Pole Dancers Deserve A Little Respect…

Look at the control this woman has over her body.  Pretty impressive!

And if you really want to be blown away, look at what these guys can do!

It leaves you speechless doesn’t it?

A Groovy Video Tribute To One Of America’s Sweethearts

Farrah Fawcett on The Dating Game in 1969

More Than Just A Pin-up: Farrah Fawcett Dies At 62

Peter Hartlaub of the San Francisco Chronicle writes:

Her career should have been over in 1981. She was a poster, then an Angel and then just another piece of beautiful scenery in “Cannonball Run.” The next step should have been a failed TV pilot, a “Love Boat” cameo and then maybe an infomercial for some kind of skin care line.

But Farrah Fawcett always had the moxie to take her career seriously, even when others didn’t. Her next mainstream role was in the harrowing and controversial television movie “The Burning Bed,” which established the pinup girl as a serious actress – and someone whose next 25 years would be unpredictable and interesting.

Fawcett died Thursday morning at a Santa Monica hospital with longtime companion Ryan O’Neal and actress Alana Stewart at her side.

Her long illness was reflective of her career, which was filled with false tabloid rumors. There were also a few dubious achievements. Even in death, no story about Fawcett should go beyond the fourth paragraph without mentioning her rambling 1997 interview on “The Late Show With David Letterman,” which – with apologies to Paula Abdul – set the standard for spaced-out live appearances on network television.

Fawcett was a lot of things during her career, starting with goddess. She reached her peak of mainstream popularity in 1976, when a poster of the then-unknown actress, smiling almost blindingly in her red one-piece swimsuit, was released. It sold 12 million copies. Later the same year, she debuted on the Aaron Spelling series “Charlie’s Angels” as Jill Munroe, a character whose lines were instantly forgotten but whose hairstyle was endlessly copied.

But after one season of “Angels” and an appearance in “Cannonball Run,” Fawcett made the first of several brazen career decisions. Still in her prime, she appeared in the 1982 off-Broadway play “Extremities,” playing a rape victim who seeks revenge. She returned to television in 1984, looking haggard as Francine Hughes in “The Burning Bed.” The movie dealt with abuse, vigilante justice and garnered Fawcett her first of three Emmy Award nominations.

Fawcett’s role in “The Burning Bed” may have not have been particularly subtle, but it still proved to mainstream audiences that Fawcett had unexpected range. She settled into a second career as a TV movie tough girl, reprising her role in the 1986 “Extremities” TV movie, and in 1989 as a deranged mother who shoots her own children in “Small Sacrifices.” In more recent years, she was a frequent guest star on network TV shows, usually playing serious roles.

Arguably her career highlights came in her early 50s, when she returned to feature films. Fawcett was the only former Angel to co-star with Robert Duvall and appear in a Robert Altman film – garnering praise as Duvall’s movie wife in “The Apostle” in 1997 and playing a small role in Altman’s “Dr. T and the Women” in 2000. It was arguably Altman’s worst film, but it still made the point: who in 1976 would have believed that Farrah Fawcett would be making movies 15 years later with the guy who directed “Nashville”?

Unfortunately for Fawcett’s legacy, almost nobody saw “The Apostle” and “Dr. T and the Women.” And pretty much everyone either owned or had a boyfriend or brother who owned The Poster.

The 1970s version of a viral video, the Farrah Fawcett poster was the kind of sensation that could only happen spontaneously, and without premeditation. Here are a few pieces of trivia about this iconic wall-hanging, which was first released in 1976:

1. Fawcett did her own hair;

2. For the backdrop, photographer Bruce McBroom used an old Indian blanket that had been covering the front seat of his ’37 Chevy;

3. The photo was shot in the back of then-husband Lee Majors’ Bel Air home; and

4. No ice was used during the making of this poster.

Some actors are typecast by a TV show. Others by a movie. Fawcett was typecast by a giant glossy photo that was taken before she had landed her first major acting role. But even if the rest of her life never completely eclipsed that image, she deserves respect for doing everything possible to make her career more than that moment in time.

Very few masters of their craft ever get to be a pop culture phenomenon. And very few pop culture phenomena ever have the patience and skill to pursue their craft with passion and hard work. Farrah Fawcett did both. She journeyed beyond the two-dimensional limits of her dizzying first few years in Hollywood, and left behind an admirable career.

She never did get the chance to marry Ryan O’Neal…  Sad. 

Hard-working Santa Cruz, CA man wins $39M

Finally someone deserving wins the big bucks:

SANTA CRUZ – For 20 years Clyde Persley worked more than 60 hours a week making candy, driving limousines and waiting by the phone to pick up extra hours at a restaurant. He bought lottery tickets and hoped for his big break.

And he got it.

Persley, 49, turned in his winning SuperLotto Plus ticket to the California Lottery office Tuesday night, said California Lottery spokeswoman Cathy Doyle Johnston, and will receive a check for about $16 million in four to six weeks.

“I’m so happy for my family,” said Persley, who is married with a 4-year-old daughter. “We gotta’ get the money first, but we are definitely not going to waste it.”

Persley’s big plans? To sit on it.

“The next step is to get financial advisors,” he said Wednesday outside his apartment building off Soquel Drive near Dominican Hospital. “But I have to take my wife to Hawaii. She really wants that.”

Persley is a Santa Cruzan through and through. He was born in Santa Cruz and he graduated from Santa Cruz High in 1977.

Twice a week, Persley would stop in at the Santa Cruz Market, the Westside store that will get $140,000 for selling the winning ticket, to play the lottery.

“I always imagined I would walk into the store and find out that I won,” he said.

And that’s what happened Monday.

When he went into the market to buy lotto tickets, Bankook Choi, the store owner, told him the store had won and to check his tickets. Persley went to visit his wife, Pauline, at work and checked the numbers in the parking lot. All six numbers matched.

“I felt calm, and just so happy,” he said. “I told my wife and she started screaming and jumping up and down.”

Persley has been working three jobs for the past six years to support his family. He worked part-time as a limousine driver and on-call at El Palomar restaurant, but he worked full-time for Santa Cruz Nutritionals, formerly Harmony Foods, operating candy-making machines.

Although he no longer has to work, Persley finds it hard to think about leaving his job.

“I really appreciate my life with Harmony Foods,” he said of his 26-year stint there. “I can’t say enough how much my work has meant to me.”

While there are no plans for penthouses or private jets just yet, Persley does see relaxation and family time in his future.

“People think we are going to jump up and start spending all our money,” he said. “But that’s just not the way this works.”

His priorities include a college fund for his daughter, support for his mother and his father-in-law and travelling.

“I want to live a quiet life without stress,” Persley said. “There is not much more you could ask for.”

What if ALL elected persons took at least a 10% pay cut? Think of all the money that would be saved…

I tried to find how many elected officials there are in the United States government.  Perhaps there are so many that they don’t want to divulge the numbers because it might cause heart failure from coast to coast.

According to the University of Chicago, there are more than 500,000 elected officials in the United States Government.

There are 141 elected officials in the in the state of Hawaii.  Looks like there are even more than that just for the city of New York.

Looks like there are about 61 elected officials for the City of Los Angeles.

There’s a boat-load for the State of Washington.  And, apparently, there are too many in Dodge County, Wisconsin.  The State of Georgia, on the other hand, looks like they are running with a much smaller crew.

My point is that there are a LOT of elected officials.  Too many in my opinion.  AND they are overpaid.  If all elected officials took a pay cut of at least 10% imagine how much money that would save.

The State of California reduced the pay of some elected officials by 18%.  That cut reduced pay for some law makers from $116,028 to $95,143 and some legislative leaders’ salaries will go from $133,639 to $109,584.

All but two of California’s elected officials are among the highest paid in the Country.  To his credit, Schwarzenegger does not accept the California Governor’s salary of $212,179.  Supposedly, there are 23 others that take less than their allowed salaries as well.

My point is that they are overpaid.  I also firmly believe that if they cannot come up with a budget that they should work without pay, and not get paid back retroactively either, until they do so.  It’s their job.  If I don’t do my job I don’t get paid.  Why should they?

I also feel strongly that elected officials should not be able to decide or vote on how much they get paid.  That should be up to us, their employers.  WE should vote on their pay and performance.  I don’t know of anyone else that gets to pick and raise their pay… (except those Wall Street types…)

What say YOU?

Shannyn Moore Takes Sarah Palin To The Mat

If you haven’t seen what Shannyn Moore had to say over the Huffington Post, I have pasted it in below:  The Top 10 (most recent) Reasons Sarah Palin is a hypocrite:

10) Last September, a skit on Saturday Night Live suggested incest in the Palin family. “What about the husband?” asked a mock Times reporter. “You know he’s doing those daughters. I mean, come on. It’s Alaska!” No outrage. Sarah Palin appeared on the show one month later in late October.

9) Days after the announcement of Bristol’s pregnancy, Conan O’Brien joked, “It’s true, John McCain’s running mate, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, has revealed that her 17-year-old daughter is pregnant. Palin said, ‘We should never have introduced her to John Edwards.’” Where was the outrage? Was Conan promoting infidelity with an underage girl?

8 ) From two different Tonight Shows: “Governor Palin announced over the weekend that her 17-year-old unmarried daughter is five months pregnant. Oh, boy, you thought John Edwards was in trouble before, now he’s really done it!” AND…”All the Republicans are heaping praise on Governor Palin. Fred Thompson said, as an actor, he could see them making a movie about Sarah Palin and her family. Didn’t they already make that movie? I think it was called ‘Knocked Up!’”–Jay Leno

7) Craig Ferguson’s skit of “Larry King vs Levi Johnston” asks about “kinky sex” with the drapes open. Craig Ferguson’s honorary Alaska citizenship, granted by Governor Palin wasn’t rescinded.

6) “According to expense reports, Sarah Palin charged the state of Alaska over $21,000 for her children to travel with her on official business. In fairness to Gov. Palin, when she leaves them home alone they get pregnant.” –Seth Meyers (SNL). Sarah Palin was in a sketch with Meyers a week earlier.

5) On October 8, 2008, Sarah Palin walked out on the ice with six year old Piper and 13 year old Willow, before the game, Conan O’Brien said, “Saturday night, Sarah Palin is going to drop the first puck at the Philadelphia Flyers’ hockey game. Then Palin will spend the rest of the game trying to keep the hockey players out of her daughter’s penalty box.”
Oh, yes he did. You get the outrage…but not a peep then. According to the new “logic”, O’Brien was advocating for some really sick stuff.

4) Rush Limbaugh: “Everyone knows the Clintons have a cat. Socks is the White House cat. But did you know there is a White House dog?” Limbaugh put up a picture of Chelsea Clinton. At the time, Chelsea Clinton was 13 years old. Rush also said, “In last year’s campaign, the most prominent, articulate voice for standard run-of-the-mill good old-fashioned American conservatism was Sarah Palin.” Calling a young teenager a “dog” can’t be helpful to her “self-esteem.” Where is the apology from the leader of the GOP?

3) “Why is Chelsea Clinton so ugly? Because her father is Janet Reno.”–John McCain, Sarah Palin’s running mate. Should McCain apologize to every young woman in America?

2) Palin’s friend, political defender and informer of the David Letterman comments, John Ziegler, was fired from his radio show for using the “n-word” online and on air in 1997. In 2000, he was fired for spelling the “n-word” on the air. How much does that word affect the psychological health of America’s youth, regardless of their race? Now he is pimping his film about how mean the “liberal media” was to Sarah Palin.

AND…The NUMBER 1 REASON Sarah Palin’s Outrage is Misplaced and A Little Late…

1) The “candidate who must be obeyed” was talking about Palin’s family when he said, “Kids are off limits.” Jake Tapper of ABC News interviewed then Candidate Obama, and asked, “Governor Palin and her husband issued a statement today saying their 17-year-old daughter Bristol, who is unmarried, is five months pregnant. Do you have any reaction?”

OBAMA: “I have said before and I will repeat again, I think people’s families are off-limits. And people’s children are especially off-limits. This shouldn’t be part of our politics. It has no relevance to Governor Palin’s performance as a governor or her potential performance as a vice president. And so I would strongly urge people to back off these kinds of stories. You know, my mother had me when she was 18. And, you know, how family deals with issues and — and, you know, teenaged children, that shouldn’t be the topic of — of our politics.”

The Palin children have been fodder for comedians since they were brought to the national stage. Incest isn’t funny. Ugly kid jokes aren’t funny. Many of the things said about public figures are just flat wrong. Being “knocked up” isn’t much fun. Racist comments hurt all of us. I exhausted the top 10 list before I ran out of outrageous instances ignored by the Palins.

The National Organization for Women named David Letterman to their Hall of Shame. Will Letterman be joining Jay Leno? Conan O’Brien? Craig Ferguson? Seth Myers? Rush Limbaugh? Or John McCain? Of course not! I guess N.O.W. didn’t bother checking Sarah Palin’s “feminist” credentials. All across America, right wing radio and television talk show hosts feigned outrage in perfect synchronicity. The same people who back up Palin’s high drama assertions against Letterman ignored the connections between Bill O’Reilly’s irresponsible incitement and the murder of Dr. George Tiller. David Letterman, a late night entertainer, apologized. Fox New’s Bill O’Reilly has not.

As a parent, I understand being defensive. I just wonder what took so long. Why now?

To read even more from Shannyn, check her out.  She’s bad ass.

h/t to the Grumpy Lion and don’t miss what’s going on over at Mudflats.

What do you get for being nice? Why, a slash across your abdomen, of course!

A hispanic male teaches his pit bull to play dead, and when a good samaritan stops on the side of the road to help, the hispanic male slashes his abdomen and demands the good samaritan’s money.  The dog, of course, stops playing dead.

Seriously.  In Elko, Nevada.  Wherever that is.  According to the photos here, looks like a dreadful place.

Losing Your Job Can ENSURE That You Don’t Get Another One

So there you are…. a good, solid, hard-working, tax-paying, law-abiding citizen.  You are working your ass off, mostly just getting by, saving a little bit here and there.  Maybe every two to five years you might get a little vacation in.

Then, your company is cutting back or goes out of business.  You lose your job.  Unemployment benefits, if they are available to you–because they are not available to those that are self-employed or under-employed–don’t quite cut it.  Unemployment benefits don’t pay for the mortgage and all the utilities.  You cut back, but it still doesn’t cover life’s every day expenses.

Then, the almighty credit score slips…  and slips… and slips….

And then, there is light!

You have been looking for work for months and months and you finally get a job offer.  A good job.  They want to do a background check and a credit check (?).

But WAIT!!!  I need this job so that I can pay those bills that I haven’t been able to pay while I was looking for this good job.

That’s right people:  You can be denied a job because of a “bad” credit score.  This is a fucked up situation.  Now THIS should be outlawed.

The “Shackled Teen” That Escaped From Tracy, CA Home Gets His Day On The Witness Stand

The San Francisco Chronicle gives us an update on the “Shackled Teen”:

The 930-page transcript details a horrific imprisonment in which a bath for the boy meant having hot water thrown on him in the yard, meals were nonexistent and the abuse included being cut with a knife, punched with boxing gloves, forced to drink hot cinnamon Schnapps liqueur, choked with a belt and hit or branded with a bat that had been heated in the fireplace. Bleach was put into his injuries to add to the pain, he said.

The couple’s 5-year-old daughter testified that she had seen her parents and Ramirez hit the boy with the bat “lots of times.”

“Like, with a baseball bat, hard,” the girl said.

The boy testified that the girl “was always nice to me” and would secretly give him a cup of water or climb on top of the kitchen counter to sneak him Halloween candy.

“I had to eventually start, like I guess, stealing food because I was like, really hungry,” he said.

Ramirez told Schumacher and Lau that the boy was the source of all her problems, the boy testified.

“Caren would rub it in and everything, just so she would seem like she is the perfect parent, and I would seem like I’m the person that caused her to lose her house,” he said. “That was the story that she told the Schumachers, that she lost her house because of me, because I was a thief and everything and she had to pay all these bills off.”

Lau’s father, Terry Brown, told the grand jury that he had asked Schumacher why the boy was in the home.

“He says, ‘Well, he has an attitude problem, a behavior problem, so we have to sort of watch him.’ I said, ‘Oh, OK.’ “

The boy had been imprisoned for nearly a year and a half when he escaped his captors Dec. 1, police said.

You can see previous posts from December 2, 2008, December 3, 2008 and February 4, 2009 as the sordid story unfolds.

Make sure you take a good look at the four losers that did it.