According to Bloomberg , Governor Christie got put on blast when Barbara Walter’s interviewed him for her “10 Most Fascinating People” special that airs today. The 50-year-old Republican, who plans to seek a second term as governor next year and hasn’t ruled out a 2016 White House bid, said he was “more than a little” overweight when Walters asked him about his size. Walters tells Christie that concerns about his health are the reason people raise questions about his weight. The governor said he was perplexed by those who say that his size should disqualify him from the White House. “That’s ridiculous,” Christie said. “I don’t know what the basis for that is.” Christie has said his struggle with weight began 30 years ago when he stopped playing organized school sports. He told Oprah Winfrey in January that he was working with a dietitian and exercising more regularly. The governor has shown a willingness to joke at his own expense, last month kiddingly refusing to answer questions about the bankruptcy of Hostess Brands, maker of Twinkies snack cakes. During the Walters interview, Christie highlighted his recent response to superstorm Sandy as proof that his size doesn’t slow him down. “I’ve done this job pretty well and I think people have watched me for the last number of weeks and Hurricane Sandy doing 18-hour days and getting right back up the next day and still being just as effective,” he said in a clip of the interview. “So I really don’t think that would be a problem.” Do you think the Governor’s weight means he has a lack of control??? Images via Bloomberg/WENN
Everything is bigger in Texas…which might be why they continue to get a big ole’ ‘Ho Sit Down’ from the POTUS.. White House Ignores Texas Petition To Secede From United States Super-salty GOP officials in Texas might as well have a seat, a coke and smile while they wait for President Obama to show any signs of ‘give a fawk’ about their request to officially separate themselves from the United States (despite Texas gov. Rick Perry’s opposition) in light of his re-election. ‘Cause he has better things to do and is making that clear without even having said a word. via ABC News Texas is waiting for President Obama’s reaction to a petition demanding it be allowed to secede from the United States. They may have to keep waiting. Sunday marked the last day for Texas’ petition to secede from the union to gather 25,000 digital signatures, the number needed to warrant a response from the White House. The virtual petition achieved that goal four weeks ago. Now it’s up to 119,209, but still no word from the Oval Office. A White House official told ABC News in November that it would respond to the petition, following a procedure that demands they address any entry to the “We the People” site that rallies the requisite amount of support. On Friday, the White House said they had no prediction for when they might put out at statement. Dear Texas, good luck with getting a secession approved when your own Governor doesn’t even support the effort. SMH.
GTFOHWTBS! This may be the dumbest study any group’s ever wasted money on!!! According to The New York Post : The latest edition of the a research journal has challenged the stereotype that adult film actresses have poor self-images and a history of sexual abuse. A report suggests that the stars have higher self-esteem, a better quality of life and body image, and are more spiritual than their non-adult entertainment counterparts. Researchers at Pennsylvania’s Shippensburg University, Texas Woman’s University and the Adult Industry Medical Healthcare Foundation compared 177 porn actresses to a sample of women matched on age, ethnicity, and marital status. Comparisons were based on intimate behaviors and attitudes, self-esteem, quality of life and drug use. Sun News reports that the actresses in the study had all been paid to work on at least one adult film movie and ranged in age from 18 to 50. Their average career in the industry was 3.5 years. Results showed that the adult film actresses were more likely to say they enjoyed intercourse — no surprise there — but perhaps contrary to popular notions, adult film stars weren’t any more likely to have had endured abuse than those in the control group. However, some of the results confirmed popular stereotypes. For example, the actresses reported using more drugs than the control group while they also reported having intercourse for the first time at a younger age (15) than the control group (17). “Stereotypes of those involved in adult entertainment have been used to support or condemn the industry and to justify political views on adult films, although the actual characteristics of actresses are unknown because no study on this group of women has been conducted,” the report said. The study has been dismissed by feminist commentator Dawn Foster, however, who says the results have disregarded some of the adult industry’s seedier aspects. “It is dangerous to generalize about a huge industry: women who are successful and in control of their careers in one pocket don’t speak for women in the less scrutinized parts,” Foster said in the Independent. “The study’s main objective seems to be to prove that not all women in adult films are exploited: no one has argued that. But glossing over the exploitative aspects helps no one.” Ladies, keep your day job and honor in tow. Images via WENN
Finally, one of these fools speaks out ; even if we already knew what they were doing down in Florida . According to The Huffington Post , Jim Greer’s putting Governor Rick Scott on blast and has nothing to hide…anymore: Jim Greer, the former head of the Florida Republican Party, recently claimed that a law shortening the early voting period in the state was deliberately designed to suppress voting among groups that tend to support Democratic candidates, the Palm Beach Post reports. “The Republican Party, the strategists, the consultants, they firmly believe that early voting is bad for Republican Party candidates,” Greer told the Post. “It’s done for one reason and one reason only…‘We’ve got to cut down on early voting because early voting is not good for us.’” The HB 1355 law, which was passed by Florida’s Republican legislature and signed by Gov. Rick Scott (R) in Nov. 2011, cut the number of early voting days from 14 to eight. It was publicly sold as an effort to reduce voter fraud and to save money, but Greer says that this was simply a “marketing ploy.” Greer served as Florida’s GOP chairman from 2006 until 2010 when he was forced to resign after allegedly stealing money from the party. He was arrested and his case is pending. Scott’s predecessor, Republican-turned-Independent Charlie Crist, resisted efforts from Republicans to shorten the state’s early voting period, citing reasons that mesh with Greer’s claims. In an interview with The Huffington Post earlier this month, Crist said the new law is clearly aimed at curbing turnout among Democrats. “The only thing that makes any sense as to why this is happening and being done is voter suppression,” he said. Crist added, “People have fought and died for our right to vote, and unfortunately our legislature and this governor have decided they want to make early voting less available to Floridians rather than more available … It’s hard for me as an American to comprehend why you don’t make democracy as easy as possible to exercise for the people of our state. It’s frankly unconscionable.” Greer also acknowledged that the effort to restrict early voting would directly affect turnout among Florida’s African Americans, a demographic that consistently supports Democrats. “The sad thing about that is yes, there is prejudice and racism in the party but the real prevailing thought is that they don’t think minorities will ever vote Republican,” he told the Post. He may have just stated the obvious but we’ll take the admission anyway! Images via tumblr
And you know Mittens’ camp is trying to act like this isht ain’t no thang. We can only assume that Bloomberg made up his mind today after the disgusting comments some Republicans have been making about Governor Christie hugging the Black President. That plus their claims that Sandy is ‘convenient’ for the Obama campaign probably pushed Bloomie over the edge! SMH. According to The New York Times , Bloomberg wasn’t planning to endorse either candidate: In a surprise announcement, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg said Thursday that Hurricane Sandy had reshaped his thinking about the presidential campaign and that as a result, he was endorsing President Obama. Mr. Bloomberg, a political independent in his third term leading New York City, has been sharply critical of Mr. Obama, a Democrat, and Mitt Romney, the president’s Republican rival, saying that both men had failed to candidly confront the problems afflicting the nation. But he said he had decided over the past several days that Mr. Obama was the better candidate to tackle the global climate change that he believes might have contributed to the violent storm, which took the lives of at least 38 New Yorkers and caused billions of dollars in damage. “The devastation that Hurricane Sandy brought to New York City and much of the Northeast — in lost lives, lost homes and lost business — brought the stakes of next Tuesday’s presidential election into sharp relief,” Mr. Bloomberg wrote in an editorial for Bloomberg View. “Our climate is changing,” he wrote. “And while the increase in extreme weather we have experienced in New York City and around the world may or may not be the result of it, the risk that it may be — given the devastation it is wreaking — should be enough to compel all elected leaders to take immediate action.” Mr. Bloomberg’s endorsement is another indication that Hurricane Sandy has influenced the presidential campaign. The storm and the destruction it left in its wake have dominated news coverage, transfixing the nation and prompting the candidates to halt their campaigning briefly.Both the Obama and Romney campaigns had aggressively sought the mayor’s endorsement, in large part because they believed he could influence independent voters around the country. Mr. Bloomberg had recently signaled he would not make an endorsement, telling reporters several weeks ago that he had decided whom he would vote for, but that he was not sure he would share that decision with the public. Mr. Bloomberg did not endorse a presidential candidate in 2008, when Mr. Obama ran against Senator John McCain, Republican of Arizona, and until Thursday, he had steadfastly withheld his support from both presidential candidates this year, largely because he had grown frustrated with the tone and substance of the presidential campaign. He recently derided as “gibberish” the answers that Mr. Obama and Mr. Romney gave during a debate to a question about an assault-weapons ban. He has expressed disappointment with Mr. Obama’s performance over the past few years and concern about what he has described as the shifts in Mr. Romney’s views over time.In making his endorsement, Mr. Bloomberg listed the various steps that Mr. Obama had taken over the last four years to confront the issue of climate change, including pushing regulations that seek to curtail emissions from cars and power plants. But the mayor cited other reasons for endorsing Mr. Obama, including the president’s support for abortion rights and for same-sex marriage, two high-priority issues for the mayor. At the same time, Mr. Bloomberg said he might have endorsed Mr. Romney, a former Massachusetts governor, except for the fact that the Republican had abandoned positions that he once publicly held. “In the past he has taken sensible positions on immigration, illegal guns, abortion rights and health care — but he has reversed course on all of them, and is even running against the very health care model he signed into law in Massachusetts,” the mayor said of Mr. Romney. In a statement, Mr. Obama said he was “honored to have Mayor Bloomberg’s endorsement.” The president acknowledged Mr. Bloomberg’s chief concern, saying climate change was “a threat to our children’s future, and we owe it to them to do something about it.” Coming on the heels of Gov. Chris Christie’s public embrace of Mr. Obama, the endorsement by Mr. Bloomberg left aides to Mr. Romney a bit flustered, and they privately dismissed its importance. With only five days left, we’re sure a whole lot of shady isht is going to come out swingin’. Images via WENN
Pop star’s latest addition marks his eighth tattoo, and his sixth of 2012. By Christina Garibaldi Justin Bieber’s new arm tattoo Photo: Justin Bieber/Instagram
Joss Whedon ‘endorses’ the governor in a new video, saying he will ‘put this country back on the path to the zombie apocalypse.’ By Kevin P. Sullivan Mitt Romney Photo: Getty Images
Robert Kirkman explains why it took so long to get to the Governor storyline on season three of ‘Walking Dead.’ By Josh Wigler David Morrissey in “The Walking Dead” Photo: AMC
Politicians have long appropriated pop culture to lend their campaigns relevancy and catchy hooks, so it wasn’t unprecedented when Republican nominee Mitt Romney began using the popular Friday Night Lights catchphrase “Clear eyes, full heart, can’t lose” in his bid for the Presidency. That doesn’t mean filmmaker Peter Berg has to be happy about it. In an open letter to Romney, Berg — who directed 2004’s Friday Night Lights , adapted from H.G. Bissinger’s book about a small Texas town obsessed with football, and created its subsequent spin-off television series — slammed the former Governor of Massachusetts for using the now-famous FNL line. “Your politics and campaign are clearly not aligned with the themes we portrayed in our series,” wrote Berg, who described the citation as plagiarism. Via EW : Governor Romney: I created the TV show “Friday Night Lights” and came up with the phrase “Clear Eyes, Full Hearts, Can’t Lose.” I was not thrilled when I saw that you have plagiarized this expression to support your campaign by using it on posters, your facebook page and as part of your stump speeches. Your politics and campaign are clearly not aligned with the themes we portrayed in our series. The only relevant comparison that I see between your campaign and “Friday Night Lights” is in the character of Buddy Garrity — who turned his back on American car manufacturers selling imported cars from Japan. Your use of the expression falsely and inappropriately associates “Friday Night Lights” with the Romney/Ryan campaign. Mitt, we all wish you and your family all the best. We are grateful for your support of our beloved show, but we are not in any way affiliated with you or your campaign. Please come up with your own campaign slogan. Sincerely, Peter Berg. To be fair, President Obama ‘s campaign also used the slogan, albeit less overtly and on Tumblr . I guess that was at least football-related, and therefore more closely aligned with the themes Berg & Co. portrayed in their series. [E W ] Follow Jen Yamato on Twitter . Follow Movieline on Twitter .
