Keepingitreal

Today's Papers: Economic Scare

The New York Times gets readers in the Halloween mood by leading with yesterday's scary economic news, including that consumer spending has dropped for the first time in 17 years. The Washington Post leads with another ominous tale, about how the Bush administration is planning a blitz of new business-friendly (and consumer- and environment-unfriendly) regulations in his last weeks of office. The rest of the top stories are election-related: The Los Angeles Times leads with the presidential campaign, where each candidate talked about the bad economic news, Obama blaming it on Bush policies and McCain saying his mortgage buyout plan would fix it. USA Today leads with campaign trail interviews of Obama and McCain. The Wall Street Journal tops its worldwide newsbox with a campaign catchall, including the two candidates taking shots at their opponents' running mates. Although at this point election news is more likely to elicit exhaustion than fear, the NYT does front a poll showing that half of voters said they were "scared" of what the other candidate would do if elected president. "The new rules," the Post writes, "would be among the most controversial deregulatory steps of the Bush era and could be difficult for his successor to undo. Some would ease or lift constraints on private industry, including power plants, mines and farms." The new regulations, up to 90 in total, would ease commercial ocean-fishing activities, reduce limits on carbon dioxide-increasing emissions from power plants and pollution near national parks. Environmentalists say the rules "will force Americans to choke on dirtier air for years to come," while an electricity lobby group said they would bring "common sense to the Clean Air Act." To continue reading, click here.

iPHONE Daily Blog Buzz 10.31.08

A gun was recovered by Chicago police during a search for evidence in the murders of Jennifer Hudson's nephew, mother and brother. TMZ has obtained arrest reports and other documents in connection with a March 4, 2002 sting operation in which Chicago police targeted Jason Hudson, Jennifer's murdered brother, and Gregory King, the father of Jennifer's murdered 7-year-old nephew Julian. T.I. thought his voting privileges were revoked because he's a convicted felon, but under Georgia Law, felons are still eligible if they're not currently serving probation or a prison sentence. Former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick was sentenced to four months in jail Tuesday for the so-called "sex-and-text scandal." Wayne County Circuit Judge David Groner called him "arrogant and defiant" and questioned the sincerity of a guilty plea that ended his career at City Hall. Usher is about to launch his "One Night Stand Ladies Only" tour Sunday in Atlantic City, N.J. in support of his current CD "Here I Stand," but he's already plotting the logistics of his next album. Former Olympic sprinter Marion Jones sat down with Oprah Winfrey for her first interview since being released from a six-month federal prison sentence for perjury on Sept. 5. Lil Wayne, Jay-Z and Ne-Yo rocked the crowd at Power 105's Powerhouse concert Tuesday night in New Jersey, all three were upstaged by a surprise appearance from Beyonce. Don Cheadle will see his new role of Jim Rhodes/War Machine in "Iron Man 2" continue on in "Iron Man 3," as well as "The Avengers," Marvel Studios' upcoming film about its team of superheroes. BET Chairman/CEO Debra Lee was in the hot seat Tuesday as the honoree of a roast at the Center for Communications' gallows-humored annual luncheon at New York's Pierre Hotel. El DeBarge was sentenced to two years in state prison Tuesday for violating his probation on a 2007 drug case in which the singer was found in possession of crack cocaine. CONTINUE READING... Since the international success of ‘American Boy’, Estelle has been everywhere. Here is her latest video ‘Come Over’ featuring Sean Paul. The video was released in the UK earlier this week. At Wednesday nights performance Janet Jackson was forced to cut the “Discipline” segment from her show. Michigan officials approached Janet’s camp letting them know of the law and that the show could possibly be cancelled. So in order to not disappoint fans Janet cut down the segment of the show. Michigan law prohibits simulated sex. CONTINUE READING... The first ever Prêmio Moda Brasil (or Brazil Fashion Awards) took place last night in São Paulo, and while I totally get it that Raquel Zimmermann was voted Female Model Of The Year, I am uncertain as to why Leo Peixoto won Male Model. I mean, Leo is one of my all time favorite male models, but he hasn't done anything particularly special this year to even to get nominated. CONTINUE READING... The hard times continue for male "American Idol" castoffs. The latest (alleged) victim is frequently weepy, formerly homeless singer Josiah Leming, who just last week announced that his major-label debut on Warner Brothers' Reprise Records would be out in early 2009.Leming, 19, didn't make the show's top 24, but a strict contract all "Idol" contestants must sign that makes them promise to record only with the "Idol"-preferred label, Sony/BMG, and gives show producer Simon Fuller's 19 Entertainment exclusive rights of refusal for management and merchandising. So his current record deal might be in violation of that pact. CONTINUE READING.. Lil Wayne is known for spending most of his waking hours in the studio cooking up tracks. But backstage at New York radio station Power 105's Powerhouse concert on Tuesday, Wayne said he happily stepped out of the box last week to be on hand for the birth of his first son, Dwayne Michael Carter III, at Christ Hospital in Cincinnati. Bow Wow will be clocking in studio time as he prepares the release of his sixth solo album New Jack City Part II set to drop this winter. A gay D.C. police officer on Oct. 26 found anti-gay graffiti scrawled on his locker at the Third District police substation, where he is assigned. The incident marks the second time in less than a year that an officer became the target of anti-gay graffiti at a D.C. police facility. Police spokesperson Traci Hughes said Police Chief Cathy Lanier sent an e-mail earlier this week to all members of the department condemning the latest incident.“She has gone on record with members of the force, calling the incident a cowardly and disrespectful act and saying it is reprehensible that it would occur in one of our police facilities,” Hughes ... CONTINUE READING Last month, a Battle of The Beats occurred between Bilal and D'Angelo to determine just whose version of Earth Wind & Fire's "Can't Hide Love" was indeed the best. It pitted D'Angelo's live version against Bilal's studio version with The Randy Watson Experience. The only problem was, and thank you to SquarerootZ for pointing this out, there is a live version of "Can't Hide Love" that features Bilal's take on this classic. So it would only be fair to have you listen and choose between both live versions, no? I'm not going to give you my choice, but I will say the the ante has been upped and the choice will be harder than you think. Good luck! D'Angelo: "Can't Hide Love" (Live) Bilal: "Can't Hide Love" (Live) THAT'S A WRAP! HAPPY HALLOWEEN..

 

Maxwell Live Show Review: Paramount Theatre Oakland

FROM EAST BAY EXPRESS -- Maxwell Live Show Review!!! By Rachel Swan Only one pair of panties were thrown at last night's Maxwell show, and it looked like they hadn't been broken in, yet. The panties were extra large and white, styled like floppy little-boy briefs. A phrase stamped across the back became legible when Maxwell stretched out the elastic with his fingers: "I Heart Maxwell." Granted, panties are expensive, and we're in a recession. They might not have been as expensive as the black brassiere that came flying from another adoring fan. But they're expensive enough to justify not wanting to adulterate your favorite Victoria's Secret G-string and hurl it at the Paramount Theatre stage. No matter how much you love thirty-five-year-old, edgily handsome, multi-platinum-selling Maxwell. No matter what he promised earlier in the evening. (In the middle of his set, Maxwell asked if someone in the audience was planning to lie on top of him later that night. He also dry-humped the floor and said "I'm gonna chop you up like vegetables and eat you like you've never been eaten before."). It didn't even matter that he dedicated "the next song to the future panties that will be on this stage." Maxwell's fans — the ones in attendance at Wednesday's Paramount show, at least — are a delightful mix of chic, single women with good jobs and gay men, and like, five or six straight men, but they're the most sensitive straight men in the world. They filled up only about half the theater, owing to the fact that Wednesday's show was a hastily-added (and thus under-publicized) addition to the Tuesday show that probably sold out months ago. It was a sexy and unctuous show, given that Brooklyn-born Maxwell (whose mixed Puerto Rican and Haitian heritage may account for his dusky good looks) is a born sex symbol. That night he wore a silky designer suit with a tie draped around his neck, and had all the members in his eleven-piece band dressed to the 9s. Ten band members wore tuxes, while one percussionist opted for a solid black ensemble. His background singer Latina wore a sumptuous evening gown. Opener Jazmine Sullivan kicked the show off right at 8 p.m. by singing her album in its entirety, starting with the famous "Busting Windows" song — plastic crowbar and all. Her set reached an apotheosis with "In Love with Another Man," which sounds more like a gospel tune, even though its lyrics center on a broken relationship, and getting seduced by someone who's no good for you. Sullivan also struck a high note with her most popular radio hit, "Need U Bad" which closed off the set — she ended by improvising over a long vamp that allowed her to improvise on the melody. Twenty-one-year-old Sullivan is being merchandized in the same mold as such raspy-voiced, tough R&B singers as Keisha Cole and Lauryn Hill, though she clearly has more talent, and a wider range than both predecessors. She has the hard-bitten vulnerability of Mary J. Blige, and could eventually work a crowd as well as Blige does, though the comparison is still flattering to Sullivan. Obviously this young woman's gospel and jazz background has helped solidify her pop career. She knows what she's doing, looks comfortable on stage (even in poorly-chosen Capri pants and what must have been six inch stilettos), and her band — a rhythm section and two background singers who could easily be the same ones on the album, had I a set of liner notes in front of me -- sounds clean as day to boot. (Some even say Sullivan was trumped by her background singers, though I couldn't agree with certainty).Maxwell was fabulous. Clocking in at roughly an hour (even with two encores), his set featured all the hit songs of his career ("Ascension", "Sumthin' Sumthin'", "Lifetime", "This Woman's Work"), which were all so massively popular that even if you don't own a single Maxwell album, you'd enjoy this show. Already known for his engaging stage presence (he always wears designer suits, strangles the microphone, and dances with the kind of elasticky body movements that you'd expect from less-talented crooners like Usher and Chris Brown), Maxwell showed he's also a competent band leader. He showcased several members of the band, including the two bass players (whose names now elude me), saxophonist Kenneth Weber III, and trumpeter Keyon Harold, a New School grad who also plays with Jill Scott and Jay-Z. Maxwell has a few fidgety stage movements that can be distracting — his right hand trembles when he's not using it to grab the microphone stand — but his falsetto is so powerful that it more than compensates. He closed out last night with the ballad "Whenever, Wherever, Whatever," sung over an acoustic guitar and drum mallets. Then he had the whole band come center-stage and introduce themselves, which seemed like a chivalrous gesture. Jazmine Sullivan, take note. SOURCE:EAST BAY EXPRESS

On ‘Oprah,’ Jones Admits to Mistake

Marion Jones gave her first interview since being released from prison for lying to federal investigators, saying on “The Oprah Winfrey Show” on Wednesday that she believes she could have won her medals at the 2000 Olympics without performance-enhancing drugs.Jones also tearfully read a letter she said she wrote to her two children during her six-month prison term. “I truly believe that the reason I made the awful mistake and a few thereafter was because I didn’t love myself enough to tell the truth,” Jones said. Jones was sentenced for two counts of lying to federal officials in the Balco investigation and in a check-fraud case that also snared Tim Montgomery, Jones’s former boyfriend. She pleaded guilty last October in United States District Court in White Plains, and Judge Kenneth M. Karas announced her six-month sentence in January. She was released from a federal detention center in Fort Worth on Sept. 5.Jones, 33, forfeited the three gold and two bronze medals she won at the Sydney Olympics in Australia. She said Wednesday that losing the medals was not the hardest part.“It wasn’t as difficult to give back the medals because it’s not about the hardware,” Jones said. “It was about that memory. So that memory is what will be tarnished. That’s what’s hard.” Jones was not caught using performance-enhancing drugs — she was exonerated after the backup sample to her only failed drug test, in 2006 for EPO, came back negative — but for lying to investigators in the Balco case. She admitted in court that she knew the substance she had taken in 2000 was not flaxseed oil but a performance-enhancing drug, and that she lied to cover up her use. She said the drug, known as the clear, was provided to her by her coach, Trevor Graham, and that she stopped working with him once she realized he was giving her a prohibited substance.CONTINUE READING...

Analysis: Obama half-hour ad is perfect closing argument

(10-29) 21:16 PDT -- Barack Obama's 30-minute campaign commercial tonight was not merely a tactical decision to carpet-bomb millions of Americans in pursuit of a few thousand undecided voters who can dictate the outcome of the presidential campaign. Aired on seven network and cable stations, the ad served as a national get-out-the-vote organizing tool for Obama operatives. It offered even the swiftest channel-flipper the chance to see Obama looking presidential, helping to condition voters to that possibility. And once again it proved to John McCain, and everyone else, how Obama's deep pool of campaign cash has allowed him to rewrite the rules of presidential campaigning.  As the years-long pursuit entered its final days, the Democrat's commercials were pelting important electoral states, trying to smother efforts by McCain to diminish Obama's lead in polls of voters nationally and in most key states.  According to an accounting by the Neilsen television research company, the Illinois senator was running more than twice as many ads across the country as McCain, even after the Republican increased his television buys. The closing days of national campaigns are usually an exercise in frustrating choices, with decisions made over which dollars can be spared for a host of competing needs. Even if a campaign decides it should make a move, financial constraints can make it impossible to pull off. Because of its wealth, Obama's campaign has faced that dilemma less often. On Tuesday, for example, McCain ran 1,543 ads across the nation. Obama ran 3,160, according to the Neilsen survey, and as with McCain, most were aired in Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania.  That meant it was more than twice as easy to hear Obama's message as McCain's.  "At some point, the tonnage of Obama commercials makes it difficult for McCain to get his message out," said Ken Goldstein, a University of Wisconsin-Madison political scientist who studies political advertising. The half-hour Obama ad was a classic closing commercial, with a positive tone that belied the hand-to-hand combat going on in key states, both on the air and on the ground. He did not mention the names of his opponents, Arizona Sen. McCain and Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, nor was there more than an elliptical reference to President Bush. Instead, he presented himself as one who understands the fears of middle class voters. Prominently mentioned were key electoral states, like Missouri, Ohio, New Mexico, Colorado and Florida. The film evoked Americana, opening with amber waves of grain. McCain mocked the ad, calling it a reminder that Obama broke a promise to accept federal financing of his campaign. McCain's dependence on federal money has left him severely constrained against Obama's ad blitz. "When you're watching this gauzy, feel-good commercial, just remember that it was paid for with broken promises," McCain said. Obama's words belied a continued concern in his campaign that some voters remain unsure about his background, experience and proposals. Threaded through his policy prescriptions were references to his family background: his World War II veteran grandfather, Rosie-the-Riveter grandmother and a Midwestern-bred mother who would wake him at 4:30 a.m. for school lessons. "In six days, we can choose an economy that rewards work and creates new jobs and fuels our prosperity, starting with the middle class," he said pointedly at the end of the program. The 30-minute national ad was not an original concept. A star turn in a similar commercial for Barry Goldwater in 1964 helped propel Ronald Reagan into the California governor's office two years later. More recently, George H.W. Bush, Michael Dukakis and Ross Perot used extended ads. In this campaign, however, Obama was doing it alone, because he alone can afford it. "If you have the money, you spend it," said University of Southern California political analyst Sherry Bebitch Jeffe. While the program closed with a plea for votes, it served other purposes. Obama partisans held watch parties; in Los Angeles more than 100 people gathered to make thousands of phone calls to voters in Nevada, Missouri, New Mexico and Montana. "We're in the turnout phase of the campaign," said Democratic strategist Bill Carrick. He said voters who watched the program might respond more positively because of the unexpected format. "The mere fact that he's willing to talk longer, to be on longer, gives him more credibility," he said. Americans may be near the saturation point when it comes to the presidential race, but the stark reality for both candidates is that the days until Nov. 4 are running down, and with them options for changing the trajectory. One of the side benefits to Obama's media splash Wednesday was that it overshadowed McCain on Wednesday, analysts said. "It's blocking out McCain," Wisconsin advertising specialist Goldstein said. "It's not so much about what (the ad) says good about Obama. John McCain has six days to disqualify Obama. It's like the end of the football game, and Obama is running out the clock." SOURCE:SFGATE.COM

Barack Obama for President

iPHONE Daily Blog Buzz 10.29.08

Here! TV is asking which series you would like to see return for another season. The DL Chronicles is neck and neck with Dante's Cove. Please be sure to cast your vote! CLICK HERE then scroll down Keanu Reeves took the stand today in his paparazzi-running-over trial, insisting that photographer Alison Silva "walked backwards, lost balance and tripped over his own feet" in front of the actor's oncoming car in March 2007. Reeves's compelling defense, according to courtroom observers: "Whoa." · NBC and reps for Britney Spears both deny rumors that the singer will appear on Saturday Night Live this fall to promote her new album Circus; naturally, expect one or both parties to announce a date some time in late November. · This sucks: Deep Throat director Gerard Damiano died over the weekend in Coral Gables, Fla., of complications following a stroke. He was 80. · Guess the critic: "“It’s really important to tell people to go out and see W. so they can talk about it and have an opinion about it and this freedom of speech of course that allows us to go and talk about a film about a current sitting president.” Hint: He has a thing for stars. After a tepid denial last week, Terrence Howard's archenemy pimps at Marvel Studios confirmed that Don Cheadle will indeed inherit the role of Jim Rhodes in Iron Man 2. Cosmopolitan’s 25 Sexiest Men ! The Philadelphia Inquirer analyzes new HIV infections in Philadelphia which occur "at a rate more than 50 percent higher than residents of New York City and five times the national average." One third of the infections are the result of men having sex with men, and, no surprise, black gay/bisexual men are hardest hit. But there is precious little mention over three pages. Oh, except for this ...Continue Reading... Music Reviews: In tough economic times, you'd think that clothing budgets would be tight -- but you'd never guess that from the number of bras and other undergarments that rained down on the Madison Square Garden stage upon the appearance of this old-school boy-band juggernaut.CONTINUE READING... El DeBarge Arrested, legendary singer busted for possession of a controlled substance...Continue Reading Our girl Amber Sharp’s new series “Don’t Go” is featured in the November edition of Curve Magazine. This Gay Week in Television: Janice Dickinson, Wilson Cruz...THAT'S A WRAP!

'Milk' world premiere benefit at Castro Theatre

 (10-28) 20:50 PDT San Francisco -- The guests came to the Castro Theatre on Tuesday dressed in Levi's and designer dresses, '70s-chic velvet jackets and drag-queen heels and glitter. It looked like a glamorous early start on Halloween, but actually it was a Hollywood affair complete with a red carpet and a who's-who invitation list. And, it was all devoted to a sold-out, one-night-only, world-premiere benefit screening of "Milk," the hotly anticipated new film about the life, times and tragic death of controversial San Francisco Supervisor Harvey Milk. History came back home to where it started three decades ago. The Castro Theatre vibrated with gay rights past and present. As the creators and stars of the film and local politicians ran the red-carpet press gantlet, a throng of people across the street waved "Vote No on Prop. 8" signs and shouted at every passing car that honked. The measure will eliminate the right to same-sex marriage in California if it passes next week."Harvey Milk gave his life for the struggle for human rights," said San Francisco District Attorney Kamala Harris. "It's a continuing battle that's not over." State Assemblyman Mark Leno, sporting a "Harvey Milk for Assembly" button on his lapel, connected "the exciting and tumultuous time" of Milk's gay rights activism to the "ill-conceived measure facing voters on the ballot next week." Mayor Gavin Newsom said he felt "a tremendous amount of pride" to be attending the movie's premiere in San Francisco. Citing the changes seen from the "anti-sodomy laws that were still on the books" in the 1970s to San Francisco today, he said, "This story couldn't have happened anywhere else." Supervisor Tom Ammiano was a friend of Milk's. "This is about getting in touch with the grief process," he said, then flashed an affectionately wistful smile. "Harvey was a mensch. He could also be a diva. He would have loved knowing that Sean Penn would be playing him."The feature, directed by Gus Van Sant, opens in theaters Nov. 26. Penn, a Marin County resident, plays the title role in a richly textured performance sure to evoke visceral memories of one of the first openly gay people to win major elective office in the country. Penn was the last to make a grand entrance Tuesday. He strode into the middle of Castro Street, provoking a roar from the anti-Prop. 8 crowd. Then he and his wife, actress Robin Wright Penn, strolled hand-in-hand along the red carpet and inside the packed theater. The two-hour movie follows Milk from New York to San Francisco, where he opened a camera shop on Castro Street and used his political savvy and a surging liberation ideology to win a seat on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 1977. Less than a year after being elected, Milk was shot and killed in City Hall by the recently resigned supervisor Dan White, played by Josh Brolin in the film. White also assassinated Mayor George Moscone, who is played by Victor Garber, on that "Black Monday" in November 1978. Brolin said he truly entered White's consciousness in a "surreal" scene he improvised with Penn. It's a confrontation between the two men at a birthday party in which Brolin seethes and suddenly takes a gulp of alcohol. CONTINUE READING...

Hollywood may not be recession-proof this time

Worried by the worsening economy, Kristen Olson decided she'd better start saving money. She tallied her expenses and was walloped by sticker shock: She and her roommates were spending $900 a year for cable TV. "I'm not watching $900 worth of cable," said the 25-year-old advertising account coordinator, who lives in North Hollywood. She's trying to persuade her roommates to drop the service."You can watch so many shows online for free; most of them are on Hulu now," Olson added, referring to the year-old video site that makes available at the click of a mouse more than 1,000 shows, including her favorites, "Ugly Betty" and "House." Such changes in consumer behavior signal trouble for media companies. For decades, entertainment executives have boasted that Hollywood is "recession-proof." No matter how dire the economy, the argument goes, consumers will always be willing to spend on entertainment to escape.Studio executives note that during the Great Depression of the 1930s, when more than a quarter of the country was out of work, people still scraped together dimes to see the latest motion picture. In subsequent economic slumps, consumers spent freely on new technology, expanded their home video libraries and, most recently, invested $1,000 or more on high-definition, big-screen TVs.This time, however, past may not be prologue. Unlike the rudimentary entertainment economy of 75 years ago, when the downtown Bijou was about the only diversion, consumers now have a near-limitless array of entertainment options to occupy their leisure time.

"While Hollywood films have traditionally fared well during economic downturns, this time around may be quite different," said Bobby Tulsiani, an analyst with Forrester Research, which recently examined consumer spending on media. Blame the Internet. With faster processors, improved technology to compress video and more than 60 million homes in the U.S. with high-speed connections, the computer seamlessly delivers full-length episodes of television shows and movies. As a result, the computer now vies with the TV and cinema as the go-to screen for entertainment. One telling sign was the first "Saturday Night Live" parody with Tina Fey impersonating Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin, which drew nearly as many viewers online as watched it on NBC. Only one-third saw the Sept. 13 skit that Saturday night live, according to San Mateo research firm Integrated Media Measurement Inc. The rest caught it online or on their digital video recorder. SOURCE:LAT.COM

QUANTUM OF SOLACE SOUNDTRACK RELEASED TODAY ON J RECORDS

[New York, NY – October 28, 2008] – In advance of the highly anticipated November 14th release of QUANTUM OF SOLACE, the 22nd James Bond adventure, the soundtrack to the film has been released today on J Records.   Quantum of Solace: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack features multi-Grammy Award-winning and platinum selling recording artists Alicia Keys and Jack White (from The White Stripes and The Raconteurs) on “Another Way To Die” – the first duet ever recorded in Bond music history.  “Another Way To Die” is currently available via all digital music providers.The “Another Way To Die” video is currently in power rotation at MTV Hits and MTVU and is the No. 6 most viewed video on Myspace.  The video was directed by MK12, the design team that created the main title sequence for the film, and music video director Paul Brown (Daughtry, Josh Groban, James Blunt, and others).

Described as a “rock-and-soul superduo” by People magazine, White and Keys join the diverse lineage of great singers chosen to perform previous James Bond theme songs, including Shirley Bassey (“Goldfinger” – 1965, “Diamonds are Forever” – 1972), Tom Jones (“Thunderball” – 1966), Nancy Sinatra (“You Only Live Twice” – 1967), Paul McCartney & Wings (“Live and Let Die” – 1973), Sheena Easton (“For Your Eyes Only” – 1981), Duran Duran (“A View to a Kill” – 1985), Chris Cornell (“You Know My Name” – 2006), and more.With a storied history in the film music industry, Grammy Award-winning composer and producer David Arnold returns to score his fifth consecutive installment of James Bond thematic music.  The 23 Arnold-composed tracks mirror the high-level intensity and suspense in the film.Daniel Craig reprises his role as Ian Fleming’s James Bond 007 in QUANTUM OF SOLACE, the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures/Columbia Pictures release of EON Productions' 22nd adventure in the longest running film franchise in motion picture history. The film is produced by Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli and directed by Marc Forster. The screenplay was written by Paul Haggis and Neal Purvis & Robert Wade.

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Consumers Feel the Next Crisis: Credit Cards

First came the mortgage crisis. Now comes the credit card crisis. After years of flooding Americans with credit card offers and sky-high credit lines, lenders are sharply curtailing both, just as an eroding economy squeezes consumers. The pullback is affecting even creditworthy consumers and threatens an already beleaguered banking industry with another wave of heavy losses after an era in which it reaped near record gains from the business of easy credit that it helped create. Lenders wrote off an estimated $21 billion in bad credit card loans in the first half of 2008 as more borrowers defaulted on their payments. With companies laying off tens of thousands of workers, the industry stands to lose at least another $55 billion over the next year and a half, analysts say. Currently, the total losses amount to 5.5 percent of credit card debt outstanding, and could surpass the 7.9 percent level reached after the technology bubble burst in 2001. “If unemployment continues to increase, credit card net charge-offs could exceed historical norms,” Gary L. Crittenden, Citigroup’s chief financial officer, said. Faced with sobering conditions, companies that issue MasterCard, Visa and other cards are rushing to stanch the bleeding, even as options once easily tapped by borrowers to pay off credit card obligations, like home equity lines or the ability to transfer balances to a new card, dry up. Big lenders — like American Express, Bank of America, Citigroup and even the retailer Target — have begun tightening standards for applicants and are culling their portfolios of the riskiest customers. Capital One, another big issuer, for example, has aggressively shut down inactive accounts and reduced customer credit lines by 4.5 percent in the second quarter from the previous period, according to regulatory filings. Lenders are shunning consumers already in debt and cutting credit limits for existing cardholders, especially those who live in areas ravaged by the housing crisis or who work in troubled industries. In some cases, lenders are even reining in credit lines after monitoring cardholders who shop at the same stores as other risky borrowers or who have mortgages from certain companies. While such changes protect lenders, some can come back to haunt consumers. The result can be a lower credit score, which forces a borrower to pay higher interest rates and makes it harder to obtain loans. A reduced line of credit can also make it harder for consumers to manage their budgets, because lenders have 30 days to notify their customers, and they often wait to do so after taking action.The depth of the financial crisis has shocked a credit-hooked nation into rethinking its habits. Many families once content to buy now and pay later are eager to trim their reliance on credit cards. The Treasury Department, which is spending billions of dollars in taxpayer money to clean up an economic mess brought on in part by all sorts of easy credit, recently started an advertising campaign inviting consumers to check into the “Bad Credit Hotel,” an online game that teaches the basics of maintaining good credit. SOURCE:NYT.COM

Obama to visit TV viewers for half hour Wednesday

Sen. Barack Obama is going where millions of voters spend their evenings - their own living rooms - when he stars in a 30-minute paid commercial Wednesday night on national TV that will serve as his big media finale in the 2008 presidential race.The Democrat's unusual coast-to-coast pitch to voters - with a price tag some have suggested is in the $3 million range - is another reminder that after two years of campaign ads, events and stump speeches, even the closing arguments in this campaign are breaking boundaries.The Obama ad - part biography, part campaign commercial - will be hard to miss. It will be broadcast locally at 8 p.m. Wednesday on CBS5 - between "Access Hollywood" and "Deal or No Deal" - and also on NBC affiliate KNTV and BET.This is the first time a major-party presidential candidate has bought 30 minutes of time for a single commercial on national TV.Michelle Obama, speaking Monday night to Jay Leno on "The Tonight Show," said it will put her husband "all over the place ... but I don't know what they're calling it.""This was always a great idea - to make sure that if something bad happened, if there was an October surprise, you had a place holder where you could ... deal with a game-changing event," Obama supporter and fundraiser Wade Randlett said this week. "But in the absence of that - God willing - you have the opportunity to do what Barack started yesterday (Monday), which is to bring the process full circle."With just six days until the election and polls showing Obama leading Sen. John McCain by anywhere from 6 to 14 points in national polls, Obama supporters like Randlett say the Illinois senator's big buy on the national media stage is not just a campaign commercial and is not just targeted at swing states or undecided voters. They say it's about making an appeal to all Americans about what lies ahead if he becomes president."What (Obama) said from day one what this campaign was always about, was to ... put it in context," said Randlett. "This is about bringing the country together, getting past race and ideology - and getting ready for the hard work."Bob Gardner, a San Francisco ad man and GOP strategist who helped create media for Republican President Gerald Ford in 1976, notes that H. Ross Perot, a Reform Party presidential candidate in 1992, bought half an hour of TV time to explain to Americans how he would "get under the hood" and fix the system.He drew as many as 16 million viewers for those televised lectures, which were complete with pointers and charts.But Gardner also notes that as the ad man for Ford, "we did live 30-minute (TV) shows in battleground states in the last 10 days. We called it "President Ford's Traveling TV Circus."Gardner said that in that election - before cable TV and the Internet were widespread - the concept was more simple: "You'd go to Philly and put on a half-hour show with highlights of the campaign. And the emcee of the show was (former sportscaster and baseball player) Joe Garagiola," who served as the kind of "Joe the Plumber" everyman of the era, Gardner noted. "After the filmed highlights, Garagiola would interview Ford."Obama's effort, Gardner says, can make sense - especially for a campaign that is up in the polls and flush with cash."If you've got it, you might as well flaunt it," Gardner said. "I'm sure it will focus on his themes. There will be talking heads ... and 'man on the street' interviews, probably with white blue-collar workers. They'll try to assure these groups that he's acceptable."Unlikely to make an appearance, he predicts, will be some of the more liberal members of Democratic party, including "(House Speaker) Nancy Pelosi, (Senate Majority Leader) Harry Reid, (Democratic National Committee chairman) Howard Dean, (Massachusetts Rep.) Barney Frank or (Connecticut Sen.) Chris Dodd." They might only remind voters, especially those in the middle, he said, of the pressures Obama may face from his own party once elected.Golden Gate University marketing professor MichalStrahilevitz says that Obama's big show still "has one potential downside ... it reminds everyone that Obama has a lot more money and that John McCain is definitely the underdog."Since Obama opted out of the public financing system - leaving him free to raise and spend money with no limits - the Democrat has held a decided advantage over McCain, who has had to pull ads from states like Michigan to stay under his $85 million spending limit.But throughout the campaign, Obama has - in his communications and "selling" strategy - managed a more consistent and more consistently reassuring approach than McCain has offered, Strahilevitz said.While Obama has stuck to the economic issues as central, "McCain has muddled his message more," she said."The fact that his emotions seems to go up and down is really an issue when most Americans ... are scared," she said. "And when you're scared, you don't want to be around someone who is. You want, 'Everything is going to be OK; we will get through this.' "Author and communications expert Ruth Sherman says Wednesday's media blitz by Obama could have some voters, especially those who are facing home foreclosure and tough economic times, wondering, "Why is he spending all this money? It could look like excess, overkill."But the 30-minute show could also provide an effective platform for Obama to "show who he is and what his life has been like ... so people can understand he's not the elite the other side is trying to portray." SOURCE:SFGATE.COM

Triple tragedy leaves Hudson career at crossroads

NEW YORK (AP) — Just a month ago, a bubbly Jennifer Hudson — who had been striking gold with just about everything she touched — was running down the list of all the projects that she expected would soon dominate her life.Already an Oscar-winning actress, the 27-year-old was about to release her first album, which would become an instant best-seller, and a new movie, "The Secret Life of Bees." But the entertainer saw so much more in her future. "I am planning on touring," she said, rattling off a list of her upcoming priorities. "There's more films and more music and stuff like that ... I want to start a fashion line as well, start writing music." There were also plans of a big wedding to new fiance David Otunga. "It's gonna be a production," she gushed. "I have so many visions for it right now — I get to put that together." But last week, at a moment when her wildest dreams were either realized or seemed well within reach, she suffered a personal tragedy so devastating, so unthinkable, that it would be understandable if she never moved to reclaim them. Instead of filming a video for her new single Monday in Los Angeles, Hudson was in Chicago, identifying the body of a child believed to be her 7-year-old nephew Julian — apparently the third victim in a killing spree that had already claimed her mother and brother, whose bodies she had identified a couple of days before. "This is really something no one can really deal with, and you never fully recover from something like this," said Harvey Mason, who has written and produced songs for Hudson and considers her a friend. "But she's a very strong person, and she's got a great heart, and I'm just sad something like this has had to enter into her life." Hudson's mother, Darnell Donerson, 57, and 29-year-old brother, Jason Hudson, were killed in the family's home in a homicide police have described as domestic in nature. Her sister Julia's 7-year-old son, Julian, was declared missing, along with a white truck taken from the scene. On Monday, after a weekend of pleas from both Julia and Jennifer Hudson — who had offered $100,000 Sunday for information leading to the boy's safe return — police found the truck and the body of a 7-year-old child inside who they later said was Julian. Police have been questioning William Balfour, the estranged husband of Julia Hudson who is in custody. Balfour is not the boy's father and has not been charged in the slayings. Although Hudson has spoken out from her MySpace.com page, thanking fans for their support, she has been in seclusion in Chicago. All public events that she had scheduled over the next week or so have been canceled, and a planned video shoot for her new single "If It Isn't Love," which was to take place starting Monday in Los Angeles, was also abandoned. CONTINUE READING...

Shaya - "Fall Back" featuring Jake One

Shaya cuts to the chase in a serious way with "Fall Back," bringing his signature flow to the table alongside a low-key yet highly memorable beat produced by the red hot Jake One. The opening line, "Hit 'em with that critical hip-hop," embodies Shaya's philosophy when it comes to making hip-hop: no excess, no frills, just solid rhymes and beats and music that comes from the heart. Lines such as: "Your boy can rhyme, outta sight outta mind, guaranteed to shock deep, never there but right on time" re-affirm Shaya's belief in genuine hip-hop music. The track's beat grabs the listener right from the beginning with a walking bass line that kicks things off. With an ethereal synth line sitting on top of the mid-tempo beat, the track's simplicity is reminiscent of hip-hop's glory days back in the early 90's. A few other elements, including a sampled vocal line underlie the rhyming; the focus, still, is the lyrical content. "Fall Back" is a throwback to the days in hip-hop when rhymes and beats mattered more than jewelry and women. Shaya's debut album, Fallen Awake, is available in stores and online everywhere on The Background: Prior to signing with Interdependent Media, Shaya spent nearly ten years hitting the pavement in his native Bay Area slanging handmade CD's and mixtapes at shows and on street corners. Shaya's lyricism, determination, and charismatic personality caught the attention of many industry leaders but personal obstacles often prevented him from taking his craft to the next level. He did, however, perform regularly and opened up for Bay Area luminaries such as the Hieroglyphics and the Living Legends. Shaya is currently under the mentorship of iD, the same A&R guru who introduced the world to Little Brother. Now, backed with the support of Interdependent Media, home to Canibus, K'naan, Tanya Morgan, Eyezon, J*Davey, and other artists, Shaya and iD are proud to finally release the fulfillment of the potential that others in the industry have always seen in Shaya with Fallen Awake. The album features production from Jake One (50 Cent, Freeway) and The ARE (Lords of the Underground, K-Otix). Under the manifesto of resurrecting “thinking man’s music,” Shaya considers Fallen Awake to be not only an open-palm to his listeners, but a chance to lay to rest the pains of his own life.Interdependent Media.
 Streams:
"Fall Back" featuring Jake One
http://www.audibletreats.com/download/Shaya/Shaya-Fall_Back.mp3
Instrumental: http://media.audibletreats.com/Shaya-Fall_Back_Instrumental.mp3
"Take A Rdie"
http://www.audibletreats.com/download/Shaya/Shaya-Take_A_Ride.mp3
"Thinking Cap"
http://www.audibletreats.com/download/Shaya/Shaya-Thinking_Cap.mp3
"Industry Life"
http://www.audibletreats.com/download/Shaya/Shaya-Industry_Life.mp3
"Proud"
http://www.audibletreats.com/download/Shaya/Shaya-Proud.mp3
Bio, pictures, and streams available here:
http://www.audibletreats.com/download/Shaya
Shaya MySpace page:
http://www.myspace.com/theroyalseal
Label site:
http://www.imculture.com
http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAlbum?id=285173397&s=143441

Obama holds 4-point lead on McCain

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democrat Barack Obama has a 4-point national lead over Republican John McCain as they head into the final week of the presidential campaign, according to a Reuters/C-SPAN/Zogby poll released on Tuesday.Obama leads McCain by 49 percent to 45 percent among likely voters in the three-day national tracking poll, a slight dip from his 5-point advantage on Monday. The telephone poll has a margin of error of 2.9 percentage points.McCain solidified his support among white and male voters but Obama retained double-digit leads among women and independent voters -- two key swing blocs in the November 4 election. Obama had a strong single day of polling on Monday, pollster John Zogby said, and still holds a significant edge among Hispanics and Catholics, two groups who gave a boost to Republican President George W. Bush's re-election win in 2004."With seven days to go in this race, McCain is still not where he needs to be with some key groups and he is running out of time," Zogby said.McCain, a veteran Arizona senator, has sliced Obama's 12-point advantage by more than half in the last five days but he has not been able to break through the 45 percent support mark.When the national tracking poll debuted on October 6, Obama led by 3 points, 48 percent to 45 percent. In the ensuing three weeks, McCain's support has not been higher than 45 percent and Obama's support has not been lower than 48 percent. MCCAIN TRIES TO GAIN -- McCain has struggled in recent weeks to overcome Obama's lead in national polls and to beat back a strong challenge from the first-term Illinois senator in about a dozen states won by Bush in 2004.The swirling economic crisis helped emphasize Obama's perceived strength on the issue, while a series of debates and Obama's huge advantage in paid advertising in battleground states have also paid dividends.Obama leads among all age groups except those between 30 and 49. He also leads among self-described blue-collar workers and those who have a member of the military in their family.Obama also has done a better job of reaching across the ideological divide, winning one of every five conservative voters while McCain captures just 8 percent of self-described liberals, the poll found.Independent Ralph Nader and Libertarian Bob Barr both received support from 1 percent of those polled nationally. Three percent said they remain undecided in the race. CONTINUE READING...

'NOAH'S ARC' FILM DRAWS LOYAL AUDIENCE: Fans of LOGO TV series send big screen version to top of indie box office chart.

MTV Networks says its romantic comedy, "Noah's Arc: Jumping the Broom," topped the U.S. theatrical independent film box office with an estimated opening weekend gross of $161,302, or approximately $32,261 per screen.The film is based on the Logo television series about the lives of four African American gay friends in Los Angeles. When Noah (Darryl Stephens), a young screenwriter from Los Angeles, agrees to marry his partner Wade (Jensen Atwood) in a small ceremony on Martha's Vineyard, he invites his three closest friends, Alex (Rodney Chester), Ricky (Christian Vincent) and Chance (Doug Spearman) to travel cross-country with them for a weekend of revelry. What he gets instead is a weekend of revelations where secrets and lies are exposed, hearts are challenged and friendships are turned upside down.The enormous audience response to the film's opening weekend is prompting Logo Features to add screens for the film's second weekend, MTV announced.

Today's Papers:The Greatest Gift

The New York Times and Washington Post lead with, while the Los Angeles Times and USA Today give big front-page play to, news that Sen. Ted Stevens was found guilty of concealing tens of thousands of dollars in free home renovations and other gifts. The 84-year-old Republican senator from Alaska was convicted on all seven felony counts, each with a maximum penalty of five years in prison. No one thinks he would get anywhere near the maximum sentence, but the NYT says he would likely have to spend at least some time in jail. Stevens blamed "repeated instances of prosecutorial misconduct" for the outcome and vowed to "fight this unjust verdict with every ounce of energy I have." The Los Angeles Times leads with the infighting that is already taking place over the future of the Republican Party. The more conservative wing of the party wants the GOP to once again emphasize the fight against abortion, gay marriage, and illegal immigration while moderates say Republicans should be focusing on broadening their base. USA Today leads with a look at how Barack Obama's huge fundraising lead is allowing him to spend much more on advertising than John McCain. This disparity will be fully evident on Wednesday, when a half-hour prime-time ad for Obama will run on CBS, NBC, and Fox. The Wall Street Journal leads its world-wide newsbox with the presidential campaigns that took both candidates to Ohio yesterday, where they continued to focus on economic issues. To continue reading, click here.

iPHONE Daily Blog Buzz 10.28.08

Two white supremacists allegedly plotted to go on a national killing spree, shooting and decapitating black people and ultimately targeting Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, federal authorities said Monday. In all, the two men whom officials described as neo-Nazi skinheads planned to kill 88 people — 14 by beheading, according to documents unsealed in U.S. District Court in Jackson, Tenn. The numbers 88 and 14 are symbolic in the white supremacist community. The spree, which initially targeted an unidentified predominantly African-American school, was to end with the two men driving toward Obama, "shooting at him from the windows," the documents show. CONTINUE READING...Election Day is almost here, so voters can expect more smears, lies and half-truths. Senator Ted Stevens, the Senate’s longest-serving Republican, was found guilty of violating ethics laws for failing to report gifts and services that he was given by friends.Chicago police have found the body of a young boy on Monday in the same SUV that was part of a massive manhunt after the killings of the mother and brother of actress Jennifer Hudson.When it rains, it pours for Terrence Howard. One week after learning through the trades that his "Iron Man 2" role was given to Don Cheadle, the Oscar-nominated actor has been sued for alleged assault.he hometown newspaper of Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin says thanks, but no thanks by announcing its endorsement of her rival, Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama, for president.The musical group LaBelle, the avant-garde female trio that melded disco with funk and glam rock, smashed on the urban and pop scene early 60s and 70s, but the era of the group never actually ended. Shortly after news broke Friday that Isiah Thomas may have been rushed to the hospital after overdosing on sleeping pills, the former New York Knicks coach said it was not him, but rather his 17-year-old daughter, who was hospitalized. Actor Harold Perrineau, most recently seen in the ABC drama "Lost," will executive produce and star in the forthcoming indie drama "Case 219. Hill Harper, actor ('CSI-NY,' 'Lackawanna Blues'), best-selling author ('Letters To A Young Sister' and 'Letters to A Young Brother'), and activist gives BV Bookshelf a look into what he's reading (and listening to) these days. What Are You Currently... Read more In just eight days, America may well elect its first black president. Throughout the long campaign, race has been an omnipresent issue with many asking whether whites and some blacks would reject Senator Obama because of his race. Most news outlets and commentators have discussed race in a vacuous way for fear of being called racists. In fact, if this election taught us anything about the media and race, it is that most journalists — including white liberals — simply lack the vocabulary to discuss and analyze race, choosing instead to engage in a cacophonous politically correct gab fest. As the election draws to a close, one major cable news network decided to discuss race in a mephitic way, reminiscent of Amos and Andy, a situation comedy based on reinforcing stereotypes about blacks and widely popular in the United States from the 1920s through the 1950s. (Continue Reading…) John Legend releases his third studio album, Evolver tomorrow, October 28th. It seems as though this time John has decided to step from behind the piano, and show that he can dabble in some electronic elements for his third studio effort…LISTEN UP: ♫ JOHN LEGEND FEAT. BRANDY - QUICKLY ♫ JOHN LEGEND - GOOD MORNING ♫ JOHN LEGEND - I LOVE, YOU LOVE 50 Cent talked to us about his role as executive producer of the upcoming Jam Master Jay documentary "Two Turntables and a Microphone."R&B singer Cassie will not be joining Danity Kane, a rep for the group said, but the rep did not address rumors that Shannon Bex has left the group as well. CONTINUE READING..  The police found the body of the young nephew of the actress and singer Jennifer Hudson in an abandoned sport-utility vehicle in Chicago on Monday, three days after her mother and brother were found dead in their home about 10 miles away.CONTINUE READING...THAT'S A WRAP...

Contra Costa sheriff building death penalty argument in wife stabbing

(10-27) 16:29 PDT ORINDA -- Investigators said Monday that they are trying to build a death penalty case against an Oakland man who allegedly stabbed his estranged wife near the Caldecott Tunnel and pushed her out of his pickup in front of stunned motorists. Robert Woods, a 47-year-old former maintenance worker for the city of Oakland, was arrested on suspicion of murdering Elnora Caldwell, 46. Caldwell obtained a restraining order against Woods earlier this year, saying she was afraid of him. She was stabbed to death Saturday night and pushed from the pickup on a stretch of Fish Ranch Road that passes over the east end of the Caldecott Tunnel. The Contra Costa County Sheriff's Office is handling the case because the killing happened on unincorporated land near Orinda. It plans to turn over its evidence to prosecutors Tuesday for a charging decision. "He deserves it," Caldwell's brother, Roy Jenkins of Alameda, said of the death penalty. "Life in the pen? I don't see it. That's my sister, man." Sheriff's Capt. Daniel Terry, who leads the investigations division, declined to say how he might build a death penalty case, which would require an allegation of so-called special circumstances. Under California law, these include the slaying of a police officer or a witness, an unnecessarily torturous killing, or a killing that is done during the commission of certain violent felonies such as kidnapping or rape. Caldwell's family members believe she was kidnapped Saturday from her Oakland home, perhaps by someone other than Woods. Ultimately, the decision whether to seek the death penalty rests with prosecutors. Officials with the sheriff's office have not said how Caldwell ended up in Woods' truck, but said she was stabbed and then pushed out on Fish Ranch Road at about 6:15 p.m. Police and witnesses said Woods went to Caldwell's Oakland apartment and washed up, then turned himself in to an Oakland police officer in the area. More than a dozen motorists stopped to help Caldwell. Some gave her chest compressions and others jotted down the license plate number of the GMC pickup. Alameda County Superior Court records show that Caldwell applied for a domestic violence restraining order against Woods on April 29, and that the order was to be active until 2013. Her relatives said she had also filed for divorce, but there is no record of such a filing. Caldwell wrote in her application for the restraining order that Woods had shoved her after showing up unannounced at the Nordstrom department store in San Francisco where she worked and accusing her of infidelity. In 2007, she wrote, Woods pulled her hair during an argument in his truck, forcing her to flee and take a taxi home. In a third incident, Caldwell said, her husband broke a glass sliding door at her apartment. "It has to stop," Caldwell wrote of alleged verbal and physical abuse. Court records show that Woods was fired from his job as a maintenance worker for the city of Oakland last year for allegedly doing drugs and threatening to kill co-workers. CONTINUE READING..

Movie Review:Noah's Arc: Jumping the Broom (2008) October 24, 2008 Gay Wedding Bells

By ANDY WEBSTER-- The television series “Noah’s Arc,” which began on the Logo network in 2005, has yielded, “Sex and the City” style, its own feature: an agreeable melodrama unlikely to reach an audience beyond that of the show, which concerns the lives of prosperous gay black men in Los Angeles. The movie, taking place two years after events at the end of the second season, follows the nuptials of the sensitive Noah (Darryl Stephens) and the cautious Wade (Jensen Atwood) on Martha’s Vineyard. In attendance are the flamboyant Alex (Rodney Chester), managing the food and preparations; Chance (Doug Spearman), a work-obsessed professor, accompanied by his neglected partner of four years, Eddie (Jonathan Julian); the promiscuous Ricky (Christian Vincent), who secretly covets Noah; Brandon (Gary LeRoi Gray), a student of Chance’s, who is dating Ricky and fretting about coming out to his family; and a closeted British rapper, Baby Gat (Jason Steed). Given the Jacuzzi and two bachelor parties, the occasion prompts a flurry of flirtations, jealousies and amorous encounters.And yet, despite some drinking (with nary a hangover afterward) and a fling or two, the prevailing mood isn’t campy or disco-decadent. Rather the emphasis is squarely on heartfelt communication, monogamy and child rearing: this group shares a prayer at the dining room table. Written and directed with restraint by the show’s creator, Patrik-Ian Polk, the film ends just as you’d expect: with vows of conjugal commitment.SOURCE:NYT.COM