull the plug at episode #150 on September 12 and end the series plagued by constant tabloid news front page stories about the star.

TLC has apparently decided that they want to end the bad publicity associated with some stars, and rebuild their show lineup with some less controversial personalities although both Kat Von D and Kate Gosselin have proven to have durable audiences of fans for the network.

Gov. Rick Perry Invested In Porn Movie Rental Business

A new scandalous story about Texas Governor Rick Perry is circulating today. According to a post on Gather.com. the governor who has constantly sought the support of religious conservatives was a former investor in a movie rental business that rented pornography back in 1995 until the far right American Family Association urged a federal obscenity investigation of the business putting Rick Perry's financial investment in the company in jeopardy.

Perry reportedly invested as much as $10,000 in Movie Gallery, a video rental business that rented pornography along with mainstream films, unlike some other large video dealers who avoided adult material and only rented the mainstream stuff. However, once the right wing AFA sought to spur a federal obscenity investigation of the company, Perry sought to cut his connection to company to avoid either losing his investment or possible prosecution for conspiracy or racketeering if the company was ever indicted or found guilty of obscenity distribution.

This latest revelation about Perry follows another story about an ad purchased in an Austin newspaper by a Ron Paul supporter offering to pay cash to anyone who will step forward and state that they had sex with the governor and presidential candidate.

There are many sex scandal rumor stories now circulating that the governor, who is a darling of the religious right, has been involved in a lifestyle of sexual excess while publicly proclaiming himself to be some sort of a religious conservative. Another new story claims some connection between Perry and an organization that helps to supposedly turn gay persons straight. There is now some speculation that Perry may may consider himself to be an ex-homosexual. And another story once placed Perry at a drag queen show in Florida where reported paid $75 admission to attend.

If these stories prove to be true, then Gov. Perry may have sexual excesses that far exceed those of Bill Clinton, Anthony Wiener, or others involved in major political sex scandals. You only have to wonder why someone would run for president when so much political baggage could only blow up and embarrass them. Never has any politician been accused of so many sexual scandals that has made a run for the presidency. This is an unbelievable story here.

TBS Plans Major Investment To Rescue CONAN

The good news for the struggling talk show by Conan O'Brien on TBS is that the network appears ready to work on an ambitious program to build ratings for the show and to stop the slide in ratings. Since it's debut the show has slid from 2 million viewers down to an average of 709,000 viewers, or a 60% audience erosion. Fans of the show were alarmed when LOPEZ TONIGHT was canceled by the network last week as a likely sign that cancellation of CONAN may be next. However, this appears to be part of a rescue plan by TBS to build a block of good comedy shows to help support CONAN in the ratings and build an audience.

The smash hit CBS comedy, THE BIG BANG THEORY, is going into syndication this September, and TBS is planning to spend $2 million an episode to bring this hit show over to the network to use as a lead-in to CONAN two nights a week while working on expensive new original comedy programming meant to create a stronger ratings night for the network. Under this scenario, it's easy to see where the lowly rated George Lopez comedy talk show just didn't fit in. It was a very weak lead-in for CONAN, and was perhaps partially responsible for the ratings damage to the show.

So fans of CONAN can rest easy for now. TBS hopes to rebuild the audience for CONAN, and still has faith that the show can become the centerpiece of a programming plan for a ratings powerful late night comedy block. If the ratings rescue plan works as planned, ratings for CONAN should start to improve during September and after. If not, then you can expect TBS to look at replacing CONAN with something that builds a stronger ratings.

This is CONAN's last and best shot to remain on TBS and as a late night TV host. If he blows this last opportunity his days as a talk show host are probably over and finding work hosting a talk show may be over in the industry.

Cd Review: Jay-Z & Kanye West WATCH THE THRONE

Rappers Jay-Z and Kanye West have just released their new album WATCH THE THRONE which features plenty of guest appearances including beyonce and more. The new album has already debuted at #1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 200 charts selling around 450,000 copies to date. The album has already had two singles from it, including "HAM." and "Otis" and should spur a few more singles as well.

Critical reviews of the new album have been generally good, although it's a little bit difficult to miss the fact that these two rappers sure like to brag about their obscene wealth right in the middle of an economic downturn for many persons. Certainly that and other subject matter make this album controversial. However, songs like "Otis", a tribute to the late Otis Redding do really stand out from this album as great tracks. This album has plenty of great material to go around and is best purchased in the deluxe 16 track version.

Originally this album was intended to be an EP, however was expanded into a full length album instead, It was recorded back in January 2011 at New York's Mercer Hotel instead of a conventional recording studio, with plenty of guest stars stepping in to add their talents.

The Bottom Line: Controversial and not for everyone, these two rappers known as The Throne want everyone to know just well off financially they are. And while this might seem pretty arrogant in these hard times, this album should satisfy lovers of the rap genre who seem to want their musicians to display a ton of attitude in their songs. +++(Three stars, or good, Buy this album and love it).

Kathy Griffin Makes News On CONAN Over Confrontation With Michele Bachmann

Ratings challenged CONAN just got some big publicity. Comic Kathy Griffin appeared on the show this week and related her recent confrontation with presidential candidate Michele Bachmann in which the comic called Bachmann a "bigot" to her face. Griffin showed up at a Bachmann political event and a cameraman for the congresswoman recorded the confrontation on camera, which makes it unlikely that video of the confrontation will ever surface. Bachmann's office will never release this videotape.

Griffin considers herself to be a D-list celebrity, but often makes news for her outrageous appearances and public antics including the recent release of some topless photos. Griffin even took former Bristol Palin boyfriend, Levi Johnston, to a number of public events simply to aggravate the Palin family.

In support of her political views in support of gay rights as well her need to keep herself in the public eye, Griffin decided to cause some sort of public antics to make news at the Bachmann political event. And Conan O'Brien can use the ratings boost right now from Griffin's appearance and controversy as well. If a few more folks are watching CONAN this week than last, then he can thank Kathy Griffin for the little ratings boost.

Gay Sex Scandal Could Rock 2012 Presidential Campaign?

The biggest bombshell story of the 2012 presidential race could well be a major news media sex scandal story that could have a huge impact on the political landscape. While Texas Gov. Rick Perry continues to rise in polls, now running neck and neck with Mitt Romney, old rumors about a gay sex scandal by the media are beginning to re-surface that could rock the fresh presidential bid. Allegations of Rick Perry being homosexual actually first began to come from insiders within Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison's failed attempt to defeat Perry in the 2009 Republican primary for governor and have since found legs in at least one Texas newspaper and a number of blogs.

One of Ron Paul's supporters has freshly raised the issue as well, by purchasing a Texas newspaper ad asking who has had sex with the governor. This is only the beginning of what may become a major sex scandal rocking a 2012 presidential campaign.

A number of sources have even gone as far as to name the man that Gov. Perry supposedly has had sexual relations with, while other sources reported on the troubles within the marriage of Perry to his wife. None of these rumors are particular good for a candidate who is a favorite of many Christian conservative voters and stands a very good chance of winning the GOP nomination. These rumors are also very troubling for Perry who has signed the Texas state GOP platform to receive election support from his party. That platform takes a very tough line of socially conservative issues including opposition to the decriminalization of sodomy as well as other anti-gay issues.

Some say that Gov. Perry is only sitting on a powder-keg of potential sex scandal problems just waiting to blowup and derail his presidential hopes. Then again, there's always the possibility that enough of the public doesn't really care and might vote for a candidate regardless of major sex scandal rumors. At some point, the Texas governor will probably have to address these sex scandal rumors and either acknowledge them as either true or false.

In recent months, the sex scandals involving Democratic Rep. Anthony Weiner and also Rep. David Wu have forced both to resign their offices and tarnished the party somewhat. Now, the GOP could be hit with a major sex scandal as well if the rumors about Perry are proven true by some investigative reporter and hit the headlines. And if Gov. Perry becomes the GOP nominee it could prove to an electoral disaster for the party as well, which takes a conservative line on gay issues.

The 2012 election has some potential to be a close election, unless the wild card of a big sex scandal changes the playing field. That's one heck of a wild card.

Cigarette Industry Fights New Graphic FDA Images

The cigarette industry is going to court to battle proposed new FDA rules that would force the companies to post graphic images on their packaging. Four of five of the largest tobacco companies led by R.J. Reynolds and Lorrilard Tobacco Co. filed a First Amendment based lawsuit contending that the government forcing the cigarette companies to post graphic images violates their free speech rights, which also reduces the area on their on packaging to display their own brand name or images. The cigarette industry believes that some of the images which include a sewn-up corpse are outrageous and bad for their industry.

Two years ago, The Family Smoking Prevention And Tobacco Control Act became law, and the tobacco industry also challenged that law in court as well. However, the use of the First Amendment as a grounds to challenge new proposed tobacco rules is a new tactic by the big tobacco companies.

The tobacco industry operates in a strange legal environment regardless. Their products are harmful to both users and nonusers alike, yet remain legal unlike other defective or dangerous products which are forced off the market by government safety actions. Further, while powerful industries like the automobile industry are forced to heavily control their air pollution that automobiles create, there are no environmental rules limiting cigarette emissions. For example, ,just one lit cigarette can destroy the air quality of several thousand cubic feet of air creating health threats for nonusers of middle ear infections, asthma and cancer risks. Injury from cigarettes are one of the reasons for the health care crisis in the United States, where the public health care system spends tens of billions each year to pay for cigarette related health problems. Further, American society is willing to accept a reduction in both lifespan and quality of life to keep cigarettes legal despite new interests in environmentalism and healthy foods. The fact of the matter is that cigarettes probably reduce the lifespan and quality of life for all Americans erasing almost any environmental or healthy food gains elsewhere.

Another strange legal quirk about cigarette smoking is that it allows the unwanted distribution of a drug, nicotine, to others as secondhand smoke. Nicotine helps to destroy the quality of REM sleep and has other health consequences. And nicotine is controversial because the levels of the drug have continued to rise in cigarettes in recent years despite tobacco industry claims that they haven't been manipulating the drug. Between 1998 and 2005, independent lab tests have claimed average yearly 1.6% increases in nicotine levels in cigarettes, strongly suggesting that the tobacco industry is deliberately manipulating nicotine levels to keep cigarettes addictive to users. This nicotine drug manipulation is part of the reason that the FDA was given authority over tobacco by Congress. Many smokers just can't help this drug addiction. even if they are being harmed by cigarettes. Cigarettes also keep many lower income persons in poverty, and are a favorite of the mentally ill. It is estimated that up to 80% of persons with a mental illness smoke to cope with anxiety or other issues as a form of self-medication, which is a very high figure compared to around 20% of all adults who smoke.

The tobacco industry is looking toward to the future by divesting itself into other business opportunities in the event that cigarettes someday are further restricted or else even become illegal. While new brands of cigarettes hit the market with some regularity, government takes baby steps chipping away at the industry mostly through advertising and packaging restrictions where the graphic labels proposal will become the next legal battleground for the tobacco industry to defend.

Unless the tobacco industry is successful in court overturning the new FDA rule, the graphic warning images will cover both the front and back panels on cigarette packages and will also cover at least 20% of the area of every advertisement as well. It will now be up to the courts to decide whether the new FDA packaging rules take effect or not on one hand, as well as a new test for the limits of free speech. Rather than an outright ban of a dangerous or defective product, the huge new graphic warning labels seem like a strange way for government to control bad products.

The Public Opinion Polling Industry: Why Political Disapproval Polls Don't Really Matter

One strange anomaly of the business of polling the public on issues and politicians is how the public uses disapproval polls to express some anger, yet continue to support issues or candidates regardless. One good example is the latest Gallup Poll where Congress earns just a 13% approval rate, Yet, in November 2012, you can certainly expect most current members of Congress to be re-elected. The public's claimed disapproval of Congress doesn't always carry to their own representatives, who usually score a higher approval rating than Congress as a whole overall.

Presidential approval ratings are a whole other dimension of fickle public opinion. The current Gallup Poll puts the president's approval rating at just 39%, an all-time low. Conventional wisdom means that he won't be re-elected with such figures. Yet, at the same time, the president leads all GOP challengers in most polls, including the Gallup Poll. The president even leads a generic GOP challenger by a 45%-39% margin as well at Gallup. All this means that disapproval numbers for a sitting president don't really translate into a lack of support. Support figures for the president's re-election seem to run about seven points better than his actual approval numbers.

Several factors might account for this. The public may not really approve of the current leadership by the president in many individual areas. For example, only a little over 26% of the public approves of the his economic leadership. Yet, compared to any actual GOP challenger, the president leads every challenger by some numbers, with only the former GOP governor of Massachusetts running close or tied in some polls.

This past weekend, a GOP congresswoman from Minnesota won a GOP straw poll event in Iowa. Her campaign was quick to celebrate this win. But, on closer view the victory was an empty one. The same congresswoman runs about 14 points or more behind the president in recent state polls from her home state, meaning that she cannot be elected if she cannot even win her home state.

Some good examples from history are this: In 1972, Democratic candidate George McGovern failed to win his home state of South Dakota, yet was re-elected to the Senate in 1974 winning 53% of the vote. He remained in the Senate until he was defeated for re-election in the 1980 Republican sweep that brought Ronald Reagan into the presidency.

In 2000, Vice President Al Gore failed to win his home state of Tennessee, which cost him the election despite winning the popular vote nationwide. Not being able to win your home state means that a candidate will not win the presidential election. Further, the state of Ohio always determines the winner of the election in modern history as well. So, just two factors appear to be accurate predictors of whether a candidate will win the presidential election or not. Will they win their home state and will they win Ohio?

However, the strange public disconnect between voicing disapproval while supporting something in public opinion polls also extends to issues as well. Some polls suggest that the public disapproves of so much sex and violence in the entertainment industry. Yet, the reality is that the public has an appetite for both sex and violence in entertainment, where many individual companies do quite well by providing action films, violent video games or sexually provocative DVDs, etc.

All of this suggests that the public polling industry isn't really able to capture the true public mood on either politicians or culture issues. The public uses polls to vent some dissatisfaction, but then usually goes right back to supporting the same politicians or the same culture issues they just took a little jab at. Public opinion polls seem to be a proving ground where respondents like to express an opinion, similar to an editorial on something, but which doesn't prove to actually always gauge their true intentions. For this reason, public opinion polls will forever remain a flawed guage of the actual public mood. But, none of this prevents the business of public opinion from becoming a large and profitable business industry.

Taylor Momsen Finally Turns 18

Taylor Momsen, that rock and roll brat, has just recently turned 18 on July 26. But, that's probably not all that much relief to her parents where she continues to be outrageous and run around with male musicians far older than herself. She's a very fine singer, however her antics have made things just plain creepy. When she was only just 16 she recorded most of the tracks for her latest album release which received very good critical reviews. However, it remains to be seen whether turning 18 will begin to moderate Momsen, or whether it will only open up more opportunities to outrageousness.

Momsen needs to take heed of the tragic example of Amy Winehouse or even Lindsay Lohan. You live too far out there, and you risk your very life. Have fun Taylor. But, watch yourself. Keep your life in check. You're a very fine hard rock singer, but you're just living way too fast. Slow down a little.

TBS Cancels LOPEZ TONIGHT; CONAN Could Be Next.....

After making the decision to cancel LOPEZ TONIGHT, the ratings challenged talk show hosted by comic George Lopez, TBS claims that cancellation of CONAN isn't next. But, industry insiders disagree. Conan O'Brien is personally so concerned about a looming cancellation that he didn't address the LOPEZ TONIGHT cancellation in his monologue, and instead chose to send a quiet personal letter of regret to George Lopez instead. Conan is so frightened of a looming cancellation by TBS that he doesn't want to somehow remind the cable TV network that they might have forgotten to cancel his show as well.

TBS claims that the numbers for George Lopez were much worse than that for Conan resulting in the cancellation. The ratings for Lopez's show sank from a high of 910,00 to a low point of just 391,000 recently. Conan's show slipped from a high of 2 million viewers down to just 709,000 average viewers recently. Any show with more than a 50% audience slide should be concerned with possible if not likely, cancellation say some industry insiders.

Come September, the real job for Conan O'Brien is to start lifting his ratings and to prevent his show for being just another failed comic entry on TBS. Of all the networks, Conan O'Brien chose to go with TBS, which has a bad track record where shows like FRANK TV have quickly come and gone. Nothing really prevented Conan O'Brien from staying over at NBC other than his pride and his ego. Being shoved to after midnight by NBC wouldn't have been the end of the world. But, being canceled by TBS would certainly be the kiss of death for any TV show hosting career by Conan. Not even Lazarus could come back from a death like that.

Picking a failed comedy graveyard like TBS as the final resting spot for your TV career isn't the very best career management choice, Conan.

Major League WTF? Olympic Hopeful Urinates On Child Airliner Passenger

In the hallowed halls of major league WTFdom, few stories come as outrageous as this one. 18 year old U.S. ski team member, Robert Vietze, had done some major league underage drinking and on a flight on Jet Blue from Mt. Hood, Oregon to New York, began to urinate on the leg of an 11 year old girl passenger who is also a stage four cancer patient. Vietze was arrested by federal authorities, however charges were apparently later dropped because the father didn't want his daughter being put through more stress than she is already facing.

The big issue here is why was someone allowed on a plane that stinking drunk and disorderly who just had 8 beers. That's some heavy duty drinking. Secondly, how in major league F does a guy get so drunk that he can't even tell a child's leg from a urinal. That's screwed up drunk.

Well, it appears that the Olympic hopes of Vietze are now toast. He's officially off the team. That's good.

Dennis Rodman Inducted Into The Basketball Hall Of Fame

Dennis Rodman felt so humbled and honored to be inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall Of Fame in Springfield Friday night that his emotional speech focused largely on his shortcomings as a person. But, that's okay, Dennis. The fact of the matter is that Dennis Rodman not only brought his uniquely eccentric personality to the game, but also one of the NBA's greatest rebounding performances as well. And that's the unique combination that made Dennis Rodman a major NBA entity. He was both colorful as well as a legendary athlete.

With so many bland personalities in the game these days, it's very easy to miss Dennis Rodman. Dennis brought us great times. And the fact of the matter he's also one of the nicest guys around. Dennis is a legend for being kind and generous to his friends.

In grade school Dennis had an interesting history as a misfit. He was the tall Black kid whose best friend was the small White kid in his class. These two were best pals for years. But, then Dennis got the last laugh when hie landed his NBA career and went on to become a legend. Now, he's been honored for his great career elevating the game of basketball.

Nice guys do finish first after all.

Jani Lane, Former Lead Singer From Warrant Dead At 47

The former lead singer from the 1990's big hair hard rock group, Warrant, has died. Jani Lane sang lead vocals on such band favorites as "Cherry Pie" for the group. He was 47. Lane was always very proud of his "Cherry Pie" song, considering it to be one of the hallmarks of his musical career. Lane was staying in a Los Angeles motel room and was discovered to be lifeless. His cause of death is not yet known. But Warrant was always one of the more influential of the hair-metal groups of the 90's era.

Warrant has become something of a revolving door for musicians over the years, yet Jani Lane managed to carry the band through some of their greatest years, providing lead vocals on some of their biggest hit songs. Along with Guns N' Roses and other top hair-metal bands, Warrant was always considered one of the greatest bands of that era. Warrant would often appear on the same concert bills with Guns N' Roses in fact.

Jani Lane was a great front-man for this act. He was a great vocalist for this genre of music and seemed straight from central casting as a great hair-metal act front-man.

JERSEY SHORE Sets MTV Season Premiere Record

MTV'S JERSEY SHORE just continues to build an audience and now has set a new record at the cable TV network with a staggering 8.8 million viewers for last Thursday's season opener episode of the reality series. What's so impressive about the 8.8 million figure is that it's only a tad below the 8.9 million viewers that 60 MINUTES drew last week as being the #6 rated network TV show. This means that some cable TV shows are now approaching the same sort of big ratings figures as network TV posts, which is an awesome feat.

For years, cable TV networks have sought to build audiences for original programming comparable to the networks. Now, a smattering of cable TV shows are breaking through to the same sort of top ten numbers that Summer network TV posts. That's a great achievement by any standard of measurement.

Major League WTF? College Students Summit Outrageous Sex Videos To Win Cash Prizes

Ever wonder how some students will pay for college this coming year? Well, a nightly news broadcast recently shined a light on an outrageous amateur porn site called COLLEGE RULES where real college dorm students summit real amateur sex videos to win cash prizes up to $10,000. And you'll be absolutely shocked at just how naughty these college kids can get. This is an unbelievable naughty site here. It's absolutely incredible what outrageous things that some really good looking college kids will do to earn themselves some tuition money. I guess getting naughty on camera for a few minutes is better than working a job at McDonalds for months, huh?

Hey, parents, get your heart medicine ready and check out what your kids are doing at COLLEGE RULES only if you must. You'll be shocked. I promise!

I know some parents must feel so proud of their kids right about now.

Major League WTF? Chinese Town Begins Breast-Touching Festival

What horny guy thought this one up? But, a long standing tradition of residents of the town of Ejia in the Yunnan province in China have just begun their yearly breast-touching festival. The tradition is thought to date back to as early as the Sui Dynasty in 581 AD, when a large number of the teenage boys were killed in a war. The people began to offer up prayers for the dead teenage warriors who were believed to be at unrest because many were killed before being able to touch a woman as a man. So to prevent the undead from bringing 10 pure and untouched ladies into the afterlife with them, this breast touching tradition began. Apparently, males and females ages 15 on up now continue this bizarre ancient ritual to this day.

Strangely, despite modern times, females are more than willing to participate because being touched is supposed to prevent them from being lured away into the afterlife with the dead warrior guys.

Decisions, decisions. Let some weird guy you don't even know feel you up in public, or be lured into the afterlife by some dead warrior guy from the Sui Dynasty.

Neil Young LIVE ON THE AIR/THE LOST TAPES Set To Debut On Tuesday

A new unreleased Neil Young live in the UK cd album will debut on Tuesday, which was recorded in 1991 and includes six songs. The new release might be similar to some rare bootlegs floating around, but with greatly improved crisp and clean sound quality.

Neil Young did some songs on a set for a local UK radio station, and this set is a great piece of Neil Young material unheard by most of his American fans. CD Universe is offering the album on preorder for just $12.94 sale price. Order one today.

TWO AND A HALF MEN: Charlie Harper Murdered By Rose?

Here's what a spy source claims will be the cause of death for Charlie Sheen's character on TWO AND A HALF MEN. The source clams that the script involves Rose speaking at his funeral claiming that Charlie Harper was killed in a "meat explosion" accident in the Paris subway. All of this seems highly suspect considering that the unbalanced Rose, who stalked and finally married Charlie, catches him in the shower with another woman while on their honeymoon in Paris.

What do you think? Did producer Chuck Lorre get his poetic revenge on Charlie Sheen here? I suppose tearing a fictional character into tiny bits ranks right up there on the revenge factor scale, right?

Pauley Perrette Becomes TV's Most Popular Actor/Actress

Actress Pauley Perrette, who plays the quirky punk rock oriented character, Abby Sciuto, on the smash hit CBS crime drama NCIS, is now the popular most TV actor/actress according to Q Scores. She even tops other lead cast members such as Mark Harmon (#4) on the show, making her true money in the bank for the show. Brazilian actress Cote de Pablo, also from NCIS, came in as second most popular in the latest survey. British actor David McCallum(former 1960's MAN FROM U.N.C.L. E. heartthrob) is #5 and Michael Weatherly # 7 , are both also from NCIS as well.

One notable non-NCIS actor to make the list was Jim Parson #3 from THE BIG BANG THEORY, which will likely take over the top spot as the most popular CBS comedy this upcoming season. Parson's "Sheldon" character is a true audience favorite and absolutely hilarious. It's certainly the greatest character that Parsons has ever played during his aspiring acting career.

ABC did manage to get at least one good spot in the top 10 list, as CASTLE actor Nathan Fillion came in at #6 on the Q Score list.

Pauley Perrette has an interesting life story. She was born in New Orleans, yet lived all throughout the South, acquiring a criminal justice degree along the way. Yet, her background in law enforcement has proven valuable to role as Abby in NCIS. She's the crime lab scientist and computer programming expert, who's a quirky genius. She even put up $10,000 of her own money to help solve a case featured on AMERICA'S MOST WANTED that she found very troubling.

Pauley Perrette is also known for being far and away one of the nicest actors on TV by far. In true Pauley Perrette niceness fashion, she immediately thanked her fans so much for naming her the top actor on Primetime TV on Twitter. "Just found out I was voted #1 most popular star of primetime TV? Um. Thanks guys So honored and humbled. I love my job & you".,she Tweeted. - Well, we can't think of anyone much nicer to be so honored, Pauley. You're the best!

Time Warner CEO Claims That Free Internet Porn Is Hurting The Company's Financial State

Time Warner CEO, Glenn Britt, had a rather eye opening bit of business news to share, or more exactly that free porn on the Internet is hurting Time Warner financially, competing with their paid video on demand services. A WALL STREET JOURNAL piece also said about the same - Who wants to pay Time Warner $9.98 to watch some quaint sex romp HD title when you can always watch enough good stuff just surfing for free on the net to get your jolly fix. Some websites even post free legal downloads of some video titles, only undercutting other paid adult dvd or video services as well.

Britt's statements also suggest that porn is now a mainstream form of entertainment where huge corporations such as Time Warner and major hotel chains that sell pay-per-view want to make obscene profits from sexually explicit entertainment. That's a far different business environment than some pro-censorship Washington do-gooders like to paint. They like to paint a phony image of adult entertainment purveyors as a bunch of dirty old criminal degenerates, instead of recognizing that Time Warner and many other mainstream NYSE white collar professional business types are in the business.

While mainstream business types are now some pf the largest purveyors of porn, politicians in Washington lag far behind the times socially, many of which are continuously calling for stricter censorship of free speech and more government crackdowns on porn. But, there is a huge public demand and market for sexually explicit entertainment, and Time warner recognizes that fact and wants a big chunk of that market. But, many in Washington aren't very amused at this. Washington just doesn't like the fact that millions of Americans probably unwind after a hard day of work with a good dirty movie. That fact seems to just break their ass.

"Mr. Bean" Crashes $1 Million Dollar Car

British comic actor, Rowan Atkinson, who is best known for his bumbling "Mr. Bean" character has been hospitalized with some minor injuries after surviving a crash involving his $1 million dollar McLaren F1 sports car in England Thursday evening. Apparently the actor hit lamppost and a tree before the uber-expensive supercar caught fire. The actor was released from the hospital on Friday afternoon, suffering from a shoulder injury, but appears to be otherwise fine and he should fully recover quickly.

Yet, the questions remains: Who in heck lets Mr. Bean drive a $1 million dollar super fast car anyway?

Major League WTF?: The Bizarre World Of Courtney Stodden

In all of the weird stories in pop news history, few come much stranger than the weird tale of Courtney Stodden, an aspiring singer who looks about 40, but is really only 16 according to her birth certificate. Some entertainment sites seriously questioned that she was really 16, because she looks much older than that.But, searches revealed the shocking truth that she is really telling the truth and she's not pulling off a crazy hoax, when her real birth certificate was made public. Also very strange, is her recent bizarre marriage to 51 year old actor Doug Hutchison from LOST, the recently canceled ABC drama.

The fact of the matter is that Courtney Stodden is actually well under the age to legally buy beer, or even cigarettes for that matter, yet looks more than a decade older than her real age. And she could only be married with the consent of her mother because she is so young, marrying the actor 35 years her senior. What a weird story this is. Even a TWILIGHT ZONE episode couldn't be as creepy and weird as all of this is. Weird! Weird! Weird!

Big Time Sissyass Stuff: Oregon Democratic Party Fundraiser Calls donors Telling Them They're Being Arrested On Drug Charges

An outrageous fundraiser working for the Democratic Party of Oregon has been making outrageous fund-raising calls to donors telling them that they're going to arrested on drug charges as a sick joke. The latest outrageous conduct is about to be as expected when organizations don't do background checks on who they hire or set down hard and fast rules about professional conduct.

The unfunny joke is also backfiring as well, as at least one donor asked to be permanently removed from their phone call list as a result of the outrageous phony threatening phone call.

Rather than concentrating on improving the economy or running the country well, the Democratic Party has recently been focused on huge fund-raising efforts at all levels, local and national. While the latest Gallup Poll has President Obama trailing a generic GOP candidate by eight points, his re-election campaign has raised more than $80 million so far, easily besting GOP front-runner Mitt Romney's $29 million by comparison. The Democrats hope to counter a weak presidency and weak political leadership with huge ad blitz campaigns, which hardly seems like a suitable substitute for better political leadership to begin with.