Taylor Swift wins five American Music Awards

Posted by Sinlung Labels:
Country crossover star Taylor Swift overshadowed the late Michael Jackson at the American Music Awards on Sunday, winning five prizes including artist of the year. Jackson, who had been expected to enjoy a clean sweep, ended up with four awards. He and Swift went head-to-head in the artist of the year race, the ceremony's final prize. Other multiple winners included hip-hop acts Jay-Z and the Black Eyed Peas, with two each.

Swift wins five American Music Awards




Sarah Palin Goes 'Birther': Obama Birth Certificate 'A Fair Question'

Posted by Sinlung
Sarah Palin declared on Thursday that the legitimacy of President Obama's birth certificate is "rightfully" an issue with the American public, and that it is "fair game" for politicians to question Obama's citizenship.
The comments came during an interview with conservative radio host Rusty Humphries, who asked Palin whether she planned to "make the birth certificate an issue" if she runs for president in 2012.
"I think the public rightfully is still making it an issue," Palin said. "I don't have a problem with that. I don't know if I would have to bother to make it an issue, because I think that members of the electorate still want answers."
Humphries -- who began the interview with a rendition of the song "Sarah, Queen Of The Wild Frontier" -- followed up: "Do you think it's a fair question to be looking at?"
"I think it's a fair question just like I think past associations and past voting records. All of that is fair game," Palin responded, adding that "the McCain-Palin campaign didn't do a good enough job in that area. We didn't call out Obama and some of his associates on their records and what their beliefs were, and perhaps what their future plans were, and I don't think that was fair to voters to not have done our job as candidates and a campaign to bring to light a lot of things that now we're seeing manifest in the administration."
Palin later referenced "that weird conspiracy theory freaky thing that people talk about that Trig isn't my real son, and a lot of people that went 'Well, you need to produce his birth certificate, you need to prove that he's your kid,' which we have done, but yeah, so maybe we can reverse that, and use the same [inaudible] thinking on the other one."
UPDATE: At 1:16 AM ET, Palin posted the following on her Facebook page:
Stupid Conspiracies
Voters have every right to ask candidates for information if they so choose. I've pointed out that it was seemingly fair game during the 2008 election for many on the left to badger my doctor and lawyer for proof that Trig is in fact my child. Conspiracy-minded reporters and voters had a right to ask... which they have repeatedly. But at no point - not during the campaign, and not during recent interviews - have I asked the president to produce his birth certificate or suggested that he was not born in the United States.
WATCH:


FactCheck.org has done the most comprehensive debunking of the various conspiracy theories related to Obama's citizenship. Here is their bottom line:
In June, the Obama campaign released a digitally scanned image of his birth certificate to quell speculative charges that he might not be a natural-born citizen. But the image prompted more blog-based skepticism about the document's authenticity. And recently, author Jerome Corsi, whose book attacks Obama, said in a TV interview that the birth certificate the campaign has is "fake."
We beg to differ. FactCheck.org staffers have now seen, touched, examined and photographed the original birth certificate. We conclude that it meets all of the requirements from the State Department for proving U.S. citizenship. Claims that the document lacks a raised seal or a signature are false. We have posted high-resolution photographs of the document as "supporting documents" to this article. Our conclusion: Obama was born in the U.S.A. just as he has always said.
(H/T Ben Smith and Jed Lewison)

Rumsfeld Rebuffed By Admiral Mullen, Teased By Gibbs After Disputing Obama Speech

Posted by Sinlung
Former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's response to a line in President Obama's speech on Aghanistan is drawing a sharp response from both the White House and military leaders.
On Tuesday, Obama asserted that before he took office in January, "Commanders in Afghanistan repeatedly asked for support to deal with the reemergence of the Taliban, but these reinforcements did not arrive."
Rumsfeld issued a written statement on Wednesday disputing Obama's claim about inaction under George W. Bush:
Such a bald misstatement, at least as it pertains to the period I served as secretary of defense, deserves a response. I am not aware of a single request of that nature between 2001 and 2006. If any such requests occurred, "repeated" or not, the White House should promptly make them public. The President's assertion does a disservice to the truth and, in particular, to the thousands of men and women in uniform who have fought, served and sacrificed in Afghanistan.
According to Politico, Rumsfeld's own claims were refuted by Admiral Mike Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff:
Adm. Michael Mullen told a House committee Wednesday that Gen. David McKiernan, who led U.S. troops in Afghanistan between 2008 and this year, had asked for 20,000 troops for the effort but was rebuffed.

"We didn't have them because they were pushed to Iraq," the four-star admiral said during a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing in response to a question from Indiana Republican Rep. Mike Pence. "That was the priority of the president."
The White House had a little more fun with their response. While Press Secretary Robert Gibbs refused to engage Rumsfeld's claims directly, he did quip, "You go to war with the Secretary of Defense you have."
WATCH:



Neither Mullen nor Gibbs directly addressed whether Pentagon requests may have occurred during the Bush administration but not while Rumsfeld was serving as Secretary of Defense. General McKiernan served after Rumsfeld left the position.

Michaele Salahi At World Snow Polo Championships In 2008

Posted by Sinlung Labels:
More evidence of the Salahis' quest for fame is rolling in, this time in the form of a video from Plum TV. The Salahis took part in the 2008 World Snow Polo Championships and Michaele Salahi sought, as she says herself at the end of the video, her own "two minutes of fame" by doing intros for the tournament for Plum TV.
The Salahis have a history of not paying their debts, and according to the host of the snow polo event, they still owe him nearly $20,000 for their entry into the tournament.
Where will we find the Salahis next?
WATCH:

Palin And Twilight: American Pilgrimages

Posted by Sinlung Labels:
Two events were cause for Americans to leave the house this past week: Sarah Palin and The Twilight Saga: New Moon. The mass, separate interest in each has left many who are fans of neither wondering: What the hell is wrong with these people? Sure, nobody ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American public. But there's more to it than that. The trips to the book store or to the movie theater were in fact pilgrimages of the faithful.
Each event was a form of cultural catnip for its respective, rather homogeneous audience. An indulgence for many who, at least for a stint, would rather see the world not as it is, but as they wish it to be. What attracts the fans and confuses everyone else is one and the same. It's about faith.
Faith is how our society conceptualizes -- and then puts a ribbon around -- intense desire. If one wants something bad enough, they begin to ignore the absurdities and believe that anything is possible. Substance gives way to wish fulfillment, and it's why those who are not fans are left so confounded.
Cinematically, the Twilight films hover somewhere between bad and god-awful -- a fact that some loyal fans readily accept. And yet they flocked to the theaters in droves. For many fans, it's actually quite difficult to explain exactly what the appeal is. But from a number of conversations I've had with them, one strong reason seems to be that element of wish fulfillment that attracts so many young women and teens (who overwhelmingly comprise the Twilight following). The cliché fantasy of being swept away, falling in love, and forever basking in the wardship of what was described to me as a "hunk" becomes an ephemeral reality.
The romance between Bella and Edward is presented as the joining of soul mates, with a theme of Romeo and Juliet-like forbidden love. It's the type of love that most teenage girls long for before learning from life's trials and tribulations. And in actuality, it more resembles an obsessive co-dependency than a healthy relationship.
Which is why the message the Twilight series sends is not without controversy. While young adult fans who enjoy escaping into fantasy for a few hours know full well that Bella and Edward's relationship is far from realistic -- and probably unhealthy -- many of the younger fans do not. Hence the concern of many parents that the films will imbue teen girls with a distorted and damaging view of relationships, to say nothing of their self-esteem. Natalie Hjelsvold, who has a 9-year-old daughter, summed up her concerns to a CNN reporter as such:
"I spent the entire movie interjecting things like, 'boys don't think about girls like that,' 'boys won't stare at you across the parking lot like that,' 'boys don't spend all day thinking about you and wishing you were sitting beside them in class,' 'boys won't sniff your hair,' " Hjelsvold said. "I think it got on her nerves after a while, but I worry that she will develop this totally warped sense of love and it makes me crazy as a parent."

And as it is with the Twilight phenomenon, so it is for the masses who bought Sarah Palin's book, Going Rogue -- which she didn't actually write -- and who are waiting for hours in the cold and rain just to see her. Many cannot explain why, and when they try, it becomes obvious that their adoration has nothing to do with substance or rationality.


As a politician, Palin is a veritable failure. As an abstract idea, she is the fulfillment of millions of Americans' wildest dreams. As it happens, something that stands for nothing can end up standing for everything.
The fact that Palin has no policies or constructive ideas to offer actually makes her the perfect vehicle for wish fulfillment. "Drill, baby, drill" is not a serious policy prescription. It's verbal gold that translates into practical lead. But that doesn't matter. It feels good to say for those who chant it, just as it feels good for the more mature Twilight fans to see the fantasy play out for a few hours. Who cares if the plot sucks and the characters are ridiculous.
The problem though is with that other group. The 'Twilight teenyboppers' who think it's real or possible or even remotely reasonable to believe. Faith of this kind is fine as a feel-good indulgence, but when it blurs the lines between fantasy and reality too much -- which it inevitably does -- one has to wonder what the damage is.
We're in hard times, it's reasonable to expect that people will look for saviors and fantastical escapes -- be they in the form of vegetarian vampires or meat eating pseudo-author/pseudo-politicians. The portion of Sarah Palin fandom who falls into that 'Twilight teenybopper' category -- those who fail to draw the distinction between fantasy and reality -- seems rather large (though it's not easily quantified). Let's just hope that sooner, rather than later, they realize it's just a movie.
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