Truly incredible.
She may be the Queen of Disco, but what's amazing about Donna Summer is while many of her songs are quintessential examples of that era, they have maintained a freshness that keeps them relevant in dance music even today (just ask Beyonce, who did her best Summer impersonation for the single "Naughty Girl," which is little more than a remake of the Queen's "Love to Love You Baby").
Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy
By GottaLaff
Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, the former Republican vice presidential candidate, says her future son-in-law is not a high school dropout as the press is reporting.I'm sure the press is Tripping all over themselves to make the correction: Levi is not a high school dropout. Nosireebob.Palin told The Associated Press on Wednesday that 18-year-old Levi Johnston is enrolled in high school through a correspondence program.
Palin said some media outlets also are erroneously reporting that her 18-year-old daughter, Bristol, is a high school dropout. The governor said her daughter is enrolled in regular high school and also has taken correspondence courses.
By GottaLaff
The prez-elect is so cyber-savvy:
Official shirts, bags, other official souvenirs from the Obama Jan. 20 inauguration collectible collection started to be sold on Wednesday.Product Categories
 |  | |
| Accessories | Art | |
 |  | |
| Clothing | Jewelry | |
 Kids | 
| |
 |
| Mugs & Glassware |
By GottaLaff
More like, "genuine or phony"?
For Bush, it's duck-and-cover; for Obama, it's up-and-up. Goofus v. Gallant.President Bush spends his final vacation as president in virtual seclusion at his Texas ranch. President-elect Barack Obama spends his final vacation before taking office immersed in the outside world in his native state of Hawaii.
The vacation habits of the two men say a lot about their leadership styles and how they cope with pressure. For Bush, the key is privacy; for Obama, it's engagement.
From the start of his presidency, Bush has considered his 1,600-acre spread in a remote section of central Texas his sanctuary. White House officials generally give only sketchy outlines of his schedule there, as they did on his latest trip. [...] [He] regularly rides his mountain bike, clears brush, and chops cedar when he is on the property.His Crawford Prairie Chapel, aka Our Lady of the Facade, is also where he regularly falls off his mountain bike, clears his throat of pretzel debris, and chops up the English language.
There has also been an element of public relations. Bush wants to be known as a Washington outsider and a westerner, so his purchase of the ranch in 1999 was in keeping with those images. [...] "It'll be the house where I live in for the rest of my life."Wrong:
Not quite. It turns out that Bush and his wife, Laura, will live in Dallas after they leave the White House.He's even dishonest about where he lives. I wonder if Pickles is really his wife. And don't get me started on Jenna and Not-Jenna... Come to think of it, Barney's been acting a little suspect, too.
Bush has now made 77 trips to the ranch during his presidency. If he departs on New Year's Day as scheduled, he will have spent 490 full or partial days there, according to Mark Knoller of CBS News, who keeps records of Bush's travels. That's one of the highest numbers of presidential vacation days in history.Mark Knoller had to keep track. Why? Because the Chimpenfuhrer can't count.
While George W. Bush wanted private time above all, Obama appears to be more in tune with Bill Clinton—seeking the companionship of friends and acquaintances, going out for meals and family jaunts, enjoying his wider surroundings.In other words, Obama's not a dysfunctional simian whose idea of socializing is a stealth assault of one dignitary, and mumbling with his mouth full to another. Or hiding out at his fake "ranch".
Photographs of the president-elect, shirtless, caused a sensation around the world because he seemed so physically fit.Bush is in decent shape, but we all know that if he took his shirt off for the press, it would put the final nail in the Isolation of America coffin. But hey, this is one time I can and will wholeheartedly support King Georgie's demand for complete privacy.
By GottaLaff
MSNBC was the fastest growing channel in all of television in 2008 when measured in Total Viewers for both total day and prime time. The NBC cable news channel was the third fastest in growth in the A25-54 demo behind BBC America and History International.We have awfully good taste, don't we?The Rachel Maddow Show beat Larry King Live from its premiere-to-date (9/8-12/28) in the demo for second place at 9pmET. Countdown with Keith Olbermann at 8pmET delivered MSNBC its strongest ratings ever at the hour, also finishing second in the demo.
By GottaLaff
A national poll suggests that three-quarters of the public thinks President-elect Barack Obama is a strong and decisive leader, the highest marks for a president-elect on that characteristic in nearly three decades.Remember, this compares favorabley to the Chimpenfuhrer's numbers after September 11, 2001, back when Bush was The Swaggering God of Arrogance and All Things 'Murkin. That's not easy to top.Seventy-six percent of Americans questioned in a CNN/Opinion Research Corp. survey released Wednesday said Obama is a strong and decisive leader.
"That's the best number an incoming president has gotten on that dimension since Ronald Reagan took office in 1981," CNN Polling Director Keating Holland said. "The public's rating of his leadership skills is already as high as George W. Bush's was after 9/11 and easily beats the numbers that both Bush and Bill Clinton got at the start of their first terms in office."
Just six in 10 felt that Bush was a strong leader when he took office in 2001. After the attacks of September 11, that number rose to three in four. Sixty-seven percent thought Bill Clinton was a strong leader when he took office in January 1993.
Eight in ten Americans said Obama inspires confidence, can get things done and is tough enough to be president, three characteristics Americans look for in a leader and the three qualities on which Obama got his highest scores.
He also gets higher marks than Bush did in 2001 on honesty, values, issues, management abilities and compassion.
By GottaLaff
With Al Franken holding onto a 49-vote lead in the Minnesota Senate recount, incumbent Republican Norm Coleman seems to be pulling out the stops in his attempt to keep as many likely Democratic absentee ballots as possible out of the tally.Nate the Great of Five Thirty Eight gives us a warning:
Election officials across the state are determining which absentee ballots were rejected improperly on Election Day, and both campaigns have to agree before a previously rejected ballot is counted. As the Star Tribune reports, Coleman rejected 59 of 60 ballots that were set aside in St. Louis County, which supported Franken. His decision to reject Shirly Graham's ballot was particularly shocking.
"I'm an election judge," Graham told the paper. "I expected to be the last person whose ballot wouldn't be counted."
Graham, who actually voted for Coleman, said she would consider going to court to have her ballot included.
There are a couple of things in the preceding paragraphs that the Franken campaign ought to be worried about. Firstly, quite a high percentage of absentee ballots were rejected -- 60 out of what had been reported yesterday to be 161 ballots under consideration in St. Louis County, or 37 percent. All but one of those objections were made by the Coleman campaign. Secondly, the Coleman campaign is getting away with blocking ballots for asinine reasons. In the case cited above, for instance, the ballot was rejected because the date provided by the voucher did not match the date the date provided by the voter. Not only is there no requirement that the dates of the signatures match -- there is no requirement that the signatures are dated, period (see the applicable statutes for yourself here and here).He then goes on to say that while Normy is challenging in heavily blue areas, Franken could do the same by rejecting ballots in red ones.
Indeed, Coleman has been trying to skew his advantage, requesting the inclusion of 650 additional ballots from heavily red counties.Let's hope that Toker Norm's tactics don't work.
By GottaLaff
There is such a dearth of newsworthy material out there that ridiculing Obama's golf game is exactly what we should be focusing on. But it's okay, he deserves all the badmouthing he can get, since he's not president of anything yet.That was today's Shallow Thought. Thank you for wading in.
By GottaLaff
Earlier this month, the Department of Interior overturned a Reagan-era regulation, allowing loaded firearms at most national park sites such as the National Mall. Yesterday, the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence sued the administration, saying the rule “jeopardizes the safety of park visitors in violation of federal law.”This news release notes the violation by Interior. Here's the gist of it:
The suit charges that the Interior Department violated several federal laws in its rush to implement the rule before President Bush leaves office, including failing to conduct any environmental review of the harm that the rule will cause, as is required by the National Environmental Policy Act. The Department also violated a White House directive that no rules should be issued after November 1, 2008, except in “extraordinary circumstances,” issuing the last-minute rule change on December 10, 2008.
BushCo's One Big Important Accomplishment: It's the administration that violates its own directives better than any other!
By GottaLaff
Is there a story about the Palin family that isn't laughable?
A People magazine executive denied media speculation Tuesday that Bristol Palin made at least $300,000 for giving the publication first shot at photos of her newborn son. [...]MSNBC's report quoted unnamed sources saying bidding for the baby photos began at $100,000 and increased after Johnston's mother Sherry was arrested on felony drug charges this month involving OxyContin, a potentially addictive prescription painkiller. MSNBC said estimates of the deal were in the $300,000 range.
People managing editor Larry Hackett said the magazine has had "conversations" about photos with a Palin representative but no deal has been made and no money has been given to the Palins.
"Would I like the pictures? I would love the pictures but I don't have them," he said.
Hackett wouldn't elaborate on discussions, however, if they are continuing or how much the magazine would be willing to pay.
"Would we pay for a picture of her and her kid? I don't know. It's something I would consider. It's not something I would rule out of hand," he said.
The $300,000 figure would be appropriate for a sit-down portrait session of the newborn and his parents -- but only if it includes Sarah Palin, said Paul Harris with Pacific Coast News, an entertainment photo agency based in Los Angeles.
And unless Alaska's Republican governor is a presidential contender in 2012, Harris doesn't anticipate escalating interest in paying big money for street photos of her grandson and his teenage mother.
"Maybe if the father left her and went off with Angelina Jolie, but that might not happen," he said.
Above all else, no matter what, we must--must!-- respect the privacy of that paragon of family-values-families, The Palin Bunch, that makes every effort to stay out of the spotlight:
The governor's office on Tuesday did not return requests for comment but has said the baby's birth is a private, family matter.
I'm sure there will be no photos of Grandma DimBulb schlepping Trig and Tripp and Trials and Tribulations around with her, acting as if they are nothing more than movie props. That would be wrong. That would be an invasion of privacy. That would be using her own family for personal gain:
.jpg)
