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George H.W. Bush is sporting a new look. For a very noble cause. The former President of the United States have shaven his head to in solidarity with a two-year-old Patrick, the son of a member of Bush’s security detail who has been diagnosed with Leukemia. Bush’s spokesman Jim McGrath Tweeted the following picture of the ex-Commander-in-Chief, who joined with members of his Secret Service team in making the supportive gesture: The 88-year old is mostly confined to a wheelchair these days. He was placed in intensive care in December and there was fear he would not survive the ordeal.
Ted Nugent is a few fries short of a happy meal. Ted Nugent Says Obama Wants To Rape The Constitution According to Raw Story In typically bombastic language, National Rifle Association chairman Ted Nugent claimed Thursday that President Barack Obama’s agenda involves raping the U.S. Constitution and urinating on the nation’s Founding Fathers by passing gun regulations that restrict the sale of assault rifles and high-capacity magazines. “Clearly their agenda is banning guns, not banning criminals or saving lives,” he wrote for conservative conspiracy website World Net Daily, couching his thesis in the tale of a murderer who was released from prison and went on to kill again. “And their morally bankrupt agenda is wrong, anti-American and counterproductive. Their agenda will achieve nothing except to rape our Constitution and urinate on the vision of our Founding Fathers.” It’s not clear how the proposed regulations pose such an affront to the constitution — the Second Amendment explicitly says it provides for states to maintain a “well regulated militia” — but Nugent was adamant that if individuals do not have unlimited access to deadly weapons, freedom will surely die. That’s a typical screed for the Detroit-born rocker, whose modern fame is more due to his alarming commentaries on guns in America than his music. Nugent came face to face with Secret Service agents last April when he claimed that he’d be “dead or in jail” within a year if Obama won a second term. He’s not been jailed just yet, but did claim in January that he and some buddies are ready to launch an armed revolt against the government. Despite Nugent’s absolutist views on gun rights, his brother Jeffrey explained in May that he believes the nation will move forward with gun regulations “with or without” the NRA. “Let’s see if the NRA and its new leaders step up and do what is right,” he wrote. “If not, it will get done without them. We all have a role here, especially to protect our children. Who is going to be the voice for them?” Somebody needs to give grandpa his medicine.
NRA President David Keene said he is aggressively preparing for “battle” with the White House and Congress over President Obama’s gun control plan . He also defended the new NRA ad calling Obama an “elitist hypocrite.” NRA Ad: Obama a Hypocrite Keene criticized Obama’s announcement Wednesday, surrounded by four children from around the U.S., for “using kids to advance an ideological agenda.” He expressed confidence that few measures would ultimately pass. “It’s going to be very tough for the president to accomplish some of these things, but that doesn’t mean he can’t do it if he really turns it on,” Keene told ABC. “All bets are off when a president really wants to go to war with you,” the NRA president said, but “We’re gonna be there and we’re gonna fight it.” NRA members would hold accountable any politicians who “sell them out to some pie-in-the-sky scheme such as the president is proposing,” he said. The group launched a new “Stand and Fight” advocacy campaign Tuesday, opposing Obama’s gun control measures, anchored by a controversial new TV ad. The ad calls Obama an “elitist hypocrite” for sending his daughters to a private school with armed guards while being “skeptical” of armed security in all schools. The White House blasted the ad as “repugnant and cowardly.” Keene isn’t backing down, defending the ad last night: “When the question is the protection of children, which is what this is all about… it’s perfectly legitimate to ask why some should be protected and others should not be.” “We were talking about an elite class who criticizes others in their desire to be safe while making sure that they and their families and their children are always protected.” “We were not talking about the president’s kids. We’re not talking about the Secret Service protection [Obama’s] children enjoy – they ought to have that wherever they go.” Keene also slammed Obama for using kids as “props,” saying, “We didn’t line them up on stage and pat them on the shoulder while we urge somebody to take our position.” Gun control: Time for tougher measures? YES. Fewer guns, fewer tragedies! NO. It’s unconstitutional and won’t stop anything! View Poll »
It’s sad but true: the Khloe Kardashian pregnant rumors have been replaced by Lamar Odom infidelity chatter. With tabloids recently screaming that Odom betrayed Khloe and that she’s hoping to save her marriage via a baby , Life & Style now reports the relationship has hit a breaking point: Odom has been kicked out of the couple’s $4 million mansion. “He’s been withdrawn and staying out with his friends even more than usual lately, and she confronted him about cheating,” a friend tells the tabloid. “He denied it – but she’s not sure he’s being honest.” The magazine says Odom was forced to reside at the Luxe hotel in Los Angeles for a few days earlier this month, and that Kardashian has ordered him to remain away until he can act like a “proper husband.” Witnesses at the Luxe say Odom looked “down and tired” during his stay there – but others say he was partying left and right, doing shots in Santa Monica on the morning of January 10 and ordering bottles of champagne for a teammate’s birthday later that night. It’s unclear what the future holds for Khloe and Lamar at this point, but one thing remains certain: Tabloids will be there every step of the way to make up stories about it.
In advance of President Obama’s gun control plan , The National Rifle Association preemptively released a new video labeling him an “elitist hypocrite.” Obama, the ad says, enjoys Secret Service protection of his two daughters at school, yet is “skeptical” about installing armed guards in all schools. NRA Ad: Obama a Hypocrite The 35-second video is as harsh as any political campaign ad and illustrates how emotionally charged and personal the debate over gun control is. The White House quickly blasted the NRA ad using Obama’s daughters to criticize the president on gun control as both “repugnant and cowardly.” As the president’s children, Malia and Sasha Obama are entitled to Secret Service protection, and they receive it. But should every child in the U.S. then? Obama never officially said he opposes more armed security guards at school, which the NRA recommended in the wake of the Newtown massacre. But the President, who outlined significant reforms today, did say he’s skeptical of the idea and added that such a step is not sufficient in curbing danger. White House spokesman Jay Carney released a statement responding to the ad shortly before Obama outlined his new gun proposals this morning. “Most Americans agree that a president’s children should not be used as pawns in a political fight,” Carney said in a statement emailed to reporters. He added that the group stooped too low, and “to go so far as to make the safety of the president’s children the subject of an attack ad is repugnant and cowardly.” Gun control: Time for additional, stronger laws? YES. Fewer guns, fewer tragedies! NO. It’s unconstitutional and won’t stop anything! View Poll »
The man who nearly single-handedly made puppets cool has gone to see the great manipulator in the sky. Gerry Anderson, creator of the pioneering puppetry technique called ‘Supermarionation’ and the popular series Thunderbirds , died Wednesday in Oxfordshire, England, at the age of 83 from complications due to Alzheimer’s disease. He is survived by four children, and by his third wife, Mary. Born in London on April 14, 1929, Anderson’s long career in television began in the 1950s, when he worked as a freelancer on numerous film and television productions. In 1957, he cofounded AP Films to produce the children’s series The Adventures Of Twizzle , which featured Anderson’s first use of extensive puppetry. This was followed by another series, Torchy The Battery Boy , in 1958, and finally Four Feather Fall in 1959, which was the first series to employ the technique for which he would become most well known. Anderson’s Supermarionation programs enjoyed considerable success during the 1960s (one of them was even picked up in the US by ABC), but it was the 1964-65 series Thunderbirds that made him world famous. The series focused on the Tracy family, adventurers who ran a high tech rescue service in the 21st century. It spawned two Supermarionation feature films, Thunderbirds Are Go! and Thunderbirds 6 , as well as a 2004 live action film which flopped. Other Supermarionation productions included Supercar , Joe 90 , The Secret Service , and Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons . Supermarionation, which combines marionettes with complex wire work and motorized puppet faces, achieves the effect of presenting the puppets as independent actors. Though the technique fell out of favor as special effects improved during the 1970s, Supermarionation’s influence can still be seen not only in films and TV shows that deliberately mimic it — like Trey Parker and Matt Stone’s Team America: World Police (below) — but in the worldwide success of The Muppets and the films made by Jim Henson’s Creature Shop in the 1980s. Interestingly, Anderson never liked working with puppets, seeing his Supermarionation programs as a way of making it possible to transition to live action, which just goes to prove once and for all that you don’t get to pick what you’re great at. Though Anderson transitioned to live action in the 1970s, with the exception of Space: 1999 his puppet-free productions never enjoyed the same level of fondness and influence. In recent years he produced a computer animated update of Captain Scarlet , and numerous aborted projects. He was awarded an MBE in 2001. We’ll be firing up Thunderbirds Are Go! in memorium. Ross Lincoln is a LA-based freelance writer from Oklahoma with an unhealthy obsession with comics, movies, video games, ancient history, Gore Vidal, and wine. Follow him on twitter (@rossalincoln). Follow Movieline on Twitter .
He was among the front-runners all season long and, last night, Tate Stevens took his place among reality show singing champions, snagging the $5 million prize offered each year to The X Factor winner . “My next dream is to make this album and be able to tour and live that life – do what I love doing,” Stevens told reporters after the show. “I love entertaining people, I love performing for people and I’m finally getting the chance.” But before we look too far ahead, let’s take a look back at Tate’s journey, starting with his initial audition: Tate Stevens X Factor Audition Feels like forever ago, huh? Sound off now on whether you think Stevens should have won and then watch a number of other performances that helped him achieve this dream: Tate Stevens – “Please Come Home for Christmas” Tate Stevens – “Tomorrow” Tate Stevens – “Anything Goes” Tate Stevens – “Fall” Tate Stevens – “Bonfire” Tate Stevens – “Somebody Like You” Tate Stevens – “From this Moment” Tate Stevens – “Wanted Dead or Alive” Tate Stevens – “I Thought I Was Tough”
Having gone dark online for the past week, the National Rifle Association held a press conference today for the first time since last Friday’s Connecticut shooting. The NRA condemned both the violence and those seeking to use it for political gain, while proposing a solution quite different than many in America have sought. NRA President David Keene and Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre both spoke this morning on behalf of the organization’s four million members. LaPierre began with condolences to the people of Newtown, Conn., who have “suffered such an incomprehensible loss as a result of this unspeakable crime.” “While some have tried to exploit tragedy for political gain, we have remained respectably silent. Now, we must speak for the safety of our nation’s children,” he added. And speak he did. What did the NRA propose? Here’s the main takeaway … “For all the noise and anger directed at us over the past week, no one, nobody has addressed the most important, pressing and immediate question we face.” “How do we protect our children right now, starting today, in a way that we know works?” “The only way to answer that question is to face the truth. Politicians pass laws for gun free school zones, they issue press releases bragging about them.” “They post signs advertising them. In doing so, they tell every insane killer in America that schools are the safest place to inflict maximum mayhem with minimum risk.” “How have our nation’s priorities gotten so far out of order. Think about it?” “We care about our money, so we protect our banks with armed guards. Airports, office buildings, power plants, court houses, even sports stadiums are all protected by armed security.” “We care about our president, so we protect him with armed Secret Service agents. Members of Congress work in offices surrounded by Capitol Police officers.” “Yet, when it comes to our most beloved, innocent, and vulnerable members of the American family, our children, we as a society leave them every day utterly defenseless.” “The monsters and the predators of the world know it, and exploit it.” “The only way – the only way to stop a monster from killing our kids is to be personally involved and invested in a plan of absolute protection.” “The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun.” “I call on Congress today, to act immediately to appropriate whatever is necessary to put armed police officers in every single school in this nation.” Obviously, those on the other side of the gun control debate will lose their mind at the notion that MORE guns in schools will somehow prevent violence. MSNBC’s Christopher Hayes said moments ago in response that “good guys with guns vs. bad guys with guns is the moral cosmology of a small child.” That it may be, but is there a better solution? If so, what? Will an assault weapons ban or any other component of the Obama administration’s effort to curb gun violence in the U.S. actually be effective? Historically, at least, the American public has been bitterly divided. Where do you stand on all this? Tell us in the survey below: Should there be more restrictive gun control laws? YES. Fewer guns, fewer tragedies! NO. It’s unconstitutional and won’t stop anything! View Poll »
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