TALKARAZZI

LAW & ORDER: SVU BACK IN BIZ!
Taking all into account, Hargitay’s and Meloni’s paychecks are expected to grow to more than $400,000 an episode, solidifying Hargitay’s position as the highest-paid woman in television and Meloni as one of the top male earners.

CHRIS BROWN SNUBBED AT BET AWARDS
Chris Brown is supposedly peeved not to have performed at the BET Awards Sunday, and all kinds of rumors are swirling about why that was. Some are claiming his participation in the Michael Jackson tribute-centric show wouldn’t have been in good taste following his drama with Rihanna. Others think the plug may have been pulled on Brown’s performance at Jay-Z‘s behest. Either way, both BET and the “No Air” singer’s publicists claim the star was never confirmed to be on the show.

VOGUE EDITOR SAYS HIGH HEELS ARE SO YESTERDAY
IF we’re to judge by the Vogue editor André Leon Talley’s recent rant, fashion’s love affair with teetering footwear, or “torture chambers,” as he described them, may be waning. “Too many career women look like a herd of fashion beasts, aping one another in impractical shoes,” he spewed on the Vogue Web site.

ASHTON KUTCHER TWEETS FOR OBAMA

If you’re a regular reader of Ashton Kutcher’s Twitter feed (and you very well may be, as the actor and prankster has over 2.5 million followers), you may have done a double take when he tweeted on Sunday that the White House had asked him to help get the word out about National HIV Testing Day.”I’ve been asked by the white house to twet this” wrote Kutcher, who provided a link to a White House blog post and accompanying video noting the 14th commemoration of National HIV Testing Day. But did the White House really reach out to Kutcher and ask him to promote their initiative? Or was Kutcher just trying to “punk” us and make us think he’s oh-so-cool because he’s in touch with the White House?

Turns out: Kutcher wasn’t lying. The White House confirmed that it did, in fact, seek Kutcher’s help in promoting the blog post.

“As technology impacts how and where people are communicating online, we are constantly looking for new ways to engage with the public,” said White House assistant press secretary Reid Cherlin. “Our efforts to promote National HIV Testing Day included participation from popular users of Twitter, as well as broad social media engagement by agencies across the government.”

Kutcher was one part of the strategy: The White House has also provided online and text message resources to help people find a local testing site, launched a Twitter hashtag on the subject (#NHTD09) and set up e-cards that individuals can use to encourage others to get tested for HIV/AIDS.

And this isn’t the first time the Obama administration has gotten involved with Twitter. Earlier this month, the State Department asked Twitter to postpone a scheduled shutdown in order to aid anti-government protesters in Iran

JENNY SANFORD: A POLITICAL WIFE WORTH MODELING

Personally, I couldn’t care less about the personal “antics” of so many politicians these days. It’s not really important to my life how people like South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford characterizes “adventure travel.”

What does bother me a lot, though, is the money shot we so often see of the wives of philandering politicians — standing by the side of their husbands, trying to show solidarity and the apparently elusive family values that so many of them talk about before they get caught doing something, well, not so family values-like.

Why do I care? Because sooner rather than later, my nine-year-old daughter is going to start watching more news and she’ll see these women who have decided that even though their husbands have done something terrible to them, and to their families, there is still an obligation to stick with them. Personal decisions aside, it just seems that visual is the rule rather than the exception, these days. And the message it sends to our kids is that it’s okay for husbands to wander and that wives will still stick around, regardless of how badly they’ve been betrayed.

That is, until Jenny Sanford.

You had to guess that there was something up with the story of South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford and his quick “decision” to change his trip from the Appalachian Trail to Buenos Aires! When the truth came out, as it always does, it was refreshing not to see his wife at his side, silently condoning what he’d done and the lies he had told.

That’s the example I want my daughter to see. Not that there isn’t a time and place for forgiveness, but I hate it when these Masters of the Universe get caught and we have to see their wives standing next to them, telling the world implicitly that what happened was okay.

Jenny Sanford is the example I want our children to learn from. She’s a strong woman in her own right, apparently gave her husband a chance to make things right when she learned about his affair and when he didn’t, there was no big scene — she just did what she knew she had to do for herself, her children and her own life.

Jenny Sanford was apparently instrumental in making Mark Sanford the political success he is today. According to the Washington Post, when asked about what the South Carolina governor was going to do now without her advice, she responded:

“His career is not a concern of mine. … He’s going to have to worry about that. I’m worried about my family and the character of my children.”

That’s a pretty refreshing response from a political spouse these days. It’s given me hope that in the future there will be space for the aggrieved spouse (’cause you know it’s going to happen again) to choose something other than the “standing by your man” photo op and sending a message that sometimes it’s better to do what’s right for your own life, regardless of the political consequences.

PEOPLE WITH EXOTIC ANIMALS SCARE ME

The Daily Mail reports on the bizarre story of Riana Van Nieuwenhuizen, the South African woman who lives with 11 orphaned cats. However, these are not your typical house cats; they consist of four cheetahs, five lions and two tigers. The Daily Mail has some incredible photos as well as more details. Apparently the cats are just allowed to roam freely and have been integrated into the normal family life. However, this seems like a situation that could quickly spiral out of control if these cats suddenly remember that they’re wild animals.

Click on link to  see photos :

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1195888/I-share-home-11-cats–cheetahs-lions-tigers.html

90 Seconds of News

BERNIE MADOFF TO DIE IN JAIL

Bernie Madoff was sentenced yesterday to 150 years in prison.

SIMON COWELL TO MAKE WHAT?!

The mad man of AI, who reportedly made $36 million last year for judging the hit competition show, has been offered three or four times that amount — between $100 million and $144 million per year — by co-producers Fox and 19 Entertainment to stick with “Idol” when his contract expires next May, according to The Guardian, a London newpaper.

COMBAT TROOPS OUT OF IRAQ

Iraqi forces assumed formal control of Baghdad and other cities Tuesday after American troops handed over security in urban areas in a defining step toward ending the U.S. combat role in the country. A countdown clock broadcast on Iraqi TV ticked to zero as the midnight deadline passed for U.S. combat troops to finish their pullback to bases outside cities. “The withdrawal of American troops is completed now from all cities after everything they sacrificed for the sake of security,” said Sadiq al-Rikabi, a senior adviser to Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. “We are now celebrating the restoration of sovereignty.”

celeb news: TALKARAZZI

1. Transformers Breaks Bank And Box-Office Records

Shia LaBeouf and Megan Fox must be having a great week because Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, has taken over the box office, grossing over $55 million in its first full day of release in the U.S., given them the movie the honor of the best opening day for a Wednesday release at the domestic box office.

Again, it makes the flick the best run ever for a film released on a Wednesday and it’ also the third-best of all time after The Dark Knight ($18.5 million) and Star Wars: Episode III — Revenge of the Sith ($16.9 million).

2. Virgin Festival Free!!!
The annual Virgin Music Festival in Maryland is now the Virgin Mobile FreeFest because now the huge event will be completely FREE!

In a statement made by the founder and president of the Virgin Group, Richard Branson said:

“In a time of economic challenges and daily sacrifices, we wanted to throw a fantastic party so people could let loose and have a great time – on us”

So if you can be in Columbia, MD on August 30th, then you’ve got one hell of a show to go to!

The lineup includes Franz Ferdinand, Weezer, and Blink-182. Not as stellar as the line-ups of years past, which included Kanye West and The Red Hot Chilli Peppers,.

And IT’S FREE!

All 35,000 tickets will be distributed through the website on June 27th starting at 10 am

3. Billy Bob’s Daughter Indicted for Murder

The long estranged daughter of Billy Bob Thornton has been charged with first degree murder, aggravated child abuse and aggravated manslaughter of a one-year-old girl who died under her care.

Back in October, Amanda Brumfield told cops the child died after falling from her playpen — but detectives had a hard time believing her story because it wasn’t consistent with the little girl’s injuries.

An autopsy determined the child suffered a fractured skull and a subdural hematoma due to blunt trauma.

When the story initially broke, Thornton’s publicist told TMZ that the two haven’t spoken for “quite some time.”

PUTTING A BAND-AID ON THE PROBLEM BEFORE TREATING THE ACTUAL CAUSE

·        Most people don’t know how poorly they feel until they feel better. In fact, most of us don’t recognize that fatigue, digestive problems, aches and pains, allergies, headaches, and more aren’t just annoying symptoms. They are early clues to impending diseases that can disable and kill us.

·        How can we address problems that we don’t even know we have?

·        There is an answer. It lies in the revolution that is happening in medicine today. That revolution is called functional medicine.

·        Conventional medicine helps at the very end stages of disease. If you are very sick, have an emergency, break a bone or have a raging infection, then, yes, conventional acute care medicine is the right solution. As former emergency room doctor and the husband of an orthopedic surgeon, I am glad we have this care when we need it.

·        Today, medicine is in a serious predicament. The way we understand health and disease no longer reflects biological reality or the biological laws of nature. We need to understand that diseases are not fixed things that you catch or that just show up out of context, but are related to the environment, your diet, genes, and lifestyle.

TOXIC AIR IN OUR CITY…surprised?

* Millions of people living in nearly 600 neighborhoods across the country are breathing concentrations of toxic air pollutants that put them at a much greater risk of contracting cancer, according to new data from the Environmental Protection Agency.
* The average cancer risk across the country is 36 in 1 million, according to the National-Scale Air Toxics Assessment, which will be released by the EPA on Wednesday. Parts of Los Angeles, Calif., and Madison County, Ill., had the highest cancer risks in the nation_ 1200 in 1 million and 1100 in 1 million, according to the EPA data.
* They were followed by two neighborhoods in Allegheny County, Pa., and one in Tuscaloosa County, Ala.

CAN MARRIAGE/FAMILY EVER SURVIVE REALITY T.V.?

Kate Gosselin says in divorce papers that her marriage to Jon is “irretrievably broken.” The star of TLC’s “Jon & Kate Plus 8″ filed for a no-fault divorce Monday in Montgomery County Court outside Philadelphia. She said in papers that she’s willing to “negotiate a fair and reasonable” settlement with her husband of 10 years.

The divorce filing was obtained Tuesday by The Associated Press. Lawyers for the couple said it contains boilerplate language common to all no-fault divorce petitions filed in Pennsylvania.

The series follows Jon and Kate Gosselin as they raise their eight young children, including 8-year-old twins and sextuplets who just turned 5. Monday night’s show, in which the couple announced their separation and divorce, drew a record audience of 10.6 million viewers.

Maybe can talk about the current divorce rate?

90 SECONDS OF NEWS

DC METRO CRASH KILLS 9…SO FAR
A commuter train rear-ended another, ripping open cars in the system’s worst accident in 33 years. he subway train that plowed into another, causing a crash that killed seven and injured scores of others in the nation’s capital, was part of an aging fleet that federal officials had sought to phase out due to safety concerns, an investigator said today. Warnings were given in 2006 but ignored.

THANK GOD: VILLARAIGOSA WON’T RUN FOR GOVERNOR

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa’s decision Monday to skip the 2010 race for California governor left a two-person contest for the Democratic nomination in which former Gov. Jerry Brown starts with a strong advantage in scooping up much of the mayor’s support, political analysts said.

San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, the other contender, appeared likely to tap into Villaraigosa’s strong appeal among young voters. But Brown, who has not formally declared, is better known in vote-rich Southern California and is likely to benefit from support among Latinos, African Americans and older voters.

SIMPLIFIED SPELLING
It’s a spelling mantra that generations of schoolchildren have learned _ “i before e, except after c.”

But new British government guidance tells teachers not to pass on the rule to students, because there are too many exceptions.

The “Support For Spelling” document, which is being sent to thousands of primary schools, says the rule “is not worth teaching” because it doesn’t account for words like ‘sufficient,’ ‘veil’ and ‘their.’

Jack Bovill of the Spelling Society, which advocates simplified spelling, said Saturday he agreed with the decision.

But supporters say the ditty has value because it is one of the few language rules that most people remember.

TRUCK CARRYING 40,000 POUNDS OF BEER OVERTURNS

Police say a truck carrying 40,000 pounds of beer overturned in Vermont and closed a highway for several hours.

The truck went off the road Monday morning on Route 78 in Swanton. It rolled over and landed in a swamp on a wildlife refuge. The crash also knocked down some power lines.

SPORTS: MANNY RAMIREZ’S NEXT STOP? NEW MEXICO

Manny Ramirez is tentatively scheduled to return to the playing field Tuesday with the Dodgers’ triple-A affiliate in Albuquerque, according to sources with knowledge of the situation who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter.

According to preliminary plans Ramirez and the Dodgers made Thursday morning, he will be in Albuquerque for a four-game series against Nashville.

KID SURVIVES NIGHT IN UTAH FOREST CUZ OF WATCHING MAN V. WILD

When he realized he’d been separated from his family on a weekend hike in a northern Utah forest, 9-year-old Grayson Wynne’s thoughts turned to television.

Grayson watches “Man vs. Wild” on the Discovery Channel every week with his brothers and his dad. On the show, host and adventurer Bear Grylls strands himself in the wilderness and then shows viewers how to survive the sticky situations.

That’s where Grayson says he learned to leave clues behind to help searchers find him…

FINALLY THE NERDS ARE MAKING PROGRESS

Flying radar system to help track California’s earthquake faults
A new radar imaging system on the belly of a Gulfstream jet that is flying over California’s complicated network of faults has started collecting some of the most detailed images yet of the Earth’s surface shifting and straining with seismic energy, scientists at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory said.

“This will show us where the faults are active,” said Andrea Donnellan, a JPL geophysicist who is one of the project’s principal investigators. “Where the ground is moving tells us what’s going on at depth.”

The data from this project could help scientists figure out where the risk of earthquake activity is highest, though the data will never be so specific as to predict a day, location and magnitude of a quake, she said. “This will help us with the five- to 10-year time horizons,” Donnellan said. “We can see hot spot maps and … figure out where to target our retrofitting.”

The device, the Uninhabited Aerial Vehicle Synthetic Aperture Radar (even though it is currently being used on a human-piloted plane), mounted on the plane shoots long-wavelength radar beams at features on the ground and measures the reflections.

SOUTH CAROLINA GOVERNOR M.I.A.

A dayslong absence by South Carolina’s governor left fellow state leaders scratching their heads.

Lt. Gov. Andrew Bauer said he’d been rebuffed by the governor’s staff when he tried to find out where Sanford was and had not been put in charge in his absence.

“I cannot take lightly that his staff has not had communication with him for more than four days, and that no one, including his own family, knows his whereabouts,” said Bauer.

Some questioned who was in charge of South Carolina if he couldn’t be reached. The National Guard and the state’s top law enforcement agencies report to him, said Senate Minority Leader John Land, D-Manning.

Carol Fowler, chairwoman of the state Democratic Party, said the governor was “irresponsible” for being inaccessible.

“I don’t begrudge the governor vacation time,” Fowler said Tuesday morning. “But they need to make certain their duties are taken care of while they’re gone.”

“It’s one thing for the boys to go off by themselves, but on Father’s Day to leave your family behind? That’s erratic,” Land said. “And when those officials can’t get in touch with the commander, it’s really weird. That’s not responsible.”

Sanford is known for taking walks and runs without security, but flight logs show he seldom leaves the state without it. His security team wouldn’t comment. And Sanford’s office normally makes no secret of time he spends on vacation or out of state.

Sen. Jake Knotts, a Lexington Republican and a persistent Sanford critic, said the state needs to know where its governor is.

“The way things are in the world today and homeland security, we need the governor to be fingertips away,” Knotts said.

TALKARAZZI: Celeb News

HOLLYWOOD UPDATES:

1. Confirmed!: Jon & Kate to Divorce – After months of speculation, the 10-year marriage of Jon & Kate Plus Eight’s stars Kate and Jon Gosselin appears to be coming to an end, a source close to the situation tells PEOPLE. Documents to initiate a legal split were filed in Pennsylvania Monday afternoon.

Fans who have watched the couple’s popular TLC show – or read the voluminous coverage of the Gosselin marriage in the press – will hardly be surprised: The duo had long maintained a tense relationship, with Jon recently telling PEOPLE he wanted a less high-profile life, while Kate appeared to remain committed to their TV career.

2.   CHRIS BROWN AVOIDS SHOWDOWN: Brown scuttled the long-awaited court showdown between the former flames as he copped a plea today and managed to avoid jail time for their now infamous Feb. 8 altercation.

The 20-year-old singer pleaded guilty to felony assault and was put on five years’ probation and ordered to enroll in an anti-domestic violence program. He must perform 180 days of community service and must have all his travel vetted by a probation officer.

He is due to be formally sentenced Aug. 5, at which time a charge of making criminal threats is expected to be dismissed.

3.  SAY GOODBYE TO HEIDI AND SPENCER PRATT: As far as E! is concerned, the conspicuous couple occasionally self-referred to as Speidi are gone!

An overwhelming 94 percent of voters elected for the Hills stars’ immediate expulsion. Consider them gone from our wheelhouse, voted off the island, fired, out and any other appropriate reality-show catchphrase.

4.    PEREZ HILTON IN TROUBLE WITH HIS OWN: What to do if GLAAD can’t rely on Hollywood’s self-proclaimed gossip queen to avoid the F-word?

The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation is none too pleased with blogger Perez Hilton for mixing a few antigay slurs into his diatribe against Black Eyed Peas frontman will.i.am.

“I don’t need to respect you, and you’re a f-g. You’re gay, and stop being such a f—-t,” the openly gay Hilton said in a videoblog response to reports of a fight between him and the hip-hop singer last night in Toronto.

“These are vulgar antigay slurs that feed a climate of hatred and intolerance toward our community,” said Rashad Robinson, senior director of Media Programs at GLAAD. “For someone in our own community to use it to attack another person by saying that it is ‘The worst possible thing that thug would ever want to hear,’ is incredibly dangerous.

“It legitimizes use of a slur that is often linked to violence against our community. And it sends a message that it is OK to attempt to dehumanize people by exploiting antigay attitudes.”

ED MCMAHON DIES AT 86

Ed McMahon, the longtime pitchman of “The Tonight Show,” and Johnny Carson sidekick whose “Heeeeeeerre’s Johnny!” became a part of the vernacular, has died.

LISTALICIOUS: Who were the best sidekicks of all time?
1.    Chewbaca and Hans Solo
2.    George Castanza and Jerry Seinfeld
3.    Robin and Batman
4.    Ethel & Lucy
5.    Dr. Watson & Sherlock Holmes
6.    Goose & Maverick from Top Gun
7.    Pedro Sanchez & Napoleon Dynamite
8.    Mr. Spock & Captain Kirk
9.    Kitt & Michael Knight
10.    The Supremes & Diana Ross
11.    Piglet & Winnie the Pooh
12.    Igor & Dr. Frankenstein
13.    Barney Rubble & Fred Flinstone

Talkarazzi!

1. We and the E! Network might stop talking about Heidi and Spencer. The hourglass has about run out on the Pratts’ vacuous run. Al Roker votes yea, but sometimes Speidi are fun for all the wrong reasons. So get your vote in on theblockfm.com and on eonline.com so to state your case before a final ruling is announced Monday night during E! News.

2. David Letterman threw himself under the bus and offered up a more sober apology to Sarah Palin, who accepted the Late Show host’s kinder mea culpa. Palin is SO good at making herself SEEM so important…seems she and the Pratts should have a pow-wow.

3. The next episode of Jon & Kate Plus 8 will feature a “special announcement.” We’re thinking divorce, but isn’t that what TLC wants us to think? Won’t we feel silly when it turns out they’re just planning a trip to Mall of America or something.

4. A couple of cops in Ohio are being investigated for allegedly breaking into the home of the woman who’s carrying Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick’s baby in order to dig up tabloid dirt. For God’s sake, now the po-po’s are turning paparazzi?

6. Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie made for all sorts of good news this past week, as they donated $1 million each to a cancer center and refugees in Pakistan, and then Angie took to the airwaves to bring us up to speed on where she’s coming from with her humanitarian heart.

5. Chace Crawford is People’s Hottest Bachelor of 2009. Do you agree? There’s a picture on our blog at http://www.theblockfm.com …get your comments in.

6. Adam Lambert is really pissed. Adam Lambert has an album coming out — and he’s not happy!
A small record label called  Hi-Fi Recordings/Wilshire Records is releasing On With the Show, an album filled with material the American Idol runner-up reportedly co-wrote and recorded before his run on the hit TV talent show.

John Hecker, the CEO of Hi-Fi, says the the music is incredible — and insists that releasing the unofficial record is completely legal. “We would never put anything out that wasn’t fully owned by the parties involved with all the rights secured. We were really careful,” he said.

Lambert — who is currently working on his debut album with 19 Recordings/RCA records — does not condone the release. “The work I did back then in no way reflects the music I am currently in the studio working on,” he said.

“Back in 2005 when I was a struggling artist, I was hired as a studio singer to lend my vocals to tracks written by someone else. I was broke at the time and this was my chance to make a few bucks, so I jumped at the opportunity to record for my first time in a professional studio.

“I’m thrilled to be working with some of today’s hottest songwriters and producers and can’t wait for people to hear what my music really sounds like.”

Lambert’s debut with RCA Records is expected to hit stores this fall.

90 Seconds of News

LAPD Job Ratings UP!
The strong endorsement of the LAPD cuts across racial and ethnic lines, according to a new Los Angeles Times Poll — with the percentages of ablack and Latino voters who say they approve of how the police do their jobs almost as high as the level among white voters. That result is particularly notable given the long history of tensions between the police and the city’s black and Latino communities

Chris Brown Hearing Today to be a Media Spectacle
The crowd expected at this afternoon’s preliminary hearing for R&B singer Chris Brown will be on a different order. Fifty-two media outlets have asked to attend the proceeding, far more than were on hand for Paris Hilton’s re-jailing, Britney Spears’ divorce, the DUI cases of Lindsay Lohan and Nicole Richie, or the murder trials of Robert Blake or Phil Spector.

Sandra Bullock Tops the Box Office with “The Proposal”
People are giving The Proposal a big “I Do.” The comedy featuring Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds finished at No. 1 with 34.1 million dollars in its opening weekend. In other movie news, “The Hangover” and “Ice Age 3D” are great too!

WANTED: Healthcare Reform
Republicans and some Democrats oppose increasing the government’s role in healthcare — it already runs the Medicare and Medicaid systems for the elderly and indigent — fearing it would require vast public funds and reduce the quality of care. But the Times/CBS poll found 85 percent of respondents wanted major healthcare reforms and most would be willing to pay higher taxes to ensure everyone had health insurance. An estimated 46 million Americans currently have no coverage.

I have a newsflash for y’all….if we continue to have politicians at the beckon call of lobbyists and big business who funds their campaigns, we will never have a TRULY representative democracy. Our representatives forget about their constituents because we are not paying for their office runs. Campaign finance reform is the root of this issue, and the only way to solve MANY of our current problems is to force our representatives to actually do their job….REPRESENT US!

Khadija Williams, An Inspiration For Us All

This story about a homeless girl now bound for Harvard is one we all should read. The Moderate Voice did a great job at recapping the story, so I’ll let it speak for itself.

Update on the Iran Situation

Threatening to crush dissent, the powerful Revolutionary Guards warned protesters Monday that they would face a “revolutionary confrontation” if they returned to the streets in their challenge to the presidential election results and their defiance of the country’s leadership.

The warning echoed remarks by a Foreign Ministry spokesman who blamed western governments and media for the unrest.The discrepancies, the most sweeping acknowledged so far by the authorities, could affect some three million ballots of what the government says was an 85 percent turnout numbering 40 million voters.

The Iranian government now admits that in several cities, more votes were cast than there are voters. Nevertheless, the government insists that there is nothing wrong with the election. They know the rest of the world sees right through them, but it really doesn’t matter. They have the military, they have the guns, they can do what they want.