FOLLOW me on my popular Twitter feed. Just click this photo! @hbbtruth - David - Common sense on #Politics #PublicPolicy #Sports #PopCulture in USA, Great Britain, Sweden and France, via my life in #Texas #Memphis #Miami #IU #Chicago #DC #FL ๐ซ๐๐บ๐ฝ️๐. Photo is of Elvis and Joan Blackman in 'Blue Hawaii'
Beautiful Stockholm at night, looking west towards Gamla Stan
RT video: KHL Catastrophe: Three-time champions plane crash into Volga River on takeoff after old Yakovlev-42 plane hits airport beacon. Tragedy shocks Russia to its core. http://youtu.be/lg3oFLeSJsI
TV4.se News video: Olympic Gold Medal-winning goalie Stefan Liv of Tre Kronorisamong 43 perishing in Russian plane crash into Volga River after his team, Lokomotiv Yaroslavl, prepared for the KHL season-opener against Minsk. Only two passengers survived. September 7, 2011.
RT is the first Russian 24/7 English-language news channel which brings the Russian view on global news.RT live video stream and broadcasts available in high resolution.
Russia Today America video - Alyona Minkovski zeroes-in on TIME's "100" list and fillets some particularly dubious celebs we're supposed to admire -but DON'T!http://youtu.be/nHkWwtnwa58
This week, TIME magazine's annual embarrassment to journalism, their "100" list, came out.
"Meet the most influential people in the world..."
Yeah, I know, I know, Breakling News... same old tired MSM faces and Usual Suspects, with the lovely Blake Lively's tossed in for a wild-card.
Supposedly, this list is comprised of some of the most influential people around, but RT America -formerly Russia Today America- hostAlyona Minkovski throws a red flag on the whole embarrassing enterprise by simply highlighting the fact that MSNBC'sJoe Scarborough, self-promoting author Amy Chua and actress Blake Lively are on the list.
No, not the professor or researcher or historian whom you've never heard of who is doing some amazing and revolutionary work in an esoteric area you otherwise think little about, but whom within a year or so, will absolutely rock our world view, dumbfound us with their discoveries or create an antidote or cure for something that we think is a death sentence now, but will seem self-evident years from now. Someone who could use some kudos to get over the hump.
U.S. Representative Gabrielle Giffords, the DWS pal? Really? She's not even the most influential politician in her own state -Gov. Jan Brewer is. And not that it has anything to do with the video, but I would absolutely pay money to watch the lovely and personable Alyona -who is really looking better than ever- absolutely pummel some of the more exasperating female reporters, experts and consultants that currently get trotted out on TV with regularity now, both verbally and physically. She can start with the distaff crew at MSNBC, since I don't watch it at all anymore but recently heard yet another eye-rolling story about Contessa Brewer that just reaffirms my decision.
At this point, it hardly matters if it's true, Contessa's hopelessly smug and unctuous eye-rolling attitude over so many years, her refusal to believe something that conflicted with the Beltway MSM orthodoxy, and her cuteness being completely negated by her vacuousness and self-deception, means nobody I know takes her seriously. And neither should you. If you put your ear up to her ear, you can hear what sounds like a wind tunnel. Alyona Show YouTube Channel:http://www.youtube.com/user/TheAlyonaShow
Like most of you, I love glibness.Some of you may even like it more than your faithful blogger. It's like a little boost of something, a shot of sugar or caffeine at just the right time when you're dragging.
When I worked in D.C. and was working on some big cases, especially mergers, where I and other members of my team would put in 60-70 hours and practically live in the firm's large conference room, that time was always around 3:15 p.m. or so. We were already worn out by Thursday and knowing at 3:15 p.m. on Friday there was another seven hours ahead of us, and that we'd be there from 10-9 on both Saturday and Sunday, was rough. But we got take-out food from the best restaurants in D.C., learned a lot, made lots of new friends and helped a client out that could be very grateful and was actually in-the-right, so you just cope with it.
Sometimes, hearing someone saying the perfect glib thing in the most unexpected of places or context, much like seeing someone actually suffer their long overdue just punishment after long evading responsibility, like parking tickets, and then happening on seeing the offending car towed-away, can have a salutary effect on the rest of your day. You're smiling on the inside!
But glibness for the sake of glibness can often be like a -choose your own personal example here- delicious Key Lime pie, which after the third slice in an afternoon at a charity fundraiser just makes you sick, no matter how good the coffee or the company. (A perfect example was in 1982 while driving down fromIU for Spring Break at the Fort Lauderdale Sheraton Yankee Trader with some friends. Though we always aimed to make the best time we could to get down here, part of our tradition was to ALWAYS stop for a bit at certain places: a local restaurant in Elizabethtown, KY that had multiple 20-year old waitresses who looked like the ever-adorable Amy Smart(!), a great pecan place in central Georgia, and the Shoney's Big Boy restaurant in Macon, GA. That year, though, we got caught in a downpour and figured we'd cool our heels there for a bit longer 'til it stopped, which is how I came to order a second slice of Key Lime pie with my third cup of coffee. Five minutes after finishing it off, the sugar nearly made my brain explode!)
And so it is with our amusing Russian TV friend, Alyona Minkovski over at RT America, Russia Today's U.S. channel, host of The Alyona Show, which airs at 6 p.m. and 9 p.m. http://rt.com/About_Us/Programmes/The_Alyona_Show.html http://www.youtube.com/user/TheAlyonaShow
A little of her can be fun, amusing, charming and even thought-provoking at times, like a delicious dinner over at the Tri-Delt house on Third Street in Bloomington, when you formally meet some of your good friend Gail Amster's sorority sisters, and come away impressed, bedazzled and even a little weak-in-the-knees. Wow!!!
You see first-hand, all over again, just like the last time you were there, why they are la creme de la creme of IU's sororities, along with Kappa Kappa Gamma, Chi Omega, Delta Gamma and Pi Beta Phi. Your pal Gail's a beautiful, charming and talented Phi Beta Kappa with a fabulous personality, and is captain of the Red Steppers dance team, to boot, but there's a lot to recommend her "sisters" too! And you are so very, very glad you are atIU! http://www.indiana.edu/~tridelt/ -Correct, the sorority seen inBreaking Away http://www.iubpha.com/ -IU PanHel
But sometimes, when discussing some subjects, Alyona seems to be a little too glib for her own sake, and then it's just a downer all around for everyone, especially the viewers who want somegravitas once in a while. Not to be a buzzkill, just to insure a decent amount of responsible discussion on the show. Sometimes, it's like she doesn't realize that she can take it down a notch once in a while and be just as informative and entertaining.
That was what I was thinking after first watching this video of her's at the top of this post last Friday night, featuring Alyona's interview with Cris Clapp Logan on the latest scandal-du-jour featuring teen actress Taylor Momsen, who, in my opinion, seems to have no earthly idea how unappealing her public persona is making her to people who are going to largely decide her future.
And that is NOT other teens at The Galleria mocking their friends who have to work part-time because their parents don't want them to think that money grows on trees.
Sweetie, talented directors want talented young actors and actresses who CONSISTENTLY show up on time, know their lines and speak them exactly as they are written, and who hit their marks. And who are NOT"problems" on the set. They are not your parents, your understanding Grandmother or even your West Hollywood shrink. They're your boss. http://www.glamourmagazine.co.uk/celebrity/celebrity-news/2010/04/12/is-taylor-momsen-about-to-quit-gossip-girl http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1321728/Under-age-Taylor-Momsen-lights-Gossip-Girl-set.html?ito=feeds-newsxml
You, Taylor, despite plenty of advantages, popularity and some degree of talent to speak of, are NOTa17-year old Natalie Wood-beloved!- and at age 17, you are already starting to collect baggage of the worst sort. The"sort" that makes casting directors put you in the Plan B stack when directors call, because they want to keep directors and producers happy. Southwest Airlines may take your baggage for free, but in a competitive marketplace like Hollywood, while your personal antics and histrionics and looks may help you get into lots of places on the QT, many people you'd like to work with in the industry are starting to think they just don't want to touch you until you have come down on one side of the other. It's your choice. Just remember, Taylor, there are planes landing at LAX everyday with more talented (and more attractive) young women than you, so wise-up or be 'yesterday's news' at 23 in the not-too-distant future.
You'd be smart to start looking at Jennifer Garner as a role model, because everyone loves working with her for a very good reason -she's the consummate professional.
She does all those things I listed above, and she was doing them years ago, even when she was less well-known than you are now. Maybe you should try it. Or "act" like you are. Just saying...
See also: http://www.enough.org/inside.php?tag=640UAE1GT0 http://www.tmz.com/2010/10/14/taylor-momsen-parents-television-council-revolver-gossip-girl/ http://www.glamourmagazine.co.uk/search?q=Momsen http://www.mediabistro.com/fishbowlla/ http://www.aftonbladet.se/sofismode/article7923618.ab
Below, some facinating comments by Russia Today correspondent Jacob Greaves informing the Prime Time Russia studio crew in Moscow about the Duma capping ALL govt. officials and civil servants personal spending at 120% of total income to prevent corruption.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev's government wants to go after the "big fish" to make examples out of them, before going after the minnows, and towards that end, using power he was given earlier this year, sacked a high-ranking general at the Ministry of Defense for failing to comply with the income declaration requirements.
You might recall that old chestnut about actions having consequences. Well, in most of the world,even in Russia, that still remains true, for both good and ill.
Meanwhile, here in Broward County, some "people" already in a position of power want to start nibbling away at the new County Ethics rules so that they can play belle-of-the-ball. And by some "people" I specifically mean Broward County Commissioner Ilene Lieberman, whom we have discussed previously in this space 'till we're blue in the face for her brazen oleaginous ways.
Lieberman has proven herself to be no friend of genuine reform in this county, nor of meaningful ethics legislation with predictable dire consequences for contemptuous offenders -like that general in Russia- or even financial accountability or prescience, and the sooner she is gone from the passing scene in Broward, the better your future suddenly becomes.
If Lieberman really were the redoubtable legal eagle she imagines herself to be, echoed by so many pliant sycophants in the South Florida press, she'd have long since run for judge. She hasn't.
Instead, she has remained and participated up to her elbows in the county's tarnished way of transacting business with a wink, a nod and a campaign check from lobbyists. She has proven to be a mere puppet-master, not a voice that made a positive tangible difference for Broward's citizen taxpayers. It's too late for her.
Even here, as bad as things are and have been, they DON'T actually build statues to people like her, since it would necessarily have to include the caption, "friend to the lobbyists, thru thick and thin." No doubt the pigeons would have great fun with that.
--------- South Florida Sun-Sentinel Broward Politicsblog Broward's new Code of Ethics might get its first amendment soon
By Brittany Wallman September 29, 2010 08:00 AM
Commissioner Ilene Lieberman wants her colleagues to soften the gift ban in the new ethics code.
Broward commissioners argued Tuesday and then postponed making a decision on whether to do it. It would be the first change of any kind to the brand new Code of Ethics.
The new ethics code says commissioners cannot accept a gift from a lobbyist or a vendor who does business with the county. It also says that commissioners can take a gift from someone else, but only if it's not worth more than $50. Lieberman is president of the Florida Association of Counties, and argues that she should be able to accept food, travel and lodging from that organization when she goes to its events and conferences.
Read the rest of the post at: http://weblogs.sun-sentinel.com/news/politics/broward/blog/2010/09/browards_new_code_of_ethics_to_1.html
------ http://rt.com/ Prime Time Russia — the first TV show for an English-speaking audience in Russia. Weekdays from 8-9 p.m. msk on RT (Russia Today) channel and online at http://rt.com/prime-time.html http://www.youtube.com/user/primetimeru
Russia Todayis a 24/7 English-language news channel based in Moscow and other international cities that I first watched the Saturday morning in April when Polish President Lech Kaczynski's plane crashed outside the airport in Smolensk, on his way to represent Poland at a ceremony commemorating the 1940 Katyn massacre, killing all 97 people on board.. http://articles.latimes.com/2010/apr/11/world/la-fg-polish-president-crash11-2010apr11 RT was the only TV news network reporting the story LIVE from near the scene, plus had well-informed analysts on the phone from various European capitals, including Warsaw, who could speak knowledgeably about Kaczynski's personal life and Polish political history and how these events all connected in one horrible day for modern-day Poland.
As I wrote at the time here, since I was awake when it happened, the Fox News Channel was first U.S. cablenet to report the crash, and as usual, MSNBC slept, showing one of their many old crimedocumentaries they lard their overnight and weekend schedule with, rather than break into it. That was not the first time that I saw MSNBC be the last TV cable net to air some breaking news, so now I never even bother flipping to them to see their take on anything. Homepage: http://rt.com/ Their YouTube Channel has some interesting videos. https://www.youtube.com/user/RussiaToday Alyona Minkovski in particular interviews all sorts of characters on her show: http://www.youtube.com/user/TheAlyonaShow Here's a video from her show about the topic du jour: lovelorn otaku nerds in Japan taking their virtual girlfriends on holiday with them to a hotel in Atami on the Pacific Coast.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ebrvafpjIlg Some of you longtime readers may recall me writing in the past here on the blog that my first year living in Washington, D.C., I lived next door to (in front of) the Japanese Ambassador's official residence on Nebraska Avenue, N.W., thus putting yours truly in one of the safest neighborhoods in the city, due to all the security details in the area, which I greatly appreciated. This was when the crime and murder rate in D.C. was out-of-control and made D.C. America's murder capital.
I was living just down the street from the campus of American University, as well as the Swedish Ambassador's home, NBC-TV's Washington news bureau and their DC affiliate, WRC-TV, as well as the real-life HQ for NCIS. (Years later, when I was living in Arlington County, I had an NCIS agent for a neighbor.)
