Britney Spears has launched two new perfumes for Christmas called Curious and Fantasy. Presumably Lipsync and Paparazzi were already taken.
My bed ridden mother-in-law called to ask if I could pick some up as a present for one of her grand-daughters. What, indeed, could be a more appropriate gift for the impressionable teenage girl in your life than the aromatic essence of a burned out, twice divorced, ex-Mickey Mouse club sexpot recovering from a nervous breakdown? Hey, she may have lost custody of her own kids, but that's no reason to keep her away from yours.
Singing is for losers: Britney Spears
Demonstrating her continued significance as a role model to the young, Ms Spears was fresh from an appearance on the X Factor, where she gave the talent hopefuls an object lesson in how to really get on in the music business: by recording with autotune and miming your vocals. Next time Cowell and co criticise their singing, the contestants should just retort that they'll fix it in the studio. I mean, like, singing is for losers, duh. Breast implants are where its really at.
So, Mike Brown said a whole lot of nothing with a whole lot of words.
Oh well.
For the record, I've requested interviews several times, as have Mark Curnutte, Joe Kay and others. We're always turned down. For some reason, Mike Brown felt like today was the day he'd accept Curnutte's request. And anytime he accepts one of those interviews, the team's official website is involved as well.
I've interviewed Mike Brown once. You don't get as much as you'd like.
Oh well. It didn't tell me much except that if I'm a Bengals fan, I'm looking around for another team to root for, or just giving up on Sundays except for fantasy football.
* Maybe the Bengals could win in this league. Maybe.
* One of my favorite baseball writers, Will Carroll of Baseball Prospectus, says he's out of the rumors game. Why? Because most of 'em are BS. Godspeed, Will. I salute you.
* The women's Crosstown Shootout is Sunday at Fifth Third Arena. So far, more than 8,000 tickets have been sold. Two years ago when it was at UC, it sold out.
* Vanity Fair has a feature on Tina Fey, including the details of her now-not-so-mysterious scar. Her husband spilled the beans. Tina, if you're mad about that, I'd never tell. Really.
Lebron James needs to respect his surroundings in Cleveland
SEATTLE -- They may call LeBron James of the Cleveland Cavaliers, "The King" but most recently he has traded in the Crown for a Dunce Cap.
The past few weeks all that has been spoken about in the media regarding the All-Star forward was his intentions in 2010 and the likelihood of him playing in New York when he would became a free agent.
Things really got a little crazy at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday when the Cavaliers came in town to play the New York Knicks. There wasn't an extra ticket available and all the celebrities were on hand for the event.
Now I've heard the comments made by LeBron such as, "I'm going to do what's best for me and my family," "I will definitely explore my options when the time comes," and one of my personal favorites, "I'm not oppose to going out of the country to play."
Are you kidding me? There's no substitute for the NBA and every year the list of foreign players m
Okay, so he wants to be on a Championship team, I get that but that only happens when you win a Championship. Duh! We were all witness just a couple of years ago as the Cavaliers advanced through the playoffs, remember?
When Michael Jordan was playing for the Bulls there were some tough times early on in Chicago. The Detroit Pistons were their evil nemesis and would eliminate any thoughts that they may have had of winning a championship for many years. Jordan stuck it out, took a cut in pay for the organization to get all the pieces together and the rest as they say is history.
If I hear just one more professional athlete in any sport say, "I want to be traded to a team that's in contention for a title," I just may hurt somebody.
There's a team that exist for people that want to play with the best players in the league, it's called the All-Star game or the Pro Bowl! Step your game up and just maybe you'll get a call to join them.
Right there in Cleveland, James has the opportunity to do something that hasn't been done there in a very long time, win a NBA Championship.
Just one time I would like to hear him say that he's committed to the Cleveland Cavaliers for the remainder of his contract and that he's going to continue working hard for this organization and its incredible fans.
I can see how playing for the New York Knicks in Madison Square Garden could be intoxicating but for the most part any event going on in Madison Square Garden is a big deal.
My question is this, who was the last All-Star that played for the New York Knicks that retired in a Knicks uniform? People often forget that they dealt Patrick Ewing to the Seattle Sonics.
"New York, New York big city of dreams but everything in New York ain't always what it seems. You might get fool if you come from out of town....."
My point is this, until the time comes when Lebron James is officially declared a free agent, he should do what he does best and just let his game continue to speak for him ..... "We are all witness".
igrating to this country continues to grow with last year being a record high.
At this time, LeBron is still an employee of the Cleveland Cavaliers, an organization that has treated him with nothing but dignity and respect and it's about time that he returns the favor.
Remember the "No Thanksgiving for me?" post that I made last week?
The full version was originally posted elsewhere and I have been asked for permission for them to use the story in their News & Views quarterly newsletter that goes out to the US, Canada, the UK, Europe, and Australia.
Quiero desearles una Feliz Navidad a todos los que pasen por mi pagina muchas bendiciones y cosas buenas para el Nuevo Ano Felicidades a disfrutar pero con prudencia y si tomnas mucho Pasa La LLave por favor.
Ranks of black coaches dwindle with Croom's resignation
Randy Shannon
-- And then there were three.
The number of black head football coaches in major college football has been cut in half in the last month or so, with Sylvester Croom, the coach who broke the SEC's football color barrier, the latest to go.
Croom resigned Saturday from his post at Mississippi State, after five years and one winning season.
The announcement came in a statement released by the school after Croom met with Athletic Director Greg Byrne the day after a 45-0 loss to rival Mississippi.
Randy Shannon of Miami, Turner Gill of Buffalo and Kevin Sumlin of Houston are the only remaining black men in charge among the 119 teams that play at college football's highest level. Washington's Tyrone Willingham and Kansas State's Ron Prince were recently fi
Croom is out only one year after he was voted SEC coach of the year in the wake of his team's Liberty Bowl victory and 8-5 finish that led to a contract extension that paid him $1.7 million this year.
An All-American center under coach Bear Bryant at Alabama, Croom had been an NFL assistant for 17 seasons when in 2003 he took over a Mississippi State program that was under heavy NCAA sanctions for rules violations and had won only three games in each of the previous three seasons.
Croom's record was 21-38, including a 4-8 mark this season, when the Bulldogs had one of the SEC's most anemic offenses.
Even so, recruiting had gone well and the Bulldogs went into rivalry week off a 31-28 win over Arkansas.
But then came the goose egg against Mississippi in the most lopsided Egg Bowl in 37 years, a game in which Bulldogs quarterbacks were sacked 11 times leading to a loss of 51 yards in rushing.
Croom offered no explanation other than to say, "I don't know why what happened today occurred. I'm sorry to say that it's an absolute mystery to me."
red, with Willingham finishing up with the Huskies next Saturday.
Croom, 54, said in a statement, "We have tried to build a program the right way that can compete for conference championships. I believe the foundation has been set for those goals to be reached under the leadership of someone else, and it was my decision to resign."
Monday marked the 5th week of seesion II (week 16 overall) of the Industrial League. Bowling on Lanes 1 & 2, I knew that this pair would not only hook a lot, but also mean that the oil on this pair was going to change...and change drastically. It seemed that I would end up with at least one split each game and it proved costly in each game. My scores were 226, 223, and 171 for a 620 series. Also, this was the first time this season that I did not win any singles points. It was also rough on our team, Jeannie Almon State Farm, as we only won 9 points. I give myself a C grade of my performance as I could not avoid key splits. My record for the year now stands at 29.5 wins & 18.5 losses.
Again to note, I have pre-bowled for the Moose Mixed League for week 7. I will post my scores from that pre-bowl in my next blog.
Until next week, may the balls be rollin' & the pins be fallin'.
Tuesday, December 2, 2008, 02:59 PM GMT [Religion]
What is Jihad? Many do not seem to understand its significance in Islam. It is an ideology.
"The institution of jihad belongs to a religious, Islamic domain, outside the realm of Western universalism and secularism. These two domains do not meet. Secular laws can be changed, abrogated, or ameliorated, but jihad regulations are believed to express divine commands. By definition, human beings can neither discuss nor scrutinize the divine will, and so those jihad obligations � attributed by the theologians to Allah � place jihad in the domain of faith. I would like to emphasize strongly that jihad is a special domain of Islamic law. Not all Muslims know it, and many reject its ideology. It would be a great mistake to believe that each and every Muslim identifies with the jihad-war ideology.
The ideology of jihad was formulated by leading Muslim theologians and scholars from the 8th century onward. Their voluminous writings make clear the notion of jihad as a holy war of conquest. Ibn Abi Zayd al-Qayrawani (d. 966), for example, stated,
Jihad is a precept of Divine institution... We Malikis [one of four schools of Muslim jurisprudence] maintain it is preferable not to begin hostilities with the enemy before having invited the latter to embrace the religion of Allah, except where the enemy attacks first. They have the alternative of either converting to Islam or paying the poll tax (jizya), short of which war will be declared against them...
Jihad ideology separates humanity into two hostile blocs: the community of Muslims (Dar ul-Islam), and the infidel non-Muslims (Dar ul-Harb). Allah commands the Muslims to conquer the entire world in order to rule it according to Koranic law. Hence Muslims must wage a perpetual war against those infidels who refuse to submit. This is the motivation for jihad. It is based on the inequality between the community of Allah and the infidels, as was re-emphasized in the Cairo Declaration. The first is a superior group, which must rule the world; the second must submit. The current relevance of this ideology is apparent, and disturbing.
For example, Al-Muhajiroun, an Islamist newspaper in London, published an article on January 27, 2001, which declared:
Upon the establishment of the Islamic State, the whole world will potentially be Dar ul Harb since the foreign policy of the Islamic state is aimed at conquering the world... Once the Islamic State is established anyone in Dar ul Harb will have no sanctity for his life or wealth hence, a Muslim in such circumstances can then go into Dar ul Harb and take the wealth from the people unless there is a treaty with that state. If there is no treaty, individual Muslims can even go to Dar ul Harb and take women to keep as slaves.
Such an attitude assumes that the infidels have no rights and are totally dehumanized. It breeds hatred and contempt and has led to historical negationism, and the destruction of non-Muslim cultures. Moreover, such views are not confined to the most radical Islamists. They were confirmed in the Proceedings of the Fourth Conference of the Academy of Islamic Research, held in 1968 (General Organization for Government Printing Offices, Cairo, 1968), and regularly since then by eminent Islamic scholars. These authoritative pronouncements have recapitulated the theory of jihad in a manner completely consistent with the Al-Muhajiroun statements.
The theory of jihad against the infidels is composed of two parts: the ideology, and the military institutions aimed at implementing this ideology. According to these rules the infidels without a treaty have no rights at all: they can be deported, reduced to slavery, abducted for ransom, or killed. Women and children can be taken into slavery. Infidels can be spared by a temporary treaty which should not go beyond ten years. The treaty must conform to Islamic rule and serve Islamic interests, hence a ransom should be paid. The infidels who submit to Islamic rulers are given a pledge of security against the rules of jihad, so long as they accept a condition of humiliation, and of total inferiority to Muslims.
Jihad is therefore a genocidal war, according to the modern definition of genocide. It encourages terrorism against civilians and does not differentiate between innocent civilians and soldiers. All infidels without a treaty of protection can be killed. Jihad does not recognize universal human rights, for there is no equality between Muslims and infidels, and no reciprocity between Muslims and infidels in legal matters. Jihad warriors do not accept that either the Geneva Conventions or the conventional rules of war have any validity for them.
Jihadists have associated the notion of a reward in paradise with the practice of killing infidels. Killing at war was, and still is, practiced by all societies. In the Judeo-Christian tradition, wars, because they imply the acts of killing, are hateful and peace is praised. In the jihadist ideology, it is war that is praised, along with the killing of the infidels. Tragically, jihad ideology will not disappear soon. It is shaping the minds of a generation of young Muslims in many countries. Jihad ideology is a well-constructed system, created after the death of the prophet Mohammed. It has remained alive and well since then � except under secularized Muslim governments like that of Turkey, after the Kemalist revolution. It is delusional and dangerous to maintain that this ideology is rooted in social deprivation, backwardness, injustice, or despair. Moreover, paying subsidies to suspend global jihad terrorism is tantamount to paying a tribute to terrorist states, and buying one's own peace and security as temporarily ransomed privileges � instead of living by the principles of universal human rights, which proclaim the inviolability of every human being. Societies that pay a tribute to survive are destined to disappear."
Just in time for the holiday season: Cool Christmas Trees! This super easy project can add a lot of punch to your holiday decorating and can be made to fit any color scheme. And while you're at it, make a few more for some inexpensive sparkle and charm just waiting to be popped into a gift basket.
If you like this project, you'll love Quick and Clever Beading by Dorothy Wood. This book combines beads with other crafting mediums to create over 50 fabulous projects including pillows, cocktail glasses, photo albums, candle holders and much more.
Cincinnati Opens Seven Game Homestand on Wednesday
COMING UP: The Cincinnati Cyclones, the 2008 Kelly Cup champions, open a seven game homestand with three contests at U.S. Bank Arena this week. Wednesday (December 3), Dayton visits on a Wet Wednesday with twelve ounce beers on sale for just one dollar. Friday (December 5), it is Sing With Santa and on Saturday (December 6), it is Last Chance Christmas (Wii gaming system and other top toys). Both games will have Johnstown in town and faceoff for all three games this week will be at 7:30pm.
SCHEDULING QUIRK: Friday night (November 28) was the FINAL regular season game (of two) the Cyclones will play at Elmira this season. It was the fourth of seven games between the clubs this season. To put it into perspective, Dayton will visit U.S. Bank Arena eight times this season.
SCHEDULING QUIRK, PART TWO: The Cyclones traveled 1420 miles last weekend for the three games. The first leg to Elmira was 546 miles. Following the game, Cincinnati traveled 222 to Johnstown for Saturday night's contest. After that game, the club went 259 miles to Trenton and made the 593 mile journey home to complete the weekend following the contest.
ABOUT LAST NIGHT...: The Cyclones rallied for a pair of goals in the final twelve minutes at Trenton yesterday to force overtime, 2-2. Mark Van Guilder scored on the first shot of the bonus frame, 1:04 in, to end the contest. Olivier Latendresse and Barret Ehgoetz scored in regulation time and Conrad Martin dished out a pair of assists.
ABOUT SATURDAY NIGHT...: The Cyclones claimed a 6-3 triumph over first place Johnstown Saturday night. Thomas Beauregard delivered four goals and handed out an assist in the victory. Olivier Latendresse dished out three assists in the victory. Kyle Gajewski turned aside 21 shots in picking up his fourth triumph of the year.
ABOUT FRIDAY NIGHT...: The Cyclones rallied for a 4-3 shootout victory at Elmira. Ben McLeod scored his first two goals of the season, Martin Houle stopped 24 shots and another five shootout shots to gain the victory and Mark Van Guilder netted the only score of the shootout to clinch the triumph.
ABOUT TUESDAY...:Olivier Latendresse netted a pair of goals, Ian McKenzie netted his first pro score and Martin Houle stopped 26 shots and dished out a pair of assists in a 4-2 triumph over Dayton. That began a stretch of 14 games over 31 days--which includes five contests against Dayton.
WEBER REACHES CENTURY MARK: Head Coach Chuck Weber picked up his 100th regular season victory Saturday night. Now in his third season directing the Cyclones, Weber has a 101-50-15 mark (.651 winning percentage). The win also tied Chuck with Warren Young for the club lead in regular season wins, which was passed last night. Young needed three full seasons to post his 100-86-24 (.533) record.
LYNCH HELPS OUT: Defenseman Paul Lynch picked up his first point of the season Friday night--handing out the helper on the Ben McLeod's game-tying goal in the second period. For Lynch, it was his first ECHL point since December 27, 2004--when he had an assist for the Louisiana IceGators. That is 47 months and a day between points in the ECHL.
HOULE COMES UP BIG: Cyclones goaltender Martin Houle has a 4-1 record since joining the club last week with a 2.37 goals against average and a .912 save percentage. While, Houle has three games with Las Vegas that factor into his season statistics--his numbers with Cincinnati alone would give him the ECHL's eighth-best goals against average and the eleventh-best save percentage on the circuit.
CYCLONES ARE 'BEST IN CITY': The Cyclones learned two weeks ago that they were named by Cincinnati Magazine in its annual 'Best of' issue, as the 'Best Pro Sports Team'. The Cyclones won the award on the heels of their first Kelly Cup championship, ECHL record 71 wins between the regular season and playoffs and 28 percent increase in attendance--best in professional hockey in North America. The 'Best of' edition of Cincinnati Magazine is on news stands now.
GET OUT EARLY AND SCORE!: The Cyclones are averaging nearly two goals per game in the first period this season. The 29 opening stanza lamplighters are the most in the ECHL.
HAVEN'T WE PLAYED THIS GAME BEFORE?: The Cyclones have had 33 different players play already this season. Cincinnati used 46 players all of last season, in claiming the Kelly Cup. Head Coach Chuck Weber has used 13 different lineups this season.
ATTENDANCE NUMBERS UP: The Cyclones have drawn 22,869 to the first eight games at U.S. Bank Arena this season, an average of 2,859--which is 18th in the ECHL. Through the first eight games of last season, the club drew 15,674--an average of 1,959. Cincinnati did not reach 22,869 until the 14th home game of 2007-08--reaching 24,970 through those 14 dates, an average of 1,783 as of December 14, 2007. Attendance this season is up 45.9 percent through the first eight dates of a year ago--when the Cyclones had the highest percentage increase in attendance (36.8 percent) of any pro hockey team in North America. The 45.9 increase is the second-highest among all pro teams this season (Tulsa-CHL).
MILLER LITE CYCLONES COACHES SHOW: The Miller Lite Cyclones Coaches Show will be held tonight from 7-8pm at Jefferson Hall at Newport on the Levee. Head Coach Chuck Weber and a pair of players are usually on hand each week. For Monday, December 1--Donny Grover and Thomas Beauregard will be the guests.
TICKETS! GET YOUR TICKETS!: Tickets for all Cincinnati Cyclones games can be purchased through TicketMaster at 513-562-4949 or by using their website at: www.ticketmaster.com. Tickets can also be purchased at the window day of the game. Season ticket packages can also be obtained by contacting the Cyclones offices at 513-421-PUCK (7825) x. 3.
I learned about mycraft.com from Etsy and I am excited to be here. I am a long time beader but I have just begun to sell my items online. I am slowly discovering that it requires so much more then posting images of my items. I have created a myspace for my jewelry and signed up for twitter (although I am not yet sure how it works yet), and bead-space. I am excited to see what other people have to say about jewelry since not many people I know have any interest. It's nice to talk to someone who understands.
This was the event Rick Mahorn attended with me that I spoke about last week:) Yes this really happened. I was wearing the dress on my profile, you know I can't spell so if you see errors, sorry!
Oh my God you have to go back to move forward, that was the best...
That was a behind the scene's laugh at all that you see now, how would you know a Prophet if you did not know what one looked like... Let me find my emai when I prayed for Steve to GET back on the air, go ahead read the book from cover to cover! I dare you.
8:38 am Steve you are Welcome, thank you forthe thank you but a HDTV would be really nice, or a fur you know:)
EXCLUSIVE: I found the Diary Entry: Dinner with a King:
It has been a long time...
Since I have been able to dress up and be a princess. Well last week I got a very special treat, I had dinner with a King. Now you might say to yourself, yeah right a King but truthfully, I had dinner with a King, the humble, gracious and beautiful Mrs. Coretta Scott King; widow of one of my heroes and teachers the late Dr. Martin Luther King. I cannot tell you how much of a honor, privilege and how "special" this brief treat was. It kinda tops those events in my life that makes my life so unique and unusual.
It started last Tuesday February 25, 2003. I was sitting at home and God clearly spoke to me to investigate prospects for business networking. I have recently started a little hobby business and look for any/all opportunities to grow and develop my business skills and savvy. Networking is the key to the success of any business and I love to learn anything I can to improve my communication and presentation skills in this ever-changing business world.
Well, while surfing the net I came across the Christian Business Network in Detroit, they were having a banquet dinner for the most recently completed graduation class. I looked further and learned that my Bishop Eddie L. Long would be the keynote speaker for the evening. Okay Lord, now you know that I do not have the resources and finance to sponsor such a retreat so if this is You telling me something, then You are obligated to make it happen.
Who knows that you cannot put that kind of proposition before God. It was almost as if I had dared Him to make it happen. Suggestion...never challenge God, for by the next day I had been blessed with the finance to not only make the trip, but detour in Chicago for a quick Glam-slam emergency stop.
Now if you do not know what a Glam-slam stop is, basically it's a last minute beautification stop, hair, and nails you know a Glam (glamorous) girl stop. I have God to thank for that but for hair and nails that goes to a dear and loving sister in Christ Lynette Jenkins. I called Lynette on a last minute binge trying to accomplish a whole lot with very little. I tell you her hands are anointed of God for she truly turned this rag and tagged common girl into your present day Cinderella. Between her and Sharon (my other gracious sister who sponsored the finance for my blessing, made sure that every detail was in place and that things were where they needed to be and when I needed it. I thank you two so very much, without you the night would have not been the same Thank you.
I was scheduled to leave Arkansas on Friday morning but in being faithful to the spirit of God that I serve who advised me that I better leave a night early. Weather was bad in Memphis, they had their first snow in years and traffic and travel was delayed due to road conditions. So being obedient as I always TRY to do I left a day early to avoid rushing and time restrictions that may conflict with my schedule.
As I arrived to greyhound in West Memphis I had just missed my bus and getting back and forth in my remote area of living is tough, God spoke and said press on, so I did just that pressed forth. I caught a quick ride from a friend and made it across that bridge. After waiting for three hours for a driver to come we finally boarded and were on our way. One of the best drivers in the world came on board and got us "across that Jordan" safe, sound and get this, even hours off schedule ON TIME to Chicago. Boy do I have a new respect for Greyhound.
Got to Chicago and my first stop was to see this fine young man, he's fine y'all take my word. He's kinda short but has a smile that lights up the darkest night. My niece and nephew Lorenzo and Maya we hung out and had some fun before I started my day of runs and errands.
My first stop was to Hollywood nails 6248 S. Western in Chicago where God treated me to a manicure and a pedicure that left me sleep in the chair moments into the treatment. Having four children does not allow me the luxury of pampering myself on a regular basis so this really was a treat from God.
After that I was really drained from my travel needing to get some sleep and feeling really funky. I got back to the house and took time to treat myself to a wonderful soak that relaxed, relieved and rejuvenated this worn body. I could not resist a chance to hang out with my babies so I got my niece and nephew and we hung out playing together. Later that night my only and baby brother Benji came home and treated his family (less his beautiful wife; my sister Tonya, who had to work) to dinner out at Pizzeria Uno. We had a ball! I did not eat much for my heart was captivated by the appetite my nephew (9 months old y'all) who gobbled up four chicken fingers and ample fries. We got the chance to celebrate my sister Vanessa who earlier that day enlisted in the armed forces; the air force (she just turned 18 on February 17th , she will be leaving July 15) with a cake and a song compliments of the restaurant. We had a wonderful time.
Next to my daddy's house for a night of small talk and loving on my pops. He had some friends over for their regular Friday night card party. I was able to crash the party long enough to say hello, catch up on old me
