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From matrons to schoolgirls, women from every walk of life and level of society demonstrated that, in the end, there is one commodity that never loses its value.While Weimar Berlin is an outrageous example of the impact that a brutalized economy can have on society, recent events have demonstrated that the evaporation of social mores is not as unlikely as one might hope. From young New York women seeking to  themselves to wealthy businessmen, to people offering cheap rentals in return for  sex for gas, the news over the last few months has been full of sordid tales of women deciding to turn to prostitution as a means of dealing with inflation. The definitive event in this trend was probably New York Governor Eliot Spitzer’s dalliance with Ashlee Dupree. While the news was running in circles attempting to explain Spitzer’s downfall, precious little attention was devoted to the woman who was willing to exchange her body for cash and an embarrassing moment in the spotlight. It’s interesting to speculate on the reason for this lack of coverage: was the media uninterested in the forces that motivated Spitzer’s Lolita, or was it simply convinced that it already knew them?

In a recent Radar magazine article, Jessica Pilot discussed the experiences of three acquaintances who have chosen to become high-priced call girls. It makes for some fascinating reading, as Pilot’s friends, “Olivia,” “Kelly” and “Heather,” are neither undereducated waifs who have been consumed alive by the big bad city, nor intravenous drug users who have fallen to the bottom of the economic dogpile. As polished, well-educated, intelligent women who are working their way up in their chosen professions, they don’t fit any of the traditional prostitution narratives. However, when they finish their “day jobs,” these women claim to make between $800 and $2000 per hour by servicing the carnal desires of Wall Street tycoons.

What is particularly fascinating about Pilot’s trio is that have chosen this profession. Pilot’s article suggests that part of the seduction of “the life” is the easy money and the easy access to luxuries, but that doesn’t seem to capture the heart of what compels these women to sell themselves. Perhaps the key lies in the  sums of money. While I’m not willing to admit how little I make, it’s fair to say that Pilot’s trio can clear most of my yearly income in a decent weekend. When the sums are so high, it’s not really surprising that buyers can easily find sellers!

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Actress Cicely Tyson said her movie career paled in comparison to Perry’s accomplishments, which now include Saturday’s opening of the 30-acre Tyler Perry Studios in Atlanta, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.

“I never dreamed I would witness this in my lifetime,” the former Oscar nominee said. “What I’ve been able to achieve in my career is minuscule in comparison to this.”

Others on hand included actor Sydney Poitier and talk show host Oprah Winfrey.

Perry transformed a former airline reservations center into his studio. For the “Family that Preys” director, finding the Atlanta site was an instance of divine intervention.

“I looked closer and realized someone had taped Bible scriptures on the gate,” he told the newspaper of his first experience with the site two years ago. “Then I knew. I jumped in full steam with no fear. Nothing but the grace of God has brought me to this place.” Source

source for the video & story above: The Huffington Post and msnbc.com

In my opinion: The debate was a joke, Sarah Palin is a joke. The Republican party wanted to trump the “black guy” card with the “hot white hockey mom” card, so they picked her. She is pretty and she is white..period. They saw the Obama momentum growing out of control and they had to use any method possible to stop it. Their brilliant solution? An empty headed pretty politician who is in charge of a state that has less than 1 person per square mile. There are more moose in Alaska than people, okay?

I give it to the McCain Republicans, they have major balls. To be so obvious in their choice shows how desperate they were. They know their base, and that’s why they chose someone who has all the superficial , un-intelligent qualities that so called “white middle America” voters cherish. You know, that fake folksy, home grown, I not a intellectual but a darn good Christian, and very cute so vote for me mindset. These are the only people this strategy can work on. The same empty headed republican base who wants Creationism in schools, and who believe that global warming is just God’s natural plan and not man made are the ones who are foaming at that mouth over Palin. I still don’t get it..why such a big fuss over a Vice President? Who cares, the VP’s job is simple, break ties in the Senate! That’s it! The “base” just hated McCain so much that they had to transfer all their hope on this dim woman. I mean, damn, if your own party doesn’t like you and you have to bring in an attractive piece of ass to get votes, shouldn’t you throw in the towel? Where is McCain’s pride?

It doesn’t matter that she isn’t smart, informed, or gives any real answers to questions she is asked. She’s pretty, pro-life, anti-gay, religious, and folksy so trust me, in 20 years they will be drooling for her like they drool over Ronald Regan, another scum bag who doesn’t deserve a shred of respect , yet the Republicans treat him like Elvis. They are BLIND people, they don’t care about the issues, they just wanna win. I admit, I wish Barack Obama had more flair and was a tad bit tougher, but it’s so refreshing to see a candidate for president that is intelligent, and calm, and can answer a question backwards and forwards confidently and clearly. He may not be funny enough to be satired on SNL, but that’s what makes him unique, he’s kinda bland, all business, brilliant and has a smile that makes me personally melt. I don’t care about having a beer with the president like the so many people said back in 2000 and 2004 about Bush, it doesn’t matter to me if he is funny, or filled with one liners, I just want someone who understands his job and does it as fair as possible. So far, Obama is ahead in all the polls, so be expecting the McCain camp to start dropping some serious , and most likely false attacks on Obama any day now. Just look at the numbers and see why Obama has these sore losers shaking in their boots. History is about to be made in America, and they know it!

On the lighter side…..
Tina Fey knocked it out of the park for the 3rd time with her latest sketch appearance on SNL as Sarah Palin in the Vice Presidential Debate. Tina is on fire this year! I am so proud of her, she’s very funny and great at what she does.

Two other passengers and two crew members died, said the National Transportation Safety Board. Their identities were not immediately available.

Barker and Goldstein, who perform together under the name TRVSDJ-AM, played a free concert in Columbia’s college neighborhood Friday night.

A representative for Barker and DJ AM said she had no information the crash.

After Blink 182, Barker went on to form the rock band (+44) — pronounced “plus forty-four.” He starred in the MTV reality series “Meet the Barkers” with former Miss USA Shanna Moakler, to whom he was married at the time. The show documented the former couple’s lavish wedding and life.

Goldstein at one time was engaged to celebrity Nicole Richie

“Red Hook High” may be the antidote to all that. Instead of stick-thin blondes toting $3,500 Hermes bags, there are black boys toting bags of drugs. Instead of postcard-perfect mansions and cityscapes, there are cramped apartments and construction zones. Part drama, part documentary, “Red Hook High,” a new pilot that premiered at the New York Television Festival (NYTVF) this week, shows a high school experience few network and cable series touch on, one that unfolds in a gritty Brooklyn community among teens with the odds stacked against them. Forget prom queens and valedictorians. “Red Hook High’s” stars include a budding drug dealer, an emerging gay crusader and a possibly pregnant teen.

“It’s the opposite of ‘Gossip Girl,’” said director Trac Minh Vu. “It’s not a glossy Hollywood fashion show. There are probably people who actually live lives like what is portrayed on ‘Gossip Girl’ and ‘The OC.’ But they’re fantasy shows. They’re about showcasing high fashion and the small population of people who can live like that.”

“But my own high school experience is not at all reflected in the current crop of teen dramas,” he continued. “Part of this is trying to show that the teen experience is far wider than what’s portrayed on TV, especially for kids of color.” Vu came to the United State from Vietnam at age 2. By day, he’s a video producer for an investment bank. Nights and weekends, he works on independent projects: Last year, his teen drama about the Upper East Side’s wannabe Ivy Leaguers, “Dear Harvard,” picked up three major awards from the NYTVF, which showcases independent pilots (those not backed by an established studio).

This year, Vu channeled his experience as a nonwhite student in an Oregon Catholic school, his time working as a teaching artist at South Brooklyn Community High Schoo and his affinity for classic coming-of-age dramas like “My So Called Life,” “Dawson’s Creek” and “Felicity,” into a pilot portraying teen life on the other side of the East River.

Beyond a basic story outline, Vu left the dialogue and development of “Red Hook High” up to his actors, students from Brooklyn high schools with an interest in performing arts. They rehearsed over the course of seven weeks and shot the pilot in four days, on a sub-$20,000 budget financed out of Vu’s pocket, pennies compared to the average $3 million budget networks allot for pilot production. For many of the stars, their story lines mirrored their real-life drama.

“They told us to write down what kind of characters we wanted to be. I said, I just want to be gay because it’s just going to be like, stupid if I’m trying to be straight,” said Michael Maldonado, who’s openly gay and plays a teen coming to terms with his homosexuality.

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From left to right - singers Keyshia Cole, Leona Lewis. Fergie, Ciara, Mariah Carey, Beyonce, Mary J Blige, Rihanna, Carrie Underwood, Miley Cyrus, Ashanti, Natasha Bedingfield, and Nicole Scherzinger pose after performing “Just Stand Up”, the worldwide charity single benefiting Stand Up To Cancer. The song was created and produced by LA Reid and Kenny “Babyface” Edmonds, pictured in the center.

Jones left a halfway house in San Antonio around 8 a.m., said LaTanya Robinson, a community corrections manager for the federal Bureau of Prisons. Jones, who has a house in Austin, will remain on probation.

Jones’ attorney did not immediately respond to a call or e-mail from The Associated Press requesting comment.

The sprinter admitted last October that she used a designer steroid known as “the clear” from September 2000 to July 2001. The drug was linked to the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative, the lab that became the center of a steroids scandal that touched numerous professional athletes, including baseball star Barry Bonds.

Her admission of drug use in 2007 came after years of denials.

In 2004, she sued the founder of BALCO for defamation after he said she used steroids. The lawsuit was settled the following year, long before she told the truth in a federal courtroom.

Jones gave back the three gold medals and two bronze medals she won at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney before the International Olympic Committee officially wiped her name from the record books in December.

 
“For me it’s very clearly something that comes from my heart,” Santana told Billboard.

The artist personally supervised the compilation of the two-disc, career-spanning “Warrior,” as well as the artwork and package design. Due September 30 on Columbia/Legacy, the set features 28 songs from 1970 to 2002.

“I basically turned it all in, the complete finished work,” Santana said. He also added some new overdubs to five of the songs, putting guitar on “Spirit” and “Right Now,” while Santana band member Chester “C.T.” Thompson played new piano parts for “Let There Be Light” and Barbara Higbie played fresh harmonica for that song and “Praise.”

“Warrior” is just one of “a lot of things that we’re doing,” according to Santana. He has put his proposed “The Father, Son and the Holy Ghost” three-CD set “on hold for right now” but is working on a new project with producer/record executive Clive Davis, a longtime collaborator, that Santana said features “no guests, just guitar” and is still in its formative stages.

He also expects to record another “Supernatural” type of album but “not for a while, maybe two years from now.”

When I saw these recent photos of Stacey Dash  I was speechless. We all remember Stacey as Dionne the rich girl sidekick to Cher Horowitz in the 1995 mega hit and cult classic Clueless. This beautiful actress seems to almost be frozen in time.

She has always played charcters that were much younger than her actual age, which is 42! Yes, she is 42. From the natural look of her face and body it doesn’t appear that she’s had any plastic surgery and is aging quite gracefully.

This just proves that women over 40 are no longer limited to short soccer mom hair bobs and 90’s looking mom jeans. Way to girl girl! Enjoy the pics!

Stacey Dash in Playboy

Stacey Dash and her fine agless butt on the cover of ghetto King Magazine

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