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Thursday, June 30, 2011

Glenn Beck Mistakes Michele Bachmann

Glenn Beck doesn't like a lot of things. You're probably one of those things, and so is Michele Bachmann's Good Morning America performance yesterday. But it wasn't her fault. It was the "hack" journalist's -- George Stephanopoulos.

Stephanopoulos, or as Beck calls him, "Mr. Snuffleupagus," asked Bachmann the question: "You said ‘my voice is part of a movement to take back our country.’ From whom?" To which Bachmann replied: "Well from the people all across the nation."
Glenn Beck
Seems pretty black and white to me.

Beck insists Stephanopoulos "did not follow up because he’s a dishonest journalist” and he "aired this to make her look stupid." Oh, and he also thinks, "Stephanopoulos and ABC television is such a hack."

First thing's first, Beckapagus, Michele Bachmann doesn't need anybody -- not George Stephanopoulos nor Bozo the clown -- to make her look stupid. If she's been wildly successful at anything, it's looking stupid. From her John Wayne Gacy flub to her inappropriate usage of a Katy Perry song, Bachmann has been batting a thousand in the idiocy department from the get-go.

And secondly, what if Stephanopoulos was trying to make her look stupid (he wasn't)? What if he did have an agenda? Surely, you, Mr. Beck, know a thing or two about that. Let's play the what-if game quick.

What if you were to interview a Planned Parenthood "hooker," or person for gun control, or a regular ol' gay person, or even rampant racist Barack Obama? Would you not try to paint them into a corner? Surely, you would do everything in your power to make him or her look stupid. And you would air it how you pleased after combing over every last editing detail. You are not a come-as-you-are journalist with an open mind, Mr. Beck. You want the world at large to adopt your archaic, cockamamie views, all while endorsing any little thing you can get your hands on. Shilling Goldline? Really, Mr. Beck? It's really the "only gold company you use"? If that's not hacky, I don't know what is.

So, here's an idea. Why don't you just continue pushing your off-the-wall agenda on Americans, but stay out of other people's? I'm sure you can do that, right? At least until Michele Bachmann makes an ass out of herself again.

Javier Colon Crowned NBC's inaugural Winner of "The Voice"

Javier Colon Crowned NBC's inaugural Winner of "The Voice"

Javier Colon

Javier Colon was crowned the inaugural winner of "The Voice," NBC's new singing contest.

Colon triumphed over three other finalists when the audience vote was announced on Wednesday's live season finale. He will receive a $100,000 prize and a recording contract.

A slim, 2 percent margin separated Colon from second-place Dia Frampton, 23, of Utah, host Carson Daly said. The other finalists were Vicci Martinez, 26, of Tacoma, Washington, and Beverly McClellan, 41, of Virginia.

"Wow, thank you," a stunned-looking Colon said as confetti rained down on him. "The three women behind me are absolutely awesome and it was a pleasure to be here with them."

"The Voice" featured pop stars Christina Aguilera, Cee Lo Green, Adam Levine and Blake Shelton as "coaches" for the contestants. In a twist on the talent show format, the contestants initially were picked sight unseen and on the basis of their voice.

Colon was coached by Maroon 5 frontman Levine, who lifted his arms in victory when Colon's name was announced and then rushed on stage to hug him. Shelton, who coached Frampton, smiled and applauded.

The other pro-contestant pairings were McClellan-Aguilera and Martinez-Green.

During the live finale, the contestants had the chance to perform with other famous singers. Miranda Lambert, who is married to fellow country star Shelton, sang with Frampton; Stevie Nicks with Colon; Pat Monahan of Train with Martinez and OneRepublic's Ryan Tedder with McClellan.

Based on a Dutch series, "The Voice" proved a much-needed ratings hit for NBC and will return to the network's lineup. The next season's casting call is under way at NBC's website.

Besides the blind audition, the show brought another fresh wrinkle to TV: rocker McClellan and bluesy singer Martinez are openly gay. That contrasts with TV's No. 1 singing show, "American Idol," which has included gay singers who didn't address their sexuality until after the competition ended, such as Adam Lambert.

The four finalists will start a six-city concert tour in late July.

MySpace.com Sold for $35 Million. News Corporation bought it for $580 Million in 2005

MySpace was sold on Wednesday to the advertising targeting firm Specific Media for roughly $35 million, sparking a renewed interest in the site which in recent years has faded into the background. The franchise was bought in 2005 by News Corporation for a whopping $580 million.
MySpaceThe social networking site has a long and storied history from its meteoric rise and then its slow descent into pop culture past. MySpace used to be ubiquitous on the Internet at one point dominating even Google and quickly distinguished itself as a site with more than just a social feature.

It was a place for bands to launch music careers (Lily Allen and Boys Like Girls), discover future television personalities (Tila Tequila) and launch careers in a multitude of platforms. Since its spectacular rise beginning in 2005 with the purchase of the site by News Corps. Robert Murdoch, the site suddenly began to boom.

In between 2005 through 2006, MySpace grew from two million users to 80 million and that was just the beginning, even when Facebook started making waves it still held its title of the most popular social platform on the Internet until 2008. Since then, the site has fallen into obscurity. Today's news that it was sold by News Corp for a .06 percent of its asking price back in 2005 cements it as an Internet relic.

"It's a shame that MySpace's value has diminished so severely since the acquisition; MySpace's pioneering of social networking (now referred to as social media) will always be revered as igniting a new medium," Richard Rosenblatt, the chairman of MySpace at the time of the sale to the News Corporation said in an e-mail according to nytimes.com.

Well, MySpace may hold no relevance in today's social media firestorm, but at a time it pioneered socializing online, no matter how sketchy.

Carson Daly and other members of the media all tweeted about the sale of MySpace all adding a little joke to the mix: