James Durbin leaves American Idol

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James Durbin was voted off American Idol tonight in what most people would say was a big upset.     Scotty McCreery, Lauren Alaina, and Haley Reinhart are the three remaining finalists.

This makes my American Idol Contestants prediction of a Durbin win … WRONG … but I’m OK with that because I’m now rooting for Lauren, who has the country charm that I hope takes her into the final.   Scotty’s the big surprise for me even though he’s a great singer – I just didn’t think his sort of “overaged kid” style would do so well but he’d obviously a big hit with the American Idol voting demographic – teen girls.

So we’re almost down to the final, and therefore…

THIS IS AMERICAN IDOL!

American Idol Contestants Part II

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Well, I was pretty close with my estimate of which American Idol Contestants would make it until tonight.    We’ve got Haley Reinhart, Lauren Alaina, James Durbin, and Scotty McCreery where I predicted the first three plus Casey would still be alive in the American Idol Competition.  Jacob Lusk was last weeks victim in the cruel and suspenseful “results” show where contestants are slowly made to squirm while they learn their individual fate as continuing in pursuit of becoming the next American Idol, an honor so great it often almost immediately confers a lifetime of superstardom on the winners – people like Carrie Underwood, Kelly Clarkson, and … umm… Taylor Hicks!   (What, who dat?)

My winner prediction is still the same.   I think James Durbin will take it unless he really falls apart in the last few weeks.    Scotty, Haley, and Lauren all had exceptional performances last week so it’s certainly possible we’ll see what I would call an upset and see somebody other than James win the whole show.

THIS … is AMERICAN IDOL!

Google Chromebook Computer

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Google just announced a new computing platform called “Chromebook” that looks very promising.    Working with partners Samsung and Acer, the new computers will optimize the computing experience for the web, taking advantage of Google’s Android operating system, the Google Chrome browser, gmail, Google documents, Google maps, and the many other great web-centric products Google has cooked up since they began their amazing online journey from obscure search engine to online advertising juggernaut.

More about Google Chromebook at Technology Report

Official Google Blog: A new kind of computer: Chromebook

Intro to Chromebook

Celebrity Salaries from TV Guide

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You thought YOU were overworked and underpaid.  Julie Kavner and Yeardley Smith, the voices of Bart and Lisa on “The Simpsons”, only make $400,000 …. per episode.   So stop your whining, things are tough all over.

Dramas per EPISODE!

  • $550,000 – Kiefer Sutherland “24”
  • $400,000 – Hugh Laurie “House”
  • $400,000 – Mariska Hargitay “Law and Order: SUV”
  • $400,000 – Christopher Meloni “Law and Order: SUV”
  • $390,000 – Marg Helgenberger “CSI”
  • $375,000 – David Caruso “CSI: Miami”
  • $350,000 – Laurence Fishburne “CSI”
  • $325,000 – Mark Harmon “NCIS”
  • $275,000 – Ellen Pompeo “Grey’s Anatomy”
  • $250,000 – Tim Roth “Lie to Me”
  • $250,000 – Kate Walsh “Private Practice”
  • $250,000 – Patrick Dempsey “Grey’s Anatomy”
  • $250,000 – Simon Baker “The Mentalist”
  • $250,000 – Calista Flockhart “Brothers and Sisters”
  • $225,000 – Patricia Arquette “Medium”
  • $175,000 – Tom Welling “Smallville”
  • $150,000 – Jennifer Love Hewitt “Ghost Wisperer”
  • $150,000 – Sally Field “Brothers and Sisters”
  • $150,000 – Chris O’Donnell “NCIS: Los Angeles”
  • $150,000 – LL Cool J “NCIS:
  • $125,000 – Peter Krause “Parenthood”
  • $50,000 – Chace Crawford “Gossip Girl”
  • $50,000 – Blake Lively “Gossip Girl”

Comedy – Per Episode

  • $875,000 – Charlie Sheen “Two and A Half Men” (figure includes ownership stake in the series)
  • $400,000 – Felicity Huffman “Desperate Housewives”
  • $400,000 – Marcis Cross “Desperate Housewives”
  • $400,000 – Teri Hatcher “Desperate Housewives”
  • $400,000 – Eva Longoria Parker “Desperate Housewives”
  • $400,000 – Dan Castellaneta “The Simpsons”
  • $400,000 – Yeardley Smith “The Simpsons”
  • $400,000 – Julie Kavner “The Simpsons”
  • $400,000 – Nancy Cartwright “The Simpsons”
  • $350,000 – Zach Braff “Scrubs”
  • $300,000 – Tina Fey “30 Rock”
  • $300,000 – Alec Baldwin “30 Rock”
  • $275,000 – Julia Louis-Drefus “Old Christine”
  • $200,000 – Patricia Heaton “The Middle”
  • $175,000 – Kelsey Grammer “Hawk”
  • $150,000 – Neil Patrick Harris “How I Met Your Mother”
  • $150,000 – Jay Mohr “Gary Unmarried”
  • $125,000 – Jenna Elfman “Accidentally on Purpose”
  • $100,000 – Courteney Cox “Cougar Town”
  • $50,000 – Joel McHale “Community”
  • $7,500 – Starting salary for player on “Saturday Night Live”

Cable – Per Episode

  • $275,000 – Kyra Sedgwick “The Closer”
  • $250,000 – Denis Leary “Rescue Me”
  • $200,000 – Glenn Close “Damages”
  • $175,000 – Julian McMahon “Nip/Tuck”
  • $150,000 – Holly Hunter “Saving Grace”
  • $135,000 – Jeffrey Donovan “Burn Notice”
  • $75,000 – Thomas Jane “Hung”
  • $75,000 – Jon Hamm “Mad Men”

Reality

  • $15 million per year – Ryan Seacrest
  • $150,000 per episode – Jeff Probst
  • $150,000 per episode – Jon and Kate

Late Night – Per Year

  • $32 million – David Letterman
  • $30 million – Jay Leno
  • $14 million – Conan O’Brien
  • $14 million – Jon Stewart
  • $6 million – Jimmy Kimmel

News – Per Year

  • $15 million – Katie Couric CBS
  • $13 million – Matt Lauer “NBC”
  • $12 million – Diane Sawyer “ABC”
  • $10 million – Meredith Vieira “NBC”
  • $10 million – Bill O’Reilly “Fox News Channel”
  • $7.5 million – Keith Olbermann “MSNBC”
  • $7 million – Larry King “CNN”
  • $5 million – Anderson Cooper “CNN”
  • $3 million – Wolf Blitzer “CNN”
  • $3 million – Chris Matthews “MSNBC”
  • $2 million – Glenn Beck “Fox News Channel”
Source: TV Guide

How “balanced state budgets” … aren’t balanced.

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I’m starting to review the Oregon state budget and realizing how spurious the claim is that balanced budget requirements are why we should not worry much about the state of many state budgets.    Many crises are looming and I’m tired of advocates simply working to protect *their* special interests.   Recipients of public funding should come to the table with more effective use of their tax share or they should be shown the door.

http://www.oregon.gov/DAS/BAM/docs/Budget_Policy/2011-13_GBB.pdf

First, most states effectively rename deficits as “shortfalls”, often scrambling to balance things late in a two year budget process.     Far more important however is the fact that about half of the “total revenues”  in Oregon (and I asssume in most other states), comes from the federal government in the form of grants and other federal to state payments.    Now, the federal government *can* run a deficit, and has been choosing to increase that deficit massively since Bill Clinton left office.   Therefore a LOT of the money we spend as a state is in fact “borrowed money”, borrowed at the federal level from … wait for it … our children!     Thanks kids and young folks for funding the reckless spending of the older generations.  Ironically you aren’t participating much in politics and many of you don’t even realize what’s going on right now as we spend and spend … your money.

Caveat:  Most economists agree that the economy is fragile right now and some major spending by government is needed to continue the bailout and stimulus strategies that appear to have worked well.   I’m not disputing that, but I am suggesting that there will be hell to pay if we don’t start managing government spending far more responsibly than we have in some time.    This means cutting both entitlements and defense and – unless very deep cuts are made soon – raising taxes too.    People who think we can balance things without either huge cuts or substantial tax increases are just foolish.  There’s no easy path after decades of reckless spending.

Happy Mother’s Day!

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In one of the great ironies that makes our country great, we learn about the history of mother’s day in the USA.  Far from the happy sentimental hallmark moments we all enjoy now, Mother’s Day holiday history traces the origins back to Julia Ward Howe’s “Mother’s Day Proclamation”. The Proclamation was a very strongly worded anti war statement, both a pacifist and feminist statement even by modern standards.

More about the History of Mother’s Day is over at Travel and History.

Mother’s Day Proclamation by Julia Ward Howe

Arise, then, women of this day!
Arise, all women who have hearts,
Whether our baptism be of water or of tears!

Say firmly:
“We will not have great questions decided by irrelevant agencies,
Our husbands will not come to us, reeking with carnage, for caresses and applause.
Our sons shall not be taken from us to unlearn
All that we have been able to teach them of charity, mercy and patience.
We, the women of one country, will be too tender of those of another country
To allow our sons to be trained to injure theirs.”

From the bosom of the devastated Earth a voice goes up with our own.
It says: “Disarm! Disarm! The sword of murder is not the balance of justice.”
Blood does not wipe out dishonor, nor violence indicate possession.
As men have often forsaken the plough and the anvil at the summons of war,
Let women now leave all that may be left of home for a great and earnest day of counsel.

Let them meet first, as women, to bewail and commemorate the dead.
Let them solemnly take counsel with each other as to the means
Whereby the great human family can live in peace,
Each bearing after his own time the sacred impress, not of Caesar,
But of God.

In the name of womanhood and humanity, I earnestly ask
That a general congress of women without limit of nationality
May be appointed and held at someplace deemed most convenient
And at the earliest period consistent with its objects,
To promote the alliance of the different nationalities,
The amicable settlement of international questions,
The great and general interests of peace.

More about Julia Ward Howe at Wikipedia

Osama Bin Laden dead. Killed by US forces special attack at a compound in Abbottābad, Pakistan

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President Obama is reporting that Osama Bin Laden is dead, killed by US forces in a special operation in Pakistan.   Not clear yet if this was with the permission of the Pakistan government, but probably it was a situation with “unofficial” permission that won’t be reported to keep things cooler for Pakistan, where many are in sympathy with Al Qaeda and/or don’t want the US in the country.

The compound in Pakistan was in the city of  Abbottābad, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. I was surprised to find that this is actually a popular tourism location as a gateway to many attractions in Pakistan such as the Karakoram Mountain Range and Karakoram highway to China, the world’s highest major paved road (and certainly one of the highest roads in the world, period)

American Idol – still predicting a James Durbin win

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In my last American Idol Contestants post I predicted James Durbin will win and I’m sticking to that story, especially after tonights brilliant performance of Carol King’s Tonight You’re Mine.     Although all the remaining folks are exceptional singers with great personalities, only James and Casey seem to bring exceptional musicianship as well.    James, however, seems to edge out Casey on a key important factor in American Idol Contestants – cuteness, especially to the many teenage girls who appear to be the most important voting demographic on the show.

In my humble American Idol fan opinion Ashley is the best singer left on the show, and I think she still has something of a shot at winning, but I think the smart money is on James Durbin to win American Idol.

Obama’s Birth Certificate. Official Copy. Long Form. CASE CLOSED!

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Another curious episode in the history of the democratic party  comes to a close today as Barack Obama released a photograph of the long form official vault copy of  his birth certificate.  Signed by all the responsible parties needed in Hawaii to verify an official live birth of a US citizen, this should seal the presidential deal for all but the kookiest of the kooks who have pursued this silly angle for years.    Although it is odd to me that it took so long to release this innocuous copy, I now assume the team was strategically holding back  in the hopes of derailing some candidates, collecting foolish quotes about Obama’s legitimacy, etc.   One would have expected them to wait a bit longer but the issue had gained so much traction perhaps they felt more harm was coming than they’d expected.

In any case, here it is:

Only the pathetically  gullible and/or irrational will dispute this any longer.   Unfortunately that includes …. more of us than anybody would like to admit.       Tribal thinking rules now across the USA and across the globe.   People believe what they are told to believe by fellow tribe members without bothering to think for themselves.  Conclusions define the facts for them.   It’s become unusual – even among many in the science commmunity – to apply the scientific and rational approach where facts define the conclusion.    Advocacy and activism have almost completely replaced reason, and things are not going to change anytime soon.

I blame the 60s.