Archive for Celebrity
What’s My Line?
Posted by: | CommentsDeath and Taxes
Posted by: | CommentsSome guys have all the luck. Last year the estate tax was 45%. Next year it will be 55%. This year? Nil. Zero. The empty set. Businesses say this sort of thing makes it tough to plan for the future. One business isn’t complaining. Since he died in 2010, George Steinbrenner’s heirs won’t have to sell the Yankees to pay the taxes.
Cleveland Breaks
Posted by: | CommentsBrian Windhorst’s reporting in the Plain Dealer brings some more witness to the possibility of collusion. Friday night in Miami Chris Bosh said that he, James, and Wade had been talking about “the moment for months”. The same agency, Creative Artists, represented all three players and Pat Riley met with LeBron in November, inspiring him to give up Michael Jordan’s number 23.
Maureen Dowd gets in on the act,calling Miami a “Hoops Cartel”.
Fishy in Miami
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Guys propose marriage on the Jumbotron all the time at sporting events so why shouldn’t LeBron let down the home town fans on national tv - for a second time, if we’re counting playoff performances? The thing is, LeBron loves the spotlight so much it’s possible he was using his ESPN infomercial to make a confession.
By dumping on his Cleveland teammates again, this time to run off with Dwade and Heronimous Bosh, could he be guilty of collusion?
According to the same ESPN (this time wearing its reporters hat), NBA commisioner David Stern has said, ”he’s been assured at the “highest level” that there will be no sitdown among LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and the other superstars”. Well, that’s good to know. Otherwise it might seem suspicious that the threesome signed with the same team for less - 30 million less in James case - than they could have earned elsewhere.
Helen Thomas Sketchbook
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Helen Thomas was forced into early retirement yesterday at age 89. (Go here for Dana Milbank’s column. Go here to watch Helen torment Robert Gibbs.)
Helen was recorded saying that Jews should get out of Palestine and go back to Poland. With that she bolted across the borders of acceptable free speech. She now exists beyond the pale along with cartoons of Muhammad and questions about the Civil Rights bill.
I wrote a children’s book with Helen and I’ve heard her talk this way about the Middle East many times. Helen’s opinions aren’t my opinions but they’ve been widely known for years.
Go here to see Ari Fleisher demand Helen’s resignation (reason enough for her to stay on).
Correspondents Dinner
Posted by: | CommentsComedy Central
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I like this column by Diana West about the South Park threats. In it Trey Parker and Matt Stone point out that “if everyone had done what they normally do in news organizations, which would have been to print the cartoons, they could have rallied together”. Instead, the guy who drew Muhammad with a bomb in his turban, Kurt Westergaard (warning: the video link contains an image of The Prophet) (even worse warning: it contains subtitles) was” left hanging out to dry”.
This has always been my complaint about the Danish cartoon crisis. By submitting to intimidation by Islamic extremists (an influential minority in a billion person religion) and not showing the cartoons, which were the basis of a major news story, a sliver of Sharia law was introduced to the U.S. A bunch of thugs insisted the image of The Prophet may not be displayed and so, for the most part, it came to pass.
If you’re off the grid and haven’t heard about the South Park episode you’re probably not reading this either, but just in case, here is the story in the L.A. Times. And here’s a Huffington Post piece featuring a video of Jon Stewart sort of taking on his bosses at Comedy Central (warning: bad words).
Tiger’s Happy Place
Posted by: | CommentsThe good news is Tiger says he doesn’t exploit women anymore. The bad news is he exploits his dead dad in a recent Nike commercial. The spot brought to mind another truly mythical golfer with self-control issues - Happy Gilmore. Happy channels his father figure, Chubb, in that movie’s final scene (fast forward to the 3:22 mark).
Twelve Steps to More Fame, Money, and Power
Posted by: | CommentsThomas Sowell had another good column last week in which he asked the age old question, “why is Tiger apologizing to me?”.






