Author: Randy Slovacek

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Today Show news: Matt Lauer in, Ann Curry may be out

From TMZ.: Matt Lauer has signed a new, long-term deal with the “Today” show. He will become way richer than he already is, and we’re told the next move will be to send Ann Curry packing.

As TMZ first reported, Matt Lauer got close to his $30 million a year asking price, nearly doubling his $17 million a year current salary.

It’s sad news for Ann Curry, because sources say Lauer does not want her as his co-host, and it appears her fate is now sealed.

NBC sources say Ann’s likely replacement will be Savannah Guthrie.

I’m personally a BIG fan of Ann Curry.  I think she’s terrific and a huge loss for NBC is this ends up being the story.

Matt Lauer is over-rated and not nearly worth DOUBLE his salary.  Just my opinion….

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Movie “Bully” will be released with PG-13 rating

 

The MPAA has lowered the R rating, given for some language, for the film BULLY to a PG-13 in time for the film’s April 13th expansion to 55 markets.

The scene that has been at the forefront of the battle with the MPAA, the intense scene in the film that shows teen Alex Libby being bullied and harassed on a bus, has been left fully intact and unedited. BULLY director Lee Hirsch felt editing the scene was not an option, and subsequently refused to do so, since it is too important to the truth and integrity behind the film.

This decision by the MPAA is a huge victory for the parents, educators, lawmakers, and most importantly, children, everywhere who have been fighting for months for the appropriate PG-13 rating without cutting some of the most sensitive moments.

Hirsch made the documentary with the intent to give an uncensored, real-life portrayal of what 13 million children suffer through every year.
(source)

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Mitt Romney hits President Obama for Harvard degee – except Romney has twice as many Harvard degrees

Speaking at his Pennsylvania campaign headquarters this morning, Mitt Romney attacked President Obama as out of touch for spending too much time at Harvard, where the president went to law school. “We have a president, who I think is is a nice guy, but he spent too much time at Harvard, perhaps,” Romney said.

Unfortunately for Romney, his attack is undermined by the fact that the GOP presidential hopeful has twice as many degrees from Harvard as Obama. Romney earned a combined JD/MBA from the elite Cambridge, Massachusetts university. That means Romney spent an extra year at Harvard, getting the combined degree in four years, compared to Obama’s three for the JD alone.

Click here for a recap of Romney’s life at Harvard.

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Over 640,000 thank Starbucks for supporting marriage equality

 

From The Advocate: National coffee chain Starbucks Wednesday received a card thanking the company for its continued support of marriage equality in its home state of Washington.

The National Organization for Marriage launched a boycott of Starbucks because the company’s leaders supported marriage equality legislation that recently passed in Washington. NOM recruited about 28,000 to “Dump Starbucks.”

However, a counterprotest to “Thank Starbucks” grabbed the attention of 640,000 marriage equality supporters.

The pro-Starbucks effort was organized by SumOfUs.org, MoveOn.org, and Washington United for Marriage, which submitted a card with 640,000 signatures at Starbucks’ main corporate offices Wednesday.

“We’ve been stunned by the passionate response to ‘Thank Starbucks’ – our most viral campaign ever,” Taren Stinebrickner-Kauffman, executive director for SumofUs.org, said in a statement. “We’ve seen in our campaigns that consumers expect corporations to do right by their workers and by their community. We hope that this overwhelming show of support for Starbucks for supporting gay rights will inspire other corporations to keep making similar public statements.”

James Olsen, Starbucks’ vice president of global corporate communications, thanked customers for their support.

“We are long-standing supporters of a culture of diversity, and inclusion and equality for everybody, and I’ll share this with our fellow leaders,” he said. “Thank you very much.”

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Jon Secada sings about his father – “a huge source of spirituality”

 

Jon Secada’s new track, “Your Voice Inside,” is inspired by a different kind of love: the love Secada has for his Cuban-born father, Jose, who died in 2011 due to complications attached to liver cirrhosis stemming from chronic Hepatitis C.

With the lyrics, “You’re the difference/You’re the one/There’s no compromise,” Secada is sending a different kind of message.

“The song is an extension of my feelings and my thoughts, especially because of my relationship with my Dad,” Secada said during a recent visit to CBSNews.com. “I learned so much,” Secada said about the virus infection that affects nearly 3.2 million Americans — 1 million of whom are Hispanic-Americans.

He’s using what he learned by becoming part of the national health campaign, Tune In To Hep C, which also features Natalie Cole and blues-rocker Gregg Allman as spokespeople. They both have suffered from chronic Hepatitis C.

“It’s a campaign that’s really dear to my heart,” Secada, 49, said.

Approximately 70 to 80 percent of people newly infected with the disease don’t have symptoms.

“The whole idea is for people to know and learn,” Secada said. “I wish I had the opportunity to pass that on to my father.”

The Cuban-born, Miami-based singer says his dad was a “huge source of spirituality” for him.

“My father had so much spirit,” he said. “He was a hard-worker, a provider.”

“The Voice Inside” will appear on Secada’s upcoming album, due out later this year. It marks two decades since the release of his self-titled debut and the subsequent singles “Just Another Day,” “Angel” and “Do You Believe in Us.”
(source)

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Campaign Ad: Mitt Romney versus Reality

Facts can be inconvenient things, can’t they?

I recently had a long talk with someone explaining how politics is a game to so many of these folks like Mitt Romney who just make up things and say things to stir up their core constituents.

But eventually, we have to face facts Mitt. You can’t say President Obama did something when he didn’t. OR say he didn’t do something when he did.

This all catches up to you eventually Mitt.

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Channing Tatum joins Elton John onstage for Revlon Concert for the Rainforest

Sir Elton John and Channing Tatum

Channing Tatum joined Sir Elton John at the Concert for The Rainforest Fund on April 3rd in New York City’s Carnegie Hall.

It was a star-studded event, and John was thrilled to be a part of the evening — and not just because he had uber-hottie Channing Tatum on hand.

The 21 Jump Street star and Are You Ready For Love singer had the audience giggling in the aisles as they gyrated against one another at the Revlon Concert for the Rainforest in New York City.

Click the pics for larger view.

Channing Tatum and Sir Elton John

Channing Tatum and wife Jenna Dewan performed a dance together also
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NOM accuses Human Rights Campaign of stealing tax returns in effort to deflect “race baiting strategies”

 
The National Organization for Marriage claims either Human Rights Campaign or an IRS official broke the law by releasing and disseminating the hateful group’s 2008 tax returns listing their major donors, including Mitt Romney. Now NOM president Brian Brown is floating the threat of a federal investigation.

“The National Organization for Marriage (NOM), today demanded a federal investigation of the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to determine who was responsible for releasing NOM’s confidential federal tax return information to the Huffington Post,” the group wrote on their blog.

From Brian Brown:

It appears that someone with either the IRS or the HRC may have committed a federal crime by illegally obtaining and then releasing a confidential tax return of the National Organization for Marriage.

It’s clear that the tax return was stolen, either from NOM or from the government. The Huffington Post article says that HRC claimed they received the document from a ‘whistleblower.’ But the term ‘whistleblower’ is completely inapt. We’re talking about a criminal who has stolen confidential tax return information. We demand to know who this criminal is, whether they work for the HRC or the IRS, and how they obtained confidential tax information filed only with the US government.”

I would like to know what the HRC knew and when did they know it. It certainly appears that either the HRC was involved in illegally obtaining this tax return themselves, or they worked with a criminal who stole it from NOM or the IRS. Either way, it appears that a federal crime may have been committed.

Yes, Brian. The Human Rights Campaign broke into your “offices” and stole the documents and then leaked the docs to themselves. Santa Claus kept watch while the Easter Bunny drove the getaway car.

But great way to deflect from the issue of your organization’s divisive race baiting strategies.

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Pew Poll: Majority of Latinos accepting of homosexuality

On the issue of whether homosexuality should be accepted by society, a majority — 59 percent — say that it should. Just 30 percent told pollsters it should be discouraged.

Those numbers line up with the general U.S. public, with 58 percent saying homosexuality should be accepted, and 33 percent saying it should be discouraged.

There is a slight difference by immigrant generation: 53 percent of immigrant Hispanics say it should be accepted, and it jumps to 68 percent among second-generation Hispanics. Like the general public, more Hispanics who are younger say homosexuality should be accepted, with 69 percent of 18- to-29-year-olds and 60 percent of 30- to-49-year-olds telling pollsters that society should not discourage it.

The poll surveyed 1,220 Latino adults Nov. 9-Dec. 7, 2011. The margin of error is plus or minus 3.59 percentage points.

Read more at Politico